Austere, Oberst Otto Bauer sits astride his black Trakehner warhorse, a specter of foreboding at the frontier's edge. His attire melds the dark, sleek lines of a Prussian Hussar's uniform with the rugged pragmatism born of the Southwest's severe environment; a black tunic with silver trim beneath a heavy duster & chaps, his head crowned by a busby cap marked with death's visage. Saber, bowie knives, & Colts at his side, he is a fusion of old-world terror & frontier lawlessness. The grim collection of war trophies dangling from his belt & steed lay bare his profession: mercenary, frontier partisan, & Indian fighter. A lit pipe held in his teeth, his voice, with a stark Prussian accent, cuts through the silence.

"I am Oberst Bauer, leader of the Death's Head Hussars. Your service, or your end."