Todd Marshall

Todd Marshall
2631.038-????
Todd Marshall
Callsign	Maniac
Place of birth	Leto, Proxima Centauri
Allegiance	Terran Confederation
Years of service	2654-circa 2690
Rank	Major
Relations	Arnold “Boomer” Marshall (Father)

Todd Marshall, aka "Maniac", was a Terran Confederation fighter pilot assigned to the TCS Tiger's Claw in 2654. He was born on Leto in 2631. Marshall graduated from the Terran Confederation Naval Academy as part of the Class of 2654. Although he placed comparatively low in his Naval Academy standings, he was one of the year's highest-ranked overall graduates. He was known for having a strong disregard of naval regulations. He was featured in Pilot Profiles in April 2654, at which time he held the rank of 2nd Lt. He scored his fifth kill in April 2654 and was awarded the Ace Performance Service Ribbon, which was reflected in that month's Comm Relay.

END CLAW MARKS VERSION

Todd Marshall, callsign "Maniac", was one of the greatest fighter Pilots of the Terran-Kilrathi War. Despite some early setbacks and disillusionment, his career saw him fight instumental battles in the waning years of the war, be a key contributor to the resolution of the Border Worlds Conflict, and a star player in the Nephilim conflict.

History

Todd Marshall was born in 2631, on Leto, Proxima Centauri. Todd’s father was Arnold “Boomer” Marshall, a star college athlete who was drafted into the Marine Corps during the early days of Terran-Kilrathi War and served as a platoon leader, reaching the rank of captain. Todd was the youngest of Arnold’s four sons.

Todd was exceptionally good at sports and was accepted into the Confederation Academy on an athletic scholarship. His grades were good and he kept a clean disciplinary record, excluding a couple of demerits for borderline insubordination. Marshall’s marksmanship and simulator scores were the highest in his class, but earned the callsign “Maniac” for his flying style.

Marshall and Christopher “Maverick” Blair were classmates at the Academy. They were rivals in every way, even to the point of pursuing the affections of the same girl. Marshall and Blair were the only aces in the Kilrathi War top 40 list to enlist after Custer’s Carnival. Upon graduation, Marshall and Blair were posted to the TCS Tiger’s Claw.

Early Career

On 2654.135, Marshall and Blair launched in Scimitars from the Tiger’s Claw to patrol the Brimstone system in the lead-up to a Confederation invasion. The next day, they flew again to escort an Exeter-class destroyer to the Tiger's Claw. On 2654.137, Marshall and Blair launched in Scimitars again to destroy a Kilrathi Dorkir transport.

On 2654.271, Marshall and Blair escorted a Venture-class corvette to a jump point in the Cairo system, protecting it from a Ralari en-route. A week later, they flew a three-point patrol around the Cairo system.

On 2654.280, Marshall accidentally destroyed a Confederation transport with a heat-seeking missile during an escort mission in the Rostov system. All fourteen of the crew are lost. Marshall was cleared of all charges relating to the incident.

During this time, Marshall suffered from depression, and by 2655.239, the stress from the Vega campaign and Operation Thor’s Hammer weighed so heavily on him that he had to be taken off the flight roster and put into sickbay. He was put back on the flight roster on 2655.278 when all pilots were desperately needed, but he remained mentally unstable.

On 2655.293, Marshall and Blair launched in Raptors from the Tiger’s Claw to fly a three-point patrol in the Firekka system, clearing a path for her retreat. Later, they launched again in Rapiers to defend the Tiger's Claw against several waves of Kilrathi fighters.

Marshall’s mental condition eventually culminated in a nervous breakdown – he was put into hospital for several months, and so survived the eventual destruction of the Tiger’s Claw.

On 2666.135, Marshall considered the TCS Tarawa a “transport scow and a death trap”.

Test Pilot

Marshall’s most spectacular exploit was in the Deneb sector. Leading a wing of light fighters on routine patrol, he encountered two heavy Kilrathi battleships. With no bombers available, Marshall somehow managed to maneuver the battleships into a fatal collision with each other, and is reported to have saved an entire strike fleet as a result. After this incident, Marshall was promoted to major, and given command of the Wild Eagles, a group of test pilots testing prototype Morningstar fighters. Marshall designed some of the special features of the Morningstar, such as its Mace nuclear missile payload.

On 2667.098, Marshall and his Wild Eagles arrived on the TCS Concordia. The Morningstar was plagued with random jump failure, so Marshall performed a test jump in the Canewdon system with Christopher Blair in a Sabre recording the jump.

On 2667.099, Marshall flew with Blair and two members of his Wild Eagles on a Morningstar test patrol, with Blair in a Broadsword. The patrol encountered heavy resistance including a wing of Strakha stealth fighters.

On 2667.100, Maria “Minx” Grimaldi stole a Morningstar prototype and fled the Concordia, setting an explosive to cover her escape. It took 25 minutes to repair the flight deck before Marshall and Blair could launch and pursue her. This delay, along with a coordinated enemy presence, allowed Grimaldi to escape to the Mandarins with the Morningstar.

Later, Marshall and Blair transferred to James “Paladin” Taggart’s Special Operations division. They left Canewdon in Morningstars, with Taggart in the Grimalkin, a captured Dorkathi transport. Marshall and Blair escorted the Grimalkin to the Ayer’s jump point, but docked with the Grimalkin for the jump since the Morningstar was still susceptible to random jump failure.

On 2667.101, Marshall and Blair launched in their Morningstars from the Grimalkin to intercept and destroy wings of Mandarin fighters before they could report to their base, Ayer’s Rock. On the same day, Marshall and Blair escorted the Grimalkin to the nearest jump point in the Ayer’s system. They destroyed two Fralthra cruisers en-route. Later, they launched again to destroy the Mandarin base of Ayer’s Rock, along with two Kamekh corvettes, and several Mandarin Sabres.

While the Grimalkin was on its way back to the Concordia, Marshall and Blair attempted to locate and kill Zachary “Jazz” Colson, who escaped Ayer’s Rock before it was destroyed. Marshall’s Morningstar broke down shortly after launch, however, leaving Maverick to find Colson on his own.

Kilrathi War's End

Over the last decade of the Terran-Kilrathi War, Marshall rotated between combat and test piloting before Admiral Geoffrey Tolwyn assigned him to the TCS Victory. Marshall had been the executive officer on the Victory under Wing Commander Dulbrunin before Christopher Blair was also assigned there. Marshall was also commanding officer of Gold squadron aboard the Victory until Blair replaced him with Ralgha “Hobbes” nar Hhallas.

By 2669.203, Marshall still held the rank of major.

On 2669.217, Marshall and three other pilots from Gold squadron flew to an area where Blair and nar Hhallas had earlier been ambushed, and destroyed ten Dralthi, a light cruiser, and a supply depot hidden in a large asteroid.

On 2669.225, Marshall flew off on his own chasing a Kilrathi fighter while leaving his wingman to defend the Victory without him.

On 2669.266, Marshall flew with Blair to Kilrah as part of Lancelot Flight, his Excalibur is labelled Excalibur 304. Marshall was forced to eject and was taken prisoner by a Kilrathi dreadnought. He was “interrogated” viciously for several hours, but after the destruction of Kilrah, Marshall was given medical treatment and a ceremonial release.

After the war, Marshall resumed alternating between combat and test piloting for the Confederation.

By 2673.217, Marshall still held the rank of major and served on the TCS Lexington. He held the opinion that Christopher Blair becoming a farmer on Nephele II was disgraceful. Nevertheless, he went to Nephele II to recall him to active military service under Emergency Decree 394A. Marshall and Blair left Nephele II for Orlando depot in Hellcats.

Marshall had a habit of sleeping with an armed blaster pistol under his pillow, and also liked to kiss his fighter before flying a mission.

Post-Kilrathi War

On 2673.224, Marshall was briefly promoted to lieutenant colonel and wing commander on the BWS Intrepid, after Captain William Eisen departed for the Confederation. On the same day, the Intrepid jumped to the Peleus system to investigate system-wide jamming. Marshall retrieved an ejected Confederation pilot, who lead the Intrepid to the jamming device. Marshall lead a squadron to the jamming device and, together with the remainder of the Intrepid’s fighters, destroyed it.

In 2673, Marshall was promoted to colonel and given command of the light carrier, TCS Kiev. He was sent to police the border.

Marshall accepted his posting to the TCS Midway as “a personal favor to Senator James Taggart”. He flew in the Black Widow squadron aboard the Midway in 2681 but had returned to the rank of major.

On 2681|2681.011, Marshall achieves his 2000th and 2001st kills by shooting down two armed smugglers during a routing sweep of the Hawkins system.

Marshall recorded five kills during the raid on the Demon’s Eye pirates in Valgard. As of 2681.022, Marshall was the highest-ranked ace on the Space Forces flight roster and was rated the fourteenth highest-scoring ace in Space Force history.

After the Midway’s retreat to the H’hrass system, Marshall’s bluster and apparent disrespect for the dead irritated fellow Midway pilot Lance Casey to the point that Casey physically attacked him.

While the Midway was in the T’lan Meth system, Marshall was promoted to commander of the Black Widow squadron, a position he took on with great delight. However, Marshall was distraught after having a pilot go missing-in-action in T’lan Meth and losing another two rookie pilots in the G’mar system. Marshall voluntarily steps down from his post as squadron commander of the Black Widows by the time the Midway reached the H’rissith system.

Marshall married twice during his career - one relationship lasting three years, and the other 22 days. He had no children.

Marshall retired from active duty to become a consultant and test pilot for a civilian defence contractor. During that time he also wrote his autobiographical memoir ME: The Life and Battles of "Maniac" Marshall.”

Images

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  Todd Marshall from the 2654 issue of Claw Marks

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  Todd Marshall in 2668 during his command of the Wild Eagles.

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  Todd Marshall in 2681.