BATTLE ANGEL, also known as "Tetsutenshi" or "Iron Angel."
Story: In any Zero Zone, there are the hunters and the hunted. The Neo York Zero Zone is no exception, containing a sizable population of gang members, Mafia soldatos, Yakuza kobun, organleggers, white slavers, smugglers and dealers in contraband of all sorts. Due to the lawless nature of the Zones, most of these people are able to operate openly, without fear of persecution from law enforcement officials. But for those who are willing to risk the danger, one can try to survive by preying on these people by becoming a bounty hunter, retrieving those who would rather not be found. Tetsutenshi is one of these people. She has made the Neo York Zero Zone her hunting ground, pursuing her quarry with cold and ruthless efficiency.
Tetsutenshi's exact background is a mystery, no one is quite certain where she comes from, and even her real name is unknown. She is a very private person and, as of yet, has not revealed much about her origins. Many in the Zone presume that she is a former corporate operative, having come to the Zone in order to avoid her previous employers. Others suspect that Tetsutenshi is secretly in the employ of the Neo York Police Department, or is a corporate assassin, or a member of one of the local Mafia families. Since the exact details are unknown, the theories can be come quite elaborate, and quite improbable.
Description: For all her reputed physical prowess, Tetsutenshi is somewhat less than imposing. She stands about 5 feet tall, with a slimly proportioned cybernetic body that weighs close to 400 pounds. Tetsutenshi's head is her only remaining organic body part. She is of indeterminate heritage, with a pale complexion, dark brown eyes, and thick, black, shoulder-length hair. Tetsutenshi usually dresses all in black, her standard costume consisting of a fully covering jumpsuit, knee-high boots, fingerless gloves, and a full-length duster.
CHIH-WAN "ANDY" LAU
Story: Andy mixes natural talent with genetically-improved physical ability and just a touch of wire. He is a freelance wuxia (the Chinese nickname for what the west calls a "street samurai"), and usually works as a solo operative, doing anything from bodyguard work to assassinations (although he is rather picky about wetwork jobs). His skill with the gun is legendary, with a reputation that has spread far from the bounds of his native Hong Kong. However, he doesn't travel much, preferring life in the city-state, which has all the action he could ever hope for.
Andy is a resident of Mandarin Towers and oddly enough seems to be rather taken with his landlady, Sarah J Ferrari. Although he's never made any sort of romantic overture, the two do seem to be good friends, and often go to dinner and the movies together.
Description: Nearly 6 feet in height, Andy Lau has the trim build of a man who engages in regular exercise. He wears his black hair long, letting it fall past his shoulders, and also affects a neatly-trimmed goatee. As befitting someone of his reputation and skill, he dresses in stylishly-cut suits, usually adding a long overcoat (the better to hide his guns).
DANNY 33
Story: A native of Neo York, Danny works the city side, running the shadows for corporate clients. He's been in the Zone, and doesn't like it one bit. To him it's too chaotic, too confused, too primitive. He likes the clean chrome and bright neon of city life and doesn't see the appeal of scraping one's living out of the dirt. That said, he has nothing against people living in the Zone, he figures its their choice, and if someone hires him to get them into the Zone, he'll work just as hard to do so as if they hired him to get them out. He knows to make it as a sam one needs to be dependable and honorable (at least with regards to contracts), and he'd rather not tarnish his slowly growing reputation.
Description: Danny is of mixed parentage, with skin a light tan color and dark brown eyes, He stands about 5'9", with a very fit build, and trains constantly. He shaves his head, exposing the multiple tattoos of various geometric patterns that cover his scalp and upper body. He normally wears combat boots, fatigue pants, an equipment belt, and his armored vest, leaving his chest and upper body otherwise bare. Danny's cyberarm is of brushed steel, while his eyes are covered with reflective silver flare filters.
HIROKO O'HARA
Story: For some people, the limitations of the human body are considered to be nothing more than a simple obstacle that can be overcome with the proper application of technology. Hiroko O'Hara is one these people. Growing up in a low-income neighborhood, Hiroko quickly adapted to life in one of the numerous area streetgangs. Willing to do whatever was necessary to gain an edge over her fellow gang members, Hiroko turned to cyberware augmentation. Unable to afford a proper upgrade, Hiroko visited an illegal chop shop, having a cheap, but effective smartgun link installed. Impressed with her newly implanted equipment, Hiroko began to have other cybernetic systems installed as soon as she could afford them. Now, she supports her high-tech habit as a gun-for-hire, acting as a courier, bodyguard, or simple street muscle.
Description: Hiroko is of Asian descent, short and slim, standing 5'4" and weighing only about 110 pounds. She has a well-defined, athletic build, a result of her own strenuous workouts and implanted muscle tissue. Hiroko's hair is thick, black and worn shoulder length. Her eyes are featureless chrome orbs with no visible pupils, an effect that some people find a bit unnerving. If needed, she will don sunglasses to hide them. Hiroko has two dataports on the right side of her head, a datajack set behind her ear, and a smartgun jack in her right temple.
Hiroko's usual costume consists of black leather boots, black leather pants and a black armorcloth jacket worn over a white turtleneck. Her pistol is holstered on her belt, and the cable is allowed to hang free. If needed, she will adopt more formal dress, with tinted glasses to hide her eyes.
JOHNNY JAVA
Story: A former special operations trooper from Eastern Europe, Johnny's been through a lot. He's seen action all through the former Soviet Union, and ended up on the Russian "Eastern Front," fighting Muslim freedom fighters and Chinese warlords with delusions of grandeur. Like many others before him, he eventually, he burned out and drifted away, to wash up in Hong Kong. There he found a new calling, as a freelance solo, plying his trade among the towers of Hong Kong, as opposed to the mountains of Mongolia.
Johnny's had a rough time of it. Although he's skilled and well-wired, his wire is not what anyone could call "cutting edge," and it is starting to go. When he first became active in the city-state, people knew him as Johnny Cracow, seeing as he was a native of Poland. After his implants started to fail, he became known as Johnny Wired. Now, with his reflex boosts having turned him into a virtual speed freak, he's been given the nickname of "Johnny Java" as his rapid patter and shaky limbs make him look like he's on a perpetual caffeine high.
Description: Johnny's tall and lean, with the sort of build one expects from a man who is always on the move. He's lean and well-muscled, and tends to wear Eastern European fashions. He is quite skilled at two-gun fighting, and carries multiple firearms on his person at all times.
THE LEI SISTERS
Story: Lei Fang and Lei Xiang aren't really sisters, but it makes for a good working handle, especially since "Lei" really is the duo's given name. They are a pair of well-wired sams with a penchant for hand-to-hand combat, seeing as both are skilled masters of kung fu/wu shu (and fight very well when working together). They are also familiar with a wide variety of traditional Chinese weapons and occasionally carry such items while on the job. They can use guns as well, but prefer not to. They two are popular as bodyguards for showy functions and the like, or as security for covert operations.
Description: Both women stand around 5'7", with the same the same athletic builds, and long brownish-black hair (usually tied up out of the way when on a mission). Their clothing tends to be stylish but still practical. All in all, they do look just like sisters.
THE LOVELY ANGELS
Story: Kei Stewart and Yuri Takahasi are pair of genetically upgraded mercenaries in hardsuits. They work all over the world and are usually hired if you don't care about such little things as mass destruction. No, they are not as utterly unlucky as the original Dirty Pair, but still seem to have this problem with perfectly normal operations getting out of hand and going destructively down the tubes. Thus, their reputation for doing messy work, which means they now get hired for operations where a mess isn't a problem, usually resulting in a mess, and this reenforcing their reputation.
Kei wears a blue hardsuit with gold trim and packs a Fabrique Nationale Heavy Machine Gun (belt-fed from an ammo bin on her hip) with "Kei's Power Tool" written down the barrel. Yuri's hardsuit is silver and black and she normally carries a smart-linked Styer Automatisches Universal Gewehr CSL. Both have extensive cybernetic and bioware implants and are just as dangerous outside their hardsuits as in.
Along with their reputation for destructive and dirty operations, the Lovely Angels are also presumed to be lesbians, mainly because no one ever seems to see them out on a date. On the other hand, they do tend to dress in a way to emphasize their upgraded figures and do have an eye for the guys, so maybe everyone's just scared of them. Nabiki says their synthetic male escort bills are outrageous.
Description: The Lovely Angels have virtually identical genetically enhanced physiques: long legs and athletic, well-endowed figures. Out of their hardsuits they tend to dress in one-piece jumpsuits, with the front zipper undone to about there. Kei is the taller of the two at 5'8", while Yuri comes in at 5'7". Kei has tanned skin and a thick riot of dark red hair she keeps bound back with a headband. Yuri has pale skin and long blue-black hair.
SHINA ARAKAWA
Story: Shina is one of Nabiki's many freelance agents she keeps on retainer (Katherine "Kitten" Ramis is another). A genetic upgrade, Shina has disdained the use of wire, instead improving her physical skills through constant training. A master of kenjutsu and judo, she exercises regularly, and includes pushups, sit-ups, jogging, and upwards of 200 practice sword strokes as part of her daily regime. Her weapon of choice isn't a katana but a bokken made from high-density high-impact armored plastic (with a black rubber grip). It will pass through a metal detector with no problems and Shina figures if it was good enough for Miyamoto Musashi, it's good enough for her. Besides, getting hit with it hurts.
Shina doesn't consider herself a "samurai" per se, but more of a kensei (sword master). She also describes herself as a shugysha, or "student warrior" and treats all of the Pacific Rim as her training ground. She works with Nabiki as a way to get direct combat experience, and thus improve her skills in both armed and unarmed fighting. As a "student warrior" Shina has little use for the corporations and their politics, except as a source of income (since her skills often come in handy when two corporations argue). She prefers to practice her swordplay, not engage in petty machinations.
Description: Shina stands 5'9", with a long-legged and well-endowed figure she's fairly proud of. She has brown eyes and long reddish-black hair that normally falls past her waist, although she tends to keep it tied up with a length of brightly colored silk knotted into a large bow. Although dedicated to her sword skills, Shina does allow herself the luxury of dressing nicely. She feels Musashi overdid it with his distaste for baths and clean clothing. Her normal wear is often quite stylish and fashionable, while her combat gear consists of an armored black bodysuit, armor plate on forearms and shins, and a short-sleeved overtunic that comes down to her knees and is cut up to the hip on either side. Fingerless gloves and boots complete the outfit.
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