SKYMARSHAL ELLEN DEVORE

Born on the religious, isolated world Alta Gracia in the Islands Chain, Ellen Devore was the complete maverick warrior: a maverick in terms of conventional military thinking, a maverick in her whole attitude to the established military system, and a maverick in her attitude to all the accepted social mores of the military community in which she served. She showed contempt for many military customs and conventions, and this may well be the reason why, more than fifteen years after the Second Arachnid War, her name is still reviled by many PSU regular military officers. Interestingly, her reputation with the PSU High Command with the Ophiuchi fighter community, and with special forces teams across the Federation, is unimpeachable.

She was certainly one of the most controversial figures among the upper echelons of the PSU military during the Second Arachnid War. A rare, balanced comment from Commodore Aidan Woodsworth, who served as PSU military liaison during Operation Thursday (in 2453) was that Devore was a brilliant leader, but she was a very odd person indeed.

A very substantial cause for Devore's extremely uncomfortable journey through life was her severe upbringing. Her parents were devout eCatholics, and she spent much of her young life conscious that she suffered God's displeasure. Even when she was serving in the navy, in contrast to most young officers, she pondered over the deeper meaning of life and death, and from an early age felt that she was destined for a violent death. She was born on Alta Gracia in 2425 AD. As a growing child, with her brother and sisters, she was often left with aunts while her parents went to Old Earth. She rarely mixed with other children, and as a girl who did not play games and did not attend assemblies, she was eventually isolated and she remained a loner throughout her life. Ellen emerged from school a lonely girl, who did not share in normal school friendships, who often antagonized her peers, and was perhaps too ready to challenge authority.

When she went to the Royal Military Academy on Malagasy in 2445, a similar pattern emerged. Other cadets found her surly and unfriendly. A fellow cadet found her "odd, anti-social, and out of step with the rest of us". But throughout her life Ellen Devore seemed to enjoy easy access to distinguished people who were able to forward her career, including two senior admirals on staff at Malagasy. After graduating as an officer in 2450, she was given a small destroyer command in the Golden Chain. Devore enjoyed her independent command, and she liked going off on expeditions, which she organized. Her superiors found her interesting and impressive--her fellows found her insufferable. Her pirate hunting in the amazingly rich Omega System gave her very valuable experience in planning and executing her own tactics.

When the Second Arachnid War broke out, then Senior Captain Devore was sent to the front lines along with any and all available warships to hold back the massive Bug tide. By the end of 2454, Devore, with her single battleship squadron, had destroyed more enemy warships than any two squadrons combined. Of course, this did not endear Ellen to the military establishment. Admiral King-Clark, who served with Devore, said that she was uncomfortable and abrasive at close quarters, but was a woman of formidable physical courage and moral integrity. Devore's own views on military affairs were also recorded at the time. She said: "Great soldiers are serious, diligent, and of outstanding character," and she added that a coarse and savage man makes a bad soldier.

After a major victory during Operation Dragoon, Devore was advanced to Commodore but immediately after she was called back to HQ (she was told that her battleship squadron was being disbanded) and was ordered to the planet Halstansir as a mere Captain. This was the military establishment wreaking revenge. After a period of serious illness, she was sent back to Alta Gracia for convalescence. She returned to the warmth and affection of her family and, as always, managed to re-establish contact with some of her high-level supporters. Her censure after Operation Dragoon was shown to Skymarshal Wanes, who reversed it.

During her leave to Alta Gracia, Devore simmered with resentment at the way she had been treated, and when she was posted to distant New Salem System she suspected it was to silence her. It was in New Salem that Devore first had contact with the newly forming PSU-allied Ophiuchi fighter groups and a few special forces personnel. The Commander in the region (Fleet Admiral Paul Tillman) did not believe Devore was fit for command and also that her ideas to utilize fighter jocks and special forces teams were impractical. Stymied, she then went through the PSU's Advanced Military Course and throughout her training her passionate conviction and amazing attention to detail created a confident and aggressive attitude throughout the training squadrons she commanded. That attitude was to serve Devore well for she was called up to fight in the breaking Biomechphilist Conflict, even though she had made many formidable enemies. Skymarshal Howard McClellan, who had heard of Devore, referred to her successes and called her "this woman of genius and audacity". He regarded her as a woman of highest quality and invited her to the Admiralty. After that meeting, Devore's ideas for using the Ophiuchi fighter pilots and augmented special forces was adopted by the rest of the PSU military after McClellan endorsed it.

All during her career Ellen Devore faced petty, puerile, and bloody-minded opposition at every level, but her character and military philosophy were so dominant that she remained for many years as controversial as when she was on the front lines. Because she is a complete maverick, rejecting most military conventions, and most social conventions as well, she is positively hated by large numbers of military officials who have never even met her. Her enemies loathe her but many PSU leaders consider her to be a towering military genius and one of the PSU's greatest war leaders, thus conferring upon her the title of Skymarshal in 2459 (just in time for the Armageddon War).

ELLEN’S QUOTES

• I hate to waste a really good threat.
• Murphy’s Law is the only true dependable in my life most of the time.
• Paranoia is just another word for longevity.
• There are some things more important than physical survival. You gotta be able to look yourself in the mirror.
• Assuming the worst is always safer. And usually truer.
• I never forgave anyone for anything. A character flaw to be sure, but hell, everyone’s got to have at least one.
• I never met coffee that wasn’t wonderful. It was just a matter of how wonderful it was.
• Killing I understand. Relationships confuse me.
• Mercy will get you killed, but sometimes it’s all that makes us human.