Name: Captain Braxton T. Early
Age: 31
Position: Captain
Background: Braxton Thomas Early was born on Summerfair to a family of wealthy ranchers. He was a sickly child and a wimpy teenager and, consequently, he was often picked on by other kids and his brothers. For a while, he retreated into himself and supported the idea of independence – if only on his book shelf.
When his father passed away, Braxton was 23. The ranch passed to his oldest brother and from the moment he took over, Braxton knew that he could not live under the new management. As a young man, he left the family house and studied politics on Osirus, fancying himself to be the forerunner of a new generation of local administrators and planetary elects. However, he quickly came into conflict with the prevalent alliance-centered school of thought and, after several heated arguments with professors and students, he was kicked out.
In response, he tried to join the fiercely pro-independence militia of Shadow but could not pass the physical requirements tests. After a year adrift, he finally managed to get into space-arm of the militia where he rose up to Lieutenant of the reserve in a supply company, commanding an aging but sturdy Trans-U. It seemed like he had finally found his calling but fate and politics stepped in again. The Alliance decided to ‘centralize’ all fleet supply in their attempt to weaken the military position of the border planets and Braxton was given the choice to either serve under an alliance-appointed officer or receive his honorable discharge.
Now in his late twenties, Braxton was again adrift without a job or a purpose. The independence movement was stirring but no one was ready to raise men and ships for a fight, yet. And he was certainly unwilling to return to his family farm and live under his brother’s rule. In the end, he sold his share of his heritage to his brothers so that he could afford a place where he could finally be free:
A ship of his own.
Personality: Braxton likes to
talk about freedom, about equal chances and opportunities. After all, it all adds up in his political treatises and books. In the real world, the independence movement he supports is fighting not only for freedom but also for maintaining the rights and privileges of local landowners and gentry like himself. On Summerfair where he grew up, slavery was legal, commonplace and a major source of labor and wealth for the local landowners. Consequently, ‘Freedom’, for Braxton includes the notion of private property which needs to be protected from the greedy hand of the state. And ‘property’ in this case may well mean…people.
Braxton Early is a southern gentleman: He keeps his word, respects the ladies and treats his men and his crew well enough. But in a darker twist, as a victim of bullying himself, Braxton finds he enjoys exercising power over people who are
beneath him.
