01-07-2008, 06:59 PM
*Disclaimer*
- english not my first language, forgive the mistakes, corrections welcomed.
- I got carried away, excuse length ;)
*End*
David Tindell was born 32 years ago on New London, only son of Carl, an obscure bureaucrat striving to climb the amministrative ladder, and Sarah, an appraised marine biologist.
From his father young David learned to loathe the impenetrable network of petty titles and political clientelism that made up much of the governement. Her mother inspired him with her love for nature and respect for true science.
When David was 12, the whole family moved to Leeds as Carl took up a senior clerk job with Bowex, whereas Sarah was hired by CRI. Eventough Leeds was becoming as polluted as New London - mostly due to the reckless activities of BMM - some small areas were still untouched.
Thanks to Sarah's status, the Tindells had the chance to find accommodation on the Research Institute premises close to such an area.
For young David paradise was at hand; used to the close, concrete-grey suburban quartes of New London, the newly found haven soon became his favorite playground; the open air helped him to grow tall and fair. He began spending most of his time alone, near the pond at the center of the small reserve, watching the domesticated local wildlife striving to survive; he felt akin to the small animals and their pathetic situation, but when he tried to share his feelings he got scoffed at by most, only his parents showed some sympathy, especially Sarah.
He had never been a good student but now he began to neglect his studies, reports from his teachers were worrying; he also grew a tendency to introversion and was becoming uneasy in presence of others. He red plenty of novels and was often seen strolling along the pond with a book in his hands. His parents were concerned, but attributed the difficulties to puberty; as the years passed tough, they realized that their son was rather peculiar.
When David turned 18, barely having finished high school, he was unsure about what to do next. He was supposed to continue education, but his low marks and his lack of enthusiasm for an accademic career were not promising. He still felt like a round peg in a square hole, and was thorn between pleasing his parents and his aloofness from society and its values. Only his love for nature and literature kept him in balance.
His mother then tought to involve him in her work and that a period of leave would do him good.
At the time she had to commute from the Leeds CRI's lab to the Gaians' one twice a week, but the head office long wanted her to take the lead of a special project on Gaia, and that meant moving there at least for one year. The family discussed the issue at lenght and then resolved to do the following: Sarah was to take the job and David would accompany her; Carl would stay at home in Leeds and visit them from time to time. It had been no easy decision, but the professional benefits for Sarah would be considerable and David would have a chance to reason things out and maybe get interested by his mother's work.
They left few months after.
The new accomodation on Gaia was minimal but the tropical surroundings were breathtaking; the environment was still untamed, and tourism kept to a minimum. David felt immediately reinvigorated and began scouting around almost at once; he soon spent the whole day outside and very little time in the lab with his mother, but she didn't mind: she was happy for him; her only concern was to provide David with a game warden, as the beatiful wildlife had its dangers, and that included the poachers.
Tom - the warden - was close to retirement and was joyously infected by David's exitement;
he said that it felt like a second youth. They soon became close friends, in spite of their age difference, or maybe because of it. Tom used to be a fine sailor, and he taught David the art till the pupil equalled the teacher and even surpassed him.
David had a natural feeling for the elements and seemed to merge with wind and wave like a true sea creature: he had found his passion.
Unfortunatly it wasn't possible to make a living out of sailing, so his mother arranged for him to become Tom's apprentice and deputy, to take his place when he would retire. The head office gave its approval, as it meant that Sarah would extend her leave on Gaia.
The next 5 years passed quickly and happily for David.
While he was being instructed in his future profession he could also practice his sport; gradually he left simple coastal navigation to move to more gratifying open waters; he tought himself chartwork from basic to astronavigation, learned winds and tides as if he always knew them.
He had achieved the long forgotten terrestrial title of ocean master, but he didn't know it and wouldn't have cared; he could sail freely and that was all that counted. All that phisical activity had turned him in a self-confident, strong healthy young man.
Then the day came that Tom retired and David was officialiy appointed in his place.
The Tindells celebrated the occasion - his father had come too - with friends and colleagues. Tom, whose farewell cerimony had been held at the same time, took David aside to congratulate him personally and suggested to go for a last sail that very evening, in remembrance of the old days. The idea was to spend the night in a secluded cove not too far away.
They left at dusk; conditions were ideal: the tide was ebbing slowly, wind was fair and the biggest of Gaia's three moons started to show on the horizon. After having anchored they had dinner and then relaxed on the deck; the moons, now high in the sky, threw a soft light all around and masked all stars but the brightest.
They talked for hours but didn't feel sleepy, so after a while they decided to have a swim;
suits were not needed, the water was warm, but they took torches along as they would snorkle around a bit. There wasn't any danger: most of the underwater fauna would be asleep and the big predators safely away in deep water. As they floated contentedly near the reef, David noticed Tom's interest for a strange item on the shallow bottom; it looked like a small canister of some sort.
Suddenly realizing was it was, David tried to warn him, but it was too late: the handcrafted poachers'bomb exploded violently, killing Tom istantly. David's eardrums popped like paperbags, his last feelings of pain receding into oblivion.
The rescue party found David the next mornig, washed out on the shore, still unconscious.
It was a miracle that he had not drowned; Tom's corpse was never recovered. David passed two months in the Leeds ospital, healing from the injuries; the surgeons were able to restore his hearing to a certain extend, but he was declared incapable of work.
His life had shattered: he had lost his best friend and professional future in one cruel, devastating blow; he began to give in to depression.
Moreover, the Bretonian authorities and CRI covered up the incident, without even trying to find the culprits. Rumors had it that they actually incited poaching, as it was a valuable source of specimens.
David's resentment grew stronger and stronger, like a beast gnawing his soul, until he could stand it no longer: he had to avenge himself.
He silently bid farewell to his parents; he tought about sending them a hololetter, but was afraid it might compromise them.
He managed to breach spaceport security and to take hold of a light fighter - a cavalier - using counterfeit software to fly it. He returned to Gaia avoiding the tradelanes to stalk the poachers, he would hunt them down mercilessly. Flying a spacecratf in high density atmosphere proved tricky but feasible and he soon made his first kills.
It took little time for BAF to be alerted and to tighten the lock an Gaia's airspace.
In a confrontation with the Bretonian Forces David avoided being vaporized more by mere chance than skill and he had to flee; he had been identified and had become the hunted.
His knowledge of astronavigation proved now very helpful.
When he had studied the sky he had spotted an unknown object in the first quadrant; it was visible only in some instances - barely - and very faint, so that he tought it might be a figment of his immagination, but it had intrigued him and he had marked its coordinates.
Now, escaping from Gaia, his family and previous life behind him, banned from society, it seemed like the last hope; he set course for the ice cloud where the object seemed located. As he approached he readied for retreat or istant action. When he had come close enough for his basic scanner to identify the object, he saw to his amazement that it was a spacebase, so concieved as to be almost unnoticeable from the surroundig asteroids.
Still wonderstruck, before he tought about opening a comm channel, the radio squawked to life; David adjusted the controls and answered the questions. He was eventually allowed to land and so came to meet the most astonishing group of people he had ever known: the Gaians.
They seemed to known his recent hardships and were most sympathetic;
many had suffered similar misfortunes and were also against Bretonia authorities. Their views on ecology coincided with David's, so that he easily embraced their creed completely; he felt elated: he had found a new home.
After a probation period David was enrolled in one of the fighter wings.
He took the name of White.Squall and vowed allegiance to the Gaian's cause, that was now to be his own for the rest of his life.
- english not my first language, forgive the mistakes, corrections welcomed.
- I got carried away, excuse length ;)
*End*
David Tindell was born 32 years ago on New London, only son of Carl, an obscure bureaucrat striving to climb the amministrative ladder, and Sarah, an appraised marine biologist.
From his father young David learned to loathe the impenetrable network of petty titles and political clientelism that made up much of the governement. Her mother inspired him with her love for nature and respect for true science.
When David was 12, the whole family moved to Leeds as Carl took up a senior clerk job with Bowex, whereas Sarah was hired by CRI. Eventough Leeds was becoming as polluted as New London - mostly due to the reckless activities of BMM - some small areas were still untouched.
Thanks to Sarah's status, the Tindells had the chance to find accommodation on the Research Institute premises close to such an area.
For young David paradise was at hand; used to the close, concrete-grey suburban quartes of New London, the newly found haven soon became his favorite playground; the open air helped him to grow tall and fair. He began spending most of his time alone, near the pond at the center of the small reserve, watching the domesticated local wildlife striving to survive; he felt akin to the small animals and their pathetic situation, but when he tried to share his feelings he got scoffed at by most, only his parents showed some sympathy, especially Sarah.
He had never been a good student but now he began to neglect his studies, reports from his teachers were worrying; he also grew a tendency to introversion and was becoming uneasy in presence of others. He red plenty of novels and was often seen strolling along the pond with a book in his hands. His parents were concerned, but attributed the difficulties to puberty; as the years passed tough, they realized that their son was rather peculiar.
When David turned 18, barely having finished high school, he was unsure about what to do next. He was supposed to continue education, but his low marks and his lack of enthusiasm for an accademic career were not promising. He still felt like a round peg in a square hole, and was thorn between pleasing his parents and his aloofness from society and its values. Only his love for nature and literature kept him in balance.
His mother then tought to involve him in her work and that a period of leave would do him good.
At the time she had to commute from the Leeds CRI's lab to the Gaians' one twice a week, but the head office long wanted her to take the lead of a special project on Gaia, and that meant moving there at least for one year. The family discussed the issue at lenght and then resolved to do the following: Sarah was to take the job and David would accompany her; Carl would stay at home in Leeds and visit them from time to time. It had been no easy decision, but the professional benefits for Sarah would be considerable and David would have a chance to reason things out and maybe get interested by his mother's work.
They left few months after.
The new accomodation on Gaia was minimal but the tropical surroundings were breathtaking; the environment was still untamed, and tourism kept to a minimum. David felt immediately reinvigorated and began scouting around almost at once; he soon spent the whole day outside and very little time in the lab with his mother, but she didn't mind: she was happy for him; her only concern was to provide David with a game warden, as the beatiful wildlife had its dangers, and that included the poachers.
Tom - the warden - was close to retirement and was joyously infected by David's exitement;
he said that it felt like a second youth. They soon became close friends, in spite of their age difference, or maybe because of it. Tom used to be a fine sailor, and he taught David the art till the pupil equalled the teacher and even surpassed him.
David had a natural feeling for the elements and seemed to merge with wind and wave like a true sea creature: he had found his passion.
Unfortunatly it wasn't possible to make a living out of sailing, so his mother arranged for him to become Tom's apprentice and deputy, to take his place when he would retire. The head office gave its approval, as it meant that Sarah would extend her leave on Gaia.
The next 5 years passed quickly and happily for David.
While he was being instructed in his future profession he could also practice his sport; gradually he left simple coastal navigation to move to more gratifying open waters; he tought himself chartwork from basic to astronavigation, learned winds and tides as if he always knew them.
He had achieved the long forgotten terrestrial title of ocean master, but he didn't know it and wouldn't have cared; he could sail freely and that was all that counted. All that phisical activity had turned him in a self-confident, strong healthy young man.
Then the day came that Tom retired and David was officialiy appointed in his place.
The Tindells celebrated the occasion - his father had come too - with friends and colleagues. Tom, whose farewell cerimony had been held at the same time, took David aside to congratulate him personally and suggested to go for a last sail that very evening, in remembrance of the old days. The idea was to spend the night in a secluded cove not too far away.
They left at dusk; conditions were ideal: the tide was ebbing slowly, wind was fair and the biggest of Gaia's three moons started to show on the horizon. After having anchored they had dinner and then relaxed on the deck; the moons, now high in the sky, threw a soft light all around and masked all stars but the brightest.
They talked for hours but didn't feel sleepy, so after a while they decided to have a swim;
suits were not needed, the water was warm, but they took torches along as they would snorkle around a bit. There wasn't any danger: most of the underwater fauna would be asleep and the big predators safely away in deep water. As they floated contentedly near the reef, David noticed Tom's interest for a strange item on the shallow bottom; it looked like a small canister of some sort.
Suddenly realizing was it was, David tried to warn him, but it was too late: the handcrafted poachers'bomb exploded violently, killing Tom istantly. David's eardrums popped like paperbags, his last feelings of pain receding into oblivion.
The rescue party found David the next mornig, washed out on the shore, still unconscious.
It was a miracle that he had not drowned; Tom's corpse was never recovered. David passed two months in the Leeds ospital, healing from the injuries; the surgeons were able to restore his hearing to a certain extend, but he was declared incapable of work.
His life had shattered: he had lost his best friend and professional future in one cruel, devastating blow; he began to give in to depression.
Moreover, the Bretonian authorities and CRI covered up the incident, without even trying to find the culprits. Rumors had it that they actually incited poaching, as it was a valuable source of specimens.
David's resentment grew stronger and stronger, like a beast gnawing his soul, until he could stand it no longer: he had to avenge himself.
He silently bid farewell to his parents; he tought about sending them a hololetter, but was afraid it might compromise them.
He managed to breach spaceport security and to take hold of a light fighter - a cavalier - using counterfeit software to fly it. He returned to Gaia avoiding the tradelanes to stalk the poachers, he would hunt them down mercilessly. Flying a spacecratf in high density atmosphere proved tricky but feasible and he soon made his first kills.
It took little time for BAF to be alerted and to tighten the lock an Gaia's airspace.
In a confrontation with the Bretonian Forces David avoided being vaporized more by mere chance than skill and he had to flee; he had been identified and had become the hunted.
His knowledge of astronavigation proved now very helpful.
When he had studied the sky he had spotted an unknown object in the first quadrant; it was visible only in some instances - barely - and very faint, so that he tought it might be a figment of his immagination, but it had intrigued him and he had marked its coordinates.
Now, escaping from Gaia, his family and previous life behind him, banned from society, it seemed like the last hope; he set course for the ice cloud where the object seemed located. As he approached he readied for retreat or istant action. When he had come close enough for his basic scanner to identify the object, he saw to his amazement that it was a spacebase, so concieved as to be almost unnoticeable from the surroundig asteroids.
Still wonderstruck, before he tought about opening a comm channel, the radio squawked to life; David adjusted the controls and answered the questions. He was eventually allowed to land and so came to meet the most astonishing group of people he had ever known: the Gaians.
They seemed to known his recent hardships and were most sympathetic;
many had suffered similar misfortunes and were also against Bretonia authorities. Their views on ecology coincided with David's, so that he easily embraced their creed completely; he felt elated: he had found a new home.
After a probation period David was enrolled in one of the fighter wings.
He took the name of White.Squall and vowed allegiance to the Gaian's cause, that was now to be his own for the rest of his life.