Jethro 3: No Place Like Home (83 page)

Deja:
former pirate slave helmsman. Selkie. Marine enlisted. Sergeant. Wants to be a shuttle pilot. Went through abbreviated training on San Diego with Hurranna before completing his training and returning to the Marines. Made it to Agnosta. Met up with a tribe of Selkies near the North Pole. Piloted Firefly as helmsman during their run to Antigua and return run back. Promoted to Staff Sergeant in Agnosta. Spent most of his time on duty on the bridge of Firefly however. Was offered a Warrant W-1 slot.

Kiara:
Neolioness, daughter of Nara and Simba, love interest of Kovu. Kovu has a reputation as a black sheep in the cat family, bad boy which makes him appealing to the girls. She was a new boot in training prior to the Antigua rescue. Since then she graduated and was assigned duty on Firefly as a newly-minted private.

Valenko's squad:

Valenko:
Ensign and then 2nd Lieutenant brown bear/grizzly. Has two daughters, both Marines. Estranged relationship with ex-wife/mate on Anvil. Promoted to 1st lieutenant after Antigua, a battlefield promotion. Later promoted to Captain after return to Pyrax from the battle of B101a1.

Jethro McLintock:
Corporal later Sergeant E-5, promoted to E-6 and frocked to E-7 Gunny Sergeant to deal with platoon on Firefly. E-7 rank confirmed by Admiral Irons. Neo Panther. Sniper, scout, DI. Descendant of Tobias McLintock, Federation Cadre. Father was an assassin killed on Firefly.

Ox:
Tauren engineer, heavy weapons, communications, and apprentice armorer. Lance Corporal- later Sergeant. Promoted to E-6 Staff Sergeant during Agnosta promotions.

Harley Quinn:
Neo hyena Private. Practical joker female. Rifleman. Went through F platoon with the core veterans of Valenko's Squad. Promoted to PFC in Antigua orbit, then frocked to Lance Corporal.

Sergei:
white Neoliger. Heavy weapons and explosives. Private-PFC during Antigua conflict. Promoted to Lance Corporal in Agnosta orbit.

Gusterson:
Medic, greyhound corpsman, Navy. Petty officer. Transferred to the San Diego Academy to teach basic first aid.

Pa'nash, “Panache”:
Veraxin female
,
shooter/communication's tech Private. Suffers mild PTSD after boarding actions during the pirate attack on Pyrax. A friend of Gunny Schultz. She bounced around various squads and took several medical leaves of absence before ending up on logistics. Gunny Schultz gave her a second chance. Handled herself well in Antigua. Promoted to PFC and then frocked to Lance Corporal for Firefly recon raid. Frocked promotion made permanent when the ship returned to Pyrax.

Asazi:
Former heavy world prize fighter. Amazon, has a healed broken nose and battered prize fighter face. PFC infantryman. Later promoted to Lance Corporal. She has an interest in Instructor training and became a junior DI with Jethro and some of the other members of the squad. Placed in stasis after losing a leg in Antigua. Passed promotions to Corporal.

Kovu:
Private, uppity neolion with a superiority chip on his shoulder. short black mane, normally would be scruffy. He out masses Jethro but was not as smart. Kovu has a reputation as a black sheep in the cat family, bad boy. Cousin to Leo. He has cougar genes, so he has a leaner frame and lacks a full mane. Kovu was demoted from Private to PFC to Private after disobeying orders to see his girlfriend Kiara. Junior assistant DI Infantry, spotter, and junior sniper.

PFC Clive Bret
: Blond, blue-eyed human. Quiet and reserved, no nonsense professional Marine. Married with a child on the way. Rifleman. Left behind in Agnosta.

Gunny Schultz:
Doberman, former DI of F platoon. Reassigned to lead DIs on Agnosta. Actual rank of E-9 First Sergeant but prefers to be called Gunny.

Letanga:
cousin to Jethro, Neoleopard. Sniper, Marine Private later advances to Corporal. Letganga moved on to another squad on Agnosta.

Hurranna:
Neolynx former member of F platoon and Valenko's squad from hell. Transferred to piloting duty on San Diego. Corporal. Moving up to E-5 Staff Sergeant when she encountered Valenko's squad. Moving to W-1 rank.

The 'Fonz' Private Fonzarelli:
Human male, rifleman/sniper black hair, he had a mullet and sideburns before joining up. He is friends with Kovu. KIA in Antigua.

Jethro's Squad:

PFC Dawn Anderson
: Human. Former boot under Jethro.

PFC Zal Clarke
: Human. Former boot under Jethro.

Private Kam Niven: Human
. Shooter. Former boot under Jethro.

Private Sieger Stasheff
: Human. Shooter. Former boot under Jethro.

Private Lief Asimov:
Human Shooter. Former boot under Jethro.

Spacer 3rd class Honor Weber
: Female Naval corpsman. Just graduated course. Quite, lovable. Expressive eyes, deep empathy. Short black pixy hair, tall.

Private Rigs
: Neo Coyote. Shooter. Former boot under Jethro. Distantly related to a famous Neo Pirate Don Karnage.

Private Jerry Lee XXXXXVII
: Neo Alsatian mix.

Lance corporal Za'vex
: Veraxin male. Professional, squared away. Former boot under Jethro.

Lance corporal Trina:
Neo domestic feline. Shooter. Does not like being touched or around people.

Corporal Or'og
: Gashg male. Professional consummate Marine. Squared away. Marked for accelerated promotion.

Others in the Pyrax system:

Captain J.G. Horatio Logan:
Former yeoman and enlisted petty officer prior to and during Xeno war. Sleeper, he was awoken over a century prior to the admiral and served as the Chief engineer of Anvil space station before the admiral's arrival. Currently the commanding officer of Pyrax. Recently promoted to Captain J.G.

Lieutenant Commander Junior Valdez:
Son of Senior Valdez, former tug pilot turned small craft pilot and later first fighter pilot in Pyrax. Promoted from 1st LT to LT Commander. He has matured greatly and is in charge of all pilots in the Pyrax system. (CAG)

Lieutenant J.G. Jessie Ball:
Cameo. Fortyish human female with a family. Computer programmer. AI core programmer under Lieutenant Veber.

System governor Paul Walker:
Elected governor of the system. Tall, rather good looking and charming. A corrupt politician. One of a group of people who conspired to remove the admiral from the system. Walker has a wife and children but goes through mistresses like a buzzsaw. Any who threaten him end up dead.

Mayor turned Lieutenant Governor Ralkin:
Political crony of the late Felica as well as Governor Walker. He was the mayor of Vesta when the Admiral was exiled. He took over the Lieutenant Governor and eventually the Governor's position.

Chico Lake:
CEO and leader of Lake Electronics. Backer of Governor Walker.

Robert Dean:
Owner of Dean aerospace. Civilian contractor and industrialist. Backer of Governor Walker.

Mister Edenver:
Investor and backer of Governor Walker.

Madra:
Investor and backer of Governor Walker. He has ties to the Horathians and the assassin's guild. He has ghost white skin and long black hair.

Commander Vargess:
Love interest of Captain Mayweather. Captain of the Nelson class destroyer Fuentes. Sleeper, former captain of a sublight militia gunship before transferring to the Navy. He and a group of young officer cadets he was sheparding to the Naval Academy were lost when their ship was caught by the Xenos and booby trapped. Admiral Irons and the crew of Firefly managed to rescue the sleepers. Commander Vargess is a loyal supporter of the admiral. He was promoted to full Commander by Admiral Irons after the battle of B101a1 but the orders and promotion have yet to have caught up with him since he and his ship are currently in Antigua.

Lieutenant Fuentes (AI):
ancient AI recovered and rebuilt prior to the admiral's departure. The ship AI at the time was a dumb AI of the Nelson class destroyer. It had only 1 of 3 cores and was partially insane. Fortunately the AI had been repaired and returned to service. Fuentes the ship is captained by Captain Vargess and was sent to Antigua to relieve Firefly.

Miss Persephone
: Asian human female. Dominatrix and assassin, head assassin of Pyrax in the Assassin's guild. She lost prestige and many clients when she went to Epsilon Triangula in an aborted attempt to kidnap Admiral Irons and return him to Pyrax. She took a lot of pleasure in her work. Killed on Anvil.

Crew of Firefly:

Captain J.G. Renee Mayweather:
Former XO of the Carib queen, a star yacht. Rose through the ranks quickly to become Captain of Firefly. Promoted to Commander after receiving a medal from Admiral Irons, then promoted again to Captain Junior Grade for her services in combat in B101a1.

Commander Shelby Logan XO:
Daughter of Horatio Logan, formerly his XO on Anvil, recruited as Chief engineer of Firefly before taking over the XO slot. Technically outranked Captain Mayweather by date of rank. She took prize command of the Arboth class Destroyer Xavier for the return journey. Then a long overdue promotion to full commander as she took command of the Cabeiri Zeta class tender Prometheus when it was completed.

Captain J.G. Firefly (AI):
Old AI core of the heavy cruiser Firefly. Technically while a Lieutenant Commander the AI had outranked both colloid commanding officers, but did not exercise command since his rank was mostly honorary. The AI put in for command track prior to Admiral Iron's departure from Pyrax and received a long overdue promotion to full Commander a few weeks before his exile. Admiral Irons promoted the AI to Captain J.G. after promoting Captain Mayweather, thus resolving their conflicted chain of command.

Lieutenant Commander Simon Dart:
New XO of Firefly. Human male. Stiff, uppity. Speaks with a British accent on occasion.

Personal history: He was briefly on Fuentes as a JTO before transferring to college for remedial classes. Did time in the Yard, rose to command own sector.

Brief transfer to San Diego before return to Annex in admin position, doubling as guest lecturer at war college. Transferred to Damocles as TACO during war games.

Rose to XO of Centurion before personality conflict with Naomi made her transfer him. She called and warned Mayweather about him.

He spent time as a gunship captain before Firefly returned. His ship was in dock for refit, he was transferred over to fill void. Came with promotion.

Janice Yu:
1st Lieutenant, helm and navigational officer. Former helmsman of the Carib Queen. Personal friend of the captain. Transferred to San Diego Academy to teach helm and hyper navigation after the departure of the Ssilli.

Purple Thorn:
1st Lieutenant Elf tactical officer. Also known as Guns, tac witch, and other things. She is the senior tactical officer on Firefly.

Chief Chowler:
1st Lieutenant. Promoted to Lieutenant Commander and transferred to the Yard after acting as a ship Captain of Columbian Express. Very good engineer.