Connie

This is OOC information.
Information detailed here is for OOC uses only.

Connie Saint

Full name	Constance Anne Saint
Date of Birth	18th December 2485
Birthplace	Zenda City, Ariel
Parents	Admiral Liam and Marie Saint (née Deschamps)
Siblings	None
Spouse	Unwed
Children	None
Assignment	none at present
Specialization	Astrogation, Command
Gender	Female
Eyes and Hair	Pale blue, Red
Height and Weight	5'2", 110lb
Status	Active
Military Service
"20 year" retired Alliance veteran

Background

A promising Alliance officer (it ran in the family, as her father was an Admiral), she was navigation officer on the IAV Tsinghai when the Unification War started. She rose to First Officer and then to Captain after a series of actions in which she distinguished herself. She was part of one of the many Alliance orbital raids on Shadow: the Tsinghai, along with the IAV Beijing under Captain Slayton, and the IAV Hermes under Captain Lovell, were charged (by Alliance officer Adam Myatt) to drop some experimental weaponry which (on monitoring of surface transmissions after the first one) appeared to be bio-weapons. Connie refused on principle, and Myatt took over command of the Tsinghai and subsequently had her court-martialled.

She was discharged (by her own father, who disowned her), and after a time began a career as a Freelancer, eventually acquiring her own ship (the Zun Yan). Some while later, Myatt decided to clean up the evidence of those who knew about what went down over Shadow, arranging for the assasination by Independent sympathisers (led by one Ivan Cryczek) of all the ranking officers with knowledge, and nearly Connie herself, who was forced to fake her own death for a few months until she caught up with Myatt and Cryczek. The latter shot the former, and was delivered to the Alliance by Connie.

Sometime after that, Connie was kidnapped off the Zun Yan, and held for a long while before being rescued by the Alliance. She's not entirely clear who pulled what strings, but she was formally pardoned, reinstated as an Alliance officer in 2528... Obviously not everyone agreed, since she was assigned to a second-rate ship patrolling as far away from any political issues as possible.

Connie was discharged under the 20 year Veteran rule. Or rather, a loophole in it, since her service is only over 20 years if you count it as uninterrupted. She has a (perfectly reasonable) suspicion that someone wanted her out of Alliance service (or never wanted her back in!) and had just found a loophole that actually they could have exploited years ago. She's torn. Would she like to wear the purple again? Yes. But she's a bit disillusioned with the whole thing now: it's... kind of not the Alliance she believed in (although there's clearly a faction within it that is).

Timeline

Please note - links here are to logs or stories from elseMU* and as such some of the fine details may not fit. Please go with the spirit, not the letter :D

• 2506: graduated, Ariel Military Academy, Lt, appointed Nav Officer, IAV Tsinghai under Captain Mike Lewins
• 2507: distinguished herself in opening actions of Unification war. Promoted, Lt Commander, First Officer, IAV Tsinghai due to injury to Commander Danes, XO.
• 2509: conspicuous gallantry award for saving IAV Tsinghai after attack by kamikaze Independent shuttle. Promoted, Captain, IAV Tsinghai due to death of Captain Lewins. Leads an operation to take out an Independent post on Beylix.
• 2510: courtmartialed (Admiral Newton, Vice Admiral Saint) for direct refusal to obey order in combat over Shadow as part of attack force including IAV Tsinghai, IAV Beijing (Capt Slayton) and IAV Mercury (Capt Lovell), dishonourably discharged
• 2518: registered as ship's Captain, Alliance surplus Hoplite-class ex-military transport IMV Zun Yan
• 2519: presumed killed by same assassin as Lovell, Slayton and her father over the course of a few weeks. Reappears about 5 months later, handing the culprit (one Ivan Cryczek) over to Alliance.
• 2520: spokesperson of a loose association of merchant captains in a trade dispute with a Border trade guild.
• 2526: kidnapped from IMV Zun Yan. Some while later, the Zun Yan (and crew) vanishes, where to is not known. Entirely possible she is still out there under another name/ID.
• 2527: rescued from an out of the way compound on Athens by Alliance Marines led by Maj Kerri Briggs. Captors still unknown (as far as Connie knows.) Courtmartial struck off record, readmitted, Lt, Nav Officer IAV Phoenix, patrol duty, Border and near Rim
• 2528: brevetted to Captain, IAV Phoenix
• 2529: permanent rank of Captain, IAV Phoenix
• 2535: released under a loophole in the 20 year Veteran rule.

Plot Hooks

(Feel free to page the player if you want to work with any of these)

As one of the Alliance's best and most moral officers (up until the time she was court-martialed) there are factions within the Alliance (one Commander Laura Parker is a part of this, but Connie has no idea she exists) who wanted her reinstated: she believes they were responsible for her rescue in 2528, but still has no idea *why* she was kidnapped. There's also clearly a faction within the Alliance who sees her as a dangerous liability, and hence managed to pull strings and get her a) assigned to a dull, dead-end duty and b) retired from service at the first available chance.

Character quirks

• Prefers to run nav comp updates by hand, just so she knows what's changing in the 'verse
• Intuitive navigator with a knack for visualising and analysing multiple courses in 3D
• Likes strong, cold (not iced) black coffee. Most of her crews got into the habit of brewing an extra-strong pot for Connie and letting it go cold.
• Interest in 20th century spaceflight. Her prized possessions were an original (probably last ever) paperback edition of Jim Lovell's "Lost Moon" from about 2030, and a reproduction of an Apollo program star-sighting device, both of which went missing with the Zun Yan.
• Packs a Colt. Used to belong to her predecessor as Captain of the IAV Tsinghai
• Left-handed, but shoots two-handed.
• Wears a very solid non-regulation issue mans watch, formerly property of the pilot of the IAV Tsinghai.
• Has a sometimes maddeningly photographic memory for chapter and verse of Alliance military regulations and laws.
• Afraid of heights.

Quotes

"I am, and always will be, loyal to the ideal and the concept that is the Alliance. And for the good of the Alliance, the good of that ideal, I have remained silent when perhaps I should not; I have asked others to refrain from actions that would damage the fragile peace we have here. I have willingly thrown away my career as an officer because things I could not countenance were being done in the name of what I believed in."

"Don't underestimate me. The last person who did that walked straight into a sniper bullet I'd set up for him."

Aftermath of a game of hoopball on the IAV Phoenix: "Hon, you're 3" taller than me, probably about 20lbs heavier than me, and I'd wager you can bench about 50lbs more than I can." She unties her hair, shakes the damp strands loose about her shoulders. "All I have going for me is age and low cunning."

Related NPCs

Commander Laura Parker Apparently a Commander in the Alliance Navy, but seems to have an unusual amount of influence for someone at that rank. Responsible for Connie's reinstatement in 2527, and possibly for arranging her rescuse as well.

Major Kerri Briggs Major in the Alliance Marines. Formerly bodyguard to Admiral (then Captain) Don Slayton, who was one of the other Captains privy to the events leading to Connie's court-martial. Is apparently now working for Laura Parker, and led the rescue of Connie after her kidnapping in 2527. Given the first time they spoke, she called Connie a traitor, Connie hit her, and Briggs didn't cite her for striking an Alliance officer, they get on remarkably well on the rare occasions they meet, if a little formally

Dr. Leigh-Anne Duckworth Formerly medical officer aboard the IAV Tsinghai, retired to practice gynaecology at the medical centre on Greenleaf, Coming up on retirement from that.

Lt. Commander Denise Taylor Formerly Connie's exec on the IAV Tsinghai. Transferred after Connie's court-martial to a Rim patrol vessel, now piloting a desk somewhere out of the way in the Core for the Alliance Navy. Rumoured to have a drink problem.