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Name: Christopher Wood
Gender: Male
Birthday: June 22, 1983
Citizenship: Australia
Residence: Bendigo, Australia.
If he’d been American instead of Australian, the Great Wave Scare would likely have chased Chris off-planet and made him one of the First Fen… or, more likely, gotten him killed, as the mods he’d made to his car were still far from spaceworthy the first time he took it for a flight.
Instead, he was able to take his time, collecting and growing several variants of handwavium, selling both them and ‘waved gear as a side business. Like several other Australians, he did this openly and legally, even filing the details on his annual tax returns. However, he never dived heavily into the project, and while this meant he never invented his own, easily identifiable strains or Wavetech breakthroughs, it also meant he never had any serious mad science moments that would have overcome even the Australian authorities patience, or at least given him a biomod.
By 2011, his semi-regular trips into orbit in his car had given him the confidence to start on a much larger, more ambitious project - his own scratch built ship. Initially, he was hampered by the fact that he wasn't really a designer, and he didn't just want a box with engines on it. And on top of that, he didn't want to just steal a ship design someone else had come up with.
And that was when Bioware began revealing art for their upcoming Star Wars MMO, and Chris realized he’d struck gold. Most of the Fen involved in ship-building were up in space, the majority of those were stuck using whatever scrap they could get their hands on, and not many of them actually had time to pay much attention to current fandom developments planetside. With a bit of work, he might be able to operate in space with something actually unique.
Then his father, supportive but not really understanding a lot of the appeal, made a suggestion that had so much potential, but threatened disaster if it went wrong. After a lot of careful consideration, he took a deep breath, crossed his fingers, and approached Bioware.
The project ran into delays, and there were a number of complications, practical and legal, but in December 2011, he launched the XS Freighter Void Eagle, built under license from the ‘Corellian Engineering Corporation’ (ie, Bioware and Lucasfilm), as part of the promotional events leading up to the games release. He also had a contract with Lucasfilm regarding his help with future promotional events, a newly awakened Old Republic era Astromech Droid as his co-pilot/engineer, and a rather sizeable loan to his name. Early on at least, space would not be the freedom from Earthly concerns many claimed it to be.
Exploiting the publicity the Eagle’s launch had earned him, Chris established Void Eagle Shipping, and over the next year or so, managed to get some regular routes and customers, and managed to get a decent distance ahead of the minimum repayments on his loan. By the time his 15 minutes of fame had faded to a memory, he had a decent reputation, and was making satisfying progress on repaying that loan. He was never going to be a BNF, but he was doing alright.
And then the Boskonians came along and made life even more interesting for everyone. Chris came out of that mess with some new skills he’d never imagined he’d need, some unpleasant memories and stories he won’t share, an impressively larger social circle, and a reputation as an honest, moral freighter captain that could be trusted to get the job done. While still not a BNF, he does a lot of work for them, and is on a first name basis with a few.
Oh, and somewhere along the line, an AI appeared in the Void Eagles computer. She’s a good kid, but he really didn’t plan on being a dad...
***
Description:
Caucasian male in his early 30s, still somewhat overweight despite his fenspace years, although there’s a bit more muscle under it than there used to be. Brown hair, kept very short when possible, but he’s got a bad habit of putting off haircuts and letting a mop develop. Often looks like he needs a shave.
***
Notable Mundane Abilities:
I think I know what this does - Worked as a laborer before launching the Void Eagle. Is not very creative with power tools and construction equipment, but knows how to use them and can work out what needs doing relatively quickly, especially with instructions.
Fully licensed - Holds a mundane pilots license. He got it while preparing to build his ship, and used it to help establish his good reputation planetside. It, along with his behaviour in their airspace, helped the Void Eagle remain relatively welcome even in countries that are cautious of Fen ships.
Punch, kick, shoot - Learnt how to fight during the Boskone War, thanks to several pirate run-ins. Doesn’t think he’s that good at it, but he survived without permanent damage, so he’s doing something right. Is now trying to get out of the habit of carrying a gun at all times
Basic wavetech - Experimented with the goo a lot back in his pre-space days. Never developed anything mindblowing, but he developed a good understanding of several strains and could mod some items with relatively consistent quirks. One of his most popular products was ‘waved childrens toys. Nothing too fancy, but safe basic interactions sold well there.
***
Quirks:
Pass me the safety glasses - Has always been rather safety conscious, and has only gotten more so since getting off world.
Glass of water thanks - Doesn’t drink alcohol.
I’m a legitimate businessman. Really - Despite his choice of ship, he is most definitely not a Smuggler, and tries to abide by local laws whenever possible. States this on his company website, but still has to deal with people that won’t believe it quite a bit.
Not one of us - Being based planetside, still holding his Australian citizenship and not signing up with any of the factions has rubbed some Fen the wrong way. Chris alternates between finding it amusing and annoying, depending on how much of a jerk the Fen wants to be about it.
Thanks, but I’ll pass on the Mexican - Not biomodded at all, and is somewhat paranoid about doing so. Not out of prejudice, but his years of working with Handwavium have convinced him it has a sense of either irony or ‘humor’. He’s been a long time fan of genderswaps and Furries, and has his suspicions of what will happen when his turn comes. He’d rather put it off until necessary.
Captain Jack Sparrow can go Hang - Has never been a fan of pirates, real or fictional, and the Boskone War didn’t help that much. His encounters with the ‘Good Space Pirate’ factions in Fenspace are usually frosty at best, even if he’ll admit they mean well.
Hmmmmm... A Warsie with a cargo ship, a set of morals, and an Earthside base would catch Noah Scott's eye, especially when he's still growing Stellvia Trading into StellviaCorp. Do you think Mr. Wood would be interested in a regular run supplying Meg's with fresh meat and the gift shop with trinkets and doodads (all pre-purchased by Stellvia, just needing a ship to get them to L5)?
--
Rob Kelk
"Governments have no right to question the loyalty of those who oppose
them. Adversaries remain citizens of the same state, common subjects of
the same sovereign, servants of the same law."

- Michael Ignatieff, addressing Stanford University in 2012
That's the sort of thing that'd make him happy the only other person on the ship to see him do the Tagon-style 'happy dance' is the astromech droid.

... Dear Lord, has anyone ever tried making an amorph in Fenspace?
Oh, I like this guy, he's got the right of it.
 
Matrix Dragon Wrote:... Dear Lord, has anyone ever tried making an amorph in Fenspace?
If I understand the term correctly, I believe the closest anyone has come is Joe Corcoran.
--
Rob Kelk
"Governments have no right to question the loyalty of those who oppose
them. Adversaries remain citizens of the same state, common subjects of
the same sovereign, servants of the same law."

- Michael Ignatieff, addressing Stanford University in 2012
I like. Chris would definitely be welcome at the Grover's Corners -- hell, he might even be considered part of the community if he visits often enough.
-- Bob
---------
Then the horns kicked in...
...and my shoes began to squeak.
Given it's based off me... Bob, how much of the DW forums existed in universe? Chris might have originally visited to meet an online friend... And give him some minor grief over noise from the US after the Launch Smile
Well, point of divergence is a four or five years after the Forums started, and I don't doubt my counterpart kept them going from L5. So, yeah.
-- Bob
---------
Then the horns kicked in...
...and my shoes began to squeak.
Bob Schroeck Wrote:Well, point of divergence is a four or five years after the Forums started, and I don't doubt my counterpart kept them going from L5. So, yeah.
One of the less-important reasons why it's Rob "Donaldson" who works for the Convention Authority is that it wouldn't make any sense for Fen|me to not be able to reach Fen|Bob.
--
Rob Kelk
"Governments have no right to question the loyalty of those who oppose
them. Adversaries remain citizens of the same state, common subjects of
the same sovereign, servants of the same law."

- Michael Ignatieff, addressing Stanford University in 2012
I doubt any of his handwavium would have been used in Grover's Corner (Shipping to the US would be too great a risk for him at the time, and I doubt Bob would have let anything slip online, especially to someone the US knew was openly selling the stuff). Still, learning just who kicked off that storm while he was talking to Bioware would have been a brown pants moment :p
And double checking the timeline confirms I was slightly off. Grover's went Up on 2012, not 11 like I was thinking. Slightly less trouble for Chris Smile
This is the sort of fellow who would not find it hard getting the occasional (or even frequent) contract for a passenger and/or supply run to Greenwood or any Rockhounds work site, either.
--
Sucrose Octanitrate.
Proof positive that with sufficient motivation, you can make anything explode.
Heck, he may well have run a number of Kandor-Sydney runs for VF while he was trying to do stuff with several movie companies.
''We don't just borrow words; on occasion, English has pursued other languages down alleyways to beat
them unconscious and rifle their pockets for new vocabulary.''

-- James Nicoll
"The sad part," Chris noted as he watched VF assemble an arm, "Is how much work I don't get on the grounds I'm known to be honest."

"Everyone thinks a con man is good for business," the other man noted sadly. "Bad Fenspace Habit number nine."