2 things:

1. Do you prefer Chinese or Italian food?
2. How do you feel about French Rose?

"If I'm honest mate, I really love Chinese food more, big fan of lemon chicken and wonton soup! Great meals to have especially during the Australian winter."

"Ah...yeah, French Rose...let's just say fights with her don't pan out the way I would like. Because of villains like her, I had to brush up on my hand to hand combat skills and use them more often. Nothing like a big purple and golden skunk disarming you and swinging you around ballet style to figure out that all the firearms training they taught ya in the military is pretty much useless in CQB. Her Hathor syndicate is no joke however, all made up of well trained and organized French mafia associates and members, all with an undying devotion to the "New goddess of love". I'll be honest, unlike most crime organisations, I can respect her, she won't deal in narcotics or person trafficking, limits herself to weapons smuggling, white-collar and corporate level crimes; engages in turf wars with Caoránach and the La Rouge Empress Cartel, and is a major thorn in the side of The Mesa Outfit."

"Not to mention she also pushes her pink lady transformation powder in a rather safe manner as well and is quite strict on who she allows to major and distribute it. Despite her obsession with superheroes and wanting to share her love with all heroes, she is probably one of the only villains I'd actually consider working with if she ever wished to help tackle the more violent and dangerous criminal groups in the city!"

Weird follow up question:

After meeting Dragon, think you two might hang out if you got to know each other?

"Yeah mate I reckon we would! So long as he isn't like those Crime Busters and doesn't fool around...but I'd be up to get to know a fellow unregistered."

Do you need to use special shampoo to keep the orange bits of your fur bright?

"Hah good one mate! That actually is kinda something I haven't heard of since I was in high school! Funny enough I do use a coat shinner shampoo that's made for both darker and brighter coloured fur, so I don't have to worry about using different brands and bottles for different parts of my body. Got the idea of using it from my sister cause actually!"

Do you and your sister get winter floof when it gets to the cold seasons?

Howler looks at his slowly growing winter coat "Yeah we both do, winter sucks bloody balls mate and we need this extra layer!"

How hard was it for you over the years to not reach out to your family and let them know you survived that battle (good reasons not to notwithstanding) and what's your favorite training/mission memory with Wraith?

"Honestly...was bloody fucking hard and soul-crushing...the first couple of years were tough, especially seeing the footage of the caskets being taken off the plane live on TV. The battle of Helmand was a big fucking deal since a number of Australian troops from Task Force Kanga were killed...the hardest part was seeing my parents and my sister in tears over my own casket... I let found out that the military told them my body was too badly burnt to be seen...it was lying because there was nobody inside... I saw them crying their eyes out, so sure I was dead...and I couldn't contact them and tell them I was alive... I was worried they would be targeted by the same assholes that killed my friends and other soldiers during the battle... I knew i was a marked man with these nanites inside my body...so I had to bottle up my emotions and carry on...live out a life with them convince I was dead.... there were nights when I would wake up and just cry...it didn't help that my PTSD was kicking in hard as well... I still think that I could have said something... I still feel guilty for leaving them in the dark for so long.."

He forces a smile and wipes some tears from his eyes before chuckling and continuing on. "Ok favourite mission with Wraith, ok I got one I can share! About a year and a half after Wraith took me under his wing we did a joint Blokes mission with Calamity Jane, and Spitfire going after one of Lady Hatcher's secret ship-breaking/dry dock facilities....for a bit of background info, her Caoránach group would setup hidden ship-breaking operations across the globe, legally buying up contacts to take decommissioned commercial and military warships and break time down into useable materials...of course, this was all a ruse...what they would actually do with the ships is repair, modify and refit the ships, then secretly sell them off to dictators and terrorist organisations like the Pacific Vipers, Eye of Shiva and Invisible Sword; it's how those groups were able to get their hands on modern warships without anyone knowing at the time!"

"Now, in this case, we managed to arrange the sale of a decommissioned Canadian patrol boat, which was originally handed to Cerberus Heavy Industries. We worked with CHI to arrange for the patrol boat to be put up for sale as bait for one of Caoránach's shell companies, then myself, Wraith and Jane hid within a secret compartment on the boat while it was sold and towed to one of this ship-breaking docks. Spitfire and CHI tracked the ship on course to a remote island of the coast of Greenland; while the three of us were pretty much stuck on the ship...for around 2 weeks. We had to keep ourselves entertained during that time but we came prepared, we had food, water, various ways of entertainment that wouldn't compromise the mission and ourselves... I won't go into details but it was a long 2 weeks being cooped up in that space!"

"Once we arrived, we snuck in the dock and worked together gathering evidence, observing the moment of Caoránach personnel and defences and planned our next move. The Dock had at least half a dozen ex-French and Italian warships being refitted and ready to be sold to the pacific vipers and Red Menace so we had a small window to work with. About a week after we arrived we took out several Caoránach Sam batteries and Spitfire along with two other CHI mercenary pilots made their attack runs on the facility and the warships. Hatcher apparently was in town at the time; with myself and wraith ending up fighting her in hand to hand combat with the facility was exploding around us; while Jane was securing us an escape route.

Somehow both of us ended up under Hatcher's bloody heavy as fuck arse; she was so mad seeing those warships being blown up and suck at the docks that she was either gonna make us pay as captives or take us with her while the whole place crumbled around us. Lucky for us and our now aching bodies, we managed to break free and fight her off; while capturing Hatcher would have been a bonus, we ended up being forced to take a break for the escape boat out of there! Rushing across the burning docks with whatever defenders Caoránach could muster opening upon us, Me and Wraith both managed to get on board a luxury motor yacht that Jane happily stole for us and made our escape under the protective cover of Spitfire and her wingmen!"

Howler smirks as he takes a sip from a beer bottle. "It's estimated that attack cost Caoránach billions in potential revenue, those warships were cold war era in design but a lot of modern tech being put into them would have given groups like the Pacific Vipers an edge on the high seas."

1. What powers you wish you could have?
2. Who you think is your worst enemy?
3. You have any crushes?

"Honestly mate I'm pretty happy with the set I got right now, still learning my limits but I couldn't ask for anything better. You got to work with what you got and not with what you wish you had, it's how you build yourself up as a better super"

"Alot of bad folks I've come across over the years, kinda hard to pick an absolute worst enemy, however, Red Menace and Catalyst Securities International are pretty high up on the list of my long time foes. Been trying to prove for years that CSI was responsible for the deaths of several Task Force Kanga members as well as over a hundred NATO troops during the Battle of Helmand. They also worked alongside Red Menace in deploying the combat suit that I wear that was designed to work with the version of bionic blood I have."

Howler kinda gives a slight blush but keeps his poker face "A few...for the longest time when I was a kid I really liked Dame Freedom, got the chance to meet her when I was in Colmaton, and even teamed up with her on several occasions; but I didn't pursue trying to get into a relationship with her since she was already spoken for."

Hello Howler! My name is Nalimba, the Lion from the North. I have some question to you ;)

1. What is it like to be one of the few superheroes among so many pretty superheroines?
2. What is your favourite weapon and why?
3. Do you dare?

"Honestly while a lot of supers in colmaton are female, the hero community sees everyone as being equal; we are all in the same fight together and regardless of what gender you are or where your from, we are all fighting the same fight against crime and terror. Some blokes like to view the heroines as nothing but useful eye-candy for their PR department and it doesn't help that a minority within the general public had once encouraged perverted activity against female heroines back before I started out *Cough*TOM MATTHEWS*Cough*. I feel that it's important that blokes like us ensure that we treat all heroes with the same respect we would treat our loved ones, friends and family; if we can do that, then we can all look to a bright future!"

"Hehe, the favourite weapon would have to be my FN FiveSeveN pistol, great pistol with a rifle like round, able to defeat body armour and give even a supervillain with super durability a nasty welt from the hit. It's been my fateful sidearm for years since I began operating as an unregistered and along with my powers and suit, is just another tool in my arsenal of abilities!"

Howler's eyebrow cocks at the quote. "That's my sister's catchphrase! Mine is taken right from the SAS mate. Who Dares Wins!"

Four questions for Howler.


1. How much do you charge for being a mercenary, what are the rates, and what won't you do?

2. Concerning the mercenary trade, what places do you refuse to set a foot on?

3. Any villains that you really want to put a bullet on their skull?

4. How did you manage to immigrate to American without compromising yourself?

"Really depends on the client in question; might seem like a counterproductive way of business but I've actually done jobs for free, mainly for folks that either than afford my services or who are in desperate need of assistance; mainly communities and families fucked over by organized crime groups or corrupt officials; as I feel it's ethically wrong to financially impact these folks and better I absorb the lose for them while making a difference. However, if it was someone who does have the ability to pay me, the rate is set between $600 to $2000+ per day depending on the threat level of the assignment; this is usually when a company or organisation seeks to hire me for security for an area or event. For larger assignments, I won't take anything below $59,000 USD unless it's absolutely necessary; usually, if money is short or if hazard pay is reasonable. Most jobs are not in the millions of dollars for payday like they show in the movies mate! Most are just several 5 figure jobs a year, but if you get lucky you end up getting a massive contract with the likes of Cerberus Heavy Industries or NATO which can easily run into the mid to high six figures!"

"I've seen a lot of shit in my line of work, and I often view myself as an ethical mercenary; the kind of bloke that acts against those that would violent the basic rights of others within a heartbeat. Ever since I got to know people like Tsunami, I've refused offers to safeguard assets for chemical and petroleum companies unless they can guarantee they aren't hiring me to protect their polluting operations that greatly affect the environment. I've been approached by idiots in the trafficking trade trying to hire me as security for people smuggling and slavery; who I promptly investigated and dismantled with the assistance of law enforcement agents and my own crew. I refuse to take any job from corporations, individuals or countries that have a track record of killing innocent civilians or targeting population centres indiscriminately. Those are the standards I have set for myself and my crew!"

Howler snarls at this question. "I can name a few folks that I wished i could have killed, but one bloke stands out. Timothy Bordick! That sack of shit with the silver tongue, he tried to hire me to run security on his medical equipment convoys that were being targeted by the Shadow Cartel. I only took the offer cause the FBI approached me and requested by help investigating Bordick and Tech-Deck Industries for ties to criminals and organized crime. Turns out they were right, Bordick was working with the Shadow Cartel, Caoránach and The Empress Cartel, in order to smuggle drug precursors into Colmaton across the border from Mexico via Tech-Deck freight trains; where they would be manufactured within a decommissioned Tech-Deck Industries industrial park. In exchange for this, Bordick was paying these crime groups with advanced energy-based weapons disguised as medical equipment which would be smuggled back into Mexico via the same freight trains."

"What I didn't know at the time was that Bordick had a mole in the FBI and him hiring me was no coincidence. He had been working with Dr Cyberclaw in order to restore both his ability to walk and his manhood after Kayla Bowles paralysed him back in 2010, and my nanites were his key to him regaining the power he once had. I honestly should have seen it coming, a lot of folks in the hero community warned me about Bordick, but at the time I couldn't risk blowing the FBI's investigation. I ended up getting ambushed after recovering incriminating evidence of bordick's dealings with the criminal underworld...and the fact that sick son of a bitch kept rape tapes of his various conquests...one of them was Lillian Bowles...Kayla's mother and the original Voltage Vixen...even while I was captured and tortured by the Shadow Cartel and Dr Cyberclaw, all I could think of was wanting to kill that sociopathic rapist."

"After they extracted my nanites from my bone marrow, Bordick injected them into himself...bloody wackjob just couldn't wait for it to be tested... I wish he would have died from the infusion process, but much to my dismay he not only gained his ability to walk and fuck back but also gained some of my own powers as well...the little asshole even decided to try and tarnish my reputation by stealing my old Mark I suit; having several supervillains ambush and capture superheroes and law enforcement personnel who wronged him; which included Kayla Bowles and sought to wear my suit and murder them across the border in Mexico in an attempt to frame me as a secret agent of the Shadow Cartel."

"Thank God that never happened, I was rescued by several heroes and we managed to locate Bordick's freight train and intercept it before it could reach the border crossing at Calexico. I caught Bordick in his private train car attempting to rape Kayla in the same fashion he raped her mother, I wasn't about to let history repeat itself; so we fought. The battle was intense, other supers both UNBOS and unregistered, along with supporting law enforcement assaulted the train and caused it to derail; Shadow Cartel and Empress Cartel foot soldiers, along with rogue Tech-Deck security personal and several villains putting up heavy resistance. It took myself and several other supers to take down Bordick himself, who by this point was so fucking high off his ass on cocaine and power that even when paralysed again by myself and Kayla, he was refusing to accept defeat.

Howler then bit his lip as he continues to recall the events of that day. "Bordick tempted us to kill him when he knew it was over for him, and I almost put a pull in his skull execution-style; I was filled with rage and anger, all I could see was what he did to people like Lillian Bowles. It was Kayla who stopped me, she didn't want me killing a scumbag like Bordick because it would be giving him what he wanted, a quick and easy way out of being held accountable for everything he had done; in a way, we both saved each other that day. In the end, Bordick was put on trial for his dealings with several crime groups, various drug offences, the murder of a law enforcement officer, several counts of rape and for his role in the murder of Lillian Bowles. He never made it to prison, however, ended up dying from a massive drug overdose before he could be transferred from house arrest to galatap prison; still, the fact that he was found guilty and convicted of all charges was the justice that so many fought for so long to achieve!"

Seeing the topic was now changing, Howler welcomes it with a slight chuckle. "Now that was due to Wraith helping me get in. He managed to get me hooked up with a green card pretty quick, must have talked to some friends higher up from his days at the CIA. I don't know all the details but surprisingly I was able to enter the states under my real name...turns out the US has no record of me back when I was apart of the Australian Military, so I was able to get in with no problems and very few questions asked. I didn't start out in Colmaton however, mainly set up in Philadelphia where I got to know folks like Germania, then slowly made my way west until I reached Colmaton. Then me and wraith setup the Rusty Blokes Junkyard and smash repair as a front business outside of the city and I was set with a stable civilian job working as a licensed salvage operator for the city's emergency service."

Hey Howler, how did it first feel when you realized you were part machine/computer?

Howler blinks at the question. "Ummm well to be honest mate, I'm not part machine or computer. Sure I got a version of bionic blood in my system, but I don't have any mechanical parts in me. The nanites in my body allow me to interface with my nanite suit's systems and also grant me some optical suites plus my powers. I guess the tech I have is a lot more advanced than the generation one bionic blood, since I don't require cybernetic parts."

I should've rephrase that question. Sorry about that.

Another question, did you ever figured out the cost of such tech in you?

"Bloody good question actually. True be told my suit actually has an optical camo mode allowing it to change the colour and camo pattern of the suit at will based on the environment I operate it. However, I tend to default it to the factory orange colour when I'm operating as a superhero in a populated area. This way I can present myself as a target and keep the bad guys trained on me and not on any civilians caught in the crossfire. The optical camo is only ever used when I'm on an actual military assignment. Also, the suit does have a helmet, but I don't like using it, mainly cause the original creators of the suit were arse at designing it for comfort and visibility, you can't bloody see out of it and I rather just not wear it no matter how protective the thing is. I still have it on hand in my truck should I ever need the suit's full NBC functions, however.

Which one of the Rusty Blokes is the biggest pain in the arse to train?

"Definitely Phantom; mainly trying to work with his psionic powers and getting him to focus was a problem. Of course, now that I'm training the Crime Busters.. I've reconsidered...Still can't bloody believe those drongos actually survived as long as they did with no fucking training...I can see why so many in the hero community just shouted at them to quit but I think they're too thick-headed and proudful to do so...the least I could do is actually train them into being better..."

what was wraith like as a trainer?

"One of the best blokes I have ever had the pleasure of knowing. Ever since he helped me get out of China; he been nothing but a great mentor and loyal friend to me for years. We spare and train as often as we can and I couldn't ask for a better partner to have my back when running an operation. The old man can be a bit of a bastard however when it comes to training exercises and the ribbing can get annoying at times, but honestly given his track record he puts a lot of the instructors from the Australian military to shame with the courses he runs; no wonder Cerberus Heavy Industries keeps wanting to hire him permanently as an instructor!"

1. What's your favorite weapon to use?

2. What's the strangest relationship you've had?

"Heh that would be my Barrett M468, basically an M4 platform but chambered in 6.8mm SPC, great for medium to close range engagements. They don't make this rifle anymore but it's served me well for years overseas. I can't always use it however in the states, so most of the time I go with my favourite pistol which is the FN FiveSeveN."

"Strangest Relationship was when I ended up dating and falling in love with Tsunami, which is kinda a big no-no in the superhero community that you can't date villains...However given I've faced Tsunami a number of times in my early career, we got to know each other pretty well and honestly she isn't so bad...minus the smell..god who knew leopard seals could stink that bad! But regardless she is fighting a bloody good cause, and she helped open my eyes to the fact a lot of corporations out there really don't care about the environment or for the average person; it's because of her I became a better more ethically minded mercenary when it came to doing jobs for companies and corporations. We...kinda still hook up once in a while if we are in town together..one of the benefits of being in an open relationship...of course very few of my fellow heroes know about this...and some villains as well."

Howler: What was the WORST time that your Aussi Magnetism kicked in with a girl, Also what do you think of Baghatur?

Howler

Do you drive a car or a motorcycle?

"Not really a fan of motorcycles; there more of my sister's thing! I drive modified Toyota pickup trucks; very reliable and easy to maintain; famous for its use during the Toyota War in North Africa. Better to use out in public than those MRAPS and military vehicles that various police forces have been getting that's for sure!"

Have you and Daniel Boweles had anymore incidents since he nearly blasted you and do u get along now?

"Was a rough start given his pretty protective over his daughter...and also likely is the source of Kayla's angry side....So far I've mostly avoided such incidents and with Kayla's help I've actually hung with Dr Bowles and got to know him..I remember one time I had to step in between him and Drain when I was giving her refuge at the junkyard; had to let Drain bite me and drain my strength which in turn revealed myself as Howler to Dr Bowles...Drain already knew since I'd been helping Kayla with keeping her under control...Daniel can be a handful but if his anything like my old man back in Sydney, you learn how to work with him."

The white folf feels a bit of an uneasy.'' Honestly feel nervous about this. But here goes...... I killed 282 mobsters and assassins. Well some were ordered by me to my team members so I take the blame. All of them wanted to kill me and my team. Except 96 of them. Those we killed on the offensive after the mob killed all my family after attempted to lure me out by murdering them all. As a result I went berserk and eliminated them all and disposed their bodies to leave no evidence.....I never imaged my life would end like this. Used be a lawful cop in Chitown (Chicago). So do you see as person who should rot in jail like any crook? Or as victim of Corruption in the US Justice system. I got framed and was on the run. Killed a lot to stay alive since why I should let them kill me? Because of a whim of a Mob boss?