Heart of a Patriot: Gadsen Route Gaiden

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jUho_LJbFfs
Questionnaire:

1: Who were you before you joined the Space Revolutionary Army

2: Why did you join the SRA?

3: What's your opinion of our fine General?

4: What do you hope to accomplish?

William Victor de Brightstar (The True Son of Wu)

A Turn of the Wheel

A Patriot's Heart

1: Who were you before you joined the Space Revolutionary Army?

• I was born the third son to Baron Humphries de Brightstar from the world of Piedmont, as such I was taught from an early age to make use of the opportunities presented to me but that ultimately what success I gained in life would be through my own skill and ability. I entered the Academy and unlike my brothers and ancestors choose a career in the staff officer track. There I came under the tutelage of Major General Hector Bermudez-Wu who taught me not only what it meant to be an officer and gentleman but also what loyalty and service to the Empire truly meant. Since then my life became roller coaster as I and Colonel (now General) Tahminah al-Lasalle (my former CO) became embroiled in the fight against the Dread Pirate Hrang and then the vast conspiracy to destroy the Phoenix Empire by the Jardins, Sebastien Phoenicia-zel-Zarya, the traitor Admiral Ellison Mugombe and to my horror Wu. After a hard struggle with several questionable actions, we won back the Empire and I was rewarded with a Guard commission, a new lover and lifted to the heights of Imperial power... But at too high a cost...
  

2: Why did you join the SRA?

• In the closing days of Wu's Rebellion/the Jardinist Invasion I was forced to confront my own comfort zone of what I thought of the Empire and those who ruled it. While I initially thought that I could succeed where the Old Man (Wu) failed by influencing change from within, I quickly discovered that power corrupts quickly as Tahminah and other companions from the Rebellion engaged in questionable actions. Still I pushed ahead, lying to myself more than anything, to do my best and reform the Empire. On a mission to win back Duchy of Vasudan my group was attacked by force of the SRA. There I first met Miss Gadsen who forced me to once again confront my beliefs and experiences in a way I never had... It was at that moment the defenses and barriers I put up broke down and realized I could not serve the Phoenix or its people as it is but that in this time of change and upheaval that I could carve out a better way.
  

3: What's your opinion of our fine General?

• Miss Gadsen is a monster who killed two million of my fellow citizens in an attempt to bring the Empire into a Civil War (which I prevented)... Yet I have also seen her act with charity and kindness to her people and those who stand with her, including myself. There is something to this young woman... Perhaps its natural charisma or perhaps its the power of her Ark but there is something to this strange green-haired woman that is... Compelling. She does appear to be interested in me for some reason. Miss Gadsen isn't the first monster I've worked with but perhaps, perhaps, I can reform her as I wish to reform the Empire... If the intelligence is correct we will need to work closely together.
  

4: What do you hope to accomplish?

• To succeed where the Old Man failed. It may seem silly to think that given that I have an even worst hand he did but he choose his allies poorly. The Jardin designs are different from the League's... A strong League just wants to be left alone and the Empire can easily expand elsewhere. I want to see a reformed, better, Empire led by just rulers with just laws where people respect the rights and obligations of those above and below their station and where there is true mobility. I believe Miss Gadsen will help me accomplish this if I help her.
  

Vannevar Kennedy

Age: 50s

Stats

• IQ: 6
• Wits: 6
• Charm: 3
• Cunning: 5
• Durability: 3
• Physical Action: 2

Skills

Court

Black Mail - 0

Horse Trading - 2

Chummy - 1

Bureaucracy - 5

Legal - 0

Speech Giving - 3

Plotting - 2

Military

Ship Command

Helmsmen - 0

Gunnery - 0

Leadership - 2

Squadron Command

Maneuver - 1

Formation - 1

Command - 1

Fleet Command

Maneuver - 4

Formation - 4

Command - 4

Judson Stoneman

Questionnaire:

1: Who were you before you joined the Space Revolutionary Army

Commodore in the joke that is our Navy, picked up my tabs and went back to my native soil to serve in the Farisburg National Guard. Wasn't any better there. Worst time of my damn life. So bad that I just dusted my hands of 'em altogether and says to myself, hang the lot of them. Went to a few friends, selling ships with guns - big ones - taught people to defend themselves if no-one else was gonna. Got my hands a little dirty with a few acquaintances I met along the way doing ourselves what no one else was gonna. Then the little lady came along and that was that.

2: Why did you join the SRA?

Had it up to my eyeballs with System's rights. Couldn't even put together a mission to clean out some hornet's nest, arguing over jurisdictions the whole damn time. Just sat and and watched pirates and reavers pick over the bones while state governments stalled over whiskey tariff.

3: What's your opinion of our fine General?

She's just a kid. The young shouldn't be fighting a war old folks should have won. But she's here and she's what we got.

4: What do you hope to accomplish?

We're going to go back to all the old worlds. We'll take 'em back and if the little lady has any say, we'll go to Luxor too. The foreigners started this, and by God we'll finish 'em.

Stats

• IQ: 4
• Wits: 4
• Charm: 4
• Cunning: 4
• Durability: 4
• Physical Action: 4

Skills

Court

Black Mail - 2

Horse Trading - 2

Chummy - 3

Bureaucracy - 2

Speech Giving - 3

Military

Ship Command

Helmsmen - 2

Gunnery - 2

Leadership - 2

Squadron Command

Maneuver - 2

Formation - 2

Command - 2

Fleet Command

Maneuver - 2

Formation - 2

Command - 2

Sidonia "Tearose" Terez

Better known by her former trade name, the dread pirate Tearose Tessa, Sidonia Terez was born and raised in the chaotic time and space left in the wake of the League's first, failed revolution where the only law was that the strong prevailed. Hence, she learned that strength, or the appearance of strength, trumped all other considerations. The reason she first became a pirate was to avoid predation and then to live free through firepower. Deep down however, she always knew that strength was not power. Eventually, she and her crew were pressed into Gadsen's Space Revolutionary Army through a combination of threat, charm and the promise of a full pardon.

Tearose Tessa doesn't like the idea of serving anybody (or at least just anybody) and is curious but distrustful of the general's intentions. If she turns into the bad sort of despot, then she'll have a front place in line to run her through.

She commands the pirate battlecruiser Flag of Freedom and its crew of seasoned pirates as well as the captured LaVi dreadnought Queen Elodie's Revenge. Now and again she will remark she is still searching for Someone.

Stats

• IQ: 1
• Wits: 5
• Charm: 1
• Cunning: 4
• Durability: 6
• Physical Action: 8

Court Skills

• Horse Trading: 4
• Chummy: 1
• Plotting: 4

Military Skills

• Helmsmen: 7
• Gunnery: 7
• Leadership: 7

Agatha Horton

Concept: The Terrible Old Lady

Some people can build things. Some can only destroy. A tragedy ensues when the second type desperately tries to be the first.

Agatha was born on one of the worlds in former League space, in process of slow fall into decay and technobarbarism, growing up on stories about better times and better ideals. As part of a set of peculiar and rather unfortunate circumstances, she inherited the command of a battleship - the Doom Eagle - before she even finished high school, at which point the young girl ditched education and set out aboard a battlewagon, trying to make things right and space safe once more.

As it turned out, however, not all problems can be solved by laser fire. Years turned into decades and eventually the girl turned into a woman, and then old lady, now in charge of an entire squadron - and, at some point, she realised that most of her friends were dead and they were not any closer to their actual goal than they started. All that she left was a trail of corpses in space, thousands upon thousands of dead... and it felt like all of it was for nothing.

Then, came Gadsen, and the Space Revolutionary Army, with their talk about reforming the League, restoring it to what it could - should - be. And in the smoldering embers of Agatha's heart, a new fire was lit. In the end, all she could do was kill people and sink ships. But perhaps - just perhaps - she would be able to help someone who can actually realise the dream of her youth.

1: Who were you before you joined the Space Revolutionary Army

The commander of a feared vigilante squadron in the lawless space, scourge of pirates and petty planetary tyrants. I have spent nearly my entire life in space and became something of an infamous Zero-G dog as a result, but over time, I realised that I wasn't really helping anyone. No matter how many pirates you kill, unless you deal with the underlying reasons for their existence, it will not solve anything. I grew sick of it, but what else could I do? Almost everyone I started this journey with was killed by it. I had to see it through to its end, for them if not for me.

2: Why did you join the SRA?

I want to leave a better legacy than a mountain of corpses. The League is sick, and the General is a better doctor than I.

3: What's your opinion of our fine General?

She's still young, but she has the right kind of fire in her. The kind of fire that can cleanse the League, not just burn it all to ashes. She gave me hope, and in return, I will kill for her, until I no longer have to.

4: What do you hope to accomplish?

Help build a League that can once more stand proud alongside the two powers that now use it like a chewtoy, and reclaim the space that it has once lost. When I die, I want to leave a peaceful nation behind, the kind that really has no need for people like me.

Stats

• IQ: 4
• Wits: 4
• Charm: 4
• Cunning: 1
• Durability: 5
• Physical Action: 6

Skills

Court

Black Mail - 0

Horse Trading - 1

Chummy - 3

Bureaucracy - 0

Legal - 0

Speech Giving - 2

Plotting - 1

Military

Ship Command

Helmsmen - 2

Gunnery - 3

Leadership - 3

Squadron Command

Maneuver - 5

Formation - 5

Command - 5

Fleet Command

Maneuver - 0

Formation - 0

Command - 0

"Tex" Vandellen

1: Who were you before you joined the Space Revolutionary Army

I am a senior agent in the SIA with numerous operations against pirates, the Imperialists, and le Jardin. Sometimes I find information that saves lives, other times I kill the ones that need killing.

2: Why did you join the SRA?

Because they gave me a chance to pay Ventris back for killing my team, and they might keep the League from being a damn joke.

3: What's your opinion of our fine General?

She seems like a good sort, but I wonder about her. She's not a normal human anymore - is she going to try and make us a fake republic like the Jardin, with herself as president for eternal life?

4: What do you hope to accomplish?

Make the League something to respect, actually able to defend itself. There has to be an option beside tyranny and anarchy.

Stat block

Smarts

IQ 5

Wits 5

Social

Charm 4

Cunning 4

Strength:

Durability 2

Physical Action 4

Court Skills

Black Mail 4

Horse Trading 2

Chummy 5

Bureaucracy 4

Legal 4

Speech Giving 1

Plotting 7

Military Skills

Ship Command

Helmsmen 2

Gunnery 2

Leadership 1

Squadron Command

Maneuver

Formation

Command

Fleet Command

Maneuver

Formation

Command