Jackson Howard is a player character played by Blizzard.

Jackson Howard
Species:	Minkan (formerly Nepleslian)
Gender:	Male
Age:	27 (8D 1M YE 15)
Height:	5' 10“ (178 cm)
Weight:	190 lbs. (86 kg)
Organization:	Star Army of Yamatai
Occupation:	Owner of Havok Customs / Officer of the Star Army of Yamatai
Rank:	Chui
Current Placement:

• Height: 5' 10” (178 cm)
• Weight: 190 lbs. (86 kg)

Build and Skin Color: (Old) Average build, with thick, strong muscles derived from manual labor. Skin is slightly tanned. (New) However, after an existential crisis in late YE 38, Jax has increased his training regime. He is now superbly cut and athletic.

Eyes and Facial Features: Sky-blue eyes. Boyish features.

Ears: Feline, same color as hair.

Hair Color and Style: Sandy blonde, medium length, and swept to the right.

Distinguishing Features: Blonde-colored, feline ears and tail.

Extra: Jackson's scent was once described as “machine oil and burning metal.”

Personality: Very creative, kind of quirky, but none the less kind and loyal. A goofy nerd at heart, Jackson sometimes feels inferior to his crew mates, most of whom have gritty, “cool” backstories, and are fearless in battle. How's a Neppy from the 'burbs supposed to compete? This sense of inadequacy may lead him to put on a show of bravado in the face of danger, even though he's honestly scared out of his mind. To cope with the stress that comes with military life, he takes on the role of the “joker” of the crew. Always eager to put smiles on faces, Jackson displays a quick wit, even if it may sometimes be inappropriate. Don't let his laid-back style and pop-culture references fool you, however. Given proper support and example, this is a man who will fight to the gates of Hell with you, then politely hold them open as you step through.

As of YE 42, Jax has undergone a major transformation. His experiences fighting mercenaries and running a business have acted as a crucible, forming the boy into a mature, driven, competent, confident young man. From a kitten to a lion. He doesn't let failure get to him, and thrives in stressful environments. Despite this stress, Jax maintains a positive mindset, and always manages to tap into that youthful creativity that has made his business so successful. He no longer carries his old feelings of insecurity and inferiority.

However, this drive can negatively affect him, as like the machines he builds, he can't seem to slow down and enjoy the small things. Sometimes, he may go off on a binge of excess in order to “decompress”, which often leads to very painful morning afters. He's learning to work on it. Also, despite his success, he can't help but feel a little lonely sometimes. Most of his real friends are dead or missing, and everyone else is a business associate at best or a gold digger at worst. Like they say, it's lonely at the top.

• Likes: Saturday morning cartoons, sugary cereals, music (of all types, but mostly rock), cold beer, chili-dogs, airbikes, tinkering, ear scratches (secretly), explosions, writing, crossword puzzles.
• Dislikes: Beaches and sand in general, talk shows, people without senses of humor, bugs.
• Goals: To build things of service to the galaxy at large, and leave his mark. Maybe have some adventures along the way. At the end of it all, maybe start a loving family and give them the best life he can.

Henry Howard (father), Amy Howard (mother), Jacqueline Coleman (older sister), Isaac Coleman (nephew), Grant Coleman (nephew).

• Flynn Blackburn (Old high school buddy),
• Gut-Stripe (Sword-Buddies)\
• Candon Howard Suites (Business associate and kinda-sorta-friends)
• Teien Eden (Business associate)
• Taiyou Hoshi ( ;) )
• Koga Akemi (Regular patron of Akemi's)
• Anastasia Barlow (Jax's employee of the month)
• Betty Arturius (Ex Girlfriend)

Jackson was raised in a safe and financially secure environment on Nepleslia. His father, a former Nepleslian Marine, was an employee of Zen Arms, in the branch that dealt with airbikes. So naturally, Jackson grew up around the machines and took quite an interest in operating and repairing them, an interest that would later lead him to pursue engineering within the Star Army of Yamatai. Being a cat person and owning several as pets over the course of his childhood, Jackson could never quite understand why the Nekovalkyrjia were so despised. To him, being part cat was the coolest thing in the world, a wish he would later fulfill when transferring to his Minkan body.

Without the excitement that entailed being of the lower classes of Nepleslia, Jackson turned to the children's cartoons depicting brave space troopers exploring space. He would eventually begin writing his own stories as a way to escape what he considered a very dull life in the suburbs. As he grew older, he began to admire the Yamataians' culture that promoted artistic pursuits. He vowed to one day become a writer there, as his only other option was to settle down into a boring desk job like his father.

After scoring average marks in school and refusing to go through higher education, Jackson used most of his savings to immigrate to the Yamatai Empire, a decision his parents, particularly his father, didn't care for. He used the last of his money to transfer into a new Minkan body and back up his mind.

Out of money, and with no where else to turn, as most places refused to hire an immigrant with no higher education, Jackson turned to the military. It was there that his desire to succeed caused him to request to be placed on the Eucharis, where he works as a starship systems technician. He still has much to learn about Yamataian culture, and is yet untested by the stress of combat, but those will just be bridges to cross.

For a first mission, things went pretty smoothly…

…And by smoothly, we mean the ship only lost one wing! Jax boarded the Eucharis that morning, and after introducing himself to Hanako, getting his bunk, and getting his physical, he manned engineering for the entirety of the three hour trip to Higaflan. During the wait, he had plenty of time to mull over the realities of his situation. It may have very well been the last few hours of his life, after all.

As soon as the Eucharis entered the Higaflan system, it was attacked by a Kuvexian cruiser. Jax was soon joined by fellow engineer Cherry, who instructed him to suit up and head out to work on damage control. None too soon, because as soon as he left the room, Engineering took a direct hit, presumably killing Cherry, and definitely damaging Jax's psyche a little. None the less, he pushed on to the wardroom, where he was joined by Hashimoto Umeshu. The two worked to patch the hull where they could. While working, Jax made a joke about needing a drink and a raise, which prompted Umeshu to offer to share one with him at a later time, as a token of friendship. Jax agreed, and the pair headed down the lift to the fabrication bay just in time for the Eucharis to crash land on the planet bellow.

It seemed the universe really hated them at that moment, because they were besieged by a hoard of agricultural Rixxikor. Umeshu left to commandeer a shuttle, while Jax joined Victory on the ground. The trio successfully defended the Eucharis. During the fighting, Jax got his first kill, via grenade launcher. He wasn't quite sure how to feel about it at first. Guilty? Excited? Saddened? Not like he had much time to decide anyways, because he set to work repairing what he could with crew and supplies from the YSS Vesper.

For the final part of Jax's day, he was suited up in a Mindy and shuttled down planet-side, where Candon Suites had been caught in a catastrophic armor failure while chasing a downed Kuvexian pilot. Jax was the first out of the shuttle. While searching the wreckage, Jax retrieved the pilot, and stole his sidearm for later study. Candon was found alive, but injured. The team returned to the Eucharis, Jax found out Cherry wasn't dead, and all seemed to end well as the ship headed home.

Jax relaxed on the beach and helped repair the Eucharis, mostly. The only event of note would be when he took Hashimoto Umeshu up on her offer for a drink. Umeshu had managed to acquire a bottle of mood-changing Lorath Wine. They drank the whole thing together, and became highly intoxicated. One thing lead to another, and after a game of William Tell in which Umeshu shot an apple of of Jackson's head, the two shared a kiss, unintentionally revealing hidden feelings for each other.

With a huge, awkward rift between Jackson and Umeshu, the Eucharis burned back to Higaflan with a task force of gunships to strike back at the Kuvexians. On the way, Jax was quite suddenly come on to by fellow technician Sakura Cherry. Unwilling to compromise a budding romance with Umeshu, and unwilling to reveal that secret to others, the nekojin found himself in a perilous place indeed! Thinking quick, he lied to her, revealing that he was gay before dashing out of the room. Catastrophe averted…!

…Until he ended up being cornered by roommate and gal-pal Akiashiro Aikiko in a storage closet and intimidated into revealing his feelings for Umeshu. From this encounter, he was given a decorative kogai hairpin to present to his crush as a gift.

Later that night, after several moments of awkward eye contact at the dinner table, the two opted to meet in the cargo bay to discuss the events of shore leave. In the end, everything worked out alright! Jax got the girl, the girl got a hairpin, and they both got a kiss- signifying the beginning of a beautiful relationship.

The next morning, they arrived in Higaflan, and found several Rixxikor colony ships, along with a few Kuvexian warships that bailed at the sight of the task force. They hailed one of the Rixx ships and ordered them to allow an armor team to board and sweep the vessel. Jax was a part of a small team of reinforcements sent to bolster the already outnumbered armor team.

Thankfully, things didn't get too bad. Aikiko managed to piss off the bugs enough to cause a small firefight, but teleported away safely. The leader of the Rixxikor began rapping for some odd reason, which caused the only casualties of the mission- severe burns. Yamashiro Natsumi was served quite horrifically, a fact that Jax vocalized, stating that it would “ruin their street-cred” unless they “returned some of that heat”. Unfortunately, the crew of the Eucharis solemnly retreated, utterly roasted.

The whole ship was experiencing a period of downtime. Jax, of course, was using his free time to mess around in Fabrication, making custom modifications to his armor, as well as completing another project for Candon Suites. While pretending to shoot Rixxikor in a very embarrassing fashion, he noticed Umeshu watching from the corner, causing an epic chain reaction in which he knocked over most of his tools while trying to stand up, causing a loud commotion, which attracted the attention of everyone outside. They didn't enter, thankfully, for Umeshu was emotionally distraught. A new samurai was coming aboard the ship, and she wasn't looking forward to facing one of her former comrades.

Jax took a moment to console her, which Candon overheard from the other side of the door, which meant that now Candon knew of their relationship. The two lovebirds kissed, realizing too late that the samurai in question was watching them from a distance. They awkwardly tried to make excuses and create space from each other, but the samurai wasn't buying it. She let it slide, thankfully.

With that mess cleared, Candon came in to test his new modification, which worked flawlessly. Jax then ate dinner, and returned to his haven.

The Eucharis landed on UX-1 I against Star Army protocol and held a small promotion ceremony outside. Jax was promoted, and immediately set out with some equipment to carve fake religious scenes in a cave to quote “confuse the hell out of whatever sentient life appears here in a few million years”. Afterwards, while walking back to the ship, a Rixxikor collector ship swooped out of the sky and snatched up the Euchars. Then, the crew split up. One team went to a SSS lighthouse a few miles away, while Jax's team stayed. They immediately came under fire from Rixxikor fighters, and were forced to take refuge in a canyon. A battle ensued in which several crewmembers were injured. Jax and Marcus Rodia managed to steal a shuttle and get everyone onboard. They raced to the lighthouse, which was blown sky-high by Rixxikor. Luckily, everyone survived, including Umeshu. The crew, shuttle badly damaged, limped away to another lighthouse.

After a good night's rest entwined in the arms of Umeshu, Jax and the crew set out to reclaim the Eucharis. As they approached the chopshop, they were hailed by Kuvexians. Since Jax had the best Rixxikor impression, he was called up to the cockpit to converse. After a rather embarassing and vulgar conversation with the air traffic controllers, they were given safe passage. However, the shuttle began to fall apart in mid air! Grabbing an rpg, Jax bailed out, dropping haphazardly into the junkyard below, where he landed in a pile of futon cushions. He made his way to the hangar where the ship was being held, using stealth to avoid soldiers, and blasting them apart with his launcher where he couldn't. He made it to the Eucharis, and frantically worked on repairs as the ship took off and engaged in battle with the Kuvexian fleet.

Jax and Umeshu ran away together and spent long hours alone in their hotel room before visiting the Hanami Festival.

Jax worked to repair the ship as it held off Kuvexian reinforcements as the crew boarded a space station to retrieve sensitive information.

Jax stays up late into the night drinking in anguish, for he learns that Umeshu is gone without a trace. He is discovered by Candon, who gives him an offer to go in on a storage unit on Yamatai for all of the new stuff he'd acquired in a giveaway. Jax accepts.

Fueled by his existential crisis and the pain of losing Umeshu, Jax modifies the storage unit and begins reading online manuals in ninjutsu, completely reforming himself into a stealthy fighting machine.

Jax boarded the ship and realized that Love Day was approaching. Since the ship was to stop on Hanako's world for a couple days, he entered the random matchmaker in attempt to get over Umeshu, who'd been gone for nearly a year.

The crew decided to spend the night on a beach and threw a party. Jax brought several handles of alcohol, and promised Freyja Yuuki that he would help her get drunk, since the Neko had also lost her girlfriend.

They both ended up getting drunk and dancing, with Freyja naked. They tripped over each other and accidentally kissed. Jax forced himself away, disgusted with himself, and took a big swig from a random bottle- which happened to be filled with LSD. What followed was the greatest trip of all time, with him running through the jungle high as a kite. He saw many visions, and even travelled universes, where he saw Blizzard himself writing that very post. He tried to attack his creator for making his life so shitty, but failed and was dragged back to the present. As he came down from the high, Tsuguka came looking for him, and Jax inadvertently revealed he had a bit of a crush on the Neko. Tsuguka dragged him back to the shuttle, where they sparred, and even shared a kiss.

Next up was a wholly embarrassing lewd game of truth or dare with the crew around the campfire.

Three months after the party, the Eucharis arrived in a system that contained a massive machine planet. The crew sent an away team, with Jax providing tech support from the comms. After a nasty fight that resulted in friendly fire, Jax began to question his position on the ship.

Jax was sent on the next expedition to the machine planet, navigating through narrow corridors filled with hazardous creatures, which he had the honor of naming. Then, Kuvexian vessels arrived in system, and the crew debated leaving a team behind, possibly for months. Jax begged Tsuguka not to stay, but she insisted, and he returned to the ship, vowing to transfer as soon as they reached Yamatai again.

Over the next several months, a lot changed for Jax. Turns out he'd had a literal pile of gold in his storage unit, and so he'd sold it for several hundred million KS. Now too rich for his own good, he founded Havok Customs and through Candon, invested in a space station. Once his contract expired, he left his boring planet-side posting and headed there.

As he approached the station on his yacht, he took a moment to wonder at how far he'd come. He entered the station and was shown to his penthouse.

The happy moment was soured by a message from Candon, who informed him that a crazy sect of aliens was planning on sending a fleet to the system, with his new station as a target. Angry, and not really able to do much about it, he went and got drunk.

While grumpily stalking Osman City, Jax was dragged into Akemi's restaurant and met Hoshi, whom he shared a booth with for several hours before stumbling back out and meeting Akemi himself. The two hit it off, and Exchanged contact information for a possible future business project.

Jax awoke one morning, wrapped in the arms of one of Uso's employees, to Uso herself screaming him awake. After a fairly short conversation, Uso and Jax settled Jax's position on the planet.

Howard Station experienced heavy rioting. Some hooligans tried to breach Jax's penthouse, but were quickly repelled by a very angry Jax with a rocket launcher. He was having none of their bullshit! Shortly afterwards, he left for Yamatai for a while.

Bored one Tuesday afternoon on Yamatai, Jax's head engineer, Ana, comes to him with an idea for an Elysian-specific airbike. The two move their business meeting to a Mexican restaurant, where they create the Bluebell over margaritas.

Jax and Ana opened the festival with a dazzling showcase of the Bluebell and Maverick. After a tense situation involving S6 bounty hunters, Jax retreated to his space station and threw an after party, where he met his future girlfriend, Betty Arturius.

For a very short time, Jax was hired to teach engineering technology at Zenjinkaze Fighting High School. Sadly, he was forced to resign his post after he found that he couldn't juggle his business and personal affairs with that of the school.

Jackson has all the standard Star Army Common Skills.

Jackson's hobby and love of writing has resulted in several hours practicing the art.

Jackson's occupation within the Star Army as a starship systems technician means he has received several hours of instruction in the repair and maintenance of advanced starship systems.

Jackson can operate most civilian vehicles such as cars, but his background in airbikes means that he has a special knack for handling that specific type of vehicle.

Jackson is both very creative and tech savvy. Using a sketchpad, toolkit, and raw materials, he is capable of designing and building complex machinery and other gadgets.

Jackson successfully completed a combat engineering course during his Star Army training. He is capable of safely and effectively handling explosives to clear or create obstacles. His engineering background has also lead him to study to manufacture of improvised explosives in a pinch. He is no chemist, so he cannot manufacture explosive materials, and must have all of the components ready for assembly.

Jax has dedicated himself to the longsword and an unarmed fighting style reminiscent of the knights of old.

Jackson Howard has the following items:

• Star Army Duffel Bag, containing:
  • Toiletry Kit
  • Environmental Suit
  • 2 Duty Uniforms
    • 1 Star Army Cap, Type 32
    • 1 Star Army Coat, Type 32
  • 2 Working Uniforms. Includes boots and gloves.
  • 2 Exercise Uniform (can also used as sleepwear)
  • Undergarments
• Star Army Utility Belt, Type 32, light-blue gray
• Star Army Jika-Tabi, Type 38

• 1 Kuvexian pistol (unknown make and model)
• 1 Longsword (Durandium construction, molecular knit, monomolecular edge)
• 1 Waster
• 1 Crate of Lorath anti-tank ammo (41mm-89mm)
• 1 SMX Frasworstch battle pod
• 1 “Bgazo” weed weapon
• 1 Ke-M2-W3703 Special Operations-Derived Combat Knife made of Vekimen metal (Gold) (Gift)
• 1 Rixxikor rocket launcher (unknown make and model)
• 1 Nepleslian Rocket Launcher (4x infrared sight. 3 rocket quiver.)
• 10 PM-1B Tandem HEAT rockets.

• 1 Princess Class Yacht (Sky blue, with the ship's name, “The Jax Mobile”, painted in gold on the sides.)
• 1 Advent Hovercar (Lime green, black roof, bright tan leather seats)
• 1 Maverick Hovercar (Burnt orange, black leather seats)

• 1 Hangar (400'x 300'x 200') in the Uesureyan Fields
• 1 Origin Orbital Space Station (OOSS) “Howard Station” (Co-owned with Candon Howard Suites)

• 1 YSS Eucharis Baseball Cap
• 1 Tool vest (a gift from Akiashiro Aikiko)
• 1 Tropical straw hat
• 5 Hawaiian shirts of differing patterns
• 3 Pairs of jeans
• 1 Pair of canvas sneakers (Gray)
• 1 Pair of work boots (Brown, leather)
• 5 Aethersperm tees
• 1 Pair of aviator sunglasses (Gold frame, black lenses)
• 1 Pair of flip flops
• 5 Suits of differing colors
• 1 Luxury bathrobe

• SSCC-XL containing potassium chloride
• 1 Metal floor panel
• 2389 Small casks of tobacco (Sold to cigar maker, 78,813 KS)
• SSCC-XL containing gold (Sold to electronics manufacturer, 782852320 KS)

• 3 Fabrication modules
• 5947 Wooden wagons (400lb)
• 1 Medtech medkit
• 1 Box of starship airfilters

• 5 Gallons of pineapple juice
• 50 Cans of coconut cream
• 5 Handles of rum
• Cooler of ice (60 lbs)
• 1 Industrial-grade blender

Jackson Howard is currently a Chui in the Star Army of Yamatai . He makes 5150 KS/month.