Joseph Maceniel... What could be said about him. Or better yet, What couldn’t be said of him. Joseph Maceniel (Or Mac to those who knew him) Was a loose cannon. He started out that way...He ended up that way. Mac was a bit on the short side. Some say he was as wide as he was tall. Mac looked as solid as an Armorcrete wall. As a boy Mac didn’t know who his father was. His mother was simply a janitor. When he was 18 he joined the Imperial Marines. He was one of those soldiers who had little respect for the “Academy Brats” During Mac’s 4th term in the marine commandos he decided that his C.O. was giving orders that neither he nor the troops on his team would survive to argue about later. All over a piece of ground that meant nothing in the scheme of the conflict. Mac settled the whole thing one night. He managed to blow up the C.O.’s quarters. Fortunately no one else actually saw him perform the act. And also fortunately no one else was killed in the explosion. However there wasn’t any other activity that night and those in charge knew Mac often disagreed with his C.O.’s They weren’t able to prove anything but they did make sure that Mac was no longer a member of the Imperial Marines. He was honorably “retired”. Mac was cut loose on Regina. Mac was an angry man during this time. Often times not stopping to look at a situation before taking action. Most of the times he managed to bull his way through to the solution. Many of the people Mac knew found it easier to just let him run, or rather to redirect him instead of trying to stop him. During one adventure Mac encountered his first artifact. This one happened to have been Therian. Mac was fascinated by the artifact. He started looking for more of them. He became obsessed with collecting them and finding out how they worked. A few months before Rui became a glowing cinder Mac located the first Therian ship he had ever encountered. By the time Mac was done on Rui... There was a rather large crater. and the planet shortly thereafter was bombed into cinders. During another adventure Mac found himself face to face with Queeb. Let’s just leave it at that. Eventually Mac did locate another Therian ship. This time while he was fighting the Krel (for which his name was carved into the Birebaten Hall of Heroes). Of course he also found a fleet of Admiral Grey’s ships. He hoped that Grey never found out why his ship lost the majority of it’s power. His path eventually crossed that of Marcy Bach. In Marcy he found a kindred soul. He soon started joining Marcy on her adventures. Privately Mac vowed to do whatever he could to help Marci or any of her family. Thus Mac was directly involved in assisting one member of the Bach family to fake her death before she was assassinated. The only Bach that Mac did not feel this way towards was Mark. For reasons he expressed to Viper in a letter she recieved shortly after his death Mac discovered something interesting living on Regina. His father. Duke Norris Aledon. This had a profound effect on Mac’s life. Mac was embroiled in the politics of the marches. His first appointment was to that of Governor of Jenghe. During Mac’s appointment to Jenghe he was recruited by some very influential noble’s to assist in retiring Emperor Strephon. In addition the group of people sent to Capitol with Mac were to assure that none of Strephon’s heirs were going to ascend to the throne. Lets just say that the Zakorov’s got more than they bargained for. Also during his reign as governor of Jenghe Mac was approached by a secret group known as the Golden Brotherhood. It turned out that Mac’s father was also a member. The Golden Brotherhood believed that they needed to prepare for the invasion of the Krel through a joint growth of the various sophant species. Their goal was that of growth through co-operation. This of course was in conflict with another secret group preparing for the invasion. The Guardians of the Forge. Who felt it was necessary to improve our strength through conflict and war. Upon Duke Norris’ tragic death in a freak nuclear explosion Mac was soon set up as the Duke of Regina. Mac believed he knew who was responsible for his fathers death and avenged his father. In an act of rage Mac trapped and killed Mercer Black with one of the Therian Disks (also known as The Vorpal Frisbee). Unfortunately, Regina's dead don't always remain so. After that the powers that be were inclined to elevate Mac even further to the position of Duke of Mora. Mac’s status soon came to a crashing disastrous halt. The one real bright spot in Mac’s life was his marriage to Danirelle "Viper" Kalugin. This too was apparently to good to be true as will be evident. Mac was never good at intrigue or even subtlety. His blunt and often brutal response to a situation gave others the opportunity to attempt something they felt would be to the best interest of the Imperium (they hoped). Admiral Paolo Astridi Archduke of Deneb, Apparently also found Viper an attractive catch. Mac often found Astridi openly flirting or trying to seduce Viper. But Mac knew Vipers mind on this issue "Yuck Ptui" was often the response to Astridi’s advances. However there were those that found a way to exploit this. and in an attempt to rid themselves of Astridi, introduced a mood altering drug into Mac’s system. Having slipped a gun into Mac’s possession. they set it up so that he would find Astridi and Viper in a compromising situation. Under the influence of the drugs mac responded in a very mac like fashion, Which meant he didn’t react as the others had planned. Instead of killing Astridi right away with the gun. Mac went after Astridi on a more personal level. Make began to thrash Astridi to within an inch of his life. As Mac had been transformed into an F-child during one of his Therian ship adventures, the death of Astridi was almost successful anyway. Instead Mac was nearly killed by one of Astridi’s aids. As it was Mac stood trial and was stripped of his noble rank and all of his Imperial holdings. And exiled to the Neutral Zone. During one of the rare visits Viper made to Regina She was captured by one of the locals. Where she was immediately dismembered and the process was broadcast on the tridee. Mac ran to her rescue and was able to keep her alive long enough to have her restored to health. Mac never did find out who it was that had done this to Viper. Mac soon found himself the Duke of Regina again. But it wasn’t what he really wanted. His obsession with finding artifacts was soon taking precedence. In addition he was also committed to bringing the Imperium back to Regina. Even though it would mean his further exile away from those he loved. In a moment (of what, we will never know) Mac conceived a plan to make the Imperial government return to Regina. Mac abdicated his position to make way for his brother Freddy. Mac forged the Neutral Zone Confederation almost through a sheer force of will... and a little apparent self sacrifice on Frenzy. Mac soon became a hero among the locals and refugees on Regina. Those local Noble that identified with Mac and the ruin that the Imperium had brought upon them. And the refugees and lower class citizens who saw Mac as the pawn of the Imperium who once used, sacrificed and thrown aside. Once the confederation took off on it’s own Mac continued to search for Therian Artifacts. Mac’s obsession grew even more as the days passed. It was even rumored that the mere mention of the word “artifact” would precipitate the appearance of Mac. Mac’s plan eventually grew beyond his capacity to control. As other’s moved in to take over Mac found that he feared for his wife. In a desperate attempt to prevent any harm coming to her he had his marriage annulled. This worked... mostly. Mac attempted to regain some control of his plan by writing for the various news faxes on Regina. Most notably The Tattler. Mac also wrote articles for the Regina Times as a war correspondent, and Le’ Mercanire. Mac’s final days were filled with a series of accidents and disasters. Some rumors started floating around that Mac was somehow responsible for the death of thousands during the freak tsunami that crashed through the capital city on Regina. The last time anyone saw Mac alive was in Aguilon Park. Where he was being fired upon by Imperial troops and others. In his possession Mac had one last artifact. As he tried desperately to find some way to use it in his defense. The artifact suddenly emitted a brilliant flare of pure white light. What was left of Mac could be counted only in part per million. Witnesses swear they saw Mac ascend into another existence. Some of those who witnessed this still believe that Mac will one day return. To guide them to the sacred place. The Macenites truly believe.