Morgan Blackhand

"It used to think that being a 'Solo' meant something. You were a breed apart, a lone hunter in the depths of nighted city streets. Now, every gonk with a big gun and a chipped-in attitude thinks he's a Solo."

- Morgan Blackhand

Morgan Blackhand is a pragmatic Solo with an anodized black-chrome cyberlimb arm. Generally considered to be a "Solo's Solo", with years of experience and ops under his belt. Rated as the number one Solo professional in the business by the Solo of Fortune Annual 2020 Awards in the US.

Biography
Morgan Blackhand is defined by the fact that he is a pragmatist. Blackhand survives because he is street-smart and is constantly looking out for his own best interest. His reputation as a top Solo is partly due to the fact that he is able to capture targets alive, rather than simply killing them. He is also a skilled Techie, as not to have to rely on others to repair his tech, and has some training in martial arts.

Morgan's handling of incidents, like the attempted kidnapping of Kerry Eurodyne, show the touch of the mastery. It is interesting to note that all five of the kidnappers were captured by Morgan (alone), and turned over to Federal Authorities. They were bruised, battered and beaten, but alive. Only a master like Blackhand can eliminate a threat and embarrass the group's sponsors.

Morgan goes for the highest bidder, he has no agenda and no aspirations to be anything more than he is. Instead he only takes the jobs given to him and accomplishes them however he sees fit.

1980s - 2020
Morgan Blackhand was a combat veteran who served in the US military back in the 80s. As a rookie soldier, he once had to take lead of his special cyber-soldier unit, after the commander went full Cyberpsycho during a mission.

After leaving the army, Morgan Blackhand felt misplaced. He was a highly trained killer who specialized in demolitions which not many people wanted to hire him for a mundane desk job. After surviving on the streets for a few months, Morgan Blackhand would fortuitously run into a notorious Booster Gang Leader who apparently took a strong dislike to him. Morgan Blackhand promptly dispatched him with such finesse that impressed a Militech recruiter who happened to observe the scene. The recruiter made Mr. Blackhand an offer he could not refuse. Subsequently Morgan became a mercenary who took care of problems for Militech.

Morgan also earned his street cred through resolving high profile incidents, such as the attempted kidnapping of Kerry Eurodyne, a member of Johnny Silverhand's Samurai Band. In this particular scenario, all five of the kidnappers were captured by Morgan alone and turned over to Federal Authorities. While bruised, battered and beaten they were still alive.

2022 - 2023
During the Fourth Corporate War, Militech coaxed Morgan into the fray to lead its Ocean War Special Ops team, although no details were provided of his missions. His funding from Militech allowed him to subcontract a group of highly skilled and motivated freelancers, making them answerable only to him.

Militech gathered together a team consisting of the best operatives, including Morgan and Johnny Silverhand. Morgan's role was to lead Strike Team Omega alongside Militech's elite Combat Borg units and act as support if Strike Team Alpha & Beta failed in their objectives.

After successfully planting the demolition charges, Morgan's squad began the evacuation from the Arasaka Tower rooftop, only for Adam Smasher, Arasaka's cyborg assassin in a DaiOni Battlesuit, to confront him. While the building began to shake from the detonation of the nuclear demolition charge, the two launch themselves at each other in a last desperate attempt to kill each other. The outcome of the duel was unknown.

2045
Morgan Blackhand's status was unconfirmed after the Night City Holocaust, rumors began to circulate that Blackhand returned to President Kress to report the failure of the mission, continuing work as a secret government asset. Between 2035 and 2045, rumors persisted that Morgan Blackhand had been spotted in several First Wave cities, cities that needed little reconstruction and resources to rebuild after the Fourth Corporate War.

2077
The events of 2077 show no mention of Blackhand except for a few scattered logs about his history. However the image of Alt Cunningham explains to V that all of Johnny's flashbacks are biased retellings of the past that he has altered during his 50 years in Mikoshi's stasis. This means that the events of 2023 that Johnny has V revisit are altered to leave out Blackhand's involvement.

Skills
Combat Sense +10, Aikido +8, Athletics +10, Awareness +10, Basic Tech +7, Demolitions +8, Driving +8, Education +3, Endurance +9, Tactics +7, Fencing +6, First Aid +7, Handgun +lo, Heavy Weapons +9, Hide/Evade +7, Intimidate +8, Melee +10, Pilot Boat +6, Pilot Gyro +8, Pilot Fixed Wing +7, Pilot Vectored Thrust +9, Rifle +10, Shadow/Track +7, Stealth +9, Strength Feat +5, SMG +10, Swimming +6, Tae Kwon Do +9, Weapons Tech +10, Wilderness Survival +7.

Quotes

 * "After I got out of the Army, I had this problem. I was good at what I did, but no one was hiring. I mean, what do you do when you're a highly trained killer with a background in demolitions? Read the wanted ads? After a few months on the Street, I got into a dustdown with a local booster lord. I flatlined him and went back to my drink. Within ten minutes, the recruiter from Millitech came up to me and dropped a business card... Now I'm a company man. The Pay's good, the Work steady, and they pay for my spare parts. So far, I'm still alive. So far, so good."

-Morgan Blackhand, Cyberpunk 2020 Core Rulebook


 * "A lot of battles get won before the first shot is fired. When your eyes meet his, and he knows you're willing to pay the price in blood. His blood, your blood- it doesn't matter to you. You're committed."

-Morgan Blackhand, The Enforcer's Handbook

Trivia

 * Morgan Blackhand was Mike Pondsmith's own Solo player-character in Cyberpunk 2020.
 * R. Talsorian Games confirmed that Blackhand did appear in the 2023 events of Cyberpunk 2077 and were not retconned.
 * Dataminers uncovered this NPC labeled as "Morgan Blackhand".

Reference
Морган Блекхенд