Jacopo Giuseppe Dux

Joseph Dux, born **Jacopo Giuseppe Dux**, was a central player character in **Dust & Argon**. An AF technician, designer, and former bagman for the Sicilian Mafia, Dux was the tinkerer and gadgeteer of the team.

## Character Description

Dux is a slender man of average height, and tends to dress in expensive 3 piece suits, usually with a short-brimmed hat, such as a trilby, fedora, or homberg. He is olive skinned and has Black hair which tints slightly brown in sunlight, almost matching the color of his eyes. His lips are typically slanted down into a slight frown, giving one the first impression of a man with a sour disposition.

## Fictional Background

Born in Avigliano, Italy as Jacopo Guiseppi Dux to parents Mirabella Bonnano and William Dux, Jacopo was a curious and excitable child who often found himself in the way of the adults in his environment. His father, an associate in the La Cosa Nostra, specialized in the customization and laundering of the mob's vehicles would often allow young Jacopo to stay and observe his work, hoping to foster a successor in his son. Jacopo's mother, a Caporegime of the mafia, would often find herself too busy in business affairs to have much to do with her son until later in life, which lead him to prefer his father's company.

When Jacopo was 14, his father was executed as a traitor to the family, the details were not made clear to Dux at the time, and to this date, he is not sure if the death of his father was due to a legitimate grievance, or in-family politics. Jacopo's mother was quick to abandon William to his fate, taking her son to the United States in Exile, changing his name to Joseph during the immigration.
Initially, the newly minted Joseph hated this change in his life, and bore a deep resentment towards his mother. This rift, combined with Mirabella's constant overwork with the family business, led Jacopo to run with a number of street gangs, where he'd find himself at chop shops for cars, drones, and on rare occasion, Armor Frames. Though he avoided capture by the police during a large portion of his youth, Jacopo had already built an impressive rap sheet of assault, larceny, property destruction, and vandalism by age 17.

Joseph was first arrested after having stolen a police-owed AF from the department as part of a dare, and was bailed out by an unfamiliar woman named Maria. Claiming to be a good samaritan, the woman, who couldn't have been more than 4 years older than Dux, offered him a chance to work with her, telling him that his talents with machines would go to waste if he continued using them for 'chump change street thuggery'. Jacopo reluctantly agreed to begin work in Maria's mysterious organization a few days after the offer was made, when one of his older friends was found shot dead in the streets.

Maria, as it turned out, was a fixer for the mob under the command of his mother, who in turn used this new relationship to strongarm Jacopo into participating in the protection racket she was running in New York. Dux used this as an opportunity to vent his anger, and found that his unhinged manner and generally sour temperament worked to his advantage. Saving his substantial cut of the racket proceeds, Dux used these funds to begin building and deploying drones of his own to further his game of hardball with the marks, and law enforcement in his jurisdiction. This attracted the attention of his Cosa Nostra compatriots, which in turn earned him a reputation within the organization.

This reputation benefited Jacopo's professional and personal life when, after his mother died in 2307, Dux was approached by none other than the current Don of La Cosa Nostra himself, who offered him an extremely lucrative job working for one of the Underbosses directly, as a dedicated AF mechanic. During this conversation, Don Bonnano informed Dux that his mother's influence often protected him from the consequences of his actions in ways he was entirely unaware, telling him, "Your family loves you, Jacopino. Do not think because we do not say it, we do not mean it." Touched, and more than a little frightened by this interaction, Jacopo worked hard in earnest to earn his keep for the family.

Later that year, he was introduced to Dierdre Ghallager during a social gathering held by owners of one of the family's many fronts. Unbeknownst to Joseph at the time, Dierdre was selected as his wife by the higher ups in the family, to extend their foothold in the northern eurozone. Upon their first meeting, Dierdre was already an accomplished philanthropist, funneling her parents' companies money into animal preservation and restoration of heavily polluted lakes and forests. Following his betrothal, Dux took a personal interest in furthering his wife's philanthropic pursuits, acting as a manager/agent on occasion, as well as designing and building a series of custom Armor Frames for her to use in helping to clean lakes and ocean breaches, plant trees, and even work to restore the coral reef.

During one such effort, Dierdre was apparently killed in an industrial accident. Just as quickly as he had entered the public eye at her side, Joseph vanished. Having absorbed her personal assets into his own personal finances, Joseph now operates as a freelance AF designer and operator, and charges a rather steep fee for his services.

## Campaign History

At the beginning of the series, Dux had been working as an operator to earn additional income for approximately 2 years. During Mission 1: A River Runs Through It, Dux took a job offer from a man named Tassos, apparently a member of the Agitakos and met Oliver Moorland, KNIGHT, and Antonio Cervantes in Spain who were also hired for the same job. Providing logistics and transportation, Dux helped the group complete the mission, though he was shot in the arm during an altercation at the apparently decommissioned Fernandez AFB base's hidden sublevel, this injury would hinder his accuracy for several months following. Following the job, Dux returned home, content never to speak to the future members of Los Langaros again, however, fate had other plans.

Two weeks after the successful completion of the mission, Dux was contacted by KNIGHT to provide additional support and overhead for a mission handed to him by the Chrome Road. Unbeknownst to Dux at the time, this mission would seal his ultimate fate, as he was forced to murder a Made Man of the La Cosa Nostra when he determined the payload in question was in fact, the 'smart' AI DJEETA, and he had no choice but to remove any witnesses of her existence from play. Before agreeing to allow DJEETA free roam of the mesh, Dux strikes a tentative bargain with her: his co-operation with her goals in exchange for assistance in his attempt to revive the comatose Dierdre Dux, who had survived the accident said to have killed her. DJEETA agreed, however, Dux would not be able to see her hold up her end of the bargain.

................

During Session 10, Dux is spotted by two agents of La Cosa Nostra, and is approached by Dom with an ultimatum: Pull out of the mission, or risk harm to Dierdre. Placed in an impossible situation, Dux does the only thing he can think to do, and summons the Los Langaros back to their shared hotel room, where he forces a confrontation, stating "If our mission is going to succeed, I cannot walk out of here." In spite of the fact that he had pulled his gun on the group, and ordered Enzo and Carlo to his sides, Dux was unwilling to harm his companions. As the Langaros, too, were not willing to deal serious damage to Dux, he shot himself in the arm to make the scuffle more convincing to outside onlookers. Following the altercation, the now-wounded Dux was handed over to the British authorities by the Langaros, who, in turn, were ambushed by La Cosa Nostra. Dux was kidnapped in the process and held hostage before the Langaros in an attempt to force them to sacrifice Redfield. During these threats, CARDINAL stated he was the person who had sabotaged the Errol Finn, thus rendering Dierdre comatose. This loosed a primal roar from Dux, and a lethal Salvo from Knight, acting in Dux's stead, to reap vengeance on his wife's murderer.

In the crossfire, Dux was fatally wounded, and, in his last moments, as time slowed down around him, he thought back on the eyes of dead men and women, people he had killed along the way to this place in his life. They died suddenly and without ceremony at his hands, and at the thought of himself having the exact same kind of death, he could only laugh, as it was exactly what he deserved. And so laugh he did, as hard as he could, as long as he could, even as the tears welled up in his eye, and even as he imagined Dierdre reaching out to pick him up from his slumped position, right until the end.

## Character Skills, Abilities, and Equipment

* **Expert Mechanic**

Dux is an Expert in the Construction, Maintenance and Operation of AFs and Drones, This skill allows Dux to own two drones in accordance with the driver move: Drone Jockey.
* **Expert Gunsmith**

Due to previous experience with firearms, lifelong exposure to gang violence, and his existing engineering education, Dux is an expert at the creation, customization and assembly of firearms. This skill allows Dux to have a customized weapon in accordance with the killer move: Custom Weapon.
* **Storage**

Dux has been in his line of worka long time, and has accumulated a large stockpile of various useful parts and equipment, after receiving a job, Dux can roll Mind to look through accumulated parts and supplies for equipment that might help with the current mission.
10+ gain 3 gear relevant to expertise.
7-9 gain 1 gear relevant to expertise.
* **Customiser**

Dux can Identify and examine new or complicated technology related to any area of his expertise and modify familiar technology. MC determines tags or game effect of the modification, and requirements in terms of time, parts, more research, tools, help from contacts.
* **Analytic**

Dux rolls Mind instead of Edge when using the Basic Move 'Assess'
## Image Gallery

Dux official character sheetDux early concept workDux early color conceptDux outfit study