“Dust”
- Eddies
- 49
Name: Rafe Calderón
Alias/Handle: "Dust"
Age: Late 30's
Ethnicity: Native American
Birthplace: Badlands, NUSA
Appearance: Dust-coated leather duster over a black mechanic button up, worn-out jeans, leather holsters with straps, and cowboy boots. Always carries a revolver with him and a hunting knife.
Background:
- Family Ranking: Nomad Pack - Aldecaldos
- Parents: Mother (Rosa Calderón) killed and Father ("Smoke") captured in a deal gone bad with Militech, it is unknown if "Smoke" still lives.
- Childhood Environment: In a Nomad Pack (Aldecaldos), traveling through the Badlands from town to town.
Personality:
- Loyal, but only to those who earn it. The perceived Aldecaldos' lack of action and retribution was a betrayal that left scars, so he doesn't trust easily. He values Family above all else and is determined to help his new Nomad Family thrive.
- Cynical but principled. He doesn't care about Night City's bullshit politics, but he won't work with corpos unless there's no other choice.
- Resourceful as hell. He can fix anything with duct tape and scrap, and his knowledge of old-world tech makes him invaluable to anyone needing a mechanic in the Badlands.
Friends:
- His Nomad Family
- A few lasting ties to the Aldecaldos
Enemies:
- Militech
- Corpos (In General)
- Authority (In General)
Lifepath / Role:
- Nomad
Skills:
- Skilled Mechanic: Whether it's a souped-up Quadra or a nomad-modified off-roader, he can drive or fix it.
- Gunslinger: A practiced gunslinger, watched too many old western movies and post-apocalyptic holoflicks.
- Survivalist:Knows the desert like the back of his hand and can last weeks off scavenged supplies.
Language(s):
- Diné (Navajo Language)
- English
Cyberware:
- N/A
Empathy:
- 5/10
- Rafe still has a heart, but it's buried under layers of survival instinct. He cares about the people who earn his trust, old friends, fellow nomads, and the rare few who don't screw him over. He won't betray someone without reason, and he has a soft spot for outcasts and underdogs. However, he's also been burned too many times to blindly trust anyone. If you're not part of his new family or his circle, you're just another potential threat.
Humanity:
- 50/100
Gear & Style:
- Style: Dust-coated leather duster over a black mechanic button up, worn-out jeans, leather holsters with straps, and cowboy boots. Always carries a revolver with him and a hunting knife.
- Vehicle:"Dust Devil", a modified Thorton Colby CX410, reinforced with armored plating, shock absorbers for off-road travel, and a hidden weapons cache. It's the last thing he has from his mother, and he treats it like family.
History:
Rafe Calderón was born into the Aldecaldo family, raised on the endless highways cutting through the Badlands. He grew up breathing the desert air, learning to fix engines before he could walk, and stealing fuel from corpos before he could legally drive. His mother, Rosa Calderón, was a legendary smuggler who ran high-risk jobs through the border, while his father, "Smoke" was a cybered-up enforcer who made sure no one screwed with the family.
Rafe learned the trade and picked up some skills as a mechanic along the way, working through his life among the tribe. It wasn't until later in life when his family got caught in a deal gone bad with Militech, an ambush disguised as a trade. His mother was killed, his father taken by the corpos, and the Aldecaldos had to scatter. Rafe barely made it out alive, but not without scars.
With his clan in shambles, Rafe refused to rejoin the remnants of the Aldecaldos under Saul Bright's leadership. He wanted revenge, but the clan wanted survival. Instead of staying, he hit the road solo, carving his own path through the Badlands and beyond. He took the occasional job with the Wraiths, mainly aimed at hurting Militech convoys before business went bad there too. He was betrayed and left for dead, found an nursed back to health by a group of nomads who he would come to see as family.
Now, Rafe operates as a mechanic for his new nomad family, and aids the occasional raid or high-stakes smuggling operation when the money is right. He still holds onto the old nomad codes: protect the family, live free, and never trust a corpo rat.
He's got contacts everywhere, fixers in Night City, nomad tribes in the desert, and even a few ex-Militech operatives who hate their former employers as much as he does. His latest jobs have put him on the radar of some serious players, including the Wraiths, who want him dead for cutting into their smuggling routes, and Arasaka, who are hunting down anyone with knowledge of a stolen prototype he might have helped move.