History Characters / ManticoreAscendant

[[folder: Baron Winterfall]]
!! Lord Gavin Vellacott, Baron Winterfall
Travis's half-brother on his mother's side, a peer of the realm who rises to prominence as part of Lord Breakwater's anti-Navy/pro-MPARS coalition.

* EveryoneHasStandards:
** Gavin may sometimes rationalize his many failures to connect with Travis, but even he recognizes that their mother's total indifference towards him -- to the point that she didn't know or even care if Travis had died during his battle with the Volsungs -- verges on pathological.
** Politically, he was willing to turn a blind eye to some of Breakwater's more questionable methods of gaining support for their MPARS agenda because he believed it was [[TheNeedsOfTheMany for the good of the Star Kingdom]]. The Chancellor's attempt to manipulate the newly-coronated and newly-grieving Elizabeth II by threatening to start a constitutional crisis over her marital status, on the other hand, is a step too far. Particularly since Breakwater had no particular excuse to stoop that low except for "I want more power", and had been showing hints of [[SanitySlippage excess paranoia]] even for him.
* HeelFaceTurn: Winterfall wants to expand MPARS in favor of the Navy, but he doesn't want it so badly that he'll subvert the government to do it. When Breakwater steps too far out of the boundaries of reasonable {{Realpolitik}} in pursuit of his goals, Winterfall puts an end to it by digging up some dirt on the Chancellor and making sure it finds its way into the hands of the right people.
* SatelliteCharacter: Winterfall starts as one InUniverse when Breakwater brings him into his coalition. His status in the Lords at that point is so low that he's grateful just to be political window dressing for someone as esteemed as the Chancellor. However, with a few timely dissensions from the party line, he manages to gain recognition in his own right as the voice of reason and compromise within Breakwater's camp, which further carries him to heights of his own even after Breakwater falls from grace.
* TokenGoodTeammate: Exactly how honest Breakwater and Co. are in their convictions is left an open question, but Winterfall at least genuinely believes he is doing what is best for the citizens of the Kingdom and isn't motivated by ambition or political vendettas.

[[folder: Earl Breakwater]]
!! Lord Anderson L'Estrange, Earl Breakwater
The Star Kingdom's Chancellor of the Exchequer, an experienced and masterful statesman, and the leading proponent of defunding the Royal Manticoran Navy in favor of his office's Manticoran Patrol and Rescue Service.

* BunnyEarsLawyer: One of the reasons his opponents in the government tolerate his paranoid machinations is because, in a fledgling star nation strapped for cash, his effortless mastery of state finances is indispensable.
* ProperlyParanoid: He is right to always be looking over his back, politically speaking, with how many enemies he has in the government. However, over time his paranoia starts to become an obsession, and he starts seeing plots against him where there are none.

* ReassignedToAntarctica: Gets assigned to instructor duty with the MPRS in ''A Call to Vengeance''. Travis naturally assumes this is a punishment due to his brother being one of Breakwater's allies, but soon learns he loves teaching. Later, he is transferred to the Bureau of Personnel, where naval careers go to die. [[spoiler:But this is a front for his real assignment with a new secret intelligence section]].

Travis's half-brother on his mother's side, a peer of the realm who rises to prominence as part of Lord Breakwater's anti-Navy/pro-MPARS coallition.

* RulesLawyer: Even when he was just starting out as a boot, Travis quickly earned a reputation for being an uncompromising rule stickler. It gets him into no end of trouble, especially early in his career, because he is unable to understand that, while some rule-breaking is certainly unacceptable, the realities of life make it impractical, and sometimes even counterproductive, to always follow regs to the letter, especially with how underfunded and undermanned the RMN is. Some of his [=COs=] just find him annoying, while more [[ReasonableAuthorityFigure reasonable]] ones understand that he means well and that his rigidity, if properly tempered, could make him a good leader. As one officer put it, Travis is very good at reading the lines of the rulebook; he just needs to learn how to read between them.

->"...I continue to believe this officer is far too conscious of the exact letter of the regulations. This makes him in many ways a less than ideal leader during routine shipboard operations. He is clearly not comfortable dealing with subordinates outside the strictest interpretation of regulations and standard operating procedures, and one cannot avoid the impression that he takes refuge behind them rather than seeking opportunities to generate a sense of rapport. [...] He is also, however, fundamentally incapable of giving less than his best to any task to which he may be assigned. He does not appear to know even the definition of the term 'dereliction', and despite his obvious preference for clearly defined hierarchies and the social insulation of regulations and SOP, he excels at identifying and correcting weaknesses in the training of his own subordinates. [...] Perhaps most importantly, this officer possesses the intellectual integrity and moral courage not only to shoulder responsibilities which should never have been assigned to someone of his relatively junior rank, but also to accept the potentially disastrous personal consequences of exercising his judgement in meeting those responsibilities. In short, it is the undersigned officer's opinion that Lieutenant Commander Long is one of the most competent, if frequently infuriating, and valuable officers with whom she has been privileges to serve."