La Nouvelle Avant-Garde: Personnel and Ships

[Thunderer]

Biography

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Name: Vicomte Pierre Vincent Dupetit-Thouars de Plateau des Coucous
Place of Birth: Plateau des Coucous, Planet Orleans
Date of Birth: 31st of March 683 AGS

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Plateau des Coucous, where Pierre was born, used to be a relatively flat, slightly raised piece of land the size of a small city, covered with wilderness, and had rather steep slopes. Safe from most predators, those used to be filled with the nests of birds that made sounds similar to cuckoos, hence it was named so by the first settlers. The plateau was later cultivated and the birds either died out or migrated elsewhere, but the name stayed.

Pierre's father, Philippe Vincent Dupetit-Thouars, allegedly a descendant of Aristide Aubert du Petit Thouars, was the Viscount of the Plateau, where he ran an array of vineyards and a bottling facility. His wine was very reputable and well sold in the region.

Pierre was only the youngest of his three sons, hence it was never planned for him to inherit any significant part of the property. Instead, he was prepared to become a naval officer from early on, as the Viscounty's contribution to the King's forces, and then enrolled into a military academy, from which he graduated with relatively good grades. Due to his planned destiny, he was very fond of adventure, glory and honour, different from his elder brothers, who were raised to be better at management and scheming. Free from his father's dynastic plans, he married the woman he wanted, and married before his elder brothers, whose suitable spouses were still being looked for.

His father's plans were, however, not stronger than destiny. A few days after having an argument about profligacy with his eldest son, on the day he planned to edit his will, Philippe, who was by then 62, had what seemed to be an unplanned meeting with someone, after which he was found dead and completely nude, with a whole empty pack of blue pills beside him. The someone was never identified. The eldest son was found to have a strong motive, but after a couple of months of court disputes, he was acquitted due to a lack of evidence. He inherited most of the property, with the bottling factory going to his younger brother and a summerhouse to Pierre. However, a few months later, he was found dead in his house with six gunshot wounds, and his mother laying beside him, who appeared to have committed suicide. Only her fingerprints were on the gun. Thus, practically the whole property fell into the hands of the middle brother. But, while he was returning from court with all the ownership documents properly signed, he was struck by lightning and died momentarily.

Losing his whole family in the span of a few months was a shock to Pierre, and he did not welcome suddenly having to manage a property instead of expanding the frontiers at the head of a fleet. In the first couple of years he nearly bankrupted, but a deal with the Unione Corse saved him for a while, although he had to secretly store Nox in some of his wine cellars in exchange. Eventually experience taught Pierre the art of management, but he did not cancel his deal with the Unione, as he had made it more for the thrill than for the need to keep the property, which he gradually grew fond of, in the first place. By then, the only problem was who would inherit it. Pierre, namely, only had daughters so far, and three of them. Despite his attempts, his wife seemed to not be able to get pregnant after her last childbirth, save one phantom pregnancy, which left him even more desperate. One day, however, his wife, who was 38 at the time, did get pregnant, and with a son. But her age, combined with three prior childbirths, affected this, and something went wrong. The baby almost suffocated before being saved by a Caesarean section, although a bit too early. Pierre's wife woke up after the procedure, feeling normally, and saw her son alive in an incubator, but her incision later got infected. Due to well-paid care, she survived, but was not able to have children any more.

Hercule, as her son was named for his heroic struggle to survive, was raised with utmost care and great love. Not from Pierre, however. Although Pierre was rejoiced immensely when he got a son and even celebrated it with fireworks, he did not seem interested in taking care of him, same as he did not take care of his sisters. Child raising was not his area, and he preferred to go hunting instead. Hercule, who was spoiled by all the care by the female family members, relative isolation from the outside world, partially due to his allergies, and isolation from other boys and men, often found himself scolded when Pierre returned from hunting to catch him doing nothing or enjoying himself. Hercule thus grew weary of Pierre and Pierre was disappointed with Hercule. The Gallic Invasion of Sirius offered an opportunity for that to change.

Pierre felt relieved when he was called for duty. He was appointed to command the Tonnant, a Valor-class battleship named after the French ship-of-the-line his alleged ancestor commanded. Pierre went, or rather, rushed to the battlefield with deep joy, leaving the property under his wife. Hercule was to come with him and become a man, serving the Navy, or he would be erased from Pierre's will and the property would be divided between his sisters. He reluctantly obeyed and was given a fighter and a bomber from the Tonnant's fleet.

Although Hercule still has to prove himself, Pierre has cost the King's enemies dearly so far, with burning wreckages behind the Tonnant's trace. Drunk with glory, he organized a small volunteer fleet around his ship in 738 AGS, called Les Bohemes. Still, nevertheless, not fond of management, he let it fall apart, with some of its members advancing to the First Fleet, and others getting killed or missing in action. By the time when the Tonnant was the only remaining ship in the fleet, the fleet was discontinued and the Tonnant returned to her prior duty in the Reserve Fleet. Recently, however, he was given an opportunity to take a place in the first line of the front, an opportunity for glory, by joining the fleet of the Avant-Garde. He now storms his ship ahead, lusting for seemingly impossible odds, where his name could be perpetuated in marble.

His property is meanwhile stagnating. But he does not care enough about that. The only living thing he currently cares for is his cat, which he keeps in his quarters and feeds every time it gives him a hungry look, due to which it is rather overweight. That has so far worked in both his and the cat's favour, though, as it has become a mascot of the ship and always cheers the crew up every time it shows its unawareness of how clumsy its figure is. Pierre is even more unaware how similar to the cat's his has become due to the numerous victory banquets, and what a laughing stock he would be if he did not have his ship.

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