HISTORY

Major Robert Terrence is General Fisk's chief aide. Where Fisk is a gung-ho field grunt at heart, Terrence's military career consisted of intelligence work. Terrence has an uncanny ability to analyze streams of raw data and cull important information from them. This powerful talent evidenced itself in Terrence as a child in Melbourne, Australia, where he amazed his teachers with his remarkable comprehension of material well beyond his years. He soon found himself bored in school and even the best efforts of his teachers failed to keep pace with his voracious appetite for knowledge.

Fortunately for young Robert, his father was a professor of education at the University of Melbourne. With the permission of his school, Robert was removed from school and taken with his father to the university. There he was tutored by friends of the elder Terrence, who soon found him to be the equal (or better) of students a decade his senior. Robert absorbed all manner of learning from the university professors who instructed him. He proved especially fond of history, political science, and linguistics. In fact, he quickly mastered Japanese and Russian in addition to the English and French he already knew. Robert had some difficulty with Chinese, a difficulty that persists to the present day. Nevertheless, he acquired a reputation as a wunderkind and attracted a lot of attention from Earth's media.

With the assistance of his father and the other professors of the university, Terrence completed his undergraduate work in 2130, at the age of 15. From there he traveled to Cambridge University in England to begin graduate studies in political science. Not surprisingly, he did exceptionally well at Cambridge, impressing both the dons and his fellow students. What is especially remarkable is that he did not stir up jealousy among his peers, as one might expect of one so gifted and physically attractive. Instead, Terrence's winning personality and easy manner won him many friends and admirers.

Chief among them was a woman five years his elder also studying political science at Cambridge. Named Francesca Ko, she was one of the few people whose affection for Terrence did not become fawning adulation. Instead, she treated the brilliant young man as a colleague and an equal, something Terrence rarely encountered. She even offered to help him to improve his horrible Chinese accent. To no one's surprise, Terrence fell in love with the formidable Francesca Ko and the two of them planned to spend their lives together.

Terrence acquired his Ph.D. in 2139 at the age of 24. With his reputation for scholarship and unique perspective on insoluble problems, numerous universities, corporations, and governments approached Terrence to work for them. GigaCorp made the young man an extremely lucrative offer, which he seriously considered. Likewise, General Fisk personally asked Terrence to consider accepting a commission in the Iron Coalition. Fisk persuasively argued that Terrence's many talents would be best used for the good of the whole of humanity. In the General's eyes, the Iron Coalition was the only organization in the solar system that placed the interests of the human race above its own. Although Fisk and his offer impressed Terrence, he declined it, preferring to accept an offer from the newly established University of Plato on Luna.

Early in 2140, Terrence traveled to Luna to prepare for his new position as Chair of Political Science and History at the university. He left Francesca behind on Earth while she tied up loose ends so that she could follow him to the Moon. Sadly, mere days after arriving on Luna, a misfired Mass Conveyor asteroid missed it's retrieval point over Luna and instead slammed into Earth; Francesca Ko died in the initial firestorms.

Terrence hoped in vain that Ko had survived that tragic day. After the death toll counts mounted, it soon became apparent that she had indeed perished, sending him into a deep despair. Nothing mattered to Terrence - least of all the academic world in which he had existed for so long. It rapidly became apparent that Terrence had broken; he was involved in a series of drunken brawls, and the University of Plato rescinded its offer of a professorship.

Terrence simply did not care anymore, about anything or anyone. Fortunately for him, General Fisk had long made it a point to keep an eye on Terrence, hoping one day to bring the young man - and his skills - into the fold. When word reached Fisk about the tragedy that had befallen Terrence, he again contacted the prodigy and asked him to reconsider his offer.

Terrence was reluctant. He was an academic, not a soldier. Fisk assured him that he had the makings of a fine member of the Coalition. With time and perseverance, he would serve not only the Coalition but all of humanity as well. “Make her death count,” Fisk told the younger man. “Don't waste her life as well as your own.”

Terrence agreed to join the Coalition and was immediately placed on Fisk's staff. Over time, he has proven that Fisk's assessment of him was correct. He has become an invaluable member of the Coalition, serving both as Fisk's aide and as one of the chief intelligence analysts of the organization.

Terrence has used his abilities to great effect during his tenure, enabling the Iron Coalition to amass a great deal of territory. Terrence is currently in the process of developing the Iron Coalition's intelligence apparatus, hoping to infiltrate the various factions with Iron Coalition agents. His lifelong interest in political science and history has taught him that the Coalition needs to have a stable, reliable source of intelligence if it is to overcome its many foes in the solar system and beyond. He works tirelessly toward this goal, never once forgetting just what is at stake - or the terrible events that led him to join the Iron Coalition in the first place.

PHYSICAL APPEARANCE

Unlike his commanding officer, Major Robert Terrence is a young man, in his early thirties. He is also exceedingly handsome and noble in his bearing, in contrast to the rugged good looks of Fisk. Terrence possesses a strong nose and high cheekbones, features that make him stand out in a crowd. Indeed, many of his critics in the Coalition have suggested his good looks would have served him better as a holovid star rather than as a military attache. Major Terrence takes these petty jibes in good stride and devotes himself fully to his work.

Terrence has dark hair and striking blue eyes, which are often described as “mesmerizing” and “penetrating.” (“You get the sense he can see right through you,” one junior officer has remarked. “He's like a one-man sensor package.”) His attractive appearance is only marred by the habitually melancholy expression he wears, as if the weight of countless sorrows have been placed on his shoulders.

Terrence possesses a slim, compact build, and he is physically fit and capable of handling himself in a fight (his record includes several citations for marksmanship); unlike most troops in the Coalition, he does not place much stock in these abilities, however. He rarely spends any time exercising or engaging in any kind of physical activity other than the constant pacing that punctuates his moments of deep concentration.

Like General Fisk, Major Terrence wears very little ornamentation beyond his basic uniform and sidearm. Usually, he's armed with a powerful handheld computer as well, which appears to be wired into every possible information source. He can sometimes be found with a small briefcase in which he carries hardcopies of intelligence reports. Terrence takes his job very seriously and believes it essential that he have the most up-to-date information possible at all times.