Chief Hale “Weapon X” Henderson (Sequoia)

Membership: ADF (Alexandrian Defense Force)

Race: Human

Height: 5’10

Weight: 180

Apparent Age: 70+

Archetype: Cybered Gunslinger Adept (Cyber Criminal)

        Circle: Unknown (Consider Yourself Already Fucking Dead!!)

Preferred Weapon: Ranger Sequoia/Winchester Repeater

Runner Song:

BIO:

His name is Hale Henderson and this man is fucking old, I mean really damned old as he is the man that founded Henderson Nevada. He made his money during the Gold Rush of 1849 and would be one of the lucky one’s within the FIP to avoid the poverty that many would suffer after being dumped out of the military with only the clothing on their backs and the gear in their duffle. Hale would be sitting on a small fortune and he would put that money to good use in purchasing barren desert land outside Las Vegas and creating a town that would be named after him within Clark County. His military service would end during the Second World War after he would be severely injured during the Invasion of Normandy were he would find himself suffering multiple gunshot wounds, torn ligaments in his ankles and partially impaled on a hedgehog……mind you Hale Henderson would go on to fight for another full day before being rescued and even killing multiple German soldiers with his trusty M1.

His wounds would be to sever for him to continue military service and he would be discharged and sent home after a quick visit to the field hospital in France where he would fall in love with his nurse and the two would end up married before Staff Sargent Henderson would be shipped home. Once back stateside this former cavalry soldier, and member of the 82nd Airborne would find himself forsaken by the US War Department and it would be only his original wealth and his sheer will that would allow this disabled veteran to excel where others would fail.

He would have an added benefit and that would be his loving wife by his side, a French nurse that would not allow her broken husband to wallow in his grief and use his suffering as a crutch. She would motivate him to buy up land, purchase homes, and basically build the small town that was forming within the shadow of Las Vegas and do to his generations of knowledge and experience along with a cutthroat mentality he would gobble up the land, and structures within the town in no time. Hale would simply build an empire and than casually lease the land and properties out to further his wealth and power.

This man would end up having the town and eventual city of Henderson Nevada named after him…..well it was basically already named after him seeing he was the one that started the construction of this town during the very early days of the westward movement; so it wasn’t a stretch for this man to become one of the wealthiest robber barons of the 19th and 20th centuries. Henderson would be incorporated on April 16th 1953 and this would be a wonderful birthday present for Hale Henderson as he had become the towns first mayor and would serve 3 terms before stepping down to allow for the people to elect someone else to replace their beloved mayor.

Though not all was going swimmingly for Hale as much as the people loved him for looking after them and breathing life into the town, he had multiple problems impacting him. The first being his disdain for big industry, and the other was his relentless pursuit of gaining capital. He basically refused to sell any of the land he owned and this would create a power vacuum where home ownership was practically impossible and forget owning your own building to open a small business. This would mean that Hale would basically be able to control what would be allowed in his precious Henderson, and he would be a stickler when accepting rental applications and would always demand a cut of the profits as part of the lease terms.

Hale would become a very shrewd businessman and would quickly rise in power within Clark County and eventually he would go head to head against Robert House and Phillip Conrad within Las Vegas; not to mention Johnathan Winters within Henderson. All three men wanted to own and operate businesses within Henderson and the only thing standing in their way would be Hale Henderson and his wife Georgia Henderson, and needless to say Hale would not back down and would prove to be far more ruthless then either of the Vegas goons and Winters was weary of Hale for some unknown reason.

Through the 1950’s and part of the 1960’s Hale would rule Henderson with an iron fist, he would establish the public works department, the civil service department and basically everything that would be needed to run and operate a successful town and let it blossom into a city. He would employ fellow Federal Immortality Project veterans, former gunfighters of the old west and natives that he was friendly with when he rode during the wild west…yes they were all retired FIP veterans pre 1899 and the lawless west would be born yet again. Some names of note would be Adrian Longtooth, William Georgetown, Gibson Rockford, Walter Gunner, Emerson Appleton, Parker Yates, and employing part time aid from others that rode with him during the wild west.

Basically Henderson Nevada would become the prototype that would eventually become the Southwest Trinity and seeing Hale Henderson was part of the Santa Fe Ring this wouldn’t be a group of people to cross…seeing they buried countless on Boothill during the 19th century. These men worked alongside FIP legends Montgomery Hillard, Orson White, Harvey Williamson, Addison Mayweather, Bailey Georgetown, Wesley Burns, Wilhuff Palpatine, Robert Churchill and others during the days when the west was wild…it is rumored that these men are the reason why the “West Was Wild” and they were the original Cowboys from Hell.

So lets get back on track, it’s the early 60’s and Henderson is growing fast as local industry draws more and more people out west to settle in Clark County and strike it rich in Las Vegas, the people are renting Hale’s land and he is quickly becoming one of the richest men in America do to his ruthless nature and his stalwart nature. He is not making friends with those that rule Las Vegas and soon the streets would see the original shadow war as the Ring would collide directly with House and Conrad. Hale knew Phillip Conrad’s dark and dirty secret, he knew that Conrad had butchered his family to rise in the ranks of the elite; Hale would use this to his advantage numerous times to simply extort and blackmail Phillip Conrad into backing down.

Hale and Phillip would go to war numerous times and when the Diablo Blanco’s would collide blood would flow through the streets like a raging river, and it would be a rare cool evening in the summer of 1966 when the war would hit it’s climax. This would leave Hale nearly dead after being shot by a hale of bullets by multiple gangsters using tommy guns as Hale exited his favorite restaurant, Hale and his pregnant wife Georgia would be fired upon like Bonnie and Clyde and when the smoke cleared both Henderson’s laid on the ground in a pool of their own blood. Over a dozen civilians would be killed in the gunfire and lets just say the Ring didn’t take kindly to this.

Las Vegas would open Pandora’s Box on August 20th 1966 and this would be one box Conrad and House wished they had never opened, as it would bring the Ring directly into Vegas and they would not be looking for peace…actually just the opposite and the mafia controlled Vegas was just about to learn the hard way that Old Vegas Goons where no match for the Desperados of the Old West. Without warning multiple old gunfighters would flood the streets of Vegas and send countless of Conrad’s men to an early grave. All seemed like Hale Henderson had been butchered in that barrage of bullets as no one would be able to survive being shot over a hundred times…seriously no one should have survived that, and yet Hale would not only survive he would rise from the ashes stronger.

Conrad had killed his beloved wife and his unborn child and nearly killed Hale and he wasn’t going to allow for that slight to go unpunished. Hale after only a few months of recovery would drive himself into Las Vegas, he would march into Conrad Towers with his old gang backing him up this included Gibson Rockford, Adrian Longtooth, and Emerson Appleton. The four men would enter the hotel and casino armed to the teeth and begin opening fire onto Conrad’s security and staff that were known to be part of his crime syndicate. Their speed and skill was unmatched by any of Conrad’s goons and the Henderson Four as they were now being called would simply fight there way to Conrad’s office where they would catch their sworn enemy within his office.

As Gibson kicked the door open, Emerson simply butchered the guards and staff including sending Conrad’s muscle Joker to a near death state. They would catch Conrad and House cowering in the office trying to hide behind a large wooden desk, this is were Gibson would toss a knife straight into Robert House’s chest before drawing and hip firing his peacemaker into the wounded Robert House, and Hale and Emerson would open up with their own hail of bullets from their repeating rifles and revolvers…they would leave the two men to bleed out in the office as a very bloody and brutal message “Don’t Ever Cross the Ring!”

They would simply walk out of the office and as Joker was starting to get back up he would be told…”Boy don’t even think about it.” and that’s when Gibson simply raised his hand and his Bowie knife would fly out of the chest of House and find it’s way back to Gibson’s hand. Joker would attempt to dive onto Hale and he would earn a quick bullet from Hale’s Winchester that would put Conrad’s dog back down. Gibson would drive his cowboy boot straight into the chest of Joker and impale him with his silver tipped knife that was concealed within the toe of the boot, the four men would laugh and then leave the office and walk out of the Casino with zero altercations with the police.

I am not sure how that would be possible but they would never see felony charges filed against them and they would leave countless dead in their wake. Now I am not sure how Robert House, Phillip Conrad, and Joker would survive their encounter with the Ring but it did teach them a valuable lesson and after that bloody 16th of March 1967 Conrad and House would never bother the Ring and Henderson again. The four gunfighters had put the fear of god into the Old Vegas Goons and the fallout would further keep Johnathan Winters at bay, many criminal syndicates would fall victim to the Henderson Four and it wouldn’t be till January of 1968 when Hale would find himself forcible drafted into the Vietnam Conflict do this FIP status.

Many in the Ring including Hales only son William believed that Old Vegas was behind his sudden drafting and removal from the town he helped birth, seeing they had failed to kill the unkillable and so it would be a few phone calls and off to war with the disabled veteran. Needless to say Hale was not thrilled about being recalled to service, and this would keep him away from his beloved Henderson for many years and during his time away the cities growth would be uncontrolled as the eye of Hale wouldn’t be ever watching and controlling. The Ring would do what they could to keep control and William would do the best he could but in the end Henderson would eventually simply grow up in the shadow of Vegas and while the cat was away House and Conrad would take advantage of the situation and so would Winters.

Now I am not going to say Hale had a wonderful time in the war, just the opposite actually. He would end up wounded numerous times, many of his injuries would be enough to send any other soldier home and yet Hale would simply be reinjected and sent back out into the field, he even tried to get himself chucked out by nearly killing one of the doctors as they tried to inject him with the FIP serum. Hale would grab the injector and shove the business end into the officers chest and if that needle was larger it would have pierced the heart and game over for the doctor, all that happened would be Hale being subdued by the staff and Dr. Heath injecting Hale with a sedative. The War Department refused to court martial Staff Sargent Hale Henderson for attempted murder and simply told the MASH doctors to patch him up and ship him back to the front.

This would not be Hale’s only confrontation with the MASH doctors and that damned FIP injection, as he would find himself back there again and this time he was sedated during triage and according to Dr. Heath’s report they needed to use enough morphine to kill an elephant just to sedate Hale enough to not be a physical threat to the staff. It wasn’t that he didn’t respect the medical personal and want the medical attention, it was simply that he didn’t respect those that were forcing more of that serum into his veins. Hale was valuable to the military as it seemed he was unkillable and best to keep this FIP success story in the field…Hale simply wanted to go home, he was done with the pain, he was done with being subjected to meatball surgery and having metal hardware put in his body to keep him moving.

His time in Vietnam would end in fall of 1971 when he would be badly wounded during an encounter with the Viet Cong and after having his ankle destroyed by a punji stick, shot numerous times, catching shrapnel in the back and pulling numerous men out of a most certain death and back to safety…their are twelve soldiers and their families that owe a huge thank you to SSGT Hale Henderson. He would end up back at MASH the quick way as he would fall out of the chopper and end up being impaled on his litter, this would be the injury that would send him home…Hale would simply give up and accept death but death wouldn’t come for him on that day. It would be the work of Heath that would keep Hale alive and this time he would be sent home after a stint in Germany for further surgery and recovery.

Now back home in Henderson the city had grown in Hale’s absence, corporations had moved in, chain stores started to flourish, and Las Vegas had it’s hooks deep into Henderson. Once Hale would return during the summer of 1972 he would be in for a culture shock as neon lights, and a sprawling urban jungle had overtaken his once scenic town. The Ring would hold just enough power to be relevant and Conrad had moved into his town and place a few loyal goons into the cities council…needless to say this didn’t sit well with Hale and so would begin the second war with Vegas. Hale’s son William now 19 would be married and his wife pregnant this would deeply upset Hale, he would be happy that his boy had found a wife but he would be bothered that he missed the wedding of his only son.

Hale would bury these emotions deep inside as he would grow to love his daughter in law and seeing he had a steady income, he simply figured it was time to take it easy and simply enjoy the fruits of his labor…well this would be short lived as Conrad was not done trying to expand into his territory and seeing he believed that Hale was beyond broken and no longer a danger to him or House. Well this would be the second near fatal mistake that Conrad would make when dealing with Hale, and that would be simply under estimating Hale Henderson. He might walk with a cane now but he is no slouch nor is he ever to broken to be a danger. The Henderson Four still lived and the streets were once again going to flow with blood, Conrad and House were about to loose millions in the process as Hale and his gang of FIP veterans were about to teach Conrad another valuable lesson in violence.

The Army had screwed up and trained Hale to be a special forces soldier and he was now a retired Green Beret with countless decades of command, and tactile experience. He survived shit that would kill anyone else…well besides the lucky FIP or some could say unlucky. He had contacts, friends, and allies in Washington DC and he was ungodly wealthy…this is a really bad combination for someone trying to move in on another’s turf. This would once again climax after ten years of a bloody shadow war with Conrad finding himself face to face with Hale and needless to say this once again ended with Conrad laying in a pool of his own blood and Joker being impaled by Hale’s cane and a bullet put through his chest…again I am unsure how any of these men are still alive.

Robert House would be gifted with a broken neck at the hands of Gibson who as well had returned from Vietnam a retired Green Beret, the war would end this time on Christmas Eve 1982 and it would be back to business as normal. Conrad and Houses businesses in Henderson would be torched, the land stolen from them through a very hostile takeover and Hale would once again sit upon his throne as the King of Kings. Throughout the 80’s Hale would keep up with the FIP he had met in Nam and would become friends with the likes of Rusty Rutherford, Maxwell Irving, Alvin Webster and Tullius Kissinger. All the while he would grow the friendships with Montgomery and Charles Palpatine, Addison Mayweather, and Franklin Quinn it would be these friendship’s that would direct the next chapter of Hale’s life…as he would find himself being once again recalled into service but this time it would be for the government as a Intelligence Officer and eventually become part of the Brooklyn Bombers.

Yup this man didn’t start his life within Southwest as he would be born within New York City and cut his teeth on the mean streets NYC under the gaslight. Hale’s time in the Bombers would also land him in the direct spotlight of the government and this would end up with him having to run numerous times from something called the Iteration X and according to reports Hale would not be sought out for arrest, they were trying to assassinate him and needless to say this Iteration X would fail numerous times until he would find himself captured by them. It looks like after numerous failed assassination attempts they started to try to take Hale alive, and well according to our records he would be rescued from Room 9 the same time as his other friends would be.

Hale would serve the Bombers till the unit would be disbanded the hard way, yes the 401st Bombers would meet a similar fate as the 401st Ghost Division and only a handful of the Original Bad Asses remain and yes I know that the Original Bad Ass Brigade is the Ghost Division but I will be including the forgotten special forces division into that one as well…I do believe they too are the Original Bad Asses sue me. After nearly being killed once again by the government Hale would once again slip into the shadows and return to Henderson where he could keep an eye on his beloved town and watch for the advances of Conrad and House, this time tough Hale knew better than to involve himself within the day to day activities of Henderson and simply operated from the shadows and before House and Conrad would know what hit them the Ring would seize full control of Henderson and suddenly their dreaded foes where right on their doorsteps.

This would cause those Vegas Ghouls to simply have to submit and obey, and for some reason Conrad had become even more terrified of Hale and would simply kowtow to Hale and accept his place as a subservient…not sure what changed after Hales time with the Bombers and escaping Iteration X but it seemed to strike the fear of god into Conrad, House was trapped in a wheelchair as a quadriplegic after having his neck broken by Gibson. The Henderson Four would simply rule the streets and when these men walked the streets under the cover of night, the criminal empire of Winters would simply try to avoid detection…rumors indicate that these men walked with odd weapons such as water pistols, wooden stakes, and other odd devices that would…Oh My God!!

Could this mean the Henderson Four are Vampire Hunters….wait the also carried silver bullets and wolfsbane, oh for fucks sake don’t tell me werewolves are real as well! It says that Hale was part of something called the Weapon X program “Oh God” the ramblings of those kids can’t be real! Well whatever is going on with Hale Henderson had the crime boss Johnathan Winters very nervous when Hale was out on patrol, could it be his hunter status, did the Iteration X do something to him that made him beyond lethal, did the government do something to him during the weapon x program….(mental note I need to investigate this further), or is that Hale and the Henderson Four are just that bad ass? Well I am going to have to research this further and figure out those claims.

Why his title is Chief is unknown as he isn’t a native chief like Redeye and Jade, but he does serve the Alexandrian Defense Force now and has been fighting in the Alexandrian Conflict since day one with the rest of the Henderson Four. It says he served something called the NCR according to our contacts and okay according to them he would be a NCR Ranger and the Chief of Chiefs…before oh fuck it, this all sounds like bull shit and can’t be real….I’m done. I will simply look into the claims of the Weapon X program and Iteration X and that’s it, this NCR crap seems simply to be bull shit and I refuse to report on this any further.

Now as for Hale’s family well he is a many times great grandfather and has remarried, he would be wed to the sister of his friend Nero Caprio and father another son before his second wife would meet her untimely death in yet another failed assassination attempt. His Son William would marry the daughter of Parker Yates and spawn multiple children with only a few surviving the multiple attacks on their life, Hale’s family was basically used as a ploy to draw out the Henderson Four by one of his multiple enemies. I do feel for this man as he did try to protect his family and would be gifted with another funeral and another bullet scar, with the most recent being his great something grand daughter and her father being killed by a once ally Woodrow McDaniels.

Hale’s eldest son with Marla Henderson would be killed when Conrad and House would have Hale ambushed on the Hoover Damn and turn his Mercedes SUV into swiss cheese with automatic fire, this would leave Hale riddled with bullets and nearly dead once again…though like the last time he would walk out of the hospital only to attend the memorial services for his son Cale and his wife Marla, lets just say Nero Caprio didn’t take this sitting down and the Ring would seek retribution for the murder of Marla and Cale…not to mention the attempted murder of Hale. Conrad would not only survive the Ring assassins he would deflect them directly onto Johnathan Winters and once Hale was walking again this would cause Winters to flee Henderson with Hale and the others hot on his trail.

Hale’s youngest son with Marla would marry Hales long time friend Emerson Appleton’s daughter, and his grand daughter from his first marriage would marry the son of his closest friend Gibson Rockford. Hale is a content family man, and understands that one must keep those they love close and protect them with everything they have. He has given up finding another partner as he simply doesn’t believe it’s worth it and the pain of loosing them either to age or violence isn’t worth the heart ache. As he put it “I am immortal, I will live forever, and I can’t seem to die…I have been shot enough times to kill a thousand men ten times over, I have been blown to hell, fallen out of helicopter, tossed off a bridge, shot through the eye, my ankle is basically fused and I am held together by a hardware store and yet I am still alive.

” While both my wives were killed right next to me, my children suffered at the hands of my enemies, suffered at the hands of the government, or simply grew old and died…I am not sure what hurts more anymore? Watching the ones I love grow old and die, or having them taken from me while still young…both hurt, I have been to too many funerals for my loved ones.” he would continue ” I remember when my great grandson Edward Cullen was in the home, I would visit him often and there was my great grandson laying in the bed infirm and looking far older than I…yes that hurt me to my core, seriously a parent is not supposed to outlive their offspring but that’s my curse. I just sat there with him as he took my hand and looked me in my eye” and said “I love you Poppy” and “A few moments later the spirit horse came for him.” he would go on ” I cried holding Edwards lifeless hand, it doesn’t get easier regardless of what others tell you. The staff came in to escort me out to the waiting area while they moved Edward out of the room and as I sat there sobbing once again…I was snapped back to reality when the Chaplin came to see me. He sat down to talk to me and asked if I wanted to pray, I simply humored the man…I gave up on my faith many years ago, I am an atheist. Though when he said to me that my Father Edward did love me….that broke me, he thought my great grandson was my father.” ” I didn’t correct him, and simply realized that this young man maybe in his 30’s would never understand that I was the Patriarch and I didn’t want to crush his faith.

” My most recent funeral was for my Great Grand Daughter and my Son in Law…really I stopped using Greats along time ago, it gets confusing when your immortal and outlive most people. They were cut down in their prime by a one time friend, I would feel the sting of betrayal at the hands of Woodrow McDaniels when he would not only shot me in the chest and send me reeling to the floor. He would force me to watch as he put a bullet into the head of my Son in Law Wyatt Gunner…yes he was the grandson of my good friend Walter Gunner and to make matters worse Woodrow would violate my grand daughter before he ended her life by straggling her with his bare hands. I was powerless to stop him, as I was dying or so I thought…He thought he had killed the unkillable and when a man takes a bullet to the heart….well it’s normally lights out, and they way I felt and seeing I was blacking out and breathing was labored to me it was over and I was only being forced to witness the unthinkable before the spirt horse came for me.”

“Well the spirt horse didn’t come for me and it would be another trip to the hospital and another funeral for me to attend, I curse Woodrow for what he has done and I curse that bastard for the pain and suffering he has caused me and the many other families he destroyed throughout the years.” Well as I read the minutes from Hale’s interview about the FIP program and the damage it causes after the fighting ends, he brings up a valid point immorality comes with a price and that price is watching everything you love die and you carry on. Some say that this isn’t a problem and yet for Hale it is a steady reminder of the fragility of the human body and how quickly one can be taken from you. A parent isn’t supposed to outlive their children and according to Hale Georgia wasn’t his first wife as he was married during the days of the Gold Rush and Civil War…he states “Yes Georgia wasn’t my first wife and nor was she my second, back then it was normal to marry young and it was expected my first wife died at the ripe old age of 35 and my children with her would all die…well one would make it to the civil war and die at the battle of Gettysburg fighting for the Union Army. My youngest ones would simply not survive childhood as one would die during childbirth and the other would catch smallpox and well that was game over back then and yes that is what also killed my first wife I would survive simply by dumb luck by not catching it.

” I would marry once again after the Civil War to my second wife, this time I had the FIP injection flowing through my blood and I can thank that for helping my survive Polio….it has to be the only reason I survived but my second wife Dorothy would give me three children. Yes I was a happy father and I made sure they were well cared for through the multiple gold and silver mines I owned…yes by than I was filthy rich it afforded me the ability to support my family while I served in the Cavalry. My In Laws would be able to watch after my family as I served with the Cavalry and I can’t thank them enough for helping me out through those years…Thank you Mayweather’s even though they are all dead now with only my friend and brother Addison remaining, my kids would grow up and marry and die like everyone else in my life.

” My Dorothy would die just after the First World War when she would catch the Spanish Flu like many during those days, and my third wife would be Georgia Dumont and we all know how she perished…so if you ask me if I have scars…I have scars but it’s not the ones that adorn my body that hurt as much as the ones on my soul and mind. When your immortal you must hold those you care about and love close, you must keep your fellow FIP close to your heart as the ones that survive will be your only friends to still be breathing as the centuries go by. I know it’s hard to process but I have scene two centuries….well that’s my story and I am sticking with it, man isn’t supposed to live forever and our minds aren’t built to handle an eternity and especially one filled with conflict, trauma, addiction, diseases, and injury…I have forgotten more then you will ever hope to learn and I know one day I will forget this conversation and I will forget you.”

Well the more I read about this poor man the more I can sympathize with him, yet I will never understand his plight as I am not an FIP and yet he continues to thrust himself into conflict, could it be that the FIP are quietly trying to kill themselves the only way they know how and that’s in the heat of battle…or is the only place they feel at ease. Hale Henderson is beyond wealthy and he could easily retire and live the dream and yet he chooses to fight for the sovereignty of Alexandria and serve once again with his commanding officer Montgomery Palpatine. Hale promised the Pale Rider that he would always stand watch for him and would answer the call of duty if ever called and it seems that he is keeping his word, these FIP have little left in their lives as they have watched everything they love die and yet they have been put through the ringer numerous times and yet they are willing to put the uniform on again and take up arms in the name of freedom.

This will be my last article seeing if Hale Henderson can march into battle once more, then who am I to sit here as the world burns around me. China has entered this war and my country needs me, Alexandria needs me and so I will be heading down to the recruitment station and volunteering for war, I will be volunteering for the infantry, and like my ancestors before me I will be doing my part for my country. I know my family won’t be all that happy but if Hale Henderson, and the rest of the Henderson Four can all stand watch for the Pale Rider once more…I feel that I should at least stand watch once.

 

Page Written By: Brian Downs