Snippet #2064714

William Conrad Jackson drove his blue Chevy Caprice down the highway, heading for small city called Noyerville. Just a week prior, he had talked to the head of the Predator Company, a bounty hunter service that had come across his file in the military archives and wanted to offer him a job. Though sixty-two years old and retired from his job, Will could not resist the chance to put his skills to the test again. His wife Christy was a little annoyed with him, being ready to deliver their child three months from now, but she understood his need to do this. Will was not going to turn down a job like this, when the pay was high and the work so enjoyable. In the entire of the U.S. military, there was perhaps no soldier who loved and craved combat like him.

William was born in 1983 in the small town of Duluth, Minnesota. His real parents left him at the hospital, and he was soon given to a couple who could not have children of their own. They were loving and kind to him, but being abandoned from birth can leave a mark on you. When Will was in high school, the World Trade Center bombings inspired him to make a difference. He joined the Army after he graduated high school, and was shipped off to Texas for Basic Training. Will showed incredible potential, graduating three months ahead of the other recruits to become a Private.

Will's only problem was with firearms. Ever since he was a child, he hated guns, considering them the weapons of cowards. Many men considered fists or a gun the most manly way of dealing with an enemy, but Will saw it differently. There is nothing manly about killing from a distance, as even a child can do that. A real man closes the distance and attacks up-close, beating or stabbing his enemy to death. Will's love of knives translated over into his military career, and he actually made his signature black combat knife, perfect for either killing or shaving your face.

Will received two demerits from the U.S Army, one for destroying his standard-issue M16 assault rifle, and the other for disobeying a direct order to receive a new one from the Armory. The Brass informed him that if he received one more demerit, he would be dishonorably discharged from the Army. When he was allowed to only train with knives, his career took off. He quickly rose up the ranks, leading Platoon C-20, a squad of Green Berets, and a squad of Black Berets, the top secret Special Forces Unit of the U.S. military, made from the best of the best of the rest of the military. When Will became a General, he decided to leave the Army and go freelance as a mercenary to sate his blood lust. His request was granted, and he flew to Japan seeking work.

After proving himself the real deal, the Japanese gave him a Chinese nickname, Fang-Wu, to cover any connection to them. They then sent him to Venezuela to topple the regime there. Will did so with the help of the Motilone Bari, a tribe of Indians trying to hold on to their cultural heritage. After toppling the regime by killing the Venezuelan dictator Enrique Veracruz, Will left the mercenary life and returned to the United States. He took a job as a FedEx deliveryman, looking forward to a quiet new life. On a delivery to Blue Steel, Inc, a group of Middle Eastern terrorists stormed the building and took the people hostage.

Will managed to escape being captured, and with a box cutter as his only weapon, he systematically separated and picked off the terrorists. In the lobby, he squared off with their leader, Ibrahim Fa-Sul, a master of the Israeli martial art, Krav Maga. Will defeated him in unarmed combat, and was about to slit his throat when the SWAT team burst in. He was hailed as a hero in Los Angeles, and received the Key to the City. An investigative reporter named Christy Sutherland hounded him for his side of the story. When he gave it to her, she encouraged him to do more to help the city of Los Angeles.

With her words in mind, Will applied for entrance to the LAPD Police Academy. They let him in without a second thought, and he did well. After moving up the ranks to Detective, he began chasing down a serial killer called The Playwright, who left Shakespearean soliloquies on the walls in his victim's own blood. Will found out that he was former Marine Adam Moss, who was warped by his experiences in the Middle East. Moss was a master of Kung Fu, and Will managed to defeat him. For closing that case, he was promoted to Chief of Detectives.

Will married Christy Sutherland shortly after his promotion. He climbed the ranks to Commissioner, and retired after a few years on the job. The couple was about to have their first child, and Will wanted to head to Florida to live a retiree's lad-back life. But a week before the move, Will got a call from the head of the Predator Company, offering him a job with very lucrative starting pay and great benefits. Will took the job, and got an apartment in Noyerville while his wife went to Florida, he promised to be there in three months to start their new life together.

Will parked his Chevy Caprice in a spot and stepped out. For a man of his skills, he looked fairly average. He had neck-length brown hair and wore conservative clothes appropriate for a man of his age. But look into his eyes and you'll see the soldier's thousand yard stare, and the thick muscle of his body was not from a civilian's life. The man of sixty-two had the body and reflexes of someone who was twenty-two, and only the wrinkles on his muscular neck showed that he was a gentleman of advanced years. He pulled his suitcases out of the backseat and entered the building.

The lobby was exactly like that of any other corporate building in America. The walls were neutral, the secretary plain-looking, and the workers looked bored and listless. As he walked in, however, they seemed to perk up. Whispers of "That's him!" and "I heard he did..." permeated the room like white noise. Will ignored them and proceeded up the stairs to his office, which was just one floor below the Predator Company's President's Floor. When he reached his office without being out of breath in the slightest, he began to unpack.

His clothing was simple, only a few conservative outfits and his military outfit. The military outfit consisted of heavy black combat boots, jungle camouflage jeans, a black bulletproof jacket, a green zip-up vest packed to the gills with throwing knives, and a red headband that he wrapped around his forehead. The headband was a reminder of his lost love Gracie Smart, who was a Black Beret that wore it around her arm. She was killed by shrapnel from a grenade, and Will wore that everyday he was a soldier and a mercenary. In full military garb, he was every bit the "Real life Rambo" that people had taken to calling him. He hung the outfits in the office closet and began to put pictures in the office.

He placed a picture of himself and his wife on their honeymoon in Hawaii on his desk. He placed pictures of him with his Platoon, Green Beret squad, and Black Beret squad on the walls. He hung the Key to the City award on the wall behind his desk, and the framed certificates of black belt status in the martial arts in a circle around it. He then removed from his bag his black combat knife, his trusted ally that never let him down. He placed it in an upright sheath on his desk, ready to place it in its chest sheath on his military garb when the time came for him to suit up. After placing his executive nameplate on his desk, he sat down and waited for his first orders to come in.