Name: Drake Dumas Known Aliases: None that he'd like repeated Species: Platyrian Invisible Duck (alien species) Age: 28 Height: 67” Weight: Likes: Space, Starfighting Dislikes: The Radioactive Bagels, Galaxia, and D'Gal. Known Fears: Pain Occupation: Second-in-Command on a Duck flagship Distinguishing Character Traits: Eager, Well-Disciplined, Naïve, Tactless, Luckless

        Drake, it seems, has incurred the wrath of some vindictive deity. Perhaps more than one. Dozens, even. This white-plumed Platerian has the worst luck in the galaxy, and the unique gift to garner the animosity of nearly every living creature that crosses his path. Though very well-trained, he is clueless as to how the universe actually works, and tends to act without thinking things through. His luck may be due in part to his complete lack of tact, and the Duck has often wound up wondering why he was being attacked for 'simply carrying out orders.' Though eager and capable, his poor judgment tends to get in the way, or at least make things more difficult than they should be.

        Drake was trained at the Duck Navy's own Academy, earning high marks in battle skills and performing well in book studies. Graduating with honors, he was commissioned as a Lieutenant Commander, and served briefly on the Vycerian border patrol. Proving himself a capable starfighter, he achieved the rank of Commander in only a few years, and was soon assigned as Captain Commodore Mallard's second-in-command on a Duck flagship that patrolled their borders with the Alliance.

        It was on this tour of duty that Drake's path crossed with that of Captain Squeaks Arcadia's. Tasked with exploring and mapping the very region Mallard's ship was patrolling, the young captain refused to be bullied by the larger Duck ship, and made a point of putting in an appearance whenever the flagship challenged a ship passing through the area. Drake, as the first officer, often was the one who spoke to the SpaceFleet captain, and as their confrontations became more common, both ships began to relax their stances somewhat; the Ducks harassed only truly suspicious vessels, and the Arellian stopped opening fire on them whenever they fired on a passing ship – now, at least, Arcadia made an attempt to discern the reason behind the dispute. A wary trust began to develop, and during those stretches of space where neither ships nor planets graced their travels, deep-space conversations and debates between the two ships became more commonplace.

        The mouse, like most of the Federation, disapproved of the Ducks' handling of the ongoing Vycerian crisis, and wasted no time in reproaching the Duck over his role in it. Not the least bit disheartened – by now, the Ducks regarded such rebukes as nothing more than SpaceFleet policy - Drake decided to introduce the two captains; despite their views of Vyceria and her Black Knights, Squeaks and Mallard got along amicably. For the first time, a Duck and SpaceFleet captain were working together. By the time their respective patrols split off into different regions of space, significant progress had been made in achieving a better level of interaction and exchange of information between the Alliance and the Invisible Ducks.

        News of Arcadia's 'death' hit him hard, and when years later a scan of a pre-warp planet proved his old friend was still alive, Drake's first thought was to save the mouse from his marooned existence. However, his actions in doing so seriously strained their friendship – a fact further complicated by recent events. Their friendship now near breaking point, Drake now finds himself in a situation where his duties to his old friend and his obligations to his country are rapidly breaking in separate directions, and as the Bagels poise to strike and the Ducks' relationship with the rest of the Alliance is stretched taught, he is unsure of which course of action he should take.