Character Profile — Engineering Officer Pennaway

[CLASSIFIED] EXTRACTS FROM RANGER CORPS INTELLIGENCE

Extract from interview with ██████ █████

“It’s no surprise to me that he wound up Chief Engineer. I’ve known Pennaway since school, and we kept in touch over the years. What I can tell you is this: there is a Pennaway before the incident, and a Pennaway after. Before, we had a guy who was born for greatness and knew it — his whole family tree is military engineers, they probably talked Warp Fissure Generators at the dinner table. He had … I would say a reckless certainty of his own abilities.

“After the incident, he became cautious to a fault, determined beyond reason — and developed a certainty of his own abilities which is probably well-earned. The public disgrace that followed the incident, and his family turning away from him, changed his whole outlook — on life, and on serving the Ranger Corps.”

Notes from Intel Officer Goda

A supremely talented engineer, and an expert in his field — the problem is, he knows it. His career traces an ambitious arc, and setbacks that would have destroyed others only seem to drive him on. He is Union-born, and tracks his ancestry all the way back to the first militia on Dechrau. We need only look so far as the Brooksea Company to see how Union ambition can manifest. Pennaway conducts himself with upstanding precision and efficiency, but I will be watching him closely.

Transmission from Halberd-001 to Commander Silva Starfighter

Commander Silva: This can’t wait until I’m back on Halberd, Officer?

Intel Officer Goda: This is a grave security matter, Commander. If I waited that long, the damage might be done.

Silva: Fine. You’re certain this line is secure enough for such grave matters?

Goda: We’re using encryption that would stump SIGINT, HUMINT, and MASINT.

Silva: If you say so. Out with it then, Officer.

Goda: It’s about Engineering Officer Pennaway, sir–

Silva: This again.

Goda: Sir, every piece of intelligence our Rangers bring in is going through him. He is an engineer.

Silva: He has the required clearance–

Goda: That is among my concerns. He was given one of the highest clearances, for the sake of convenience. I don’t deny he is a skilled cartographer, but with the amount of data he touches, the number of classified files he is authorized to access, he could–

Silva: He could do what? And why was this concern so pressing it could not wait for my return, Officer?

Goda: As we speak, he is decrypting highly sensitive Xanorra Collective data being transmitted by an Ensign.

Silva: You want my permission to march into his workshop and blast a hole through his computer, is that it? Officer, I hope this speculation is not based upon the incident on Chimera. He has answered for that time and time–

Goda: I’m well aware of the details of the Chimera incident. I believe it was an oversight during a mining operation, a blunder, nothing insidious. But sir, there is a Rogue Ranger in our ranks. Someone with access to highly classified information is sharing it with the enemy. Pennaway studied several engineering-adjacent degrees, and the years between them are unaccounted for. I’ve combed the records, and there are eighteen months where he could have been anywhere — with anyone. Captain Olson shares my concerns, and–

Engineering Officer Pennaway: Nice to know my colleagues think so well of me. If you wanted to know where I spent my gap year, Officer Goda, you only needed to ask. I was soaking up sun on Typhon, sipping Blue Sand Special. I can send you my holiday snaps if it would ease your worries?

Goda: This is a private conversation, Pennaway. And encrypted.

Silva: Officers, this is not–

Pennaway: You’re a spy, Goda! You don’t get to talk about privacy. And decryption is part of my job description.

Silva: Officers. If this conversation has reached its conclusion, I am currently under fire from a Junker squadron. So could we bring this to a close?

End of transmission.

Galaxy News Service report — “Ranger Engineering Officer Foils Xanorra Warp Gate Plot”

Five members of the Xanorra Collective have reportedly been killed in combat, and another 17 captured, after an attempted ambush of Ranger Corps forces. Ranger sources say that several high-ranking delegates from the joint Union and Commonwealth squadron were bound to depart the Halberd-001 station near Asterion on a classified mission. Xanorra fighters reportedly gained access to details of this convoy, and readied a force of more than 20 combatants.

“It is believed that Xanorra operatives compromised a Ranger Squadron channel and were coordinating an ambush near the Ionia Warp Gate,” said Intelligence Officer Goda in a statement released by the Ranger Corps. “A high-ranking engineering officer detected interference with our communications, and was able to gain access to the pirates’ own channels. When the Ranger forces emerged from the Warp Gate, the Xanorra were faced with ten times as many Starfighters as they were expecting. It was a decisive victory for us, and potentially catastrophic losses were averted.”

Ranger officials have not yet commented on how the Xanorra were able to gain access to encrypted Ranger communications. The Xanorra Collective are among the most powerful pirate factions which terrorize the Non-Colonization Area, notorious for enslaving the victims of their attacks. The Ranger Corps are engaged in an ongoing campaign against the Collective, as well as the Brooksea Company and Chareux Junkers.

Additional Note

I had my doubts about Pennaway, but he has proven to be more than capable in his duties. Efficient and precise, though I would advise against recording anything too critical of him, even in the most classified files — he has a habit of seeing encryption as a personal challenge, and he’s too curious for his own good. Though to be fair to him, perhaps that is what makes him such a talented engineer.

— Intel Officer Goda

Benjamin Pennaway, Grade 10 Report Card — Durand Secondary School

Mathematics 97

Chemistry 96

Physics 98

Biology 96

Neoterran 66

Literature 71

Teacher’s Note: Benjamin is a valued member of his classes, and his passion for mathematics and the sciences is an inspiration to his peers. The unfortunate incident with Mr Morris is a slight blemish on his semester. Challenging a teacher on high-level physics concepts to the point of disrupting the lesson is inconsiderate of his classmates — even if he was correct. Benjamin is encouraged to apply himself more in areas outside of mathematics and science, such as Neoterran and Literature.

Note from Pennaway: This is a new low, Goda.

Freedom of Information Disclosure Log — Ranger Corps Incident Report

UNIT NUMBER — ████ CONTROL NUMBER — █████-██

UNUSUAL ⌧ ROUTINE ☐

DATE/TIME REPORTED — 0950 / 31-SOL 495 AF

REPORTED BY — █████ ███████ ████

INCIDENT LOCATION — CHIMERA MINING FIELDS

ITEM(S) REPORTED — ION LASERGUN, LOCKE MODEL STARFIGHTER

SUMMARY OF INCIDENT. AT 0805 HOURS, A MINING ION LASERGUN DETONATED, DEALING CRITICAL DAMAGE TO AN OPERATOR AND THEIR STARFIGHTER.

AFTER INVESTIGATING, IT IS BELIEVED A SAFETY INSPECTION OF A MINING ION LASERGUN CONDUCTED AT 0733 HOURS BY ENGINEER BENJAMIN PENNAWAY WAS NOT PROPERLY COMPLETED. UPON IGNITION, A CATASTROPHIC RUPTURE OCCURRED. LASER OPERATOR DECLAN FARRAWAY RECEIVED LACERATIONS AND BURNS TO THE FACE AND TORSO, AND SUSPECTED INTERNAL BLEEDING. AT APPROXIMATELY 0836 HOURS, OPERATOR FARRAWAY IS IN INTENSIVE CARE, MEDICAL CORPS APPLYING MOBILE BLOOD TRANSFUSER.

NAME AND GRADE AND SIGNATURE OF SQUADRON COMMANDER — ███ ███████████