Bruce Ashbey
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Revision as of 20:04, 29 April 2011
Bruce Ashbey was an FPA admiral and strategist who became of national hero, and a symbol of the Alliance's 'righteous' struggle against the 'evil' Galactic Empire. Ashbey was born in 710, and died in 745.
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History
In the history of the Free Planets Alliance, Bruce Ashbey was a very prominent person in terms of fame and accomplishment. Promoted to Fleet Admiral upon his death. He was a distinguished commander who led the Alliance to a one-sided victory in the Second Battle of Tiamat. No FPA commanders other than Lin Pao and Yusef Tparl at the Battle of Dagon equal his reputation. He graduated at the top of his class and was said to have been the best student since the school's founding. When he fell to second place in his third year, he was said to be so mortified as to claim it was the worst dishonor of his life.
Year 730 Mafia
Bruce Ashbey's headquarters staff was comprised of his former classmates. Since they all graduated in the June, 730, they were called the "Year 730 Mafia." But it doesn't mean they were particularly exclusive. However, it is a historical rarity for classmates to form the core of a military force and garner exceptional acclaim over the span of 15 years, and for that reason their existence stands out. By 788, all of the Mafia members were dead other than Alfred Rosas.
In both action and results, Ashbey had a flair for the dramatic. And if we were to use a theater metaphor, he was more like a big star than a good actor. The battles he participated in were famous battles solely because he participated. He was an admiral at the age of 35. He was a purely professional military officer who served as Space Warfare Commander of the Free Planets Alliance Fleet, and he didn't have any doubts about fighting the war. Morally upstanding character. SC 740, or Imperial Year 431, there is mention of Bruce Ashbey in the Imperial Record as "The Rebels' Big Star" in the public documents of the Empire's Military Ministry.
Ashbey's infamy stemmed both from his accomplishments on the field, and through propaganda. Bruce Ashbey had audacity and panache. Each time he won a battle, he sent messages to the defeated opposition and gloated over his victory. In SC 742 there is a record of his message after the battle of Dagon: "This is a message for the imperial forces: the man who defeated you was Bruce Ashbey. The man who will defeat you next time will also be Bruce Ashbey--don't you dare forget that."
The date of Ashbey's death in battle would be commemorated as a national holiday.
Bruce Ashbey married twice, when he was 23 and 29. He divorced twice at the ages of 26 and 30. He had known his first wife, Adelaide, since his military academy days, and she was also a mutual friend of the Year 730 Mafia.
The 2nd Battle of Tiamat
In December of 745, the Second battle of Tiamat: six fleets, totally 48,000 ships and 3,636,000 sailors, were mobilized for battle. It was the largest mobilization in Alliance Fleet history at the time. The Imperial Fleets, led by Fleet Admiral Zeiten, were composed of 56,000 ships and 6,500,000 sailors. At 9:50 on December 5th, the two sides within the Tiamat Starzone finally exchanged fire. The Alliance was able to quickly sieze the advantage, destroying fleet admiral Wilhelm von Muckenberger's fleet (and killing the admiral).
December 7: despite the loss of the Muckenberger fleet, the Imperial Fleet still had the numerical advantage and its morale was still high. The Alliance Fleet's command, however, was rife with internal conflict. Ashbey ignored the officers who had not obeyed his orders, which angered Cope and Warwick. (Ashbey's ego was too big)
December 8: 4th fleet was the first to advance. March Jasper's victory jinx did not disappoint: within 15 minutes, he was able to cleanly cut through the Imperial Fleet's dense formation. Between the 8th and 9th, the both fleets where in a constant state of withdrawing and advancing: neither side was able to gain a definite advantage. On the 10th, the Imperial Fleets succeeded in flanking, and then surrounding the FPA fleets. Ashbey's forces were outnumbered 2:1. At this point, Ashbey was able to lead a smaller fleet outside Imperial lines, and cut through their formation diagonally, rescuing the Alliance Fleet and destroying the Imperial Formation. Unfortunately, admiral Bertini died before them, severely lowering the morale of the FPA fleet.
The decisive end of the battle occurred on December 11th, at 18:50. Within the space of forty minutes, the Imperial Fleet lost a total of about 60 officers, including admiral Schreiter, admiral Kosel, and many other battle-experienced commanders. It is said that it took the empire more than a decade to recover from the losses incurred in those forty minutes. Streienberg quickly retreated.
After the battle, while scouring the battlefield of any remaining imperial forces, Ashbey's flagship, the Hard Luck, encountered a single Imperial destroyer. It's small escort was quickly broken through, and a stray shot pierced the Hard Luck's central hull. As the bridge was rocked by explosions, a piece of shrapnel flew out and pierced Ashbey in the stomach, killing him. His last words were, "If I don't close up this wound, everyone will find out that I'm evil-hearted." He died with a smile on his face on the 11th of December, at 19:09. The cause of death was the shock from a hemorrhage in the lacerations in the stomach area.
Appendices
Appearances
Quotes
- "Battles these days... have become ill-natured, like women."
