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 Major Del Vard, The Longtooth Shifter * What did you do during the Galactic War and what have you been doing since? Unlike a lot of my brothers and sisters in arms, I was part of the Alliance Army before the Vular attacked. Growing up as a halfbreed, especially on Elan, wasn't easy. Yeah, we're legally protected from discrimination now, but... it's still there. You still have to fight for your place. And I wasn't as smart as my sister, or as charming as my brother. So I ended up in the army, and not out of love of Elan or the Alliance. It was just the best option at the time. Despite all that, I was good at it. There was structure. I went where I was told. Did my job. Not a lot of fighting back then. Got sent to defend a town against the local wildlife a few times, but usually it was rebuilding bridges or walls after some natural disaster. Or more accurately standing around watching other people build bridges and walls. Then suddenly we were all headed towards the front line. Everyone talking about the glory we were about to earn, while you could see the fear in our eyes. We were finally gonna get to put all that training to use. Weapons ready, dropships landing in formation, just like we'd practiced dozens of times before. But the reality of war is nothing like the real thing. Nothing trains you for trying to drown out the screams so you can hear the radio, the smell of laser burned flesh. But at the same time, no training prepares you for being in the right place at the right time. It could have been anyone, you know. I just happened to be assigned to one of the ballistic machine guns when the EMP went off. And one set high enough on the wall to let me shoot over my comrades directly into the enemy. And through sheer dumb luck, with line of sight to one of their ammo transports. So I got to save the day, be the big drat hero. Got my face on some posters, a couple of medals. The whole song and dance. Then they sent me back out there. Unfortunately, the Vular learned quickly, started carrying backup ballistic weapons and shielding their heavy laser turrets power supplies against EMP blasts. Only takes them a few seconds to come back up. That's how I lost my arm. Shoulda been an easy way out of the army, but they wanted me as a literal poster boy. And I wanted revenge. So they gave me a new arm and sent me back out. Again, and again. We won. We lost. Honestly, it all sort of blurs together. Until the Battle of Arrog Vol. It was my own fault. I'd started to buy into their hero worshipping bullshit. Thought I could hold the line by myself and still get out. I was wrong. So, that's how I ended up in Camp Kilset. They pulled the power supply from my arm, just left me with 40 pounds of dead weight. At first, I was still trying to be the hero. Looking for weaknesses in their guard rotations, trying to figure out how to sabotage the work we were doing. Until I saw how the camp commander, Dinoryn Kilset, worked. She knew how to break us. She was uncannily good at figuring out what it took to keep us in line. For my bunkmate, it was letting him see his wife once a week. For me, it was blowing his head off at morning roll call. I still don't know if he did something, or if she just wanted to see a man cry that day. So, I spent six and a half years of the war in that camp, keeping my head down, dragging around a dead rusted arm, assembling battery packs that were being used to kill Alliance soldiers. If I was smarter I would have left the army after being rescued. I thought about it. Took some time after they released me from the hospital, visited my family. An entire war later and they're still dealing with the same poo poo. At least here I've got my rank. * What reason do you think the OCI has for contacting you/how do you think they heard of you? Same reason the Army gave me a new arm and even more medals after getting back. Public Relations. A genuine Alliance hero, who stayed behind to protect his team during the Battle of Arrog Vol, a survivor of the prison camps. After all the poo poo that's happened, the Alliance wants some wins. * What made you accept the “offer”? A soldier follows orders. I was told to volunteer, so I volunteered. They made it pretty clear that's what they expected if I wanted to keep my shiny new arm and it's bag of tricks. After years without, I'm finally getting used to it. Plus, the thing where I can grab a beer from across the room is pretty cool. * What is your view of the Alliance? Honestly, I think it's pretty much all bullshit. A smiling face on top of the same old prejudices. But that's not what's important. I've seen the good and bad on both sides. There's plenty of racist shitbags in the Alliance. I also made friends with one of the camp guards. I mean, as much of a friend as you can be in that situation. I like to think I'd do the same if the situation was reversed. Who knows. The reality is you don't know what you're made of until you're pushed right up to that edge. Relentless fucked around with this message at 03:29 on Feb 7, 2021 |
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Jan 28, 2021 22:32
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| # ¿ Apr 16, 2024 05:51 |
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