The Black Campbell

Malcolm was born in Mississippi around the turn of the century. He worked as a field hand, then moved north to Chicago to find work. When the Great War broke out, he volunteered for the Lafayette Escadrille and flew for France. When the Americans in the unit were rolled into the Army Air Corps, Washington was relegated to cook once more. He stayed in Europe, flew the mails and some air shows, then made his way to Africa as a contract bush pilot. Later he turned up in Shanghai and was taken on by Trapp Sommers as a flight lieutenant in the Sky Rats.

He is probably the best pilot of the bunch, and easily has the most experience of them all, and he flies with a reckless abandon that impresses and scares his fellow Sky Rats. The mechanics hate him, as he always brings his birds home with damage — half the time from his crazy-ass stunts! He is treated with disdain by Injun Joe Malloy, but Trapp and Jake Cutter treat him as an equal.

Archetype: Soldier   Motivation: Escape

ATTRIBUTES: Body 3, Dexterity 4, Strength 2, Charisma 2, Intelligence 2, Willpower 3

Secondary Attributes: Size 0, Move 6, Perception 5, Initiative: 6, Defense: 7, Stun 3, Health 6

RESOURCES & TRAITS: Agile, Reckless Driver/Pilot, Wheelman

FLAWS: Impulsive, Something to Prove, Thrillseeker

SKILLS: Athletics 2 (4), Brawl 3 (5), Con 2 (4), Craft, Mechanic 2 (4), Firearms 2 (6), Gunnery 3 (5), Pilot, Aircraft 3 (7), Stealth 1 (5), Streetwise 2 (4), Survival 1 (3), Warfare 2 (4)

Like is known about Injun Joe, and most of what is probably is bull$#!t. He claims to be half-Irish, half-Cherokee — a warrior race, as he like to tell folks. Joe claims to have been taught Cherokee mysticism by a tribal shaman, to have been one of the best riders in his “nation”, and all sorts of tall tales of the West. He learned to fly from a WWI ace no one’s ever heard of. He’s tall, with long black hair, and he wears Indian trinkets — necklace of power, etc. mostly of silver and turquoise (a Navaho thing, but he doesn’t seem to know that.)

No one wants to challenge him too much as he’s pretty damned deadly.

Archetype: Soldier     Motivation: Thrillseeker

ATTRIBUTES: Body 4, Dexterity 3, Strength 3, Charisma 2, Intelligence 2, Willpower 3

Secondary Attributes: Size 0, Move 6, Perception 5, Initiative 5, Defense 7, Stun 4, Health 7

RESOURCES & TRAITS: Iron Will, Rank 1: Sky Rats, Tough

FLAWS: Liar, Secret, Superstitious

LANGUAGES: English and Spanish

SKILLS: Animal Handling 1 (3), Athletics 2 (5), Brawl 3 (6), Con 2 (4), Drive 1 (4), Firearms 2 (5), Intimidation 3 (5), Larceny 2 (5), Melee 2 (5), Pilot, Aircraft 2 (5), Ride 2 (5), Stealth 1 (4), Survival 1 (3)

Born 2 March 1907 in Richmond, England Frankie is the daughter of  Sir Richard Cooke and his wife Gretchen, a Dutch settler from Java whom he met while on a hunting trip there. Sir Richard was renowned for his adventures as a big game hunter and explorer, and he dragged his family about the globe — usually leaving them in the nearest safe settlement while he went after his quarry. He was knighted for his work as a sniper for the British forces during the Second Boer War. He was killed in action in Flanders in 1916, having risen to the rank of brigadier.

Frankie was raised by her Uncle Timothy — a banker and the respectable one of the family —  after her mother died of the Spanish flu in 1920; she nearly succumbed, as well. To help her recover, her uncle took her to South Africa. One day, a flying circus came through, and Frankie was captivated by the aerobatics of the American pilot. She was given her first airplane ride and in 1926 she gained her pilot’s license in England. Two years later, Amelia Earhart did her solo across the Atlantic, and Frankie parlayed this into a public relations deal with British Petroleum and other sponsors and was one of the first women to attempt to fly from London to Sydney in Australia. but for issues with her plane, she would have beaten Amy Johnson in this in 1930. Her plane lost power over the Sumatra and she was forced to crash land, losing her eye in the process.

Frankie has a taste for adventure, and has flown her various craft all over the world, often doing airways mapping and scouting for the BOAC, Imperial Airways, and other airlines, as well as more shady work for His Majesty’s Government. She recently landed in Shanghai, where she joined the Sky Rats as a Lieutenant.

ATTRIBUTES: Body 2, Dexterity 3, Strength 2, Charisma 3, Intelligence 3, Willpower 3

Secondary Attributes: Size 0, Move 5, Perception 6, Initiative 6, Defense 5, Stun 2, Health 5, Style 5

RESOURCES & TRAITS: Allies 1: MI6, Charismatic, Contacts 2: Aviation Community, Finesse Attack: Brawl & Melee, Rank 1: Lieutenant, Skill Mastery, Pilot; Status 1: $150/mo., +2 social tests in aviation circles

FLAWS: One Eye, Overconfident, Stubborn

SKILLS: Academics, Literature 1 (4), Acrobatics 2 (5), Athletics 2 (4), Brawl 2 (5), Bureaucracy 2 (5), Con 1 (4), Craft, Mechanics 1 (4), Diplomacy 2 (5), Drive 1 (4), Firearms 1 (4), gunnery 1 (4), Linguistics 3 (6), Melee 2 (5), Pilot 2 (5) [Aircraft 6], Ride 1 (4), Stealht 1 (4), Streetwise 1 (4), Survival 2 (5), Warfare 1 (4)

LANGUAGES: English (native), Dutch, french, German, Spanish

Joe Sullivan is the son of an Irish soldier that served in the British Army during WWI, as a pilot. He taught his son to fly after the war, and together they flew mail, flying circuses, anything that could make them money. Drawn by the allure of war, Joe began flying as a mercenary pilot in 1930 — first flying for the French in Morocco, then protecting airliners during the Colombia-Peru war in 1932-33. Bolivia paid him and a small crew of mercenaries (including his loyal mechanic/inventor Dexter Dearborn) to fight the Paraguayan forces in the Chaco War.

He was hired on with his crew as part of the Foreign Volunteer Force aiding the Chinese against the Japanese aggression in 1935, joining up with the American Volunteers under “Colonel” Trapp Sommers to form a group informally known as “the Sky Rats.” (From a statement by the Japanese air commander, “These foreigners are like rats — they are everywhere and no matter how many you kill…there are more!”) His callsign and nickname: Sky Captain.

Joe tends to dress in military fashion: khakis and flying jackets, and he carries a Webley-Green Mk V .455 revolver.

ATTRIBUTES: Body 3, Dexterity 3, Strength 3, Charisma 3, Intelligence 3, Willpower 3

Secondary Attributes: Size 0, Move 6, Perception 6, Initiative 6, Defense 6, Stun 3, Health 6, Style 5

RESOURCES & TRAITS: Allies 2: Sky Rats; attractive, Connections 2: KMT, Rank 1: Captain, Lucky, Skill Aptitude, Pilot +2

FLAWS: Danger Magnet, Sucker for a Dame, Weirdness Magnet

SKILLS: Athletics 3(6), Brawl 2 (5), Bureaucracy 2 (5), Craft, Mechanics 1 (4), Drive 2 (5), Firearms 3 (6) Gambling 2 (5), Gunnery 1 (4), Investigation 1 (4), Linguistics 3 (6), Melee 1 (4), Pilot, Aircraft 4 (9), Stealth 1 (4), Streetwise 1 (4), Survival 1 (4), Warfare 2 (5)

LANGUAGES: English (native), Arabic, Hindi, Mandarin, Spanish

(This all started with a superb joke name Greg Gutfeld used on Red Eye…)

Born 6 September 1906, Trapp Sommers is the first of two sons to Stone Sommers and his wfie Delilah. His father was an adventurer of note: big game hunter (where he met his wife, a South African [English]woman), gunslinger in the American Southwest, a captain in Teddy Roosevelt’s “Rough Riders” and a major in the US Marines during WWI.

Trapp grew up in Colorado, Utah, and New Mexico as a boy before the family moved to New Jersey thanks to a lucky strike hand of poker that won his dad an oil deed in Texas. He schooled at Columbia University from 1925-1929. Most of his father’s investments went belly up in the Great Depression and his parents headed out to cheaper parts — namely Capetown, South Africa.

Trapp left Columbia with few prospects during the early days of the Depression. He started off as a G-man with the Bureau of Alcohol and earned a reputation as a tough, fair lawman (meaning he was only slightly bent.) When Prohibition ended in 1933, Sommers hung up his federal shield and took to the road as a hunter, mercenary, and pilot for hire. He’s put together a crew of rough & ready men — the Foreign Volunteer Force, or “Sky Rats” –and most recently has been flying supplies, training pilots, and fighting for the Chinese nationalist government.

ATTRIBUTES: Body 3, Dexterity 3, Strength 3, Charisma 3, Intelligence 3, Willpower 3

Secondary Attributes: Size 0, Move 6, Perception 6, Initiative 6, Defense 6, Stun 3, Health 6, Style 5

RESOURCES & TRAITS: Allies 2: Kuomintang, Green Gang; Charismatic, Mooks 3, Rank 3: Wing Commander, Wealth 2: $500/mo.

FLAWS: Callous, Danger Magnet, Overconfident

SKILLS: Athletics 2 (5), Brawl 3 (6) [Haymaker 7], Bureaucracy 2 (5), Con 2 (5), Diplomacy 2 (5) [Leadership 6], Drive 2 (5), Firearms 2 (5), Gambling 1 (4), Intimidation 2 (5), Investigation 3 (6), Larceny 2 (5), Linguistics 1 (4), Pilot/Airplane 3 (6), Stealth 2 (5), Streetwise 3 (6), Warfare 1 (4) [Aerial 5]

LANGUAGES: English (native), Mandarin

The self-styled “Colonel” Sommers usually carries a Colt 1911A1 .45 pistol, and has been known to take a Lewis .303 Gun with him when things get dicey.