Dakota's History
Dakota Marie Cathcart - Dak
Full History
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All her life Dakota has known only two things, the Alliance and moving. Just weeks after being born on Londinium her father, a career Alliance Marine Officer, received transfer orders. And for the next 20+ years that is the life she has known.
Her father was considered a trouble shooter. If there was a problem that couldn't be rectified he was sent in to do it. Much to the chagrin of those opposed to the Alliance and those in the Alliance that needed straightening out. He earned this reputation purely by chance as his commander was killed during the Battle of Serenity Valley. He took command of the company, which was struggling to even hold back the Brown Coats to say the least, and made some quick and rapid changes. Not only did he reverse the fight they began to advance. There were rumors that said he actually shot two of his own men that refused to obey his orders and fight. Though this has never been proven.
So from Headquarters to the far reaches of the 'verse Dakota learned that nothing is ever permanent except for the Alliance. It also taught her, though at the time she did not recognize the talent, how to adapt and an uncanny knack to pick up all the slight nuances on speech and place them at the point of origin. Another valuable lesson was an ability to blend in easily and quickly to what ever gawd-awful backwater world they happened to move to.
Dakota grew up in a loving but disciplined household. But it was a household that centered on the Alliance. There were rules and they were to be followed. Period. No questions asked, no gray areas. Dakota inherited her father's drive. Which kind of ran in the lines of: Get the job done or get the hell out of the way so it can be done.
Dakota on the back water worlds, which she came to loath, was home schooled by her mother and when living in the core planets she was sent to the best of schools. She excelled in all. When she turned 18 she was granted access to the Alliance Academy. To no one's surprise she once again excelled. When singled out for additional classes in clandestine and special operations her true talents came to light. Each new task assigned to her pushed her to, and past, the expectations of her instructors.
At age 10 while on Ezra, Dakota was stung by a bee. No big deal, kids there always were getting stung. But what was not known was that Dakota was highly allergic to bee stings. Dakota nearly died. Were it not for the medic on a transport that just happened to be unloading goods she might have just perished right there. To this day Dakota is never with out her Epi Kit.
The only serious blemish on her record at the Academy was when she was placed in charge of leading a team into a simulated compound. At night the 4 team members crept into place. Near enough to hear the breathing of one of the 'guards', one team member decided to slap a bug that had bitten him costing them the success of mission. Returning to their barracks, Dakota calmly walked up to the offending recruit and proceeded to beat the snot out of him. Fists, the handle of a broom and a chair were all in use at one time or another. In the end the male recruit, who was hands taller than she and nearly 100 pounds heavier, ended up with a broken jaw, broken arm and a severe concussion as well as other minor injuries before the other recruits could (or dared) pull her off the fellow. Excerpt from the official record: The results of the official inquiry and any possible disciplinary actions are still pending.
There was one more incident (but who's counting right?) but it has never been proven that Dakota had a hand in it. After being called down by the Commanding Officer for her coloring of her hair at the Academy Dakota was heard mumbling that she would get him. The next day the Commander's coffee cup, pens, keys on the cortex terminal...everything on his desk was super glued down. No security camera footage of the intruder and how did someone get past those security doors? But all eyes were turned to Dakota
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