MechWarrior Cooper Hawkes was born to unknown lineage, and grew-up an orphan on the streets of New Denver on System – Claybrooke. He spent his days dodging Lt. Colonel Carla “Razor” Chestine’s brutal conscription squads and criminal hate gangs, learning in a few short years that the world was hostile and survival his only purpose. Experience taught him that life is an ongoing series of fights and challenges.

At the age of sixteen, he was finally captured by a conscription squad, and sent to military training school. Initially, he refused to cooperate, delighting when training sessions ended in failure, not only for himself, but others in his class. In due time, however, they threw him out as “useless”, and he was sent to serve the remainder of his life as a worker-drone at the Deadwood Munitions Plant.

He actually found he enjoyed the work. He got enough to eat, had a warm and relatively safe place to sleep, and soon found he was appreciated for his larger stature and ability to do hard labour with few complaints. He quickly learned that cooperation was a means to improve survival, and made friends with some of the other workers at the plant.

When the facility came under assault, and the (then) Snow Dusters rescued their dependents, Cooper came along, if only because they were his only friends and the chance to “fly among the stars” was too great to pass on. His skills at the seat of a WorkMech were quickly translated into serving as the pilot of one of the unit’s “Keystone” SecurityMechs.

Complicated, yet child-like, Hawkes has a fascination for ancient Terran “Rock-and-Roll”, and opens up in ways that often put others ill at ease. Originally uncomfortable in a military setting once more, he has begun to mature into a disciplined sharp shooter and a skilled pilot, call sign “Stomper”. He has slowly come to see the Iron Dingoes as the family he never had or knew. His fellow pilot, MechWarrior Paul Wang “Joker” has become a good friend, and the two often associate in the same circles, as well as bunk together.

During the unit’s tenure on System – Dumassas, he was promoted to actual pilot status, and placed at the helm of a [[::flc-4n-falcon]], where he has a place in the unit’s reserve strike group, The Dead Man’s Hand. The best part about the promotion, was he got to continue to spend time with his friend, Wang.

In late-3023, he was promoted to full MechWarrior, and given over to the Blood Raiders as a Line Mech pilot. He still works closely with his long-time fellow pilot, Joker.