The players' characters.

[...] was born on a high gravity colony planet claimed by the EU faction, the son of hard working first generation settlers used to adapt and improvise quickly to cope with the environmental challenges. Like all Highgees (the nickname for high-G natives, and as opposed to the thin and spindly Lowgeees), he has a squat, a solid appearance: short and stocky with thick muscular limbs. He practically grew up in the colony workshop among vehicles and machinery, and developing an affinity with hands-on mechanics at an early age. By the time he was a teenager, he could put together devices from scavenged parts, mechanisms that could do the required job, but looked a mess. Ugly, but functional.
As he grew restless, he signed up for a job with a mining company exploiting the free-for-all asteroid belt, where territorial claims were still blurry, making it into a palatable target for all factions to mine ore and metals from the orbiting rocks on a first-come-first-serve climate.
The EU mining technology was still following the central shaft, lateral tunnels approach of old. The mechanic was very busy maintaining drilling equipment, elevator shafts, forklifts and the like.
It was hard work, but interesting. It also gave him a privileged viewpoint on other mining companies with their different techniques and machinery. The CRP developed a revolutionary approach, using powerful energy slicers to cut smaller asteroids in half, then grafting their drilling stations on the newly revealed rock face, tunnelling from there. He admired the bold imagination of such endeavour.
The NAC were partial to high explosive techniques, a ruthless but fast approach that had its share of deadly accidents. Miners working for them had high pay points, but felt like in a giant Russian roulette operation. The ones who survived retired early, as luck was still with them, and could enjoy a comfortable lifestyle. The less fortunate found their death in the void-filled tunnels of a space rock.
He made himself two butt-ugly, clunky bots, called Left and Right, to help him with everyday tasks. They were heavy duty conglomerates of scratched metal parts that could take a good beating, remotely controlled and kitted up with camera, light and basic tools, useful to reach confined spaces. He made some exoskeletal docking stations on his lower legs for the bots to be housed and recharge. Heavy, but useful. A definition that also fitted him quite well.

-MECHANIC, a tinkerer. Has a knack to put together gadgets, often out of scavenged parts.

-born in a high gravity colony world, which gives him a squat, heavy set appearance

-deterministic view of the world, thinks of things in strict cause-and-effect terms

-the above point means he is not comfortable faced with the vagaries of human emotions

-(if allowed) has built himself two small bots (perfect to get into those hard to reach spots) that recharge on docking stations mounted on his forearms. He calls them LEFT and RIGHT, they are the size of a current day computer mouse, can produce spider-like legs, have a camera, lights and basic tools, including some sort of laser welder device. They feed back and receive orders via some Augmented Reality glasses the character wears, or some such interface.

There isn't really any concept of nations in telespace. Firewalls yes, but borders no. The televerse was central to preserving knowledge and sharing technologies after the collapse. While data is power in the race for rebuilding, the opensource nature and rewindable backups of the archives meant that the obsessive uploading was faster than any amount of sabotage.

Mostly. I didn't believe in quitting. My town was sitting on a good thing, a huge stockpile of ready to process rare earths. Further, one of the remote archive hardpoints was local. With access to the firmware, could one sabotage the televerse, engineer an advantage in the rare minerals markets? How might one do that? Corrupt the instructions that harm rival products? Download the tech deets and erase the originals to create a monopoly? Saturate the archive with misleading information? Without robust industries, the desperate could not afford to safely test the alternatives.

This began the secret telewars, a simultaneous corruption of knowledge while disseminating it through the known universe.

Tried for his crimes in "his part in providing for the pathway for others to work toward to the downfall of galactic civilization through the corruption of universal knowledge", my character was sentenced to retraining. They find the protocols for wiping a mind and replacing the personality with a more pliable one.

Only, those knowledge protocols were also corrupted.

Premises:
- second career, originally a ______, but had to retrain after "the trial"; serving on board as work-study part of probation
- Enjoys performance arts, be it live music or other stage productions
- dislikes naked authority as opposed to consensus leadership
- parents were industrial magnates, not tycoons but the obsessive workaholic types that never enjoyed their wealth
- brother is a lawyer and represented me during "the trial"
- male, about 30, heavy set but not fat

One of her hobbies is collecting rare pre-WWIII digital media. The rarity of certain media is due to how the CRP invested in digital subterfuge, not only hindering the ability of their opponents to utilize their digital networks, but also actively seeking out and destroying large amounts of data. The effects ranged from the contents of personal computers to the contents of entire social platforms.

Although it was far from total destruction, the CRP's efforts resulted in a fairly significant loss of digital media, and the culture associated with that media. It largely contributed to the loss of confidence in the US government's capability, which in turn, contributed to the eventual dissolution of the US. It also led to the restructuring of the internet.Comes from a low class family, having a bunch of siblings. Being the oldest, she often provided for the family by doing odd jobs. Was scouted into the position after a chance encounter with one of the program's veterans.

She comes from a colony planet affiliated with the [faction]. The colony planet in question is a typical mining one, with an industry based on extracting various rare earth metals used in FTL drive components. Being the oldest of the seven siblings, she took on work to help support them. She worked as one of the mining technicians in less than ethical work conditions. After a health incident caused from mining, she turned to odd jobs instead, carrying out tasks with varying amounts of legality.

During one of her jobs, which she happened to have a talent for, she had a chance encounter with one of the more eccentric veterans of the [faction]'s [so and so] program. The veteran, impressed by her skill, invited her to the program. She accepted, as it was better than whatever she was doing before.

At present, the seven siblings mostly have lost contact with one another as they went off on their own paths. Some have died or have been arrested, while others have found their way in life.

Frederick Lindswirth

a space ship captain who has the reputation of 'getting a job done'. He is not completely without morals but he will try his hardest to bring a ship to its destination and he doesn't ask too many questions. In general he doesn't say two words when one word suffices.

When Frederick manages a ship he trusts everyone to do their best and will listen to reason but he is not the kind of guy who accepts behavior he deems disrespectful. As he is a former rugby player and has a size of 2 metres (6 feet 6 inches) his mere presence is often intimidating enough to teach someone good manners.

Frederick wanted to be a space captain since he was a little child. With 18 he joined the space marine corps of the EU as this was the only way he could afford to go to space. Soon his superiors discovered his ability to perform under great pressure and accomplish missions even when the odds are stacked severely against him
He got his first command of a ship at the age of 32. He liked his job very much but the bureacratic hurdles and the politics in the army wore him down more and more.
If his superiors wouldn't have called him back he could've prevented the fall of space station Centaurus VII. If he hadn't been ordered to he would've never attacked this pirate base without waiting for backup. 56 men under his command died. Surely his superiors always tried to explain to him that he has to look at the bigger picture and that diplomatics and politics play a big role in which battles to fight and which not.
But he didn't want to follow senseless orders just because someone lightyears away decided that he has to fight a senseless battle and therefore he resigned and became a captain for hire.
The first mission of his civilian career that made him kind of famous among his peers was the breaking of the blockade of an EU colony on Proxima Centauri b. New-russian forces blocked any ships from landing on the colony in order to starve it out. Frederick was the captain of a freightship who was tasked with delivering food there.
With a number of daring maneuvers he managed to slip through the blokade three times and subsequently the new-russian had to retreat because their own supplies ran short.

Although he is usually calm on the surface he is in fact restless. Whenever he finishes a job he has the next one lined up. Although he'd probably have more than enough money to take a lengthy vacation he will never rest. Every destination he travels to is just an intermediate step to the next flight he captains.
This has costed him two marriages and the contact to his son.
The only thing he does for relaxation is playing billiard which he is quite good at. He also doesn't say no to the occasional drink.

Frederick got to captain this flight because he got a recommendation from a friend.
The job was to bring a cargo bay full of equipment from the EU to a space station a few light years away, expect pirate attacks... or was it equipment from the SACAP that has to be brought to a farm planet?... no it was seeds for a garden planet of the FIN?... Why doesn't Frederick remember what he was supposed to do?

Anna MacGregor was born on an earthlike planet settled by an ark ship from the European Union, mostly from what was known as the U.K.

She has a slight Scottish burr to her voice but very subtle. She went to medical school in Ontario.
She has always kept herself fit and as she gets up 8nti her 50s that is paying off.
While in university she competed in the university games in judo.
She always had an ear for languages and can read and speak multiple languages.

Gaila Greyox (engineer/science officer)

When you grow up in the modern-day equivalent of a hippie commune on Ganymede, you're almost guaranteed to become a very self-sufficient, hands-on kind of person. The adults at Eldalas, the underwater arcology Gaila called home, had a very hands-off approach to parenting and couched what was basically child labor in the trappings of treating their young with respect.

As a result, Gaila was helping collect samples and conduct tests as soon as she was able to talk and hold the controls of an extraction arm. Eldalas survived and made its living from the aquatic flora and fauna that surrounded it, and she learned early on that sustainability was the key to a thriving community.

She was most at home in the science labs, but also loved heading out into the ocean to help with the excavation of what would eventually become Lethander Station. She thought of pursuing a more formal education in the field, but wound up leaving the moon with Drift, a folk-jazz band that came to perform and wound up finding their lead singer.

Gaila toured with Drift for a few years, but never lost her first love for researh and rocks. She began taking geology courses while on the road. Eventually, this nomadic life lost its appeal and she left the band, opting to make a living on assignments with various mining outfits.

She has close ties to her family, who she sees as much larger than her parents and biological sister. She hasn't been home in quite a while, but sends and receives messages on a regular basis.