Jeffrey C. Ashmore (Buttercup, Rodian)

Membership: Sea Wolves, Harbingers, Rogue One

Race: Human

Height: 5’3

Weight: 170

Apparent Age: 25

Archetype: Mercenary Adept: Circle Unknown

Preferred Weapon: ???

Runner Song:

Bio: I suppose it is time to discuss a newer runner on the streets, one specifically homegrown and exported.  Buttercup, as he is known, is one of the few members of the most recent “lost” generation between the New Breed and the Lost Children.  The span of time was much shorter here than in the past, however its existence has been confirmed by the likes of Fable and Canyon nonetheless.  For this, we can thank the recent so-called “Battles for Seattle” that have plagued and ravaged the city.  As we witness and experience destruction to our neighborhoods, homes, family, and friends we will continue to increase the power vacuum which has encouraged and enlisted the “service” of these street killers.

Our Jeffrey’s story begins around 15 years ago when he was of the ripe age of 10 or so.  Records on this individual are shaky at best, but we can make this assumption from hard copy birth certificates and report card records from his old school Church Elementary.  Jeff was a somewhat brainy child from Upper Settle.  His parents George and Dorris Ashmore, an up and coming pair of biologists, worked for a subdivision of BioTech in the local area designing custom solutions for exotic pets.  Best known for understanding and enhancing our knowledge on hellhounds, these members of mid to upper society found their place amongst the wanna be elite within the city.  They were the first to come up with the surgery to fix the hip dysplasia these fearsome beasts develop during old age making them popular with the rich who can afford these “pets”.   They found themselves at the end of the advancement their current achievements could afford them and decided that they needed a new project to push themselves further into society.  Little did they know their solution would change their son’s world forever.

It would be here that little Jeff would find himself on a summer trip to Africa with his parents.  You see, the solution these two intelligent people came up with was to try to find a new animal to domesticate for the rich.  Their goal would be to discover a new type of paranormal creature (or strain of an existing one), capture it, and then bring it back to Seattle to study.  After all, even just the mention of a new creature to own would force their name and influence in the city to surge, in turn providing the funding and resources that would be needed to complete the project.  They gave themselves a 2 month span to find this creature, and upon arriving at their destination they began the search.

For 6 weeks straight Jeff and his family went from town to town researching rumors and legends about unseen beasts.  They spent time with local guides working through all types of terrain.  Jeff was amazed at how his parents never seemed fazed by the weather and just kept searching.  They went on safari after safari looking for something new or unknown.  Finally, one day during an exhibition into the wild they found it.  A paranormal tiger sporting three eyes, a two pronged tail, and stripes in the pattern of eyes all around.  Excited at their find George immediately pulled out his tranquilizer gun, took aim, and fired.  Even though it was from the beast’s blind spot, it seemed to react.  Spooked by the unexpected attack it fled.  Unfortunately, the direction it went was to an unbeknownst second group of scoundrels looking for the same prey.  The Ashmores didn’t realize at the time that they had found something that was well known to the local area.  In fact, this Lion’s Eye Tiger was known to have incredible enhancing properties to the locals.  It was thought that if you ate its heart you would gain sight beyond sight and that if you drank its blood you could heal any wound.  Well, little of that was true, but the fact remained that fools would pay a high price for its parts and there are always poachers looking to make a buck.

Jeff’s father led the chase after the beast with family in tow behind him, but as he happened upon the scene of the poachers relieving the beast of its organs he was easily spotted.  A second later the first life changing event in Jeff’s story occurred.  In a lightning quick manner the poacher pulled his gun, took aim, and ended George’s life.  Small, weak, and unable to do anything Jeff watched as his father went from the strong hunter and scholar to a headless chunk of mass with the explosion of blood all around him.

Well, as you can imagine, little Jeff thought and did many things in this moment; being quiet wasn’t one of them.  He howled out after his father as he fell and try as she might, his mother could not subdue his sound quickly enough.  They were spotted behind, and so the chase began.  Seemingly dodging bullets even though they were running straight the remaining two managed to get back to the car and escape from their pursuers.  They were able to outpace the truck the poachers had brought using their jeep with ease.  All seemed safe for the moment, albeit sad and horrible.  His mother told him that they could use the local authorities to deal with these men.  They would get back to Seattle, give George a proper burial, and all would be alright.

When they got back into town they immediately went to the authorities to report both the killing of a rare beast, as well as the death of their family member.  They expected a search party.  They expected justice.  They expected the world to be put right.  After all, in Upper Settle the wealthy went to the police and got what they wanted.

What they found however was corruption.  You see, the poachers owned the police and had been using the couple to track down the beast.  What they found was a cell and, for Dorris, a brutal interrogation/torture session.  Over the next few days they would be fed scraps, and although Jeff was never told for what, his mother was beaten and questioned day in and out. When she was finally returned to the cell she was torn and battered.  They had returned her to perish as she was broken and internally she had injuries which could not be healed.  What was worse is that the wounds themselves had a green tinge that seemed unnatural which still haunts him to this day.  His mother who was always vibrant seemed completely sapped of her strength and her will was crushed.  As Jeff was trying to come to terms with the events that happened he was about to take another turn.

Late in the morning from outside the cell was when it happened.  Explosions all around the town went off.  Parts of the building went down dislodging the locking mechanism of the cell and causing pieces of the ceiling to come down on the inhabitants of the jail.  The ground shook and it seemed as though all hell had broken lose.  Fire could be seen from within and smoke was all around.  Young Jeff tried to find his mother, but she was gone.  Even a kid he realized that whether or not she was burned or crushed he still needed to get out quickly or else his life would be over.  The young child managed his way through the broken cell door and found his way to a hole in the wall big enough to fit through.  As he got out he saw a gruesome sight.  Men slaughtering others.  Guns, knives, and all sorts of weaponry.  A battle had broken out and he was caught in the midst.

We now know this encounter to have been a hit put on the local government by a third party through the TC Mercenary Corps to take down the poachers.  This third party, while unnamed due to confidentiality, didn’t like what was being done to the wildlife and didn’t want to deal with the town the legal way.  What we also know is that the mercenaries didn’t leave that night as was in the records.  They stayed to scavenge the next day.  It was then when they happened upon our little fish out of water.  Initially they thought to leave him as an orphan of war, but after seeing his passport and hearing his story the hardened mercenaries took pity on the child.  This was in part because their “bagboy” had been killed in the battle the night prior and they needed new help.  They figured if they indoctrinated a child at a young age they would be able to grow him into a useful member in the future.

With that Jeff began menial labor for the older mercenaries in exchange for being allowed to sleep in their camp and be given food.  They were tough on him, but fair.  It would be over the next 12 years that Jeff would build muscle, learn to shoot, and awaken as an adept.  He would come to see these men not as murderers that were using him, but as family that saved him.  As he grew he began to take on their sense of right and wrong.  They said they would send him back to Seattle when he earned the money to pay for the ticket, but when the time came Jeff decided to stay with them.  He was angry that none of his other family or friends went looking for him.  In addition, he became accustomed to the jobs and lead slinging.

When he turned 17 he was allowed to decide upon his code and join the Corps.  This group seems to be quite different, albeit smaller, than the brotherhood or the Steel Legion.  They don’t write their code, but simply share it with their captain.  To them the code is personal and near sacred.  They don’t share it, or at least didn’t while the company existed.  Anyway, Jeff enjoyed working with them and slinging led for 6 years.  During his tenure as a full member he completed many a mission and became fairly accomplished for a fledgling mercenary.  He learned the art of stealth and the art of surprise.  He learned what areas will kill and what will maim.  He learned what pain a man can take and what he can’t.  It seemed this would be the journey of his life, but after 6 short years it came to an abrupt end.

The TC Mercenaries were known for many things in their day.  One thing that they were always keen on was surviving the encounter.  They wouldn’t accept suicide ops and tried their best to use tactics that allowed a high success rate with few to no casualties.  This policy was why they were able to stay small.  Low turnover of members means no need to grow large.  However, when they got word that the Death’s Hand was moving into their territory and that the butcher of the Serengeti was hot on their heels they decided to split up their money and leave the field.  War was their job, but certain death wasn’t worth any amount of money.  Each took their share based on seniority and rank.  They scoured to the corners of the world and didn’t look back.  Some to Europe, some to Asia, and even a few to Australia (though they may have been better off with the Hand if you ask me).  Well, our little Jeff decided that since his new home was gone, it was time to return to his old one.

Well, it is now 2074 and we see that this Mercenary has been hiding for the past couple years in the Emerald City. He has as of late made a bit of a name for himself by joining the Sea Wolves under the master elemental specialist the Dandy Man and even had a short stay on the Harbingers team before being picked up the by the Mariners (though why an old school team wanted this runner is unknown). Well, here is to another orphan of the streets!