Cerberus Daily News/Characters/Systems Alliance

Albert Lowell (Diplomatic Immunity / Dippy)

A licentious Alliance Diplomat, and operative working for the clandestine operations division of the Alliance Intelligence Services, and does whatever he can get away with on the side.

• Affably Evil
• Anything That Moves
• Artificial Limbs: Right shoulder and arm are cybernetic, covered with flesh to look normal.
• Berserk Button: Don't call him a politician. He is a civil servant, damn it!
• Boldly Coming: Regardless of species, he greets most people by proposing a date and a [redacted] afterwards.
• Chaotic Evil: Type 1; the emphasis is on the word "Chaotic" in the phrase "Chaotic Evil". Dippy isn't interested in causing wanton destruction For the Evulz and can actually be quite chivalrous to his friends, but he is ruthlessly pragmatic in pursuit of his goals.
• Consummate Liar: Of the Truth Twister variety
• Crazy Prepared
• Depraved Omnisexual: Arguably zigzagged, as Dippy's partners often act as Morality Pets and his promiscuity isn't always used to underscore any evil actions that he undertakes.
• Even Evil Has Standards: His depravity applies to nearly Anything That Moves, but he is above propositioning children (aside from engaging in The Jailbait Wait for older teenagers) and nonconsensual encounters.
• Friend to All Children: One of his Pet the Dog characteristics.
• Magnificent Bastard
• Memetic Molester: Dippy wants you.
• Overt Operative: While he denies it, it's pretty obvious that he is more than a simple bureaucrat.
• Pragmatic Villainy
• Really Gets Around: Reconstructed; other users often bring up how his willingness to sleep around would ordinarily result in a host of STDs and, in the case of quarians, the possible death of his partners. His typical response is an extensive list of the various precautions that he takes to protect himself and whomever he is sleeping with.
• Spock Speak: Doesn't use contractions in his speech or text unless he knows the person he is communicating with very well (generally this means he has slept with him or her.)
• Squick: He'll do it with just about anything. Seriously.

Captain Thomas Carmichael (Polaron)

Captain of the Alliance heavy cruiser SSV Indianapolis, Thomas Carmichael is a native of Earth and a survivor of the Battle of the Citadel. Unfortunately, his time spent on the edges of human space fighting slavers and pirates, combined with seeing Sovereign cut a sizable hole in the human fleet, has made him somewhat jaded and bitter. If he manages to shape up, he'll probably make an excellent starship captain someday.

• Big Damn Heroes: His ship was part of the Alliance's reinforcements during the Battle of the Citadel.
  • His rescue of Gunny Tritt's squad also qualifies, being as last-second as it was.
• Non Sequitur Scene: During a meeting of CDN members on the Citadel, Carmichael came charging through with his weapon out and a squad of C-SEC officers along for the ride, shouting about finding a potted plant before it was too late.
  • He recently followed this up by running through another meeting holding a Russian nesting doll and yelling about needing to find an airlock.
• Death From Above: Specializes in this, being captain of a half-kilometer-long cannon with engines attached.
• Fantastic Racism: While he is fully supportive of the Council and humanity's place in it, he still seems to enjoy needling the turians.
• Gunship Rescue: Provided orbital assistance when Gunny Tritt's unit was in danger of being overrun by a group of Blue Suns.
• Knight in Sour Armor
• Lawful Good
• War Is Hell

James David Lear (Procul His)

A human biotic by birth, a lawyer by training, and a techie at heart, “Procul His” (a pseudonym, Latin for "Beyond these Things") is a former prosecutor on Terra Nova who, after surviving against incredible odds, now finds himself part of an elite team of the Systems Alliance Ministry of Justice with the mandate to catch bad guys anywhere in the galaxy. Swearing equally by his skills with a briefcase, magnum, and bio-amp, he does his best to put bad people behind bars. And his best is very, very good.

• Action Survivor: His introduction to active law enforcement involved being waylaid by Homicide Machines during an attempt to serve a warrant.
• Always Gets His Man: Incorruptible and multi-talented. Plus, the agency he works for is "small, but good."
• Chick Magnet: Deconstructed Trope with James. Apparently all the ladies care about is his... ahem... Power Glow.
• Disability Superpower: The same accident that made him biotic also crippled him as a kid. He got better with 23rd Century medical technology, but not all scars are physical...
• Explosive Overclocking: Tried it once with his bio-amp. Needless to say, overclocking a computer hard-wired into his brain nearly killed him.
• FBI Agent: IN SPAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAACE!
• Gentleman Detective / Gentleman and a Scholar: Everything from galactic politics to computer hacking, which has come in handy in his work
• Guilt Complex: As a child, he blamed himself for contributing to his mother's illness and bad health, and for his dad's need to stay in the Navy so that they could be cared for.
• Knight in Sour Armor: James does good deeds but wonders if any of them really matter.
• I Am What I Am: He treated his biotics as a curse, until they saved his life. Now they're his best weapon.
• Maligned Mixed Marriage: James' dad not only grew up dirt-poor, but was disowned by his family back on Earth for not marrying within his race. This has filtered down into James' contempt for all things Earth.
• Memetic Badass: Exhibit A.
• Minor Crime Reveals Major Plot: How his stories always start.
• Neutral Good
• Raised Catholic: Ruined for life by the Jesuits.
• Secretly Wealthy: His parents made a lot of money playing the stock market, but they not only kept their day jobs, they gave most of it to charity and didn't even tell their son about it so he wouldn't blow it all on himself (when one of his close friends found out about James' family money, it touched a nerve).
• Sure Why Not: After readers kept noting how Procul His seemed to resemble James Bond, James became the character's name.
• That One Case: Involving a quarian migrant worker killed by local thugs. Or so he thought.
• Think Nothing of It: Frequently heard.
• Trying to Catch Me Fighting Dirty: To him, even a dumpster is a weapon.
• What You Are in the Dark: Used to be a JAG in the Alliance Navy, until he was asked to help cover up a war crime. No dice.

Jaquento Schmidt

Jaquento is an Operations Chief with the Alliance Navy. He is currently responsible for the Alliance Tower's Electronic and Network Maintenance on the Citadel. Jaquento enlisted a month after the attack on the Citadel. Prior to this, he had job training as a technician for Systems and Devices followed by a BA in Computer Science (VI programming). He went through shortened NCO training, as well as additional training as a Designated Marksman when his Drill Sergeant noticed his good aim.

• Almighty Janitor: Jaquento likes to think he is one, but his superiors are quick to point out that he isn't.
• Bunny Ears Lawyer: A mild verson; Jaquento's method of approaching problems leads him consider unusual solutions.
• Cloudcuckoolander: Sometimes Jaquento has outbursts of random knowledge on any given subject. His nickname in boot camp was Dr. Seltsam (German for Dr. Strangelove) for this reason.
• Crazy Prepared: Jaquento tries to be this.
• Deadpan Snarker
• Friendly Sniper: Was a Designated Marksman in a marine squad while he was deployed in the Skyllian Verge.
• Good Is Not Nice: Jaquento holds no pity for those who willingly endanger themselves, and if they get killed while doing so, tough break.
• Gratuitous German: Justified, as Jaquento (and his player) is German, so he likes to employ it whenever he can.
• The Chains of Commanding: He has trouble adjusting to his current position as a high-ranking NCO.
• The Engineer: Covers all three variants.
• The Stoic: More often than not. Though he does have feelings, he doesn't express them often.
• The Unfavourite His relation with his father is basicly this (though non-abusive). Jaquento's failure to live up to his dads expectations led to deep rift between them.
• Wide-Eyed Idealist: His attitude towards AI and AI research.
• Weapon of Choice: His Phalanx heavy pistol and his Viper sniper rifle. Both are modded to suit his needs.

Gunnery Chief Mike Tritt

A grim veteran with sixteen years in the Corps, including mopping up the Skyllian Blitz and action on Eden Prime, Gunny Tritt has made the military his life. He managed to survive a Blue Suns assault on his outpost with the help of Arbitrary's mercs and an orbital bombardment from Polaron's cruiser. He wandered the galaxy making new friends and trying to find someone he can maybe start a relationship with on furlough following that. Having met a rather nice lady and spent a luxury cruise with her, he's now back on the line, whipping the crew of the SSV Agincourt into shape.

• Almighty Janitor: Of a sort, as he was in charge of procuring equipment for his company. Wasn't known to abuse it though.
• Captain Smooth and Sergeant Rough: Very much the second half of this trope when interacting with officers and his men, but rather erudite and outgoing for an NCO.
• Chivalrous Pervert: Has acted rather flirtatiously towards various women on the boards, but apologized, explaining he doesn't get to see too many women on the front. Made starting a relationship a key goal of his furlough, and is now talking to a lady he met on the Citadel.
• Cold Sniper: Earned his Gunny's rank by sniping some Blue Suns hostage-takers without any civilians getting killed.
• Friendly Sniper: On the other hand, he's quite outgoing.
• "Dear John" Letter: Received one from the lady he met on the cruise not too long into his deployment.
• Desk Jockey: His new posting after promotion, much to his chagrin. Fortunately, he was returned to his platoon Sgt's posting just before the Suns attacked.
• Drill Sergeant Nasty: Part of his job as Marine detachment commander aboard Agincourt is whipping the rather poor quality complement into shape. Somewhat averted in that he's not all that nasty.
• Naive Newcomer: Averted with his arrival on CDN, he was rather aware and wary of Dippy and his history.
• Noodle Incident: Once engaged a krogan battlemaster; refuses to talk about it has talked about it, but has yet to give the full story.
• No One Gets Left Behind: A key principle of his on the front, and also seen after a date on Omega: when his date's best friend (who was madly in love with said date) came down with something nasty, Gunny immediately forgot about the awkward end to the date, tooled up in his armor and full battle kit, and came back to escort the pair to a clinic.
• Semper Fi: Has a lot of affection for the old USMC.
• Sergeant Rock: Through and through.
• The Matchmaker: With Lexi Cooper and Dakrus Sarken, at least.
• Walking the Earth: Spent his furlough knocking around the galaxy making new friends and trying to find someone he could start a relationship with.

Lieutenant Devora Brukhis (Bar Olam Adom)

A first-year cadet at the Alliance Military Academy on Luna. A native of Mars, her mother is the mayor of the city of Acheron. She was on Grissom when the Reapers attacked, and was subsequently given a field commission and assigned as ATO aboard the SSV Jerusalem, part of the Eighth Fleet. After the battle of Ontarom, she got bumped up to 1st Lieutenant, taking over as tactical officer. She also learned that she is pregnant with a daughter.

• Babies Make Everything Better: After the first battle of Ontarom, Devora was suffering from morale issues, due to seeing her CO and immediate superior killed in front of her, along with nearly half the Eighth Fleet's strength destroyed in battle with the Reapers. Then she found out that she was pregnant, and promptly turned into a Mama Bear.
• Badass Creed: We fight until we die.
  • Her preferred prayer when entering battle: Master of Legions, grant me the swift destruction of my enemies.
• Berserk Button: Do not question her integrity, or imply that she is not fit to serve in the Alliance.
  • Since the Reaper invasion started, trying to recruit for Cerberus will also set her off.
• Bi the Way
• Boldly Coming: When she spent two years on Thessia as an exchange student, she lost her virginity to her (asari) host.
• Disappeared Dad: Devora's father committed suicide when she was young. She's resentful of him, as his death brought nothing but pain for his family.
• Field Promotion: Of the more organized variety. The Alliance has suffered catastrophic losses, and Devora - a mere first-year cadet - found herself elevated to the rank of 2nd lieutenant. She was later breveted to 1st lieutenant when she became the tactical officer.
• Friendly Enemy: Her and Velor Vedevix. She won't ignore the crimes he has committed, but she does respect him for his skills and general competence.
  • Enemy Mine: As of the Reaper invasion, she now considers him an ally - not only is he also working to fight the Reapers, but he's even delivered supplies to the Eighth Fleet.
• Genre Savvy: Devora is all too aware of her own inexperience. This forms part of her self-confidence issues.
• I Call It Vera: Has named the Jerusalem's main gun "Samson".
• Mama Bear

So, galaxy, this is your official notice. You are not harming my baby. And if you disagree, you can take it up with the Jerusalem's main gun. His name is Samson.

• Meaningful Name: Devora was a biblical prophetess who fought in war.
• Pregnant Badass: Will be remaining at her post while pregnant.
• Religious Bruiser: Becoming this. Originally, Devora was a practicing Jew, if not particularly pious. After the fall of the Hegemony, she began praying on a regular basis.
• Shout-Out: Acheron is a named city on Mars in Kim Stanley Robinson's Red Mars Trilogy.
  • Her late boyfriend, and the father of her child, is named Harry Lefferts.
• The Smart Guy: Plays this role in the Eighth Fleet. She's the one who planned the recapture of Ontarom.
• Someone to Remember Him By: Subverted. She was the one who left for war, not knowing that she was pregnant. Played straight in that he died before they found out (specifically, in the Cerberus attack on Grissom).
• Teen Genius: Just barely qualifies as she's 19, and generally acts like an adult. She was a star student at the Academy, and managed to get an internship at the elite Grissom Academy. She then provides the plan to retake Ontarom from the Reapers.
• Theme Naming: Uses words with religious connotations as code words, like "Altar" or "Priest".
  • She also likes naming Reapers after Biblical villains.

Emile Ó Bhroin

A self-described "paperwork monkey" (despite actual paper being more or less nonexistent in your average workplace), working at the Alliance Embassy. Also a biotic, but doesn't get much use out of it.

• Beleaguered Bureaucrat: Particularly since the Reaper invasion, since panicked humans have been calling up nonstop desperate for details about their loved ones. He isn't particularly happy about having to tell people there's been no word, but sticks with it to avoid dealing with the same issues regarding his own family.
• Berserk Button: Don't call him "Emily". Or imply that biotics have it easier than most.
• Deadpan Snarker: To an extent. It's a defence mechanism, naturally.
• Interspecies Romance: Recently married an asari, who is now pregnant with his child.
• I Want Grandkids: From both sides, though more obviously from his mother-in-law. As of recent events, they're getting their wish.
• Noodle Incident: His wedding. Certain details are known, like the announcement of his wife's impending pregnancy (thanks to Bizarre Alien Biology) but nobody's yet worked out how the cats figured into it.
• Obfuscating Insanity: Tried this during the Biotic Salvation arc, after a week in solitary confinement. It didn't last long.
• Oireland: Averted, after a fashion. Word of God states that Emile's family is based on exaggerated versions of actual Irish people.

Gunnery Chief Natalie King (Nat)

Gunnery Chief and PSG of First Platoon, Bravo-1/10 Marine Infantry. Stationed aboard the SSV 'Benjamin Davis'. A veteran with ten years in the SAMC, having seen action at Elysium, the Thesaca Raids and Feros.

• War Is Hell
• Field Promotion: Becomes Platoon Leader from Platoon Sergeant after her lieutenant gets hit with a Reaper laser.
• Last Stand: Thought Ontarom was going to be this. Averted when the Fleet counter-attacks and rescues what's left of the 1/20th
• Do Not Go Gentle: Her reaction to the Reapers invading, and her advice to her Marines and anyone else that will listen.
• What Have I Done: After she shoots three of her Marines at Ontarom
• Understatement: Prone to this.
• Sarcasm Mode: Also prone to this.
• Semper Fi: Has been with the Alliance Marines since she was eighteen.
• Awesome Aussie
• Stuff Blowing Up: Her preferred way of killing things. Although no longer functioning as a heavy weapons specialist, she still carries explosives. As Derek Corey found out on Tungen.
• The Cynic