Character Profiles

Age: 51 (b. 3217, d. 3268)
Occupation: Emperor.
Bio: Ascending to the throne at age 13, Francis Charles XII initially reigned under a regency for five years. Upon attaining his majority, he progressed into a reign of paternal authoritarianism and militarism. Over the course of a thirty-year rule, he balanced between the Conservatives and National Humanists while attempting to quash the power of communists and colonial insurrectionists. His governments successively were influenced by National Humanist politicians, however, and under pressure he appointed the NHILP chairman to be PM, with war impending. He presided over the first few years of the war, leading the Imperial Navy into Soviet space. Tragically, he perished in battle, scarcely fifty years of age.
Current Status: Deceased.

Age: 50 (b. 3244)
Occupation: Head of State and Government.
Bio: Born his father's second son--his older brother had died years before he was born--Maximilian was not granted a great deal of favour. He fell under the influence of his mother, and of then-Prime Minister Frederick Rycon. Both were National Humanists, but of very different wings of the Party. He joined the Party at a young age, which infuriated his father. He was stripped of his title of Crown Prince for several years, and instead opted for politics as a way to regain favour. He was made the figurehead and poster-boy for the Party's youth organisation, and he was appointed to the Party's inner council. Through some manoeuvring, he managed to displace and depose the Party Chairman and then usurp the office of Prime Minister--convincing the Emperor that it would be good to align the Monarchy and the Party through the Crown Prince. He set to work maintaining the war effort, instituting strict controls on domestic "xeno" populations, and promoting the role of the Party in the government. He all but made the Party Security and State Security apparatuses a single organisation. In 3268, everything changed when his father tragically died in battle; he acceded to the throne as His Imperial Majesty, Maximilian Charles of the House of Compton, First of His Name, Emperor of the Terran Empire; Emperor of Jupiter, Rome, of Constantinople, of Austria, of Germany, of America, of Mexico, King of Jerusalem, of Prussia, of Bavaria, of Hungary, of Bohemia, of Croatia, of Lombardy, of Cuba, and of Central America. He abolished the office of Prime Minister and took full royal prerogative in governing.
In 3270, he announced the confederation of the member nations of the Interstellar Treaty Organisation, with himself as President of the Union. This have him extensive power over the military, intelligence, and economic resources of the human nations. In 3275, at the end of the war, he abolished the Terran Empire and guided the reorganization of the confederation into a unitary republic, the Central Galactic Union, with himself a provisional Consul. He was elected by the Union Congress to the position of Supreme Chancellor in 3276, the head of government of the entire state. He has been annually voted Dictatorial power, giving him near-absolute legal authority to circumvent the constitution to accomplish order in emergency situations. He has, however, largely maintained the appearance of lawful government.

In 3273, Maximilian married Princess Anastasia Rycon of Luna, sister of Philip Peregrine Rycon. They had a daughter, Maria Victoria, in early 3274. She remains their sole child. After her marriage, Maximilian abdicated his noble titles and bequeathed them to his daughter. He was created by Act of Parliament the first Lord of Constance, in honor of his continued lifetime of service to the state.
Current Status: Supreme Chancellor of the CGU.

Age: 21 (b. 3274)
Occupation: Politician.
Bio: The only child of Emperor Maximilian Charles and Empress Caroline, Maria Victoria was declared on birth Duchess of Saturn and Crown Princess of the Empire. However, within a year of her birth, the Empire was abolished and her father became Supreme Chancellor of the Republic, an elected office of leadership. During her youth, she fell for Maximilian's young ward and nephew, Eta Rycon.
Mary and Eta were married in February 3292. Soon after, Maximilian abdicated his noble titles and bequeathed them to Mary. She has since served in the Central Galactic Congress, chairing several committees.
Current Status: Serving the legislature.

Age: 48 (b. 3247)
Occupation: Civil servant, princess.
Bio: The second-eldest surviving child, and eldest daughter, of the late Emperor Francis Charles, Princess Thora became a pawn in her parents' petty games against each other. When Maximilian ceased to be a pawn and put himself into a political career, he was disinherited as Crown Prince and Thora was declared Crown Princess. She was groomed briefly to succeed, but Maximilian came back into his father's good graces and was restored. She has harboured some private grief over this, longingly wondering what might have been if she had become Empress. Perhaps the galaxy wouldn't have become the grand Republic, perhaps it would have stayed a loose confederation of empires under Terran hegemony. But she has, in public, put aside any animosity towards her brother and become an active member of his government. She was worked in the Ministry of the Interior, the galactic-level department for managing central government land and resources on the member worlds of the union, rising to become a junior state secretary in charge of public relations. She is married to Frederick IX, Grand Duke of Mecklenburg and has one daughter, Freya Maria (b. 3277).
Current Status: Assistant Secretary of the Interior for Public Affairs.

Age: 45 (b. 3250)
Occupation: Military (Air Force), civil servant, prince.
Bio: The second son of Emperor Francis, Geoffrey has largely followed Maximilian's lead in things. While personally apolitical, he is a loyal retainer and adviser. Early on, he enlisted in the Imperial Air Force and became an officer near the end of the Great War. He led bomber forces personally in a few battles, and subsequently commanded a forward air base on an occupied planet for a year after the war. He attended the Air Command College for education in strategic operations and became a Major General. He was transferred to the Air Staff, where he served as the aide-de-camp to Air Marshal Nestor Gordon and was later appointed Vice Chief of the Air Staff.
Current Status: Vice Chief of the Air Staff

Age: 43 (b. 3252)
Occupation: Politician, prince. Former educator.
Bio: The third son of Emperor Francis Charles, Edwin is a much more ideological follower than his brother Geoffrey. However, he also is critical of Maximilian's compromises for affecting policy, advocating instead a radical form of National Humanism. He attended Oxford and Harvard universities for an undergraduate education in history, anthropology, and the social sciences. He acquired dual doctorates in History and Public Policy from the London School and began an academic career as a professor at Harvard in 3282. He won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 3284 for his book The Downfall and Rebirth of Mankind, a "critical history of the democratic-capitalist vision of our species," viewed as strongly supportive of radical National Humanism and folkish integralism, and his other public policy literature has expressed a radically violent solution to the question of alien habitation. He has been accused by right-wing National Humanists as being too communist and collectivist, but has nonetheless retained his professorship.
In 3290, he was appointed Under-Secretary of the Interior for the Occupied Territories, having responsibility over civil governance of occupied regions. He has been able to put into action his collectivist, colonialist, and anti-alien vision for colonizing the occupied worlds.
Current Status: Under-Secretary for the Occupied Territories.

Age: 39 (b. 3256)
Occupation: Civil servant, princess.
Bio: The fifth child of Emperor Francis Charles XII, Princess Helen grew up during the war and admiring the military. When she came of age in the late 3270s, she enlisted in the Union Army and pursued officer training. She was commissioned a Lieutenant in 3280 and was attached to the personal staff of Maximilian Compton. She was promoted to Major and was appointed in 3284 as Chair Beaumont's aide-de-camp.
Current Status: Aide-de-Camp to Field Marshal Beaumont.

Age: 37 (b. 3258)
Occupation: Princess, stateswoman.
Bio: Princess "Laura the Last-born" Compton, the sixth and final child of the late Emperor Francis Charles and his wife, is still a young woman and has not entered her professional life yet. She attended Heidelberg University for her undergraduate studies in the humanities and law. She earned a doctorate in law at Stanford University in 3286.
Current Status: Serving in the Central Galactic Congress.

Age: 77 (b. 3218)
Occupation: Retired stateswoman.
Bio: Mother of Maximilian and his living siblings, Maria Theodora was the second wife of Emperor Francis Charles. At first, it was blissful being Empress, but Francis Charles' stoic and reserved personality grated on her. When he disowned their eldest child for his interest in "low" politics, she informally separated from him to live in different palaces with their sons, while Francis took charge of their daughters. Empress Theodora was critical in pushing Maximilian to succeed in his political career. Very late in his life, Francis Charles made overtures to reconcile with her. But he perished in battle before anything could move forward. After Maximilian's rise to power, she was sidelined along with his other elder advisers.
Current Status: Retired.

Age: 68 (b. 3202, d. 3270)
Occupation: Former Military (Imperial Army), Civil Servant, Politician.
Bio: Son of Prince Jonathan Rycon (b. 3140, d. 3205). His grandfather, Philip XIV, Emperor of Luna (b. 3100, d. 3208) had been Prime Minister of the Terran Empire from 3185 until his death. Frederick inherited the Lunar imperial title and lands due to his father’s premature death. He came of age in 3219, joined the aristocratic wing of the National Humanist Imperial Labour Party and served as Prince-Regent from 3231 to 3237 until the Terran Emperor, Francis Charles XII, came of age. Frederick was appointed Prime Minister from 3237-3265. His son, Philip Peregrine Rycon, was born in 3246.
The Emperor’s son, Maximilian, was placed under his tutelage from birth. In 3265, at the start of the Great War, Frederick was appointed Prince-Regent while Emperor Francis Charles was away leading the Imperial Forces. This was in accordance to a tradition wherein the Lord High Steward, a position held by the Rycons for a thousand years, would reign in the Emperor's stead when His Majesty was indisposed. Frederick negotiated to have the NHILP chairman, Henry Addington, appointed Prime Minister. In 3267, Maximilian replaced Addington first as Party Chairman and then as Prime Minister after Frederick negotiated with the Emperor to align the Monarchy with the Party. In 3268, the Emperor died in battle and Maximilian became Emperor, abolishing the office of Prime Minister. He was appointed as his chief advisor, and acted as a moderating influence upon Maximilian. In 3270, he died of a massive heart attack.
Current Status: Deceased.

Age: 49 (b. 3246)
Occupation: Politician.
Bio: Born to the Emperor Frederick of Luna, Philip was well-groomed and educated to succeed his father in a position of political power. While heir to the Lunar emperordom, the Crown Prince of Terra was raised alongside him, fostered by Lord Frederick Rycon while Emperor Francis Charles XII dealt with Imperial administration and politics, wrangling with the National Humanists. Philip and Maximilian grew up to hold similar radical convictions and similar anti-alien biases in line with the more populist wings of the NHILP. As his father helped Maximilian into the halls of power, Philip bided his time to take his place at Maximilian's right hand. With Frederick Rycon's death, Philip ascended to the Lunar title and the position of Lord High Steward. In the aftermath of the war's end and the establishment of the new Republic, he was named one of the small crowd of Hereditary Peers who sit in the Union Congress by right of noble heritage. He was appointed to be Maximilian's governing deputy and chairman of the executive council. He was dismissed as Prime Minister in March of 3288, with Shannon McGrady taking his place. He resigned the Consulship shortly afterwards. He retains the governorship of Luna.
Current Status: Governor of Luna.

Age: 26 (b. 3269)
Occupation: Politician.
Bio: The current heir-apparent to the Lunar crownlands and titles, Eta is a young child of great promise and potential. He resides on Earth in the capital city of Constance, lawfully fostered by his maternal uncle Maximilian. He was taken under the tutelage of Maximilian's personal guard, General Xander Vox. When he came of age, he attained a vital "internship" in the chancellery office as a special adviser to Lord Maximilian. He has since had a meteoric rise in the Chancellery. He was appointed Vice Chancellor and Principal Secretary to the Chancellor in 3293, a year after his marriage to Maximilian's daughter Mary. A move that has not gone without its criticism.
Current Status: Vice Chancellor.

Age: 53 (b. 3242)
Occupation: State Security General. Former mercenary.
Bio: Born on Earth, Xander wrestled with mental issues in his youth and had violent outbursts often, partly attributed to his abusive mother and partly to his feelings of abandonment by first his father and then his brother. He used his work as an outlet for these urges, freelancing as a bounty hunter. He would find criminals, beat them nearly to death, and then cart them to where they needed to be. He learned to mask his violence with a veneer of sociability and could switch between brutal psychopath, in which he demanded to be called "Nephilim", and charming manipulator in an instant. He decided to branch out to contract work with the military, fighting for little else but money and the thrill of killing. He met his half-brother Brian in the course of his work and they teamed up on a few contracts, which including working with Beaumont's Raiders in the late 3260s. He ingratiated himself with the Terran political elite, including Emperor Maximilian, and followed his orders with ruthless effectiveness, gaining an intelligence officer's rank and political appointments. Maximilian selected him to be chief of his political bodyguard, his personal attendant, and head of the Capital Police. These offices, as well as control over several special projects, were amalgamated into the Personal Protection Department, over which Xander became raised to a general's rank. He led the PPD until 3282, after which he became chief of the Republic Security Department, the political police organization within State Sec. After the debacle of the Pirate War and the inefficacy of the disorganised local police forces, all police agencies were shuffled into Xander's department in 3286.
Current Status: Director of Republic Security.

Age: 114 (b. 3173, d. 3287)
Occupation: Retired. Former businessman.
Bio: Longtime former patriarch of the McGrady family, Proinsias came from a long line of Irish space migrants that settled in the Inner Colonies. The McGrady dynasty had built a fortune in the financial services industry, conducting investment banking for big corporations, primarily in the mining industry. Proinsias inherited the family business, and the expectations of a political career. However, he was cursed with a sly, devious appearance and a certain lack of social graces due to his aristocratic upbringing. The company's fortune ebbed and swelled with his personal life as scandal after scandal become public. Proinsias was accused of being a paedophile, and abusing his children--which was partially true. His sinister visage encouraged the stockholders, but his increasing reliance on subordinates and lack of control of the company drove it to ruin. Safety scandals, investment scandals, and embezzlement scandals wracked the business and Proinsias was scapegoated. He was terminated as CEO by the company's board of directors.
Proinsias and his children were forced into poverty, spending the family's vast fortune on property taxes and utilities as they refused to sell the holdings. Their land and manor were generational assets, and would not be auctioned off. They had to live without electricity for a year, camping in the estate's forested properties--his youngest son, William, died of malnourishment. Eventually, his own children rose from poverty and fractious in-fighting to re-acquire their status. His favourite daughter, Shannon, married a wealthy mining industrialist and undertook a hostile takeover of the family company, and restored the McGrady dynasty to its former glory. However, Proinsias was hated and ostracised by his children for his stubbornness and pride that had put them in the situation in the first place. His children had successful careers in business, civil service, and politics...leaving him in the dust. After his wife's death, he exiled himself to a small cottage deep in the family's wooded estate, scarcely ever to be seen again. He returned to the manor house one last time, to die in peace in his old bed in 3287.
Current Status: Deceased.

Age: 85 (b. 3210)
Occupation: Politician.
Bio: The matriarch of the McGrady political dynasty, Shannon has openly made it her mission to strengthen her family's position in human society. An early life of poverty due to her father's negligence in business affairs generated a powerful sense of pride and ambition. She embarked on a career in civil service and politics to increase the power and standing of her family, and restored them to their former glory. She served in local government in Wallerstein, and was elected to the Provincial Parliament at age 35. She was elected to the Imperial House of Commons at age 45. She became Speaker of the House of Commons in the early 3260s, and served in the office until 3275 and the foundation of the Central Galactic Union. Upon the new republic's creation, and the abolition of its predecessor states, Shannon was elected Senator to the Central Galactic Congress. She was elected by her peers to be Chief Tribune, chairperson of the prestigious tribunal that acts as simultaneous constitutional court and congressional rules committee. For her loyalty to the state, and her bold bid for the Chancellorship in January, she was appointed Prime Minister in March of 3288.
She married mining magnate Patrick David Drake in 3233, and they have since bore nine children.
Current Status: Prime Minister and Chief Tribune of the Republic

Age: 87 (b. 3208)
Occupation: Businessman.
Bio: Heir to a large mining fortune and the ownership of Drake Industries, Patrick lived a life of luxury. His family securely held the majority stake in the publicly-traded natural resource company, which held mining rights across several asteroid belts and barren worlds, as well as extraction rights on numerous gas giants. He met young heiress Shannon McGrady in 3230 at a fundraising gala. They married in 3233, taking her rather more illustrious name. Shannon utilised his immense wealth and resources to orchestrate a hostile corporate takeover of the McGrady Financial Group. The merger reorganized the two as the McGrady Corporation, and Patrick was installed as its Chief Executive Officer and President, while Shannon focused on political ambitions. The business conglomerate has since evolved into a many-branched zaibatsu with the core holding company as a privately-owned firm; its many interests include agribusiness, finance, manufacturing, mining, pharmaceuticals, resource extraction, and weapons development.
Patrick himself is viewed as a bit of a ditz, intent on reliving the carefree "glory days" of his youth. He is seen by business insiders as a figurehead, a puppet of Shannon for extending the family influence far beyond politics.
Current Status: President and CEO of the McGrady Corporation

Age: 61 (b. 3234)
Occupation: Criminal.
Bio: The first child of Shannon and Patrick, who largely bears his father's visage, "Handsome Jack" McGrady grew up to be a tall, broad-shouldered, swarthy man with a sharp wit and immense charisma. The family's political future was pinned on him, and he was very much favoured by his father. Shannon was somewhat more sceptical of his potential.
During his youth, he competed in sports and debate clubs, making connections with other powerful and wealthy people. He joined the Imperial Marines and became an officer, shoring up his charismatic image with valuable combat experience. He led a battalion in counter-terrorist operations designed to destroy the Green Dragons criminal organisation, but failed. He resigned his commission at the end of his tour of duty in 3260. He ran for local office in Wallerstein, growing under his mother's reluctant wing. He was elected to the Wallerstein colonial legislature, and planned to run in 3262 for his mother's vacant seat in the Inner Colonies Provincial Parliament. He failed, however, and resigned all of his political offices in disgrace. He later found out that the Green Dragons had bankrolled his political rivals. He spent a year in seclusion, devastated by his failures. With a life of easy success, any failure became a crippling one.
Deciding that if he couldn't beat the Green Dragons in a fair fight, he would beat them at their own game, he went into the outer colonies and used his connections to start a criminal organisation of his own, named the Fenian Daggers after their Irish chieftains and their prolific violence. Over the years, he built up his contacts and illicit businesses such that he became one of the most powerful crime lords in the Outer Rim. He exiled himself from his family, seeking to make his own name and pursue his own goals. In time, he reconciled with them, but kept a certain distance in order to not taint their future with his failure. With the comparatively recent collapse of the Dragon Syndicate, his organisation has come to be the largest and most powerful criminal syndicate in former Terran space. Through certain back-channels, they have corporate support from the McGrady Corporation--providing a legitimate façade for Fenian chieftains as businessmen. Despite his caution, he was arrested and indicted for piracy and racketeering and brought to trial in 3286. He was, however, acquitted and allowed to return to leading the Fenian Daggers as a legitimate mercenary band. He has since become one of the leading figures of the Galactic Corsairs mercenary guild.
Status: Boss of the Fenian Daggers.

Age: 55 (b. 3240)
Occupation: Lawyer and politician.
Bio: Shannon's eldest daughter, Genevieve takes after her mother considerably in her political ambitions and drive to further the family's accomplishments. In her youth, she had a fierce rivalry with her brother William in sports and other activities, but her favoured status was shown through private tutors and being sent to a prestigious private vocational school for young lawyers.
She has been a legal adviser for many governors of the space colony Wallerstein, and operates one of the oldest spacer law firms, Finbarr and Finnegan Legal Services. She has her eyes on a political career as well.
Status: President of Finbarr and Finnegan.

Age: 52 (b. 3243)
Occupation: State Security officer. Former Military (Army).
Bio: Born to the prominent McGrady family of Wallerstein, Billy lived most of his life in orbital colonies and received an expensive but thorough education. However, he was a troubled child and his mother forced him to have cybernetic implants to control his "acting out". At the start of the war, he enlisted in the army to find an outlet for his violent urges. He struck up a friendship with Ophelius Greene, and an abusive relationship with the android Lucy--and garnered the distant admiration of Zenzi Rothschild. At the end of the Battle of Khoz, he assassinated the colonel of the allied regiment they linked up with, a political favour for Henry Heavenly. He was discharged and was granted a position in the Party security bureau as a field operative, later meeting Gracie Gray, an Army cryptanalyst with whom he formed a sexual relationship. He was involved in the assassination of criminal and political figures; for his services, he was promoted to Standardier, a colonel-equivalent rank in the unified Party and State security apparatus. His first assignment was to replace Henry Heavenly as the political handler and ultimate authority for SOG-71, wherein he became grudging friends with the equally-ambitious Xander Vox.
Following several successful assassinations undertaken for the State Sec department, Billy was promoted to Prefect, equivalent to a Lieutenant General, and given responsibility over the entire Field Operations agency. This agency were what Maximilian termed the a "second army" of political troops, fanatical warriors for the National Humanist cause and the enforcement of the New Order. He became engaged to Zenzi Rothschild in the wake of his career successes and they were wed in 3271. He has become an Polemarch (equivalent to a Grand Marshal in the Army), and commands the enlarge Security Forces. His agency's powers and missions have become greatly expanded, tasked with crushing all partisans, rebels, and remnants. In 3279, he was raised to a Lordship in his own right and made a member of the Republic peerage as Baron of Wallerstein, raised in 3286 to an Earldom and in 3293 to a Dukedom.
He and his wife have three children: Jack, Lucy, and Mike.
Current Status: Director of Field Operations, Ministry of State Security. Retired from the military.

Age: 51 (b. 3244)
Occupation: Philanthropist.
Bio: One of Shannon's eldest daughters, and Genevieve's fraternal twin, Anne-Marie was the most gentle and unambitious of the McGrady children. In her childhood, she was diagnosed with developmental issues and a persistent impulse-control problem. The problems were rectified, however, and she successfully graduated schooling. She has attained a reputation for being somewhat of a recluse, with a very private personal life. To the people at large, however, she is the head and public face of the McGrady Foundation, a family-owned charitable organization.
Status: President of the McGrady Foundation.

Age: 50 (b. 3245)
Occupation: Cardinal.
Bio: Cynthia, third daughter of Shannon McGrady, went into the Catholic Church priesthood, seeking a solitary life of contemplation and religious devotion. The McGrady clan had a long history of charitable support of the Catholic Church, and remained loyal to it during the long years of space colonization. Their aid allowed the Church to remain a potent political force on Earth, independent of the government but intertwined with the Earthborn aristocracy. As such, Cynthia was fast-tracked for a position of considerable respect in the Church. She was ordained a priestess at age 22 after graduating from the Wallerstein Catholic Seminary, and consecrated as one of the youngest bishops since the Middle Ages two years later after acquiring a Doctor of Divinity degree from the Pontifical Seminary College. Her turnaround management of declining diocese in the Netherlands saw her promotion to Archbishop of São Paulo in 3272. Her further expertise led to her elevation to the Cardinalate in 3277. In 3282, she was tapped for the position of Cardinal Secretary of State for the Vatican City, a prestigious diplomatic sinecure that greatly strengthened relations between the Catholic Church, the Vatican government, and the new Republic. However, over time she came into intractable conflict with Pope Augustus, acting to usher his downfall in the mid-3290s through secretly orchestrating a series of bombings, heists, and data leaks. These scandals made the Pope appear weak and complicit in various crimes and corruptions within the Church. In early 3295, Augustus resigned in disgrace after a riot in Rome and a major data breach that showed his complicity in various high crimes.
Cardinal McGrady was elected Pope, taking the regnal name Sophia VII. She immediately began a purge of Augustan loyalists, using summary tribunals to sentence the former Pope to house arrest for life, and the Cardinal-Treasurer to death by hanging.
Status: Pope.

Age: 49 (b. 3246)
Occupation: Artist.
Bio: Fiona has had a reputation for being the free-spirited daughter of Shannon McGrady's brood. Attempts to discipline her went awry, and Shannon instead decided to make something out of Fiona's wild side. She sent her to art school, and she has since become a famed painter. As young as twenty, she sold a painting for a million Imperial Credits to the Willard Art Gallery of New York, Earth. She has continued, for many years, to sell paintings to the most illustrious art galleries across human-inhabited space. She married her professor from her time in art school, Larry Cooley, and bore him four children: Connor and Finn (b. 3264), Ciaran (b. 3266), and Lydia (b. 3271). She has five illegitimate children, whom she has raised alongside her other kids: Robert O'Rothschild (b. 3268), Francis and Cynthia Fitzwilliam (b. 3269), Macha McNeill (b. 3273), and Morrigan McDaniels (b. 3275).
Her daughter Lydia became engaged to Jack McGrady, after completing a tour of duty in the Marines.
Status: Famous painter.

Age: 47 (b. 3248)
Occupation: Businessman, fashion model.
Bio: Another of Shannon's children, "Pete" McGrady found his passion in the world of high fashion. His brooding good looks, penchant for dark suits, and aspiring interest in history led to his becoming a fashion model in his youth. His lively and popular modelling of frock coats, cravats, breeches, traditional riding wear, and tailcoats are seen as a significant factor in the revival of British Regency and Early Victorian styles of fashion in the late 33rd century. Hailed as a "modern Beau Brummel", Petyr has expertly used his credentials to start his own lines of clothing and other accessories and rose in the corporate hierarchy of the McGrady corporation. He presently heads the Apparel Division of the conglomerate, comprising several textiles manufacturing, clothes-making, and department retail companies.
Status: Chairman of the Apparel Division of the McGrady Corporation.

Age: 46 (b. 3249)
Occupation: Actress, recording artist.
Bio: With charm, beauty, and grace, Hillary McGrady has stolen the hearts of many during her career on stage and screen. Early in her youth, she participated in and won several child beauty pageants and talent competitions. Her stage performance pushed her to aspire to an entertainment career, though her mother initially strongly disliked the prospect. Shannon wanted Hillary to follow her into politics and law, but relented and allowed her youngest daughter to act and sing. In time, Hillary grew from a beloved child actress to an award-winning stage and film actress and recording artist. Her parents' ownership of an independent film studio, record label, radio station, and even a theatrical production division allowed Hillary almost effortless exposure to the public media. Now in her mid-thirties, she is an acclaimed entertainer with two Academy Awards under her belt, in spite of some negative press from her colleagues.
Status: Acting.

Age: 25 (b. 3249, d. 3274)
Occupation: Medical doctor.
Bio: The youngest son of the illustrious McGrady family, Rory was marred with unfortunate circumstances. At birth, he was stricken with a viral infection that obliterated his immune system and nearly killed him. Doctors managed to save him; for the first few years of his life, he lived in an environmentally-sealed "bubble" suit that kept him from encountering contaminants. Scientists under the employ of his mother developed an internal device that would inject a bio-engineered organism that would act as an immune response. For the first time in his life, he was able to live outside of his bubble suit. He dedicated himself to helping people the same way he had been helped: medicine. With the proper education, all the advanced technologies of modern medicine, cybernetics, surgical techniques, and bio-engineering were to be at his fingertips. He left home for Earth, to attend Oxford and Harvard medical colleges before going to Mars to study under the tutelage of Dr. David Winters. Eschewing his hated first name, he became only known by his colleagues as David McGrady--and as the most prodigious medical polymath since Dr. Winters himself. He came to work at Northmont Hospital in New York, one the most renowned privately-owned medical centres in the Empire. His ultimate goal: to end death itself for the human race.
In a few short years, he became famed on Earth for his research into life extension, his work in educating remote populations in the latest medical techniques, and his activism for the poor. In 3274, he became galactically famous for his assistance in curing the mysterious Unthor haemorrhagic fever, in connection with Dr. Seilon and several government investigators. He was present during their subsequent chain of travels across occupied cassiopeian space. However, some time later, he was found dead; the death was officially ruled a suicide. He was posthumously awarded the Nobel Prize in Medicine, and was lavished with monuments and hospitals in his honour.
Status: Deceased.

Age: 24 (b. 3271)
Occupation: Military (Marine Corps).
Bio: Seventh of Fiona Fachtna McGrady's nine children. Olive-skinned with raven hair and blue-grey eyes, she resembles her grandparents more than her pale, red-haired mother or her blond father. Of all of Fiona's children, Lydia has seemed most poised to follow her footsteps in the art world, which made her mother very happy. She is currently attending the Wallerstein Catholic Academy. Her only derailment might be her unrestrained passion for her cousin, Jack. After finally forming a romantic relationship with him, she decided she would never let him go. She even chose to enlist in the Marines, to follow him.
Despite being woefully in over her head, she completed training and served with distinction in a Marine scout-sniper battalion. After completing a tour of duty in the Magellanic War, she became engaged to her longtime boyfriend and cousin, Jakodi McGrady.
Current Status: Training.

Age: 24 (b. 3271)
Occupation: Military (Marine Corps).
Bio: Eldest son of Lord William McGrady, Jack learned much from his father on how to be popular and charming, and went to his father's home colony of Wallerstein for schooling starting in 3285. Fair-haired and tall with rosy-pink skin and a noble pedigree, he became quickly popular at the Wallerstein Catholic Academy. He participated in sports, chess team, debate team, but most prominently was the star quarterback on the high school gridiron football team. After the close of senior year, seeing everyone around him start on their paths, he decided to enlist in the Marines.
Jack has served with distinction in the Marine Corps, earning an officer's commission and an assignment in Marine special forces. After completing a tour of duty in 3294, he became engaged to his girlfriend and cousin, Lydia Cooley-McGrady.
Current Status: Serving.

Age: 19 (b. 3275)
Occupation: Student.
Bio: Middle child and only daughter of Lord William McGrady, Lucy was a precocious young student at the Wallerstein Catholic Academy and graduated early at age 15. She attended undergraduate studies on Earth at the University of Virginia near one of her father's workplaces and has recently applied for graduate studies at Harvard University.
Current Status: Learning.

Age: 9 (b. 3284)
Occupation: Child.
Bio: William and Zenzi's youngest child, currently attending elementary school.
Current Status: Learning.

Age: 51 (b. 3194, d. 3245)
Occupation: Politician and member of the House of Lords.
Bio: Corpulent and jovial, Willem Marten was a beloved figure by many. Though he was not without his criticisms, as he represented to some the outlandish extravagance of the obscenely rich and powerful aristocracy. In 3220, he inherited the dukedom of Nieuwvaalia from his father the 11th Duke, Willem Johannes Marten (b. 3160), who had briefly fostered the young Prince Frederick Rycon in the 3210s. He had two sons, Cassander (b. 3221) and Willem (b. 3225), and left his dukedom to his eldest son after dying from treatable but long-ignored and severe diabetic complications.
Status: Deceased

Age: 47 (b. 3221, d. 3268)
Occupation: Former Military (Army Cavalry). Businessman and member of the House of Lords.
Bio: Ostentatious and stylish, Cassander Marten has had a reputation for being the representation of the corruption of wealth and power. After serving in the Imperial Army Cavalry Corps with distinction some time before the war, he retired to his family home and ducal seat, running the planet of Nieuwvaalia for his own benefit more than anything else. He taxed his people heavily, spending the money on lavish parties and galas, trading in women and weapons through his various connections and companies. He bought a significant stake in the Xenon Risk Control merc group, and began involving himself in human trafficking. He paid for several sex slaves, all illegal androids, and was eventually caught during a raid on his compound. The androids were confiscated despite being acquitted in native court. He decided to "clean up" his image, though its success has been limited. He sold the services of his mercenaries to the Imperial forces for use on the front lines until an assault on his estate. It was uncovered that the Duke was at the centre of a conspiracy among Conservative politicians to overthrow the National Humanist regime. He was slain, along with his brother and several guards, at a gala thrown to announce a recent sale.
Current Status: Deceased.

Age: 43 (b. 3225, d. 3268)
Occupation: Former Military (Army Rangers). Currently his brother's personal bodyguard.
Bio: Considerably more austere and serious than his brother Cassander, Willem Marten had a largely well-liked reputation. An Army veteran, though wounded in combat against rebel forces, and a family man, Willem was also his brother's heir. He had been acting as his brother's bodyguard, and confidante in all things prior to the assault on his brother's estate. He and his family were slaughtered by the mercenary Xander Vox.
Current Status: Deceased.

Age: 74 (b. 3212, d. 3286)
Occupation: Politician, nobleman.
Bio: A wealthy nobleman of a stern and serious disposition, George inherited the barony of Rothstein at a young age, and proceeded to beget a new dynasty. His family had a history of rivalry with the McGradys of neighbouring Wallerstein, but George forged a new path of reconciliation and mutual assistance. They groomed their respective heirs to grow up in proximity and hoped that a match could be made to further the goals of Terran spacers. His plan paid off when his daughter fell in love with William McGrady, followed him into the Army, and worked aside him for years before finally proposing marriage. He also profited from a cooperation with the McGradys in Imperial parliamentary politics, supporting the National Humanist regime and earning a dukedom. In 3268 he was appointed Planetary Governor of Nieuwvaalia, and has been reappointed twice, in 3274 and 3280. He has also held an appointment as Vice Foreign Minister. He died in 3286.
Current Status: Deceased.

Age: 52 (b. 3243)
Occupation: Civil servant. Former Military (Army).
Bio: Like McGrady, "Zenzi" Rothschild was born into a wealthy family of Wallerstein--a collateral line of the Rothschild noble clan. Her domineering father had high expectations of her, and she pressed herself to perfection to meet those standards. Her father was sometimes verbally abusive, and she came to resent her mother for just drinking her troubles away instead of doing something. She resolved to never be like her, and to prove herself worthy of her father's affection and of the family name. She initially joined the local Wallerstein police force, but lost interest when she heard of William McGrady's enlistment in the Army. She enlisted for Army service at age 19 and was trained alongside him and the android Lucy van Marten, whom she came to despise. They were assigned to the "Lonely Hearts" squad commanded by Staff Sergeant Pepper, herself becoming the resident technology expert and combat engineer. After the Battle of Khoz, she was honourably discharged and given a job in the Imperial Strategic Intelligence Agency. She was rumoured by the tabloid press to be the lover of several important people-- war hero Billy McGrady, various generals, and even Prince Maximilian himself. However, only one of these bore any truth. In her eyes, William McGrady was closest thing to a companion she had in their wartime service, and she viewed him a the love of her life.
In 3268, after the death of the Duke of Nieuwvaalia, her father was named 1st Duke of the new creation of the vacant title. Zenzi became his heiress as the Countess of Martenstad. Along with this title came its relevant incomes and lands. She preferred, however, field assignments with Billy and continued to aid him in difficult wartime intelligence operations. After his promotion to a generalship in 3270, they became engaged, which led to a highly-publicised and lavish wedding in 3271. They have three children. She was briefly Deputy Governor of Nieuwvaalia, then served as an administrator in the Inner Colonies' civil defence bureau. After her father's death she was appointed Acting Governor of the planet, which she held until 3288. She has been since 3290 the chief deputy to the Under-Secretary for the Occupied Territories.
Current Status: Acting Governor of the planet Nieuwvaalia. Retired from the military.

Age: 67 (b. 3228)
Occupation: Statesman.
Bio: Born a prince of the House of Windsor, Arthur ascended the British Isles titles in 3261 as the third of his name, and 60th King of Great Britain. He served in the court of the Terran Empire in his hereditary role as Lord High Chamberlain, and governed the British Isles as hereditary governor. With the dissolution of the Empire and the formation of the Republic, he received an appointment as governor of Great Britain. He has been reappointed several times. He also holds the presidency of the Windsor Royal Association, a formal association of all royals of the House of Windsor, its predecessor House of Hanover, and all of its descendant houses. In addition to his gubernatorial duties, he serves as hereditary princely member of the Central Galactic Congress.
Current Status: Governor of Great Britain.

Age: 48 (b. 3247)
Occupation: Military (Navy), statesman.
Bio: The heir to the British royal titles presumptive future governor of the British Isles, William Windsor has pursued a traditional career in the sea navy. He served as a naval aviator, and was commissioned a Rear Admiral in early 3268 due largely to his station in the nobility. He continued service as an aviator, flying training missions on Earth in preparation for an attack that never came. He earned an appointment in command of Earth's sea forces as an Admiral in 3280. He has championed the continued use of naval aviation in oceanic defence forces, bringing him in opposition to his superiors' emphasis on ballistic missile submarines.
Current Status: Commander, NAVCOM Earth.

Age: 58 (b. 3230)
Occupation: Military (Navy), statesman.
Bio: Better known simply as "John York", the plain-spoken and spartan Grand Marshal is a career officer of the Army, having served in every level of command before attaining high command appointments. With an impeccable wartime service record, he was appointed to the Army Forces Command in 3277. After three years in this position he was appointed deputy chief of staff to the Joint Forces Commander, and then to High Commander for Joint Forces in 3286.
Current Status: High Commander for Joint Forces.

Age: 75 (b. 3220)
Occupation: Statesman
Bio: The last sovereign emperor of the Empire of Orion, John the Twentieth presided over the transformation of his empire under the National Humanist 'soft revolution' and then the absorption of his empire into the new Republic. He has retained some measure of power and prestige, holding a hereditary seat in the Central Galactic Congress and being the trusted governor of several sectors of space.
Current Status: Consul of the Inner Cloud Sector.

Age: 73 (b. 3197, d. 3270)
Occupation: Politician.
Bio: At one time a schoolteacher in the frontier, he saw first-hand the squalor and poverty of the fringe areas of the Empire. Rather than react with separatist convictions, he saw the necessity of unity and strong government power. He joined the National Humanists and acquired a position as a University professor of anthropology and history, teaching the NHILP doctrine to his students, despite being only in his early thirties. In his late 30s, his intellectual leanings and strong skills in organization placed him into the role of Party Chairman for the Party. Addington restructured the ranks and bureau system in the party, aligning them along the same lines as the national Imperial administration in preparation for an electoral victory. Despite win after win in the elections, it was the increasing proximity of war with the Soviets that convinced the Emperor to place Addington in the office of Prime Minister. A unified national government was formed, and Addington served in the first few years of the Great War. However, the sluggishness of the military campaigns and his increasing unpopularity within the Party forced him out of the Chairman’s seat and in 3267, out of the Prime Minister’s office. He was replaced with Crown Prince Maximilian in both respects.
In 3270, he was killed after a high-speed chase and shootout with Communist guerillas, an event that led Maximilian to crack down even harder on political opposition in the Empire.
Current Status: Deceased.

Age: 63 (b. 3232)
Occupation: Government minister.
Bio: The second son of industrialist Albert Voss, Friedrich grew up in the lap of luxury. He had little military inclination and his elder brother, Franz, took up the family's military duties while Friedrich was instead groomed for a career in the Roman Church. However, he dropped out of seminary school to enter politics and joined the National Humanist Imperial Labour Party in 3253, as a staffer for the party's German district office. He joined their paramilitary and internal security organization, the Greenshirts, and rapidly rose in its ranks. By 3261, he was head of the Greenshirts Earth Division. In 3269, he was brought to the attention of Emperor Maximilian, and was appointed Chief of Party Security and Commander of the Greenshirts; by 3270, the merger of party and government structures was completed when Voss was appointed Secretary for State Security and head of the ISSD. In the transition to the Republic, and the abolition of political parties, he was appointed Minister of State Security. He presently maintains this position, and commands the enormous intelligence and police apparatus of the CGU. Behind the scenes, he is known as a genial and kind man whose humbling experiences outgrew his privileged upbringing.
Current Status: Minister of State Security.

Age: 55 (b. 3225, d. 3280)
Occupation: Politician.
Bio: A professional politician and administrator, Rufus T. Blackwall served in the Keystone Planetary Assembly as a young man in his twenties before befriending the Imperial administrators for the Outer Colonies province and earning an appointment as Governor of Keystone--likely through bribery. His vast family wealth and involvement in criminal and legitimate business enterprises entrenched the existing problems of corruption and organised crime on the planet during his governorship from 3262 to 3280. He gave preferential deals with foreign corporate conglomerates, especially the McGrady Corporation--who disguised the involvement of the Fenian Daggers space gang through legitimate enterprises. In the midst of his tenure, a bandit revolt slowly gained steam, and tensions between existing gangs grew fierce. State Security, determined to end corruption on Keystone and turn it into a model world, secretly undermined Blackwall's status quo. Unable to control the situation, political violence erupted in the summer of 3280 with the killing of a provincial governor. He, his family, and his staff were assassinated by State Sec agents under the orders of Primus Lucan, though it was disguised as a gangland killing by the Fenians. Ultimately, his death sparked the escalation of violence that became the Keystone Incident.
Current Status: Deceased.

Age: 57 (b. 3238)
Occupation: Politician, professor; Former Military (Army).
Bio: A Russo-Terran colonialist from the steppe-dominated world of Keystone, so named for its extensive agricultural infrastructure and key role in wheat production for the Empire. Growing up on the largely unpopulated farming world gave him wilderness survival skills and expertise with weaponry, something not just insisted upon by his father Yuri but demanded by the rural life. After briefly attending higher education, Meshcheryakov enlisted for military service, putting his sharpshooter skills to work as a sniper in the Army; he was assigned to the Lonely Hearts and served them well as the no-nonsense leader of the squad's scouting team, albeit dismissive of the politics of some of his companions. In the Battle of Khoz, Staff Sgt. Pepper bequeathed command of the squad to him before committing suicide; Meshcheryakov, though far from prepared for the command, performed admirably well under the circumstances and led his people to the completion of their mission. He was honourably discharged and decorated as befit a war hero, given rest after what seemed like a lifetime of war.
Like many other veterans, he has taken advantage of the G.I. Bill to get a higher education upon return to his homeworld, applying his knowledge of weapons to the study of ballistic sciences and forensics. He achieved his Master's Degree in 3274, and pursued a Doctorate in Ballistic Sciences while doing some consultant work for the government. He was awarded his degree in 3276 and began work at the Keystone Institute of Technology as a Professor of physics, ballistic science, and forensic science. He has operated a consulting firm and a forensics laboratory at the Institute, assisting the colonial police in criminal investigations. After the terrorist bombings and other tumult of the Keystone Incident, the Colonial Affairs bureau instituted a general election for the planet's governor in an effort to rebuild trust between colonists and the central government. Meshcheryakov ran as a reform candidate and won the January 3282 election to become Keystone's first elected Governor, winning re-election in 3288 and 3294.
Current Status: Governor of Keystone. Former Professor at the Keystone Institute of Technology. Retired from the military.

Age: 64 (b. 3231)
Occupation: Religious leader, politician.
Bio: Ayaweyo Bemba became a rising star in the Church fairly early, and at the age of 35 he was appointed Bishop of Kabinda. He was swiftly promoted to the Archbishop's seat in Kananga in 3272. He was admitted to the College of Cardinals three years later during a sweep of young bishops in an effort to energize the ageing committee. This would prove fortuitous, as it provided him ample room for political maneuvering. In 3282, the Pope died amidst corruption scandals and Cardinal Bemba, putting forth to the other Cardinals a programme of political reform, managed to win election to the Papacy. Though some have rumored that it was a bribery campaign.
Taking the reign name of Augustus III, he initiated a series of dismissals of corrupt officials and an investigation into criminal activities within the halls of power. But many suspect that his clean-house campaign was a ruse, and that the Vatican is still deeply enmeshed in connections to organized crime.
Current Status: Pope of the United Catholic Church, Sovereign of Vatican City.

Age: 67 (b. 3228)
Occupation: State Security official.
Bio: Mysterious, fanatical, and ominous in equal degrees, Henry Heavenly was a member of the National Humanist Imperial Labour Party's security and paramilitary section called the Greenshirts. He was commissioned an officer of Imperial Intelligence and was authorized to manage a pilot project, recruiting top special forces personnel and dedicated National Humanists to a joint special operations and counter-terror unit. He recruited the 71st Studies and Observations Group, and supervised their activities early in the Great War. He recruited further agents from the Lonely Hearts squad and commanded the 9th Joint Special Forces Brigade; he groomed William McGrady to succeed him in command. He was appointed Chief of Staff to the Commander of Party Security, and Deputy Secretary of the Imperial State Security Department in 3270. After the transition to the Republic, he was appointed head of the Republic Security Department. He handed command of Republic Security to Xander Vox in 3281 and took over the day-to-day management of the Ministry as Vice Minister.
Current Status: Vice Minister of State Security.

Age: 50 (b. 3245)
Occupation: State Security official.
Bio: Taken at a young age by the Youth Services Bureau from abusive and self-destructive parents in Liverpool, Primus was deposited in the hands of the Imperial Strategic Intelligence Agency for a "special program for wayward youths" codenamed NEXUS. He was one of a few to survive its rigorous trials--including drug and gene therapies and melding with an artificial intelligence--and made friends with a fellow child named Adrian Lancore. However, after Lancore went on a terrifying rampage and murdered most of the other subjects, the project was shut down. Primus and his bonded AI Solomon became covert surveillance agents in the Domestic Security Agency, which became part of the ISSD in 3270. In 3274, he was reactivated for special service as part of a test of NEXUS agents, and interacted with Adrian once more.
Primus pursued a line of action that restarted Adrian's memories of NEXUS, and led to the discovery of an alien artefact on Luna. After making contact with the object, Primus gained strange abilities, but managed to succeed in preventing further use of the object by McGrady's forces. He was reassigned to the Recruitment Office of the the Personal Protection Department, tasked with restarting the NEXUS project. He has also been on assignment as a special agent to various worlds, conducting covert operations to bring fringe colonies into line with the central government. His involvement with the Keystone Incident was met with near-total disaster, but he successfully brought the situation under control. He was promoted initially to be the new project manager for NEXUS, but after General Vox's promotion to Director of Republic Security, Primus was named his successor as director of the PPD.
Current Status: Director of the Personal Protection Department.

Age: 75 (b. 3220)
Occupation: State Security official.
Bio: A career police officer and commander originally of the Imperial Space Police, Bastian MacBeth came to be a high-ranking inspector by the 3260s. He thus came to the attentions of Frederick Voss and Henry Heavenly, and was promoted to high command in the main police wing of the amalgamated State Security apparatus. He was made chief of the Space Police and then head of the National Police Department. However, the failure of the police agencies to coordinate an effective defence against a slew of terrorist attacks in the 3280s led to the dissolution of his department and its merger with Republic Security. MacBeth remained in charge of the Central State Police, but was made totally subordinate to Xander Vox.
Current Status: Director of the Central State Police.

Age: 55 (b. 3240)
Occupation: Bureaucrat (State Security, formerly Colonial Affairs)
Bio: A member of the Sagittarian mercantile aristocracy, George Rinaldi is the latest in a family of industrialists and businesspeople that made their money in shipping, manufacturing, and direct marketing of products in Sagittarian space. They used that money to acquire political influence and power in the Sagittarian government, often supporting the conservative faction in the parliament to the expense of the local National Humanist branch. During the Great War, family head Alberto Rinaldi was blacklisted and faced a downfall in public life, later committing suicide to avoid charges of treason. His son George came of age in the aftermath of this and achieved a rise from the ashes in the new CGU government in the 3270s and 3280s. He covertly became an agent of State Security, acting as their liaison in Colonial Affairs, where he formally held a bureaucratic post as the Assistant Secretary for Inspection from 3281 to 3285. He was participant to an incident on Halloween 3285 where a colony settlement was destroyed in a nuclear bombardment as it had been deemed a national security risk, prompting his suspension from his post and a government investigation. He served as a witness to an internal investigation into State Security Forces activities in 3286, allowing him to escape prosecution and take a post in the Republic Security Department as an assistant director in the National Prison Service for prison security and contingency, and then as Deputy Director in charge of Internment Camps.
Current Status: Deputy Director for Internment Camps, National Prison Service.

Age: 55 (b. 3240)
Occupation: Military (Chairman, Joint Staff).
Bio: Born to Navy officers, her mother being a high-ranking Vice Admiral and her father the Chief of Medical Operations on her mother's battle-cruiser, Celeste was unfortunately struck with issues in the womb. Subjected to epileptic seizures in childhood and born with brittle bones, she underwent a procedure that replaced the bulk her limbs and trunk with cybernetic implants and prosthetics. When she came of age, she enlisted in the Imperial Marines, serving with distinction since. In a notable incident, she rescued a Colonel from a rebel POW camp and received a commendation for gallantry. Just before the beginning of the Great War, she led the covert foiling of a terrorist incident in orbit of the planet Kojima. Her group of operatives were organised as a special forces unit and served in the Soviet front as military saboteurs. In 3268, they took on the role of domestic security and Celeste again led the group in the quashing of criminal and terrorist plots, most notably the assassination of the Duke of Nieuwvaalia. She returned from the mission to find that her father had died in battle, at the side of Emperor Francis Charles on his flagship. She resolved to make the best use of her abilities, and committed herself to the service of the new Emperor, Maximilian. Promoted to Colonel, she led the group to a fresh round of assassinations, all in the name of His Majesty's Government.
Successful in this endeavour, she was promoted again to a Lieutenant General and named Maximilian's military aide-de-camp. She has since become one of Maximilian's most trusted military advisers, suggesting some of the most effective wartime policies during the course of the Great War. She has retained her place after the transition to the new Republic, being appointed as the first Chairman of the Joint Staff, and was rewarded with noble titles for her role in the final victory of the Great War.
Current Status: Active Duty. Chairman of the Joint Military Staff.

Age: 62 (b. 3233)
Occupation: Military (Army, General Staff)
Bio: A relatively young and apolitical general officer during the war, Lanning is another representative of the "Berlin establishment" of nationalist but otherwise apolitical military officers still loyal to the feudal ideals of the Terran Empire. He served in several field command positions throughout the conflict, including Commander of Army Forces in the Occupied Territories, and became Army Vice Chief of Staff a few years after the war. In 3281, he was appointed Army Chief of Staff and was duly promoted to the high rank of Supreme Marshal. He is often seen as a potential successor to Field Marshal Beaumont as Chairman of the Joint Military Staff.
Current Status: Active Duty. Chief of Staff, Army.

Age: 69 (b. 3226)
Occupation: Military (Air Force, Air Staff)
Bio: A general officer from Nebraska, the heart of Earth's missile defence, Nestor T. Gordon rose to become the chief of the Air Force not through combat experience but through his thorough education and sound strategic advice. Educated in civil engineering, he attended Air Officer training and received an appointment to the missile branch. He climbed the ranks to become Air Officer Commanding of Earth Defence Command from 3264 to 3268, Chief of the Strategic Air Command from 3268 to 3274, and Vice Chief of the Air Staff from 3274 to 3278. He was appointed in 3278 to be Chief of the Air Staff and was promoted to the rank of Air Supreme Marshal. He continues to advocate the use of missiles and strategic bombardment as the primary air component to ground campaigns, and the maximal use of satellites in orbital defensive operations.
Current Status: Active Duty. Chief of the Air Staff.

Age: 81 (b. 3214)
Occupation: Military (Spacy, Space Admiralty)
Bio: A shining example to colonials and spacers of the meritocracy touted by the new republican regime, Admiral Charles Taylor is one of the few colonials to be appointed Chief of Space Operations. He captained space vessels during the colonial wars of insurrection in the 3250s, and led space fleets as an admiral at the outset of the Great War. He rose through the ranks as a skilled commander of spaceraft armadas, gaining the ear of the Emperor Maximilian Charles. At war's end, he was made Grand Admiral, in command of the Earth defence fleet. In 3279, he commanded Task Force Crassus in the suppression of a large-scale alien remnant revolt in the Occupied Territories. He commanded various units until 3288, when he was appointed to lead the Extragalactic Expeditionary Fleet. After the fleet was ambushed, he returned to active combat service until 3290 when he was appointed overall chief of the Spacy.
Current Status: Chief of Space Operations.

Age:
Occupation: Military (Navy, Admiralty).
Bio:
Current Status: Chief of Naval Operations

Age: 47 (b. 3237, d. 3285)
Occupation: State Sec officer. Former Military (Army Special Forces). Former mercenary.
Bio: Brian is Xander's half-brother and was his frequent partner in past mercenary work. He enlisted in the military long before the war, and retired when his time was up after being disgusted with the people he served with. He went into contract work as a mercenary, loyal to his paycheck and nothing else. When the war started, he enlisted again and saw action at several battles. However, he saw the senseless violence committed on the front lines and he bought out his contract with the Army, retiring again and suffering from PTSD. He developed a sense of honour and self-discipline this time around, and uncomfortably began working with his half-brother as partners in mercenary contracts. He worked with his brother to assist the 71st Studies and Observations Group, called "Beaumont's Raiders." One of their most important missions was the assassination of the Duke of Nieuwvaalia before he could undertake a coup d'etat. The assassination turned into a bloodbath that saw the manor house damaged and many innocent people killed. As the years ground on, he became more and more weary and his jobs were all turned into massacres.
When, in the dissolution of SOG-71, he was offered a job as McGrady's deputy and an immediate commission as a Major in the State Sec department, he quizzically accepted. After repeated success leading special forces and later armoured units, he gradually was promoted to Colonel-General. He led the Office of Special Operations and commanded a unit of elite armoured forces. He became one of the most respected and renowned field commanders of the Security Forces.
General Kessar disappeared in early 3285 while on an escort mission for a special scientific expedition to the planet Chios. He was declared dead, presumed killed and eaten by dangerous wildlife.
Current Status: Deceased.

Age: 54 (b. 3241)
Occupation: State Sec soldier.
Bio: An agent of the Imperial Strategic Intelligence Agency at the outset of her career, she was forced by statute to join the National Humanist Imperial Labor Party when the ISIA was rolled into the Field Operations Agency of the ISSD. An idealist at heart, she transferred from desk work to a field position, leading a team of operatives and civilian consultants in curing a violent pandemic on the planet Unthor. Her team eventually succeeded, she was incapacitated during the trek through the frozen tundra. She was airlifted out, leaving agent Adrian in charge. She had to have her leg amputated, and was retired from field work in order to recover. Afterwards, she was promoted to Major and appointed aide-de-camp to General Brian Kessar of the State Sec special operations forces, becoming then a Standardier and later Brigadier. After General Kessar's death she was promoted to Prefect and assigned to command Panzerkorps Kessar.
Current Status: Active Duty. Commander of the 6th ASSC.

Age: 48 (b. 3247)
Occupation: State Sec soldier.
Bio: An enigmatic and quiet special operator from the Ninth Legion, he was attached to a small covert unit of observers sent by General McGrady to watch Adrian and his doings. He repeatedly changed his apparent allegiances, but truly was operating under the direction of then-Colonel Brian Kessar to secure the loyalty of Dr. Seilon to Kessar's orchestrations.
He continues to serve in largely black operations under the purview of the 9th Legion of the 6th Armoured Strategic Security Corps.
Current Status: Active Duty.

Age: 48 (b. 3247)
Occupation: Special Sec special agent.
Bio: Known as an oddball among his peers, Frank originally served in the Criminal Investigation Department, the plainclothes police force tasked with criminal investigations that cross planetary boundaries. Along the way, he gained a reputation for prying into buried case files and rumours of parapsychology and psionics research, and questioning his superiors. Initially tendered for termination, he was instead tapped by the Personal Protection Department to become a special officer. Once there, he was confronted with the reality that many of his suspicions were true and he was tasked with protecting a government psionic asset: Sarah Sterling. He was drawn into an ever-stranger series of events, after which he was rewarded with a calm assignment assisting in the reconstruction efforts on Keystone. He later took assignment as personal bodyguard to Governor Meshcheryakov.
Current Status: Active Duty. Protecting Artem Meshcheryakov.

Age: 40 (b. 3234, d. 3274)
Occupation: State Sec soldier.
Bio: A seasoned veteran of the State Security Forces, Axel and his brother Tex have fought through various battles in the Great War against alien armies. He held a life-long desire to become the best in his career, and join the elite special forces within the Field Ops agency. In 3274, he was stationed in occupied cassiopeian space, and fought beside State Sec officer Adrian during a counter-insurgency action. He continued to serve with him through the following battles in search of a mysterious artefact, and was awarded with an officer's commission.
However, near the end of the situation, he betrayed Adrian and shored up with General McGrady's soldiers during the battle on Luna. McGrady rewarded him with promises to be inducted into the secretive Ninth Legion.
Axel was shot in the head by agent Primus, and was killed in action.
Current Status: Deceased.

Age: 34 (b. 3240, d. 3274)
Occupation: State Sec soldier.
Bio: Axel's burly, moustachioed brother with a love of alcohol and gunfire, "Tex" Butler was born during his mother's second marriage, but had the same father as Axel. They reconnected after both enlisting in the State Security Field Operations Agency. Tex became known as the "brawn" to his brother's "brain"--making an effective team lead in several engagements. During the battle on Unthor, he was injured in a helicopter crash and received brain damage. He returned to service, but joined his brother in siding with General McGrady during the confrontation on Luna. After seeing his brother die, Tex cradled him and sobbed. He was brutally beheaded by agent Adrian, and killed in action.
Current Status: Deceased.

Age: 75 (b. 3220)
Occupation: Military (Spacy), statesman.
Bio: As part of old Terran nobility, Prince Jinui aspired to a military career. By contrast, his family had long established a tradition of academic careers prior to assuming legal titles. Prince Jinui took interest in space, and captained military vessels during the 3250s as a young Rear Admiral. His father died in 3261 and he took his place as statutory governor of Japan Province. He left the governance of the region to his brother, however, and returned to active military service in 3263. When the Great War broke out, he was made a Vice Admiral and appointed to lead a task force of strike ships. His task force garnered the nickname "Fleet of the Rising Sun", and ethnic Japanese from across Terran space volunteered for the unit. Its success led to Yamato's appointment to be Vice Chief of the space forces in 3268 and then Chief of Space Operations in 3270. He served in this capacity until retiring from the position in 3281, though he remains in active service as a field commander.
Current Status: Active Duty. Admiral Commanding, Fleet of the Rising Sun.

Age: 85 (b. 3210)
Occupation: Military (Spacy)
Bio: Prince Rupert-Napoleon cut his teeth in the Colonial Wars, and served as a fleet commander during the Great War. He owed his chance at battle partly to nepotism: he was a distant cousin of the Emperor Francis Charles XII, being a grandson of the Emperor's paternal uncle. But once in battle, he proved himself an able leader and brilliant strategist; while most fleet commanders focused on setting up for ground operations, or on tactical considerations in space, Rupert had a knack for the movement of spacecraft and supplies to facilitate massive orbital bombardments. He led Fleet Force 40 in the final campaign against the Shrike Federacy in early 3275, and commanded the Confederate forces at the Battle of Liberalis. After an abortive attempt to land troops on the planet, Prince Rupert ordered the total orbital bombing and cleansing of the world.
He served as commander of the occupying Space forces in the region until 3281, when he was appointed Chief of Space Operations. He retired from active service in 3290, and yielded his position to Admiral Charles Taylor. He now serves as a reserve admiral.
Current Status: Reserve Duty.

Age: 84 (b. 3211)
Occupation: Military (Spacy, Army)
Bio: A Polish prince with an illustrious career of both space forces and army service from the late 3220s onwards, August Sask is one of the most famed heroes of the Great War. He served in the Imperial Space Navy in the 3230s and 3240s, gaining glory in the Cruxite War. He ascended to the Polish throne in 3250; he is no vain aristocrat, however, and used the royal Polish title as a reason for joining the Army as well and becoming colonel of his Polish lancers unit. He became a General in command of the 12th Guards Cavalry division in the 3260s and at the outset of the Great War, was made a General and Admiral in order to command both the 3rd Cavalry Army and the 99th Strike Flotilla in a unique combined-arms force under his singular command. He never lost a battle during the war, and his campaigns led to victory over the Soviets. He remains head of a large expeditionary force of Army and Spacy units.
He has, however, reached the mandatory retirement age. He will be allowed to serve until the end of 3295, then he must enter civilian life.
Current Status: Active Duty. Commander, 10th Army Group and Commander, 2nd Fleet.

Age: 84 (b. 3211)
Occupation: Military (Spacy)
Bio: Born to a conservative, Catholic military family of Franco-Terran spacers, Pénélope Mirabeau joined the Imperial Space Navy at a young age and excelled in officer school, even being trained at the prestigious Space Academy at Cape Canaveral, Earth. She became famed as a commander of light scout ships and later of scout forces, then commanded defensive forces against incursion by Cassiopeian-aligned privateers in the 3250s and early 3260s. During this time, she married her ship's chief medical officer Daniel Beaumont. She led scout forces during the invasion of the Republic of Cassiopeia early in the Great War before being recommended to serve as a naval adjutant to the Emperor in 3267 and offer her ship to be his Imperial flagship for the Soviet campaigns. In 3268, her ship was destroyed and her husband were killed in combat, along with the Emperor; she was granted paid leave until 3270, when she returned to active duty, commanding scout forces. In 3283, she became commander of a rapid reaction force in the Banat region. In 3285, she was promoted to military governor of the Sector.
She, like some of her contemporaries who joined the military during the Cruxite War of the 3230s, has reached the age for mandatory retirement. She will be allowed to serve until the year's end, and may still be eligible to act as governor of the Banat.
She is the mother of Artemus, Aurora, and Celeste Beaumont.
Current Status: Military Governor of the Banat Sector.

Age: 37 (b. 3258)
Occupation: Military (Naval Infantry)
Bio: A smart-AI robot manufactured on Luna, Damien was purpose-built for military operations for the space forces branch of the Terran Imperial Navy. Itching for action, he was transferred into the Naval Infantry and specialised in Visit, Board, Search, and Seizure operations on space stations and ships, as well as demolitions. He was assigned to the ad-hoc task force that became SOG-71 during the Kojima Incident and has survived the group's troubled service history. He has the reputation of a bit of a troublemaker himself, as well as having a rich knowledge of Terran pop culture and cultural history. After some time with Beaumont's Raiders, he requested reassignment to external operations. The team's handler, Henry Heavenly, granted him command of his own Studies and Observations Group, specialising in demolitions and psychological warfare. His task force, called "The Devil's Sons", served actively in the Sagittarian Front during the war.
In 3269, he was promoted to Lieutenant Commander and assigned to the independent scout frigate Barb as executive officer, with SOG-72 as the onboard security detachment and deployable ground team. He became the lover of Captain Henrietta Daniels and married her aboard the ship in 3270, taking her surname. He continues to serve as the captain's most trusted companion and chief operations officer. He was promoted to full Commander during his unit's activities in the Pirate War of 3285.
The Barb was assigned as an independent raider frigate in the Magellanic theater of operations in 3289, and has earned considerable distinction in direct-action raids and sabotage operations. In 3295, he was promoted to Rear Admiral and placed in charge of all Naval special operations in the Magellanic theater.
Current Status: CO of Naval Special Warfare Group Magellan.

Age: 45 (b. 3220, d. 3265)
Occupation: Military (Army Special Forces)
Bio: Born David ben Nahash in Syria-Palestine, he experienced colonialist violence as a young soldier in the Army and likewise witnessed the brutality of Imperial reprisal. He was captured by Colonial Liberation forces in 3251 and was subject to brainwashing and propaganda before being released in a prisoner exchange in 3253. Unbeknownst to his superiors, he became a sleeper agent within the Army for the CLO and was convinced of the oppressive evil of the Empire. He plotted for over ten years to enact an operation against a major Imperial world, in the meantime rising to the rank of colonel in the Army special forces and accruing a famed reputation for success and bravado. In 3265, he conspired with colonial rebels to capture a weapons testing installation in orbit. Stationed on the world in a deliberate ploy to have himself sent in alone. He linked up with the rebels, intent on bombing the planet Kojima from orbit; but he didn't count on the other special operations team being skilled and ruthless in taking him out and recapturing the station. He was killed by Morrison and Beaumont with a knife wound to the gut and a bullet to the head.
Current Status: Deceased.

Age: 55 (b. 3240)
Occupation: School teacher. Former Military (Army Intelligence).
Bio: A bright, young man who joined the Army in the early 3260s and became an officer in the infantry and then in military intelligence, Evan Clovis rose to the rank of Captain and served courageously in the Great War as a field scout and intelligence officer. After retiring, he earned a doctorate and became a renowned researcher of alien technology. But after vocally adhering to theories of alien equality, he was shunned out of academia. He found work teaching high school students at a private academy on Wallerstein. But on the outbreak of war, he volunteered to be recommissioned as an officer and instructor.
Current Status: Teaching at the Army Special Warfare School.

Age: 36 (b. 3232, d. 3268)
Occupation: Military (Air Force Pararescue)
Bio: An orphaned spacer, Morrison largely kept his past to himself and focused always on the mission. He joined the Air Force and qualified for the Pararescue division, acting as tactical planner for his various teams and becoming known for planning methodically, mathematically, and extensively for every variable. He was assigned to assist in the foiling of the Kojima Incident in 3265, surviving in spite of his team's chaotic implementation of his plans. He continued to serve as the group's XO until the assassination of a Green Dragon Syndicate captain. After the mission, during debrief, he attempted to payout his contract and retire, expressing his disgust at Beaumont's leadership and the incompetence of his peers. The team's handler, Henry Heavenly, summarily executed him in front of Beaumont as an example. His death was reported but the reason and manner kept classified, and he was posthumously promoted to Flight Lieutenant.
Current Status: Deceased.

Age: 25 (b. 3270)
Occupation: Military (Space Forces)
Bio: A wealthy, popular girl at the Wallerstein Academy, seen as part of the "preppy" crowd. Currently the girlfriend of boxer and star linebacker Chad Chandrasekar. She herself is the star of the track-and-field team, and hopes to earn a sport scholarship to a prestigious medical school. The death of her parents derailed her civilian career, and she joined the Spacy in hopes of avenging them. She departed for training in the Navy Hospital Corps. She earned an officer's commission and has served a field Hospital Corpsman embedded with Marine units across the Magellanic theater of operations.
Current Status: Active Duty.

Age: 13 (b. 3282)
Occupation: Military (Army R&D)
Bio: Built as a top-secret military combat robot, "092" is in the constant pursuit of testing data to deliver to his superiors. He fell into the hands of the mercenary spaceship Blackbird, under the captaincy of Eugene Hawkins, in the midst of being transported by to a military space station in another star system. While initially reluctant to assist them, 092 agreed to the delays in reaching his destination if it gained him more combat data. However, trouble soon erupted when it was revealed that crewmate Noriko had been invading his mind. He refused to speak to any of them, and revealed their tampering with him when the ship arrived to his destination. The crew were gang-pressed as corsairs, and 092 was assigned to observe them and participate in any combat. He did so, with spectacular results, in the Battle of the Seraphim Grand in late November 3284. Afterwards,he was reassigned back to the naval fleet force commanded by Vice Admiral Penelope Beaumont. Rumor has it that he has been deployed in special warfare raids in the Magellanic War, but his whereabouts are currently classified.
Current Status: Active Duty.

Age: 23 (b. 3244, d. 3267)
Occupation: Former bodyguard, Military (Army Special Forces)
Bio: Combat-type android grown to be the bodyguard of a provincial dignitary. When the dignitary died of natural causes sometime into her term of service, she was allowed to opt out of her contract and pursue her own walk in life. Wanting to prove herself, she joined the Army Special Forces. She participated in the Kojima Incident and was assigned to SOG-71 when the unit was tasked with field operations in the Soviet front. She was killed in action during a retaliatory bombing of a military parade by Soviet saboteurs.
Current Status: Deceased.

Age: 25 (b. 3270)
Occupation: Military (Marine Corps)
Bio: Star pugilist of the school's boxing team, Bernardino is tangentially associated with the popular kids due to his participation in sports, but he isn't strictly part of their cliqueish ways. He seeks to be helpful and useful to people, being involved in his community, and has a knack for the mechanical--devoting some of his free times to building model train sets. His peripheral involvement with the Keith incident and the prom night shooting earned the ire of both Rinaldi and Scott, who found his nihilism unbearable. Like several others, he was drafted near the end of the senior term, to go into the Marines.
He has since been humbled and matured by his experiences. The rigorous training instilled in him a group-oriented rather than selfish mentality, where he gained an aptitude for vehicles. He went on to the Mecha Combat School to train as a mecha pilot and served a tour of duty in the Magellanic Clouds.
Current Status: Active Duty.

Age: 33 (b. 3234, d. 3267)
Occupation: Military (Army)
Bio: Only son of Matthew and Jonathan Pepper, a pair of successful businessmen well-known in the Inner Colonies. Raised Catholic and given an education for the humanities, history, and ingrained with a strong sense of duty and service to a higher cause, he seemed destined for a career in either the armed forces or the Church. His patriotism won out and he joined the Army in 3254 and became a Staff Sergeant in charge of a squad of elite dragoons. His unit, which came to be known as the "Lonely Hearts Squad", were tasked with a high-risk mission to link up artillery and other ground forces during the tense Battle of Khoz. While leading his squad through a ruined urban zone, he was forced to execute PFC Lucy van Marten after she underwent a psychotic break. Flooded with guilt and hopelessness, he shot himself. Public record is that he was merely killed in action; he was posthumously awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross and his body was sent to his fathers for burial.
Current Status: Deceased.

Age: 25 (b. 3270)
Occupation: Military (Marine Corps).
Bio: Star linebacker and a prodigious member of the boxing team, Chad is among the popular crowd at school. Though not the sharpest tool in the shed, he's proficient enough to get by and his skill at sports has set him on a pipeline to higher education. He was a friendly rival to star quarterback Sean McGrady, and to the top boxer Bernardino Summers. But he was aimless with the end of school impending, and he sought to follow his girlfriend Victoria's lead in joining the Central Galactic military. He enlisted in the Marines, and shipped out for basic training. After completing training, he was assigned to an infantry battalion and has since served two tours of duty, one in the Marine Reserves and one in the Magellanic theater of operations.
Current Status: Active Duty.

Age: 35 (b. 3232, d. 3267)
Occupation: Military (Army Medical)
Bio: Taciturn and serious, Corporal O'Toole kept his past to himself until the very end, letting only a few know of his tragic history of familial abuse and running away from them. First he fled to the Banat, a star cluster and province known as "Space Mexico" due to its historical lawlessness and barrenness. He shored up with an adoptive family there, but fled them to join the Army. He qualified for a medical MOS and was assigned to the Lonely Hearts squad of the 505th Dragoons, becoming its XO under Sergeant Pepper. His demeanour masked a powerful sense of determination and personal ethics, which crumbled around him as the years of battle wore on. In the Battle of Khoz, after witnessing his comrades commit several war crimes, he kicked off a series of events that led to many of their deaths. He suffered a mental breakdown, finding himself unintelligible and barely functional; his last act of defiance to a world of madness was to set off all of his grenades inside an ammo dump, killing several soldiers and himself.
Current Status: Deceased.

Age: 30 (b. 3237, d. 3267)
Occupation: Former criminal, Military (Army Cavalry)
Bio: Constructed on Mars, built as a robot for business and mathematics. He rejected his makers and became a criminal. Eventually erecting a large crime syndicate, he began to exhibit psychopathic and violent behaviour later in his career. He was finally brought down in a police raid and offered a choice: termination or enlistment; he chose joining the Army, later being assigned to the 505th Dragoons. He became "friends" with only one of them--the duty-bound Sergeant Pepper, whom Jayne found interesting as a sort-of polar opposite of his violent and reckless ways. He made a name for himself in the unit as a wisecracking, sociopathic murder machine, excelling in close combat. In the Battle of Khoz, he survived unscathed the psychological turmoil that wracked the squad, but met his end in battle when Zenzi hacked a Soviet missile truck but misfired the weapon towards him. He was the squad's only combat death; posthumously decorated with the Knight's Cross.
Current Status: Destroyed.

Age: 25 (b. 3270)
Occupation: Military (Marine Corps)
Bio: The daughter of government functionary George Rinaldi, Elena was sent by her parents to the Wallerstein Catholic Academy to "straighten her out". An artist and poet at heart, she also is an activist for liberal political causes--particularly, alien equality. Her father, being involved in the alien-repressing State Sec apparatus, sees her as an embarrassment. Living alone at her penthouse in Wallerstein, she was felt alienated from most students except Lydia McGrady. But after a falling out, and common struggle to expose rapist Keith LaBoeuff, she became friends with Marioff Scott. Both were conscripted near the end of their senior year, and Elena's father refused to prevent her induction. Her obstinence prompted her placement into the infantry. Like the other inductees, she departed for the Marines boot camp on Bittrich. After great difficulty, she graduated boot camp; she was assigned as a journalist, combat photographer, and war artist. She has served a tour of duty in the colonies and one tour in the Magellanic theater of operations.
Current Status: Active Duty.

Age: 24 (b. 3271)
Occupation: Military (Marine Corps).
Bio: A working-class scholarship student to the prestigious Wallerstein Catholic Academy, Marioff's parents were killed in 3285 during the Battle of Kolossen, when they were unable to evacuate in time from the colony Rothstein. She lives in the dormitories nearby the academy, and has a reputation as a tinkerer, engineer, and recluse. Her best friend is Nicholas Sław, to whose unrequited feelings she was long blind; but during the pursuit of justice against jock and rapist Keith, she became friends with Elena Rinaldi. Her relationship with Nick became strained after his shooting of Keith during prom night, and Nick's subsequent trial where he was acquitted--though he later admitted to her that he had lied, and expected to have to kill Keith from the beginning. Particularly as Nick's feelings for her became obvious. At the tail end of her final year in college, she was conscripted into the Marines--but due to her intellect and knack for machines and electronics, she was sorted into being a combat engineer after boot camp. After rigorous training, she went into Combat Engineer School and was assigned to a Marine reconnaissance unity as an embedded combat engineer. The same unit, as luck would have it, in which Bernardino Summers was serving as a mecha pilot.
She has served one tour of duty, and is eagerly awaiting completion of a second in order to secure an honorable discharge.
Current Status: Active Duty.

Age: 15 (b. 3252, d. 3267)
Occupation: Military (Army Cavalry)
Bio: An android special-ordered by the Duke of Nieuwvaalia for sexual purposes, Lucy always had a stunted social development. Like all androids, she was created from clonal tissue and installed with an AI mind into her wetware brain. Unlike most androids, however, she was illegally created on the black market and was forced into a life of sexual slavery; she was installed with specific information to make her docile, obedient, and receptive. After a police raid of the Duke's manor freed her, she was gang-pressed into military service. She received cybernetic augmentation and was trained alongside Zenzi Rothschild and William "Billy" McGrady. They were all three assigned to the same squad, and served together in many battles. Lucy, despite her petite size and teenage body, became the squad's bruiser--her cybernetics enhanced her muscles and toughness far beyond normal human limits. However, her compliant personality made it easier for her comrade Billy McGrady to abuse her regularly and coerce her into sex. Later, in the Battle of Khoz, the instability of her android mind became manifest and she experienced dissociative identity disorder. Her sharp swings between Lucy and her aggressive, Francophone alter-ego named "Nadia" made her a liability in the middle of a warzone, and her squad leader sedated and executed her before killing himself.
Current Status: Deceased.

Age: 29 (b. 3264)
Occupation: Military (Army), former Janitor.
Bio: A laid-back janitor at the Wallerstein Catholic Academy, Juan got along well with Marioff Scott, a brilliant slacker who had a knack for the mechanical and electrical, and helped her skip class. Juan held a second job as an Army reservist. For him, it was just a way to net extra income and gain some benefits, particularly looking toward going back to college. But in 3288, he was called up for active duty and transferred to an expeditionary unit. He has served two tours of duty in the Magellanic theater of operations.
Current Status: Active Duty.

Age: 49 (b. 3246)
Occupation: State Sec interrogator.
Bio: Almost nothing is publicly known of Adrian's life before age 20, when he was discovered by Imperial Intelligence agents in a Glasgow, Scotland mental institution. He was involuntarily institutionalised for gnawing an old man's face off; a background check revealed that he had floated in and out of mental asylums for most of his life from the age of eight, diagnosed with almost catastrophic psychosis with bouts of malignant narcissism. His name and parents were unknown. He had some memories, but they were fragmentary and probably warped by his psychosis. The agents were under orders to "reform" criminals and the mentally ill into potent weapons: turning their madness or viciousness against enemies of the state. Adrian voluntarily had his memories wiped from his mind; he was reawakened as an interrogator for the Imperial Investigations Department, tasked with major criminal investigations. He served the IID, and the ISSD's predecessor criminal police agency, with effectiveness and brutality. After assisting the government investigation that led to the cure of the viral pandemic on Unthor, he travelled in search of an alien artefact connected to the cassiopeians. He encountered an old friend of his who jogged his long-blocked memory and regained knowledge of his true name--Adrian Lancore, son of a murdered noble family, reported dead but in truth kidnapped for a program for breeding super-soldiers called NEXUS. After a tense battle on Luna with General William McGrady's agents, he was promoted to project manager for the reborn NEXUS program. After being placed on administrative leave following some irregularities in his management style, he was returned to active duty as a field operative, in part due to his successes with the Keystone Incident. He was transferred to the RSD, directly under Xander Vox's command.
Status: Officer of the Republic Security Department.

Age: 55 (b. 3240)
Occupation: State Security police. Former Army.
Bio: Ophelius Greene was born in London and enlisted in the Terran Imperial Army at age 16 to get out of a prospective juvenile court sentence for rough behaviour. He proved himself an adequate soldier and was assigned to a rifle squad in the illustrious 12th Guards Cavalry Division. He served under Staff Sergeant Edward Pepper during much of his time in the unit, and adapted well to the organised-chaos of the Great War frontlines. He despised many of his fellow squadmates, and no one was really sad to see him grievously injured in 3267. He recovered and served under Sergeant Aurora Beaumont in the squad until assuming command himself in 3272 after her retirement. He was discharged from the Army when the 12th Cavalry was demobilised and he sought work with the new State Security ministry in the Security Police.
Current Status: Officer of the Republic Security Department.

Age: 50 (b. 3245)
Occupation: Police Officer; Former Military (Army Artillery)
Bio: The younger daughter of the Beaumont clan, and sister of Celeste, she joined the Army and qualified for the artillery MOS around 20 years of age. Living under the shadow of her sister's medical issues and war hero status, which had made her famous, Aurora strove to outdo her and succeed in her own right. She fought hard in campaign after campaign, eventually leading a section of scouts during the Battle of Khoz. Her squad was slaughtered and she linked up with the Lonely Hearts to lead them to the doomed Colonel of her regiment. After McGrady shot Colonel Peterson at the peak of battle, she was distraught and nearly killed him but dutifully went with them to report at the Brigade HQ. She rebuked Henry Heavenly for his callousness and murderous ways, but he was "merciful" on her. She would not be given an honourable discharge like the others; she would remain in the Army 'till war's end in the unit that had killed her commander. At least, until the personal intervention of Celeste to Maximilian; Aurora was transferred to a staff position in the 505th Dragoons. In 3272, she was granted an honourable discharge after 6 years of service for medical reasons--she began to suffer from depression and PTSD.
After being discharged, she returned to live with her widowed mother, and help raise her new infant brother. A few years later, she was reinstated to service in investigating the Unthor pandemic; during the course of which, she was injured and lost her leg. Returning to duty to act as an advisor for a Naval investigation, she re-encountered Artem Meshcheryakov. After completing their task, they ran away together. In the years following the end of the war, she settled down to a quiet life as a law enforcement officer in the local police. Due to disagreements over her career choice, she split up with Professor Meshcheryakov and moved out to live on her own. While in the line of duty as Captain of the homicide desk of the Hauberk Metro PD, she was grievously injured and had to have her leg amputated.
She and Meshcheryakov rekindled their romance, finding that they still cared about each other. She became pregnant with his children, and moved back in with him. This time around, he had come to an understanding about her career and accepted that she would do as she willed. It was her turn to do the same when he decided to run for public office and won the gubernatorial election for the planet. She became the police Commissioner for Hauberk, and later commissioner for the East Norden provincial police.
Aurora and Artem were marred in 3281, and haven't looked back. They have fraternal twin children, Dmitri and Andromeda.
Current Status: Commissioner of the East Norden Provincial Police. Retired from the military.

Age: 44 (b. 3236, d. 3280)
Occupation: Police Officer (Space Police)
Bio: Born in the Empire of Sagittarius, Mohamed Sana'a was raised in a staunchly Muslim household with his twin brother, Jomo. Both joined the Sagittarian Marines in the early 3260s, during the tense period leading up to the Great War. Both fought during the war, Mohamed was particularly decorated for his honourable and valorous conduct. His brother, however, died in 3266 and Mohamed was discharged under the Sole Survivor Program, in which the sole child out of siblings that served would be given an honourable discharge. He then joined the Sagittarian Space Police Force, a branch dedicated to mobile and rapid response to situations crossing interstellar jurisdictions. While serving, he founded an elite unit known as the Silver Team, along with his compatriots and Kurt Angel, with each member taking an animal nickname. The group garnered a reputation as a fast and efficient counter-terrorist unit that took its opponents down clean and by-the-books. When the Great War ended in 3275, the Sagittarian Police was rolled into the new Galactic Police Department. Mohamed's "Silver" unit became the première counter-terrorist unit in the Space Police, and it has grown in size greatly since its foundation in 3269. During a Silver Team op on the planet Keystone to foil the terrorist calling himself the Bandit King, he died attempting to disarm a nuclear weapon.
Current Status: Deceased.

Age: 50 (b. 3245)
Occupation: Police Officer.
Bio: He co-founded Silver Team with Kurt Angel and Mohamed Sana'a in 3269. He earned renown as a close-combat specialist and swordsman, trained extensively in European fencing, kendo, and silat. He was made commander of Operations Group Cobra, serving in that role until 3280 after the death of Silver Lion and the semi-retirement of Silver Tiger. He relinquished control of Cobra to his fencing rival Silver Crane, and became Acting Commander of Silver Team. After 3286, he became formal Commander.
Current Status: Commander of the Silver Team.

Age: 46 (b. 3249)
Occupation: Police Officer (Space Police)
Bio: A Sagittarian police officer of some renown, Kurt Angel had humble beginnings on a space colony. His father served in the Colonial Police and Kurt took to follow in his footsteps. But in his early twenties, tragedy struck when his fiancée was brutally murdered. Formally kept off the case, Kurt went out of his way to investigate it on his own time. His investigation led to the murderer's capture, but the unofficial and unsanctioned nature of his actions led to the evidence being thrown out. Infuriated with colonial justice, he transferred to the SSPF and met Mohamed Sana'a. They co-founded the Silver Team in 3269, with Kurt being codenamed "Silver Tiger". Six years later, the Silver Team was rolled into the Galactic Space Police, and Kurt remained its Operations Officer and the loyal second-in-command to "Silver Lion". After Silver Lion died in 3280, Tiger took over interim leadership of the Team, but quickly relinquished command. He departed on extended, paid leave to his home colony, to re-investigate the situation regarding his fiancée's murder.
After resolving that conundrum, with the help of Silver Ape, he returned to the team as its Operations Officer and gave command to Ryo.
Current Status: On extended leave.

Age: 68 (b. 3227)
Occupation: Police Officer (Space Police)
Bio: A renowned sport fencer and equestrian rider in his youth, Kazuo Takano became at age 17 the youngest competitor in the Interstellar Olympics. He won a gold medal in the Japanese Fencing event and a silver medal in Equestrian Jumping. He competed in every year afterwards, winning various medals in several different events, until he turned 25, when he won the gold medal in the Pentathlon and announced his retirement from sports to live a life of national service. He joined the Sagittarian Marines in 3252 and served a tour of duty. He was discharged and he joined the Sagittarian Police immediately after in 3257. Kazuo volunteered for the SSPF in '63 and served in it until it was absorbed into the Galactic Space Police in 3275. He joined the Silver Team in 3274, and took the codename "Silver Crane". He commanded Operational Group Cobra from 3280 to 3292. Afterwards he recused himself to an advisory role in the Silver Team.
Current Status: Officer of the Silver Team.

Age: 51 (b. 3244)
Occupation: Police Officer (Space Police).
Bio: A competent police sniper who served for years in the Terran Imperial police, Captain Warwick.
Current Status: Officer of the Silver Team.

Age: 60 (b. 3235)
Occupation: Police Officer (Space Police).
Bio: A Terran police officer of Polish descent, Casimir joined Silver Team during its expansion in 3276. He found a place as an EOD and breaching specialist. He accompanied a backup group to Keystone. After the incident, he was appointed to command Operations Group Limestone. He is getting on in years, however, and is considering retirement.
Current Status: Officer of the Silver Team.

Age: 268 (b. 3020)
Occupation: Police Officer (Space Police).
Bio: One of the more prominent alien members of the team, Krokken Fraugg was born on a furnacian reservation on a Sagittarian colony world two centuries ago. His species is long-lived, and he has seen a great deal for a man not even into middle age. He has fought as an independent mercenary, been a government assassin, a criminal gun-for-hire, and even as a soldier in the Sagittarian Army, for which he attained citizenship. But some thirty years ago, he became overwhelmed with crushing guilt over his atrocities as a mercenary and hitman, and repented; he joined the Sagittarian police as a VBSS specialist and EOD operator. In 3274, he joined the elite Silver Team, taking the nickname "Silver Ape" and later came to captain Operations Group Kaleidoscope. He served as the lead partner of Silver Fox until she and Crab were reassigned as lead partners on Ops Group Cobra. Despite being centuries old, he has no intention of retiring anytime soon.
Current Status: Officer of the Silver Team.

Age: 56 (b. 3239)
Occupation: Police Officer (Space Police).
Bio: Having served with Silver Team since 3275, Silver Crab is an enigmatic member of the team. Wearing a mask uncannily designed after a crab's face, it keenly conceals his facial expressions. He is one of the team's negotiation specialists, highly experienced in hostage rescue situations. He has a proven track record of calmly talking both suspects and hostages alike into a position of easy capture, with few deaths or losses. In 3292, he was given command of Operations Group Cobra after the group's commander Silver Crane was reassigned to the Silver Team command staff and three of its other members retired.
Current Status: Officer of the Silver Team.

Age: 34 (b. 3259)
Occupation: Police Officer (Space Police).
Bio: Once a young librarian and student at the Keystone Institute of Technology, Sarah's brilliance with deduction and information processing convinced her professor, Dr. Meshcheryakov, to hire her on as an intern with his consulting firm. She quickly became his top pupil and assistant, and was given the chance to do field work by Captain Aurora Beaumont of the Hauberk Municipal Police. She became embroiled with an investigation into the murder of two farmers, which became tied into a criminal conspiracy to assassinate an important government prefect. She uncovered the plot too late, and began investigating the new murder when she was captured by the killer. Complicated events led to her rescue, her capture a second time by the same man, and rescue by an even more insidious figure. With the first case solved, she was shuffled into an investigation into the murder of the planet's governor, which brought her again into a web of intrigue and conspiracy. She was dragged, along with her government escort, from Lakeside City, to the Oka Islands, to Sutherland and Samabama in pursuit of the truth. Tracking the culprits around the globe, she witnessed the atomic terrorist attack on Lakeside City, and was recruited by her target--the government agent Primus Lucan--into his investigation into a bigger threat: Constantine Bronstein, calling himself the Bandit King. Primus knew her for who she truly was: a psionic human girl named Akeelah, experimented on by McGrady's men on Luna for years of her life, whom he had helped rescue six years before. She joined his investigation, working with the Silver Team and others to take down the bandit threat. She was later offered to join Silver Team, after the climactic battle at Bronstein's base of operations; she accepted, taking the codename "Silver Fox". For the past four years, she has proven herself as a space police officer and partner of fellow Silver Krokken Fraugg, though she has periodically gone on investigations with fellows Silvers "Evil" Roy Wilkins, Adam Eupraxia, and Jake Smith. She was recently made second-in-command of Ops Group Cobra, under Silver Crab, and has been tasked with training a new class of recruits to replace a few retirees.
Current Status: Officer of the Silver Team.

Age: 46 (b. 3249)
Occupation: Police Officer (Space Police), Former Military (Navy Infantry).
Bio: Roy had a brutally depressing childhood; at the tender age of 13, he and his younger sister were kidnapped and mutilated by Green Dragon mobsters. His grandfather was reluctant to front the money for the ransom, arguing that only a certain amount would be tax-deductible, and later demanding his son pay a 6% interest rate upon lending him the ransom money. When Roy was returned, he was mutilated beyond recognition and had to have a complicated full-body prosthesis. His sister wasn't so lucky, and returned in a body bag.
He joined the Imperial Space Navy at the start of the Great War and came to idolize Marine special forces leader Celeste Beaumont. He earned the rank of Lieutenant Commander in the Navy and served as a special forces operator. He resigned his commission in 3272 and worked as a covert agent for State Security for several years. His renown in the spy community and his recklessness in the field compelled his superiors to transfer him to the Interstellar Police in 3279 as a homicide investigator and field analyst. He was inducted into the elite Silver Team following its expansion in 3281 in the aftermath of the Keystone Incident and has since thrown himself fully into his duties as an officer of the law. After a minor team reshuffle, he was assigned to Ops Group Cobra.
Current Status: Officer of the Silver Team.

Age: 44 (b. 3241, d. 3285)
Occupation: Police Officer (Space Police).
Bio: "Jake" Smith was born in the Sagittarian Empire and joined the Silver Team in 3274 in its first expansion phases. Previously he served in the Sagittarian Gendarmes for around six years after serving a tour of duty in the Sagittarian Army during the Great War. His specialty is the use of special application rifles, having served as a scout-sniper in the Army and later in a police special response group. He was recruited directly into Silver Team due to his renown in the police as a skilled sharpshooter. He was present during the 3280 Keystone Incident, and stuck around during the climax of the civil conflict as the Silver Team deployed to the hideout of Constantine Bronstein to capture or neutralise him. Smith later paired with various Silver recruits to train them, being an experienced officer. He was partnered with new recruit Silver Penguin, and dispatched with the rest of "Group Kaleidoscope" to the planet Sicron to investigate the disappearance of a government official in October 3285. He died during a riot in the city when a bomb in a sewer exploded, obliterating his head with flaming shrapnel and shredding his body.
Current Status: Deceased.

Age: 37 (b. 3248, d. 3285)
Occupation: Police Officer (Space Police).
Bio: Manikova was one of the earlier members of Silver Team, having joined in the middle 3270s after the integration of the various police forces. She was a Great War veteran and an investigator in the Terran Imperial Space Police prior to joining the Silver Team. She became an expert in sniper rifles and also in close-combat incapacitation using poisons and tranquilizers. Her signature weapon was a custom air rifle firing a variety of poison darts. She assisted in the Keystone Incident of 3280, and participated in the police raid at Rothstein that was meant to capture Yellow Jacket boss Solomon Lazar. Manikova was killed while fighting, appearing to be some sort of mindhacking attack that caused her to have a deadly aneurysm.
Current Status: Deceased.

Age: 43 (b. 3252)
Occupation: Police Officer (Space Police)
Bio: Amelia studied medicine and cryonics in college, seeking to find ways of preserving and extending life, with much inspiration from her idol Dr. David McGrady. With a passion for cryogenics and a fascination with the macabre, she earned her place in the University research laboratories for both cryonics and forensics, but was increasingly drawn into field work due to her keen sense of investigation, medical training, and extensive knowledge of cryogenics. She worked with the University forensics laboratory, the local police, and finally the Interstellar Criminal Police Commission. She was inducted into Silver Team in 3282 as a field forensics analyst and cryogenic take-down specialist, learning how to use her now-signature freeze ray gun and cryogenic grenades to incapacitate and injure suspects, and to preserve evidence in the field. She was paired often with veteran Silver Jake Smith, until his death in the line of duty in late October 3285. She suffered severe injury during the investigation in which Smith died, and was placed on medical leave for two months. She recovered and rejoined the team on Christmas 3285 with a promotion and great respect among the other officers of the Silver Team.
Current Status: Officer of the Silver Team.

Age: 55 (b. 3240)
Occupation: Police Officer (Space Police).
Bio: Silver Bear joined Silver Team in 3282, having previously served a long and illustrious career in the Colonial Police. He was selected for recruitment by Silver Dragon and paired often with experienced Silver chief detective, Adam Eupraxia. He continues to operate under Krokken Fraugg in Group Kaleidoscope.
Current Status: Officer of the Silver Team.

Age: 90 (b. 3205)
Occupation: Police Officer (Space Police).
Bio:
Current Status:  Officer of the Silver Team.

Age: >1
Occupation: Police Officer (Space Police).
Bio:
Current Status: Officer of the Silver Team.

Age: 34 (b. 3260)
Occupation: Police Officer (Space Police)
Bio: A renowned assassin, who made her bones during the Pirate War of 3284-85, Rowan happened to land on the winning side. After the conflict, she made a lucrative career as a freelance mercenary in the Galactic Corsair Company. Her skills brought her to the attention of Silver Team in the 3290s; she'd been on the Interstellar Police's radar for quite some time, and they'd mulled over the idea of hauling her in for prosecution. But the general amnesty after the Pirate War made that legally difficult, so Silver Team opted to recruit her in 3294. After a grueling training process, she was assigned to Operations Group Cobra and took the callsign Silver Owl.
Current Status: Officer of the Silver Team.

Age: 28 (b. 3266)
Occupation: Police Officer (Space Police)
Bio: With a typical upbringing in the outer colonies, Rock served two tours of duty in the Army from 3284 to 3288, being discharged shortly before the Magellanic War. Afterwards, he then joined the colonial police on his homeworld. He distinguished himself in several SRT breaching operations and came to the attention of the Space Police's elite Silver Team after several years on the force. Needing a replacement breaching expert for Op Group Cobra after a team reshuffle in 3294, Rock was recruited and went through the rigorous selection process alongside sniper Rowan Dempsey. He was admitted to the team with the callsign Silver Rhino, though after causing collateral damage during his first mission, he was made to do sensitivity training and take care of the backlog of cases with Silver Bat.
Current Status: Undergoing sensitivity training.

Age: 53 (b. 3242)
Occupation: Outlaw; Former Military (Naval Intelligence)
Bio: On her homeworld, Gracie was a troubled upper-middle class child with more than the typical teenage mental issues. Continually depressed, angry, and rejected by both her peers and her parents, she turned to robotics and technology as an outlet. She excelled in school later on and graduated top of her class. Afterwards, though, she refused to apply herself and didn't leave for college as her parents expected. With her grades and her skills, she could have been accepted to nearly any technology institute in the Empire. Her parents gave her two choices: either she join the Navy, get a menial job, or be kicked out. She chose the military, where at least her skills would be put to use in the Office of Naval Intelligence. Working as a cryptanalyst, she was later assigned to head the technical support crew of William McGrady, a field operative of the government and Party security service, and became one of his many lovers. She was given the opportunity to try her hand at field work by going with him during a mission to assassinate a captain of the Green Dragons in mid-3268. Their cover was blown and they were forced to wait for backup, in the form of SOG-71, with Billy's former lover Zenzi Rothschild in tow. Subsequently, Gracie worked with Beaumont's Raiders and rivalled Zenzi for Billy's affections. That is, until Zenzi enticed him with promises of power and status and wedded him. She was granted, for her services to the Empire, a position as the military liaison at the State Sec field agency. However, she didn't report in to work; her ID chip was found in her barracks, removed form her skin. She has since disappeared, and is suspected to be covertly coordinating an armed rebellion against the Republic.
Current Status: Whereabouts unknown. Suspected leader of the Rebellion. Wanted for desertion and treason.

Age: Unknown, probably late fifties.
Occupation: Rebel
Bio: With a completely mysterious background and enigmatic history, "the Old Man of the Rebellion" is among the resistance's field leaders in their quasi-terrorist acts against the CGU government. His prowess in battle is apparently unmatched, and his known feats include disabling armoured vehicles, bombing buildings, and killing a platoon of soldiers single-handedly. Nothing is known about him, and his name remains a mystery--the only clues to his identity being his nut-brown skin and ragged gray hair and thick beard.
Current Status: Leading soldiers of the rebellion.

Age: 57 (b. 3223, d. 3280)
Occupation: Crime lord, businessman.
Bio: Manager of McGrady business interests on Keystone and boss of the Keystone chapter of the Fenian Daggers, Finn MacDougall was a close cousin of the McGrady family. His grandfather had been the bastard brother of Shannon McGrady's father. He had grown up close to Shannon and the others, and was given a high position in the McGrady Corporation in the late 3240s. He was made manager of their business interests on Keystone in 3259, and joined his cousin John Patrick McGrady in forming the Fenian Daggers. He consolidated his positions, leading the Keystone chapter of the Daggers and integrating them into the corporate offices. The legitimate businesses of the McGrady Corporation served to launder the illicit activities of the Fenian Daggers, and MacDougall grew to be very wealthy and powerful on the planet. He had the governor, Rufus Blackwall, in the palm of his hands, until he became embroiled in a gang war and met his end.
Current Status: Deceased.

Age: 49 (b. 3246)
Occupation: Criminal.
Bio: A dwarf of some renown in the city of Hauberk, "Big Joe" Brady is now a shadow of his former self. Until recent events spiralled out of control, he was the chief enforcer of the Fenian Dagger crew in Hauberk. He always wore an emerald-green suit and bowler hat, and carried himself with a stern demeanour that obtained results. He assisted in the assassination of a public official, the attempted capture of a rival assassin, and was severely injured during a police raid. He was tried by a local court tribunal and sentenced to 30 years' imprisonment, with the possibility of parole in the 19th year of his sentence.
Current Status: Serving a 30-year sentence for racketeering, murder, and conspiracy to commit murder.

Age: 29 (b. 3251, d. 3280)
Occupation: Criminal.
Bio: A quiet criminal enforced for the Fenian Daggers, he has been a long-time associate and lover of "Big Joe" Brady. Unlike his companion, he was not prone to violence and preferred diplomatic solutions to keeping the flow of money in the Daggers' favour. He became involved in the assassination of Prefect Hawking of Dusken and its ensuing events. While on trial, he was assassinated by a mysterious gunman.
Current Status: Deceased.

Age: 30 (b. 3250, d. 3280)
Occupation: Assassin, criminal.
Bio: A reclusive figure of Keystone's underworld, Dolorossa was a cruel assassin who was marked by his signature motorcycle and use of a suppressed shotgun. He often wore short-shorts and behaved flamboyantly. While technically a free agent, he often worked with the Fenian Daggers and had a close personal friendship with its leader on Keystone, Finn MacDougall. Dolorossa assassinated Squinty Mike, attempted to kill Kiera, and gave Seth Kubrick a cigarette laced with radioactive material. He was slain in the midst of a firefight between Italian mobsters and the Fenian crew in an attack on the Lakeside City docks.
Current Status: Deceased.

Age: 55 (b. 3229, d. 3285)
Occupation: Crime Lord.
Bio: Solomon was the second leader of the Yellow Jackets, and the one responsible for its expansion into the enormous syndicate and space pirate guild it has become. Gathering together remnants of the Yellow, Red, and Green Dragon clans, he expanded the organisation's reach, resources, and spacecraft fleet through violence, theft, intimidation, and fraud. He has made the organisation very wealthy through profitable enterprises in drug running, gun smuggling, and alien and human trafficking. However, this has required increasingly brutal means, including vast escalation of responses to perceived threats to his and the organisation's standing. His drive led to an obsessive pursuit of expert hacker Noriko, seeking the mysterious technology that was used to great effect in the Battle of the Seraphim Grand. After finally taking her captive, his headquarters were assaulted by a police raid led by the former Strawberry Fields crew and the elite Silver Team, supported by a battalion of Golden Rhino mercenaries. In escaping the planet Nyx with Noriko in tow, he ordered his men to detonate the enormous stalactites above the Underdark city. The resulting cave collapse, mass fire, and smoke killed over 400,000 people. He was branded a terrorist and was on the lam for several months. He resurfaced to take on supplies and launch a heist on a bank on the colony of Rothstein, where he was forced to flee. Noriko managed to turn the tables on him, however, and incapacitated him. She took a firearm from a dead guard and shot him in the head, killing him.
Current Status: Deceased.

Age: 44 (b. 3240, d. 3284)
Occupation: Crime boss.
Bio: A Yellow Jacket captain and crew leader, Talbot was feared as the chief of a roving fleet of YJ strike boats, who sacked space stations and raided worlds all throughout the Outer Colonies. He was responsible for the capture and sale of thousands of people into sex slavery. He headed the crew of Yellow Jackets who ransacked the Seraphim Grand Orbital Resort, but was taken captive and tortured. Before his death at the hands of Jason Glass, he commanded his pirates to destroy the space station. They did so, sparking the Pirate War.
Current Status: Deceased.

Age: 71 (b. 3224)
Occupation: Criminal, businessman.
Bio: Successor to a family of a Japanese immigrants to Keystone and inheritor of a large business conglomerate on the planet, Mr. Yoritomo continued the veneer of respectability and civility that characterized his Yakuza organization. He commanded gangs of criminals across the north side of the planet's capital, and dominated organized crime in the Oka Islands. His affiliates dealt in human trafficking, drug trafficking, and racketeering, though his organization dealt only in white-collar crimes to shield him from responsibility in these harder, darker criminal enterprises.
In 3280, he made his move against the rival syndicates on Keystone: the local chapter of the Fenian Daggers, led by Finn MacDougall, and the two Italian mobsters Vincent Lombardo and Carlo Vossi. Through clever ruses, he faked his death, and orchestrated a gang fight between the Fenians and the Lombardo crime family. His men, along with the assassin Seth Kubrick, stormed the McGrady Building and murdered MacDougall. Yoritomo arose some time later, claiming to have survived his assassination attempt and that "reports of my death were greatly exaggerated". Relocating to the isle of Kai in the Oka region, he continued to control Yakuza operations on the planet and, with the help of a local information broker, expanded his business beyond the boundaries of Keystone.
Current Status: Leader of the Yakuza.

Age: 123? (b. 3172, dubious)
Occupation: Warlord
Bio: An infamous space viking, privateer, and warlord who has led an armed gang calling themselves the Golden Rhinos, Siegfried's official records having him being born in the early 3170s despite resembling a man in his late thirties. Called variously "the Black Viking", "Butcher Metzger", and "Dragonslayer", he has a vicious reputation as a wrathful and destructive warrior who is nonetheless kind to animals and sympathetic to aliens, and generous to his allies. His boastful claims of combat prowess are matched only by his rage in battle. He has, despite the enormous bounty on his head, participated in martial arts tournaments and openly colluded with corrupt government officials. He is considered by many to be untouchable, or otherwise too insane to mess with. He seems to believe that he is the modern reincarnation of the ancient Norse hero Siegfried, and his youth and parental history strangely seems to bear out many parallels with the legendary hero.
Current Status: Leader of the Golden Rhinos.

Age: 63 (b. 3232)
Occupation: Information broker.
Bio: The genderfluid owner of industrial and real estate conglomerate Jensen and Company, and known most often simply by their surname, Jensen has become a powerful information trader and business tycoon based on Keystone, the planet of his birth. Amassing a fortune, she opened up numerous dance clubs and art galleries while planning his greatest venture: the construction of the Seraphim Grand Orbital Resort above Keystone. The roulette wheel-shaped Stanford torus style space station began construction in 3259 and was completed in 3261. The Seraphim Grand was a kilometer wide, containing three high-capacity hotels, a full shopping mall, a water park, numerous restaurants, and a casino as well as a copious space dock. For many years, it remained one of the major tourist draws to Keystone, and was vital in restoring economic confidence in the planet after the Keystone Incident. She relocated semi-permanently to the Seraphim Grand and his network of clubs and the orbital resort served as the basis for her information empire. He declared the hotel a "neutral zone" where gangs, pirates, cops, soldiers, and politicians could mingle and conduct their dirty business in peace. All the while, she stockpiled information on them and sold it to the highest bidder, and brokered contracts for others. It was a good business. Until late November 3284, when his orbital kingdom was destroyed in a vicious attack by the Yellow Jackets space pirate group. In the aftermath, she became deeply involved in a bitter galaxy-wide gang war that escalated into the Pirate War, bankrolling many mercenaries to strike at the Yellow Jackets. After the war, Jensen & Co. resumed their operations, even rebuilt their hotel, and attempted to continue business as usual; but the destruction of the Pirate War had done untold damage to the profitable criminal underworld while spawning a new generation of organised, regulated space privateers. Jensen lamented the fall of the outlaw era. He now largely works with the Galactic Corsairs mercenary guild.
Current Status: Dealing.

Age: 43 (b. 3252)
Occupation: Hacker, thief, outlaw
Bio: A brilliant student-turned-corporate spy, the young Matsuno Reiko worked closely with researcher Alistair Cameron at the high-tech development firm Taliesin Technologies. However, what she did not know was that T.T. was a subsidiary of the McGrady Corporation. She worked in developing a wrist-wearable, compact, automated hacking tool that allowed unprecedented ease in electronic warfare. After finding out that she stole industrial secrets for the McGradys, whom she despised as part of an unjust system, she took the tool and went on the run. Her mentor Alistair disappeared, and she took many aliases in the intervening years. Under the name Noriko, she joined up with the crew of the Blackbird. In spite of injury, hardship, and doubt, she has stuck by them through the hard winter, even as they switched to a new ship. She was dedicated to resurrecting Eugene, and joined him in hopes of finding Alistair--which she did upon the planet Chios. Midway through, she was tracked down by the Yellow Jackets and shanghaied. Despite a successful escape attempt, she was recaptured by the head honcho himself, Solomon Lazar. A police raid freed Popeye, who had also been captured, but she evaded rescue. She sought instead to rescue herself, falsely plotting with Lazar to teach him how to use her hacking tool while really implanting code into his brain during their VR training sessions. After a heist escalated into an enormous space battle, her final code placed him into a coma; she then shot him. Free at last of pursuit by the pirates, and cleared of all charges by the police, navy, and the corporate raiders she's formerly worked for, she took a well-needed vacation and checked herself into a psychiatric clinic.
Soon afterwards, she disappeared to escape her criminal past; clients solicited her expertise in fraud and hacking, and vengeful former Yellow Jackets were out for her blood. For the past ten years, she's kept a low profile and her whereabouts are a mystery.
Current Status: Roaming.

Age: 35 (b. 3260)
Occupation: Mercenary medical professional.
Bio: With the nom de guerre of "Captain Hawk", Eugene Hawkins tried his hand at being a tough space mercenary captain, purchasing a derelict spacecraft and refurbishing it as the Blackbird. He befriended a diverse crew and led them through many adventures in the early to mid 3280s. During the course of fateful events in late 3284, he discovered the identity of his father with the assistance of crewmate Noriko. He was the bastard son of Army soldier Edward Malcolm Pepper.
After many adventures, Hawkins' ship was scrapped due to sustaining significant damage at the Battle of the Seraphim Grand. It was replaced with a captured pirate ship, painted pink and named Strawberry Fields. But shortly thereafter, he joined Noriko, Ben, Popeye, and Wade in an attempted heist of the mobile space station Walhalla, and was fatally injured. He was brought to Brazil, where mysterious figures with ties to the Catholic Church resurrected him with bizarre technology and arcane knowledge. After being put on trial by an egomaniacal Cardinal, he was released. His indebtedness to Noriko took him on One Last Job photographing wildlife, where Noriko's long-missing mentor was located. The adventure spiralled out of control as he came into contact with a sentient species of psionic reptilian aliens, and his crew came under attack by Yellow Jackets. After Noriko was kidnapped once more, he set out to find and free her before retiring from the mercenary life. He served as Popeye's first mate through 3285, the rescue of Noriko at the Battle of Kolossen, but he departed to find his grandparents and learn more about his father.
His grandfathers Matthew and Jonathan recognized him in municipal court as the son of Edward Pepper. With his unique experience with death and recovery, and seeking to heal others after his rowdy and violent youth, he took an interest in medicine. He went to medical school, but the yearning of adventure in space consumed him. After getting a nursing certificate, he sought out Popeye and joined his crew as his chief physician.
Current Status: Space nursing.

Age: 51 (b. 3244)
Occupation: Assassin, Former Military (Space Marines).
Bio: Swept up in patriotic fervour, Seth enlisted in the Imperial Marines at the start of the Great War. He qualified for special forces training and was decorated for meritorious service. However, when his term of service was up and he was due to be discharged, the Imperial Parliament extended the terms of service for all active-duty personnel. Seth was forced to continue fighting in the war, and eventually set himself into a purely survival mentality. He was deployed in the final battle of the war, leading a team of special forces soldiers in capturing an orbital habitat above the United Suns capital world. His team de-orbited the colony into the planet, and Seth was decorated with one of the highest awards of the Imperial Military for his role in ending the war. He was discharged and allowed to live a civilian life.
Subsequently, he attempted to hold down a career as a security professional. This went awry when his employer forced him to watch as he sexually abused a child. He shot his employer when he pulled a gun on him, and spirited the child away. He slew her pimp and kept her safe while he was contacted with an opportunity: he would work as a hired gun for the Fenian Daggers, a rising spacer criminal syndicate, in exchange for information on the people who arranged the extension of his term of service. He adopted the girl he rescued, Keira Montoya, and raised her to become his assistant in his assassinations. For the next four years, he pursued this career and crossed off a few names from his personal list.
When he and Keira went to the planet Keystone to assassinate a local politician on behalf of the Fenian Daggers, he became heavily involved in the syndicate's operations on the world. He and Keira were captured by the police and put to task as informants. Keira was kidnapped by the Daggers and Seth feigned to work with them against their criminal rivals. In reality, he set them up and swept in to finish the job. With his Yakuza allies, he stormed their corporate-front headquarters and killed boss Finn MacDougall. With Keira dead and not much to live for, he contemplated suicide; he thought better of it and instead joined Mr. Yoritomo and his criminal organization with the ultimate goal of bringing down the Fenian Daggers galaxy-wide.
Current Status: Whereabouts unknown, associate of the Yoritomo Clan.

Age: 55 (b. 3240)
Occupation: Assassin, hero.
Bio: A mysterious alien assassin, Carmen has lived off the grid and between the cracks of society. Using this to his advantage, he has garnered a name for himself among the criminal underworld. He is highly professional and efficient in his killings, avoiding taking innocent lives when he can. Through strange circumstances while on a job, he has become stranded on the planet Keystone. Inadvertently, he became the hero of the Keystone Incident, foiling the terrorist plot of Constantine Bronstein and shooting him. Afterwards he took the path of a ronin, a masterless space mercenary, with his old friend Reon.
Current Status: Working.

Age: 17 (b. 3262, d. 3280)
Occupation: Assassin.
Bio: A child prostitute whom Seth rescued during a complex series of events in Space Mexico, Keira was adopted by Seth. She accompanied him on his many adventures, sometimes getting the way due to her brash behaviour. On Keystone, she narrowly aided his assassination of a political figure, but she and he were both captured after a series of scuffles in the city. He was in a coma, and awaited trial while she testified at trials of two criminal figures who aided them in order to avoid prosecution. After a failed assassination attempt on her left one of the defendants dead, she was to be transferred out of the city. But the convoy was hijacked and she was kidnapped. Escaping their clutches through resourcefulness, she linked up with Seth and plotted the downfall of her captors. But her impulsiveness got the better of her and she stormed the McGrady Building to confront Finn MacDougall directly--who promptly stabbed her to death.
A girl with a description similar to Keira appeared a month later, connected with central government officials, allegedly called "Alice".
Current Status: Deceased.

Age: 37 (b. 3258)
Occupation: Corsair.
Bio: Son and heir of Henry Alexander, 39th Earl of Tunis and Caledon, Albert desired a career in the Navy alongside his father, who had become a famed admiral during the Great War. But he was rejected from military service on psychological reasons: Albert suffered from Narcissistic Personality Disorder, deemed a liability. Instead he purchased his own spacecraft and became a privateer, joining up with mercenary bands and corsair fleets to cash in on bounties and earn glory. He also hired himself out as a pilot, commodore, and smuggler from time to time. Bounding into battle on land in his custom mecha, painted green and blue with gold filigree, or aboard his personal craft, the pine-green Caledonia, he made a name for himself. But his career was also marred by vanity and impulsiveness, a consequence of his narcissism.
He was hired on, through difficult negotiations, to be the temporary pilot of the Strawberry Fields. Satisfied with his payment, and the gratitude of the captain he helped resurrect, he departed them for new adventures.
Current Status: Privateering.

Age: 47 (b. 3248)
Occupation: Biker, vagabond, mercenary.
Bio: The leader of a small motorcycle club in southern Keystone, Teardrop avoided the criminal activities of biker gangs in the area and instead used his fellow bikers as vigilantes to help the people of Samabama. He was consumed by the tragic murder of his girlfriend by the biker cultists of the Bat Clan. After searching for years for evidence and information, he finally received it and embarked on a vendetta into the mountains to find and kill Roddy. Accompanied by Sarah Sterling, Agent Francis Frank, and the alien Needles, he infiltrated Jacobson's Hollow and fought Roddy at the climax of a mass human sacrifice. Teardrop was grievously wounded, but Roddy was chased down and killed by Sarah Sterling and the freed sacrificial victim, a naked blue alien with a revolver. Sarah made her escape with Teardrop before the mines below were destroyed by bombs.
His vendetta--and the reign of Roddy Jacobson--finally over, Teardrop set himself to a long recovery in a free and peaceful Samabama. In the aftermath of the even more destructive terror attacks by Roddy's benefactor, the Bandit King, Keystone was gradually stabilized and bandit activity was curtailed. Teardrop mistrusted the means, but welcomed the ends. He settled back in Samabama for a few years, but yearned to get offworld.
His opportunity finally came in late 3284 after the pirate attacks on the Seraphim Grand orbital resort above his home planet. He along with his fellow bikers joined the wave of bounty hunters and mercenaries who arose to fight the Yellow Jackets. He joined the many mercenaries in forming the Honorable Galactic Corsair Company.
Current Status: Privateering.

Age: 54 (b. 3241)
Occupation: Outlaw; Former Military (Army)
Bio: A woman of many paths and strange experiences, "Max" is a respected transporter and mercenary, a veteran of the Great War, and would-be ballerina. Her speciality is to transport a payload from one place or another with discretion and quickness--no questions asked. This has drawn her into working with the darkest underbelly of the criminal world, but it has usually turned up profitable. Her companion, Sanchito, totes the weapons while she drives in her Big Rig and electro-Jetta. Her latest job put her into the circumstances of the Strawberry Fields crew and the backstabbing of her employers, causing untold frustration and annoyance at the "virtuous outlaws". After completing of another job, she departed the crew for a well-deserved vacation.
Resuming her mercenary transporter career, she tended to work with John McGrady and the Fenians.
Current Status: Transporting.

Age:
Occupation: Mercenary.
Bio: A total fuckboy who joined up with Maximilinee for a long series of adventures as space mercenaries, "Chito" was the gunman while she was the driver. At the climax of a series of unfortunate events, Max left for some well-deserved R&R while Chito joined Popeye as a member of his privateer crew to see the events through to their end. He played witness to the major events of the Pirate War, and later joined up with some fellow snack food-themed mercenaries.
Current Status: Fuckboy.

Age: 38 (b.3250)
Occupation: Mercenary.
Bio: A brazen and dramatic mercenary of some repute, Highball seems to be on nigh-permanent retainer to the information broker Jensen. He does, however, sometimes operate on his own accord, sometimes with a group of fellow mercenaries.
Current Status: Privateering.

Age: ? (b. 32?? possibly 3229)
Occupation: Privateer.
Bio: A mysterious black Brazilian pygmy who has made a name for himself in criminal circles as an explosives expert and technologist. In his travels, he came across outlaws such as Charles Barkley, Benedict Turner, and Siegfried "Dragonslayer" Metzger. After a piracy job went awry, he joined Eugene Hawkins' crew. He has since been steadfast friend to the Captain and especially to the ship's pilot, and prior acquaintance, Charles. He has departed the crew to find more about his lost memories, and help his former patron and new friend, Javier, to find some mysterious artefacts. However, this pursuit was waylaid as he took off to rescue his crewmate Noriko once more. After an unsuccessful raid failed to rescue her, he took to the stars on his own to seek her out and hunt down Yellow Jackets. He became, at last, an independent corsair and privateer with his own ship. He was his own man, and had found himself in the midst of battle on the high stars.
After a six month prison sentence served after the end of the Pirate War, he resumed his mercenary career.
Current Status: Captain.

Age: 60 (b. 3224, d. 3285)
Occupation: Bounty hunter, assassin.
Bio: An acciptrid mercenary sniper, he took the name "Benedict Turner" to refer to traitorous and rebellious human figures. In this way, he reminds himself constantly of his complicity in repressing his own people. For a time, he served in the Halian Security Forces, policing on his homeworld on behalf of State Security. After leaving the service, he became a mercenary and put his skills to use as an assassin. While not permanently a member of the Blackbird crew, he works with them often and has a saved seat onboard. This arrangement has continued after the destruction of the Blackbird. After struggling with them for several months in contracts that brought them into repeated conflict with the infamous Yellow Jackets space pirate group, he was grievously injured in a helicopter crash during a pursuit. He bled out in a police helicopter on the way to a hospital, and died.
Current Status: Deceased.

Age: 409 (b. 2875, d. 3285)
Occupation: Mercenary, pilot.
Bio: A mysterious and quiet viridian of considerable size and skill, nicknamed "Charles Barkley" by the mercenary community, Charles is Eugene's lumbering bodyguard and pilot. Little was known of him other than that he is very old and very experienced, until the aftermath of the navy intervention at the Seraphim Grand resort. It was revealed to the crew that he was a murderer and a kidnapper as a member of the Yellow Jackets space pirate group. He regretted his actions and left his former life behind, seeking redemption. But the Yellow Jackets were out for blood against him, and attacked him both at the Seraphim Grand and on the planet Keystone before he escaped again. He rejoined the crew aboard their new ship, and became their pilot once more. He was rendered comatose, however, after losing a martial arts bout against the infamous Siegfried Metzger. Later recovering, he accompanied the crew on a mission to the planet Chios to observe and record its unique wildlife. However, they were ambushed by Yellow Jackets pirates and forced to negotiate; Charles voluntarily gave himself up to them to save the rest of the crew. But after the Jackets shot down the Strawberry Fields while the crew were marooned on the planet, Charles flew into a rage to defend them. In the midst of combat, he was struck with several grenades and then bisected by a blade-wielding Yellow Jacket. The assailants escaped as Charles lay dying. His last plea to his friends who gathered around him, communing psychically with psionic dragon Ruby, was to apologise to those he'd hurt and call out to Popeye that being his friend was enough.
Charles Barkley died, exsanguinated and suffering catastrophic organ and structural damage from being bisected by a crystalline bastard sword.
Current Status: Deceased.

Age: 37 (b. 3247, d. 3284)
Occupation: Doctor
Bio: A gentle and kindly Neanderthal from a remote Outer Rim colony world, Wade had a knack for healing in his tribe and went to a Terran medical college to hone his skill and make a living out of it. Though experiencing some discrimination, he managed to overcome adversity and became a physician. But his experiences made him want to see the world, rather than return home, and he ventured off into the Galaxy as an itinerant doctor selling his services to whomever would pay. For the past two years, he has made a home and steady job as Captain Hawkins' personal physician and mentor. But, while travelling with Noriko, Popeye, Ben, and the Captain to infiltrate the space castle Valhalla, he was unable to save Captain Hawkins' life and he was later murdered by the turncoat Thrush.
Current Status: Deceased.

Age: 49 (b. 3239)
Occupation: Mercenary assassin. Former military (Spacy).
Bio: A former Navy captain who was decorated during the war for his participation in anti-piracy campaigns, Glass resigned his commission after his family was murdered by space pirates in reprisal. He wandered for a time, and drifted into a career as an assassin and mercenary. One day, his ship was stolen and he was jailed after a drunken brawl with a policeman. The crew of the Blackbird broke him out, originally intending to kill him, and he was brought onboard as a hired fighter. But after being reunited with his kidnapped daughter, he left the ship to begin a life of peace far away from these pirates and outlaws. However, the widespread chaos of the Pirate War brought him back into the fray as an independent corsair. After the Pirate War ended, he finally retired.
Current Status: Retired.

Age: 24 (i. 3260, d. 3284)
Occupation: Starship quartermaster.
Bio: A depressive AI who served as the kitchen cook for Eugene Hawkins' family for years. He joined the crew of the Blackbird, selling his physical platform to be installed on the ship directly. He has become the ship's quartermaster and chef. Over time, Captain Hawkins installed components to allow him to interact physically with the crew and with objects in the ship. After the disabling, damaging, and scrapping of the Blackbird, Marvin was given a new body with which to encounter the world aboard their new vessel, the hot pink-painted re-purposed pirate ship Strawberry Fields. He betrayed the crew, however, when a thief boarded the vessel after landing on New Tejas, but then decided the backstab the thief. The thief backstabbed the backstabber and revealed Marvin's treachery to a returning crew, and Noriko shut him down.
Current Status: Inoperative.

Age: 78 (b. 3211)
Occupation: None (animal)
Bio: A mysterious sentient reptilian creature native to the planet Chios, "Ruby" is the nickname of a red-scaled female of this species. Her species is naturally psionic and capable of abstract reasoning and tool usage. Colloquially called "dragons" after their resemblance to creatures of Earth legend, they are new to the scene. "Ruby" interacted with the Strawberry crew as they began observing and photographing the animals, siding with them during the attack by the Yellow Jackets for survival. Despite her age in human years, she is actually a young adult for her species. She has remained adventurous, often in the company of Siegfried, and has become one of his most recognizable retainers.
Current Status: Knightly duties.

Age: 37 (b. 3263, d. 3294)
Occupation: Bounty hunter, mercenary.
Bio: A street urchin from the former Soviet graal territories, Omar grew up enmeshed with the criminal underworld. During the chaos of the Great War, crime rampantly increased and social unrest exploded into ubiquitous riots and insurrections. Criminal bosses became powerful in the crumbling federation, and Omar was a valued street tough. However, he crossed the wrong enforcer and his family was slaughtered. He turned on his former allies, becoming a bounty hunter and killing those responsible. His skills and reputation as a bane to the galactic gangland enabled him to retain his freedom, and he was involved in the Pirate War. He's tried to leave behind his bloody past, but salvage hauling doesn't pay the bills half as well as mercenary work.
Unfortunately, he met his end during a recovery job where he and the crew of the Blue Heaven encountered a shapeshifting alien creature that assimilated him. Taken over by a doppelganger, he tried his best to sabotage the crew in order to reproduce through infecting others. He was discovered while on a stop over at Dr. Seilon's institute, and transformed when cornered into a horrific monster. His monster form was blasted into submission, and torched into ashes.
Current Status:Deceased .

Age: 20 (b. 3275)
Occupation: Mercenary captain.
Bio: As a young orphan, Scarlett was a voracious reader and a quick learner. She took online college courses starting when she was fifteen, and absorbed disparate knowledge like a sponge. She became an expert in anthropology, biology, chemistry, physics, psychology, and sociology, as well as being well-read on history, culture, and current events. Unfortunately, her widespread interests failed to concentrate her focus into one discipline, and after four years of learning she dropped out without a degree to show for it. But her vast knowledge and soaring, longing ache for adventure put her on the path of an independent mercenary captain. After seizing the spacecraft Blue Heaven under dubious circumstances in 3291, she sought out a ragtag crew of adventurers. She has been plying the stars with some measure of success, so far.
Current Status: Captain.

Age: 35 (b. 3260)
Occupation: Mercenary doctor
Bio: A kappa who became weary of her homeworld's violent society, Dr. Shuuwe departed and instead plied the stars. Earning her doctorate in medicine as a general practitioner, though specializing in trauma surgery, she earned her living as a ship's doctor on various spacecraft. In 3294 she was hired on as the resident physician on the mercenary ship Blue Heaven.
Current Status: Patching people up.

Age: 45 (b. 3250)
Occupation: Mercenary commando
Bio: A rough-and-tumble warrior who has lived most of her life on tramp freighters and space colonies, Jack became skilled as a "security specialist". Coming of age and serving during the chaotic times of the Great War and the last days of the Terran Empire, she became a sought-after gun for hire, finding work as a bodyguard, bounty hunter, and mercenary. Without military experience, she picked up various tricks of the trade throughout her life, honing her skill as a bushwhacker. She maintained a steady living, but became very well-off during the Pirate War, and a charter member of the Galactic Corsairs. However, she soon after lost much of her wealth in gambling debts. She's taken up a job as the security chief on board Scarlette Valhalla's ship, the Blue Heaven.
Current Status: Controlling risks.

Age: 25 (b. 3270)
Occupation: Merchant, 
Bio: A shady and unscrupulous merchant, the shrike called Jibril hovers on the edge of legality with all of his business deals. A consummate capitalist, like many of the business class of his species, Jibril trades fast and loose with things he does not necessarily have...but rather with things he will have. But he has nonetheless cultivated a network of contacts across the stars, which he uses to leverage for his own success and the success of his closer associates. He joined the crew of the Blue Heaven as the ship's quartermaster and supply manager, as well as the main business adviser to Captain Valhalla, partly as a way to avoid being hunted down by creditors he'd stiffed and suckers he'd conned.
Current Status: Trading.

Age: Unknown
Occupation: Crime lord.
Bio: A mysterious figure who has arisen in the past two years as a major crime boss, the Sarmatian and their network of spies blue-collar tech criminals have managed to wrestle their way into the Inner Colonies underworld and jockey with more legitimate players. Their network is allegedly responsible for numerous high-tech heists, fraud operations, and acts of cyberterrorism. A meticulous planner, the Sarmatian has thus far been careful to avoid disclosing their identity or location, and quite possibly may be multiple people operating under a pseudonym. The Interstellar Police investigation has been fruitless.
Current Status: Organizing crimes.

Age: 51 (b. 3229, d. 3280)
Occupation: Criminal, Former Military (Army).
Bio: A veteran of the Colonial Wars of the 3250s, serving mostly in police actions in Space Mexico, Bronstein returned from war a changed man. Previously, he had been a patriotic Terran, but he became increasingly angry at the brutal repression by Terran forces in the colonies. Some wondered if he had been captured and brainwashed, but it made no matter. When he returned home to planet Keystone in 3264, he began his grand plan. Secluding himself in the wilderness, he led a gang of bandits in the hinterlands of the continent Nordendusk. Over time, he forged ties between other bandits and outlaws, making a web of allied bandit groups and biker gangs called the Bandit Union. In 3276, he declared himself King of All Bandits and Pirates of Keystone, issuing an online proclamation and manifesto of his ideals and his intentions. He professed a radical anarchist program for destroying the government of Keystone, secluding and isolating the world, and then reshaping it under his vision of a feudal kingdom among the stars for all individuals to forge their own destinies through strength and will. Over time, he put his plan into motion: hacking defence satellites and downing them to acquire their nuclear warheads, bribing politicians and contractors to put them in place in secret compartments in new construction around the world, building secret bases on every continent, and working with criminals to cause as much chaos and destruction as possible as a distraction. In 3280, his plan came to fruition with the bombing of several cities with nuclear weapons and the downing of the entire satellite network as a mass orbital strike. His bandit princes staged insurrections and forged their own feudal realms, competing with regional governors-turned-warlords over control of the world. However, he was slain soon after by a combined team of government agents, police officers, and mercenaries at his control base in the Oka Islands. State Sec and Navy forces quarantined the world and deployed forces to put down the insurrection, spelling the end of the Bandit King.
Current Status: Deceased.

Age: 38 (b. 3242, d. 3280)
Occupation: Cult leader, criminal.
Bio: Though a native son of Keystone, Roddy grew up in the big city, Roddy was unaccustomed to his family's ways. In his youth, however, he was taken by relatives to live in the family home in Jacobson's Hollow, a mountainous region on the outskirts of Samabama County. When he emerged from the mountains to join the Colonial Police, he was a different man. He was thrown out of the police for excessive brutality and enlisted in the Army to fight in the Great War. The war broke his mind further and convinced him of a messianic destiny. Upon his return, he set up a base in his family's home and became the messiah, pastor, and patriarch of a marauding clan of cannibal cultists. Forging ties with the Bandit King up north, he committed his reign of terror across Samabama. Tales of human sacrifice, torture, and rape filtered out of the region and attracted Colonial investigations, but none of it came back to Roddy himself.
During a major sermon and human sacrifice on the peak of his mountain, Roddy was attacked by vendetta-fuelled bikers. In the confusion, his sacrificial victim escaped and chased him down, shooting him to death in a mineshaft below the chapel. The mines were then destroyed by a series of bombs, immolating Roddy's body.
Current Status: Deceased.

Age: 9 (b. 3271, d. 3280)
Occupation: Bombmaker.
Bio: An iculian bomb-maker shrouded in a web of deception and third-party contacts, the criminal known only as "Needles" hired his services out to anyone else willing to pay his price. The result was some of the finest work in the field. Needles became involved with Sarah Sterling and her investigations following the revelation that he manufactured the bomb that destroyed Governor Blackwall's office. With assurances of leniency and protection, he informed her that the bombing wasn't ordered by the Fenian Daggers--as was believed by the Keystone Bureau of Investigation--but by a shadowy group of Central government agents. He accompanied her along her travels to unravel the heart of the conspiracy, but was waylaid in Sutherland while doing a favour for his information broker. Needles was grievously wounded during a scuffle in the mountains with the notorious cannibal cultist Roddy Jacobson, and detonated a series of bombs in the mineshafts. He died in the blast.
Current Status: Deceased.

Age: 33 (i. 3262)
Occupation: Crime lord.
Bio: Built with precise specifications for use in military research, the Perceptive Examiner of Radiation and Controlled Yields, or PERCY for short, was designed for nuclear weapons research in the Office of Naval Intelligence. After a two-year stint in the Navy, he sought a career in the private sector, purchasing an anthropoid mechanical body and starting work for a large financial services firm, specializing in computer security, corporate espionage, and counter-espionage. He quickly rose to an executive position, sitting on the company's board of directors and controlling their entire data system.
Secretly, he sold company data to business rivals. He made a fortune with his side-deals, with no one in the company being any the wiser. He was found out by State Security officers, however, in 3274 and placed under arrest. They offered him immunity provided that he perform a special task. He gladly accepted, and participated in the resolution of the Unthor pandemic. However, he was trapped after bonding his consciousness to the wetware of Adrian's mind when his physical platform was destroyed. After the incident, he used remote drones to rebuild his criminal empire, something Adrian ignored.
PERCY was only separated from Adrian in 3295 by a Silver Team tech expert during the course of a revocation of his legal immunity and newfound effort to prosecute him for continued criminal activity.
Current Status: Apprehended.

Age: 47 (b. 3237, d. 3284)
Occupation: Assassin, thief.
Bio: An acciptrid assassin and former black ops agent of the Halian Militia, Sico was better known as "Thrush" in criminal circles. Ejected from the militia for his brutal behaviour, he became a wandering killer and thief, operating mainly in Space Mexico. He had a reputation for excessive violence, stealth, and callously pawning stolen possessions from those he killed. He broke into the Strawberry Fields and attempted to steal it, but was betrayed by Marvin who was in turn betraying his crew. Thrush defeated Marvin's physical platform and revealed the betrayal to the crew, who had come to stop the robbery. They reluctantly allowed him to join them, but he later betrayed them over a trivial incident. He shored up with space viking Siegfried, whose ship was being broken into by the crew. He murdered Doctor Wade Rog and battled Popeye, Noriko, and Ben. He was killed by multiple gunshot wounds and explosive blasts delivered by the avenging crewmates.
Current Status: Deceased.

Age: 46 (b. 3249)
Occupation: None. Former assassin.
Bio: The product of over a century of research and breeding programs, Riker was a psionic assassin spawned from a much more ambitious program. The same program produced the young Berber psion named Akeelah, who was later freed from its clutches and became Sarah Sterling. Riker was not so lucky, and slew many in the name of the state. He was incapacitated and held on the planet Sicron as a psionic "beacon" to boost the abilities of "sensitives"--a new breed of children hoped to be the next Riker or Akeelah. He awakened in late 3285 and wrought havoc on the planet's settlement, and warped the minds of many of the children in the underground facility. He was captured by Silver Team while trying to escape, though he slew and revived Silver Penguin as well as one of his own, wavering allies. The planet's settlement and the underground facility were vaporized by an orbital weapon after the Silver Team evacuated with Riker and some of his children-followers. He was detained for further questioning by State Security and the Police, with a deal on the table to offer his experiences as a witness to an internal investigation into the secret psionics research. His current whereabouts are unknown.
Current Status: Detained.

Age: 24 (b. 3271)
Occupation: Convicted felon.
Bio: Working-class star of the school's swim team, Walter was not known for his brains or forethought, and was rather aloof among the students. As such, despite his participation in high school sports, he was not accepted by the other jocks. And the other cliques in the school did little to accept him as well--the geeks and goths shunned him for his athletics, the preppy kids found him uncouth, and his aggressive ways did not gel with the peaceniks and activist crowd. He remained on the fringe, with few friends outside of fellow blue-collar jock Keith LaBoeuff.
As of April 3288, however, he was captured by police after attempting to rape an opposing school's cheerleader after a game; he was tried, convicted of sexual assault, and sentenced to 20 years of hard labour.
Current Status: Imprisoned.

Age: 54 (b. 3241)
Occupation: Medical researcher.
Bio: A brilliant surgeon who studied under Dr. Winters alongside David McGrady, Seilon's blank face and congenial attitude belied a traumatic childhood. Abandonment by his unknown father, physical abuse by his mother, and later witnessing his mother's rape and his brother's murder, turned him into a misanthropic, pathologically antisocial individual. He learned to hide his feelings, and developed a burning desire to punish the kind of people who brought "sickness" into his mother's life, and ended his brother's. He attended medical school to learn human anatomy and how to deal with the human body internally. He eschewed his given names, abandoning that part of him to a hell in his own mind. He became an exceptionally skilled surgeon, practising at the Northmont Hospital.
From his days in college, however, he hid a dark and bloody terror: over the course of seven years, he murdered and mutilated more than fifty people, using surgical implements and pharmaceuticals to sedate, awaken, and torture his victims before killing them. He targeting people he judged to be vile and evil, those who aroused his anger and disgust. Many of whom were his patients during his time as a medical practitioner. After injuring an undercover police informant, however, he was tracked to his workplace while in the process of kidnapping and butchering another victim. A police raid led by officer Adrian Lancore arrested him--though too late to save the other man--and Adrian subsequently wheedled a confession out of him. A media circus surrounded the trial of the brutal surgeon-cum-murderer, who was sentenced to life imprisonment with the possibility of transfer after one year. He was convicted of 37 murders, with 15 further murders confessed to but with bodies unaccounted for.
A year later, during his parole hearing, he was granted an opportunity to gain release from prison by serving the Imperial State Security Department in a covert task. He travelled with Dr. David McGrady, under the supervision of State Sec Major Fitzroy and the protection of agent Adrian and mercenary Aurora Beaumont, to the planet Unthor. There, he was stricken with the disease ravaging the planet's frontier settlements, but not before researching valuable information about the disease. Together with Dr. McGrady, he effected the cure for the mysterious Unthor haemorrhagic fever. He then accompanied David and Adrian on a series of exploratory tasks in the local star systems, before returning to Earth. Afterwards, he was offered his freedom and a lucrative government career in alien research. He accepted the position as chief of a xenobiology lab, and has remained there ever since. He married his alien concubine, Karla, and in early 3285 she bore twins who are considered his children--David Patrick Seilon and Artemis Juliet Seilon.
Status: Director of the Lyman Institute for Xenological Studies.

Age: 55 (b. 3240)
Occupation: Doctor.
Bio: A veteran of the Great War on the Soviet side, Razvann was a field medic. When the war ended, his species was decimated and those that survived were severely curtailed. As a veteran of a hostile opponent to humanity, he was particularly punished and forbidden from remaining in his own homeland. He settled in the Terran Outer Colonies and obtained the license to practice medicine on the planet Keystone. He lived in Samabama for a number of years before coming across Popeye and Charles Barkley; in the ensuing events, his clinic and house were destroyed. Having nowhere else to go, he joined up with the crew of the Strawberry Fields. After the destruction of the ship, he went with the crew to rescue Noriko from capture by the Yellow Jackets. When they failed to do so at the Battle of the Underdark. He left afterwards, but was soon captured by the police for illegal possession of arms and armour. He was taken into the custody of the Secret Police and handed over Dr. Seilon's institute.
Current Status: Captive doctor.

Age: 56 (b. 3239)
Occupation: Veterinarian; Former Military (Army Medical School, Army Veterinary Corps)
Bio: A military medic with an even more enigmatic past than O'Toole, though possessing of a much more amiable demeanour. He met his fellow medic in training and they became inseparable. They were assigned together to the 505th Dragoons, acting as the medical personnel for the squad. In the bloody Battle of Khoz, he witnessed Peter's decline into madness but was helpless to prevent it. He was in part at fault, at it was his forgetfulness that led to the consternation with Lucy. Later, as he attempted to explain his friend's condition to his then-Sergeant Meshcheryakov, O'Toole committed suicide with a grenade. McRogers fell into a deep depression after that, remaining despondent until they reached an allied base, whereupon he tore into a rage before being sedated. After the battle, he received therapy and was reassigned to a desk job in the Army Medical School as a research assistant with field expertise. He later took courses at the AMS for the Veterinary Corps, seeking a doctoral degree in the subject. He acquired his doctorate and was assigned to a frontier outpost on Keystone, as the on-site doctor for the garrison's Army scout horses in the 999th Veterinary Battalion.
After the war, he was honourably discharged and settled down at Keystone to open his own private veterinary practice. In the aftermath of the tragic Keystone Incident, he assisted recovery efforts and reconnected with now-Dr. Meshcheryakov. He convinced him to run for governor of the planet, a venture that proved to be successful.
Current Status: Self-employed veterinarian. Retired from the military.

Age: 49 (b. 3246)
Occupation: Nurse Practitioner.
Bio: An inion, Karla enjoyed a life of privilege compared to other aliens. Her mother died in childbirth, so she was sent to be raised by and learn a trade from her busy father--a mercenary working with the Orion government. She was trained to fight with her hands, her claws, guns, and blades alike. But, upon coming of age, she decided that she didn't want to be involved with her father's way of life and the men with which he cavorted. She acquired travel and work permits and moved to the Terran Empire, attending medical school to become a nurse. Over the years, she was shuffled from place to place as the state saw fit. In 3274, she was sent off to Unthor to help the relief effort against the ravenous disease. It was there that she came into contact with Dr. Seilon, nursing him back to health. When he was released from the hospital, they went on a date and became romantically entangled.
Begging for a chance to see the galaxy after years of working bureaucratically in the medical system, she and Seilon managed to acquire a government dispensation to allow her to assist them as a field medic. She travelled with them, seeing many strange sights but went missing during a tense stand-off in Lunar orbit between Adrian's spacecraft and the forces of General McGrady. She resurfaced at the Lyman Institute for Xenological Research, in the company of Dr. Seilon, and was reported to have been cohabiting with him for nearly ten years. Given special dispensation by the state due to Seilon's valued service, she was recognized as Seilon's lawful wife. She later bore twins cloned from her genetic material who are considered Seilon's children--David Patrick Seilon and Artemis Juliet Seilon.
Current Status: Research assistant with the Public Health Service.

Age: 49 (b. 3246)
Occupation: Mechanic; valet.
Bio: A "hick" from Samabama, Jeb Smitherson grew up primarily in the southern end of the planet Keystone. With a knack for automotive repair and sufficient connections in town, he became a well-known and successful mechanic and driver in Samabama as well as a radio personality. He was known as a well-meaning but obtuse blabbermouth and rambler, who would spin bizarre yarns interjected with commentary and observations about the world around him. Much of which made very little sense. During the Keystone Incident, he assisted Special Agent Francis Frank and his cohorts in conducting their business in the south. After the Incident, he got a job as Governor Meshcheryakov's valet and chauffeur, and unofficial mechanic. He also runs a podcast.
Current Status: Driving.

Age: 61 (b. 3218, d. 3284?)
Occupation: Businessman.
Bio: Chairman of Varnes & Co, a major pharmaceutical conglomerate, Chris Varnes is a middle-aged businessman and inheritor of the enormous Varnes fortune. His company has been accused of unscrupulous activities and business practices, including involvement with criminal organizations. Varnes firmly denied such accusations, and successfully defended himself in court. His company continued to grow.
In 3284, he disappeared during a violent attack on his company headquarters in Buffalo, New York. The HQ was bombed and completely razed to the ground, and nearby buildings were damaged by rocket fire. Several of his employees were later implicated in the bombing of the Statue of Liberty. He remains missing. State Security authorities persist in the search for him, while NYPD officials have presumed death.
Current Status: Missing. Presumed dead.

Age: 40? (b. 3255?)
Occupation: Preacher, bodyguard.
Bio: Not much is known about this mysterious woman, who has been publicly seen as an attendant and bodyguard to Cardinal Cynthia McGrady, Archbishop of São Paulo. She was dispatched by General William McGrady as a "friend of the family" to act as an observer of Adrian's team during the long search for an alien artefact. She posed as a preacher and chaplain, but in truth was a trained assassin.
At the climax of a race between Adrian's and Billy's teams to find another artefact in Luna, she disappeared. While presumed dead, she reappeared on Earth in the entourage of Cardinal McGrady.
Current Status: Attendant to the Archbishop of São Paulo.

Age: 35? (b. 3249?)
Occupation: Researcher.
Bio: A Brazilian researcher in xenobiology and ecology, attached to the Creed Genetics Institute.
Current Status: Researching.

Age: 55 (b. 3233)
Occupation: Scientist.
Bio: A renowned researcher and polymath, Dr. Cameron is adept in biology, geology, engineering, and computer technology. He helped co-develop the hacking glove tool, and was mentor to a young Matsuno Reiko at Taliesin Technologies, a subsidiary of the McGrady Corporation. He disappeared without a word; his pupil tool the hacking tool, went to ground, and assumed the name Noriko Matsui while on the run for two years. Cameron resurfaced on the planet Chios, and Noriko found him embedded as a field researcher of a strange race of psionic reptilians, whom he dubbed "dragons". He remained on the world for several years, continuing his field research.
Current Status: Researching

Age: 17 (b. 3271, d. 3288)
Occupation: High school student.
Bio: An ancillary member of the popular crowd, Keith is looked down upon by some of his peers for his humble family origins--his parents are working-class and put all of their savings into paying for Keith's tuition at the Wallerstein Academy. He exudes an air of cockiness to mask his inferiority complex, making strong showings in several school sports but never quite fitting into the teams. He gets along well with his old friend Walter Grigsby-Greene, and maintains strong rivalries with Chad, Bernardino, and especially "Prince" Sean McGrady.
After Elena Rinaldi and Marioff Scott stopped Walter from raping a cheerleader after a football game, they suspected Keith of being Walter's accomplice. They pursued their leads with an attempt to entrap him into confessing in video during senior prom--through Elena asking him to prom while wearing surveillance cameras. However, Marioff's dear friend Nick thought the whole plan was doomed, and instead came to prom with a gun in case things went wrong. When they did, due to Keith spiking the punch with potent hallucinogens, Nick shot Keith in the face, killing him.
Current Status: Deceased.

Age: 24 (b. 3271)
Occupation: College student.
Bio: An android custom-made by her father, an inventor and biologist whose wife died in childbirth years ago, Jennifer has striven to try to live a normal life as much as she can, taking classes at the Wallerstein Catholic Academy. She has taken a liking for the jockish clique, and is on the school cheer-leading squad and the track-and-field team. She is known to take a particular sexual interest in the school's boxing team. After school, she went onto higher education for chemistry, one her main interests.
Current Status: Schooling.

Age: 22 (b. 3273)
Occupation: None.
Bio: A devout Catholic boy who has been accelerated to his senior year, Nick is part of the "geeky" crowd and involved in the AV club, shop class, and is a library aide. His shyness masks a rather obvious infatuation with his friend Marioff, and his constant victimization at the hands of bullies like Keith and Walter strained his fragile sense of self-esteem. During his involvement with Marioff and Elena's investigation into Keith's attacks on schoolgirls, he became immensely concerned for their safety. This culminated in prom night, when he shot Keith while in a hallucinogenic high.
He was tried and acquitted of murder and manslaughter, as the judges took into account his fear of Keith's lethal martial arts skills and Nick's unknowing, unwilling intoxication. But secretly he let it slip to Marioff that he had brought to gun with intent to kill Keith, believing him to be an imminent threat to her. After her departure for the Marines and her rejection of him for his lying, toxic behavior, he had mental breakdown and spent several months in a psychiatric ward. After that, he ran away from home and hasn't been seen since.
Current Status: Runaway.