Monday 21 August 2017

Backgrounds of the Crew of The Ace of Spades part 2

Celeste - Android Assassin aged 29, 50 or perhaps many centuries?
The origin of the android currently named Celeste is shrouded in mystery. The official version is that she was created by the Counter Selective Assassination Force (COSAFE), a top secret black ops organisation of the United Federation of Planets (UFP) military intelligence arm, the Bureau of Intelligence (BRINT). There are, however, rumours that Celeste is in fact a Forerunner android, who had her memory erased and reprogrammed by COSAFE. If true, this would make her an extremely rare, almost unique, individual. The Forerunners were wiped out many centuries ago. Whatever the truth is, COSAFE programmed her from the outset as an assassin. Her first ten years were spent in a laboratory undergoing meticulous programming until she was ready to go out in the field. She underwent a two year basic military training course, before being assigned as an intelligence officer with BRINT. During this time, she was constantly monitored and assessed. Few in BRINT knew of her true purpose. After spending six years with BRINT, learning all about intelligence gathering and undercover operations, COSAFE let her out in the field as a fully licensed bounty hunter. This four year tour of duty went extremely well and Celeste racked up an impressive array of kills. COSAFE felt it was time to put her to work as a fully fledged assassin. For the next five years she achieved a 100% success rate on every assassination mission that her masters assigned to her. However, things went badly wrong on what was to be her final mission working for COSAFE.
Her target was a top-ranking Organisation leader, believed to be one of the Council of Seven, the absolute rulers of the empire spanning criminal organisation. His name was Moryn Kaldo, a K'Ta'Viir humanoid and an immensely powerful psyker. It is unknown what happened to Celeste but the assassination never took place and Celeste went offline and missing for 21 years. What happened to her or where she went is a mystery. Celeste doesn't seem to know and ever since her return, she has never spoken of her past. It is as if she was reborn. But if so, for what purpose and by whom?
What is known is that two years ago she was spotted at a starport on Arcturus 6, where she persuaded an independent scout captain called Kimberley Wells to hire her as a personal bodyguard. COSAFE immediately assigned an undercover BRINT agent called Jeanette Grey, to infiltrate the ship's crew and find out just what happened to Celeste. From the Intel gathered so far, it seems that Celeste regards Kimberley as her master and owner and that it is her duty to protect Kimberley from any harm. None of this makes any sense at all and so COSAFE are content to play a long term waiting game until they know a lot more about Celeste's disappearance and new mission. Celeste is polite and well spoken but is very taciturn and atheistic. She is very friendly towards Kimberley and Julia but is neutral towards the rest of The Ace of Spades crew. She is a natural born killer.
Typical Quotes
"Get behind me. I'll cover you."
"Target acquired. Centre of the head. Double tap."

Julia Frostorm - Human Bounty Hunter aged 28.
Born on the ice planet of Altair 5 in the Terran starsector, Julia Frostorm did not have a happy childhood. Her unmarried mother abandoned her soon after her birth, placing her in an orphanage. Julia never did discover who her father was and couldn't care less. About two thirds of the children in the orphanage were adopted but it never happened for Julia. She was very much a loner and she was not popular with the other girls or her tutors. She quickly learned to stand up for herself and she wouldn't be bullied by anyone. The other children soon got the message not to mess with her and so left her alone. A friendly counsellor was able to secure Julia employment with the local police force, after the teenager had expressed an interest in a career with law enforcement. After three years of cadet training, in which she excelled, Julia was fast-tracked to detective status. She was very good at her job but she soon became frustrated at the number of criminals who were set free on minor technicalities, or worse still, because of corrupt cops in her department. She stuck it out for three years before resigning. She wanted vengeance, and so she declared war on the underworld scum of Altair 5 as well as those cops she knew to be corrupt. Thus, she became an assassin and soon developed the nickname of "The Ice Lady". She was a cold-hearted killer who showed her victims no mercy. She was very smart and she constantly remained one step ahead of the police and The Organisation, who were both after her blood. What she didn't know and what she never found out was that certain high ranking officials in the police department wanted her to succeed. Not all of them were corrupt and whilst they couldn't officially sanction her actions, unofficially, they often turned a blind eye. After one year, her work on Altair 5 was done and she left planet to spend two more years hunting down and killing criminals on other planets. She could have continued in this role of an assassin but instead she obtained a bounty hunter's license so that she could go about her job legitimately. She still hunted down criminals but she didn't always kill them, unless they had a termination warrant placed on them. Those were her favourite warrants! For three more years she worked on her own and her reputation and bank balance grew.
Two years ago her life took a new twist. A young woman called Kimberley Wells offered her a long term contract to help her track down the killers of her fiancĂ©, Buck Hanson. Julia was intrigued by both Kimberley's offer and the woman. She agreed to her terms and so enlisted  with the crew of The Ace of Spades, technically as security chief, but unofficially, still as a bounty hunter. Kimberley gives her  a lot of freedom to continue pursuing bounties, which works well for both of them. Julia is rather introverted, taciturn and slow to make friends, although she gets on well with the rest of the crew. She spends a lot of time cleaning and looking after her weapons and the crew have learned it is wise not to touch any of Julia's stuff. She gets very angry if anyone else touches them. Julia is a combat veteran and is highly skilled in the art of killing.
Typical Quotes
"Dead or alive, you're coming with me. I don't care which you choose, but I'd prefer dead."
"I know I cleaned the goddamn rifle already... but that was two hours ago!"

Jeanette Grey - Human Gunner aged 28.
Jeanette was born on Terra (Sol 3), the only child of Christopher and Eliza Grey. Both parents worked for the United Federation of Planets Starfleet, but in different departments. He was a technician and she was a scientist. Both were ground based at Starfleet HQ and never left planet. Jeanette had a normal upbringing, did well at school, and enrolled at university to study engineering. Upon graduation, she enlisted with the UFP Starfleet. She sailed through basic training and spent a year as a navy cadet, getting to know her way around starships. From there, the natural career choices would have been to proceed to a Navy Tour or Navy Command School. Instead, she transferred to the Bureau of Intelligence (BRINT), which was the navy intelligence gathering department of the UFP. here, she learned about spy-craft and undercover investigations. Having proved herself as an exceptional field agent, Jeanette was given a new assignment for her second tour of duty. 
She was ordered to go undercover and gain employment on an independent scout ship called The Ace of Spades. The captain of this ship, Kimberley Jane Wells, was a person of interest to BRINT. Somehow, Kimberley had enlisted a top secret UFP assassin android, known only as Celeste, as part of her crew. BRINT knew that Celeste had gone rogue and they were keen to know why and to keep close tabs on her. With a false background established, Jeanette was accepted by Kimberley as a new recruit. She took on the role of ship's gunnery officer, a job she was eminently capable of. She sometimes helps out with engineering and piloting duties. No-one on board suspects she is secretly working for BRINT and is still employed by them. However, if The Ace of Spades gets into serious difficulties with the UFP, Jeanette can potentially act as a "get out of jail free" card. This is not something she would do lightly, and only in extreme circumstances. Jeanette has access to full background checks on all of the crew of The Ace of Spades provided to her by BRINT. She is a naturally inquisitive person, so the crew put up with any questions she may ask them. She tends not to draw attention to herself but always acts friendly and easy-going. So far, her orders are to keep the crew under observation, especially Celeste.
Typical Quotes
"If the two idiots trying to follow me are yours, pull them off; I don't work under supervision. If they're not yours, you won't care if they just... disappear."
"Who me? I don't know anything about it."

Storm Galloway - Human Pilot aged 27.
Storm was born on Mars (Sol 4), the only child of James and Agnetha Galloway. Both parents had jobs in the UFP Starfleet, so it was inevitable that she would follow in their footsteps. She coasted through military academy and enlisted with the UFP Starfleet as a navy ensign. Here, she trained as a fighter pilot flying Phantoms, Spectres and Banshees. She passed her training with top marks and went on to serve two tours of duty with the UFP Navy and was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant Commander, She served with distinction and piloted Starfire scout ships and Hyperion class corvettes. It looked like she would enjoy a long and illustrious career with the Navy. However, events led her in a different direction. Whilst on leave after her second tour of duty was over, she visited the famous Casino Galactica resort on Arcturus 6 in the Terran starsector. Whilst relaxing in a bar, she was rudely accosted by a balding fat man who mistook her for a prostitute. A scuffle ensued and she over-reacted by breaking both of his arms. No charges were brought against her as she acted in self-defence. She thought no more of the incident until a few days later when she was summoned to a rear admiral's office at Starfleet HQ in the Arcturan starport. There, to her horror and surprise, she found the rear admiral sitting behind his desk with both of his arms in slings. He was the man she had attacked at Casino Galactica. She hoped he wouldn't be the sort of man to hold a grudge... but he was! When he ordered Storm to be transferred to an AL:7 Vesta corvette crewed by the worst the UFP had to offer, she resigned on the spot.
A person of her considerable talents would not remain unemployed for long and Storm just happened to be in the right place at the right time when Kimberley Wells was hiring crew for her scout ship, The Ace of Spades. The Starfleet's loss was Kimberley's gain. Storm fitted in so well on board, and her piloting skills and knowledge of starship tactics have come in very useful on many an occasion. She is well versed in many combat techniques. She has an extroverted and friendly personality and is remarkably cool under pressure with fast reflexes. She usually takes on the role of the ship's main pilot, with Kimberley acting as her co-pilot. She has a passion for expensive perfumes, which she likes to wear, and her crew members can often smell her long before they see her coming.
Typical Quotes
"Bandits at ten o'clock. Strap yourselves in folks. This is about to get bumpy!"
"See, I told you I could dodge their missiles!"

10 comments:

  1. More interesting backgrounds Bryan, the secret back missions could cause some interesting problems along the way

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    1. Cheers, Dave. Giving some of the crew hidden agendas was important to me. It would be unrealistic if everyone was lovey dovey. There certainly WILL be some interesting problems facing the crew.

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  2. Terrific stuff! The interwoven "hidden agendas" between specific crew members is masterful and brimming with plot possibilities. I can't wait for this journey to start!!

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    1. Thanks kindly, Greg. There are exciting times ahead for the crew and I have many plot threads to explore. This is going to be one hell of a ride and I also can't wait to get started. I already have the first few scenarios already planned out.

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  3. Lovely 'fluff', interesting times ahead.

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    1. Thanks, Phil, and yes, it will get very interesting.

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  4. I agree with the chaps above Bryan, I love the intrigue woven into the characters so far. Multiple plot threads to follow lends itself to a plethora of games that won't repeat and therefore keep your interest (and ours!) at a high level

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    1. Absolutely, Andy. As you have introduced multiple plot threads into your English ATZ campaign you'll find scenario ideas far easier to come up with and often the story will just write itself. That is a terrific gift and a powerful tool for a writer to have.

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  5. More cracking stuff (or should that be fluff), hidden agenda are cliff-hanger material.

    But surely they must be able to tell how old Celeste is, wouldn't it say on her warranty agreement? What next you'll be telling me that they don't have the box she originally came in that she has to be returned in if she needs repairing!

    Cheers Roger.

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    1. Many thanks, Roger. Trying to solve exactly how old Celeste is, is a knotty problem. Is an android born when it is first programmed? That seems like a reasonable assumption. But if the android has its memory wiped and is then reprogrammed does that count as a new birth? Hmm, debatable. And sadly, the box she came in went missing, along with her warranty. Don't you just hate it when that happens?

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