Rico Velasquez

Ricardo Velasquez (a.k.a. Rico) was born on November 1, 2329 on Vekta.

He was the oldest of nine siblings and lived in the poor industrial south side of the Vekta city slums. He was a natural born fighter and would usually get into fights with his brothers. His parents operated a restaurant in Vekta City, and were renowned throughout Northern Vekta for their excellent 'Arroz con Gandules' dishes. Rico spent the better part of his teenage years in the kitchen, where he worked hard to help the family restaurant establish a name for itself. When business became profitable enough to hire a full time staff, Rico left in search of a new challenge. After a few months of aimless wandering and even drifting into petty crime, he decided to join the ISA army at the age of 18. Even during training, Rico's phenomenal strength and willingness to fight set him apart from other ISA Regulars. Upon graduation he was promoted to sergeant, and assigned to an all-rookie platoon codenamed H-company.

In 2357, the Helghast invaded Vekta and stormed several beachheads along the planet. Rico's team was defending a park near the Vekta City tram station when they were told that General Bradley Vaughton had been captured in a building nearby. They then came under fire from the 17th Helghast Tank Division, and were literally blown to pieces. As the only survivor, Rico flew into a berzerk rage and single-handedly killed the entire division. He was aided by two soldiers who then introduced themselves as Captain Jan Templar and Shadow Marshal Luger. Rico tells them about Vaughton, and the three of them storm the building and rescue the general, who offers Rico the chance to help Templar and Luger rescue a spy in the slums known as Colonel Gregor Hakha. Rico gladly accepts the chance to hurt the Helghast.

After pushing through the slums, they enter a mall to find several executed ISA soldiers. One surviving soldier tells them that Hakha was taken to a small building near by and the Helghast are waiting for them. The soldier then dies. After killing the Helghast trying to trap them, the team reaches Hakha. To their shock and horror, he is half-Helghast, half-human. Rico tries to execute him, but is stopped by Templar. Rico distrusts Hakha but is ignored by the others. The team heads for the dock to get to the fortress so that Hakha can escape the planet with the vital information he has heard. Hakha tells them that he needs to access the ISA mainframe to extract information that he had previously guessed. Rico believes that he is trying to hack into the mainframe to disrupt the ISA, and so he pulls a gun on him. Luger defends Hakha, but before the three can kill each other, Templar intervenes and orders them to work together, giving Hakha 3 minutes to search the mainframe. He discovers that General Stuart Adams has betrayed the ISA and has taken over the SD weapons platform above the planet. A beam of light is suddenly fired from space and destroys the ISA fortress in the swamps (where Hakha was supposed to escape from). The team take two boats to head for the fortress to get to an uplink that would take them up to the platform to prevent Adams from destroying the approching fleet from Earth. They are shot at with Helghast rockets and crash near the swamps. They discover a code 3-3 fire base and Templar wishes to go around it but Hakha agrees with Rico in that they should go straight through it and deny the enemy a stagging point for further attacks. After destroying the fire base they arrive at the destroyed fortress to find an ISA soldier ordering them to surrender. He tells them that General Adams told them that Vaughton tried to take control of the weapons platform but was executed, and that the team were also collaborators. The soldier is disarmed by Luger and runs off. Templar decides that Adams has to be stopped before he destroys the Earth fleet that would soon arrive. Hakha intercepts a radio message saying that Adams is at a Helghast base nearby. They storm the base and realise it was a failed trap to kill them. Rico gets angry again and threatens Hakha for leading them into this. Hakha claims that he was meant to hear the message. Rico stands down after being ordered by Templar. They then decide to head for a station that holds another uplink to the platform in the mountains. Rico is talking to himself when the team suddenly spot a Helghast patrol. They destroy the patrol and blow up a bridge that provides a major crossing point for the Helghast forces. They then attack a base that cuts off several supplies to the enemy. At the base, they notice an outpost where they might be able to find transport to the uplink. They arrive and are attacked by Helghast forces led by General Joseph Lente. The team manage to defeat Lente, who is executed by Hakha after hearing about what happened to his brother.

The team takes Lente's shuttle to the mountains, near the uplink. there, Rico asks Hakha what is it between Templar and Luger, who accurately guesses their relationship. The team moves out and reaches the uplink. Luger pilots the transport to the platform. As they arrive, they see the Earth fleet approach Vekta. The platform fires on the fleet and destroys one of the ships. Luger orders the rest of the team to complete different tasks, such as communicating with the Earth fleet to tell them to stop firing at the platform until they can escape. Rico clears the platform of Helghast troops to help the others. He is briefly captured, but escapes and meets up with Luger and Hakha as they rescue Templar from Adams' trap. Rico helps hold off the remaining Helghast as Templar severally wounds Adams (who dies later). As the fleet begins to bombard the platform again, the team get to the shuttle. Hakha tries to disconnect the fuel line from the shuttle, but is trapped when it falls. Rico holds off the remaining Helghast and pulls Hakha out. They escape onto the shuttle just as the platform is destroyed. Hakha then gives Rico some morphine for a wound and thanks him for saving his life. Thanks to Rico and the team, the initial Helghast invasion is prevented.