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damn job the Force had in its table of organization.%0D%0A%0D%0AHer response was to try out pretty much %5Bi%5Devery%5B%2Fi%5D job in the TO. If%2C as the recruiting posters of the time boasted%2C there were 333 ways to be a spacer in the WDF%2C Virginia Shepard seemed determined to master all of them. Over the next decade she turned her hand to everything from weapons testing to a one-year detachment to the Armored Corps before finding herself%2C almost inevitably%2C as one of the long succession of Veritech pilots to hold the job of Eight-Ball Ten.%0D%0A%0D%0AIt was this particular career move that nearly got her killed for the second time%3A In 2183 her Valkyrie was shot out from under her in combat against Zentraedi Revenge Coalition forces at the Third Battle of Reflex Point. Shepard ejected from her wrecked fighter just before its fusion reactor went supercritical and narrowly escaped being vaporized by the explosion%2C but her CVR-3 armor had been damaged earlier in the fight. As a result%2C she was both exposed to vacuum and fatally irradiated by the supercritical reactor%27s dying gamma pulse. By the time Eight-Ball flight surgeon Ronan O%27Meara recovered her%2C she was still alive but fading fast. Back aboard the %5Bi%5DPrometheus%5B%2Fi%5D%2C without time even to get her to sickbay%2C O%27Meara administered her unclaimed Omega-2 treatment and saved her life.%0D%0A%0D%0ABack on flight status within a week%2C Shepard spent another two years with the Eight-Balls before continuing what she jokingly called her %22gypsy career%22 with a transfer to the WDF%27s Exploration Command. There she found a more-or-less permanent home%2C organizationally if not occupationally. For the rest of her WDF career%2C except for a few special temporary detachments to the Royal Salusian Navy for %5Bb%5D%26l%3BCLASSIFIED - SEE AN ADMINISTRATOR%26r%3B%5B%2Fb%5D operations%2C Shepard moved from ship to ship within ExCom%2C tackling any job that happened to be open%2C doing whatever particularly needed doing aboard whichever ship she joined. She was an assistant engineer aboard WDF %5Bi%5DAxalon%5B%2Fi%5D%2C a gunnery officer in %5Bi%5DDelphinus%5B%2Fi%5D%2C served as executive officer aboard the original %5Bi%5DEnterprise%5B%2Fi%5D%2C was a stellar cartographer at Faraway Rock Station%2C and led a surface survey team of Marines and science personnel stationed aboard %5Bi%5DItinerant%5B%2Fi%5D.%0D%0A%0D%0AIn 2280%2C as part of what the WDF brass envisioned as a gradual build-up to develop the WDF into a true fleet-level operation %28something that was not actually accomplished until the War of Corporate Occupation a century later%2C and which we now know was one of the conditions that caused GENOM CEO Maximilien Largo to launch Operation G%C3%B6tterd%C3%A4mmerung%29%2C WDF Reconnaissance Command commissioned its newest starship%2C WDF %5Bi%5DNormandy%5B%2Fi%5D %28SR-1%29. Built by the renowned Salusian firm of Royal Saenar Fleet Systems%2C Ltd.%2C %5Bi%5DNormandy%5B%2Fi%5D was an attempt to build a fast%2C capable scoutship using a new implementation of the Internal Emission Sink passive stealth technology originally developed for the Royal Salusian Navy. Shepard was selected to command the experimental ship based on her engineering background and wide-ranging talent - and%2C as Captain MegaZone of the SDF-17 put it in his official report%2C because %22it%27s about damn time she had a ship of her own.%22%0D%0A%0D%0A%5Bi%5DNormandy%5B%2Fi%5D was envisioned as the lead ship of a new class of WDF scouting vessel. If successful%2C and had the 23rd-century fleet buildup continued as planned%2C %5Bi%5DNormandy%5B%2Fi%5D-class starships would have replaced the smaller%2C much less combat-capable %5Bi%5DVigil%5B%2Fi%5D-class scouts that then formed the bulk of WDF ReCom%27s small fleet. With a squad from the Special Aether Service %28better known as the Hammers%29 aboard%2C Shepard and her elite crew put the ship through her paces more vigorously than the designers could possibly have anticipated%2C carrying out everything from long-range patrols of the Cardassian Triangle to commando raids on Kilrathi shipyards to%2C in her very first mission%2C taking point in a straight-up full-dress fleet action with the RSN against an attack on the Homeworld by %5Bb%5D%26l%3BCLASSIFIED - SEE AN ADMINISTRATOR%26r%3B%5B%2Fb%5D.%0D%0A%0D%0AUnfortunately%2C the %5Bi%5DNormandy%5B%2Fi%5D project and Virginia Shepard%27s brilliant WDF career both came to an end in 2288%2C when %5Bi%5DNormandy%5B%2Fi%5D was destroyed in a suprise attack by a GENOM battle group in the opening stages of Operation G%C3%B6tterd%C3%A4mmerung. Dedicated to the end%2C Shepard oversaw the evacuation of almost all her crew and prevented the GENOM ships from destroying the lifeboats before they could escape to hyperspace%3B but she was unable to save herself when the Star Destroyer %5Bi%5DAvenger%5B%2Fi%5D dealt %5Bi%5DNormandy%5B%2Fi%5D a final%2C devastating broadside from her main turbolaser batteries.%0D%0A%0D%0AFinding herself in Valhalla%2C Shepard demonstrated her adaptability once again by taking the Einherjar by storm in the same fashion that she%27d owned her career as a Wedge Defender. Most of the details of her career as one of the Fallen of Valhalla are unavailable%2C but it is known that she commanded the Einherjar phantom of %5Bi%5DNormandy%5B%2Fi%5D in the Battle of the Final Day%2C covering the phantom SDF-17%27s right flank in the great pincer movement that destroyed most of the Jotun fleet. There are reports that she %5Bi%5Dalso%5B%2Fi%5D led a surface operation that stymied a %5Bi%5Ddvergar%5B%2Fi%5D attack on one of the Golden City%27s postern gates%2C though it seems unlikely that a single person could%27ve done both things in the course of a single day%27s combat.%0D%0A%0D%0ARegardless%2C Shepard so distinguished herself in the Ragnarok that Skuld Ravenhair%2C goddess of the future and captain of the Valkyrior%2C personally recruited her to replace one of the Valkyrie slain in the defense of Asgard. This was the first time that one of the Einherjar had been selected for such an honor%2C and in accepting it%2C Shepard was automatically struck from the Book %28actually a database%29 of the Dead and elevated to minor celestial status. Though she seems - biologically%2C she is - human%2C she is technically one of the %5Bi%5Dd%C3%ADsir%5B%2Fi%5D%2C the lowest-ranked goddesses of Asgard.%0D%0A%0D%0AAmong other things%2C this brought with it the privilege of freedom to travel throughout the Nine Worlds%3B since Einherjar promoted to celestial status are no longer officially dead%2C they don%27t have to go through the process of Return to leave Valhalla. Shepard remained there anyway%2C serving as a Valkyrie%2C until news of the Earth Alliance%27s 2406 crackdown reached her. At that point she decided that the mortal world needed her%2C or possibly just that it was where the action was likely to be in the immediate future%2C and requested assignment to Midgard. Once across the Rainbow Bridge%2C she considered rejoining the WDF%2C but ultimately chose to offer her services %5Bb%5D%26l%3B%5B%2Fb%5D%26l%3BNot in that way%3F -LD%26r%3B %26l%3BUnknown%3B my interest in these things goes only so far. -V-%26r%3B%5Bb%5D%26r%3B%5B%2Fb%5D to her old friend the Chief of the International Police instead.%0D%0A%0D%0AAs mentioned above%2C Virginia Shepard is a highly capable spacer and ground soldier whose experience and training are among the broadest to be found anywhere. Though her Adjusted Wolfe-DeKok Intelligence Index falls just short of the Super-Genius threshold %28175%29%2C she has a highly agile and retentive mind that she supplements with her great strength of will%2C putting what she has to more efficient use than many people with twice as much raw ability ever bother with. Her physical prowess is similar%3B though she possesses a number of WDF-era%2C Einherjar%2C and Valkyrie cybernetic and bionic modifications%2C including a dermal weave and bone reinforcement%2C most of her surprising strength%2C durability%2C and close combat ability comes from nothing more elaborate than hard work and good genes.%0D%0A%0D%0AAs an active-duty Valkyrie on detached assignment to Midgard%2C Shepard was obliged by Asgardian weapons export regulations to leave her standard-issue BT-760 %5Bi%5DBlack Talon%5B%2Fi%5D battle armor and the top shelf of her extensive personal arsenal in Valhalla. Most of the small arms she favors are of Midgardian manufacture - she%27s particularly fond of the %22old%22 WDF%27s Morgan Arms M-96 Mattock marksman rifle - though she did smuggle out one gem from her Valhalla collection%3A an Asgard Armory Mk XCVIII Widow anti-materiel rifle. This is a devastatingly effective and startlingly massive weapon she calls simply %22George%22.%0D%0A%0D%0Ahttp%3A%2F%2Fwww.eyrie-productions.com%2FUF%2FFI%2FGFX%2FBPGD%2Fshepard-gear.jpg%0D%0A%5Bsmall%5D%5Bb%5DCommander Shepard in typical battle dress - note George behind left shoulder. She dislikes helmets%2C claiming that they interfere with her peripheral vision.%5B%2Fb%5D%5B%2Fsmall%5D%0D%0A%0D%0AMost military psychologists%27 guidelines would tell you that Virginia Shepard should be out of her mind with everything she%27s been through in her lives. Lots of old-time WDF officers lived through things like the Covenant War and G%C3%B6tterd%C3%A4mmerung%2C of course%2C but few living today can say honestly that they %5Bi%5Ddidn%27t%5B%2Fi%5D live through the latter and are still kicking. At the very least%2C most people would find their personalities changed %28and probably not for the better%29 by any one of the major experiences that signpost a timeline of Shepard%27s life%3B but somehow she manages never to let it go to her head. Those few still alive who knew her as a fresh-faced young Academy cadet testify that she%27s the same lovably snarky%2C compassionate-but-tough%2C cool-headed but occasionally hot-tempered firebrand she was back then. She%27s not sure herself how she%27s managed that%2C and she doesn%27t really care. She%27s apparently one of those people %28compare SA1 operative Briareos Hecatonchires%29 who are just mentally unbreakable.%0D%0A%0D%0AAlong with this%2C or perhaps as another facet of it%2C Shepard is extraordinarily strong-willed. Before her Lensing%2C she repeatedly demonstrated a near-invulnerability to psychological and emotional manipulation%2C whether it be by technological or supernatural means. She can be unbelievably stubborn%2C with a single-minded ability to ignore pain%2C fatigue%2C filth - whatever unpleasantness has to be ignored to get the job done. She doesn%27t believe in no-win scenarios even when she%27s in one. It took the complete annihilation of her starship around her by the guns of an %5Bi%5DImperator%5B%2Fi%5D-class Star Destroyer to kill her%2C and even then she took an %5Bi%5DInterdictor%5B%2Fi%5D and one of the %5Bi%5DAvenger%5B%2Fi%5D%27s %5Bi%5DVictory%5B%2Fi%5D-class escorts with her. Many who know her look on that as an oddly apt cosmic metaphor.%0D%0A%0D%0AThe thing that surprises people first meeting Shepard%2C when her reputation has preceded her%2C is her wit. They tend to expect her to be a grim%2C humorless and purposeful figure%2C the kind of silent%2C square-jawed military cipher who features in countless fictional accounts of exploits comparable to the ones she%27s really lived%2C and then they%27re shocked to meet instead a warm and cheerful %28apparently-%29young woman with a quirky smile%2C a fondness for the musical works of Luigi Boccherini%2C Stan Rogers%2C and Paul Oakenfold%2C and a singular gift for the dry one-liner. She has been known to style herself %5Bi%5DCommander Sir Virginia E. Shepard CKE KCSS%2C WDF %28deceased%29%5B%2Fi%5D just to mess with people. Her generosity and compassion are as legendary among those who know her as her skill and courage are among those who only think they do%2C as is her loyalty to her friends and her willingness to go to great lengths to help them.%0D%0A%0D%0AOn the other hand%2C she has very little patience for certain types of people. She%27s willing to give almost anyone a chance%2C but those who throw that chance away don%27t have very good odds of ever getting another one. The legend still circulates in Asgard that she first came to Skuld%27s notice by suddenly%2C ruthlessly%2C and completely clobbering a drunken %5Bi%5Dulfhednar%5B%2Fi%5D berserker in a Golden City pub the day after the Ragnarok when he wouldn%27t stop pawing at the %5Bi%5Dvaettir%5B%2Fi%5D barmaid. Witty%2C compassionate music lover or not%2C this woman is a battle-hardened professional soldier with fists like wrecking balls%2C and if you push her too far she will crush you like a bug.%0D%0A%0D%0A%5Bb%5DCurrent assignment%3A%5B%2Fb%5D Commander Shepard is a member of Special Assignment 11 and the IPO %22superbranch%22 codenamed SPECTRE %28Special Executive for Counter-Terror Response and Enforcement%29. She conducts operations at the personal direction of - and sometimes alongside - the Chief of the International Police.%0D%0A%0D%0A%5Bb%5DEnd of Text Data Extract%0D%0Athank you for using the%0D%0A%5Bbig%5DBabylon Project Galactic Database%5B%2Fbig%5D%5B%2Fb%5D. ""
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  Subject     Author     Message Date     ID  
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   RE: BPGD: SHEPARD, Virginia Verbena Feb-02-10 1
      RE: BPGD: SHEPARD, Virginia Gryphonadmin Feb-02-10 2
          RE: BPGD: SHEPARD, Virginia Verbena Feb-02-10 3
              RE: BPGD: SHEPARD, Virginia Arashi Mar-13-10 54
   RE: BPGD: SHEPARD, Virginia dbrandon Feb-02-10 4
      RE: BPGD: SHEPARD, Virginia Gryphonadmin Feb-02-10 6
   RE: BPGD: SHEPARD, Virginia Eric Heckathorn Feb-02-10 5
   RE: BPGD: SHEPARD, Virginia BeardedFerret Feb-02-10 7
   Oh yes, I forgot to mention... Gryphonadmin Feb-02-10 8
      RE: Oh yes, I forgot to mention... BeardedFerret Feb-03-10 13
      RE: Oh yes, I forgot to mention... Verbena Feb-03-10 14
      RE: Oh yes, I forgot to mention... simonz Feb-03-10 15
      RE: Oh yes, I forgot to mention... The Traitor Feb-03-10 16
      RE: Oh yes, I forgot to mention... Apostate_Soul Feb-03-10 17
          RE: Oh yes, I forgot to mention... Gryphonadmin Feb-03-10 18
              RE: Oh yes, I forgot to mention... Apostate_Soul Feb-03-10 19
                  RE: Oh yes, I forgot to mention... Gryphonadmin Feb-03-10 20
                      RE: Oh yes, I forgot to mention... Apostate_Soul Feb-03-10 21
                      RE: Oh yes, I forgot to mention... Offsides Feb-03-10 22
                          RE: Oh yes, I forgot to mention... Gryphonadmin Feb-03-10 23
                      RE: Oh yes, I forgot to mention... Zox Feb-10-10 29
                          RE: Oh yes, I forgot to mention... Gryphonadmin Feb-10-10 31
              RE: Oh yes, I forgot to mention... Verbena Feb-03-10 27
   RE: BPGD: SHEPARD, Virginia Bad Moon Feb-02-10 9
      RE: BPGD: SHEPARD, Virginia Gryphonadmin Feb-02-10 10
          RE: BPGD: SHEPARD, Virginia StClair Feb-02-10 11
              RE: BPGD: SHEPARD, Virginia Gryphonadmin Feb-02-10 12
   RE: BPGD: SHEPARD, Virginia Nathan Feb-03-10 24
      RE: BPGD: SHEPARD, Virginia Senji Feb-03-10 26
   RE: BPGD: SHEPARD, Virginia Rickdominated Feb-03-10 25
   RE: BPGD: SHEPARD, Virginia MoonEyes Feb-10-10 28
   Minor explications and addenda Gryphonadmin Feb-10-10 30
      RE: Minor explications and addenda Bad Moon Feb-10-10 32
          RE: Minor explications and addenda Gryphonadmin Feb-10-10 33
              RE: Minor explications and addenda Rickdominated Feb-11-10 34
                  RE: Minor explications and addenda MoonEyes Feb-19-10 46
                      RE: Minor explications and addenda Rickdominated Feb-20-10 47
              RE: Minor explications and addenda Apostate_Soul Feb-13-10 35
                  RE: Minor explications and addenda Mephronmoderator Feb-13-10 36
   Mordin MoonEyes Feb-16-10 37
      RE: Mordin Gryphonadmin Feb-16-10 38
          RE: Mordin BeardedFerret Feb-17-10 39
              RE: Mordin Gryphonadmin Feb-17-10 40
                  RE: Mordin Apostate_Soul Feb-17-10 41
                      RE: Mordin Gryphonadmin Feb-17-10 42
                          RE: Mordin Peter Eng Feb-17-10 43
                              RE: Mordin SliderDaFeral Feb-17-10 44
                                  RE: Mordin Gryphonadmin Feb-17-10 45
                                      RE: Mordin Zuki Feb-21-10 48
                                          RE: Mordin Gryphonadmin Feb-21-10 49
                          RE: Mordin CdrMike Feb-24-10 50
   RE: BPGD: SHEPARD, Virginia BeardedFerret Mar-12-10 51
      RE: BPGD: SHEPARD, Virginia Gryphonadmin Mar-12-10 52
          RE: BPGD: SHEPARD, Virginia BeardedFerret Mar-12-10 53
   Abject silliness Gryphonadmin Mar-14-10 55
      RE: Abject silliness Apostate_Soul Mar-14-10 56
          RE: Abject silliness SliderDaFeral Mar-15-10 57
              RE: Abject silliness Gryphonadmin Mar-15-10 58
                  RE: Abject silliness SliderDaFeral Mar-15-10 59
          RE: Abject silliness Bushido Apr-13-10 75
   RE: BPGD: SHEPARD, Virginia BeardedFerret Mar-15-10 60
      RE: BPGD: SHEPARD, Virginia Gryphonadmin Mar-15-10 61
          RE: BPGD: SHEPARD, Virginia FubarObfusco Mar-16-10 68
      RE: BPGD: SHEPARD, Virginia CdrMike Mar-15-10 62
          RE: BPGD: SHEPARD, Virginia BeardedFerret Mar-15-10 63
              RE: BPGD: SHEPARD, Virginia A Vile Gangster Mar-15-10 64
                  RE: BPGD: SHEPARD, Virginia Apostate_Soul Mar-17-10 69
      RE: BPGD: SHEPARD, Virginia SliderDaFeral Mar-15-10 65
          RE: BPGD: SHEPARD, Virginia A Vile Gangster Mar-15-10 66
              RE: BPGD: SHEPARD, Virginia Gryphonadmin Mar-15-10 67
   RE: BPGD: SHEPARD, Virginia Sofaspud Mar-18-10 70
      RE: BPGD: SHEPARD, Virginia pjmoyermoderator Mar-18-10 71
      RE: BPGD: SHEPARD, Virginia Gryphonadmin Mar-18-10 72
          RE: BPGD: SHEPARD, Virginia clg Mar-18-10 73
          RE: BPGD: SHEPARD, Virginia BobSchroeck Mar-19-10 74
   RE: BPGD: SHEPARD, Virginia BeardedFerret Feb-12-13 76
      RE: BPGD: SHEPARD, Virginia Gryphonadmin Feb-12-13 77
          RE: BPGD: SHEPARD, Virginia BeardedFerret Feb-13-13 78
          RE: BPGD: SHEPARD, Virginia Pasha Feb-13-13 79
      RE: BPGD: SHEPARD, Virginia Nathan Feb-13-13 80
          RE: BPGD: SHEPARD, Virginia Gryphonadmin Feb-13-13 81
   RE: BPGD: SHEPARD, Virginia Zemyla Feb-23-13 82
      RE: BPGD: SHEPARD, Virginia Gryphonadmin Feb-23-13 83
          RE: BPGD: SHEPARD, Virginia jhosmer1 Feb-25-13 84
          RE: BPGD: SHEPARD, Virginia Bushido Feb-25-13 85
              RE: BPGD: SHEPARD, Virginia Gryphonadmin Feb-25-13 86
                  RE: BPGD: SHEPARD, Virginia Arashi Feb-26-13 87
                      RE: BPGD: SHEPARD, Virginia The Traitor Feb-26-13 88
                          RE: BPGD: SHEPARD, Virginia Terminus Est Feb-28-13 89
                              RE: BPGD: SHEPARD, Virginia Offsides Feb-28-13 90
                                  RE: BPGD: SHEPARD, Virginia Star Ranger4 Mar-01-13 91


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