Background: Born in Miami and raised in the nearby town of Cutter Ridge, Richard Stephens spent his formative years in the shadow of Cuba and its role in the Cold War. Some of his earliest memories are of his father's fears as the family hid in a bomb shelter during the Cuban Missile Crisis. These are memories which have affected his entire life.

As his years advanced, Richard excelled in sports, especially football and wrestling. In high school he was one of the big stars of the wrestling team, and he was one of few juniors to become captain of the varsity football team. He was no slouch when it came to academics, either, graduating with a 4.00 GPA.

His interests took him to Annapolis and then the Marines. He distinguished himself well enough in his subsequent assignments that he was nominated for and accepted by the Marine Special Forces. His first assignment there was as part of the invasion force in Grenada; this was when he was first able to truly distinguish himself, taking de facto command when his commander and second in command fell to injuries and his fellows inexplicably fell into confusion. This and other distinguishing acts reflected very well on him when he applied to become a Silver Avenger.

At first it took him a while to adjust to his new position, though of course this was true of all Silver Avengers. In Richard's case, the transition from purely military action (where civilian damage was an occasional "necessary collateral damage") and what was effectively high-level SWAT operations (where preventing civilian damage was often the main point of the operation) was a particularly challenging one. Richard was up to it, however; he just kept reminding himself that he had to think like a cop instead of like a soldier. He leaned on some of his subordinates for guidance in those areas where he was weak, just like any good commander, and before long he had the hang of the job.

In recent years, Richard has been trying to change much of how PRIMUS operates, particularly in the area of relations with civilian superheroes and private high-tech security firms. In light of his innovative ideas, he felt slightly stung when DJ Johnson was chosen over him to be the new Golden Avenger, but quickly saw that Johnson's personality and sense of vision made him a much better successor to Robert Kaufman. After all, DJ had been one of the first Silver Avengers to be selected, while Richared had been among the last. It's his hope that he's still a Silver Avenger when Johnson decides to retire so that he can get a second chance. Better still, he'd really like it if Johnson decided to implement some of his programs, saving him from taking too much limelight (though he handled the press admirably in the wake of the 1995 bombing of the Seattle PRIMUS base, he doesn't feel particularly comfortable dealing with matters of information and public relations).

Powers/Tactics: Richard is probably the strongest of all the Silver Avengers when it comes to team tactics. He often leads his team at the Avenger Games, and is often able to quickly analyze a situation and determine the best course of action seemingly on pure instinct.

Richard has a dislike of depending on weapons and other artificial combat tools. He carries minimal weaponry, prefering to defeat his foes with his bare hands. He has refreshed the Commando Training he learned when in the Marines, and has added karate and krav maga training for added effectiveness. However, he knows that this can't cover all of his needs, and so makes what use he can from standard-issue weapons and other tools. He continues to listen carefully to the ideas and observations of those fighting under and alongside him, and often takes those ideas.

Personality: Richard is arguably one of the most politically conservative of all of the Silver Avengers, but is also one of the most idealistic. Believing in less, rather than more, government, and the importance of citizen involvement, he often stands alone in his belief that independent superheroes can serve as a sort of superpowered citizens' patrol, acting in emergencies until the authorities can arrive and occasionally giving more direct assistance as well. He has run a few private seminars with civilian heroes in the Pacific Northwest (on his own time), and has been pleased with the resulting reduction in often-fatal mistakes made by novice or uninformed superheroes. (At least, he sees it as a result; there's been no formal study on the matter.) He has, however, faced criticism from PRIMUS administration in Washington for his actions.

The priorities he tries to impress on heroes are very close to those used in training by many police forces: to prevent loss of life and injuries to civilians; to minimize property damage; to gather court-admissible evidence and to perform any needed arrests. Stephens fills heroes in on the crieteria and procedures for citizens' arrests, too.

In all of his dealings with others, Richard is courteous and respectful. He wins the respect of everyone around him by giving the respect he expects back. He also expects excellence from those beneath him, and they are inspired to provide it. In short, he runs his base well, with a combination of brilliance and good personality.

Appearance: Richard is six feet tall, and is heavily built at 250 lbs. His Cyberline treatment didn't affect his biochemistry quite as much as it did some of the others, but he's made up for the lack with extra exercise (especially weightlifting) so that the end result is the same. He still wears his black hair in the same flat-top cut he had in the Marines, has brown eyes, and freckles across the bridge of his nose that make him look much younger than in his late 30s. His face has a square-jawed look which has earned him the nickname "Sarge" among the other Silver Avengers (because he looks like a drill sargeant).

Quirks:

• Regularly watches (and frequently quotes) "Animaniacs"
• Wants to be the next Golden Avenger
• Thinks independent hero groups make good citizens' patrol teams
• Tries to think the best of everyone he meets
• Politically conservative just short of being radical