Blackjack's People #128
Good Hard Beating
By Blackjack [Blackjack's Shadowrun Page: www.BlackjackSR.com] [BlackjackSRx@gmail.com] [@BlackjackSRx]

Posted: 2001-01-15

Breakneck

Archetype: Troll Thug

An Urban Brawler who quit the circuit after an LMG round annihilated a significant part of his brain, Breakneck maintains an impressive collection of medication designed to dull the constant pain rattling around in his half empty skull.  The injury also made him insanely violent, requiring the installation of a piece of cerebral cyberware (specifically, a Psychotic Inhibitor) that prevents the emergence of homicidal episodes.

Unable to find work after the accident, Breakneck descended into a pit of depression and heavy drinking.  His intelligence (not that there was much to begin with) was virtually gone, and the Psychotic Inhibitor prevented him from performing any violent actions, thus knocking him out of the troll oriented job markets of bouncing, security, etc.

Then, one morning, Breakneck woke up to discover that he couldn't move most of his body.  He managed to drag himself to a clinic where the cybertechnician discovered a glitch in his Psychotic Inhibitor that resulted in temporary paralysis.  However, the problem could be solved by simply switching the Inhibitor off and then back on again.  The doctor installed a mental "reset" switch that would allow Breakneck to reset the system, as well as the ability to mentally set a timer that would determine how long the system would stay off before it kicked back in.

On his way home, Breakneck encountered a group of drunken racists who began harassing him with verbal and physical taunts.  The racists quickly realized that this towering mass of muscle wasn't going to fight back and proceeded to drag him into an alley and beat the hell out of him.  Feeling consciousness slipping from his body, Breakneck set his mental timer for 30 seconds and deactivated the inhibitor.  By the time it kicked back in, two of his attackers were dead..

As time passed, Breakneck learned to use the Inhibitor to his advantage and even developed a significant amount of control over himself while it was off.  He found he could keep from killing everybody in a room by redirecting his rage against inanimate objects after the primary target(s) went down.  He began hiring himself out as a freelance thug, finding work with a variety of organized crime groups.

Breakneck is generally a pleasant individual who possesses childlike charm and innocence (while the Inhibitor is on, of course).  He loves children's books and spends much of his disposable income at toy stores.

Hammerstone

Archetype: Troll Thug

Hammerstone is an asshole bully with the social graces of a large pile of dog shit.  He is absolutely huge, sporting virtually every dermal and skeletal enhancement you can think of.  While this makes him a bitch to damage, his slow speed at least makes him easier to try to damage.  Of course, you may not even get the chance since Hammerstone has no scruples against hitting somebody over the back of the head with a lead filled aluminum baseball bat before they even know what's coming.

If somebody wishes to argue against trideo violence's effect on sensitivity, Hammerstone should probably be avoided as a case study.  His living room is filled with about 20 screens, each displaying violent programming.  His tastes include snuff videos, illegal death sport taps, recordings of executions, war movies, urban brawl, and virtually anything else that draws blood.  Most of Hammerstone's income goes into the acquisition of violent programming, or the equipment necessary to receive and play it.

Hammerstone rarely socializes, preferring to watch his three dimensional death until his commlink rings with an assignment.  His jobs include destruction of property (better pay that property protection money) and general beatings.  Despite his taste for death, Hammerstone rarely kills, although he can beat you so close to death that you'll swear you smelled God's cologne.