Desperado

**Desperado** was a Warforged criminal. He devised a plan to hijack and steal a shardship for unknown purposes.

## Description

### Appearance

Desperado was a Warforged, meaning that his body was entirely made of metal, possibly steel. His face resembled that of a humanoid's, with a working jaw, nose ridge and orange ocular units for eyes. While wearing his disguise, he appeared to be a middle-aged human male with fair skin, dark brown hair and a bushy dark brown beard. He wore a black jacket over an orange shirt and white tie and a black fedora with an orange rim.

### Personality

Befitting his name, Desperado was a man of bravado. He announced his presence with aplomb upon the hijacking of the shardship, and seemed confident in its success despite little guarantee of such. He also appeared to enjoy a good fight, inviting Keres Creed to "dance" with him after being struck by her. However, his overconfidence led to him to being sucked into the fight, leaving his crew to fend for themselves and giving Keres Creed the opportunity to expose and attack his heart.

Desperado was not without morals however, as he was willing to maroon the passengers safely and provide them with a beacon to ensure their rescue. He also notably did not use any passengers as hostages during his fight with Keres Creed, though he was not adverse to having them caught in the crossfire of his shotgun.

## History

### Background

Not much is known about Desperado's past. It is unknown if he was native to the old Warforged homeland of Seek or if he was constructed elsewhere. Whatever his origins, he became a criminal who mainly operated in Qethos. Through his clandestine career, he made connections with several other criminals such as Bhesan and Qui. Desperado also took to wearing a false face to disguise himself as a human. At some point, he also had a shotgun constructed into one of his arms, ensuring he always had a weapon to hand.

## Phase 3 Story

### The Hijacking of the Brigham

Desperado conceived a plan to hijack and steal a shardship for reasons yet unknown. To this end, he hired Bhesan and Qui to act as his muscle and also sought out a shard engineer named Gobs, who would hack the shardship to give them control. The shardship in question, called the Brigham, was leaving the City of Xiros for Jotun in Southern Ishtar. He and his three companions embarked upon the shardship, successfully concealing their weapons and equipment. About three hours into the flight, their crewmate Gobs hijacked the shard systems and locked down the ship. Desperado then stood up and announced their intent to maroon the passengers and demanded everyone stay calm. He promised the crowd that he would give them a homing beacon that would allow the XDF to rescue them provided they cooperate. However, an undercover prot named Keres Creed took issue with his plans.

Keres attacked Desperado, tearing off part of his false face to reveal his true robotic nature. Though initially surprised, Desperado welcomed the fight and engaged the prot in unarmed combat. During the combat, he would issue Gobs instructions, one of which was to sharply turn the ship. The maneuver knocked several people to the ground, but his opponent kept her feet. On the urging of the eccentric Doctor Hellebore, Keres struck at Desperado's chestplate after baiting him with a feint. The impact exposed Desperado's internal circuitry, including his shard heart. Panicked, Desperado attempted to shield his organs, though Keres managed to get a powerful strike on his heart, almost killing him. Desperado managed to seal his chest cavity again, but the damage was done. On his last legs, he unveiled the shotgun that he had built into his arm and pointed it at Keres and the passengers behind her. Before he could shoot it, however, a stray Magic Missile from Doctor Hellebore struck him in the back, killing him and ending the takeover.

### The Big Fuel Heist

Fortunately, or unfortunately, his consciousness was transferred into a new body, which managed to find its way into an illegal pump station port, looking for people to carry out a certain job. Due to the disrepair of his backup body, he was immobilized and unable to actively maintain his usual reputation within the Calloway Cartel, leaving headroom for Vek under the guise of Demy Draconian to spread defaming rumors about his death. Displeased with this, he would eventually assign the task of remedying the Demy Draconian situation to a group of scrappers that are introduced to him after a chance encounter and altercation in space.

Upon being delivered a shaking and nervous Vek, having been confused for the real Demy Draconian whilst the real one was killed, the defamation situation is considered "remedied," and Desperado pays the due fee to the group of scrappers, though not before attempting to pull a fast one and halve the payout. Having proven their capabilities through the successful completion of the job, Desperado offers the scrappers another job opportunity—to infiltrate and siphon fuel from a restricted, abandoned space station for a sizeable payment of credits. Despite Desperado revealing that the scrappers aren't the first crew sent to attempt this job, they accept the deal and head out to fulfill Desperado's assignment unknowing of the true nature of their job's destination.

## Powers and Abilities

* **Disguise**: Desperado wore a false face made of some kind of plastic-equivalent material. The material perfectly mimicked a human face, allowing him to keep his real identify a mystery.
* **Shotgun Arm**: Desperado had a hidden shotgun implanted into his arm. By detaching his hand, he could reveal it and use it to attack his opponents. The shotgun dealt damage in a 15ft cone in front of Desperado.
* **Brawler**: Desperado was an experienced hand to hand combatant, able to go toe-to-toe with Keres Creed.
* **Shard Heart**: Desperado had a heart made from shard technology that kept him alive. The heart could be hit to deal double damage to the Warforged or be torn out of him, which would instantly kill him at the expense of dealing 3d6 Lightning damage to whoever tore out his heart.

## Etymology

"Desperado" is a term that describes a desperate or reckless individual, usually involved in criminal activities. The word is Spanish in nature, derived from the verb *desperar*, which means "to despair". The term became synonymous with bandits and outlaws in the Wild West during the 19th century.