Tyler Coolidge

History

• Early Life

  Tyler was born to single mother Rachel Coolidge, a mid-level government employee. He never knew his grandparents, nor his father. Regardless of that, he grew up thoughtful and well adjusted, taking an early interest in weightlifting as a way to compensate for his diminutive size. Although it was only he and his mother, Tyler never truly wanted for anything, and lived a quiet, comfortable life, up until he graduated primary school.
  Applying for university, however, turned into an enormous shock. Despite good grades, good aptitudes, and being an excellent fit for his intended program, the school rejected Tyler's applications for admission and scholarships. It was then he learned the secret that his mother had been keeping for so many years. With a single call, she made an immediate appointment with a very rich and powerful man. A rich and powerful mad with the exact same eyes and nose that Tyler had.
  The next day, Tyler was contacted by the university. They were extremely sorry about the mix up, his admission was accepted, his scholarships approved, as well as several other grants and scholarships that he hadn't even applied for. In the end, the university was going to pay him to attend. The message was clear: Shut up, keep your head down, and you'll be taken care of. Equally clear, however, was the lesson: A well placed nobody can wrestle the system to its knees.

• University, and the War

  University was fun and educational for Ty. He did well in his classes and was decently popular, and even continued his weightlifting competitively. He had a few girlfriends, as he had when younger, but nothing serious. When the war broke out, Tyler was well into his education. Despite that, and perhaps feeling a sense of duty or honor, he spoke to an Alliance recruiter, then enrolled in an accelerated program for his degree. Immediately afterwards, he shipped off to Officer Candidate School, where his education in engineering was honed to military purposes. The physical aspect of the training held no difficulty for Tyler, save running, and his thoughtful nature lent itself well towards the exams and exercises there.
  It was once the now newly minted 1st Lieutenant Coolidge was finally deployed, however, that everything changed. The quiet, thoughtful boy excelled at being a warfighter. Worries that because of his height and introspective nature he wouldn't be able to command attention or respect vanished as he led his men with clarity and success. The quiet voice he had always used could get louder than a bullhorn.
  Tyler even found his first serious girlfriend during the war. During one battle, a group of Alliance fighter craft was getting torn apart by anti-air fire. Tyler personally led the raid that captured the emplacements and turned them back on the Independent's ships. Out of gratitude, the squadron he saved gave him one of their jackets and made him an honorary member. And one of the pilots showed a bit more gratitude behind closed doors...
  The war went on, missions happened, and eventually Ty's luck ran out. Or half out. A cutting-wire trap designed to decapitate Alliance soldiers caught the now-Captain Coolidge in the face. He survived due to his stature, but it still landed him in the hospital in a coma.
  The coma was short lived, with repairs made to Captain Coolidge's sinuses, skull, and the muscles of his face and eyes. Though when he returned to the front lines, it was noted that Coolie was... Less happy, grimmer, taking more risks. The reasons for such were obvious. While he was unconscious and in medical care, his girlfriend (by then fiance) turned traitor and defected, disabling a squadron of fighters and stealing valuable intel as she stole a ship and vanished into the black. With the miasma of that betrayal following him around, Tyler volunteered for more and more missions, as if trying to shake the suspicion and prove that he was a loyal Alliance soldier.

• After the War

  When the war ended and Unification became the law of the 'Verse, Tyler was suddenly set adrift. Medical complications from his facial disfigurement (migraines and an associated Alice in Wonderland Syndrome) as well as the remaining cloud of suspicion from the higher brass served to have the captain discharged, though his record itself remained unblemished.
  Dropped back into civilian life, Tyler briefly returned to Persephone, though he didn't stay long. His mother had died during the war, the result of a traffic accident, leaving him will no real anchor anywhere. Plagued by stress-induced migraines, it wasn't long before Ty left "civilized" life behind and returned to the black, taking work on freighters and trade ships.
  His master goal was to own a ship himself, and so he kept his expenses to a minimum, did his best to invest wisely, and poured most of his shares from every job he was a part of into his savings. Soon enough, he had the chance to buy a ship that was due for repossession. It was then that he met Tien Dufferin, the only member of the Aquila that stayed on after he took ownership.

• Cats, Meat, and Other Foibles

  Charlie

  Tyler found Charlie about midpoint of his involvement in the war. The cat was a kitten at the time, a newborn even. Ty and his squad were infiltrating enemy lines when they heard a frantic and plaintive meowing. Fearing the attention that the noise could bring, they sought out the source, only to find several kittens and the body of their mother. The mother had been injured, and had crawled into a warm place to deliver her kittens before she died. That warm place happened to be the electronic control hub for a series of wired explosives set up for an ambush. Seeing the kittens as good luck charms and guardian angels, Tyler took Charlie (the loudest) and two other squadmates took the remaining kittens. Then they turned the trap back on the Browncoats.

  
  
  

  Elective vegetarianism

  Tyler is not fond of eating meat. A culmination of the horrors of the war, as well as a few specific instances, have left his stomach churning at the thought of eating another animal's flesh. It isn't something that he talks about often, and he is practical enough to not refuse given no other choice or in a survival situation, but barring being stranded in the woods for months, he can always be counted to throw up at the first convenient point afterwards.