User Guide

LYLE RICHARDS, “BASELINE”
— MYSTERY MAN
Lyle Richards, a 38-year-old veteran of
several U.S. campaigns, has a reputation
as a quiet, pensive man, so it came as no
surprise when he declined our request
for an interview (despite the fevered
objections of the publicity-hungry Mr.
Beetlebaum). For this reason, our
information on Lt. Col. Richards is
limited to what we could obtain from
official U.S. Navy records.
A pilot of great skill, Richards initially
honed his abilities aboard the USS
Saratoga. Early reports in his dossier
described him as “eager, enthusiastic,
intelligent — committed to a military
career — a keen interest in travel and
knowledge of foreign cultures — ideal
officer material.” He attained the rank of
lieutenant colonel before the Shiloh
disaster, after which he left the Navy,
presumably sharing his commander’s
disillusionment with the military estab-
lishment following the senseless loss of
the carrier.
Richards’ first tactical assignment was
Operation Desert Storm in 1991, flying
easy sorties from the Saratoga against
Iraqi targets. His baptism of fire occurred
in that same theatre, when in 1994 the
U.S. again occupied Saudi Arabia to
destroy Iraq’s nuclear strike capability.
His first taste of the bitterness of military
service was in the European theatre,
during Operation Bootstrap, when the
U.S. lent support to the Commonwealth
of Independent States’ suppression of the
December Revolt in order to stem the
spreading tide of global nationalism. The
hypocrisy of the action was apparently
not lost on Baseline. Psychological
reports at the time pointed to a “lack of
commitment and respect” on Richards’
part. His patriotism was called into
question. Finally, when no commander
would offer him a commission on his
carrier, it looked as if his career was
over. That’s when Commander James
Stern, always a maverick, took Baseline
under his wing and offered him a place
in the fighter group based under his
command on the Shiloh. The two men
formed an undeniable bond in the years
that followed, a bond that survived the
destruction of the Shiloh and the
founding of the Wildcats.
GWEN FORRESTER, “PHOENIX”
— ANARCHIST
Captain Gwen “Phoenix” Forrester
earned her callsign flying evac choppers
in Nicaragua. “I was sent in to pull some
wounded boys out of the jungle. Talk
about anti-aircraft fire, I mean the sky
was a solid blanket of smoke from the
flak bursts. I couldn’t see where I was
going, but I went down anyway and
linked up with the survivors of the 256th
Infantry on schedule. It was easy.” She
pauses for effect, then grins as she
continues: “Taking off again, that took
guts. You couldn’t even see the fraggin’
sky through the smoke. But I knew it was
there, just the same. And damned if we
didn’t get out without a scratch. That’s
when they started calling me Phoenix.
Talk about rising from the flames!”
Despite her casual attitude toward the
incident, Phoenix was decorated for
bravery and promoted to captain as a
result of her actions. Ironically, the same
fierce independence and rejection of
convention that garnered the approval of
her superiors eventually led to her
“departure” from the service. “I never
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July 2011 • SUDDEN DEATH