Name: Adam Philips
Appearance: Age: Roughly 33 years old.
Personality: Adam is hard to read, and harder to get close to because of his coldly professional attitude. He is suspicious of outsiders he perceives to be "snooping", often including anyone purposefully seeking him out without an easily discernible reason. He has been observed warming up to comrades outside of battle, but remains wary until a friendship solidifies. He shows approval for anyone who actively seeks self-improvement, and will provide indirect support if the opportunity arises. He seeks to remain busy or linked to his NC, otherwise he remains quiet and reflects.
Backstory:Born into the Smoke Bears bandit-clan of Denver-Vegas controlled Appalachia, Adam's life was nomadic and fraught with danger from it's very beginning. As a child he often heard the tale of his people from the Elder, that their home had been beneath the mountains since before the destruction of the world, their rise to power in early years of the nuclear winter due to the gifts handed down from their ancestors, and their tradition of martial prowess and practice before the return of the Corporations. He learned their land, and their peace, had been stolen by Denver-Vegas in their unending greed. Hunted, Adam's people became bandits and raiders, using their ancestral knowledge of the mountains to ambush DV's convoys, their preference for vehicles a hindrance in the rugged terrain where NCs reigned supreme. He grew up to admire the Elder, who guided the Smoke Bears' crown jewel, All Nerves as it's Companion.
As Denver-Vegas' hold on the land strengthened, the Smoke Bears began to decline. Their supplies dwindled as their enemies changed paths, sent greater numbers of NCs and began hunting for their camps. With the future looking bleak, the bandits lost their leader, their idol dormant without it's companion. The Bandits divided, those who sought to stay would hide their identities, burn their flags and become just another settlement. Those who would keep the mantle of the Smoke Bears would seek out among their number the Elder's replacement through the Trials, and would flee their home in the hopes that their brothers and sisters might survive, even if they were run down. All the clan's young tested themselves in the Heart of the Mountain, and three candidates rose to be tested against All Nerves itself. Only Adam could withstand the link, the others rejected, immutable. They would serve the Smoke Bears as pilots of captured NCs, but they would not come near All Nerves of their own volition again. The Trials complete, they chose to bide their time in order to give those fleeing a chance to slip into safety unnoticed.
The time had come, and the Smoke Bears sped away from their home under cover of night, beating a hasty retreat east, the knowledge that their mission would protect their people was wind at their backs. Their destination was a port on the Atlantic, where they would steal ships from the unsuspecting Corporation and flee their homeland. In the fighting, many of the Smoke Bears fell defending their brothers and sisters, yet still more made away into the night on their pilfered crafts to a land they had only heard of, to "Haven". Things were not so simple, and the Smoke Bears had difficulty adapting to their new life, stifled by promises of freedom turned lies. Haven was no home to them, demanding tribute just as the corporations did to simply live on the land. Money was needed to see his people free, and so Adam found himself a Mercenary. Once more, All Nerves and it's companion would protect their people.
Tactical Preferences and Skills: Adam's experience makes him suited to Guerilla Warfare and Offense-oriented strategy. During combat, Adam remains mobile at all times, and has learned to maintain accuracy on the move in order to compensate for his NC's lack of melee and to utilize it's much greater speed.
Outside of combat, Adam is a skilled hunter, tracker and trapper. He also is also a capable butcher thanks to her early service to his clan. Adam greatly enjoys poker, stakes or no, and is notoriously difficult to beat among pilots and mechanic crews.
Notes: Adam is intensely protective of his "family" and his NC, protecting them above all else.
