Post by Tyler Tremaine on Jul 16, 2013 12:19:44 GMT -5
Tyler James Tremaine
[/sup][/ul][/center]The Basics
Full Name: Tyler James Tremaine
Call sign: Griffon
Nickname(s)/Alias(es): Ty, T.J.
Gender: Male
Sexual Orientation: Heterosexual
Age: 37
Birthday: 8th/January/1966
Birthplace: Caprica
Occupation: Viper Pilot
Rank/Title: Lieutenant
Physical Appearance
Height: Five Feet, Seven Inches (5'7")
Weight: 173 Lbs.
Build: Lean
Hair: Brown, though it is tipped if supplies can be drummed up. It's also generally messed up if he's not in formation, or reporting. This is partly due to helmets, and partially due to his penchant for breaking rules he believes are stupid. So facial hair is almost always stubble, and his hair will be found in a continual state of disarray, and be a subject of bickering between him and his direct superior. If the big man comes down, you can look to see him slicking back...
Eye Color: Brown
Distinguishing Marks: Ty has a few scars, and several tattoos from his early years before the military. Since his joining, he has acquired neither.
Possessions, Equipment, Belongings: Civilian clothes on a minimum basis. Four pairs of jeans, several t-shirts, a pair of running shoes, and some nice dress shoes. He also has one very nice suit, for formal occasions that he doesn't wear dress grays to. Tyler also keeps a butterfly knife with him, a self bought birthday gift, that is very sharp, but otherwise is more or less a solution to boredom.
Other: Tyler does smoke, but only socially, or when drinking. It's not something he can't live without.
Play- By: Stephan Dorff
Friends, Family, and Other Relationships
Mother: Jenna Tremaine
Father: James Shefford
Siblings: n/a
Significant Other: n/a
Children: n/a
Other Notable Persons: Sidney Bainbridge
Personality
Likes:
- Triad, when he wins.
- Finding that one pointless rule and breaking it continuously to prove a point.
- The moment before he launches.
- An empty firing range.
- Blonde haired women (does it get any better?)
Dislikes:
- Getting fired/demoted/transferred, Tyler doesn't want to be a failure.
- Unwarranted acts of attrition, be it cylons, or typical bullies.
- Being dismissed or forgotten.
- Old tech.
- Being the last in the chow line.
Fears:
Strengths:
- Pilot. Tyler is an excellent pilot, has fantastic reflexes, quick calculations, and superior hand-eye coordination. Couple his natural talent with a genuine desire to fly, and competitive personality to win, and he is one dangerous fighter pilot.
- Shooting. Ty always had a fascination with firearms, though his job dictated little use of them. Despite that, he does occasion the range for the pure pleasure of firing, and on leave, he goes out to fields where he can cut up with some bullets. So whether he needs it or not, Ty is an excellent marksman, and retains a steady hand.
- Boxing as a sport is something Ty excels at, but only in passing. He's no martial artist, or heavyweight, but he has endurance, and a strong will to win. And also, a mean right hook.
- Investigation. Ty loves solving puzzles and connecting dots, so a good mystery novel, or conspiracy novel will hold his attention for weeks(typically takes him a while to read a book, as he reads slowly when it is for enjoyment. All the stopping to imagine the scene, and interruptions). This like carries over to his job in things like Viper maintenance (troubleshooting with the chief of the deck), solving issues with personnel (personal qualms between co-workers/fellow soldiers), and he is attracted to mysterious problems. So if something is aloof, Ty might find himself caught up in it by pure curiosity, and while that has served him plenty as a strength, it has on occasion, been a problem as well.
- Handling Pressure. Deadlines and short spans to work in are no problem for Tyler, as he enjoys the rush of working quickly, and the satisfaction of completing goals that others could not/didn't have time to. He will help people who are in genuine need of it, if it means meeting a deadline on time. Tyler is nearly always finished with his work ahead of schedule, and will not tolerate anything but prompt, punctual dependability. Starting first and foremost, with himself.
Weaknesses:
- Social environments. He had friends, but thats not to say that Ty got to spend tons of time with them. When he was in school, his parent's excellent ability to fail at life kept him pretty busy, and he spent more time with adults than those his own age. This sort of made Ty a dependable worker, as he became task oriented, but it served him poorly later in life. For instance, the second weakness.
- Drinking. When Ty drinks, it is usually for the goal of becoming plastered. It's just part of his personality that he does things to a purpose, and it doesn't go well here. I mean, that was fine when he lived in Delphi, but on a Battlestar, where you're on call all the time, drinking heavily is not such a good thing.
- Waiting. Ty hates lines, and being stuck in one place for any length of time. You might not understand the reason I thought it worth mentioning in his broad personality. But the military is all about Hurry up and wait, and Ty struggles with this badly. He hates being stagnant, and becomes irritable when his job dictates it. This does not apply to things like CAP or other patrols, as that is the job he's doing. But waiting on a medical line, the chow line, long boring speeches in formation pertaining to crap he already knew... junk like that. If you're stuck next to him in these situations, prepare to hear some unnecessary complaining.
- Training people that are already suppose to know their jobs. This could just break down to "Dealing with lazy people" honestly. But it really comes to a head when Ty feels like he is doing his job, and his team mates, on the basis that his team mate doesn't know what they are doing, even though they were trained like everybody else. To Tyler, that kind of crap just screams lazy, and that is a no-go.
- Ejecting in atmosphere. That's a long, long... long... looong way down. Ty already doesn't cope well with being overly high in the air, but freefalling takes it to the level of panic. Space walking (or weightlessness) is fine. He still maintains a level of control, but freefall, not so much. It's not something he won't do, obviously. I mean "Bail or Die" is pretty cut and dry... but no matter how much he prepares for a training fall, he still needs to use the bathroom right before it's time...
Aspirations:
General Personality:
The Backstory
History: Have you ever seen someone and thought, "Man, that guy was just born to do that!" For instance Leonard Pikes who plays professional Pyramid for the Tauron Bulls. Six foot four, two hundred twenty pounds of muscle, and shoots lasers from between the pyres. Guy can roll two feet either way, bulldoze anyone and shoot across court from the air. We all know the story, he grew up on Tauron, stood above the heads of his peers, dominated in college and was drafted in the first round. Born to do this.
Tyler was born to be a fighter pilot.
You know what I mean, born of Caprica to just the right concoction of parental misguidance, and left in the perfect situation to jump in with both feet. I'm getting ahead of myself. Let's go back to the beginning.
Tyler's parents met on vacation on Aquaria and Ty was conceived out of wedlock. So Jenna and James did what any responsible, idiotic youth would do, they got married. Both were from Caprica, and they moved in together at James' home in Delphi and lived there together in marital unbliss until Tyler was three years old. Three years two months and six days if you want to be precise. And that's when they got the divorce. Now, say what you want about his parents, but they actually got along fine after they separated. It was an uncontested divorce, and while Jenna was awarded sole and complete custody of Tyler, James actually raised him for the most part. Jenna was a career soldier, and remains so to this day. Sergeant Major in the marines if you're interested.
Jenna remarried three more times, and divorced three more times, as a soldier's life, especially one who jumps as her career dictates, makes life pretty hard on a partner who has a job, and a family. Throughout the majority of her career, Jenna made arrangements for Tyler to stay with James and his wife Cassiopeia. Cass and James met prior to James' divorce, and one might say she was the reason, but Jenna was just as disloyal, making the Sheffords one big happy family. James and Jenna never lost their initial lust for each other, and continue to use Tyler as an excuse to meet each other frequently, and to taste better days. And that is Caprican love. Nothing like it.
Now, Cass helped shape Tyler's future too, as she was the one who helped land James his dream job. And by "dream" I of course mean "well paying". Cassiopeia's father is Collen Rawl of Jenning and Rawl. The company that the Colonial government subcontracts to program DECM(Defensive Electronic Countermeasure) Protocols for the Viper Mark VIIs, and they have been working in that license for three decades. James was brought on in an entry level position, and by his own ability, and the aid of being the boss's son-in-law, he climbed the corporate ladder. We'll come back to this.
Tyler grew up with his mother and father very much in his life. Though they weren't married, they constantly saw one another, and cheated on their spouses with each other regularly, and as such, Tyler played the fence. You might come under the impression that he was a spoiled rich kid, who learned how to get what he wanted through parental negotiation. Well... you're not wrong. Don't get it twisted, Jenna and James actually taught Tyler a lot of solid morals, duty, honor, respect, diligence, passion, determination and humility. However, dependency was something they did not pass on very well. You might forgive Ty for coming to the conclusion, that marriages were for the Gemenise...
I'm getting sidetracked, back to his start. Let's skip ahead to his teens, when James became Director of Precision Electronic Warfare (PREW), and his weeks turned into sleeplessness. Tyler, who loved tagging along with his dad, spent many a school break in the R&D outskirts, playing in flight simulator pods. Ty's school operated on a year round schedule that was designed to eliminate kids forgetting their academic advancements. A byproduct of that schedule, was tons of smaller breaks instead of one long summer. Cass was what you might call a "trophy wife" and not much of a mother, and Tyler used his typical leverage to go to his father and grandfather's office with every spare chance.
And as such, he spent an exorbitant amount of time in flight simulators all throughout his youth, learning things that most children just never dreamt of. His father didn't have time to care, his grandfather thought it was a fun way to spend one's childhood, and since it kept Tyler out of the typical teenage trouble, he allowed it. Jenna was on back-to-back tours during that era, and she went with whatever Collen dictated, as he was always successful. So Tyler lived on in a computerized war with pirates, and rebels, and Cylons. A never ending virtual war. Until he was seventeen. Now, Tyler's family put him into school a year early, so he ended up graduating at seventeen. His grandfather, Collen Rawl, took it upon himself to take advantage of Tyler's innate ability to fly, as after years of playing with the simulator, he'd become overtly familiar with the Viper Mark V, which as you may know, was slightly illegal. Still, legal or not, having a wild natural pilot for test screening was an asset that many companies like Jenning and Rawl paid very good money for. And Collen hired Tyler on with some pressure.
The fact was, Tyler wanted to go to Fleet, he did love Vipers, and had a head for flight, and knew enough to have a strong advantage over many of his would-be peers. But he was also a rich kid, who needed help from his parents. And Jenna, who was not stupid, and James, who was very proud to have Ty join the team, both heavily fought for him to take the job. Tyler took the job in the end as it was what his entire family wanted, but he refused to sign a contract longer than four years, and made it clear, that he would join the fleet after that. Obviously, this pleased Collen, and the deal was made without question, and at seventeen years old, Tyler signed a contract with Jenning and Rawl in 1983 to be a test pilot for the Precision Electronic Warfare Department. If your paying any attention at all, that's a defense contract for the government, to hire a seventeen year old straight out of primary... not strictly legal. Let's hear it for Caprican diplomacy, nothing like it.
Tyler lived in Delphi where his father's first house was, and rented the old house as his first home. He shared it with three roommates, and spent the next four years balancing between the classes he had to take for his grandfather, having an unaverage social life with both co-workers and teenagers he knew from school, and working a fifty hour regular job as a Electronic Warfare Consultant and Advanced Countermeasure Research Technician. Not exactly the summer job his roommates had.
Tyler spent fifty hours a week in either simulators, or the real seats of Mark V Vipers evading guidance lock, and tracking missile lock. His job was to give the guidance systems a run for their money, and force the R&D department to fine tune their calculations and programs to the cutting edge. So the better he did, the better the company would become. Tyler wasn't the only one doing this, there were many "Mice" (the pet name for the position, the missile tracking system being the "Cat". Kudos for figuring that out on your own...) in the department he worked in, but T.J. managed to stay within the top five percent in simulators, and top twenty percent in the real seat. Now, I would note that Tyler didn't actually fly until he was sixteen, nearly seventeen, because he couldn't physically handle the Gee forces, and the height restraints. Once he could though, he bucked for every opportunity.
Time passed quickly for him during this time in his life, despite what people might think. His job was interesting, and enjoyable, but it wasn't the real thing, and it was only defensive. Tyler learned many true combat maneuvers from ex-military pilots who were his fellow co-workers, amongst them was Mato Dukovac who racked up forty four confirmed kills over the course of two hundred and seventy two missions, in ten years of service. Dukovac often told Collen privately that Tyler was the most competent fighter pilot he'd seen since the Cylon War. Of course, all of the ex-pilots contracted were aces, and none of them had been shot down, or otherwise lost a bird, but Mato made it his personal goal to help T.J. become the best he could be. Many of the tactics Ty would go on to use throughout his life as a Viper Ace started in the break room of the CRT department, handed down to him by watching an old man fly two hands at each other, and banking in complex ways to always keep your pursuit in view.
When Ty finished his contract, Collen offered him an extension, but Tyler politely declined. Collen did not fight him on this, but he also didn't make the offer a second time. Ty was content though, and joined the Colonial Fleet in 1987 with his entire family's blessing. Both extended and close. Tyler went to the Fleet Academy on Caprica in 87, and graduated at the rank of Ensign in 1991, with a BAS in Aerospace Engineering. After his Academy years were complete, Tyler was declared fit for duty, and served with the Ground Naval Base (GNB) Torrential for the remainder of that year while completing his flight school. He earned the callsign "Zero Bingo" for running his Viper's tanks until they were dry and continuously requesting en flight refuels. Not to get too far off subject, but while he was never granted this request, it was a running joke between himself, and the LSO. Tyler completed his school on time a year later. He was assigned his first fleet duty station on the Battlestar Triton in 1992, where he was settled into the Reaper Squadron lead by newly decorated and promoted Captain Sidney Alexander Bainbridge. Bainbridge and Tremaine became fast friends in short time, and Tyler began to show Sidney all he had learned during his time at J&R. In return, Sid began to heap opportunities on Ty and chances to earn his place in the squadron. Tyler did not disappoint.
Vindicator Class Battlestar Triton
Keeping Hades Busy
Life on the Triton was altogether fast paced, and the destructive duo served more patrols than CAP duties, spending nearly all free time either competing for skill, or speed. But that was only on the outside looking in. In truth Tyler and Sidney, or Razor and his newly re-dubbed Griffon were as by the books as you could want. They shared the desire to keep constant communications between themselves, preferring to attack scenarios as a team, rather than the standard Ace-want-to-be who would leave their wingman, or force their number two into a hazardous position, to gain superiority over the enemy. Not an uncommon practice, but not a healthy one either. Sidney and Tyler instead worked together against enemy birds, forcing the adversary to separate to flank. Griffon would often allow the lead to lock onto him while the decoy was left open to Razor, and ultimately, Griffon's dangerous tactics paid off, as Sydney had an undeniable ability to bite down on his prey's tail, and not let go till he'd filled the bird with lead. Griffon poetically, was untouchable, and would lead his quarry in a ruminating game of cat and mouse, ever leading his quarry to Sidney's guns. It was an effective match.
Communication was the key here, as I said. The two were goal oriented when it came to flying, and often tried things that no other would try such as their patented rolling head on passes, or Tyler's flash flare blinder, while Sidney would fire mere feet across his bow, to devastate their prey. Trust, communication, and skill allowed them to do things that others only talked about in advanced classes. And they did this in less than six months. It was a fast earned bond of friendship. Their antics also attracted heat from command. Tyler enjoyed scrambling coded burst transmissions to Sidney, which is still against regs, and was back in '92 as well. The Battlestars could decipher them, but not for fifty two seconds, and that too, was time tested. They never actually had a coded burst decrypted by the Triton, as Tyler, through careful and strenuous research, found out about the time delay, and made it a habit to never exceed the limit. Their conversations never lasted longer than forty seconds...
It is worth mentioning that it was Sidney who renamed his wingman's call sign from "Zero Bingo" to "Griffon" as he said that Tyler was a guardian. This was an internal reference to Ty's yearning to intercept missiles from Sidney's six, and shrug them off without dispensing flares. Only in simulation of course. They also preformed well because of Sidney's recognition of his wingman's ability to engage as effectively as his own. So seeing them switch roles in combat as the situation dictated was not unheard of at all.
Griffon: (CC)
Razor: "Fraker is cutting to my side. You take him"
Griffon: (CC) ... "Engaging contact"
Razor: "Copy, disengaging"
Griffon: "Shot lost disengaging"
Razor: (CC) ... "Engaging target head south" (target follows)
Griffon: (CC)
Razor: "Hooked him... That's enough, flip it, and let's pancake this Fraker" ... "Got him"
Griffon: "Congratulations I hit him too"[/ul]
*(CC): Means "Roger" or "Will Comply" In order to keep down radio traffic, many Viper pilots would just chin click their comms twice to indicate the affirmative. Hence "Click Click" or CC.
Thanks to Sidney's tactical genius in leadership, and Tyler's being full of Ace advice from working with them for four years, and soaking it all in, the two were quickly renowned as the most unrelenting team on the Triton. As such, Sidney began to write his own ticket with the CAG, and the two punched in all the extra hours they could in wargames, and in combat patrols. They didn't only hand off roles well together, as well as traditional wingman maneuvers, such as Razor covering the lead, and navigation, while Griffon handled their six and bogey scanning, they also played dirty. Griffon fell in love with Sidney's favorite offensive strategy which left little room for defense, in favor of horrifying offense. They would hunt down ace's wingman first, and either scuttle them, or cut them off. Then with the lead exposed, they would attack in tandem, collapsing upon the lone fighter. Or Sid would order offensive splits, or hi/low splits straight at the targets, eliminating one on the first pass (sometimes both) effectively allowing either Sid or Ty to take chase, while the other was the bait. Another favorite tactic was to have Griffon 'lead' the bogey to slow, by banking away sharply, and continually reducing speed. Once they hit the minimum combat threshold, Ty would gun it in a openly communicated vector, leading the cat into Razor's edge (bullets, stay with me here...).
I could go on and on about this for days... But you understand. Sidney always had a plan. He believed in an old saying: "Be prepared."
Their first combat team success was in December of '92 when the Triton was assigned to patrol the Planetary defense of Aerilon while the transfer of war criminal's was in effect. The mission was tainted by terrorist/pirates (both factions claimed the attack independently though neither were confirmed) and Sidney had his squadron flying Top Cover for the transports. Reaper Squadron was only tasked to patrol the outermost atmosphere, as his team hadn't yet been trained on intra-atmosphere combat tactics, but this was not a time to play it safe. Razor elected to detach from his squadron at Griffon's extensive persuading, and the two attacked the enemy from above. Razor scuttled one bogey, and bent another, while Griffon bent a third, but both of those pilots bailed out in high altitude deploying chutes. The pilot's were not recovered by ground forces, despite being tagged by Reaper lead. When command called in all clear, Ty and Sid turned back to their squadron, when a fighter came out of the clouds and in soupy DRADIS. He attacked Griffon's Viper first, firing a missile from Ty's six, and Tyler led it away from Sidney. Tyler led the missile into the atmosphere, and evaded it through high speed maneuver banking and splashed it with cannon fire. Razor and the bogey were locked circling each other for superiority, but when Griffon returned, the bogey disengaged, and jumped out of combat. This was the first multi-role fighter Tyler had ever encountered.
In 1993 the pair were part of a search and rescue mission that took them across the system to the remote asteroid cluster, The Visiauge Hole. A civilian ship was supposedly attacked by pirates, and it would be their second actual career engagement as a team. The mission was to find the stranded civilian ship, the Karaya, amid the cluster, and then hold position while the Triton came in and collected it, then return home. The first few hours were bad enough, as Tyler quickly realized that Command was sandbagging the mission. The duo were the only ones actually in the black actively looking for the Karaya, and no raptor support was initiated. The two later recounted discussing whether or not their commander even believed the civilians were even still alive. On the fourth hour of the search, after a refuel in the black, Tyler started to get bored. And as anyone knew, a bored Tyler was a mischievous Tyler.
Sid gave Ty permission to increase his speed and burn up some fuel, hoping to end the mission faster, as neither believed the civilians were still alive. The distress call had gone out seven hours prior, and what respectable adversary couldn't wash a bird in seven hours? Ty and Sid confirmed to each other quietly, that they were just here for the military to say that they "Did something".
I will take a moment here to once again note that Sidney and Tyler often communicated via wireless on a encrypted line which by military standard, is illegal. Technically it falls under the span of "Off Log Calls" and though it is not a severe crime, the commander has the authority to write the sentence. Punishable up to, but not limited to (For Viper Pilots); extra duties, revoked flight status, time in brig and in some extreme cases, even court martial leading to loss of pay and/or loss of rank. If the call pertained to treasonous chatter, the punishment is death by firing squad. Tyler still scrambled calls, and the CIC had seen this for over a year, and had yet to break the cypher that they used, as they never used it for more than a minute. Tyler was penalized twice for this behavior, but in both cases, only extra duties were assigned as punishment, as Sidney was who he was talking too, and Sid had this sort of... blessed career. The point here is, they did this often, throughout their knowing each other. Back to the Karaya.
The following is an excerpt from the file pertaining to this mission. All information from here on is classified above top secret:
Tyler and Sid broke formation to have a little 'race' around a large asteroid, and upon the other side, they found their wayward civilians, and several bogeys. Sidney called it in and engaged, Tyler screaming in at point blank range with a strafing run and leading them back to Sid. The pair mixed a dogfight for six minutes, ending the chase by a head on pass, where Sidney fired only four feet from Tyler's hull, blasting the bogey through the pass. Tyler later said that while some teams would never attempt such risky maneuvers, he never hesitated. Sidney splashed two birds, and Tyler claimed one in that encounter, then the two moved on to the civilian ship. When they were in position to intercept the Karaya, the Triton's radiological alarm sounded, revealing that the Karaya had an active nuke onboard. Tyler offered this during the recounting;[/color][/ul]
The ship kicked on its FTL(Faster Than Light) drives, and began the slow process of jumping away. The pair were instructed to destroy the Karaya on the spot, but they argued stating that it was a civilian ship, and Razor issued command authority to belay the order. The Triton commander gave them five minutes to do what they could, intending for them to talk to the Karaya and then later destroy it. Tyler took the broad order, and ran with it, flying into the ship and boarding. Sidney backed his partner, and the two infiltrated, killing five terrorists once they breached, and locating the warhead. The two had been trained on Nuclear weapons, and how to disarm them and while Sidney called it in, Tyler did in fact disarm the warhead.
The warhead itself was the problem. Not that it was there in the first place, although that certainly did command attention, but that it was of Colonial Fleet service. It was one of the Fleet's warheads.
At this time, another Battlestar (Designation classified through another report) intercepted the transmission and encrypted it. They instructed Bainbridge to rearm the warhead, and release the vessel, allowing it to resume jump prep. Razor and Griffon argued briefly and disparagingly over this development. In the end, Razor retrieved the "GO CODES" and Tyler himself, activated the warhead. The team retreated from the Vessel noting over seventy civilians onboard, and nine sleepers who stood as they retreated. Not one of the sleepers attempted to engage. One escorted them to the airlock, and cycled it shut behind, waiting for the Vipers to clear the launch bay before continuing. The terrorist groups was part of the (Classified through another report) Sec Con Project. They were not terrorists, but Colonial forces. Upon return to the Triton, the mission was wiped from the log books, and deemed classified. Razor received high marks and a commendation from the experience, and Tyler also received a commendation. This one event would haunt him for the rest of his life, as it opened his eyes to what the "Protectors of the Fleet" were willing to do.
This sanctioned government mission was directly tied to the Titan Project, and after the Kayara Disaster in the Picon orbit, resulting in the deaths of over twenty three hundred civilians and the complete destruction of the Neperata Space Station, the Quorum fully funded the Titan Project.[/blockquote]
In February of 1993 Tyler was promoted to Lieutenant Junior Grade, aboard the Triton, his mother was aboard for the awards ceremony, his father was not. Tyler did not hold a grudge, such was life. In 94 a few things happened on the Triton scene. Tyler learned more than he ever had about Viper flight and mechanics, and began to take more of an interest than when he had been in school, which is actually saying something considering. Also, just to note some personal moments, he lost a bet that would result in his head being shaved and the nickname, "Glabrous Griff" was appointed. He also made his three day debut in the brig, for performing a flyby of the observation deck of the Triton in lieu of said bet. More importantly though, Tremaine began training in earnest with more regimented superiority tactics back over Caprica during the midyear bi-annual training in ‘94. Tremaine also achieved Expert Marksman rank two months after that, in a two week op drill near Virmire. The real meat of ‘94 however was in October, when the Triton was reassigned to the Sagittaron during the start of the Sagittarion Rebellion. But more on that in a minute.
Lieutenant Tremaine completed fighter pilot training with the 39th Battle Group, based at Grand Central Air Terminal on Caprica. His initial Mark IV training at GCAT was followed by transition training to the Mark V in its advanced variant. After gunnery training in the first half of August 1994, he was assigned to Viper Strike Fighter(VSF) phase training at Caprica's advanced training facility outside of Toradesh thanks to high merits and recommendations from Bainbridge, though the Sagittarian Rebellion would postpone that until late ‘95.
Also in early 1994 he became part of the squadron assigned to build up the newly activated 12th Fighter Squadron and its parent 39th Fighter Group. Sidney Bainbridge led the Squadron at this time, retaining his earlier squadron title, the Reapers. Tremaine logged 650 hours of flying time during training, including 250 hours in the Mark VI, as the 39th built its proficiency as a combat group. It departed the Toradesh area on April 15 for The Battlestar Triton.
The 39th began combat operations on October 6, flying bomber escort missions and attacking transportation targets in occupied Sagittaron. Tremaine's crew chief said that he showed an immediate interest in aircraft maintenance and learned emergency servicing under his tutelage. He also insisted his Viper's micro thrusters be bored open to increase maneuvering capacity and helped his maintenance crew carry out their tasks. Following a low-level bridge-bombing mission to Montmirail, Sagittaron, on October 14th, Tremaine shot down his first Rebel aircraft, a pair of Wolf 190s.
On an escort mission to Lestenter, Sagittaron, ground base on October 25, his flight was on the far left of the group's line abreast formation and encountered 40-50 Kubrick 109s near Sagitaraberge some 90 kilometers from Lestenter. Flying north at the same altitude in a loose formation of three large vees. Bainbridge turned his flight left and began a ten-minute pursuit in which they fell into the planet's atmosphere to an altitude above and behind the Sagittarians. Undetected by the rebels, Bainbridge and Tremaine descended for the kill, although the second element of the flight had been unable to keep up during the climb.
Just as Tremaine began firing, his sublight engines twinked out due to tube failure, but he was already on his attack run, and had enough inertia to follow the engagement, so Tremaine continued using only micro thrusters. He attacked, hitting his target in the fuselage and shooting off part of its engine cowling. After fatally damaging the Rebel 109 he dived away and cold started his main drive, using the backup systems. Despite battle damage to his own Viper, including loss of a side armor plate near his canopy, Tremaine shot down two during the dogfight and another on the way home to become the first ace of the 39th FG.
His combat report for that date concluded:
The
So it came to pass, that from mid-November of ‘94, to early February of ‘95, the Aces of Reaper Squadron were heavily involved in bus rides from the Triton to Occupied Sagittaron. The rest of the first half of ‘95 was spent doing this, until the Triton was relieved by the Battlestar Universal on July 24. Tremaine became flight lead and later squadron leader as Bainbridge departed for another posting during the transition. Upon return to Caprica, Tyler was finally enrolled into the Viper Strike Fighter(VSF) Program at Toradesh for advanced tactics training that would last seven months. In light of the Sagittarian Rebellion being intra atmosphere, Tyler took a whole new level of respect for the platform, and gleaned all he could from the experience. At 29 years of age, Ty had learned about learning. It was better to learn from a wiser man's foul up, than to learn from your own.
Tyler continued to serve on the Triton as squadron lead aboard the Triton while it stayed in orbit over Caprica, until July of the following year. Though mostly in name only, as he was almost always down in Toradesh for the VSF Program. He was able to fly regularly, but not as freely as with his patrols, or the Sagittarian Rebellions. But that was fine by T.J., as the last two months over Sagittaron had grown bitterly dull. While on leave for two weeks, he went and visited with his father's side of the family, and was thoroughly celebrated as a hero. Tyler had never blushed so much in his life, as his step mother Cassiopeia introduced him as "Ace Viper Pilot" to literally everyone he met... she was very proud. Throughout the year, Ty also stayed in contact with his friend, now christened Major Bainbridge, who discussed pushing to have him transferred to the Gunstar Juno to join him, as the Juno was a far smaller ship, and the opportunities were more focused than those on a Battlestar. Tyler, who had spent a great deal of time in classes before returning full time to his precious Triton, was very excited to hear about further chances to jump ahead in his career. If Sidney was anything, he was ambitious.
In April of 96 Tyler was transferred to the Juno for deployment, and rejoined his flight lead as wingman, and the two continued their impressive runs as before. Now, with Ty fresh out of school and ready for action Sidney, who was now the Juno's CAG, was able to escalate them to newer and finer achievements. In the fall of 97, Tremaine was promoted to Lieutenant Senior Grade, where he once again saw his mother Master(at the time) Sergeant Jenna Tremaine, and her boyfriend(who would later become both husband number three and then ex-husband number three) Jessup Pathan. His father was also able to attend the ceremony, along with his step mother, and they brought him several gifts from Caprica including a J&R Mil-Spec Edition gold watch from his grandfather. Tyler still wears it to this day. And as per the usual usage of their time with their son... the two parents found their way to a room, and Tyler decided that he would simply never understand neither how his parents could internally embarrass him by desiring each other, nor why they ever divorced. Either way, though he knew all about their little "meeting" in his own room, he never made mention of it.
Bainbridge had much more prestigious plans for himself and his partner in crime, but alas, fate had other plans. T.J. was given orders to report to the Battlestar Uned in March of 1998 to take charge of the newly formed 42nd FG, as the CAG, and lead of the 1st Squadron. A full Mark VI Viper complement that the Battlestar was upgraded to have. Once there, Tyler was also offered the opportunity to teach the new crop of pilots to fly the Mark VIs in intra-atmosphere combat tactics, which he enthusiastically agreed to. At first. Though the plans were set in motion for Tyler to take the reins, this never came to pass, and Tyler quickly nicknamed the Uned the Eunuch, as that was pretty much what just happened to his career... Another fighter pilot, a fully competent (and full nephew of Admiral Nagala) took the spot from under him. It wouldn't have been so bad honestly, if Tyler weren't now squatting on a Battlestar full of trainees, with no authority, and no action... and no chance at advancement. He was given a Squadron, and left to take care of an empty chunk of black in the ass end of nowhere, where the green nuggets would be safe from all but each other...
Tyler had seen a brutal war, the most intense training conditions man could fathom, a job most grown men would wane under, a parenting that most kids would buckle from... This was the first time he thought of suicide... Still, he soldiered on. Sitting in the black, doing nothing but growing fat and bored. Tyler did however stay in touch with Bainbridge who remained sympathetic to his plight, and after two years, reached out from the dark, to offer yet, another chance.
In February of 2001, the now Lieutenant Colonel Bainbridge, made moves behind the scenes to continue his climb up the chain of command. He called Tyler on February second for a very serious discussion. So serious, that after the four minute call, a set of orders arrived, and Tyler found himself in a raptor, flying to Caprica where he met with Bainbridge face to face, in the most unorthodox briefing of his military career. Sid laid it all out for him over a steak dinner, at a fantastically expensive restaurant in Caprica City. A chance to take it all the way, far higher than Tyler had ever dreamed. Sidney wanted his own Battlestar, and he wanted Tyler, to be his X.O. Soon. The Battlestar Tycone would be his future, command and honor, mixed with what should have been his brother.
The only hitch was the timetable. Sidney wouldn't be ready to call him to duty until 2004, and that would be three years away. Tyler groaned about another three years aboard Battlestar Eunuch, and Sidney listened. He made him another deal, simply out of friendship, that he would get Tyler off the Uned, and back into the quote, "Real" fleet. Tyler of course agreed and was thoroughly thankful, and they departed as two men with a new plan. Tyler spent another month aboard the BS. Uned, before receiving orders to report to a dream come true. Not just a new station, but a Battlestar on the front lines. But not just a new Battlestar on the cutting edge, The Battlestar that was the cutting edge.
The Titan Class Battlestar Hyperion
Shadowhawk for Life
The pride of the Colonial Fleet. She was a beast, a marvel of warfare, and arguably the most intimidating thing Tyler had ever laid his insignificant eyes upon. She certainly lived up to the title, "Titan". And he was exceptionally pleased to see Sidney make damn good on his promise of a better post. Not only a new station but more. He was also given a shot at NSAWC once he was settled, which to Tyler, meant almost immediately. So after reporting, he was shipped off to Picon's Naval Strike and Air Warfare Center (NSAWC, pronounced "EN-SOCK") to take part in a well over a years worth of training, and testing to include training on the new Mark VII Multirole Space Superiority Viper. He went through Fleet Fighter Weapon School at the N7 level with programs such as the Strike Fighter Tactics Instructor (SFTI), Strike Leader Attack Training Syllabus (SLATS), Senior Officers Course (SOC), and finally a brushing of classes from the Operational Risk Management/Safety Department which manages air-and-ground related safety programs as well as medical training programs, but only a handful of readily available classes towards the end.
When it was all said and done in July of 2002, he returned to the Hyperion ready for anything. And that's exactly what he got. Tyler was attached to the 29th BG while in training, but wearing the patch, and meeting the men were two different things. The Hyperion was still over Tauron quelling the revolts. Tyler ran over seventy missions, and though he did have two that got dicey, he never pulled his trigger. In truth, the campaign was anything but the boring drul that some squadrons made it out to be. But then, Tyler stuck his hands everywhere. He did raptor support missions when he couldn't take his Viper out for more than two weeks, and even ran cover for two Heads of State during the final peace talks at the end. It wasn't because he was superior to anyone, he simply made it known that he was ready at all times.
Right at the end, in early September of 2002 when they were settling on an outcome, Tyler was selected for his service record and outstanding attitude/loyalty, to prepare for a preemptive strike, should the negotiations fail. He would have been one of twelve Vipers loaded with high yield tactical strike warheads, which would devastate the surface of the negotiation grounds, in the worst case scenario. The Colonial Government was not known for its faint hearted hand. Should Tauron fail to see eye to eye, then his mission was to eliminate the top brass of the opposition. Alas, the peace talks settled, and his mission was scrubbed. Tyler never cared for Tauron, he had mixed feelings about keeping ordinance, rather than use it.
After that, the Hyperion was tasked to the Helios Beta system to perform a thread-the-needle operation. Terrorists were hunkered down in high profile Government centers, and though there were no Colonial lives at stake, there was a great deal of Colonial treasure at stake. Tyler had to agree with the choice to not just level everything, as tax money isn't an infinite supply of gold coins. For three weeks after the initial threats were ignored, he was in charge of drilling his fellow pilots in space-to-atmospheric changeover combat. Day and night they worked on a plan laid down by the CAG to move in and take out orbital defense cannons, so that Raptors could land. Tyler was one of the first into the fight, dropping in from space and hurtling down towards the ground at Mach 8, and in unison with two full squadrons across the planet, destroyed the Orbital Defensive Cannons, completing their mission in one pass.
In March of 2003, The Hyperion was tasked on a Search-And-Destroy Campaign covering the breadth of the Erebos Asteroid Belt in the Helios Alpha system. This is where all of Tremaine's hard work finally paid off. Years of preparation and combat led to this five month campaign, Griffon had hunted down and eliminated four enemy birds, including one captured Mark VII Viper which was piloted by an enemy Ace. It might have been a fairer fight, but the Ace was contending with not one Colonial Ace, but several. Most of Tyler's squadron were combat tested, including the Shadow Hawk's lead, Cpt. Chris Wilson.
After the successful tour in Helios Alpha, the Hyperion returned to the Aerilon Shipyards for drydock/resupply before rolling out to their next tour for another waste of time on the armistice line... However, it did give Tyler a bit of time with a month’s shore leave, which he spent back on Caprica for the duration, visiting family and friends, and counseling his mother the Sergeant Major, not to marry her "fifth" would be husband. Try as he might, she may actually remarry again... Caprican love an all... although the guy (Charles) did sport an excellent singing voice at the Karaoke bar. At any rate, Ty enjoyed his time off, and is now returning to duty aboard the Hyperion, ready for the unbelievably long and drul sail by the forty year old "Don't cross me" line.
Anything Else?: Yes, Tyler's real name is Clark Kent, and he
has a tank full of sharks that have frickin "laser beams" attached to their frickin heads...
Sorry, Hyperion's hull is 40% Kryptonite. -Roger
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