July 1, 2007

Name: Rachel Hawkins

Rank: Commander (provisional)

Age: 24

Quote: "I hate to be a nag here, but we're in the middle of a combat scenario at the moment. If you two could save the dick measuring contest until afterwards, I can bring a knife into debriefing and level the playing field for both of you. Understood?"

Profile: Rachel actually trained to be a pilot in the inaugural Front Line Stellar Defense (FLSD) program, but an undetected physiological defect pulled her from the cockpit and grounded her to a terminal, working as a videographer for military hygiene and safety films. Her training and knowledge of the current generation FLSD hardware made her the perfect candidate to fill a vacancy in the leadership structure of the 17th unit. Rachel brings a specialist's knowledge of the technical side of the program, but is lacking the tactical knowledge and raw, split-second instincts that formal cockpit training would have given her, leading to the addition of her partner in the command team, Jack Hatcher. However, because of her officer's commission and rank (a provisional field promotion under emergency circumstances), she holds the final trump on 17th FLSD command decisions.

Rachel tends to be relaxed and hands-off--a classic B-type personality, which both frustrates her command counterpart and several of her subordinates. However, with her age, lack of experience, and internalized inadequacies constantly hanging over her, Rachel has been working on a more assertive command persona.