Background:
Hannibal was born in 2194. The two passions in his youth were physics and the martial arts. He was a quick study and found a natural affinity to academic studies. Because of his skill in academics, he quickly jumped though school finding himself a junior in college at the age of 18. From a young age his father, Benjamin Mayweather, pushed him and placed a lot of pressures on his shoulders. Hannibal’s martial arts training helped him center himself and allowed him the needed discipline to handle “life’s pressures”.
At college Hannibal met Dr. Jason Pearl, a noted physicist. Dr. Pearl took a liking to Hannibal and offered Hannibal the opportunity to work with him on a special project away from school. Hannibal jumped at the opportunity and found himself attached to Dr. Pearl’s project on flux physics. Hannibal was a natural and took Dr. Pearl’s study beyond its initial state and broke open several new flux theories. Hannibal began to be consulted by many others working on flux technologies. Flux physics became Hannibal’s driving passion and when he heard about the flux drive testing, he wanted to be on the team.
In 2214, Hannibal went to his father to ask him for help. Ben Mayweather founded and ran Mayweather Global, a huge corporation that had its hands in many different areas including government contracting. Ben used his contacts and a few well placed bribes to get Hannibal into the flux drive program. He was proud that his son was so driven towards the program. Hannibal lent his expertise where he could and was nicknamed “The Kid” by the famed flux scientist Dr. Karunakar Kumar.
As the project moved forward, Ben Mayweather helped support the government program. Hannibal was proud his father showed an interest in one of his passions. When the first flux vessel, the USF Patriarch, was tested in 2216, Dr. Kumar asked Hannibal to take part in the mission. Hannibal was overjoyed to be asked to be part of the crew.
One year later, in 2217, Hannibal took part in a second flux drive experiment that would not go so well. The ship was the UFS Triptych, a converted scout ship. The first test of the new flux drive went fine but the second test out in deep space went terribly wrong. The drive misfired while traveling through the flux. Three of the five man crew were instantly vaporized. Hannibal was not hurt but the only other survivor of the initial accident, Captain Jonathan, was not so lucky. His injuries were grave and would likely take his life soon. Hannibal tried to repair the ship but found the damage beyond his ability to fix. Even with the Captain trying to explain the repairs, there was no way to complete them. Hannibal decided that his only choice was to repair the life support pods and place himself and the Captain into deep freeze. Hannibal had little hope of surviving as they were adrift in the flux not knowing where they would emerge. He placed the Captain in the hibernation chamber, put all of the information from the trip into a message crystal on the ship, then on the tenth day after the accident he placed himself into a deep freeze escape pod.
Back on earth the loss of the UFS Triptych devastated the flux drive program. It set the program back several years as scientists speculated on the reason for the failure. Two things turned the program around. First, a long haul freighter came across the wreckage of the UFS Triptych and discovered the message crystal. (The wreckage of the UFS Triptych was eventually brought to the Mayweather Global headquarters where it is currently on display.) Second, the efforts of Ben Mayweather: Ben hired Dr. Pearl to help guide Mayweather Global in rebuilding the flux drive program. It was Ben's hope he would find his son. Mayweather Global sunk enormous resources over the next few years taking the company to the verge of collapse. In the end, flux drive technology became Earth’s new hope and Mayweather Global was the leader in the field. Ben never gave up hope of finding his son but soon the years would catch up with him. In his last will and testament, Ben would give control of Mayweather Global to Dr. Pearl until his son returned.
Hannibal and the Captain eventually emerged in Va Rulen space. The Va Rulens found the escape pods and were able to revive Hannibal but Captain Johnson’s injuries were too severe to risk revival. The Va Rulens gave Hannibal the Captain’s dog tags and pistol.
Hannibal was slow to recover. He found it hard adjusting to life almost 200 years in his future. It was 2391 and everything he knew was gone. He was also on an alien world unlike anything he had seen: nothing felt right, he would always say the wrong thing, and was always out of sync, never fitting in. Being the only human on Va Rule didn't help. During his stay on Va Rule, Hannibal was assigned a liaison by the name of Vickizandra of House Gwynn. Vicky, as Hannibal would call her, became his life. She taught him Va Rulen customs and tried to teach him their language. It was hard for Hannibal to grasp but eventually he began to pick up Va Rulen life. He plunged himself back into his martial arts training and discovered that Vicky also studied martial arts. Her styled differed from his but they began to train together. Vicky often got the better of Hannibal because she possessed a form of psi talent. Hannibal never really understood the talent and simply thought she was better.
Six months passed quickly as Hannibal discovered he was attracted to Vicky. The two were inseparable and her family found the pairing suitable. Around this time, Hannibal received a message from Geoffrey Pearl, a descendant of Jason Pearl's, now CEO of Mayweather Global. The message stated they should meet and a small trust had been set up in Hannibal’s name. Hannibal was surprised that his father’s company was still around and planned to visit Mr. Pearl when he found the time. Mr. Pearl kept in contact with Hannibal by sending frequent messages.
Hannibal focused his attention on Vicky and six months later they wed. It was the first recorded pairing of the two species. Despite the prejudices of those against the pairing, they were in love and they clung to the emotion.
By 2401, Hannibal had spent a total of 10 years on Va Rule. It was only Vicky’s persistent requests to see Earth that sent the pair traveling to Hannibal’s long past home. In a last minute mix up, Hannibal and Vicky wouldn't travel together. She would go first with him following on the next ship. Vicky and Hannibal said their goodbyes at the gate then Hannibal resigned himself to wait. To Hannibal’s surprise a man came to the ticket counter and said he could not make the flight. Hannibal jumped at the chance and swapped tickets with the stranger. It took some bribing of the ticket agent but Hannibal really wanted to be on the same flight with Vicky.
When the transport ship entered Terran space, it was attacked! Men in combat gear boarded the transport ship shooting anyone that got in their way. Hannibal, who was in another part of the ship, looked for Vicky. When he reached their cabin it was empty so Hannibal backtracked and saw men escorting several Va Rulens through an air lock. He saw Vicky attempting to fight the intruders as they were dragging her out of the ship. Their eyes locked. This was the last thing Hannibal remembered. When he awoke a short time later, the transport was rocking from explosions. Hannibal and many of the passengers realized there was trouble and headed for life pods. Spying one of the fallen attackers, Hannibal grabbed the body and activated the pod. As the pod launched, he watched an unmarked Terran scout ship fired upon the transport. After a bright flash, the transport ship’s engines exploded and the attacking ship departed.
Hannibal was dazed. His wife was gone and he was in a life boat with no idea why. He searched the dead man and found very little. The man was a Va Rulen named Colon Bassat. He had no other identification which would tie him to any type of military faction. Hannibal’s head pounded and he had no answers. Before the rescue craft arrived Hannibal stripped the body and jettisoned the corpse.
After returning to Earth and talking with the authorities, Hannibal went to Mayweather Global to meet with Geoffrey Pearl. At the company office Geoffrey explained he was the descendent of Dr. Jason Pearl. Hannibal also discovered he could claim ownership of the company at any time. With all that had happened, he wondered why Geoff, with all his power, was telling him of his rights to the company. As they talked Hannibal saw in Geoff a link to his past and Geoff really reminded him of Dr. Pearl. Hannibal declined ownership of the company but asked for a continuation of the stipend that had been setup earlier
Hannibal told Geoff of his experiences on the transport ship and the abduction of his wife. Geoff said he had heard about the pirate attack. Hannibal told Geoff about the man he found and that he had learned his name. Over the next 6 months, Hannibal stayed with Geoff. During his stay, Hannibal helped Geoff handle a company issue where several employees had stolen some experimental drive components. Hannibal had no problem tracking down the employees and retrieving the components. (It took the men several months to recover from their broken legs.) Hannibal found that being a bounty hunter suited him. It gave him the feeling he was earning his keep and not living off of the “Mayweather” name.
With Geoff’s help, Hannibal got a lead on “Colon Bassat”. Through a government contractor, Geoff discovered that Colon Bassat was discharged from the Va Rulen military several years earlier and he had since taken on several jobs as a mercenary. Bassat worked from a far away frontier port known as Archimedes 2. Hannibal was off.
Hannibal has overcome incredible odds and is still searching for his wife. On Earth, he is known as the heir to the flux fortune but to those with a price on their head, he is known as “Hannibal the Hunter.” To himself, Hannibal’s only hope is that he is not too late to save his love. He waits for the day where his wife will call his name.
Epilog:
A look at Terra
Vicki and I have finally arrived at Terra, or what is left of a once great
civilization. We brought with us, Geoffrey’s sons. We wanted to bring them back to
the rebuilding and show them what their father sacrifice had achieved. It still
amazes me all the secret he kept from me. I'm also still trying to figure out
all the flux technologies that went into the New Patriarch. It sure gave Ankmil’s fleet problems.
My last communication to Geoffrey was for him to take all he could and head for Va
Rulan space. Geoffrey had listened to me in some extent and left for Va Rulan
space, but he had taken Mayweather’s crowning achievement, the New Patriarch, a
warship design and constructed with all the latest Mayweather technologies.
During their retreat to Va Rulan they modify many of the ships systems with the
spec I provided in the refit of the Hog. The ship was brilliant. In the message
he left for me he included the ship’s specs and told me how he had convinced 10
Va Rulan captains to join him in a plan to return to Terran space and cause as
much chaos as humanly possible.
I have heard from other source when Geoffrey headed back his fleet counted nearer
120, a mix of Terran and Va Rulan ships. Geoffrey’s lead fleet broke up Ankmil’s
fleet in system, allowing many survivors to be evacuated from the planet. But
when Ankmil’s reinforcements arrived, Geoffrey’s was greatly outnumbered.
Geoffrey out of desperation performed what many are now considering one of the
great achievements in the war. Geoffrey moved the New Patriarch to the flux gate and
detonated the ships flux drive. I do not know who came up with the theory but
the detonation caused what I can only explain as a flux bomb and it caused the
collapse of the Terra flux gate. With the gate closure Ankmil’s fleet were cut
of from the Terra system and what was left of terra’s infrastructure was left
unharmed.
Terra will never be the same with the lost of so much but the rebuilding has
begun. Even the Va Rulans have offered their aid, which has surprised both Vicki
and I. We have discussed why they have offered to help all the other war torn
races and have come to conclude that their guilt, they were spared, has
enlighten them to a higher calling.
As to Vicki and I, we are still learning and growing together. Imslek seems to
keep to himself allowing us to build up what we had before and I thank him for
it. Vicki is growing less stressful of Imslek as our old bonds grow. I have
agreed to take over Mayweather and with it resource I planed to discover a mean
to reopen the flux gate. As to Vicki kidnapping, I was lucky to find an old
friend that has happily agreed to assist in picking up where, as she put it “I
dropped the ball”. God I hate Tran, but I know she can get the job done.
So I guess the next stage of Vicki and my life is to rebuild and remember.
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0 : Powers Cost 91 + Characteristics Cost 182 = Total Cost |
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26 : Powers Cost 66 + Characteristics Cost 155 = Total Cost |
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