Ensign Ronnie Snell, Engineering
Ronnie was born on Turkana IV, an ex-Federation world, divided into many factions who fight constantly, the largest two being the Alliance and the Coalition. There are actually a dozen or so rival cadres including the Northerners, the Hand Gang, and the Union. The surface of the planet is a wasteland with radiation hotspots and biological hazards. The population mostly lives in underground Favelas surrounding different decaying Mega-cities. Each one is controlled by its own Crime Lord. Ronnie grew up in Torpor, ruled by the gang leader known as Mick the Hand, because he is missing several fingers on his right hand.
Ronnie was born in the Favelas slums like millions of others. His education was in the University of Life, on the streets of Turkana IV, but he had a gift for fixing things; vehicles, security systems and locks, weapons. Among Ronnie’s other skills and talents he includes Mechanical, Electronic, Engineering, Streetwise, Computer, Vehicles.
Ronnie’s mother, Julie, would send all her children out and tell them not to return without bread or money. Ronnie and his brothers learnt their way around the infinite maze of tunnels and wreckage that was Torpor. At first they picked the pockets of strangers, but they soon progressed up to hitting the armoured transports that passed through the town by climbing aboard in the dark, picking the electronic locks and throwing the cargo out the back.
When he was still young his mother and two older brothers, George and John, were killed. A suicide bomber entered the compound where they lived and then detonated the bomb outside their shack. Ronnie was only seven, and he got on with his life, otherwise you don’t survive, that’s the reality of Turkana IV. Anyway, revenge attacks and gang warfare still continues on a daily basis up to this day. Everyone has lost someone they love.
While his other brothers worked as porters and couriers, and were killed in street fights and botched robbery attempts, Ronnie found it more profitable, and safer, to repair and fix things for the Hand Gang. This got Ronnie noticed by Mick the Hand, and Mick used him to repair his armoured car, check the alarms worked and to make explosives, that kind of stuff, while he was out drug dealing and thieving. He rewarded Ronnie quite well, made him his personal assistant, and very slowly he was saving money for a passage off-world. He would have done it eventually, providing the money wasn’t stolen.
Ronnie’s father, Kevin, wanted to break the cycle, and to do it more quickly. He already knew he was dying, and he didn’t want Ronnie’s life to be as bad as his, or for his grandchildren to be murdered as his wife and children had, so he did a courageous but foolish thing. There is a weird system of Law on Turkana IV. A wealthy man convicted of a murder and sentenced to prison paid his father to take his place, not as an impersonation, but actually to take his place. Ronnie’s father went to prison instead of the other man. It’s perfectly legal. The system only requires that someone pay for the crime. It doesn’t specify who that should be. Kevin willingly consented to be imprisoned in exchange for Ronnie’s passage off-world and the cost of his Academy training. His father has broken no laws, yet he sits rotting in a Turkana IV gaol while the wealthy murderer carries on with his own life. Ronnie just can’t let that continue any longer, but cannot see a way out. As it’s a murder sentence; even if the money was repaid, someone still has to complete the prison sentence. The only solution is for Ronnie to break Kevin out of prison.
Mick the Hand will not help as he is still annoyed about Ronnie leaving. He didn’t want Ronnie to leave, gave no permission and lost a useful employee. Ronnie is hoping to recruit some off-worlders, possibly Starfleet officers for his project. He has yet to have the courage to broach the subject, and has made few friends on Oed V who he trusts enough.
As part of the prison sentence agreements, Ronnie is allowed a short conversation with his father every two weeks. He had never missed a single conversation until he was ill with Mononucleosis and unconscious for several days.
Ronnie has had an unlucky time on Oed V. He was also inside the old Engineering Building when it collapsed. It took days to dig him out.
Ronnie finds all replicated food bland, which is strange considering that he ate nothing else before he left Turkana IV.
Oed V is Ronnie’s first posting since Starfleet Academy. Although Ronnie is better with spacecraft and vehicles he has been frustrated by being given endless Civil Engineering assignments as an Ensign. He did find praise when he was able to shut down the main computer in the Spaceport when it was attacked by a virus.