Tag: badass
#20 Admiral “Slade” Chavez
I love Battlestar Galactica (new series, not the disco glitter catastrophe from the 70’s). Let’s get that out of the way. I love Battlestar Galactica and it should be no secret that it was a major influence on me in developing Valkyrie Squadron. There’s a lot to love about the show: intense writing, amazing performances, really hard-hitting themes, sweet ass battles; but for all there is to love about BSG, there were parts of that show I didn’t love.
Namely, the familial DRAMAAAAA. From the get-go, we find Commander Adama and his pansy crybaby son, Lee, entwined in some serious DRAAMAAAA following the death of Lee’s brother and the Commander’s Son, Zak. Now, don’t get me wrong. Deaths in the family can fragment the whole crew, but their griping was just OVER THE TOP. Everything AND I MEAN EVERYTHING was a big blowout, usually ending with Lee storming off in a huff and the commander gritting his teeth. It bordered hilarity and merits parody.
So here we are.
Admiral Chavez is the commander of the space forces overall, his power trumps even that of Commander Duri, highest ranking officer on Valhalla station. He is a “good ol’ boy” and macho almost to a fault. He sets the standard for hard-nosed leadership in the upper echelons of the United Space Forces. He’s an aging meathead. He’s basically Lt. Leon Zantha plus 30 years.
Speaking of Zantha, Chavez hand-picked him to make a man out of his “sissy boy” son, Aidan, by assigning his son to Odin Squadron 4. He doesn’t get along with his son at all, because the Admiral would love nothing more than to have his son follow in his footsteps and that’s not likely to happen. We’ve already established Aidan is a cowardly drama queen, not exactly military bad ass material. What’s so frustrating to the admiral is that his ongoing battle with his son is the one battle he can’t settle with a sidearm.
Damn sensitive sissy boys.
You’ll notice the Admiral has a prosthetic eye. Officially, he lost his eye in a key victory against the droids ten years prior, though unofficially, the injury might’ve had more to do with this…
For the record, CMO Bastion does not approve of playing with fireworks while drunk.
#11 Special Lt. Avi Ben-Aron
To anyone familiar with my previous work, it was only a matter of time before a guy like this showed up. Avi is a special ops guy on loan to Odin Squadron 4. Originally trained with the Israeli Anti-Droid Tactical Forces, Avi has a great deal of experience and tenacity behind him. He is currently assigned to Odin 4 to share his training and experience with the rest of his team and so far he has proven to be a great asset.
Just don’t ask him if he knows any jokes. The answer is no.
As a side note, his armor is designed to be stealth armor. The red lights on his armor are meant to confuse the droids, as red light panels are common on their own apparatus.
Appropriately, the most badass member of Odin Squadron 4 gets published on Veteran’s Day. I didn’t plan it that way, but it’s pretty apropos. Happy Veteran’s Day!
#10 Lt. Theron Jones
The pilot for Odin Squadron 4, Theron is a solid pilot with a solid flight record. In stark contrast to the Valkyrie’s Lt. Gomez, Theron is not an outright daredevil. He relishes the thrill of flying, but he also likes staying alive after doing so. He’s often serves as the voice of reason when his teammates want to go off and kill something without a plan or just cry in the corner.
Poor Theron. He’s surrounded by lunatics.
#7 Commander Mona Duri
To say Commander Duri is a woman not to be trifled with is an understatement. Commander Duri is a fierce woman who takes very little guff from anyone. Serving as the space station site lead, Commander Duri is the one in charge of overseeing military operations. While she never wavers in her heavy-handedness, there are some rumblings around the station that her loyalty may be a different story.
#5 Lt. Junior Class Jocelyn Gomez
Jocelyn is the pilot of Valkyrie Squadron 4. The youngest member of the team, she has the potential to be a great aviatrix, but is still working out her youthful unrest. An adrenaline junkie and a thrill seeker, she comes off as impulsive and impatient, but responds to orders well and takes her job seriously. It is her dream one day to be top gun of the United Space Forces fleet.
#4 Ensign Casey Anders
Casey, as she’s known to her closest friends, is the brawn of the team. She’s more of a “shoot first, ask questions later (if ever)” kind of girl, much to the chagrin of the resident science officer and to the slight annoyance of others. Personality-wise, Casey plays as hard as she works, drinking, dancing into the wee hours, and even getting into the occasional fist fight. However, in any fight, there’s no one better to have on your side.
#2 Squadron Leader Priscilla Vega
Lt. Priscilla Vega is the squad leader for Valkyrie Squad 4 in my upcoming webcomic http://www.valkyriesquadron.com. She leads an all-female team of four specially trained fighters, scientists, and pilots. Her specialty is weapons and combat strategy. Going by “Priss” for short, Priscilla is an otherwise good-natured, even toned person. She likes to have fun, but she doesn’t let her pursuit of good times get in the way of her duties (Most of the time…). Priscilla does well at keeping her emotions in check and keeping a cool head in a tough situation.
#1 LENNOX SLEDGEHAMMER
For my upcoming webcomic project http://www.valkyriesquadron.com I wanted an edgy reporter type to act as a sort of point of view character. This was after meeting the venerable David Axe of http://www.warisboring.com and reading his book of the same title War is Boring.  I thought to myself “Wow, what kind of a guy goes into war zones willingly to document human misery and dodge bullets?”
An awesome one, that’s who.Â
So, drawing inspiration from this guy, I thought I’d incorporate a war correspondent into Valkyrie of my own. Except I cranked the edginess up to 11.Â
LENNOX SLEDGEHAMMER. Yes, it must be in all caps.
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