Dirk Manning grew up in the Texas Metroplex on Earth, and this shows with the drawl in his voice.  He's a witty and generally humorous person, but a tough-as-nails fighter.  He is employed by Nathan Justice as a mechanic for his mercenary team, which means that Dirk gets to "fix" the engine on the SS Grizzly.  (Translation: Dirk whacks the hell out of it.)

Dirk's past is as shady as his employer's, but not as much.  Dirk also doesn't like to talk about his past, but it is suspected that it is because of a painful memory on Dirk's part and not because of anything he himself did.

Dirk has red-brown hair with two forelocks that hang down in his face, framing it.  He's stocky and a bit overweight, but he's fast with his weapon of choice, a rapid-fire pulse rifle (which resembles a 20th Century MP-5 submachine gun).  Dirk is also a bit of a tinkerer, having built himself a small personal shield unit which he wears on his left wrist.  The shield covers a small area, so Dirk has to crouch behind it like a riot shield.

Dirk typically wears a blue mechanic's coverall with a few brown straps containing pouches for his tools.  He wears a long leather glove on his right hand.  His right arm is heavily tattooed, making it look as though vines are growing on it.

Dirk is accompanied by a former security `bot which was modified with an AI chip.  This `bot is roughly egg-shaped, with a camera lens on the front and two grasping claws on the ends of arms.  It possesses a small pulser.  Its name is DT-Three.