Ulysses

Ulysses was born on Ganymede. He grew up the son of a pilot of cargo ships that would carry goods between border planets when needed. When he was really little sometimes his father would be gone weeks at a time on a job. But he always would come back home and spend a couple weeks with his family before heading back out again. When he got old enough, he would sometimes accompany his father on these business trips. He loved getting to go to different planets and loved seeing different cultures of folk. Ulysses knew he wanted to be just like his father when he grew up.

Sure enough, he did just that. He got hired by the same company that hired his father, and used their ships to fly cargo from point A to point B. For many years work was his whole life. He loved it. Then he met Judith, and fell madly in love with her. He still loved flying, but no longer did he take any and every job he could get his hands on. Now he wanted to stay planet-side sometimes so that he could see Judith. The two dated for three years before he finally asked her to marry him, and she agreed.

When Ulysses was 34 she got pregnant, and they were so excited. He would take extra jobs just to make sure they had enough money. But Judith ended up having a miscarriage. They got with child again when he was 36, and that's when the war between the Federal Alliance and the Independent Territories broke out. Ulysses's job became more demanding, as they did everything they could to support the Independent in the war by shipping cargo(like weapons, armor, food stuffs, ships, and so on) between planets. Ulysses was often gone months on end. But it was worth it, as his wife got past the first trimester and was growing bigger and bigger and everything seemed fine with the baby. Ulysses knew they'd need the money for medical bills, and babies weren't cheap either.

However, one day he came home and the house was empty. He asked his neighbor where Judith was, to which his neighbor informed him that she had gone into labor and went to the hospital and hadn't returned. That was weeks ago. Ulysses rushed to the hospital, only to find out that both she and the child had died in childbirth. He couldn't stay in that house they shared, it reminded him too much of his loss. And so, not wanting to grieve, Ulysses poured himself into work and into supporting the Independents.

Part of him wished his cargo ship would get shot down by the Alliance, like some of the cargo ships in his shipping company did. But alas, he made it through the next 4 years of war. After the war, his shipping company shut down and he lost his job. Ulysses could still hardly stand to be in his house... alone with only the ghost of his wife. Jobless and wifeless, he spent much of his time drinking at the pubs. For several months he drowned his sorrows at the loss of both.

Then Ronin approached him with a job opportunity.

Ronin

"Where are we flying to next, Captain?"

Ulysses is grateful to the Captain for the job of piloting the IAS Windrunner. He feels he would have continued down the path of alcoholism were it not for what Ronin did for him. So Ulysses always shows Ronin a great amount of respect, which he receives back in kind.

Jasper

"You and the Captain make an odd friendship."

Ulysses hasn't quite figured out how Jasper and Ronin got to be such good friends and how they work so well together. Jasper is very wound tightly, and likes to make plans for his plans, whereas Ronin was known for his ability to improvise and go with the flow.

Alexandria

"One of these days we'll get to pull a Crazy Ivan, Alex."

Ulysses is pretty close to Alexandria, in that they both keep the ship flying. There are some escape maneuvers, like the Crazy Ivan, that require someone at the engine and someone at the helm to perform certain tasks in unison. Both Alex and Ulysses dream of one day performing one of those maneuvers.

Cyrus

"You and Ingrid seem quite close..."

Ulysses thinks it's funny how easily he can get under Cyrus's skin, and how awkward the poor boy is. He's onto the fact that Cyrus has feelings for Ingrid, whom he somewhat views as a daughter he never had. He doesn't let Cyrus know that, however, just picks on him about it.

Helaena

"You're too good a woman to be running with the likes of us."

Ulysses thinks the world of Helaena, and is grateful to have her on board the ship(especially since they could get into trouble from time to time that required a doctor), but he also thinks she deserves a better life than to be on the run with folk like them.

Ingrid

"I don't know how you manage to make the rations stretch the way you do, Kiddo"

Ulysses unofficially views Ingrid as though she were the daughter he never had. He's protective of her, and has patience with her he doesn't have with anyone else. He affectionately calls her "kiddo", and she likes that.

Taiberius

"You might like going out with the Captain and Jasper... they get shot at sometimes."

Ulysses can tell that Taiberius butts heads with pretty much the entire rest of the crew. He tries his best to help Taiberius to become a crew member, sometimes it works and other times it doesn't. Slowly but surely though, Taiberius is coming around.

Kenna

"Don't worry, the Alliance could never catch us. I'm the best pilot in the galaxy."

Ulysses feels bad for the poor girl. He feels as though they kidnapped her from her home. Which in an essence, was what they did, as she didn't want to be there with them. But it was for her own good, to keep her out of the hands of the Alliance.