Victor Velasco
| Biological | |
| Full name: | Victor Vhawn Velasco |
|---|---|
| Born: | March 13, 2276 AD |
| Birthplace: | Porre, Guardia |
| Sex: | Male |
| Race: | Human |
| Hair: | White, tied into a tail |
| Eyes: | Black |
| Height: | 6'0" |
| Weight: | |
| Personal | |
| Marital Status: | |
| Family/Relationships: | {{{family}}} |
| Religion: | Fionan |
| Title: | Rear General in the Grand Army, GA Chief of Space Operations |
| Nicknames: | |
| Hobbies: | |
| Known skills: | Starfighter Piloting, Fleet Command Training, Capital Ship Piloting |
| Favorite color: | |
| Inspiration: | Grand Admiral Thames, General Torstensson |
| Motto: | |
General Velasco is the most recent addition to the GA's Soldierly Council, his tenure being only as old as the Grand Army's presence in space. He is therefore the only member of the Council who did not fight in the Great War.
History
Rear General Victor Velasco is a unique figure in the Web of Worlds. As a GSF Ship's Captain toward the end of the Hivan War, he had the distinct pleasure of doing accidentally what many had dreamed of doing ever since man first took to the stars: he discovered a new dimension.
Running, for the first time, the uncharted Gate-Alter strand, he was the first man to arrive in and explore the Alter Dimension. He landed on both worlds, met with the natives, and secured treaties and agreements between the local powers and the Kingdom of Guardia, many of which are intact to this day. A reasonable, humble man, Velasco expected this to be quite definitively the end of his fifteen minutes of fame.
At this time the Grand Army, with Celiose once again at its head, was looking at building up its own space forces. The arrival of the Hivans from someplace beyond the stars proved that if the Grand Army was going to do its work of protecting its member states effectively, it would need a space presence. GA engineers worked furiously at cobbling together ship designs using the borrowed innovations of Grand Army member states, and work had already begun on the massive flagship of the GA's fleet-to-be, the Executor.
Trouble was, an officer worthy of leading the new fleet was hard to come by. Celiose himself agonized over personnel files day and night, but no one candidate met his stringent criteria. Celiose meshed well with his existing Soldierly Council-- they had all served with him in the Great War, and he trusted them and knew what each could do. He didn't want to overburden any one of them by extending their authority to the new GA space fleet, nor did he want to take command of it himself.
It was suggested by Torstensson Lenart that Celiose look outside the Grand Army for a suitable officer, at one of the other nations that already fielded a fleet. And it so happened that Velasco's journey to Alter was currently in the news, so he drew Torstensson's eye, and subsequent recommendation.
Celiose was initially quite skeptical. Despite the personal recommendations of Grand Admiral Thames and a convalescing King Doan, Celiose doubted very much he would be willing to relinquish SAGA to the command of an officer whose service record was presently dominated by nothing more spectacular than accidentally finding planets. Nevertheless, he agreed (mostly due to Torstensson's urging) to meet with and interview Captain Velasco, just to size him up and see if he was GA material.
Velasco was clearly of a different cut than the Guardians' Admiral Thames. If not for the personal friendship Velasco and Thames had developed in the Guardian Royal Navy, Celiose very much doubted that the hard-edge, straight-laced Thames would have abided Velasco as an officer in his fleet. He was casual, and something of a maverick; principled and willing to bend rules without breaking them. Velasco was goal-driven and knowledgable, and certainly no pushover when it came to tactics and military know-how. Despite himself, Celiose eventually came to like Velasco, especially when he learned that Velasco had three times been offered promotion to Admiral within the GSF: twice before discovering Alter, and once immediately after. Velasco had refused all three times because it would separate him from his command crew.
It was on this point, Velasco's attachment to his crew, that Celiose felt he most connected with him. So when he approached Velasco, he offered him a rank of Rear General in the Grand Army, command of SAGA, and a full transfer of his present bridge crew to service aboard the SAGA flagship, Executor. Velasco has served in this post since SAGA's inception, and is the only man apart from Celiose himself who has taken command of the largest spacevessel in the known Web.
Velasco is good at what he does, although SAGA has not taken part in any truly spectacular space wars as of yet; their largest campaigns have been fighting the Unbound and the hunt for the Sathanas. Velasco personally commanded the engagement that ultimately destroyed the terrifying Dark Wrath spacecraft.
Still, within the Soldierly Council, he is something of an outsider. He lacks the common experience all the others have of fighting in the Great War, which removes him from the pervasive nostalgic bond which makes the Council more like family. It should also be noted that SAGA has suffered the least of all the Grand Army's branches from the decimating budget cuts, which has earned Velasco the personal ire of more than one of the Council's other Generals.
General Velasco's Crew
- Fleet Admiral Tal Ross -- Velasco's first officer aboard the Uzu, the ship that discovered the Alter Dimension. The only member of Velasco's command crew who declined transfer to SAGA, instead taking a promotion within the GSF to become the Admiral of the Alterspace Fleet.
- Colonel Astanax R-STX1 -- R-series droid and former second officer aboard the Uzu, Astanax became Velasco's first officer aboard the Executor.
- Lieutenant Colonel Alma Zane -- Second officer aboard the Executor, a native of North Chorras. Velasco's confidant. She has limited telepathic sensitivity and has a talent for stating the obvious.
- Major Canis Frow -- A burly canine demi-human, weapon control officer of the Executor.
- Major Tyrone Tibbs -- Flight control officer.
- Major Grot Harghad -- The Executor's Chief Engineer, a gruff Hench. His answer to every situation is to re-route things through the deflector dish.
