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Excerpts from the Staggering Stories Blog:


Staggering Stories Commentary #51: Primeval – Series 1, Episode 6
by Staggering Stories Podcast
Sun, 29 Jan 2012 14:54

Summary: Adam J Purcell, Andy Simpkins and Keith Dunn sit down, superbatted, in front of ITV’s Primeval Series 1, Episode 6, and spout our usual nonsense! Nick Cutter is feeling time orphaned, Helen’s been up to no good with Stephen, Claudia’s feeling very specifically erased and Captain Ryan’s been a skeleton all along. But enough [...]


Staggering Stories Podcast #124: Holmesian High Jump
by Staggering Stories Podcast
Sun, 22 Jan 2012 11:02

Summary: Adam J Purcell, Andy Simpkins, Fake Keith, Jean Riddler and the Real Keith Dunn talk about Steven Moffat and Mark Gatiss’ Sherlock: Series 2, have a retrospective on the year 2011, find some general news and a variety of other stuff, specifically: 00:00 – Intro and theme tune. 00:59 — Welcome! 01:34 – News: [...]


Staggering Stories Commentary #50: Doctor Who – The Doctor, the Widow and the Wardrobe
by Staggering Stories Podcast
Sun, 15 Jan 2012 10:54

Summary: Adam J Purcell, Andy Simpkins and Keith Dunn sit down, caretakered, in front of the 2011 Doctor Who Christmas Special, The Doctor, the Widow and the Wardrobe, and spout our usual nonsense! Cyril’s got oversized specs, Reg is following the light, the King and Queen and very wooden and Amy makes the Doctor moist. [...]


Staggering Stories Podcast #123: The Head, the Predictions and the Cardboard Box
by Staggering Stories Podcast
Sun, 08 Jan 2012 14:02

Summary: Adam J Purcell, Fake Keith, Jean Riddler and the Real Keith Dunn talk about the Doctor Who: ‘The Doctor, The Widow and the Wardrobe’, our Predictions, Hopes and Dreams and Fears for 2012, see how wrong we were about our Predictions for 2011, find some general news and a variety of other stuff, specifically: [...]


Mr Dalek and the Twenty Throod of Novemby
by Staggering Stories Podcast
Sat, 07 Jan 2012 19:03

This missed Christmas, so let’s instead try to fight off those New Year blues! To this end, we proudly present a new Mr Dalek Audio Adventure on our podcast feed. This exciting story, new to audio, is written by long time Mr Dalek fan, Benjamin F Elliott, and narrated by Siobhan Gallichan in the unique [...]


Staggering Stories Commentary #49: Doctor Who – Boom Town
by Staggering Stories Podcast
Sun, 01 Jan 2012 10:48

Summary: Adam J Purcell, Andy Simpkins and Keith Dunn sit down, unzipped, in front of the 2005 Doctor Who episode, Boom Town, and spout our usual nonsense! Margaret’s battling with bad breath, Mickey’s feeling some short lived character progression and Captain Jack’s a spare wheel. But enough of their problems, please sit down with us [...]

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Hacket

Garm Hacket

As plotting in the mind of Adam J Purcell


Physical Description

Thinning black hair, a goatee and mustache. Similiarly pitch black eyes glint oddly in his otherwise pale face. Personal grooming, second to none, gives him a somewhat aristocratic look. Even his standard issue Federation Fleet uniform looks impossibly clean, pressed and smooth, standing out from all others. The whole impression is that of a much older man, his facial hair helping to add a number of years.

He comes across as faultlessly polite and calm, even in desperate situations. The appearance of a man in control both himself and the situations he finds himself in.

 

Background

At the age of 22 he joined Federation Fleet Accademy, Earth. After achieving unusually high grades he was immediately assigned as full Lieutenant on the USS Hawkeye, now at the age of 26. Promoted to Lieutenant Commander after single handedly saving Deep Space Outpost 3 from a group of Jajuran pirates at the age of 28. Two years later, after a surprise Rogue State attack on the second largest Fleet shipyard destroyed over 40 starships, he deftly managed to get himself the position of first officer (and accompanying rank of Commander) aboard the USS Alaska. He was widely regarded by Fleet Command to be perfect captaincy material.

He excelled in this position, gaining several commendations and some of the Fleet's highest honours, and needed to do little to contrast himself with his captain, Bentley Macfadyan (who was becoming less and less popular with Fleet Command). An interesting twist of fate ended in the destruction of the aging Alaska. As Hacket was off the ship at the time Captain Macfadyan was deemed to be wholly responsible and went in front of a court martial. Fleet Command saw this as a perfect opportunity to remove Macfadyan from the Fleet. Hacket had other plans, though. If Macfadyan failed then the crew would be split and reassigned, Hacket would have achieved his captaincy but would have received an old ship with an established crew. If Macfadyan was exonerated then the Alaska crew would be almost certainly be kept together and assigned a new, state of the art, vessel but Hacket would remain first officer. Given the choice, Hacket ensured MacFadyan's victory and settled to wait a couple of years to inherit his command.

At the age of 32 he had gained first officership of the USS Cornell, one of the new Bradbury Class vessels, under the command of the out of favor Bentley Macfadyan. Captain Macfadyan was soon little more than a figurehead and Hacket commanded many of the major missions.

It took Hacket only two years from there to inherit the captaincy of the Cornell. During Macfadyan's final captaincy mission the crew discovered corruption in Fleet Command. The security chief revealed himself to be a Federation Intelligence operative who was tasked with carefully observing Macfadyan. The chief engineer took the opportunity to go AWOL, the marine colonel was discovered aiding the Rogue States and the telepathic counsellor's mind was mysteriously burnt out. Fleet Command had little choice but to promote Macfadyan out of harms way in face of the scandal, so leaving Hacket exactly where he wanted to be - and with the perfect opportunity to install his own hand-picked command crew. He immediately replaced the four lost positions with some of his most trusted colleagues, most from other ships. He also manoeuvred the chief medical officer into stepping down due to 'stress and personal problems', whom he promptly replaced with an old and trusted friend. Other key staff were replaced gradually and subtly to look like a mixture of a new captain making his mark and natural staffing attrition. Finally he had achieved his ambition

 

Personality

Hacket has a fascination for information. His goal in life is to protect the Federation and insure they stay the greatest power the galaxy has known.

The polite, outgoing manner and immaculate appearance he portrays is carefully studied. The image of the perfect Fleet officer that people so easily trust. That trust isn't quickly betrayed. He knows the importance of allies and timing. He has a slight paranoid streak which is why he is careful to keep people he trusts around him.

He enjoys taking risks but always goes in armed with all the information he can get. He makes a play of it, making out that luck and skill guided him, when in reality, he knew much more of the situation than anyone realised.

 

Quote

"Already on to it!"