Lieutenant Commander Alexander Bowler
"Hm? Did you need something?" The collie asked as he glanced up from his tablet and over toward a fellow officer, his brow raising slightly. "Commander. Your hair?" The other officer stated, trying to hide his amusement. The collie's brow raised further and a look of confusion crossed his face. "My hair? What about-" He reached up and ran his fingers through his locks before cursing under his breath. "Ah shit... Thank you." He said as he set the tablet down on a nearby console, putting his engineering report aside to reach into one of his uniform pockets. From within he procured a hair tie which he then used to help pull his hair up. "I always seem to forget..." He huffed as he fixed his hair from its free flowing state into a tight, regulation bun. He looked to his associate again, who gave him an approving not to let him know that his hair had been properly tended to. With a nod and another thanks, he grabbed his tablet again and went back to work. He hadn't been on duty for more than ten minutes so far and already he was up to his neck in engineering woes. He sighed as he swept his thumb across the screen, causing a wall of text and data to scroll by. He got the sense it was going to be one of those days...
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Alexander, or just Alex, had never been interested in the military life. Growing up alongside his twin brother Conner, he was more interested in artistic pursuits or in engineering and tinkering. Indeed as he grew older he was drawn more toward a career in electronic engineering, hoping to one day land a decent career. Indeed that was the plan when he started university, studying to be an engineer while minoring in art, finding the act of painting and drawing soothing. He had been doing quite well for himself, getting high marks and at one point making the dean's list. He was on track to graduate fairly high in his class and was already beginning to scout out some job opportunities... Then the war came.
He could still clearly remember the day when he learned they were at war. He enjoying a nice afternoon out at a bar with a friend and his brother, unwinding after a round of final exams when the game they were watching was interrupted with the news, ISN showing footage of the burning wreckage of ships and what was left of the space station orbiting the Jericho 3 colony following a brutal attack from an enigmatic race known as the Minbari. The collie, like many Earthers, had no real knowledge of the race. Indeed the disastrous first contact between Earth and the Minbari had only taken place a mere few days prior. A first contact that resulted in a trio of Earth Alliance warships opening fire on a gathering of Minbari ships they perceived to be a threat.
The days and weeks that followed were a sickening blur. Reports coming in faster than he, or anyone could keep up with. It seemed as soon as he had heard news of the Alliance engaging with the Minbari he'd hear new reports that the fleet was wiped out. That another colony had fallen and that the Minbari were drawing closer. He tried to block it out. Tried to go on as life were normal. But as time went by it became steadily more difficult to ignore the inescapable fact. Earth was locked into a hopeless and unwinnable war against a technologically superior foe that they had absolutely no hope of defeating. And with every attempt to sue for peace snubbed it became clear that it wasn't a war for territory or power. It was a war of extinction. A war to rid the galaxy of every last Terran.
Even as the feeling of cynicism and defeatism grew he tried to push forward and continue his academic pursuits. But his grades were on a steady decline. Already things were bad enough for him. Then came one of the many punches to the gut the collie would endure over the next two years. His beloved brother Conner made the choice to enlist in Earthforce. No amount of tearful pleading and begging from Alex or his family was able to dissuade Conner from doing what he felt was his duty. To protect and defend Earth, and by extension his family, from the looming threat of the Minbari. He could still remember that last night he spent with his brother. Hours of painful weeping as he clung to that mirror image of himself. The assurances from his brother that he would be alright. That he wasn't about to let himself die and leave Alex all alone in the world...
Those words echoed through his head as he listened to the Earthforce officers in their pristine dress uniforms explain to his parents that Conner was missing and presumed killed in action. Something in Alex withered and died that day. The light inside of him growing just a little bit duller. Burning just a little bit colder. What was left of his grades cratered after that. The collie went on shuffling through life, trying to just make it from day to day as the news reports grew ever bleaker. Even the news of the destruction of the Minbari flagship, the Blackstar, did little to improve his spirits. It wouldn't win the war or put an end to the bloodshed. It wouldn't bring Conner back. Or any of the other thousands of Terrans killed in the constant, one-sided fighting.
So numb he had become he barely even felt anything when his draft orders came in. He could still hear his mother crying. Praying. Begging God not to take her last remaining son away from her. Many had turned to religion in those final months of the war. Even Alex to some degree. The crucifix his mother gave him before leaving was a small comfort in those terrifying dogfights he found himself in. With a critical shortage of pilots he found himself being subjected to a crash training program before then being stuck into the cockpit of a Starfury. It was in a fighter he'd spend the last few months of the war. He eventually gave up even trying to fight. The Minbari were just too good. Their pilots, and indeed their race hardier and better able to take the g-forces of space combat. Their fighters, though not as nimble or maneuverable as the Starfuries, were still centuries ahead of the Alliance. Dogfights became little more than games of cat and mouse for him. The collie just trying to survive long enough to escape and live just one more day, running off of spite and pure survival instinct.
But he knew his days were numbered. No matter how hard he fought he knew that sooner or later the Minbari would kill him. Just like they'd kill every last Terran. Indeed that seemed to be the only outcome, with even Earth's repeated offers of complete, unconditional surrender to the Minbari in the final days going unanswered. Towards the end with the twilight of Earth approaching, the collie took on his final duty. He volunteered to join the growing fleet of warships building up around Earth. Ready to become part of the Battle of the Line. The last organized defense of Earth. A battle not to ensure a final victory. Not to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat. A battle simply to delay the inevitable. To hold the Minbari back long enough to let just a few more civilians evacuate the planet and make the run for neutral space.
Much to his shock he had somehow survived the initial attacks during the battle, the constant waves of fighters and the unending hail of fire. He survived the ensuing retreats toward Earth as the line was ground down, ships destroyed one after another. As one pilot would later describe it “The sky was full of stars. And every star an exploding ship. One of ours”
Steadily he watched his luck run dry. His death, the death of everything he knew and loved, steadily approaching in the form of massive blue warships looming over the planet. It was there in low Earth orbit, lined up with the last handful of warships and fighters, he watched the encroaching Minbari...
Suddenly stop firing...
A few minutes later he heard what might have been the single most shocking sentence he'd ever hear in his life.
The Minbari surrendered.
After two long years of fighting with no hope of survival. After constant death, destruction, and bloodshed. After all the grief, pain, and anguish, the Minbari surrendered to Earth on the absolute cusp of victory. With Earth in their sights and its defense shattered they simply... stopped.
With the war unexpectedly over, he found himself unsure of what to do. He went through the last year of his military service in a haze, struggling to come to terms with everything. Trying to resume living after coming to accept a surely inevitable death. Living he may have been, but he hardly felt alive anymore. In the end when the haze lifted, the once bright and chipper pup was gone. In its place was a bitter and broken man. Cynical and jaded, angry at the universe for all it had done. All it had taken from him and from the people of Earth as a whole. He tried to go back to his old life. But it was difficult, downright impossible even, to return to a sense of normalcy. He attempted to resume his studies but had lost much of the drive that he once had and where he once was set to graduate at the top of his class he barely scraped together enough credits to graduate.
Though the degree would offer him little in return. Many equally jaded veterans and civilians alike were vying for a limited jobs in the severe economic downturn the war had left Earth in. He drifted for another year, living with his family and moving from job to job, never able to really hold anything down. In the end he was left with a looming debt and a long list of rejected or ghosted job applications. With no other options left for him the collie returned to Earthforce, drawn by the reenlistment bonuses. Indeed so many had been killed in the fighting the Alliance was desperate to refill their ranks lest they be caught flat footed. At least there his new degree brought with it an increase in rank and pay. As well as a new position as an engineering officer. Along with his position he found a newfound purpose in life. The rigid structure of now peacetime military service and many therapy sessions helped the pup find some of his drive again, and soon he was rediscovering his long lost love of tinkering and electronics in his work, as well as his lost love of art as an outlet for his depression and post traumatic stress disorders.
But it wasn't until he met his dear friend Brook that the healing truly began. By happenstance he met the vixen at a dive bar during leave in the Russian Consortium. A once bright and chipper girl herself who had lost her family during the war. Who was left just as bitter and was forced into the military life as a marine. The two instantly clicked with one another, each eventually coming to rely on the other for support as their friendship grew. Together they each helped the other battle their demons, finding themselves to be kindred spirits. From then on they knew no matter what happened they'd always have each other and they went on with their heads held high.
As they say, time heals all wounds. Or most wounds. These days the collie is steadily returning to his old self. To a point. The loss of his brother left a deep scar that will never truly heal. Indeed even to this day he still pines for the companionship of his beloved twin. But at least he found some peace with it. And now he uses those feelings to better himself. Becoming the man he knew Conner would want him to be. Alex would continue to strive to improve himself, and it would eventually culminate in him becoming a bridge officer aboard one of the first Omega class destroyers coming out of drydocks, the EAS Medusa and take part in her first shakedown cruise before joining the vessel on its four year anti-piracy operations through Alliance and League space. And as he continued to excel and succeed he'd find his accolades catching up with him, with Alex being promised a position on the engineering crew of Earth's, and indeed the galaxy's last, best hope for peace...
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Commission by the talented S00T from FurAffinity
=========================================================================================================================================
Alexander, or just Alex, had never been interested in the military life. Growing up alongside his twin brother Conner, he was more interested in artistic pursuits or in engineering and tinkering. Indeed as he grew older he was drawn more toward a career in electronic engineering, hoping to one day land a decent career. Indeed that was the plan when he started university, studying to be an engineer while minoring in art, finding the act of painting and drawing soothing. He had been doing quite well for himself, getting high marks and at one point making the dean's list. He was on track to graduate fairly high in his class and was already beginning to scout out some job opportunities... Then the war came.
He could still clearly remember the day when he learned they were at war. He enjoying a nice afternoon out at a bar with a friend and his brother, unwinding after a round of final exams when the game they were watching was interrupted with the news, ISN showing footage of the burning wreckage of ships and what was left of the space station orbiting the Jericho 3 colony following a brutal attack from an enigmatic race known as the Minbari. The collie, like many Earthers, had no real knowledge of the race. Indeed the disastrous first contact between Earth and the Minbari had only taken place a mere few days prior. A first contact that resulted in a trio of Earth Alliance warships opening fire on a gathering of Minbari ships they perceived to be a threat.
The days and weeks that followed were a sickening blur. Reports coming in faster than he, or anyone could keep up with. It seemed as soon as he had heard news of the Alliance engaging with the Minbari he'd hear new reports that the fleet was wiped out. That another colony had fallen and that the Minbari were drawing closer. He tried to block it out. Tried to go on as life were normal. But as time went by it became steadily more difficult to ignore the inescapable fact. Earth was locked into a hopeless and unwinnable war against a technologically superior foe that they had absolutely no hope of defeating. And with every attempt to sue for peace snubbed it became clear that it wasn't a war for territory or power. It was a war of extinction. A war to rid the galaxy of every last Terran.
Even as the feeling of cynicism and defeatism grew he tried to push forward and continue his academic pursuits. But his grades were on a steady decline. Already things were bad enough for him. Then came one of the many punches to the gut the collie would endure over the next two years. His beloved brother Conner made the choice to enlist in Earthforce. No amount of tearful pleading and begging from Alex or his family was able to dissuade Conner from doing what he felt was his duty. To protect and defend Earth, and by extension his family, from the looming threat of the Minbari. He could still remember that last night he spent with his brother. Hours of painful weeping as he clung to that mirror image of himself. The assurances from his brother that he would be alright. That he wasn't about to let himself die and leave Alex all alone in the world...
Those words echoed through his head as he listened to the Earthforce officers in their pristine dress uniforms explain to his parents that Conner was missing and presumed killed in action. Something in Alex withered and died that day. The light inside of him growing just a little bit duller. Burning just a little bit colder. What was left of his grades cratered after that. The collie went on shuffling through life, trying to just make it from day to day as the news reports grew ever bleaker. Even the news of the destruction of the Minbari flagship, the Blackstar, did little to improve his spirits. It wouldn't win the war or put an end to the bloodshed. It wouldn't bring Conner back. Or any of the other thousands of Terrans killed in the constant, one-sided fighting.
So numb he had become he barely even felt anything when his draft orders came in. He could still hear his mother crying. Praying. Begging God not to take her last remaining son away from her. Many had turned to religion in those final months of the war. Even Alex to some degree. The crucifix his mother gave him before leaving was a small comfort in those terrifying dogfights he found himself in. With a critical shortage of pilots he found himself being subjected to a crash training program before then being stuck into the cockpit of a Starfury. It was in a fighter he'd spend the last few months of the war. He eventually gave up even trying to fight. The Minbari were just too good. Their pilots, and indeed their race hardier and better able to take the g-forces of space combat. Their fighters, though not as nimble or maneuverable as the Starfuries, were still centuries ahead of the Alliance. Dogfights became little more than games of cat and mouse for him. The collie just trying to survive long enough to escape and live just one more day, running off of spite and pure survival instinct.
But he knew his days were numbered. No matter how hard he fought he knew that sooner or later the Minbari would kill him. Just like they'd kill every last Terran. Indeed that seemed to be the only outcome, with even Earth's repeated offers of complete, unconditional surrender to the Minbari in the final days going unanswered. Towards the end with the twilight of Earth approaching, the collie took on his final duty. He volunteered to join the growing fleet of warships building up around Earth. Ready to become part of the Battle of the Line. The last organized defense of Earth. A battle not to ensure a final victory. Not to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat. A battle simply to delay the inevitable. To hold the Minbari back long enough to let just a few more civilians evacuate the planet and make the run for neutral space.
Much to his shock he had somehow survived the initial attacks during the battle, the constant waves of fighters and the unending hail of fire. He survived the ensuing retreats toward Earth as the line was ground down, ships destroyed one after another. As one pilot would later describe it “The sky was full of stars. And every star an exploding ship. One of ours”
Steadily he watched his luck run dry. His death, the death of everything he knew and loved, steadily approaching in the form of massive blue warships looming over the planet. It was there in low Earth orbit, lined up with the last handful of warships and fighters, he watched the encroaching Minbari...
Suddenly stop firing...
A few minutes later he heard what might have been the single most shocking sentence he'd ever hear in his life.
The Minbari surrendered.
After two long years of fighting with no hope of survival. After constant death, destruction, and bloodshed. After all the grief, pain, and anguish, the Minbari surrendered to Earth on the absolute cusp of victory. With Earth in their sights and its defense shattered they simply... stopped.
With the war unexpectedly over, he found himself unsure of what to do. He went through the last year of his military service in a haze, struggling to come to terms with everything. Trying to resume living after coming to accept a surely inevitable death. Living he may have been, but he hardly felt alive anymore. In the end when the haze lifted, the once bright and chipper pup was gone. In its place was a bitter and broken man. Cynical and jaded, angry at the universe for all it had done. All it had taken from him and from the people of Earth as a whole. He tried to go back to his old life. But it was difficult, downright impossible even, to return to a sense of normalcy. He attempted to resume his studies but had lost much of the drive that he once had and where he once was set to graduate at the top of his class he barely scraped together enough credits to graduate.
Though the degree would offer him little in return. Many equally jaded veterans and civilians alike were vying for a limited jobs in the severe economic downturn the war had left Earth in. He drifted for another year, living with his family and moving from job to job, never able to really hold anything down. In the end he was left with a looming debt and a long list of rejected or ghosted job applications. With no other options left for him the collie returned to Earthforce, drawn by the reenlistment bonuses. Indeed so many had been killed in the fighting the Alliance was desperate to refill their ranks lest they be caught flat footed. At least there his new degree brought with it an increase in rank and pay. As well as a new position as an engineering officer. Along with his position he found a newfound purpose in life. The rigid structure of now peacetime military service and many therapy sessions helped the pup find some of his drive again, and soon he was rediscovering his long lost love of tinkering and electronics in his work, as well as his lost love of art as an outlet for his depression and post traumatic stress disorders.
But it wasn't until he met his dear friend Brook that the healing truly began. By happenstance he met the vixen at a dive bar during leave in the Russian Consortium. A once bright and chipper girl herself who had lost her family during the war. Who was left just as bitter and was forced into the military life as a marine. The two instantly clicked with one another, each eventually coming to rely on the other for support as their friendship grew. Together they each helped the other battle their demons, finding themselves to be kindred spirits. From then on they knew no matter what happened they'd always have each other and they went on with their heads held high.
As they say, time heals all wounds. Or most wounds. These days the collie is steadily returning to his old self. To a point. The loss of his brother left a deep scar that will never truly heal. Indeed even to this day he still pines for the companionship of his beloved twin. But at least he found some peace with it. And now he uses those feelings to better himself. Becoming the man he knew Conner would want him to be. Alex would continue to strive to improve himself, and it would eventually culminate in him becoming a bridge officer aboard one of the first Omega class destroyers coming out of drydocks, the EAS Medusa and take part in her first shakedown cruise before joining the vessel on its four year anti-piracy operations through Alliance and League space. And as he continued to excel and succeed he'd find his accolades catching up with him, with Alex being promised a position on the engineering crew of Earth's, and indeed the galaxy's last, best hope for peace...
=================
Commission by the talented S00T from FurAffinity
3 years ago
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