General Ichabod Oliver (Watchman)

 Membership: Brotherhood of Mercenaries

Race: Human

Height: 5’10

Weight: 185

Apparent Age: 60

Archetype: Bounty Hunter (True Nature Unknown)

Preferred Weapon: Ronin Hand Cannon Mach 6 (Modified)

Runner Song:

Bio: The Watchman is the man in command of the International Guild of Bounty Hunters and the man that is one of the most ruthless of this bunch of now assassins, erasers and cleaners. He has forgone the old way of capturing the mark and bringing them in alive to stand trial and prefers the more brutal aspect of watching them suffer a fate wore than death as they become part of his brutal cat an mouse game. This man enjoys the thrill of the chase and is one leader that is more than wiling to get his hands dirty and take to the streets with the rest of his guild members and not just hide behind a desk and command from a war room and office. He is hands on and will make damned certain that anyone who’s name comes across their broadcast system meets a quick death and the body or just part of the body sent in for collection of the bounty; yes many bounties are preferred alive but the Watchman knows that even if the mark is dead they will still get paid a partial bounty and thats enough for him.

The Watchman considers himself to be a hero of the streets and a hero of the cities he dispatches his hunters into, seeing that he is saving the city or region countless credits in trial fees, and the money it would cost to incarcerate said criminal; now this brings to question not everyone with a bounty on their head is wanted dead or alive and some are just petty criminals or bail jumpers, well for the Watchman that doesn’t matter and if you came across his list; your death warrant has already been signed sealed and delivered just depends on witch guild member catches you first. Now for the Watchman he is the one to fear and I know I have already mentioned a few names that make people quiver in fear like the Naga, Doberman and Hellion but it’s this man that you really need to fear and worry about. This hunter has been working for generations and hunting the shadows during a time when Bounty Hunting was a non lethal profession and one that was regional and state by state with a few federal hunters mixed in that could cross state lines; the Watchman was one of those Federal Bounty Hunters that could travel from coast to coast and he would quickly learn that it was cheaper just to murder the prey than bring them in alive; and so would begin the rise of the new guild and with the help of the Doberman and Naga the Watchman would bring this guild to it’s peak and they would become one of the most feared law enforcement groups within the entire nation and eventually the world

Though with the events of the Great Tragedy of 2018 , the Great Information Crash of 2029 and the Rise of the UCAS (United Canadian American States) this man would see an opportunity to rise even higher and with the birth of the Brotherhood of Mercenaries and a sudden need for the capture of criminals from all walks of life the guild would set their sights on anyone and everyone that would carry a bounty; though eventually this would cause a rift in the guild as many of the members where in strong resistance to the rise of the New America and the Treaty of Denver and thus the division of the guild would form as members loyal to the UCAS would leave and begin to work for the government while others sided with the Patriots and rebels, for the Watchman this didn’t matter seeing he got his cut either way and was able to remain neutral like a Bounty Hunter Should. Though as the war raged on and the Brotherhood would quickly show their loyalties to the rebels and the government showing it’s true colours the Watchman would have nothing to do with the new America any longer and in his last bastion as uncontested leader of both groups he would make certain that the Guild would be without boarders and no criminal would be safe anywhere they stood. Though he would also make certain that many of those within the guild that where loyal to the UCAS never came home again and would vanish in a single night. Only a few of the original hunters of that era would go on to survive till today and they have recently turn coated back to the Watchman and the Freedom Patriots. I speak of the Wellton’s Willow and Oak that would stab their country in the back and turn to the rebels.

Though for the Watchman this was always a prospect seeing that these men where instilled with the core values of the old America and eventually they would fall back in line or fall in battle. Once the division was complete and the Watchman would have his Guild of Bounty Hunters under his thumb to do his dirty work, he would strike out against the enemies of the Rebellion and using his masterful hacking skills he would use their own money to put bounties on their heads and then send the likes of Doberman, Gunslinger, Casper and others to collect the bounty and then pay them with the marks own money. He would also employ tactics of bait and switch and just plain mass chaos to draw out the targets and eventually the Watchman would tire of overseeing the everyday office work and strike back out into the field and command his troops from the trenches and when your a Bounty Hunter it’s not like being a regular soldier in the army, more times than not you are alone or just with a single partner for back up. thus these men would have to learn quickly how to stay alive and become better than those they hunted. The Bounty Hunter walks a very fine line between lawman and criminal and for the Watchman he would cross that line many times and seeing he was not an official mercenary and neither where his fellow Guild members they would not be bound to a code of ethics and only have to follow the original hunters creed, that they did away with not long after the division. These men would be free to do as they please and with the deep pockets of the Watchman his men would fin themselves immune from prosecution and eventually the Watchman would affiliate the International Guild of Bounty Hunters directly with the Brotherhood of mercenaries in 2040 and further protect them from criminal prosecution.

The Guild might be affiliated with the Brotherhood but that doesn’t mean they are part of it officially on paper, this allows the Brotherhood to turn a blind eye to the guilds deadly tactics and wash their hands clean of the blood that the Watchman is coated in. Though for the Watchman this partnership was made in heaven, and would allow for further contracts; this would allow the Brotherhood to hand of bounties to the Guild that they didn’t care to dirty their hands in and know that their problems would go away in a very efficient and timely fashion and for the commanders of the Brotherhood they would come to rely on the International Guild of Bounty Hunters as their go to group for removing political and military advisories and for the Watchman this would mean barrels full of credits, gear, and training for his men. This alliance would also mean that the guild would be able to reach out to the Confederates for targets of opportunity and seeing that many in high command knew that the Guild would just kill the mark before bringing them in alive; all would be one cohesive machine. The Guild was protected by the Brotherhood and they would help each other out, with problems, though as the war raged on and the arrival of the Deaths Hand the Guild was left with a moral dilemma as the Hand was becoming a world threat and the World Court was issuing bounties onto specific members of the Hand; The Watchman showed that he was one evil bastard when he would ignore the Deaths Hand and even go as far as to help their members escape government hunters, he would fully align himself with the runners and those that he should be hunting and would pick and choose the targets that he would allow the guild to go after eventually this action would get a bounty put on his head and those that served with the Watchman.

Now you would think that the hunter known as Oak would be smarter than to try to collect the bounty on the Watchman, well Oak learned very quickly that his former boss was truly a force to be reckoned with as Oak had the Watchman in his sights and dead to rights, the trigger pulled and bullet flew out of the chamber heading for the back of the Watchman’s head. According to Oak the Watchman spun around and caught the bullet between his thumb and index finger stopping it cold and within a blink of an eye his former boss was on top of him making Wellton regret ever taking that bounty. The Watchman would allow his former pupil and hunter to leave broken and beaten back to Director Jarred Mitchell a failure, Oak would carry this defeat with him until he went against another target that he couldn’t put down a Presidents Men member Spartan and that would be the straw that would break the camels back and cause Oak to flee to the Freedom Patriots and return to his bosses side. Though with the war waging in Europe it would mean plenty of work for the Watchman and any Hunter with zero moral compass as they would begin to collect the Deaths Hand bounties and bring forth the enemies of the Hand in pieces to collect the very large fee’s Alexander was paying out.

This guild managed to basically work within the shadows for it’s entire existence and only recently do to the hard copy findings in one of Director Mitchell’s old offices would we even learn of this guild and their workings during those early days and even that they existed at all. We knew that Bounty Hunters existed and they always have but this specialised guild was something new entirely. It seems that Director Mitchell didn’t just have his sights set on the Presidents Men but on this Guild as well; for what reason we can only assume that this guild was working against the UCAS and hiding within the Brotherhood as well they where working with the Presidents Men protecting them from the Freedom Task Force assaults. Now we know at one time this guild held hundreds if not thousands of hunters worldwide, though over the years and the division the numbers have drastically changed but the ones that remain are to be feared for very good reasons. They are masters of their craft and masters of staying alive and working in small groups.

They have nearly an unlimited budget and have been doing the Brotherhoods dirty work for years and have no fear they have technology that far anything that DAOD (Dark Arms Ordinance Distribution) and the Steel Legion have at their disposal, they have been well trained in many forms of combat including the Presidents Men signature weapon (though this doesn’t apply to all members of the Guild) They have no aura, can bypass ultrasound and other forms of electronic and natural sighting as well as audio technology, they have cyber of unknown origin and have been trained in a some weird form of martial combat with the ability to pull the head and spinal cord off with a single pull, they enjoy skinning and gutting their marks and leave no one alive ever. The Watchman one might think would be the easiest of the marks seeing he is the boss but as I have already stated he is not a leader that hides behind a desk, he goes out into the field and has been for multiple generations so to take the Watchman on cold very well be suicide for even a seasoned warrior.

This man is evil and has ice for blood pumping his blackened heart, he is a political mastermind and uses his guild to further his agenda as well as the agenda of the rebels. He cares nothing for civilians and will deploy any tactic that he deems needed to remove a mark from the planet, he hunts like a lion stalking a zebra and moves though the shadows like a panther in the night, this man is not to be trusted by anyone that still holds any loyalties to the UCAS and is willing to work directly alongside the Deaths Hand and Human Resistance Movement. He has collected the bounties on the heads of those involved in the World Court and will have no moral objection to using children as bait to lure the marks out of hiding; and if that doesn’t work he will use his love of explosives or bio toxins to get his way. This man is a serious power player and only till recently was unknown to all but the highest ranking officials within the Brotherhood; his pockets are very deep and he has his hands in many other pockets and can make anyone vanish in a blink of an eye. Making a deal with the Watchman is worse than making a deal with a dragon and even dragons avoid eye contact and making deals with this man, he is ruthless and when he wants something he will stop at nothing till he succeeds. He might just be a bounty hunter but don’t be fooled this man hasn’t survived this long without being a serious threat and he has employed his own personal military that fights alongside the rebels against the UCAS, he has no love loss for the natives and citizens of Aztlan as well; the Watchman is as dangerous as they come, I pity anyone that dares to cross his path and for the guild to be focusing on Seattle as of late means something foul is at foot and I really hope that the Watchman is not here for professional reasons and just making a social call.

 

Page Written By: Howard Leary <Seattle Times>