James Powell
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James Powell | |
|---|---|
| Personal | |
| Died | 23 April 3058[1][2] |
| Affiliation | Seventeenth Recon Regiment |
| Profile | |
| Profession | Mercenary Officer |
History[edit]
Born on Cerillos, one of the Southwest Trinity worlds,[3] James "Badlands" Powell was a member of the Seventeenth Recon Regiment, also known as Camacho's Caballeros. One of those members of the Seventeenth recruited from the population of the Southwestern Worlds, by 3056 Powell had reached the rank of Captain, and was the Commanding Officer of the Seventeenth's Scout Platoon.[4]
With the notable exception of Cassie "Abtakha" Suthorn the members of the Caballero's Scout Platoon were men and women from the wilderness areas of Cerillos, Galisteo and Sierra. These wilderness areas were the harshest regions of the Trinity worlds, populated by Chirica-hua and White Mountain Apache, Acoma and Zufti from the deserts and truchaseños and hillbillies from the mountains, and each member of the Scout Platoon recruited from these worlds had developed survival skills as part of growing up in their home environments.[4] Powell gew up in one of the volcanic regions of Cerillos, and it was this region which gave him the callsign "Badlands".[3] Powell was known for having a red handlebar moustache that had achieved legendary status within the regiment.[5]
In contrast to the highly individualistic members of the Scout Platoon Powell was a team player, and his role was more akin to that of director and babysitter of the platoon than the platoon's commanding officer, something that he accepted. He was also comfortable with the fact that after she joined the Caballeros, Suthorn was the dominant personality within the Scout Platoon.[3]
While Powell survived the events on the planet Hachiman in 3056, he developed stomach cancer and by November 3057 the chemotherapy he was undergoing was failing to hold off the cancer. By that point, the chemotherapy had also caused Powell to lose all of his hair, including his moustache.[5] Powell's health continued to visibly decline throughout 3057 and 3058 during the battle against the Draconis Combine Mustered Soldiery and Black Dragon forces that had invaded Towne and by April 3058 Powell had taken up smoking on the principle that it wouldn't make any difference to his prospects.[6]
On 23 April 3058, following the capture of a number of the Caballeros' dependents by the occupying forces, Powell and members of the Scout Platoon including Suthorn plus a number of allied personnel from the planetary militias launched an attack on the facility in Port Howard in which the captives were believed to be held. During the assault the attackers came up against defending forces that included an individual known as Wolf Girl, a highly-skilled and very dangerous operative loyal to Howard Blaylock, the collaborator who had betrayed the Towne planetary government to the Draconis Combine invaders. Wolf Girl shot Powell repeatedly with a machine pistol during an ambush on the third floor of the building,[1] killing him. Powell's successor in charge of the Scout Platoon was a Towne native who had fought with the Caballeros duing the battles there, Lieutenant Senior Grade Daniel "Rooster" Morgan.[2]