Mike Beringwaite

Mike

Mike Beringwaite is a military officer in the Alliance Fleet.

Appearance and Personality

Mike Beringwaite is a human male with short, light brown hair and tanned skin, and ferociously focused dark greenish-hazel eyes. He maintained his physical condition after leaving Fleet Academe (unlike some officers), and his uniform is impeccable.

He smells spicy, but also like evergreens? But it's some kind of cologne.

Has a fine tenor and great pitch.

Has a temper, which he's learned to control since his ensign days.

Pre-Service History

Beringwaite was born on Terra(?), and grew up in an area with mountains and became a skilled hiker. Making his father proud is a clear motivation for him, and it is heavily implied that he suffered some sort of abuse at the hands of his elders. His upbringing contributed to an initial extremely contentious position regarding the Pelted, up to and including the use of slurs.

Family

Speaks of his "father, who was a bastard." Goes on to say, "My entire family was a mess. Big family. We didn't have enough of anything. We took it out on one another, because it was who we could reach."

Service History

• Ensign
• Lieutenant, UAV Songlance
• First Commander, UAV Cometfencer

Ensign

Beringwaite attended the ensign training retreat on Quickwater Reserve, and quickly insisted upon assuming leadership of the group, ostensibly because he was good at traveling in the mountains. Though this proved true, he quickly alienated the rest of the group through his arrogance, constant insults, and disregard for physical safety. Ultimately, he unilaterally decided that the group would take the canoe Route D, despite being specifically instructed to not use that route due to its danger, leading to injury of several teammates and forfeit of the entire training exercise for the whole group. Beringwaite left the retreat without admitting to any wrongdoing.

Lieutenant

Beringwaite was assigned to the UAV Songlance at some point prior to Alysha Forrest's assignment there, and in that time successfully antagonized many of his crewmates. Despite being invited to the lieutenants' skullbash, he never attended; he was also misliked for appearing to favor the other humans in his department (Fayid, Friedman, and Solomon), despite the fact that they were perceived as incompetent and difficult to work with (and not much cared for for being "Old and Proud".

When Beringwaite and Alysha finally spoke frankly about it, Beringwaite revealed why he was protecting them: Fayid needed the job to support his kid sister and grandmother, but suffered panic attacks in space; Solomon had used the military to escape poverty and prison, but would backslide if thrown out; and though Friedman was a genuine incompetent, he was enmeshed with the others. Alysha tried again to convince him to attend the skullbash, without success.

Their conversation was interrupted by a sudden ambush attack on the ship. Recognizing that one of the pirates' goals would be to cripple the ship in order to prevent it from fleeing, they moved to the aquatic navigation section to bait the pirates into the machine room. Forrest then flooded the machine room, opened the airlock between the machine room and the currentlock area and set a timer for the currentlock to open before strapping herself in. The enormous pressure of the currentlock sucked the pirates through, crushing them and shredding them through the filtration system, which Beringwaite and Forrest were protected from by the safety harnesses. One pirate managed to slash at Forrest with a knife, missing her but cutting her safety harness; Beringwaite grabbed her and held her until the currentlock closed, saving her life. After that experience, they were able to have an honest conversation that brought them to an accord.

Beringwaite eventually was willing to join the skullbash, despite it being painfully awkward. He also answered a summons from Hood along with Forrest. Sar expressed Hood's thanks for their work, and the Naysha and Platies gave him his 'aquatic name:' Strong Friend, for his strength and determination in holding fast to Forrest and keeping her from dying.

First Commander

Has stopped being That Guy, expert on beer.

Nicknames: Obnoxious Jerk, Ridiculous Jerk

He intimates in a conversation with Taylitha that he is friends with the ex-Marine officer (a woman, last name Tierney) who heads up the Cometfencer's security division.

Quotes

• "If you're human, your choice is a dead-end job in our pint-sized local navy, or the big wide world and endless opportunity in the galaxy. The wonders... of the universe! Or... a shack in an alley. Not much of a choice."

• "I still resent the universe for turning us into second-hand citizens. But this last assignment… humans selling you people. Selling other humans. Pelted selling humans and aliens and other Pelted. All the distinctions started blurring. For better or worse, Scarlet… it’s not about Terra against the Alliance anymore, not for me. It’s us versus them, and Them wears a thousand faces."

• "Now I ask you, who wants to eat a near avocado? If that's as close as it can manage to get to a real one, I think I'll pass."

• "I don't rhack Pelted

Trivia

• Enjoys beer, and is good at recommending beers that people might like
• Dislikes lemon; likes coconut, pineapple, and mango. Would have brought mango fritters to the skullbash
• Fencing aficionado (but doesn't play)
• Likes the Naysha (They're "not like the rest of the Pelted" and can sign, though not perfectly fluent
• Prefers weight training for exercise, does some running
• Can whistle
• Only his mom calls him 'Michael'
• liked the engineer rotations

Related Fiction

Second (Fiction)

Who is Willing (Fiction)