Desperado
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Contents
History
Jim Harlow in his early life was not in any was special. A ranch hand on his father's land in a very rural stretch of arid West Texas, he was well liked enough by his few neighbors, known as a hard worker and had ambitions to go to veterinary college once he'd scrounged up enough dough.
Enter VIPER. The universally reviled terrorist organization was always on the lookout for superhumans amenable to recruitment for the cause. Given the extreme danger inherent with what they do however, there were an understandably limited amount of takers. VIPER's research department however, hit upon a solution - if they wanted to enhance their ranks with superhumans, why not simply.. make their own?
VIPER scientists came up with their very own super-soldier program - Project Razor. Subjects were to have cybernetic targeting computers implanted into their brains, along with muscle-enhancing serum and an extensive neural rewrite. And a control chip to keep them in line, naturally. The result was to be hundreds of soldiers at the organizations beck and call who could outrun, outfight, and outshoot even the best human UNTIL agents every single time. It is estimated that in wartime, hundreds of thousands of rounds are expended for enemy KIA. If VIPER could produce a unit that could down this ration to close to 1:1, it would have been a major coup. The resultant productions wouldn't exactly have been equal to Defender or the like, but the organization could produce thousands of them in theory.
None of this would have had anything to do with Harlow at all, save for one unfortunate coincidence. The procedure was highly invasive in its prototype stage. Most individuals' bodies would have rejected the implants. Jim possessed certain biological factors that made him more receptive to the procedure, the sort of subtle quirks of genetics no one would notice unless they were looking for them. VIPER found this out through purloined medical records and abducted him for Razor's trial run, along with hundreds of others.
Harlow doesn't remember much of what was done to him, only what happened after when he came to. VIPER agents in the research facility had staged a rebellion, believing they would either be replaced or subjected to the implants to turn them into mindless killing machines. They staged an act of sabotage that accidentally resulted in most Razor subjects going completely haywire, attacking anything that was not themselves. He escaped this fate through sheer luck - his control chip malfunctioned, while his other implants were still broadcasting the IFF signal that told the Razors he was on their side. For most of the carnage he hid in a packing crate, emerging to find a bullet-riddled abattoir and a team of UNTIL soldiers there to round up and/or rescue survivors.
Harlow was thoroughly traumatized by the experience. He returned home, but simply wasn't the same, mentally or physically. Eventually he felt he couldn't stay there, and for a time worked the carnival circuit as an acrobat and trick shooter - shooting cigars out of people's mouths, hitting things on a ricochet, that sort of showy stuff. This went on for a few years before he realized that none of this was helping him come to terms with what he was now or what had been done to him.
He reached a decision, spur of the moment: if VIPER wanted to make him into an agent of terror bloodshed, he was damned well determined to do the opposite and use his terrible gifts to promote justice, peace, freedom and all those other things what give people warm fuzzies. Naturally one needs a costume if you're going to use superpowers to fight crime, so he modified his showman's costume and took on the moniker 'Desperado' as an ode to the John Wayne and Clint Eastwood westerns he'd been raised on.
As it turns out though, West Texas is not the ideal place for this sort of thing. Weirdos running around fighting crime in funny costumes were.. not particularly welcome, especially not one's packing heat. And so he made his way to Millenium City, where apparently there was a market for this sort of thing, and made a minor name for himself in Westside doing battle against the slums army of oddly dressed criminals.
Powers
Harlow/Desperado likes to brag that he can out-shoot any man alive, and at least in regards to normal humans this is quite likely true. Owing to his extensive neuro-augmentation, he can not only perform the type of madcap feets of gunmanship one sees in a Hollywood movie, but do so while making it look easy. His brain is constantly calculating exactly where his firearm needs to be to hit whatever target or targets he needs to drop and sending the coordinates to his wrists, which adjust his aim down to fractions of a millimeter. All this happens in less than a second. It is therefore not uncommon to see him draw and fire at a far-away target without even bothering to aim down the sights, and hit it regardless (for example).
Along with the installed targeting matrix, his muscles, joints and peripheral nerves have also been enhanced. More dense, sensitive nerve clusters allow for fine motor control far beyond what he'd been previously capable of, joint enhancement and strengthening improve flexibility. He can perform the sorts of feats of acrobatics that many have to train their bodies and minds for years in order to perform; in combat, he is almost always a fast moving and slippery target.
Persona
Harlow is well aware of the tropes drawn from the Western genre his costume and persona embody, and plays them to the hilt whenever the opportunity arises. He'll work the 'mysterious stranger' angle when he enters a new area of operations, or play up the 'notorious shootist' in ones where he is well known. That being said, he is not by any means a cold blooded killer. Desperado operates as a crime fighter according to Millenium City's legal restrictions. He is registered, and usually attempts to take down human criminals through non-lethal means by utilizing a variety of less-than-lethal munitions.
From the general public, he keeps his identity secret. Desperado has several non-super-powered family members at large in Texas, including both his parents and his sister Kelly. Were his enemies to connect his real name with the costume, all three would be in very grave danger.
Current Operations and Whereabouts
Desperado is currently in hiding after having had his identity exposed during a major cyber-security breach. He may have returned to his native Texas, though rumors abound that he now works as a private security contractor under a pseudonym.
Major Operations
2010: In what he considers to be his 'debut' as a bonafide superhero, Desperado took to defending the tiny desert town of Armadillo Gulch from greedy land developers trying to push its people off their land through extralegal means - usually intimidation and a small army of gunthugs. Eventually the incensed corporate tycoon at the venture's head took to supervillainy, becoming 'The Baron' and utilizing an array of gadgets and energy weapons to take on the gunslinger personally. The resulting showdown was destructive and messy, and the local authorities were not amused. It was then that Desperado decided to move somewhere more cape friendly.
2011: After a few months establishing his heroing credentials, Desperado is tagged to participate in Operation Serpent Lantern. The UNTIL VTOL ship he and his crew had been traveling on, however, experienced mechanical failure and went down in the eastern Congo. The cowboy and a squad of UNTIL soldiers were forced to hole up and defend themselves against a local warlord army that frequented the area interested in stealing their weapons tech; it was a week before he and the soldiers were extracted.
2012: Desperado joins the Blackwatch Defenders. A few months into his stint, a powerful cybernetic supervillain known as the Pale Blade attacks City Hall with a horde of his heavily armed confederates. They defend the hall, Desperado covering his teammates with sniper fire, but eventually the Blade's forces breach their perimeter. The threat of loss of life is so great that city authorities and team leaders authorize the use of lethal force. Desp engages in a gunfight with the Pale Blade's best markswoman.. and loses. As he bled to death on the foyer's floor, he manages to squeeze out just enough life to pump several shotgun slugs into Pale Blade's augmented skull, severely wounding him and preventing him from slaying the group's healer Penitence. Eventually the Blackwatch prevails, and Penitence's healing magic brings the cowboy back from the bleeding edge of death.
2013: The gunslinger departs the defenders to operate more or less independently. During this period he assisted Detective Lydia Graves with a major murder and corruption investigation, and occasionally lent his talents to the Protectors of the World.
2014: Desperado's nemesis Steel Lariat gains access to Desperado's true identity through a major breach of the national registration system that saw several other heros exposed thusly. His immediate family is directly targeted. With the assistance of the Protectors, they escape unscathed and Lariat is brought to justice, but the incident convinces him to go into permanent retirement.
Comments
Had a memorable run-in with the cowboy? Leave some luv.
"Well, shootskies! Ah'll be darn tootin' if he ain't the rustlin'est, tuslin'est cowboy this side'a the West! Hell, the cow-wrangler's only the second-best gunslinger in the whole damn world behind that there All-Star fella! Yeehaw! Boy, howdy!" *Snerk* "That's what he sounds like." - All-Star
"Aside from the unbearable rivalry between Desperado and All-Star, I can think of few others who I feel as comfortable with on the field. He's proven to me time and time again he's incredibly proficient at what he does. Not to mention his accent is, hm, charming in its own way." - Sparrowhawk
"It's no secret anymore that he and I are close. He's a good marksman, he's had my back in several situations, and he tends to keep my mind from going to dark places. Unfortunately, he listens to annoying music and keeps talking that lazy cowboy speak... Honestly I wish he was around a l- Right time for personal stuff another time. He's good to me. And I like having him around."' '- Detective Lydia Grayle ~ Feral
"Great guy. It is unfortunate his name got out, and he is having to deal with that. He has a great family though and I hope that he will be able to get through this. It was also an honor to see him in action." - African Violet
