Name: Simone Temple
Nikname: Auntie Simone
Age: 46(?)
Gender: Fem
Height: 5' 1"
Race: Mixed
Area of expertise: Pilot, Survival
Appearance: This serious woman has deep-set brown eyes that are like two splotches of mud. Her fine, curly, white hair is worn in a simple, businesslike style. She is short with a slender build. Her skin is dark. She has delicate ears.
Personality: As a child, she was already a pessimist, suspicious of everyone's motives, and incredibly irreverent, but she was dependable and self-sufficient. Following her ordeal of two decades at the prison workcamp, she has developed phobias about men, sex, and snakes.
Opinion of ruling western regime: Bunch of pious greedy bastards out to steal the last penny from the sinking ship.
Origins: Grew up as a street kid in the Undercity, parents unknown. "Simone" was spelled out on a dirty alphabet bracelet on her wrist, she has no memory of when she got it or from whom. Cataloged during the XXXX census at the Temple Street Shelter, estimated age of 9. Census taker recorded her DOB as being that day, June 16th, ten years prior.
The priest who ran the shelter introduced her two years later to retired three-star General Rafael Hammond, who was touring the shelters to find someone to become the face of homeless youths in the Undercity. As it was explained to him, it would only be a matter of time before she was sold to one of the Undercity brothels. He took her in, treating her like a daughter in all but name, even teaching her how to shoot! She travelled extensively with him, explaining life as she knew it in the Undercity and gaining support for charity programs. Over the years, she blossomed into a beautiful young woman - which begat a series of malicious gossip about her and the general.
Enraged by this, Hammond's nephew, Elias Durand, a Colonel in the Army, began pestering his uncle to "kick the little gutter bitch back to the Undercity." When the Ninth Penninsular War broke out, he arranged for Simone to be drafted - however, her status and General Hammond's influence got her a commission as a 2nd Lieutenant, Army Aviation, and eventually found herself reporting to Colonel Durand. He assigned her to shuttle duty, ferrying troops, supplies and replacements to the front, and taking the wounded back to the rear.
On her last supply run, her location came under heavy fire as the enemy attempted a heavy push. Managing somehow to get her badly damaged shuttle into the air, despite heavy flak, she put it into a power dive into the headquarters of the enemy's segment, ejecting at the last moment. She punched a hole into the enemy line, but a stray shot caught her in the left knee. Rescued by friendly forces, she hadn't been at the MASH unit for more than twenty minutes when two MPs showed up to arrest her mid-treatment for insubordination and disregarding orders.
At her Court Martial, Colonel Durand explained that her orders were to avoid contact with the enemy and to assist with the movement of wounded back to the aid stations. How damaging would it be if pilots disregarded orders by crashing their supply shuttles into enemy lines instead of taking care of supplies and wounded? The board sided with Colonel Durand and Simone was summarily drummed out of the Army. As a result, she no longer qualified for follow-up treatment for her knee injury at a Veteran's hospital.
The war ended a few months later - as it turned out, the enemy's prince, eager for glory, had come up to personally lead the attack and had died when the shuttle crashed into the headquarters tent. Colonel Durand argued that giving a medal to a pilot who'd been cashiered for insubordination would look bad for the Army, so it was quietly forgotten.
She was quickly hired by Caron Courier service, and worked for them for a year and a half. Hand delivering a package to her boss one night, she was hit from behind. When she woke up, her boss was dead, the package was missing, and the police were arriving. It was later determined her gun was used to kill him, and she was covered with gun powder residue. Simone was convicted and sent to a work camp, where she became an immediate favorite target of the guards. Half her first year was spent in the camp's infirmary.
A general amnesty was declared twenty years later and Simone found herself back in the city. Fortunately, she had a few connections left that were willing to help her get a job as a pilot with Globus Charters, which runs the older LTI aerotaxi VII and chartered aerobuses. While she does take out the aerobusses, most of her time is spent in the aerotaxis.
Clothing: Loose black culottes pants with the pant legs wrapped around the calves and tucked into knee-high steel toed boots, scarlet tank top, black utility pocket vest with concealed holster, black jacket-wrap with trumpet sleeves and a Kevlar lining, black infinity scarf, studded leather gloves.
Most important items: Titanium Shock Cane, carbon fiber knee brace, MiniDek5 SmartWrist (cyberdeck you wear strapped on your forearm, out of date model), AR Glasses (linked to the MiniDek), glass-filled carbon fiber lapel daggers, Swiss Army Multitool, Beretta Px4 Storm Compact 9mm.
Bookmarks