The characters who most overtly hurl the action forward are:
•A.J. Burmeister – A blatant, unhinged sociopath who, by tagging along with Victor’s entourage of high-speed, armed-to-the-armpits mercenaries/ thieves is finally able to fully slake his ache for endless blood and carnage.
•Victor "HMIC" Mendoza – Leader and ultra-incensed whip-cracker of the ten men bulldozing their way inside the Compumercobrás compound in order to sell the company’s dearest and most secret prize to some Yakuza drooling with sinister ambition.
A former career US Marine Corps Gunnery Sergeant running a FAST platoon. His unit is disgraced by a trumped-up gang rape charge by Chinese spies, leaving him bitter and enabling blinders of rage to slap up 'round his head, steering Victor to focus fanatically on his new, more dastardly mission.
(Gawrsh! What a fun word "dastardly" is to type.)
•Major Sérgio Oliveria – Commander of the Brazilian Army’s Counter Terrorist Detachment, and prime architect of the quest to kill and or capture all of Victor’s Bad Boy Club, not to mention the main force set upon digging up just what the hell is going on.
•Tenente Coronel PM Carlos Cabral –First responder to the scene of the carnage in Chaos and Rage, who can actually haul on scene the jeito to bust his way on into the main fracas and set things straight.
Commander of Rio de Janeiro’s SWAT team (BOPE da PMERJ).
•Antônio Pereira Cáceres - High ranking, short tempered, meddling Compumercobrás executive determined to obstruct and occult the truth and progress of those who might discover his company’s most secret, and multifariously dangerous, off-the-books project.
•Alfredo "'Fredo" Rocha - Former Brazilian Army intelligence (CIEX) and current director of security for Compumercobrás in the state of Rio de Janerio.
Normally cool-headed and matter-of-fact.
But becoming embroiled with Senhors Carlos Quadros Dedoro, Antônio Pereira Cáceres, and General Andrada has branded him with the fear of not only career death, but the very real shadow of physical death for himself and his family from those bankrolling Compumercobrás' biggest secret, leaving 'Fredo jumpy, high-strung, and secretive.
•Hans Strauss - Nome de guerre of a legend/ nemesis/ tall-tale within the Special Forces, mercernary contractor, and organized crime communities.
Also thought to own the monikers of "Porbeagle", "Al-Shabah", and plenty others.
He is said to be the field commander of both JagdMaschine Ltda. in South America and JagdMaschine Direct Action, Intl.
Most people regard him as a phantom. A catchy name passed around like a talisman between senior members of the above corporations. Real or no, the widely accepted view is the sum of his achievements is constantly inflated, and exponentially exaggerated as they pass from bar tale to bar tale.
Still, the mention of his name to some is no joke when they're heaving a shotgun instead of a shot glass
(Thanks to Andi Wrede of www.easy-skankin.com for the great cartoon character pics of A.J., Victor, and Sérgio.)
(Thanks to Christopher Nance for the cartoon of Carlos Cabral.)
And now... For the more comprehensive, yet less descriptive full Dramatis Personae...
I know what you're thinking; "Holy guacamole! I gotta keep up with all these damn characters?! Rest easy, young grasshopper, most of these dudes are but bit players within the grand narrative scheme. Yeah, there's a big bunch of extras, and plenty of principals too. But hey, that's the whole point of making a list like this: so you can check it twice..., or thrice..., or a hundred-freaking-fold. It's a handy tool. Use it to have yourself a merry little read. Yippie-Ki-Yay!•Compumercobrás (CMB)
••General-de-Divisão Marcello Andrada Salazar - Senior member Compumercobrás board of directors. Also wears the hat of Comandante-de-COTER.
••Antônio Pereira Cáceres - High ranking Compumercobrás executive.
••Carlos Quadros Dedoro Fontoura - High ranking Compumercobrás executive.
••Alfredo "'Fredo" Rocha - director of security for Rio de Janerio state.
•Exército Brasileiro
(Brazilian Army)
••1ºBFEsp (1º Batalhão de Forças Especiais) Destacamento Contra-Terror (1st Special Forces Battalion, Counter-Terrorist Detachment)
•••Team Alfa
—>Major Sérgio Oliveria (Alfa Primeiro (1); ("O Chefe" )
—>2º Sargento Franco Marconi (Alfa Dois (2))
—>3º Sargento Pedro Villa-Lobos (Alfa Três (3))
—>Taifeiro-Mor Hugo Bulhões (Alfa Quatro (4))
—>Cabo Marco Chaves (Alfa Cinco (5))
•••Team Beta
—>Capitão Jorge Vargas (Beta Primeiro)
—>3º Sargento Gilberto Álvares (Beta Dois)
—>2º Sargento Oscar Caetano (Beta Três)
—>Cabo Carlos Rodriguez de Camaões (Beta Quatro)
—>Cabo Manoel Fernandes (Beta Cinco)
•••Team Gamma
—>1º Tenente Henrique Maciel (Gamma Primeiro)
—>Cabo Emílio Vasconcelos (Gamma Dois)
—>2º Sargento Xavier Cruz (Gamma Três)
—>Taifeiro-Mor Juan Pelacchi (Gamma Quatro)
—>Cabo Paulo Camara (Gamma Cinco)
•••Team Delta
—>1º Tenente Phillippe Gonçalves (Delta Primeiro)
—>Cabo Severo Neves (Delta Dois)
—>3º Sargento João Guimarães e Cruz (Delta Três)
—>Taifeiro-Mor Candido Gomez (Delta Quatro)
—>Cabo Cláudio Montoro Castro (Delta Cinco)
•••Sniper/Observer Teams
—>1º Sargento Hermes Da Mota
—>Taifeiro-Mor Tiago Krause
AND
—>3º Sargento Renato Bacha
—>Cabo Ricardo Lima
—>Cabo Nuno Alencar - former Alfa Quatro, before the main narrative string.
•JagdMaschine Ltda.
(Brazilian branch of JagdMaschine Direct Action, Intl., a wholly-owned subsidiary of Global Business Solutions, Singapore Pte Ltd.)
••“Hans Strauss” - radio call sign "Porbeagle"
••André “Sebastian” Caillaud - radio call sign "Böögg"
••“Heinz”
••“Klaus”
••“Rudi”
••“Alex”
••“Kruger”
••“Uncle Piet” – owns several ranches in KwaZulu/Natal and The Transvaal
••“Marius” - Cessna pilot.
••“Oleg” - Russian chopper pilot.
•Miscellaneous Personages
••Pedro Quércia - Brazilian Formula 1 driver.
••Luiz Velloso - short tempered futebol (soccer) player.
••Mônica Ramos - Rio-based helicopter pilot and reporter for O Globo news corporation.
••Getúlio Machado - night shift doorman at Mônica's apartmento complex.
••Hammad Jibril – formerly big money smuggler in the Southern Cone.
••Tariq al-Hazmi - seedy Lebanese businessman / smuggler with an operations base covering much of south Brazil, Uruguay, Paraguay and northern Argentina.
••Flora Quércia - Mônica's neighbor.
••Caporal-chef Andreyev -
•Los Pinche Chingones
(aka Victor's Bad Boy Club)
(The Merry Gang of Thieves in Chaos and Rage)
••A.J. Burmeister - Shooter.
••Rob Dewar - Shooter and demolitions.
••Ernesto "Ernie" Hererra - Information Technology.
••David Gonzales - Shooter and designated welder.
••Gerard Mahoney - Shooter.
••Victor Mendoza - Guy Running the Railroad and shooter.
••Lenny Colbert - Shooter. (At least that's what he's being paid to do.)
••Dutch Paulson - Shooter, muscle, and weapons procurement liason (ahem, thief).
••Morton Tyler (aka "=|.T.|—|.∑. .G.®.8. .K.®.@.©.K.R.R.|\/|.Æ.§.T.∑.®|=", Krackinator, and other handles ad infinitum) - Information Technology, gadget master, and cracker extraordinare.
•PMERJ
(Polícia Militar Estado Rio de Janerio or Rio de Janerio State Military Police)
••Coronel PM Cesar Pacheco — Comando das Unidades Operacionais Especiaias / Commander of Special Operations Units
••Capitão PM José Furtado
••1º Tenente PM Emílio Fernandes
••BOPE [Batalhão de Operações Polícia Especiais / Special Police Operations Battalion]
•••Tenente Coronel PM Carlos Cabral - Comandante do BOPE PMERJ / Battalion Commander
•••3° Sargento PM Juscelino Tavora - Sniper.
•••Soldado PM Humberto Santos - Caveirão driver.
•••EOD team leader Emerson Sobral - Hey, that's what he is.
•••Cândido - BOPE cop w/ FN P90 at Mônica's apartment building.
•••Lico - BOPE cop w/ HK MP5A2 at Mônica's apartment building.
•REPOBRÁS
(Resistencia Popular do Brasiliero or Popular Resistance of Brazil)
••Tancredo Justo — Head honcho, fundraiser, and public loudmouth of this "movement".
••"Major" [former Exército Brasileiro rank] Lúcio Fonseca — Brazilian Army defector and one of REPOBRÁS' most senior field commanders.
••Ernesto — Random sentry.
••João — One of Fonseca's bodyguards.
••Júlio — Random sentry.
•Yakuza
••Akira Yoshikigo — Yakuza liason with Los Pinche Chingadores.
••Hiroshi "Hiro" Nakano — Right hand man to the Minister of Economy, Trade, and Industry for the Japanese cabinet. See my upcoming novel The Genocide Engine for more juicy revelations.