Gunman

Gunman was the alias of a mercenary who served with Churhee's Riflemen, a group which specialized in "low profile" missions in the Sarin and Parmel sectors. Given his membership in this group, it is very likely Gunman was a highly skilled marksman; all of Churhee's squads were sharpshooters. However, his primary role was as a combat technician. His first assignment with the Riflemen was against an executive from the Corporate Sector who was involved with a slaving ring. The executive was protected by formidable defenses, and his proximity to civilian populations further complicated the mission. However, Gunman came up with an ingenious solution: he reprogrammed the executive's culinary droid to drop the defense net, and the squad was able to capture the entire estate without firing a single shot.

Gunman brought this creative ability to all his work for the Riflemen. Another of his early assignments was to maintain GHT medevac droids; specialist droids used to support battlefield medics and retrieve wounded soldiers from battlefields. Gunman modified his droids to overcome their major weakness; by installing an internal automap in the droids, they were able to track down the wounded without the exact coordinates of the soldier needing to be programmed in. Modifications such as this were typical of Gunman's work, suggestions he gladly passed on over Cynabar's Droid Datalog during his later years.

Another unconventional use of droids by Gunman's unit was their use of R2-series astromech droids. These they fitted with repulsorlift boosters and a number of other modifications, before dispatching them over the battlefield. The droids were then able to send back a hi-res three-dimensional map of the surrounding terrain, which the Riflemen used to tactical advantage. This technique often saw droid losses of up to 80% but was nevertheless valuable.

On more urban missions, Gunman used similar modifications to give his team an edge. These included modifying the ubiquitous Hover-Cams with espionage programming for reconnaissance, and using Jammer Packs to isolate his opponents and throw them into disarray. Another trick was to use UniTech "Patches" (designed to make faults in a system undetectable) in reverse; tricking systems into picking up non-existent faults, thereby setting off alarms and other diversions.

Gunman was also familiar with ASP-7 droids manufactured by Industrial Automaton, which the Riflemen often used for weapons maintenance and basic manual labor in combat and Stiletto security droids which saw primary use in the Outer Rim Territories.

Churhee's Riflemen started out as a mercenary unit primarily contracted to the Galactic Empire. It was highly effective in ripping up the flanks and rear of enemy forces. However, the unit was decimated while on a mission for the Empire in the Y'Trella system, due to inadequate backup. In the months that followed this mission, in which their leader Churhee died, the Riflemen only accepted anti-Imperial missions, and allied itself with the Rebel Alliance. While it was unknown whether Gunman was part of the unit before the loss at Y'Trella, he certainly took part in a number of the anti-Imperial missions following this. On these missions, he applied his talent for the unorthodox to his tactics.

On one occasion, his unit raided an Imperial weapons dump, acquiring dozens of Ubrikkian man traps. A miniaturized reversed repulsorlift field, the man traps were designed to immobilize quarry for capture, however Gunman found a unique application for the devices. While fighting against the Imperial Army on Gosho IV, his unit was dug in and set a defensive perimeter using the devices. When the Imperials launched their attack with a salvo of grenades, the man traps were activated, slamming the grenades into the ground where they exploded prematurely. This neutralized the Imperials' initiative, allowing the Riflemen to rally and push them back. Gunman also liked using plasticene thermite gel to burn through bunker walls, attacking from unexpected angles.

During a campaign against an Imperial Moff (sometime after the Battle of Endor), Gunman and his team infiltrated his fortress and placed small transceivers near key defenses. Once they retreated undetected, they launched guided missiles using PLX-4 missile launchers. Three dozen missiles streaked in undetected, smashing the enemy's defenses and leaving the way clear for the Riflemen.

Gunman experienced firsthand Imperial cruelty during a mission to release Wookiee slaves. While doing reconnaissance on a group of Imperial slavers near Yitabo, Gunman strayed too close and was detected and captured by the slavers. They fitted him with a slaving collar, capable of delivering high-voltage electricity to the captive. While he described the experience as agony, he nevertheless considered it less painful than that which the slavers endured at the hands of the Wookiees after his unit managed to release them all.

Gunman also had experience fighting against opponents other than the Empire; he once fought against the distinguished Ailon Nova Guardsmen (heirs of a 13,000 year military tradition). The Guardsmen were only at half strength, but managed to fool Gunman's squad into thinking they had twice their actual numbers via doubler suits (either captured or issued by the Empire). Surviving the encounter, Gunman was impressed by their ingenuity, learning that any tool could confer an advantage in battle if used correctly.

His old unit had a few production model Juggernaut 510 Combat Power Armor suits. They were acquired from one of the designers, a Corellian by the name of Sarvel Tal-Oldra who set up in Doc's outlaw tech base in the Corporate Sector after the project was canceled. Though he reported the expensive suits as bulky and with a weakness due to its unprotected power transfer routing conduits, he still recommended them. The Riflemen's affiliation to the New Republic also gave Gunman access to Nen-Carvon R-19 Paragliders, developed specially for the Alliance Special Forces, which he recommended for covert missions. While working for the Alliance, he also helped to swipe a number of hyperspace pods containing AS-M12-series messenger droids.

Gunman was a highly creative individual, finding many unorthodox uses for technology. This led him to test camo-netting underwater (successfully), and to discover that Merr-Sonn Weapons Superior Boarding Armor suits could vent their oxygen supply for propulsion if their rocket packs ran out (although venting too much air had its own dangers). Gunman was also familiar with the flaws in technology, such as defective prismatic crystals in Imperial issue KK-5 blaster pistols, and a minor targeting glitch in K4 security droids which threw their targeting sensors and gyros out of sync when moving at speed.

Gunman willingly shared his insights with others, often giving advice through his alias on various newsnets during the period 34:1:7 to 45:3:0. While this information was given away freely, Gunman revealed little about himself; his real name and species were never given out, nor were any distinguishing personal features. Considering the Empire was still extant when he posted his comments, this anonymity was likely to ensure he avoided repercussions for his actions.

Gunman first appeared in Cynabar's Fantastic Technology: Droids (January 1997) as one of a number of individuals leaving messages on the datalogs. He was also used in this capacity in Gundark's Fantastic Technology: Personal Gear (July 1997) and in two Droid Datalogs in the Star Wars Adventure Journal. These messages were designed to serve as scenario hooks for gamemasters, or to provide possible modifications for equipment. Others provided explanations for why weapons could fail; gamemasters could draw on these to explain what occurs when a player rolled a "1" or other unlucky number.

Although around two hundred individuals left messages of this kind in various sourcebooks, Gunman was by far the most prolific, leaving a total of twenty-two messages.

• Cynabar's Fantastic Technology: Droids
• "Cynabar's Droid Datalog" — Star Wars Adventure Journal 13
• "Cynabar's Droid Datalog" — Star Wars Adventure Journal 14
• Gundark's Fantastic Technology: Personal Gear