The Red Badge

ed Badge – A 1930s era vigilante.  He wears a western range duster outer coat so deep red it's almost black. Hat is a wide brim with a flat top the same color as everything else about him. His face is always obscured by the hat, but he also wears some kind of a mask totally covering his head completely with only eye holes . His other clothes, gloves, and boots are the same deep red. He looks to be just over 6 foot tall and average weight, however his height is difficult to guage because of the hat and boots.  He moves with an almost balletic grace, but doesn't lack strength when he needs it.

His main weapons are two modified Colt .45 automatics. The spent shells are captured in a hard plastic like shroud on the side of each, and the front of the guns have a short suppressor attached which create a “squee” sound each time the guns are fired   He also uses red stilleto throwing knives.

The guns are held in special holsters in outer pockets of the duster.

His duster has a special lining which has a limited ability to stop up to .45 caliber bullets from penetrating, but he still feels the shock when they hit.

He knows pressure points and Jiu Jitsu for hand to hand fighting.

will kill, but prefers not to as he  prefers  crippling his opponents with guns, knives, or hand to hand.  He has a bad attitude and when he gets into a rage anything goes.

The questions about the Red Badge are -- what set him off?  Why is he targetting the Bruno Carbone gang, the largest in the city?

And ... who is the Red Badge?

The Players

Al Spade
Al (don't call him Albert) Spade is a disgraced ex-cop detective
from a medium sized western city (possibly Kansas City) who resigned rather than go to trial . He moves to Central City, another medium sized mid-western city where his sister lives and takes a job as a radio reporter die KACM covering the crime beat. He's hard hitting and constantly berates the police captain and mayor for not doing more to stop crime, especially the rampant murder, robbery, and racketeering. He is not liked in certain circles, but the station manager and owner are full square behind him. They know about his disgrace and believe him when he says he was framed. 

Sarah Spade
Al's sister, owns a house in a good section of town.  She's a college graduate with a degree in business and owns a small store selling dresses and women's hats and finery. She is attacked one night, robbed, raped, and beaten viciously, left for dead in an alley. She is found and taken to a hospital where she recovers slowly, but is crippled (not necessarily permanently) has trouble talking and sometimes understanding the world around her. Al moves into her house to help her.

Al is very protective of his sister and blames himself for the attack as he thinks this was a message to him from the crime lords in the city.

Bronson Mays
Sarah's boyfriend. She was on her way to meet him when she was attacked. Mays was going to propose. He still has the engagement ring and keeps it with him at all times. He owns a small factory developing and manufacturing specialty materials, both in metal and plastics. Physically just over six feet tall and well muscled, used to box in college and played on the football team as a running back.  He also has a temper.

Aaron Agnew
In his 60s mostly bald and slight of build.  Wears horn rimmed glasses and owns a fix-it shop repairing household items like toasters, radios, etc. Has a basement workshop where he works on deadlier items. He used to work for a weapons manufacturer as a designer, but no one knows this part of his life as it was in Europe before and during WW1.  He knows how to use the weapons he designs.  Very well.  A good friend of Al and Sarah's parents (now deceased).  He's more than a little upset about what has happened to Sarah.

Herman Ross
Radio station Manager. Loves the attention Al's reports get and his ferocious hatred of crime. Protects Al from any outside complaints from the city politicians, advertisers, and anyone else and any pressure  “modify” his attitude and his show.

Steven Harris
Radio station owner creating his own mid-west radio network of which KACM is the flagship. A reformer, has himself been threatened and pressured by the city politicians and criminals. Also does what he can to protect Al and keep outside pressure off him to ratchet down Al's constant attacks on crime and the politicians who are either on the take or ineffectual stopping the explosion in lawlessness.

Captain Kuark
The current Police captain for the city. Very political, seemingly ineffectual. Reportedly on the take and one of the reasons many believe crime has exploded in the city.

Maybell Haskell
A secretary at the radio station who adores and has a crush on Al. He's oblivious to it.

Walter York

A former detective from the Brooklyn police force. A bodyguard for Harris.  Big and brawny.

Bruno Carbone
Ruthless gangleader of the biggest gang in the city.

"Bat" Batelli
Carbone's number one enforcer.  Uses a baseball bat to make his point and enjoys using it.