Bartholomew Berinsky

**BARTHOLOMEW BERINSKY** is the muscle of the team. A massive blond line breaker, he hails from the wilds of Manitoba, Canada. He bounced around various Canadian police forces, seeking more and more action, until landing at the door of the Corporation.

"Bear" is the hearth of the team. He is friendly and frank to a fault, constantly seeking to open communications between team members. He is talkative, warm, and filled with boundless energy. He volunteers to do much of the team's grunt work, and even enjoys it. Bear is the supportive father/brother figure to everyone else on the team. Bear is the voice of compassion/

Except in combat.

When the bullet fly, Bear becomes lean, mean, and merciless. His powerful and economical maneuvers can seem brutal with their directness. Door in the way? Kick it down. People in the way? Kick them down. In combat Bear's ferocious side is revealed. It's scary, but it has saved the team on many occasions. Bear is also the voice of ruthlessness in the line of duty.

#### Skills

SMASH DOOR

Bear is very, very large and strong. He always has the Skill Smash Doors. If Bear is standing and facing a Locked door in an adjacent tile, the white Smash icon will appear on the door. Bear may then Smash the door. This will open the door, but it will also make plenty of noise, which may sound the alarm to the enemies.

ADVANCED ARMOR

Bear often finds himself in the line of fire. To redress the balance in such situations, he experiments with advanced forms of ballistic cloths, titanium plates, and dense paddings. When he gains the Advanced Armor skill, he has achieved a measure of success in his experimentation. His Damage Level on all missions begins as Advanced Armor. When Advanced Armor is struck, it degrades to Armor.

ACCURACY

Bear puts in some time at the corporate firing range. His Accuracy rises by 10.

SMASH ENEMY

A thought occurs to Bear. He has developed a powerful smashing kick that shatters doors right off their hinges; what happens if he kicks a human that way? When Bear learns the Smash Enemy skill, he may damage Opponents in hand-to-hand combat. When Bear is standing in a tile, two Action Icons appear on the Opponent. The first is the Red Reticule, indicating a normal firing opportunity. The sedond is the White Smash Enemy icon. When Bear executes a Smash Enemy action on the Opponent, the Opponent automatically goes unconscious.

CHARGE DOOR

Sometimes speed is of the essence. Why take the time to stop before opening a Door? When Bear learns the Charge Door skill, he no longer does stop. Normally, a Character must have two empty tiles in front of him or her in order to execute a Run action. With the Charge Door skill, the second tile can be a closed or Locked door and the Run action will still be available. Bear will run into and through the door, ending his action in the now open Door's tile.

SLUGS

Bear's Benelli shotgun is an excellent close quarters weapon, but the pellet spreads it fires are too easily thwarted by hard cover. Bear learns to solve this problem by loading armor-piercing Slugs into his shotgun. When using Slugs, Bear suffers no Accuracy adjustment due to the Opponent's cover; the Slugs either penetrate the cover fully, or blow enough shrapnel through to have a similar effect.

HEAVY ARMOR

How much armor is too much? By virtue of his immense frame, Bear is able to function with much heavier armor than other Characters, strapping extra plates and padding over his Advanced Armor. When he gains the Heavy Armor skill, his Damage Level on all missions begins as Heavy Armor. When Heavy Armor is struck, it degrades to Advanced Armor.

ARMORER

Bear finally masters the art of armor manufacture. When he gains the Armorer Skill, all the other Characters on the team benefit from this mastery. All Characters on a mission with Bear begin the mission with Advanced Armor.

FLECHETTES

Bear again turns to high technology to solve combat issues. Flechettes are small metal darts, grouped by the hundreds into specialized shotgun shells. When fired, the darts form a high-velocity, flesh-ripping cloud. While the Flechettes are easily stopped by armor, so many are fired that some penetrate every small crack in armor or cover. When Bear loads his weapon with Flechettes, his Power rises to 95. In addition, the Flechettes strike not only the Target Tile, but also the two tiles directly behind the Target Tile. Any combatants in those tiles (Characters or Opponents) are Damaged as well.

CHARGE ENEMY

Again, a thought occurs to Bear. If he can charge doors and break them down, what happens when people get in his way? When Bear learns the skill Charge Enemy, his Run action becomes a weapon. He is able to Run and Damage an opponent 2 tiles way. The intervening tile must be empty. Bear ends the action in the second tile as normal for a Run action.