César Montero-Dominguez

"My men, my friends... every last one of 'em, butchered by Legion. And brass just fucking watched from their desks. Replaced the men in Bravo Team like nothing was wrong! Like nothing happened! You can't tell me that nothing happened!""
— Monty Montero-Dominguez
César Ariel "Monty" Montero-Dominguez is a sniper for hire residing at the Mojave Outpost in 2282.
==Background==
===Early life===
Montero-Dominguez was born on May 17, 2254 on a ranch in Lago del Cráter, Baja in the jurisdiction of the New California Republic. His father, Rodrigo, and his mother, Marcela, were both gecko ranchers, raising geckos for their hide and meat. Montero-Dominguez grew up helping support the ranch, which usually meant watching over the nocturnal geckos when his parents were sleeping. It was not often that he had to fend off gecko rustlers, but there were times when Rodrigo's varmint rifle came in handy. When he wasn't scaring off the odd rustler, he was doing a dime's worth of damage a day, usually scraping or cutting himself exploring cactus-laden arroyos or climbing trees to take in the view... or getting bit by a gecko; pre-War first aid manuals and magazines came in especially handy in treating his injuries and not having to bother his parents about it.
===Joining the NCRA===
This was César's life until he was around 17 when his parents became successful enough in the gecko business to hire ranch hands and supplement their son. At first, he enjoyed the nights off, but quickly grew anxious when he did not have anything to do. After mulling it over long and hard, Montero-Dominguez decided to join the New California Republic Army, convinced by romantic ideas of excitement and travel. He signed up at a recruitment center in the town over and was enlisted the next year. In 2272, with his parents and San Adrián de Nicomedia's blessings, Montero-Dominguez arrived at Fort Seth in the Los Angeles Boneyard where he was provided basic training in the New California Republic's military. In an 16-week course, he also built upon his questionable medical knowledge and was certified as a field medic. Assigned to Charlie Company, 4th Battalion, 7th Infantry Regiment, Montero-Dominguez and his company were among the first to be stationed in the Mojave Wasteland, at the newly erected Mojave Outpost. 
In the years before Camp McCarran was established as the NCRA's Mojave headquarters, Charlie Company remained in a camp set up around the Mojave Outpost and continued regular training exercises. During these exercises, Montero-Dominguez's lieutenant noticed his incredible marksmanship and sent word of possible promotion in to the brass. After a few years of bureaucratic red tape, he was transferred to Bravo Team in the 3rd Reconnaissance Battalion – an "out of sight, out of mind" sniper battalion – in 2275, just in time to be transferred to Camp McCarran for a brief time. 3rd Recon, as it is colloquially known, jumped around NCRA bases around the Mojave where ever they were needed, usually to track down Fiend, Viper and Jackal camps in the surrounding area. Montero-Dominguez was constantly on the move, but San Adrián and San Cristóbal watched over him and he enjoyed the changes in scenery. 
Bravo Team did not participate in the First Battle of Hoover Dam, as it was engaged in a military strike to eliminate Great Khan drug runners around Ranger Station Foxtrot when the assault on Hoover Dam took place. It was shortly after the battle that César took up the nickname "Monty" so as to not be connected with the megalomaniac on the east banks of the Colorado River. Third Recon continued to drift where they were needed for several more years. However, when the NCR had discovered how much of a danger the Legion presented in later years, brass permanently assigned all of 3rd Recon to established bases around the Mojave until further notice; Bravo Team was assigned to the base at Nelson in August of 2281. 3rd Recon waited in these camps, doing nothing to aid the NCR against the supposed Legion boogeyman, while the Fiend infestation in New Vegas grew larger and larger without 3rd Recon to run population control. 
===The Fall of Nelson===
In September, however, the Legion boogeyman became very real when a Legion decanus named Dead Sea led two contubernia in an assault on Nelson. Despite superior training, Bravo Team was bogged down supporting their under-equipped infantry and snipers were of no use once the legionnaires closed range. Most of the camp's personnel were killed in action; those that weren't killed were crucified in the town center. During the skirmish, Montero-Dominguez was bested in hand-to-hand combat by a legionnaire and was kicked into the Colorado River. He drifted ashore soon after, but the tumble down the cliff side rendered him unconscious for 32 hours.
When he regained consciousness, he wandered for another the better part of a day before he came upon Ranger Station Echo. With nowhere else to go, the Rangers secured him a caravan to Camp McCarran where he could deliver the news on the Fall of Nelson. When he arrived and requested to see Colonel James Hsu, he was promptly arrested on charges of absence without leave. He was transported to the NCR Embassy on the New Vegas Strip where he stood trial in front of a court martial. Because the NCR was stretched thin in the Mojave as it was, due process was shoddily upheld and Montero-Dominguez was hastily sentenced to two months imprisonment and a dishonorable discharge from the New California Republic Armed Forces. 
Montero-Dominguez served his time and was kicked out of prison without compensation for the last few months of his service. He wandered from town to town, each one seemingly occupied by NCR personnel. Convinced he wouldn't find a settlement not filled with soldiers, he settled on the Mojave Outpost, the checkpoint that brought him to the Mojave nine years prior. Everyone around the outpost knows that Montero-Dominguez's charges were fraudulent, but no one at the outpost has the power to have his record expunged. He will get his revenge one day but until that day comes, he stays in the barracks, selling his expertise to passing travelers and other soldiers in need of reconnaissance or long range assaults.
==Appearance and abilities==
Monty has an athletic build, standing 5 feet, 10 inches (1.78 meters) and weighing 165 pounds (75 kilograms). His Mexican heritage provides him with a light brown complexion and eyes the color of roasted coffee. In an effort to looker tougher to improve his chances of being hired, he has grown his dark hair into a short Mohawk. He also styles his facial hair in a Van Dyke fashion. Indicative of his service in the military, Monty has an intricate tattoo of the 3rd Recon Rattlesnake on the underside of his left forearm, although it's usually covered by his outfit.
Two tours with the NCRA and 3rd Recon has honed Montero-Dominguez's skill with a rifle; his longest confirmed kill was a Viper scouting around Camp Forlorn Hope at 912 meters (0.57 miles) with a .308 caliber DKS-501. His skills as a sniper are bolstered by patience and his abilities to remain still and hidden for prolonged periods of time. His vision is also quite keen and his eyes are able to quickly adjust to dark conditions. As a second lieutenant, he has moderate knowledge of military tactics and leadership abilities that are still fresh in his mind, both of which give him confidence and a cool head under pressure. He was trained as a combat medic and retains much of his basic field medicine knowledge.
Like many of those with military backgrounds, Monty is not all that adept with negotiations, but he is effective at explaining his plans. He is less intelligent than most so he can have difficulties learning new concepts, but those he trains, he retains. As a mercenary, he has a no nonsense attitude which some people find off-putting while others feel it's a required trait for a bodyguard. 
==Equipment==
===Weapons===
Monty carries a .308 caliber battle rifle with a 3.5x scope, which proves be enough for all general sniping purposes. A 3½ foot long rifle is inadequate for close quarters combat however, so Monty also carries a run-of-the-mill semi-automatic 9mm pistol and a crude Legion machete. 
===Apparel===
Monty has basically every inch of his body covered. On top of his blue-grey turtleneck, he wears a reinforced black-grey leather jacket which transitions into leather gloves. Ordinary blue jeans with some wear and tear cover his combat boots. The telltale mark of a mercenary, bandoliers filled with often superfluous amounts of ammunition, run around his chest and some magazine loops are sewed onto his belt. 
===Miscellaneous===
A mercenary isn't much without operational firepower, so he has enough .308 and 9mm rounds to fill four clips/magazines. He also carries a clip and magazine of armor-piercing and hollow point rounds, respectively, should a special occasion call for them. A small pair of x7 magnification binoculars rest in a jacket pocket and a flask embossed with the Snake of 3rd Recon, filled with tequila, rests in the other jacket pocket. He also hides his NCRA dogtags underneath his shirt, which read: "Montero-Dominguez / César A. / 401-11-9622 / A POS / Catholic".
==Personality==
Monty feels that the New California Republic – as embodied by the NCRA brass away from the combat zones – betrayed and abandoned him. He is traumatized by the Fall of Nelson in which his closest friends and respectable servicemen were slaughtered like brahmin and then quickly "replaced" like nothing had happened and they were simply disposable objects. It is this abandonment and mental trauma that causes him to seek validation with his work as a mercenary. He is driven by the prospect of honing his skills and finding opportunity so he may one day be able to vindicate his fallen brothers and have the NCRA brass experience the same horror and pain that Monty and his brothers did. 
Although Monty is a battle hardened mercenary, he still has a moral compass. He does not condone the killing of innocent people and will only accept a job if it is for a good (or at least indifferent) cause. He seeks to treat others with the fairness he did not receive in his court martial and abides by the "golden rule", even though he can take it to extremes. Anything one does to another can equally be applied to them, including acts of murder, torture, and slavery.
==Theme song==
Torquemada
Category:Characters