Jeanette Devereaux (2626-2669) is a native of Belgium, she was a starfighter pilot in the Terran Confederation Space Force, flying under the callsign of Angel. She took part to the Vega Sector and Enigma Sector campaigns and worked also in the Special Operations division during the period of the Kilrathi War.
Personal biography[]
Jeanette Devereaux was born in 2626 in Brussels on Earth.[1] Her parents, Pierre Christian Deveraux and Marie Sousex Devereaux were killed during the Pilgrim Wars and she grew up in an orphanage, praying for her dead parents whom she believed to be angels, and that was the origin of her callsign.[2]
Pilgrim Uprising[]
Having joined the crew of the CS Tiger Claw, Deveraux was considered one of the best pilots in the ship. As a Lieutenant Commander, she became a Squadron Commander of the 88th Fighter Wing; the sick time was high, pilots' hit ratios were low, and mortality was one of the highest in the fleet. Angel, with ongoing sim contests and drills, teaching her pilots the values of "book flying" and teamwork, and taking personal pride in the maintenance of their own fighters, she managed to reverse the situation within a year. In mid-2653 efficiency ratings in the Repair Pit were doubled.[3]
Angel had come quite close with Charles Chen and was greatly affected by his death in early 2654. In order to cope with the high mortality rate, she encouraged the custom of "disremembering" battle fatalities among the pilots; about which Jason Sansky and Paul Gerald expressed their scepticism as unhealthy and disrespectful.[3]
First unhappy meeting with Blair
Angel met Christopher Blair while on the flight deck, as he boarded Bossman's former CF-117b Rapier, whom he came to replace. She scoldfully challenged his jovialty provoking him. Blair initially thought the woman was a technician, before realising she was his Squadron Commander and made him felt awkward. Blair found a hard time to understand the custom of "disremembering" dead pilots; Angel entered the rec room preventing a fight between Blair and Hunter and then scolded Blair explaining to him that pilots on the Claw must cope with the unpredictability of their expendable lives.
Angel was alerted seeing how newcomer Todd Marshall and Rosalind Forbes, her best pilot, challenged each other. She saw as they made a show-off with landing their ships after a 540 degrees roll. Their celebrations were cut by a grim looking Deveraux. This brought problems with the Flight Boss and Deveraux had to talk with him to not bring them up on charges. Forbes later visited Deveraux in her quarters bringing her a bottle of whiskey to thank her, and admitted that she wanted to impress Maniac. Deveraux was upset because she couldn't afford losing her best pilot.
Blair and Angel against the ConCom.
When James Taggart guided the Claw through a pulsar jump point to the Dakota system, Angel was in the bridge and was lightly wounded during the shock. When they detected an electromagnetic signature among the D-5 asteroid field, she was ordered by Jason Sansky to lead a connoiter with excplicit instructions to not reveal their presence. She led Blair to investigate the debris of the Pegasus Station, but their presence was detected by a Kilrathi Thrakhra-class ConCom. They attempted to destroy it, but it was shielded and retreated when they saw 2 destroyers approaching.
On the Claw, Blair was considered responsible by Gerald, even as a traitor. When more Kilrathi presence was discovered, Taggart disagreed with Sansky to attack the Thrakhra-class ConCom, warning that it would only make the Claw vulnerable to an attack. Sansky insisted that doing so will slow the Kilrathi and ordered Jeanette Deveraux to lead a strike force, accompanied by Taggart.
Blair stormed in her quarters, showing to her his Pilgrim Cross "for luck", angered that she seemed to believe Gerald's accusations: he has no connection to the Pilgrims other than his mother's heritage, whom he never met, as she died in the Pilgrim War. Seeing this common point between them, Deveraux also revealed her history, about her parents and how she acquired her callsign. But for her they never existed, like Bossman. She reveals that she and Bossman got too close before he was killed. She returns his Cross saying that he saved her life during their mission.
Baker Wing
Blair was assigned to the Baker Wing with Hunter, but as he denied to fly with a Pilgrim as his wingman, Blair was assigned under Angel. Deveraux ordered her wing to concentrate against a target but Taggart warned her it was a Dorkir-class supply ship left by the Kilrathi task force that would soon attack the Claw. He had to reveal his true identity and position to convice her to listen to his advice. Convinced that Kilrathi capital ships were moving against the Claw, Angel changed her plans and returned to support the Claw. Blair with Maniac covered the CF-131 Broadswords against a Sivar-class battleship which Taggart managed to destroy.
About to execute Maniac
However on the way back Todd Marshall and Rosalind Forbes disobayed her orders to return and went to hunt more bogies. In the process Sassy lost control of her Rapier and crashed outside the corridor. Deveraux received no response. Convinced that Forbes was killed she ordered the wreckage removed from the corridor. Bittered, Angel landed, and considered executing Maniac as responsible and threatened to kill him if he ever endager another pilot
Blair then convinced Angel to forgive Maniac, as his talents were useless with Forbes' death in his conscience. When the ConCom approached the Claw's hideout, Taggart organized a boarding mission. Deveraux had to visit Maniac and order him to participate, and do it for Forbes. Pilots and Confederation Marines boarded the Diligent and broke into the ConCom to steal fuel cells. Maniac flew one of the Rapiers who covered the Diligent and disposed the Dralthi escort of the ConCom.
During the mission, the marines claimed fuel cells and also discovered the Pegasus NAVCOM realising that the Kilrathi had the coordinates to Charybdis and a way to Sol Sector. This information would give the advantage to the TCS Concordia battle group as they would know where exactly to anticipate the Kilrathi. However the drones could not be programmed, so Blair was asked by Taggart to pilot a fighter and jump the Charybdis.
Stranded
Angel flew as his wingman, but on their way, she detected a cloaked skipper missile running towards the Claw. Angel abandoned the mission to hunt it out. Angel managed to destroy it moments before hitting the Carrier, but the debris damaged her fighter severely. Blair offered to help her and tractor her pod back to the Claw, but no more time was left so she ordered Blair to continue with his mission. Reluctantly, Blair complied and jumped the quasar, making it to the Sol sector.
Angel is saved
Taggart boarded the Dilligent to look for her, a difficult task as she had turned off the homing signal. He found her by pure change and brought her to the hangar of the Claw. Blair also arrived to the hangar. As soon as she recovered shed shared a kiss with Blair, before being taken by the medics.
Personnel file[]
Paul Gerald considered her one of the best pilots and commanders in the ship, with a crisp, clean flying style and a thorough understanding of battle situations.[3]
As a commander, Angel was uncommon in using cold demeanor and lack of compassion, which made peers and subordinates to complain about it. Her lack of sympathy or camaraderie to inspire her pilots, was countered by her positive reinforcement for improvement. Her methods proved to be effective, drilling her pilots until their skills begin to develop.[3]