Baccus / BACCUS

In the year 2922 Commander Sheppard, renowned strategist and one of the most controversial war heroes of the UEE Armed Forces, would find himself in the crux of a decision that would one day lead to what we now know as the infamous BACCUS mercenary group. Lieutenant General Jack O’Neill, Commandant of the UEE War College, was once heard describing Sheppard as “the modern day Greg Boyington.” Tellingly, his unit the “Black Sheep” had earned their black-humored title in honor of being formed by the rejects and dregs refused by other commands. Anyone who hadn’t toed the standard promotion line, or completed their professional development in the allotted time because they placed the mission ahead of additional duties, found a home in the core of Sheppard’s command. Choosing the most bold and oft high tempered crew from the brigs of UEE outposts seemed to be the perfect fit for Commander Sheppard’s leadership style. With 47 victories against the Vanduul, and 24 confirmed kills credited to Commander Sheppard himself, the Black Sheep earned a reputation for taking the missions other, more celebrated units such as Squadron 42, wouldn’t accept for political or other risk related reasons. For his actions Sheppard was one of the youngest officers in 50 years to have been promoted to the rank of Commander, and one of only seven living recipients of the vaunted Wings of the Void commendation. Today, models of his ship Galactica, home of the Black Sheep can still be found in children’s shops around the verse.

In 2922, while on patrol aboard the recently commissioned carrier Galactica on the edges of Tevarin space Commander Sheppard received a distress call from a border settlement Miranda V. Sheppard’s Black Sheep sprang into action. The planet was surrounded by the largest fleet of Vandull yet recorded in the ongoing conflict. Then Lt Commander Jacob Keyes, Captain of the UEES Destroyer Iroquois, would be recorded in a debriefing as saying “…there was no tactically viable way we could have engaged that Vandi force and survived. But Sheppard, well, he did anyways, despite Command directly ordering us to withdraw. I guess he just couldn’t stand by while all those people had the axe hanging over their heads.” Upon reaching the outer navigation beacons of Mirand V the Galactica linked up with two UEE destroyers, the UEES Iroquois and the UEES Serenity. Before the group could engage however, they received orders to standby and hold position. UEE upper leadership had decided that was better to let the local populous fight for themselves rather than risk losing three capital ships in a “pointless engagement for some mouth-breathing farmers” as one politician would later send via un-encrypted e-mail discovered by the 69th Communications Battalion. Irate with this decision Sheppard immediately called for a Ships Muster on the primary launch deck of the Galactica. Every crewman was in attendance save for the few manning critical duties, who listened in over the ship’s internal comms network. Commander Sheppard laid out his intentions to the crew, engage the enemy forces over the planet and buy as much time as possible for the citizens on Miranda V. Any crewmen wishing to leave would be allowed off with no reservations. There was no mistaking this decision as anything other than suicidal in the hopes of saving as many civilians as possible. To a man, no one spoke, no one stood back. The Black Sheep were with him to a man. The decision had been made, the Galactica initiated full burn and hurtled downspin towards the beleaguered world of Miranda V. The following battle lasted over 17 hours before the sidelined Iroquois and Serenity could beg UEE Sector Command to enter the fray and assist their comrades. The Vanduul, seemingly overwhelmed by the speed, surprise, and violence of action of the Galactica alone were unwilling to face two additional fully armed and untouched UEE capital ships. By the end of the engagement the Black Sheep had suffered 90% loses across the flight crews as well as the crew of the Galactica herself. Galactica was trapped in a decaying orbit over Miranda’s largest moon. Data recovered from the ships black boxes would later show that the crew refused to leave their posts, even to fall back to damage control stations. There are numerous fragments of internal comms between crewmembers who refused to abandon ship. Instead they kept the Galactica’s weapons firing, or kept the fighters rearmed and refueled to buy time for the citizens of Miranda V. They knew they had a choice, save the ship or save the people below. 2 hours, 37 minutes and 42.36 seconds after the last Vanduul ship left the system, the Galactica finally succumbed to the moon’s gravity and impacting along the lunar terminator. The resulting impact released energy across the spectrum that was picked up by listening stations as far away as Sol. The cloud of lunar dust that was launched into orbit could be seen by the naked eye from the planet’s surface on a clear night for weeks. The survivors of the Black Sheep rallied on the planet and were soon rescued by the arriving Iroqouis and Serenity. The pilots from the Black Sheep had averaged a 20/1 kill ratio and the Galactica herself was credited with seven capital ships destroyed, and an additional 11 ships of mixed tonnage severely damaged.

Upon his return to Terra, Commander Sheppard was initially brought up on Article 92 charges in a military court for ignoring a direct order not to engage the Vanduul for what had been termed as a “militarily insignificant” planet. However, an aggressive campaign across social media eventually led to civilian leadership ordering the proceedings closed after the story spread to the major news nets. Commander Sheppard found himself very politely forced into retirement as a “Force Management” measure by the UEE personnel center due to his never formally completing a Master’s Degree, despite his clearly unequalled tactical prowess. Subsequent court-martial proceedings found the surviving members and crew of the Black Sheep innocent following the swell of support amongst the population, but they were honorably discharged all the same.

Immediately following the proceedings Commander Sheppard and his surviving crew retired to a local dive bar frequented by the UEE pilots and crews when visiting Command. The bar was famous throughout the fleet for two reasons. One, the Greek owner insisted that all customers salute the Greek god Bacchus whenever they drink. Two, and more importantly, it was the closest place to the UEE JAG courts where a man could get blindingly drunk and forget that he had just seen the last 20 years of his life swept away. It was there that the Black Sheep died, and were born again as what we now know as the BACCUS mercenary group. Some say BACCUS was simply a cheer to the Greek god when Sheppard and his crew shed their old lives and decided to live by their own code. Others say it means something more, as so many in the military find it hard to give up inventing acronyms for everything they do. What we do know is that from that day forward Sheppard swore to his men that he would look out for them. They would survive and no faceless bureaucrat or shoe-clerk admiral would order them to do something they knew in their gut was wrong. They would earn the living they deserved, and help those who needed it even when they couldn’t pay. The official UEE story is that Commander Sheppard and his surviving Black Sheep are collectively enjoying a quiet retirement out of the public eye. But as many a sensor operator on late watch could tell you, in contested areas throughout the verse a dark ship in a dark void will suddenly appear, strike, and leave with a complement of equally dark strike craft. And each time, there is only one, simple transponder flash, Normandy. This is their story. This is ours…