Royce's History
Royce is an elite mercenary who was kidnapped by the Super Predators and taken to the Game Preserve Planet in 2010. Once there, he established himself as the reluctant leader of a group of disparate individuals who were dropped on the planet alongside him. Together, this group attempted to find a way to escape and return to Earth.
While working on a job in the Philippines, faulty intelligence led to Royce demolishing an entire building to kill the terrorists holed up inside, not knowing a grade school was also located in the basement. The final death toll included many women and young children. Despite his outwardly cold, indifferent appearance, the incident in fact scarred Royce deeply. Ironically, it also had a profoundly positive effect on the payment he could expect to receive for jobs following the incident — he noted dryly that his typical fee doubled following the Philippines, as many of his employers were willing to pay a premium for a man with no conscience.
Immediately prior to his capture by the Super Predators, Royce was in Africa, where he had been hired by the General in charge of a war-torn state to eliminate rebel leader Ayotunde Kutti and his followers. Realizing his bosses would likely betray him after the job was completed rather than pay him, Royce insisted on receiving two-thirds of his fee in advance. After receiving his money, Royce was dispatched with a "guide" named Bapoto. However, Royce correctly anticipated that Bopoto's real role was to eliminate him after the job was done — Royce killed him and left his body in the jungle.
After four days trekking through the jungle, Royce reached the village where Kutti and his forces were based. While scouting the village, he noticed several Western mercenaries working for the group, including Travis, whom Royce had worked with previously in Pakistan. Despite sniping not being his specialty, Royce began picking off some of the soldiers and mercenaries present to draw the remainder away from the village. With Travis and most of the soldiers now hunting the jungle for the mystery sniper and only a token force left defending the village, Royce infiltrated the settlement, killed Kutti's personal security, destroyed their transportation and set the village alight.
Finally cornering Kutti inside his hut, Royce ignored the rebel leader's speech on the nature of good and evil and shot him dead. When he was subsequently surprised by an unarmed mother, he unintentionally shot and wounded her. Before he could help, Travis and his remaining men returned from the jungle. Instead, Royce used the wounded woman and her crying child to lure the men inside the hut, where he then killed most of them in a hail of gunfire. Royce pursued and killed those who fled, until he finally cornered Travis as he attempted to flee in his Jeep. After agreeing that the men who hired Royce were no better than those he had just slaughtered, Royce executed Travis. His job completed, Royce left the village, unaware that he was being watched by Tracker from the undergrowth. Shortly afterwards, the Super Predator subdued Royce and transported him to the Game Preserve Planet.
Royce awoke in the middle of a free fall with a strange parachute strapped to his back. After landing safely but roughly, he encountered several others from different backgrounds that were dropped off in the same fashion. He then decided to figure out who "threw him out of a fucking airplane" with Cuchillo, Nikolai and Isabelle following him. He later came across a few more stragglers and shot the branch Edwin was snagged on.
After dealing with the Hell-Hounds, Royce mentioned that that their purpose was likely to flush out game. He later voiced his opinion on "rescuing" Cuchillo when he was calling out for help, clearly seeing and then proving that it was a trap. He then started following the tracks of the Hell-Hounds, to find out where they came from and who was hunting the humans, eventually finding the hunter's camp. He noticed that Isabelle reacted strangely to the crucified creature and later ordered everyone to run, realizing that it was clearly a trap to bait him and the others to the camp.
After escaping the camp, Royce confronted Isabelle on her reaction to the crucified creature at the camp and demanded that she share what information she knew about it. Isabelle revealed that she once heard a story of a team of American mercenaries that were decimated by a strange creature in 1987. From reading the debriefing of the incident's sole survivor, Isabelle learned how the hunters could be beaten and gave this knowledge to Royce and the others. Royce then decided to camp out and have everyone take a defensive position to draw in the hunters to a trap. Royce later used Edwin as bait for the hunter, later revealed to be a River Ghost, which was sniped while pursuing Edwin. Assuming it to be Isabelle who took down the creature, Royce complimented her shooting only to be told by her that she missed. Royce then heard a voice whisper "over here" multiple times, then "turn around" with an armored figure pointing his weapon at Royce.
After a short discussion, Royce and the others followed the man back to his "home" where he offered them food and remarked to his "friend" how Royce and the others missed the ship at the hunters' camp. Royce, now with a way off the planet, questioned the man, whose name was Ronald Noland, regarding the ship. After Royce and the others were resting, Noland attempted to suffocate them for their gear. Royce then fired some shots that heated up the hull of Noland's home and drew the attention of the hunters.
Royce lead the last of the survivors away from Noland's trap and the hunters. As they walked through the jungle and Edwin got injured by a trap, Royce stated there was nothing they could do for him and that they should booby trap him. Isabelle refused and stayed with Edwin, claiming he's one of them. Royce then left to find the Crucified Predator. Royce freed the Predator around the time Berserker returned. In gratitude, the captured hunter started up the ship set to Earth and Royce headed towards it as Berserker and the Crucified Predator fought. The ship was destroyed by the Berserker with a self-destruct sequence in his wrist band after Royce turned back to the camp.
He later found Isabelle paralyzed and Edwin feigning ignorance. Royce figured out Edwin's game, attacking and crippling him further. Edwin begged not to be killed, with Royce saying he wouldn't kill him as he dragged him to the center of the camp. Royce rigged some grenades to Edwin and left him for the hunter as bait. The trap only wounded Berserker and Royce then fueled the fires around the camp and covered himself with mud to take out the hunter. He killed Berserker by decapitating him with an axe and vowed to find a way off the planet. He and Isabelle looked on as more prey was dropped in the distance.
After several weeks, Royce continued killing the creatures the hunters dropped on the Game Preserve Planet and started salvaging gear for survival. He regretted saving Isabelle and pondered about turning out like Noland, without realizing that the decision to board the explosive-rigged ship actually saved his life. Royce also developed a sort of romantic relationship with Isabelle, whom he now called Izzy, although he decided to go back to working by himself after some time.
After coming back to Isabelle injured from his hunts, Royce slept for several days with Isabelle tending to his wounds. They were later found by a hunter who left Royce a box of hunting equipment tailored to his size. They were ambushed by a four-armed hunter with Royce suffering some injuries. During the fight, Royce started to rethink his solitary way of handling things and worked with Isabelle to take down the modified Yautja. Royce and Isabelle remained stranded on the Game Preserve, but continued to work together at getting home.
Sometime after their encounter with the four-armed hunter, Royce used the armor's cloak to help him find the Predator landing site. He brought Isabelle with him to the landing site and together, they discovered two ships there, a dropship and a smaller skiff. Although Isabelle believed they were both going to take the skiff, Royce revealed that he wanted to meet the Predators face-to-face. Isabelle argued and pleaded but she was unable to convince him to change his mind. Isabelle believed that the gift of the armor had reinforced his former world view, finally putting an end to whatever connection she and Royce had developed in the jungle. Royce then used his armor's computer to unlock both ships. Royce then flew off with one ship towards his destination, leaving Isabelle with the other ship. Thanks to his efforts, the other ship responded to Isabella as it would a Hunter, eventually allowing her to take off and navigate her way back to Earth.
