Abe Charleston

"In front of the folder labled 'Abe Charleston' is a tall man with a very military look. Short cropped dark hair, light skin tanned by exposrure to the sun. Still young but always looking a little worried and uncomfortable.  Lying on the ground by his feet is a large German Shepard, breathing quietly as if asleep.""He's wearing military fatigues but without ranked insignia or patches.""'Hmm. That's right interesting, but very strange.' - Abe"

Personality
Abe gives off the vibe of a laid back southerner, with a slow drawl and a quick smile. He tends to err on the side of keeping people happy and trying to do the right thing. Overall, he doesn't have a lot of guile of subtlety, preferring straightforward talk, punctuated by his thick Bayou accent. He speaks English and Creole French, with a smattering of Arabic, Dari, and Pashto from time in Afghanistan.

Abe gets along much better than animals than with people. While he strives to be polite and professional with others, he has a hard time connecting at a personal level. He is a compulsive early riser who exercises religiously and tries to eat well.

Abe is religious, though not outwardly so. He puts a lot of stock into his faith, though he understands not everything is exactly as doctrine teaches.

Appearance
Abe is a tall, stocky, well built man in his mid twenties. His dark hair is in a tight crew cut and he is always clean shaven if given the chance. He tends to wear military fatigues or exercise clothing and is generally uncomfortable in professional attire except for a dress uniform. Abe is almost always accompanied by Huck.

History
Abe was born in 1982 in the tiny Bayou town of Moncla, Louisiana into a small, poor, farming family who worked in the sugarcane industry. He grew up spending time in the fields and learning basic survival skills and quickly connected to animals around the farm much more than other people.

As a teenager he found work in the stables and fields, taking care of horses, cattle, and other livestock. He also grew attached to the dogs, cats, and other domesticated pets around the farm and quickly became the primary caretaker for them as well. While he developed a reputation for being withdrawn from other people, his polite personality, imposing size, and kind nature kept anyone from saying anything to him directly.

Moncla was a small town with a history deep rooted in Bayou spiritualism and even voodoo. While the town had adopted Christian values and teachings long ago, parts of its history could still be found, and Abe enjoyed seeing them. He learned a lot about the history of voodoo, spirits, ghosts, and communing with the dead, though he always thought of it more like science fiction than reality.

Animals became his only real social attachment outside of his family. Some casual dating in high school often ended poorly, usually in ways Abe didn't quite understand. When he finished school he went back to work on the farms, unsure what he would do in the future.

On September 11th, 2001, when Abe was 19 years old, terrorists affiliated with Al-Queda attacked the United States, killing thousands and changing the nation immensely. After talking with his father, Abe drove to Alexandria, LA and enlisted in the Marine Corps. After basic he applied for, and was accepted into the Marine Corp Canine Program, where he first met Huck. In September 2002 Huck and Abe were deployed to Afghanistan, near Kabul, as the invasion died down and Operation Enduring Freedom began.

In 2003 the Taliban in Afghanistan reorganized and began a concentrated campaign of violence and insurgency against US, Afghan, and Coalition forces across the country. This led to a huge increase in IED attacks and other guerilla activity with casualties ramping up daily. Canine units were utilized heavily to detect these explosives, often with unfortunate results for both the dogs and their handlers.

In December of 2004 during a patrol near Kabul, an IED detonated under the transport moving Huck, Abe, and a US Army squad of eight other soldiers. Intelligence had given no information that this area was dangerous; they were being transported to find IEDs further afield. The explosion was devastating, killing four members of the squad, and grievously wounding two others as well as Huck. Only Abe and one other member survived mostly unhurt.

Distraught, Abe sought as much help as possible for Huck to prevent euthanisation, including threatening the local vet and guarding Huck's wounded, sleeping body in the kennel. Eventually, he was confronted by a "Suit." A man who introduced himself as a member of "the Defense Department" who offered to take Abe - who was at risk for discharge for his behavior - and Huck back to the United States. The man said they would help Huck, in exchange for Abe's employment in a program run by the Defense Department. Abe agreed.

Skills
Abe is an excellent animal handler who is also trained in tactics, firearms, close combat, and military operations. He is athletic and well trained and cool in difficult situations, but he lacks certain social charm and subtlety. He has a rudimentary understanding of the occult, especially related to voodoo, spirits, and communing with the dead.

Goals
Abe's primary goals at this point are survival for both himself and Huck, as well as finding something he can do that feels worthwhile. He thought he had found a home in the military but felt betrayed when Huck was injured and the intent was to euthanize him.

At the moment, he feels lost - he's not sure if this new "job" is a chance to do something real, or someone using him. He's worried, but he feels indebted to those who helped Huck, and to the country he still wants to serve.