Character encounters in the Galaxy on Fire™ universe are equally and crucially important to determine your factional standing or chance of romance. As Keith T. Maxwell, your options for impressing potential clients or girlfriends, or making a mess of things and ending up in serious trouble are about equal. Whether in campaign mode, or freewheeling it in trade and mercenary missions, you'll want to stay generally on the good side of those you meet, lest you become scattered space powder on your next mission.

A runaway from birth, Keith T. Maxwell, the hero of our story, cut his teeth in space fleet, working his way from rookie to wing commander before he was old enough for his first Union Beer. His feats of recklessness on the battlefield earned him what he claims is his second middle name: Dangerous. Still nobody knows what the T. stands for.

Upon discharge from the fleet, Maxwell did the only other thing an unemployed hotshot pilot could do – go mercenary. While his adventures drew the admiration of some, his principal adversaries cursed his name across the galactic broadbands.

The great man has a heart, however, and it was shattered with the loss of his love interest, Christine Hammond, by the ruthless foe, Vlad Borsikov. With her death avenged, Maxwell set off into deep space to rid the galaxy of pirate scourge, but a hyperdrive malfunction sent him into an unknown quadrant, which is where our adventure begins.

To call Maxwell brash or over-inflated might even be an understatement. His ego may know no bounds, but his electric charisma cannot be denied. With a quiff to kill and a smarmy insistence that no female of his species can resist shivering at (whether that's good or bad...), Maxwell has the confidence and adaptability to handle any situation without breaking a sweat.

After successfully countering the Voids Threat, Maxwell is back to his mercenary ways, with the usual equal dose of lechery and insobriety. New possibilities await the adventurer in this extended storyline, with access to cutting-edge technology, whether borrowed or stolen in the process.

Old friendships hold fast as the missiles begin to fly and the action gets thick. Fabulous opportunities await, but the real identity of some new employers, and their motives, provide a mystery to be tactfully unravelled. The real test for Maxwell in this new adventure might be to keep his head down and his cards close to his chest.

Gunant Breh is the archetypal Midorian – true to his Nivelian background and culture, yet accepting liberal Terran concepts sweeping the galaxy. His warmth towards Terrans stems from his imprisonment during the Nivelian Civil War, when his wounds were treated by Terran doctors.

An innovator and opportunist, Gunant Breh is the designer of powerful mining tools such as the Gunant's Drill, the blueprints of which can be purchased directly from him at his station, Var Hastra.

Norris Bernard is a Terran-Cyborg-Midorian from Gal-Nasthratia and now the Commander of the Mido Confederation station at Kernstal. How this came to be is an interesting story in itself.

Starting life in a travelling carnival family, Bernard's exposure to alien cultures from an early age left him adept at the nuances of rare terrestrial languages. His linguistic skills winning him a scholarship to the Terran lyceum, he applied for an exchange program to the distant and relatively unknown Monguska planets of Outer Biseria. It is unfortunately there that he caught the eye of a young Monguska princess who desired him for marriage.

Horrified at the prospect of being betrothed and then devoured, as is the custom, by an 800 kilo coleoptera, Bernard fled the system and immediately became a fugitive for jilting the princess. His subsequent years were spent in the relatively safe custody of pirates as their chief navigator and interpreter as he used every opportunity to alter his appearance with implants to avoid recognition.

His knowledge of the galaxy has nonetheless proved invaluable to the fledgling Mido Confederation, which he faithfully joined during the rebellion. His friendship with Gunant Breh has proved to be one of his most enduring, although no one else knows of his real past.

Mkkt Bkkt is both literally and metaphorically the slimiest character in the galaxy. No outrage is below him if the right amount of credits is involved. Pimp, dealer, smuggler and assassin, he has played many roles in his slippery career. Rumours abound that Bkkt has sold his own bodily secretions as either aphrodisiacs or stimulants to unsuspecting customers.

It is perhaps his opportunistic sense or mutual empathy which has led to Bkkt's affinity for Keith T. Maxwell. The two tend to cross paths in the most unusual of circumstances, although normally having to do with Bkkt's shady dealings.

Another rumour which persists about Multipods in general is that they are capable of subdividing or replicating themselves. Although this has never been witnessed or proven, it could offer a plausible explanation and make the occurrence of Mkkt Bkkt in so many different eras and quadrants less than coincidental.

After moving his harem and nightclub to a seemingly safer neighbourhood, Mkkt Bkkt finds his seedy operations yet again beleaguered by pirates, frightening off potential customers. Now owner of the Kaamo Club, his besieged harem has drunk the entire supply of buskat out of boredom and frustration. Without adequate libations to offer clients, business could be sunk! An advantageous situation could be found here for Maxwell, with the possibility to bail out an old friend, and procure a new space station for personal use in the process.

Brent Snocom was very familiar with Keith T. Maxwell from his Terran Fleet days when he was chief security officer. More than once he had to throw Maxwell in the brig after a wild post-battle celebration or drunken brawl. So imagine his surprise on encountering him decades later in a far flung part of the galaxy, an old man facing a man who hasn't aged at all. Snocom is a heavily modified Cyborg-Terran, a process which began with a youthful accident.

While gazing in high emotion upon the fabulous flower of Helena on the planet Blathscurig, an extremely dangerous parasite entered through his tear ducts and laid its eggs in his brain. The resulting infestation set off a fireworks-like effect from every cranial orifice while he experienced a monumental psychedelic effect. Fortunately the infestation could not be sustained in a warm blooded creature, but the flashbacks were to haunt him for the rest of his life. Eye-socket implants and cranial-nerve rewiring could never rid the lingering after-effects completely.

Despite this minor handicap, Snocom is now engaged as the Chief of the Interstellar Security Agency and watches from his outpost on Alioth station. He has been a strict career soldier and attained the position of Lieutenant Commander. He holds some admiration for the Midorian rebels, but is a Terran true and blue.

Dr. Carla Paolini is the unwitting, but not unwilling, target of Maxwell's advances since his arrival to this end of the galaxy. The feisty Terran redhead has led a self-determined and exemplary scientific career, culminating in her current post as head of the Deep Science research station in the Thynome system.

Recognized as a scientific prodigy when she built her first teddy bear replicator in kindergarten, she was swiftly enlisted and advanced through several elite academies before earning her triple doctorate from the University of Interplanetary Exobiology.

Her ambition and social aptitude caught the eye of Terran High Command, who offered her increasingly high-profile positions in research facilities in several systems. Along with several other noted professors, she petitioned for an independent institution to be established to further study of the mysterious Voids at the galaxy's edge. This resulted in the formation of Deep Science, an inter-species and faction-neutral entity.

Now, with a wealth of resources at her disposal and some of the best analytical minds in the galaxy in her care, she acts as a vigilant and caring leader to her valued crew. Too many responsibilities for such a distraction as a minor romance, to Maxwell's unending frustration.



With the Voids Threat apparently dissipating, Deep Science has ventured further to the outskirts of the known galaxy to be at the forefront of new discoveries. This time, however, the location is kept secret and off the maps, by mutual agreement of all involved factions.

Carla stays steadfastly at her post in her continued quest for understanding the Voids. Deep down, however, she is waiting patiently for her knight in shining armour to return to her rescue yet again.

Thomas Boyle is a creative thinker, invaluable to the Deep Science research team for his ability to "think outside the cube." His penchant for abstract thinking came suddenly while on a specimen-gathering mission on the jungle planet of Yanashkor, when he was captured and licked by several large, and previously unknown, toad-like creatures. The resulting psychoactive experience rewired his synapses and he spent the next several years travelling the galaxy in search of pretty visuals to document in poetry form.

Despite dropping out of academy, Boyle remained a close friend to Carla Paolini, and she engaged him as a courier and analyst for the Deep Science station, where his contributions proved to be particularly helpful, if not completely off-the-wall.

Khador is one of the most interesting, yet tedious, inhabitants of the galaxy. Exploring Terran systems during the civilization's age of galactic discovery, he was captured by Terran scientists and considered an extreme oddity, due to his similarity in appearance to a much documented species from ancient Terran folklore. His own curiosity of the Terran matched their curiosity of him, and as ever in high enthusiasm for "retro" tech, he delighted in the primitive tools of this strange species.

With a penchant for excitable chatter, Khador famously talked several Terran doctors through his own dissection. Living for two Terran millennia or more, some even speculate that Khador may possess more knowledge of the roots of Terran civilization than they do themselves. For this reason they keep him, and his occasional Grey companions who come to assist in his research, close and safe. Khador's contributions to the furthering of Terran knowledge have been unmatched.



Recently joined on board the Deep Science research station by a new assistant of his own kind, Netor, Khador continues to head his team of hyper-intelligent innovators with his relentless and excitable chatter.

Khador's frequent forays out into unknown space to test his new hyperdrives have been a cause of concern for Carla Paolini, however. He is simply too important to Terran science to lose hold of.

Finding pleasure only in the act of retrospective discovery, Khador delights in sharing his scientific musings with anyone nearby… including dangerous kidnappers!

Errkt Uggut is a career soldier of the Imperial Vossk Fleet. Bred as a pilot in a special incubation pool, he was fed with war strategy and theory from inception.

His personal bitterness was caused by his removal from active duty to instruct the next generation of pilots at the military academy. This was not particularly pleasurable for Uggut, not being what he was reared for. As the spawn of a war hero, he expected better things. His strictness and cruelty to his students earned him certain notoriety, with the desired effect of having new recruits more afraid of their superiors than of the enemy.

Now nearing retirement, he still hungers for the glory of battle. And while his high status in military ranks allows him certain privileges, it's just not enough for this old warrior.

Lieutenant Roger Baffour of the Terran Space Fleet is not the best company to keep when hitting the space lounge after a long trek or battle. His presence is known to act as a repellent to the opposite sex and his endless boasts and terrible sense of humour make for an agonizing time until an excuse can be found to run away.

Renowned in the academy for his bad taste and poor hygiene, he managed to make a name for himself regardless as a pilot of high calibre. He is a gung ho warrior in every respect, which does merit some admiration.

If you encounter Baffour on your quests, it is best to keep conversation brief and keep a safe distance.

What little is known of Alice is that she is sexy, owns her own space station and is tremendously dangerous to deal with.

Boss to Cornelius Tenner and a countless number of goons, Alice resides on the highly modified Valkyrie station, a behemoth in terms of galactic technology. Her true purpose, background, or associations to other factions or conglomerates, is under question, and needs to be unravelled by Maxwell, who is attempting to infiltrate her operations.

What is most surprising of all about Alice is that she seems to be absolutely impervious to Maxwell's smooth-talk, to his bewilderment.

Alice's lackey and devotee, Cornelius Tenner is a hard talking and humourless brute that's all business. He doesn't like Maxwell, in fact he doesn't like anyone besides his employer and mistress, who barks at him impatiently, and yet he responds like a frightened puppy at her orders.

Whether it is a kind of love, the reasons for his devotion are not yet known. He was a wayward lout who did the boxing and arm-wrestling circuits to earn his creds, until he had both his arms ripped off in his first match against an octopod. His medical bills for re-attachment surgery had him crippled, and so he took to smuggling to pay them off. It is during this period he first came in contact with Alice, who hired him as an above-standard goon, competent if only for being coherent. Cornelius Tenner has little fear of Vossk or Voids, but has endless concern of the wrath of his employer.

A fresh arrival to Deep Science, Netor is the newest addition to the friendship between Terrans and the ancient and enigmatic Grey race.

The exact relationship between Khador and Netor is still speculation, as gender differentiation is as yet misunderstood by other species. Station gossip has it that the two are lovers, but there is no outward display of affection to prove such an analysis.

A striking observation of the Greys is their nearly exact similar appearance, tone, and intensity of speech, which makes matters very confusing indeed.

A proud and high-ranking Vossk on the B'akrram station, Mekant Orskk just needs to do one little bit of treason to clear his clan's name from Alice's list of debtors.

More concerned with his clan's loss of premier spawn-pool privileges than his own life, he displays true Vossk mentality and fealty to his brethren.

Mekant has long been viewed as the most capable candidate for clan leadership in the future, and this could even put him in the leagues for the coveted imperial throne, although the glory would only be brief before being deposed and dissolved into regal jelly.

This unfortunate Vossk owes Alice a favour, and that's a bad position to be in! Taret Orskk was stranded in his damaged fighter after fleeing a dogfight and discovered near the Valkyrie station. With his ship repaired and his life spared, he was allowed to return to his clan, on the condition that he can be called at some point for a favour.

Dreading the time that should come, Taret was open with his shame to a small number of his closest clan members, who realizing the danger of the situation for all the clan, decided to help him put this behind and keep it secret.

Trot Lykkt is the assistant to the new assistant, a new arrival to Deep Science himself and placed under Netor's command. Proving yet again that one should be very careful with multipods, Trot Lykkt is an infiltrator set on theft and sabotage. The question is who is he working for? And what is he going to do?

 

 

As leader of a splitter group of freedom fighters, Bargand Surr went down in history as one of the key figures in the military coup that lead to the separation of the newly founded Midorian Confederation from the Nivelian Republic. In his new role as commander of a border-area Mido station he now oversees the evacuation missions and takes care of the refugees. Though he’s originally of Nivelian blood, he never really conformed to the conservative lifestyle and crusted traditions of his former compatriots.

Like many other Bobolans, Brillo Lampeter left his home turf at a rather young age, seeking fame and fortune beyond the final frontier. Despite him never having seen a lecture hall from the insight, his distinctive social skills and exceptional eloquence ensured him that he had everything it takes to pursue a career as a self-proclaimed shrink. Over the years, he build up quite a reputation and gathered a respectable clientele, mostly by picking up discontent drunks in space lounges and lending them an open ear when no one else would listen to them. And that is also how he first got to know his friend and benefactor Thadelonius Moonsprocket. Right from the start, Brillo proofed to be exceptionally good at unravelling the spaced-out professor’s mindless babbling and drunken drivel and hence the former offered the latter a long term-contract as his personal assistant, interpreter and headshrinker.

Today, Brillo Lampeter acts as somewhat of a Dr. Watson to Moonsprocket’s Holmes, conferring on the professor’s theories and clarifying them for others. With his sharpened tongue, ironic sense of humour and eagerness to have the last word, Brillo Lampeter is always good for a laugh and a little bit of comic relief – no matter how bleak the situation might look around him.

A wunderkind with a proven IQ of more than 180, Thadelonius Moonsprocket was born to change the world of science forever. He made his PhD in history and archaeology at the renowned Arpalys University as a teenager and then went on to gain his professor title at the equally prestigious Valadon Academy. It was there, however, that he joined a fraternity called the Slobbering Sons of Sapience, who were disdained for their wild parties and heavy boozing rather than respected for their vast knowledge and scientific expertise. Even though he slept through half of his lectures and forgot more than he learned during these boisterous days, he somehow still managed to get his professor’s degree and join the reputable Deep Science team as advisor. Though Moonsprocket’s work – such as the excavation of a selection of ancient artefacts on Paréah – often resulted in a revolutionary finding or even in a scientific breakthrough, his eccentric character and unorthodox research methods quickly began to annoy his colleagues. And when he accidently set a whole lab room on fire during one of his alcoholic debaucheries, he was dismissed from his duties right away and excommunicated from the scientific community. In the years to follow, he nevertheless managed to make a fortune as the author of several pseudo-scholarly pieces dealing with a broad variety of populist topics such as the existence of other dimensions or the end of the known universe by the fiery hands of long-forgotten deities.

Together with his companion and psychiatrist Brillo Lampeter, he now travels from one star system to another to collect information for his latest publication, an almost-complete guide to the galaxy’s various alcoholic beverages. It is during this adventurous trip that he will make the acquaintance of a certain Keith T. Maxwell who is determined to wipe away the hazy cloud of drunkenness from the professor’s otherwise-brilliant mind and escort the once-respected scientist back to his former place of work.

During the Civil War, the highly decorated Nivelian squadron leader Trunt Harval made a name for himself as a political hardliner and relentless upholder of the establishment. More than once, his clampdown approach at beating down the rioters with unremorseful force (and often also unnecessary violence) put him onto the front-pages of the intergalactic newspapers – as well as in the pillory of the alien rights activists. After the end of the Civil War, he went on to cement his position of power and take over the post of the leader of the military junta that has been ruling the Nivelian Republic with an iron fist over the course of the past couple of years.