Post by Tiberius Pritcher on Aug 20, 2013 22:20:57 GMT -5
Tiberius Pritcher
The Basics
Full Name: Tiberius H. Pritcher
Call Sign: Halcyon
Nickname(s)/Alias(es): Pritcher
Gender: Male
Sexual Orientation: Heterosexual
Age: 47
Birthday: April 8, 1956
Birthplace: Picon
Occupation: Hyperion Executive Officer
Rank/Title: Colonel
Physical Appearance
Height: 6’1”
Weight: 180 Lbs.
Build: Lean
Hair: Brown
Eye Color: Blue
Distinguishing Marks: Large scar across his back
Possessions, Equipment, Belongings: Same sidearm from when he was commissioned, carried for twenty-five years now.
Other:
Play- By: Iain Glen
Friends, Family, and Other Relationships
Mother: Quintilia Cocles Pritcher (73)
Father: Han Pritcher (72) – Colonel (Ret.), Colonial Intelligence
Siblings: Rose Pritcher Lewis (45) – Captain (Ret.), Medical Officer
Significant Other: Numeria Longinus Pritcher (44)
Children: Quintus (24) – LT JG, Viper Pilot
Vibia (19) – Cadet, Picon Academy
Spurius (18) – Cadet, Picon Academy
Other Notable Persons:
Personality
Likes:
- The Sea – No, not sailing as in being on a starship. Yes, he enjoys that, but his home on the coastline of Picon is his favorite place in the worlds. There’s no better way to spend leave than a boat trip out into those seas. Fishing, swimming, diving, racing, exploring… it doesn’t matter what.
- Reading – Again, Tiberius is not picky here either. He reads plenty of non-fiction in a variety of areas (Science, history, biography, etc.) but also dabbles into the more popular fictional novels that have influenced Colonial culture and of course he reads plenty of paperwork in his administrative role.
- Flying – Sailing is relaxing and he loves it, but he loves flying for an entirely different reason. There is that rush and that freedom you can’t get anywhere else. Tiberius never let this pleasure ever get the best of him, and most uninformed observers wouldn’t have noticed how much he enjoyed it even when he reluctantly said goodbye to his bird and moved to the CIC.
- Smoking – Tiberius’ most notable vice is his love of an occasional smoke. He prefers Caprican Imperial cigars but any type of fumarella will do.
- Command – Get used to reading this because it is a recurring them. Tiberius is not overly ambitious nor what you might typically expect as your leadership personality. Yet he greatly enjoys what he does and the responsibility he has been given. He’s good at his job and it’s incredibly rewarding to see your orders executed and to have a large body of individuals accomplish great things at your direction.
- Family – Though one might say he is married to his work and his crew is his family, Tiberius is still a devoted husband and a loving father. Despite all he has done in the military, his children are his greatest accomplishment and he couldn’t be prouder of them particularly as they follow him in military service. He doesn’t spend as much time with his wife as either of them would like, but when he is on leave he will typically spend every moment with her ranging from romantic intimacy to just basic companionship going about average daily routines.
Dislikes:
- Drinking – Tiberius was never a fan. The taste, the inebriation, the hangovers, the regrets… none of it was ever very appealing. Smoking might end up giving him all kinds of cancer but at least he can do it and drive a car at the same time. More appropriately, one can smoke and be on duty. Under some circumstances you could be shot for being drunk on duty. Fumarella: 1. Alcohol: 0.
- Agoraphobia… kind of – It’s not so much a fear as just a dislike. Massive sprawling cities with no end in sight are just disconcerting. Queenstown, Picon is a big city but it’s right on Penrose Harbor. Likewise, a ship can seem pretty crowded but you’re never too far from a bulkhead separating you from the nothing of space. Thus it’s not the crowds that he dislikes but the vast and featureless nature of some urban sprawls.
- Insubordination – Tiberius isn’t a hard ass, but he’s a military man through and through. There are rules and you better fraking follow them. If you want to frak about then you can do it on your own time. If you can’t cut it in military life then suck it up until your enlistment ends and then get the hell out of here because we don’t want you. If you can’t manage to keep your head down then you’re going to get hades from Pritcher.
- Politics – He can’t stand politicians using the military as a PR tool and screwing things up that way or simply by playing armchair general and issuing binding orders and dictating military spending as if they were actually exerts on the topic. The politics that can be found anywhere else can be nearly as bad. Those officers that play politics to advance, get favors or preferential treatment, etc. really grind Pritcher’s gears.
- Old Tech – Calling him a “technophile” might be a bit too much, but he certainly looks with disdain on those who are technophobes. The new tech helps make their jobs better so why the hell shouldn’t they implement it as soon as possible? E.g. the CNP is to be a monumental step forward and it should be embraced completely. Related to this topic, Tiberius also dislikes how ancient some of the military equipment is. It’s not that they’re not building new and better things, but the Fleet has still got 50 year old relics like Galactica flying around. That’s the extreme of course, but there are plenty of 30 and 40 year old war ships out there that maybe should have been mothballed out of active service ages ago.
Fears: [ list][/li][li]Cylons actually coming back and reliving the war.
[/li][li]Having his children put on dangerous missions (more dangerous than your run-of-the-mill Colonial Fleet patrols).[/list]
Strengths:
- Military Focus- Tiberius doesn’t know any life but the military. He grew up during the war, after that he grew up with his father in the Fleet, then he joined the Fleet and never intends to leave until he has fully handed off the torch to his children and can spend his twilight years in a rocking chair on his porch.
- Skilled Aviator and Tactician – Tiberius always had above average skills in the Viper but his true talent was in his battlefield awareness and his mind for combat leadership. It’s what made him a good squadron leader and then a good CAG, but it’s also what makes him a good command officer now too.
- Learned and Wise – Pritcher is well read and also observant of things occurring in his own life. He is a wealth of book knowledge as well as practical advice. He’s also a great listener whether it be to the reports of his subordinates, the confidence of someone’s problems, or how his wife’s day went.
Weaknesses:
- Military Focus – It’s double edged, like most things. So far it has never failed him, but if he were to be released from service before he was ready to retire he’d be completely lost. Likewise, if he knew some of the shady things the Fleet did in secret it might shatter his entire worldsview. His dedication to his work has also kept him and his wife apart for the vast majority of their marriage. Although there is great love in the family, his children also grew up without having their father home but for short periods of time with large gaps in between.
- Cool Temperament – It has certainly kept him out of trouble, but it never did him any favors to advance. “The squeaky wheel gets the oil” as they say, or in this case is more likely to get noticed. It’s hard to get that promotion or special assignment if you’re the type that blends into your surroundings rather than sticking out or actively gunning for those opportunities. Luck more than anything helped make up for this failing by providing opportunities that could not be overlooked and then his skill did the rest. That luck balanced out his career, but one shouldn’t always trust the fates to provide.
- Back Injury – Tiberius was injured once upon a time. Although it has healed and he is still fit for duty, it causes him pain and soreness (particularly as he ages) and was the main contributing factor as to why he left the more strenuous life of a Viper Pilot and CAG for the CIC.
- Family/Legacy Pressure – Although not very ambitious himself, things have always been expected of Tiberius. He’s in the service and he has continued in the service because it’s what was expected of him. He strives to excel and surpass his father’s rank of Colonel not for himself but because it’s expected of him. It’s more his father that wants his son to surpass him than the son who wants to beat his father’s rank.
Aspirations: Make Commander -> Get his own ship but also do just a little better than his father did. Then help his children’s careers so they might make admiral and get a bit ahead of their old man.
General Personality: Tiberius comes from what you’d call a military family. It’s not just “my father served and so do I.” As the family tree goes more distant there was fairly regular service, but during the First Cylon War nearly everyone in the family served (and many died). Even into these forty years of peace, that heightened level of military service has continued. Both Tiberius and his sister serve(d) and all three of his children are currently in the Fleet or in the Academy. Numerous cousins, nephews, aunts, and uncles are also in the military either locally or as part of the Fleet. Whatever the profession of the Pritcher forefathers, it has been discarded and replaced by long careers in the Colonial Fleet.
Therefore, Tiberius is a career officer if ever there was one. However, it’s his genealogy more than anything that drives this rather than great ambition or some kind of a killer instinct only satisfied by war, or a need for adrenaline and adventure. Tiberius certainly has a command presence and is a fine officer, but he has more the effect of a refined gentleman, a teacher, or even a priest. He’s calm, soft spoken, and deliberate. For those who know him well enough, he is a seemingly infinite source of wisdom and advice. His callsign “Halcyon” appropriately describes his introverted temperament.
In a completely social environment, Pritcher is not the type to grab a beer or hit the dance floor. Instead, he prefers conversation to inebriation and exercising one’s mind rather than one’s dance moves. That’s not to say he’s shy or would purposely avoid such gatherings, it’s just that he would not partake in all activities available at a social function.
When it comes to combat, one wouldn’t expect the soft spoken intellectual to be much of a warrior, but those people would be wrong. Back when he still flew, he was an ace to be reckoned with even if he wasn’t the very best pilot in the air wing (a testament to the extraordinary company he was with rather than a detraction of his own skills). His kill count is well into the double digits and was capped off with the well-known Sagittaron Revolt. Pritcher was even shot down once during a particularly difficult engagement. He was beat up pretty bad but managed to survive and escape capture while behind enemy lines. He managed to walk all the way back to a friendly base and the tough SOB was back in a Viper just a few days later.
The Backstory
History: Tiberius was eight years old when the First Cylon War ended which placed his birthday about four years into the devastating conflict. Suffice to say, total war for the survival of the species isn’t exactly the best place to live let alone to grow up. Fortunately the war was kept at arm’s length from the young boy. Most conflict was occurring around the periphery and despite the catastrophic losses of ships and troops, it’s not like Picon was being regularly bombed and there were Centurions marching down main street.
Speaking of which… Tiberius was born in Ostia, a small town just down the coast from Queenstown, Picon. It is where his family was traditionally from and it is where he would spend just about all of his youth. His father was an intelligence officer in the newly established Colonial Fleet. Occasionally he’d be attached to some Battlestar or even sent out on some dangerous mission, but for the most part Han Pritcher spent the war at what would be later called Colonial Fleet HQ in nearby Perkinstown. So although his father served the entire war, he was still relatively close to home and was infrequently in great danger. Yet young as he was and safely removed from the direct touch of tragedy, the great toll of the war was not lost on the young boy. A repeat of that devastating war is one of Tiberius’ greatest fears even all these years later. Those memories have not faded over time.
The conclusion of the war ushered in a period of uncertainty both with respect to the Cylons as well as what the united Colonial Government would become if anything. It had been a wartime coalition born of necessity, not some utopian agreement to all come together for the betterment of mankind. Yet it was decided that collective security against the Cylon threat demanded unification continue and the shift was made into a peace time government of all twelve of the Colonies. Thus independence was put off for the moment and over time no one ever thought to raise the issue again.
Tiberius’s father was on the inside of most of the dealings in these early years. What subtle politics young Tiberius did not personally pick up on at the time, many years later his father would reveal to him. What he certainly did remember where the occasions where his father would introduce him to military life both at home and with a few trips to HQ and other military installations. The intelligence officer had already managed to carve out his place in the new Colonial Military and he was already laying the foundation for his son to succeed him in this new and great military alliance.
It was actually through one of these many trips that the Pritcher and Longinus families became better acquainted. Mr. Longinus was the Commander of a new Sobek class Battlestar, only an acquaintance of the Colonel of Military Intelligence. However, he had a daughter, Numeria, a girl a few years younger than Tiberius. They started off first as fast friends, nearly inseparable until Tiberius went off to the Fleet Academy. When he returned, Numeria was no longer a little girl and that friendship quickly evolved into love. The two were married a few years later and would have three children. But let’s take a step back…
Tiberius enrolled in the Picon Fleet Academy in ’74, ten years after the Cylon Armistice. He did so voluntarily but of course his father’s influence ensured that he would have gone anyway even if his own personal desires were contrary. Tiberius’ time at the Academy was not very noteworthy. This was due entirely to Tiberius’ own personality rather than his skills and achievements. He graduated academically in the top 10% of his class but this was done without ever standing out as truly excellent in one field or becoming the favored pupil to one of the professors. He played on the collegiate Pyramid team, quite an accomplishment, though he was never a star. Thus he left the Academy in ’82 with an excellent record on paper but hardly any name recognition even with those that closely followed the new rising stars joining the officer ranks.
From the Academy, Tiberius went straight to Flight School for Viper training. There was initially some tension from his father on this career choice, but in the end, the elder Pritcher decided that a few years in the Air Wing would take his son to command. The end justified the means so he’d let his son take this route. Of course, Tiberius was more interested in flying than what his career prospects would be in twenty years. It was a little harder for a young talented officer to skirt under the
Tiberius first served for a short stint aboard the Battlestar Poseidon. His squad leader and the CAG were not disappointed by all the hype that came along with this new pilot. In ’80, after plenty of peace time exercises and a handful of “actual” missions, Tiberius was promoted to Lieutenant Junior Grade and shipped off to NSAWC to further hone his skills as a Viper pilot. This was over 23 years ago though, back when NSAWC was still young. Despite this, the brief time there was a tremendous learning experience and a boost to Tiberius’ career.
With such training behind him, he couldn’t simply stay quiet in his air wing but would be pulled to the forefront to instruct his comrades on what he’d learned. He did just that once he returned to the Poseidon where he served there for two more years. Although barely out of the Academy himself, he was soon slated as an instructor and mentor for the fresh ensigns joining the ship. His personal skill, experience in NSAWC, and his gentle and patient personality all contributed to his success in this post. This performance would not go unnoticed and soon earned Tiberius a promotion and transfer.
In ’82, Pritcher found himself as a new Lieutenant aboard the Battlestar Atlantia, the flagship of the Fleet. After three months getting acquainted with the ship, his comrades, and their procedures, Tiberius was eventually put back into the unofficial role of instructor, the reason the Atlantia CAG had originally requested his transfer in the first place. By most standards, his time on the Atlantia was very quiet. There was little unrest in Colonial Space to begin with, and the Flagship was rarely at the forefront of any serious operations. However, for Pritcher himself, those years were among the busiest of his life. Introducing a few ensigns here and there to how life on a real warship worked and tossing in a few tricks from NSAWC along the way was one thing. Soon coordinating large scale training exercises and seemingly endless classroom instructions and simulations with various squadrons was quite another. Often the squadrons from other ships in the Battlestar Group would be attached for these operations, further adding to the increasingly grand scale of them. At that time, BSG-1 was probably training harder and more frequently than any other group in the entire Fleet.
By ’85, Pritcher was finally moved from his unofficial instructor position and made a squadron leader. However, this also came with a transfer down from the flagship to the Gunstar Naxos. For the next two years, Tiberius would reformat his style for a smaller audience and focus directly on the 19 men and women under his command, turning them into the best squadron he possibly could. Yet the Naxos was no Atlantia and was more likely to get pilots nearer the bottom of the barrel than the cream of the crop. Despite this, he did the best he could, certainly better than anyone else had expected.
In ’87, Tiberius was promoted to Captain and transferred back to the Battlestars, this time to the Pegasus as one of its squadron leaders. It was during this posting that he first made a name for himself as something more than a great instructor but as a combat leader. Through both simulation and the occasional true military action, Captain Pritcher and his squadron excelled thanks both to skill and training but also due to inspired tactics and teamwork.
After three years on the Pegasus, Pritcher was promoted to Major and shipped to the Battlestar Triton as their new CAG. During the first few years, perhaps the most notable thing Tiberius did (in hindsight) was to request the transfer of Sidney Bainbridge, a pilot who had served with him back on the Pegasus. He placed the promising pilot (already a top ace) as one of his squadron leaders. Bainbridge was not to merely take over a group and make the best of what he was dealt like Pritcher had been forced to do back on the Naxos. Tiberius had placed a handful of extremely talented young pilots under Bainbridge to start and allowed to him completely fill out the rest of his roster with anyone else he could find in the Fleet (assuming the CAG and the Triton CO could managed the transfer through prayers, pleas, barters, and debts). The result was one of the most legendary, though somewhat short lived, squadrons in the forty year inter-war period of Colonial Fleet history.
Pritcher was also the CAG of Triton for the Karaya Disaster. Tiberius was never privy to the true story of what happened before the quick cover-up and frankly he never questioned it. Despite the “failure” to save the ship, Bainbridge was heralded as a hero once again and was again elevated and praised by the media and admiralty alike. Major Pritcher made sure that his wingman, a young Tyler Tremaine, was not completely left out for his part which was surely as heroic. Bainbridge was recommended for commendation by the CO, Tremaine by the CAG, Tiberius Pritcher.
About a year later, the Fleet would see some of its most serious action in decades. The Triton would be at the tip of the spear and of course the Viper Wing would be the sharpest point of that tip. Nearly an entire planet in open revolt meant a large and well-armed enemy force. That it was Sagittaron meant that the terrain heavily favored the defense and the people would generally sell their lives even more dearly for their convictions. Sagittaron was where a career as a Viper pilot would be tested and ultimately where that career would end.
The story of the “war” is fairly well known. Triton’s birds were the very first in. The Battlestar and a few others had been in orbit for a while by then while the politicians debated whether intervention was necessary. By the time they were given the order, most forces friendly to the unified government had been defeated, the rebel forces were even better armed, and now they were dug in and better prepared to fight off an invasion (let’s not kid ourselves, that’s what it was). The first month was vicious air combat until the Sagittaron air force was finally crippled. From there the next month was equally as vicious as dog fights turned to massive strikes on ground installations and armored units so Colonial Marine units could advance and seize critical areas of the world. Over the course of the campaign, Tiberius tallied 17 kills bringing his career total to 28.
What followed that initial heavy fighting was a steady decline as remaining pockets of enemy aircraft and significant ground elements were hunted down and knocked out. A war of occupation lasted for many months until it was all over in late ‘95. That’s the story everyone tells at least. For Major Pritcher it was something else entirely. In May of ’95 he was flying a typical patrol in low atmosphere performing basic recon and looking for targets of opportunity. In the end it was the Colonial Vipers that would be the targets.
As Pritcher and his wingman flew through a mountain pass and into the next valley, they were greeted with a wall of lead and flak. Black clouds erupted all around them accompanied by streams of golden tracers streaking up from the valley floor. The din of this welcome was soon intensified by various alarms going off within the cockpit that they’d also been painted with missile locks from SAM sites. There was only one choice of action: get the frak out of there.
The two Vipers immediately broke off and headed upward and backward away from the heavy rebel triple A. They safely managed to escape back through the mountain pass, but as they arrived in the previous valley they were greeted with a flight of 16 rebel fighters. It was either awful luck or they’d flown right into a trap. Whatever the case, Pritcher instantly made the call to run. Rather than continue to maneuver around the mountains, he ordered his wingman to immediately break for orbit. The pursuing fighters were numerous enough that it would be impossible to lose them all over Sagittaron, but they couldn’t follow the Vipers into space. Now they just had to survive long enough to get that kind of altitude.
Tiberius’ wingman was lucky enough to make it to the Black… Tiberius was not. He’d been dinged slightly from the AA fire just moments ago and his bird wasn’t flying at 100%. It was enough for him to gradually lag behind and soon fall into the sights of the pursuing fighters. One can only dodge and simultaneously climb for so long. Eventually a burst of fire shredded his starboard wing. From there it wasn’t long until that ascent became a sudden descent. The Viper plummeted to the ground in a slight spin despite the CAG’s best efforts to regain some kind of control. Before he blacked out, got finished off by the rebels, or crashed into a damn mountain, Pritcher decided to cut his losses and eject before it was too late.
Tiberius watched on as his bird crashed and burned right there in the endless mountains of Sagittaron. He also watched as he slowly descended under his parachute’s canopy down toward that same endless terrain… terrain that was controlled and infested by the enemy. The choice to glide into the forested valley rather than the exposed mountain was ruined by an unexpected gust of wind, followed by an abrupt crash into one of said trees in the forest, and then impacts with just about every other branch until finally the hard forest floor broke Tiberius’ fall.
From cursing in pain and frustration to laughing it up with his buddies was about two weeks and over three hundred kilometers of hiking over hostile terrain (both in the sense that the ground was difficult to traverse and there were also people trying to kill him all over the damn place). He disabled his transponder lest the rebels use his own distress signal to find him and then took what little his ejection module had to offer in terms of supplies. Those rations weren’t meant to last all too long so those hard weeks involved foraging off the land and even taking what he needed from the rebels.
Before that sounds too Rambo, he only engaged the enemy three times in the entire period and only one of those times he shot first. The first encounter was an escape from a platoon sized patrol just a day after the crash. That wasn’t a fight he had a hope of winning so it turned into some heroic sprinting in the opposite direction with a few shots fired wildly behind him. Encounter two was against a two man enemy patrol about four days later. Tiberius had the element of surprise and took them both out with his last five rounds. He took what supplies and gear he could from them and set off before anyone came looking. On day twelve he was discovered by a twelve man squad as he attempted to cross a river. He was pushed onto “death ground” and was forced to fight. Armed with the weapons of his last victims, he managed to fight off his attackers and escaped while they were regrouping and waiting for more support but not before he too had been injured. A rocket had exploded nearby and lodged a huge piece of shrapnel in Tiberius’ shoulder and back.
A few painful days later the major stumbled into the perimeter of a Colonial FOB. After a brief but tense encounter with a sentry, he was treated to a hot meal and some medical attention. Two days later he caught a ride out of there and the day after that he was back on the Triton with a new Viper. He was awarded with a purple heart for his injuries and the Star of the Colonies Third Order for his determined survival and escape.
The war ended soon after, but even before then it was clear that Tiberius’ piloting days were over. Getting shot down and his following ordeal had not sapped his spirit or his nerve. It was the physical wound that would clip his wings. Piloting a Viper requires a tremendous amount of strength and for “just sitting in a chair” it puts a great deal of stress on your body. Tiberius could still fly and he actually did go out on a few more combat missions, but he was frequently in pain from the exertion on his wound and he simply could not perform anywhere near where he had been previously. He was “temporarily” transferred from CAG to LSO until he recovered… he never fully recovered.
Fortunately, Major Pritcher was not destined to languish as LSO and watch his old wing every day until he was discharged. In late ’95 he was transferred to the Gunstar Demeter as their OOD, a less physically strenuous job but still a step up the ladder of promotions. As a testament that Pritcher’s career was not over, in just a few months as OOD he was promoted to Lieutenant Colonel. Still, OOD was not the most desirable job and to Tiberius it was merely a stepping stone up command, a place he hoped he would not have to remain for too long.
Two years later, in ’97, his prayers were answered. Tiberius was transferred to the Battlestar Yahuman to be their new Executive Officer. The transfer was followed soon after with a promotion to full Colonel. It wasn’t like being back in a Viper but XO was certainly better than OOD. His realm was still primarily the CIC but his authority and command extended far beyond that throughout the entire ship. They say power is like a drug. Well, Tiberius has never gone overboard into abuse and his rise through the ranks really hasn’t changed him on a personal level. That doesn’t mean that he hasn’t immensely enjoyed the new found power. It was his father that always wanted his son to reach lofty ranks. Now, here Tiberius was equal to his father’s highest rank of Colonel and he was in this spot a decade younger than his father had been when he reached it. He always thought that the seat of a Viper was the place for him, but dad was right. It almost made him forget his injury and how he’d begrudgingly had to give it all up… almost.
The Yahuman wasn’t the newest ship in the Fleet, particularly heavy with the “best and brightest” crew like some vessels, nor was there any great prestige or history that came along with it. But it became Tiberius’ ship… well, it was the CO’s ship, but you understand. He was given responsibility for the entire vessel second only to the Commander. These men became his men. These halls became his halls. The ship and crew’s successes were his success and their failures were his as well. He became attached to it more than any other vessel he’d ever served on. He was not focused just to the flight deck or later just the CIC. His eyes were opened to all the ship had to offer and he liked what he saw.
Over the next few years, Colonel Pritcher did well in this “dream job” (the term only goes to further cement Tiberius’ lack of ambition in being so very content with second in command on a Battlestar that lacked any note). From ’97 to the turn of the century in ’00, Yahuman’s evaluation scores went from just below average (48%) to into the top quarter of the Colonial Fleet (77%). It was still far from a perfect vessel with a crack crew, but the score change was noticed by those in the Admiralty. If not for the steady increase over that three year period it might have raised flags of cheating or a flaw in the system, but the growth was legitimate. Yahuman went on to prove herself during the Ophion games of ’99. The under-ranked ship outperformed those it had been paired with and easily won every round of the first week of competitions. Also being under-ranked, the vessel was placed into the main Colonial force for the second portion of the games and rode that typically unstoppable wave to victory over the OpFor.
Throughout all those feats, Pritcher remained diligent at his post. Never one to seek the spotlight, the growth was originally attributed to the CO but when further examined it was clear that the start date for the marked improvement was shortly after Tiberius arrived and it continued even after the old CO had been replaced and the change seemed to have little impact on performance. A few minds back on Picon put two and two together to see the real driving force. Tiberius’ value to the Colonial Fleet had not been extinguished by that injury on Sagittaron.
By 2000, it was decided that whatever mysterious effect Pritcher was having on his crew would be better applied on one of the leading ships of the Fleet. Thus he lost “his ship” and was transferred to the Hyperion. His initial reaction was a combination of surprised awe and disappointment. Yahuman was no Hyperion but Tiberius had become greatly attached both to the ship as well as his crew that had improved so much. Over time Hyperion began to replace it, but the Yahuman still holds a special place in his heart. That’s not likely to go away until he makes that next step and the amazing feeling of being the CO supplants those of the XO.
Since coming aboard, Colonel Pritcher has been with Hyperion for over three years. During the 2002 tension on Tauron, he spent many a sleepless night planning should open violence erupt and simply staying up anxious to hear if such-and-such CAP made it back safely. Here was a man that had been the CAG of one of the most involved air wings in the greatest military engagement in recent history (Hades he’d been alive during the First Cylon War!) yet he was more worried now with pilots going into a potential warzone rather than a guaranteed one with death around every corner. In some ways, a “cold” engagement could be tougher on the pilots’ nerves and gods help them when the other side decided to launch the first strike, but that wasn’t the whole story. Maybe it was age or even his own wound which has softened him a bit and turned him more from that young “follow me” type leader into an older more father-like figure.
Actually, at the time he was very much feeling his role as father intersect with his role as military officer. His eldest son, Quintus, had just finished flight school and joined the Fleet as a new Viper pilot (His other two were close to enrolling at the Academy, but not there quite yet). Quintus of course wasn’t on the Hyperion and he actually wasn’t on any ship assigned to Tauron, but perhaps that played a larger role in Tiberius’ mental change. Perhaps in some way he didn’t just see the Hyperion pilots as his children in the figurative sense but in the literal sense.
Later in 2002 the Hyperion was called on to handle the situation on Pallas. It was Tiberius who had proposed what would eventually become the plan of attack. The original outline was built on by the various senior officers, primarily the new CAG, Drake Wolfe, and then was practiced ad nauseum until everyone knew their roles forwards and backwards. All the work paid off with a brilliantly executed mission, a true credit to the crew of Hyperion.
The Erebos Campaign in 2003 didn’t have any major crescendos like the above, rather steady light action over those five months. The prolonged nature of the campaign ensured that often Tiberius was the one on deck to handle combat situations and even on occasion the CO would never come to take over, leaving command of the ship to the XO for the entire incident. To anyone but Tiberius it was hardly anything of note, but that’s just because they’d never commanded. The first time you’ve got the ship with no one looking over your shoulder, no matter how minor the incident it’s a big deal.
The recent leave while the ship was laid up in dock following that campaign was spent visiting the family that often seemed to take a back seat to Tiberius’s career. He attended a small ceremony in which his eldest son was promoted to Lieutenant Junior Grade and the next week he and his wife, Numeria, visited his other children, Vibia and Spurius, who were both now at the Academy on Picon. Naturally they were embarrassed to have dad stop by. Not only was he their dad but he was also the XO of one of the leading ships of the Fleet. Apparently teenage children in a military academy don’t particularly want those kinds of visits. Frak what they want. You have kids specifically so you can embarrass them when they’re older.
Anything Else?: Did that history start to ramble there at the end? Sorry. He’s now back on Hyperion and ready for some war games.
The Player
Name/Alias: Roger
Experience: Years, mostly sci fi
How you found Battlestar Hyperion: Came over from the ‘Verse.
Other characters: Roger, Fredrick, Phaethon
Contact via: PM to Roger
