Post by Vlad on Jan 20, 2016 17:15:03 GMT -5
Character Name: Buck Andrew Ryder.
Nickname(s): Most commonly referred to simply as Ryder.
Race: Caucasian human.
Sex: Male.
Age: 25.
Birthplace: The Hub.
Height: 6'3"
Weight: 195lbs.
Eye Color: Ice blue right eye, cloudy/milky scarred left eye.
Hair Color: Chestnut brown.
Hair Style: Fairly messy, kept at medium length with sides slightly shorter.
Facial Hair: Heavy stubble.
Skin Color: Slightly tanned.
Build: Athletic.
Distinguishing Features: Scarred tissue under left eye and on lower left abdomen.
Profession: Mercenary.
Skills: Firearms, hand-to-hand combat (specifically Krav Maga), survival.
Training: Shooting/hunting and wilderness survival lessons from father, NCR Army training, hand-to-hand combat lessons from his spotter.
Other Abilities: Competent Blackjack player.
Apparel: Short-sleeved khaki tee, beaten combat armour chestpiece, tan hooded cloak, grey jeans w/ belt and brown combat boots.
Weaponry: AR-15 slung over shoulder, Colt 1911 in left holster, S&W Model 17 in right holster, kukri sheathed on back.
Other Equipment: Water canteen and binoculars clipped to belt, brown messenger shoulder bag containing ammo, stimpaks and food.
Affiliation: Whoever's paying the bills.
Religious Belief: Atheist.
Sexual Preference: Heterosexual.
Relationship Status: Single.
Personality: While on the job, he is ruthless and calculating, using his quick thinking to ensure he is in control during hostile encounters. However, his violent tendencies are restricted to his job and when in friendly company he is highly sociable and charismatic - although he is still very perceptive, analysing every aspect of each situation he finds himself in and every person he meets, making being caught off-guard a rare occurrence. He almost never voices his complaints to others, and treats everybody in a respectful yet neutral manner until he is able to make a judgement on them he deems accurate enough to treat them otherwise.
Buck Ryder was born to Samantha and Clarke Ryder on the 18th May 2265 in The Hub. Despite Clarke's regular departures from home life due to his job as an NCR Ranger, he was a key part of Buck's upbringing. Although he had developed excellent social and bartering skills from his mother, a trader, he was far more interested in the skills that could be passed on from father to son. What little time Buck and Clarke had together was spent in the open wastes of California, where Buck learnt to shoot, hunt and survive in the wasteland from the age of 9 years old. When Buck was 16, Clarke was killed during the Second Battle of Hoover Dam. This took a significant toll on him emotionally, and he swore to enlist in the NCR and make his father proud. The day he turned 18, Buck volunteered as infantry in the NCR Army and sailed through training. To pass the time, Buck and his fellow squad members would play Caravan and Blackjack, which he developed a talent for. By the time he was 21, his impressive marksmanship had been acknowledged and he was given the opportunity to join the 1st Recon. He became good friends with his spotter, Hoover Dam veteran Norman Lynch, who taught him his hand-to-hand combat techniques in their spare time. The two bonded over their mutual passion for hunting and would regularly leave their camp at sunrise to hunt nightstalkers or geckos.
However, after just 10 months of service as a 1st Recon marksman, Buck was medically discharged from the NCR following a Legion ambush while on what was meant to be a simple scouting mission to gain intel on Legion activity across the river at Cottonwood Cove. At sunrise, a sizeable patrol of Legionnaires on their way back to Cottonwood located Buck and Norman sat by the edge of the cliffs and proceeded to engage them, taking the pair completely by surprise and managing to shoot Buck in the abdomen as he scrambled to find some form of cover. After pushing their way further back along the cliffs to a cluster of rocks for better cover from the hail of gunfire focused on them, the two began picking off the Legionnaires. Their struggle was in vain, however, as within 1 hour of the gunfight reinforcements had began to flood in from across the river. The Legionnaires continued to advance closer to their position, so the pair agreed to attempt to move further back in order to avoid being completely overwhelmed. This decision would be their downfall. Norman was the first to leave cover and head to the nearest cover behind them - this meant running left, away from the edge of the cliffs and directly in the path of the Legionnaires. Try as he might, Buck could not provide effective enough covering fire to ensure that Norman made the sprint, and watched as his friend was riddled with bullets. In a hopeless attempt to retrieve his body and help, Buck stood up from his cover and was instantaneously shot directly through his left eye. The impact kicked him backwards, sending him over the cliffs and tumbling into the river below, breaking his right arm and collar bone in the process. Over the course of a week a beaten, bloodied and hunted Buck was forced to use everything his father had taught him throughout his childhood in order to survive. He packed the bullet wound on his abdomen with sand and dirt to halt the bleeding, abandoned all of his gear except from his trousers, hunted geckos using his 1911 - the only weapon he had left - and remained hydrated using the blood of the geckos he killed and his own bodily fluids. He was eventually rescued by a passing NCR patrol and was given proper medical treatment, though the blindness in his left eye was considered a disability and he was discharged from the NCR.
Not wanting to settle down as a trader, he turned to the profession closest to a soldier - a mercenary. He moved into an apartment in New Reno and began making a decent living by accepting local contract work and playing Blackjack at the casinos, where almost all of his free time was spent gambling, fighting and drinking himself into oblivion. He spent his first paycheck on his AR-15, which he gave to a man that same night after losing a bet to him; the following night, Buck pursued a bounty put on the man's head, killing him and taking the rifle back. A few months after moving to New Reno he met Olivia Baxter, a surgeon, at a bar and the two quickly fell in love. Not wanting to worry Olivia or put her off, Buck lied about his profession, convincing her that he was a travelling merchant. Their relationship ended two years later when Olivia found a letter addressed to Buck requesting his services to eliminate a group of Jet dealers and discovered that she had been lied to. Now truly with nothing to lose, he began to desire higher risk and higher reward jobs and left New Reno - unbeknownst to him, 7 months before Olivia gave birth to identical twin boys. To this day, Buck drifts up and down the West Coast and has made somewhat of a reputation for himself. He will take any job and get it done by any means necessary, no questions asked.
