Robert "Rodent" D'Souza
| Robert "Rodent" D'Souza | |
 | |
| Profile | |
| Origin | Edge Worlds, Crete |
| Affiliation | the Order |
| Rank | Rear Admiral |
| Born | 18th February 797 A.S , Planet Crete, Omicron Gamma |
| Died | 10th May,818 AS |
Robert "Rodent" D'Souza, Rear Admiral of the Order Primary Fleet, born 18th February 797 A.S , is a pilot of cretan origin who has joined the ranks of the the Order in order to combat the ever growing Nomad threat.
Origins
Robert D'Souza was born on 18th February to parents Rafael and Joanna D'Souza. He was their eldest son and heir, eight brothers and sisters came after him. The D'Souzas were a family of moderate repute in Crete's circles, so Robert could afford to get the best quality education which was to be had on Crete. This, in part is responsible for his rigid, but fluent English.
Life on Crete was tough and the concept of survival of the fittest was taken to the very extreme there. Robert was not the best in the various games that he played along with the other children, but he was good. His life at home was peaceful, the D'Souzas had enough money to live comfortably as per Cretan standards. He grew to be a polite lad, but with a stubborn streak.
At school, Robert showed a good aptitude for English and history, but little else. Overall, he was an average student until, at the age of 15, he took the test for determining flight talent in the youth. As he soared through the skies after taking down yet another simulated fighter, the observers knew that this was a prodigy fighter on their hands.
And so it followed that as a teen, Robert was picked up and sent to Crete's Academy for Fighter Training at the age of 15. His parents were proud of him, but also worried that this might lead to his undoing. He trained there for 3 years until he was adjudged as 'fit' for actual combat service by Leon Domingo, the head of the academy.
Service under the corsairs
He joined service under the 21st 'blue wings' of the 3rd battlegroup of the Corsairs. Starting off as a mere fighter pilot, he showed early promise by exemplary performance in the first few raids into the Omegas, culminating in a showdown, where alone and cut off from retreat, he managed to hold out against 5 Red Hessian sabres for 15 minutes until backup arrived. He was awarded a medal for performance.
He continued to serve under the navy of Crete for 1 more year, rising in rank and honor, before a series of incidents happened which led to him joining the Order.
The Order calls
Robert had had many opportunities to work with the Order, the Corsairs were allied to them, and on several occasions he had assisted them in various operations, usually related with research and occasionally catching the odd bounty hunter. He knew little of the Nomads until one fateful day.
On 15th October,815 AS, He along with the Red flame Squadron was escorting a shipment of nomad samples and artifacts to Toledo for research in the Order's labs. As they were passing through Omicron Kappa, the Nomads ambushed them. There were at least 20 of the blue fighters, flying around, ripping through the squadron as if it was nothing.
Robert cursed and tried to engage the nearest nomad, when unbidden, a vision came to him, he saw visions. Visions of his family, his mother and father standing together, and then they were killed. An image of Crete in flames, breaking off into a million pieces. He lost concentration, and in a short space of time, the blue ships ripped through his ship and only a timely ejection saved him.
The nomads would have captured him, but for a timely intervention by the Corsair cruiser Alesia and it's support. Robert was tractored in, but the memories of this incident haunted him, his first failure, the death of his comrades, the visions...
After a brief rest, he took to space again, but now his mind was not in pirating, looting, and killing, it rested on the nomads. What are they? Why are they hostile? They are so powerful!. After a brief time, he could bear it no longer, and alone, he flew to Toledo to gather more information.
Information he got, more than enough. What he saw frightened him. Apparently these aliens were sentient beings of enormous power, and they were completely hostile . He saw guile, cunning and stealth from the aliens in the footage that he saw.
The threat was clear to him now. Here was a deadly foe, intent on complete genocide of the human race, and It could very well do it, if not stopped. The decision was made.
He wrote 3 letters, one to the Order High Command, asking for admission into the ranks of the Order. The other was a resignation letter addressed to the Corsair Elders. The last was addressed to his parents.
His parents would be grieved, but he had made his decision. The following day, he got a letter saying that he had been accepted into the Order's ranks.
Initial service in the Order
Life in the Order was much different than on Crete. Firstly, Robert had to go through several physical, logical as well as reflexive tests.
He was issued a Nephthys class fighter, standard issue to start off with. It had several differences from the Titan he was used to, it was faster, but had lesser power. He also had to learn to contend with limited rations. The amount of food an average pilot got in the Order made Crete look like a food-house.
He was initially treated with suspicion by the other pilots, but it gradually gave way to respect. He made several friends over the course of time, including Mid Admiral Jack Osborne and the (Ex) Admiral Tovig Kelt. One could say that he chose his friends well.
Tragic Incident
One fine day, while Robert was out on a recon mission of Rheinland with the erstwhile Deviator, Jack Osborne and a few more pilots, when a misunderstanding with a bunch of Rheinland criminal wings led to Robert being separated from his wing, and fired upon. He lasted as long as he could, but his shields fell and a fateful shot hit his cockpit, crushing a part of it in, as well as his left arm.
Luckily for Robert, Jack Osborne came in to check why Robert was not responding, and saved his life from the thugs. his left arm, however, was crushed and mutilated beyond repair. The crew on the Deviator tended it as best they could until they reached Toledo, where his arm was replaced with a mechanical arm.
The drinking problem
This accident led to consequent phantom pains for Robert. There was little he could do about it, except take a regular dosage of drugs or drink regular amounts of alcohol in order to keep the pains off. The drugs came with side effects, which, curiously, reduced his effectiveness in battle, so he resorted to alcohol.
To date, he is the only pilot in the fleet who is allowed to drink alcohol on duty.
Admission into the primary fleet
Shortly after the incident which led to his arm being removed, the officers in charge of recruitment began to keep a close eye on him. He seemed to cope well, better than expected and he delivered the goods on several missions.
Robert however, was a dubious case, he had put in an application for the primary fleet, but the recruiters were suspicious of his corsair lineage, his temperament and his alcoholic tendency.
Despite all this,however, he was finally accepted into the primary fleet after a very successful raid in major, where many nomad fledglings were killed and samples obtained.
Service in the primary fleet
Upon admission into the primary fleet, Robert changed, becoming more strict and efficient, although he did not give up alcohol. He participated in several missions for the primary fleet, and led the fighter wing many times during battles. He was issued a bomber later for his good performance.
Killed in action in a large nomad attack on Omicron Minor, which Destroyed Toledo and the Isis.
Operation Slicing Snake
Robert's biggest achievement was the organization of a mass operation, codenamed Slicing snake. Under this, 3 recon groups were sent in different directions, Iota, Omicron 90, and the Sigmas. The plan was to conduct extensive recon and then to rendezvous in Omicron 90.
The operation was a complete success, no lives lost, a few wilde pilots and nomad samples were collected along the way by sigma group.
Character
Robert was known to be a stubborn, willful and intelligent man. He was not overfond of Outcasts like most Corsairs. He had a deep hate for the nomads, and mixed feelings towards the hunter guild core.
He was fond of all sorts of beer, but his own personal stack of Corsair drink is his favorite. He was known to be calm in pressure situations, and one to resort to the gun only as a last resort.
