World of Warcraft: Bad Days

IX. Rick Redford

Rick became John's close friend after the Gamescom stint in Germany. At the time he came to Azeroth, he was 27 years old. Like John, he had a hard life. Before he became a full-fledged gamer, he joined the United States Marine Corps in 2009 as a way to support his family. 

His full name is Richard Belafonte Redford. He was born with mild ADHD.

His service was cut short to 7 years, as he had exhibited excessive violence and further mental damage added to his partial ADHD. When he was deployed to Yemen and Syria, he did everything he could to keep his fellow jarheads alive, while keeping the assault of the enemy at bay. He broke, and started to display psychopathic brutality towards any potential hostile. 

He even resorted to melee combat just for the "fun" of it, and that he felt fulfillment in letting an enemy soldier die for their crimes against innocent people. Yet, he did it with cunning, as he was also a clever student before service, and he was still rational enough to not lash out on his squadmates.

The United States withdrew the military, including the Marines from the Middle East in Dec. 18, 2011, meaning he had about 2 and a couple years of of service in combat, but was very brutal even in the withdrawal phase, and that pushed him to his limits. 

His reserve status of about 5 years in the Marines was riddled with PTSD, and had drawn the concerns of the higher-ups on his physical and metal health. By 2017, he had minimized his PTSD symptoms through socialization and gaming, along with aided therapy provided to him by the Veterans Administration.

FLASHBACKS

"There's a sniper in that building there! Get that howitzer here, and get that Pig unfucked!! We really need to spray holes in that bastard."

"I say we grease this insurgent ratfuck right now! He's basically useless!"

"Gimme that knife. I'll stick it in this ayatollah fucker's eye. Nice and slow."

"Get the damn A-10 Hawgs here!! Tell them to rain hell on them tanks!"

"Tell the gunship pilot to use the Vulcan and the Bofors. No use in being nice here."

"Yeaahhhh!!!! Sprinkle them with lead rain! Hahahahaaaahaaaa!!!!"

"Daayyyuummm!! We got a terrorist fucker freshly baked with a grenade. Smells good! Mmm!"

RETIREMENT

The USMC's higher offices took notice of his behavior, and were deciding on what to do with discharging him. As crazy as Rick was, he used that and his intelligence to save civilian and military lives many times, and for that, he was given the Purple Heart and the Navy Cross for exceptional bravery and heroism despite the odds. 

Those awards were specifically requested by retired USMC General James "Chaos" Mattis. His platoon squadmates bid him farewell tearfully, for they feared Rick may never survive back home due to his mental condition.

He retired with the rank of Sergeant (E-5) upon honorable discharge. His end in the Corps left him dislodged, and relied on medications to keep himself stable. The pension he got was special thanks to Mattis, and was good enough to help his family and himself. 

When he became 26, he found gaming to be his saving grace, as it kept him mentally active and kept his social life healthy, and ultimately saved him from total breakdown. He pursued higher education once more, and got enrolled to the community college in New York.

He found higher fulfillment in life when he met John Lancer, 18 at the time, in the Gamescom Event in Germany. He never felt alone again, for he had found a new friend. John did not know about his military service, but he planned to tell him sometime.

His death from a lightning bolt in his yard in Brooklyn was noticed, and he was mourned by his parents and the Corps. He was given a proper funeral with a ceremony, and was attended by his former squadmates. The funeral took place in Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia, and everybody drove there for him.

IN AZEROTH

His marine training served him well in Azeroth, as he was able to infiltrate the ship to Darnassus without being caught red-handed. His quiet disposition of the soldier he assumed disguise of, was an example of his cunning, but he did not kill him. 

He hopefully prayed he woke up in the sea and was somehow picked up in the shipping route, as he did not want blood in his hands. He was also able to recognize the Alliance, thanks to his experience in battlefield intel, which he applied in World of Warcraft.

He only wanted to go to Darnassus, as he never saw an elf in real life, and the decision was in courtesy of his partial ADHD. His training also enabled him to quickly adapt to situations, like being able to imitate the behavior of the escorts and moving like them, and his intuition became a near-guarantee to keep his identity hidden, as the soldier he knocked out was the same height as him. A perk of his training was helping him keep his psychotic tendencies at bay when it was unnecessary.

Never did he know, that he would meet his best friend again in another life, here in Azeroth. And that his years spent in conflict will soon help him in the upcoming destruction.

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To those wondering about the timespan, John was basically asleep for a day before he woke up being a pit lord. Rick was popped an hour later than him, but woke up a day earlier than John.

When John was imprisoned in the dungeon, he was asleep for a day, so Rick basically came to Azeroth in time for the voyage to Darnassus, as it took two days on a fast-sailing ship. 

The current year in this story is 2018. Rick enlisted in the Corps in 2009 and retired in 2016. He gamed in 2017. He entered Azeroth in 2018.