Erik Schmitz

Affiliation: Blackwater

Position: Head of Operations

Background

"If there's a steady paycheck in it, I'll believe anything you say."

You are the competent right-hand-man of Blackwater International. Though the founder and owner, Joseph Prince, is a devout Christian fundamentalist with a Christian agenda, you are a pragmatist who cares more about getting things done than about the ideals and motivations. You care less about the goal itself than about your own place in fulfilling it.

Unlike Prince, you weren't born to greatness. You had to earn it the hard way. Growing up in a neighborhood with no prospects for bettering yourself, you decided to join the military -- the US Army, to be precise. Life was harsh, but it gave you a chance to prove yourself. Plus, you took advantage of any training courses you could convince someone for which you were eligible. As a result, you ended up with a fairly broad training base -- you were a Jack of all trades who could be competent in just about any situation you might find yourself in.

After the fall of the Soviet Union advancement opportunities were scarce. Nevertheless, you felt like this was a time of change, with competing factions to fill the power vacuum left by the former superpower. So, you made your way as a mercenary, or "private military contractor" as you are called nowadays.

During your time as a mercenary, you've seen a lot of things and fought for a lot of causes. The rhetoric behind what you were doing might be very nice, but you were there to get things done. You've never cared much whom you worked for, so long as they were competent.

That's how you came to be working for Mr. Prince. Though he might be considered a fanatic (not to put too fine a point on it) he really is a competent man who can get things done when he sets his mind to it. You're willing to put up with his talk about saving souls and supporting Christian leaders, as he's actually quite good at that support. As for the occasional mystical mutterings, you don't really know what to say. You don't really believe in all this, but there is power in it if you control it and other people believe in it. You certainly don't believe in some literal end of the world, filled with monsters. However, you do believe in nukes and you wouldn't be willing to take part in nuking the planet back to the Stone Age (with the stones glowing in the dark this time).

Thankfully, for all of Mr. Prince's occasional ravings of the end times, he seems to have no interest in nukes. He seems to believe in these "prophesied rituals." Well, whatever. He can play around with them all he wants, as long as he doesn't take a shining to bringing about the end of the world the mundane way. Besides, Mr. Prince is the type of person to use these rituals as a stepping stone to power even if (or should you say when?) they end up not working.

Nominally, Prince is in charge, but he often delegates things to you. In the meantime, you'll ride his coattails to power and money, helping him build the power base of Blackwater, especially in terms of land for military positioning.

As for Al-Araf, the reason you are here, the recent attacks seem amazingly effective but crudely indiscriminate. They might be some weird new biological or chemical weapon of some sort, but you're not sure. The most likely scenario is that Aegis or the American government has leaked some experimental new weapon to them, but you have no proof.

So, find out more about the attacks, boost the position of Blackwater, look for opportunities for money and power, and do what your boss says. Just make sure he doesn't get any funny ideas about destroying the world that will actually work...

Contacts

• Joseph Prince: Your leader -- a good man, even if a bit fanatical. You can ride his coattails to power, assuming he doesn't destroy everything first.
• Field Marshall, The Right Honorable Lord Lockwood KG: The competition. The field marshal values wealth over power. Knowing that will help in negotiations.
• Tariq Ibn Faruq: You need to understand what it is that he wants in order to properly negotiate.
• Abd-al Aziz Mamoon: Another wacky religious fanatic.
• Veronica Miles: US Government official. May have an ulterior motive.
• Angel Cruz: Might actually be legitimately concerned about chemical or biological weapons.
• Rodney Greiner: What's a random US politician doing here?
• Nathan Kennedy: Well-trained, from the look of him.
• David Kinder: Known for his interest in acquiring artifacts for museums throughout the world.
• Basit Ibn Karim: Pretty much what he seems -- a politician loyal to Iraq, especially under his party rule.
• Wafi Nagi: Has an interesting file. After acquiring power and a cushy job, he seems to have fallen into disfavor amongst the Sunni insurgents for not representing their interests. You have offered to "help him out" with his insurgent problems.
• Sabriyya Nejem: Probably one of the insurgents, from the look of him.
• Munir Faiz: Greedy businessman in the pocket of the Americans.

Abilities & Artifacts

Stats

• Combat: 4
• HP: 6
• Sanity: 6

Expert Tactician

When you are commanding 3 or more units in a province to attack, those forces lose 1 less unit in combat.

Goals

• Find out more about the attacks.
• Boost the position of Blackwater and defend its current holdings.
• Look for opportunities for money and power.
• Do what your boss says, but make sure he doesn't get any funny ideas that will destroy the world in a way that will actually work...