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Vance Richards, MOH, DSC, FC (b. 2608[1]) is a retired admiral, former chief of Confederation Intelligence.

Character and traits[]

Richards had cool dark eyes. Between instructing in the Academy and his 26th year, he seemed to have aged, with wrinkles around his eyes and his hair was going gray.[1]

He often complained to his ship's XO regarding lack of spare parts. He went as far as to tell him suffering from "cranial-fundamental insertion syndrome".[1]

He was attached to the old Hurrie he was flying; sometime he gave the plane an affectionate pat.[1]

Biography[]

He was the son of pilot Quentin Richards who was lost while flying. Vance graduaded top of his class in the Confederation Service Academy where in his plebe year found Winston Turner intimidating, until he figured out he was all right.[1] He had heard the rumors that the old professor had been involved in some "commando stuff" in his youth.[2] Richards graduated top of his class.[3]

Vance was one of the pilots who was interested in breaking security codes, a hobby he kept even in his pilot career. When he graduated, Joshua Speedwell in Confed Intel was interested in getting him, and talked to Turner about it. At some point Vance cracked some fleet access codes and get into some A-secured reports concerning the Varni War. After reading these reports, he formed the opinion that the future was held by the carriers, not the battlewagons or the heavy cruisers.[1]

Around 2630-32 he served as a summer flight instructor for basic subsonic atmospheric flight; spending an afternoon with Richards in the right seat was said to be a torture; he had a reputation for being eager to give the dreaded red check mark, in any of a hundred different areas, that would forever ground the dreams of fleggie pilots.[3][1] He had an impeccable report. By early 2634 he was serving on a carrier as a was squadron leader, with rumors that he was to be promoted to Lieutenant Commander at a training wing.[1]

When Admiral Spencer Banbridge recruited his friend Winston Turner for a classified mission, he assigned Lieutenant Richards under Turner's command; Turner was glad, as "the Fleet takes care of its own".[3] Soon Richards received orders, without any explanations, to report to Base McAuliffe as soon as his ship docks with Alexandria, and pick up Geoffrey Tolwyn, the graduate who insulted Sen. Jamison More. Richards figured that he had also pissed somebody off without knowing.[1]

Mission with Turner[]

On 2634.120 Richards landed his Hurricane to Johnson Island where Tolwyn was expecting him. He guided the ensign across the tarmac to the flight deck, explaining that the base was actually a junkyard and how commander Nagomo doctored the reports to seem that all craft are flyable.

At the flight operations office, up to the main desk he turned in his flight report and took an envelope bearing the seal of the Confederation Fleet Personnel Office. Once the marine sergeant left, he opened the envelope and sighed reading that they will receive new orders at the the base officer's club.

He motioned to go for a drink, leaving his duffel bag at headquarters, they headed for the base officer's club. They took a table in a far corner of the empty room and Richards told him to call him "Vance" while having a drink, and that their orders will arrive here. Soon after they were joined by Winston Turner, revealing that they are assigned to him, puzzling Vance who had read that he was to be retired; it would be one of his last assignments, and the two were nominated to help him. The announcement meant that Vance was most likely grounded. He asked Vance's honest and unoffocial thought about his squadron, who admitted that despite the abilities of the pilots, they are vulnerable to an attack from the Kilrathi at any time, and supported Geoff's worries that they are out to get them. He believed that the next war would be a "carrier war", something that the brass don't want to admit. He fell silent realizing that he was too much warmed to his subject, but Turner wanted to hear more of his opinion, when he admitted knowledge about the Varni War. Turner informed him that his interest in intelligence made him stand out among other pilots who have such hobbies, but Vance shuddered at the idea that Speedwell was interested in him, as he believed his place is in a cockpit. Finally Turner revealed that their job will be exactly to learn whether the Kilrathi have access to such a weapon, that would neutralize the phase shields. Vance was terrified to hear that their mission will be on a Wasp for 2 months at the border; but Turner didn't offer them good alternatives: Vance would be assigned to a desk job, and with a frightening, ice-cold edge, pointed out that the job was highly classified.[1]

Vance was the pilot of the group, while Geoff was the "administrative assistant" but the two boys showed a display of both wanting to be top dog tiring Turner, making Turner tired.[2]

At the Hell Hole[]

The three ended up to the Hell Hole station looking for a pilot who would lead them into Kilrathi territory. On 2634.170 they waited for "Meyer" in the bar, a pilot who had survived an encounter in Kilrathi space and had upgraded his ship. The young pilot boasted for the upgrades bought for his ship, like the Reverberator 3000 C series. Vance interjected that the Reverberator had been in the E series, and that his upgrades sacrificed a lot of cargo-carrying ability; the pilot responded that arriving at his destination safely was more important. After the left the two expressed scepticism for him, and Vance asked why Turner chose to hire him, who explained his rationale.

On their way out of the bar, they witnessed Turner shooting at a Sarn hitman who was after them. Geoff expressed his surprise, and Vance called him idiot, as the rumors about Turner's past "commando stuff" had been circulating.[2]

Into Kilrathi space[]

With the Lazarus to infiltrate Kilrathi space.[4]

Kilrathi War[]

He is seen as something of a maverick himself and takes to heart the Salvor Hardin aphorism of never letting his morals stop him from doing what's right. He is instrumental in uncovering the Kilrathi duplicity during the armistice and their secret fleet, and helps Jason Bondarevsky talk Max Kruger into taking his fleet to save Earth.

After the War[]

After the war, he joins the Landreich and assists in their recovery of a lost Kilrathi carrier, and its use against a Kilrathi dreadnought refitted by an ambitious local warlord. He is believed to be dead in that battle, but later, he is said to be alive and well in the Landreich, lending his codebreaking and intelligence-gathering expertise to the cause of the Border Worlds.[5]

Later life[]

After 39 years with the fleet, he wrote Point and Counterpoint—Intelligence and Counterintelligence in the War Against the Kilrathi his memoirs. He provided Wilhelm Schwarzmont with the text of his unpublished memoir along with declassified records, for his book.[6]

References[]

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 1.8 1.9 William R. Forstchen, Action Stations, ch. 2
  2. 2.0 2.1 2.2 William R. Forstchen, Action Stations, Chapter 5
  3. 3.0 3.1 3.2 Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named AS1
  4. William R. Forstchen, Action Stations, ch. 6
  5. Wing Commander IV novelization
  6. William R. Forstchen, Action Stations, ch. 0
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