Cannon Trawets

**Cannon Trawets**

Ship: Airship 67

Title: Captain

Age: 146

Race: Human with a touch of Apache Indian

Homeworld: A-23 Aperture Reality

Hometown: Borger, TX

Date of Birth: 4 October 1865

Appointments:

SCARS Regional Commander of Mississippi

Ranger Captain, Texian Rangers

## Personality

Cannon is more of a
loner than anything. He is quiet, reserved, and observant. In a crowd,
he will stand back and watch everyone, only interacting when the time is
 right. He usually has a strange device that captures a copy of the
souls of anyone he points it at, allowing him to return to that point in
 time when ever he pleases. This device is known as the [Freeze|Time Freeze].
 Though he is a loner, he interacts well with his crew and close
aquaintances. If crossed, he will lash out with force so strong the
victim will likely not know until it is too late. He was well trained in
 military strategy and procedures during the time he was pressed into
service with the [[1]].
 If he decideds to attack, you will most likely not see it coming. A bit
 secretive in nature and gathers intelligence before he acts.

## Biography

Cannon was born in a
 small Texas town back in the mid 1800s. As a child, he learned the
basics of survival on a farm from his family. During his 8th year, he
was taken from his family by a group known as the [[2]]. Cannon had an old weapon in his possession that the [[3]] needed to fulfill world domination with. With this weapon, the [[4]] proceeded to take over town after town in the future world. Cannon vowed to learn all he could about the [[5]]
 and one day he would defeat their plan. Many years passed before Cannon
 escaped to a time 100 years from the time he was taken from his family.
 He brought his new family with him and while getting settled in, met
the crew of the [[6]].
 Through them, he learned what he would need to survive in the new time.
 Cannon's dream of being a Captain of his own ship came to be the day he
 found an old, abandoned ship. He set to work putting it back together,
with his family's help. His crew was born and they have been flying the
skies of the region known as Mississippi since. Cannon and his crew
continue to learn as much as possible and pass that information on to
everyone who will listen.

## Early Life

New Beginnings
The first memory Cannon had as a child was finding what appeared to be a
 pistol buried under the porch of the house he was born in back in 1865.
 As he cleaned the dirt from around the object, it began to hum and
became warm to the touch. At the tender age of 4, he thought nothing of
the peculiarities, just that it was different, and something no one else
 had. He kept it hidden in the darkness of his clothing trunk for many
years.

After a few years,
Cannon was rummaging around in his trunk and came across the pistol like
 item. He had forgotten it was there over the years and his interest in
it was renewed. He took it out to the field to see if he could figure
out what it was. The sun was bright that day and Cannon found himself in
 a different light. Things seemed normal, but he could sense something
unusual in the air. As he looked the item over, he saw several marks
that were similar, but unfamiliar to him. One of the marks had the
initial "O" in the center. He wondered if this was the mark of the
original owner. As the day progressed, Cannon lost interest in the item.
 He couldn't figure out how to make it fire, or even do anything for
that matter. He laid it against a fence post and went about his plowing.
 Just before lunch, he noticed a glow coming from the fence post where
he left the item, thinking it was just the sun reflecting off the
surface of the item, he continued to plow. Mere minutes had passed when a
 bright flash of light, brighter than any lightening Cannon had ever
seen, followed by a darkness, similar to that of an eclipse, that
engulfed the field. Cannon looked all around to see what might be
happening. He looked up and saw the strangest sight he had ever
witnessed. A large, cloth like balloon was hovering in the air above
him, with a whistling noise coming from what looked like a sailing ship
below the balloon. It wasn't long before he saw people being lowered
down long ropes that hung from the sides of the ship. Cannon stood there
 fascinated by the sight, unable to move. The men made contact with the
ground, had a quick look around and made straight for the object Cannon
had leaned against the fence post. Cannon was almost in a direct line
between the men and the object. They surely saw him standing there as
one said to another, "Grab the boy, we don't need any witnesses!" With
that, Cannon was scooped up into the arms of a burly man and whisked off
 to the flying ship. The other men grabbed the object and returned to
the ship as well.

When Cannon awoke,
all he remembered was another bright flash of light, the feeling of
moving forward at a rapid pace, and the whoosh of air on his face. As he
 looked around, there were people scurrying everywhere on the deck. He
heard someone mention they were about to dock at the aerodrome. He
stood, lost his footing a couple of times, and then righted himself as
he got the feel for the movement of the ship under his feet. He was
shocked when he moved to the edge of the deck, expecting to see water,
instead, only the clear blue sky all around the ship. They were flying
through the air like a bird. He saw puffs of smoke coming from the rear
of the ship and big windmills turning to the sides. They seemed to be
pushing the ship through the air. Many people hardly notice 10 year olds
 as they go about their daily tasks, and this was no exception. Cannon
almost had free rein of the ship. He was able to move from one point to
another without anyone saying a word, or even noticing him, or so he
thought. As the ship came closer to what looked like a dock on the
ocean, the crew got really busy, and then all of a sudden, everything
stopped. A hand grabbed Cannon by the arm and said, "Come with me boy."
And lead him off the ship down to a large open field. In the distance,
he could see what looked like a town, but it was different from anything
 he had ever seen. The man holding his arm explained that they had
traveled through time to the same location that Cannon had been in his
present day life. It was hard for Cannon to understand what was going
on. As the old gentleman kept talking, he explained that Cannon had
found an artifact that the [[7]]
 had been looking for many years. It wasn't until the item had been
placed in the sun for a long period of time that they were able to track
 it down and recover it. The high council of the [[8]] wanted to see the boy who held the artifact for the many years they had been searching.

The meeting was
uneventful. Cannon kept quiet and listened to everything that was said.
He knew deep down that he had to get away from the group known as the [[9]].
 They spoke of violence, servitude, and many unspeakable acts that
Cannon wanted no part of. He was sent to live with a middle class family
 as a reward for protecting the artifact for so many years. He didn't
see it as reward and only wanted to return to his original home. After a
 few years, Cannon had almost forgotten about home. He was 200 years in
the future of where he was taken from. It was a hard adjustment for him.
 He managed to occupy his time with a box that captured images. The
modern people called it a camera. Cannon always thought he could capture
 time in an image and return to that place in time whenever he wanted.
As he learned all he could about capturing images, he also learned how
to build things. He spent many years as a carpenter and tried his best
to learn about everything he could. He dabbled with blacksmithing,
leather, anything that was from his old time that he remembered seeing
family work on or with. He even taught himself as much as he could about
 the steam engines and machines used in the current time. Steam engines
were just starting to be used in his old time. He longed to return home
one day.

When Cannon came of
age, he was pressed into military service. He wasn't completely against
it, but under the circumstances, he did what he had to do. Cannon took
the opportunity to learn all he could about the way the [[10]]
 worked, and to find the holes he needed to get away from them. The days
 turned to months and years as Cannon went through life. He finally saw
an opportunity to split from the [[11]]
 and go his own way. He knew once he left, he would be labeled a
traitor, and hunted for the rest of his life. It was worth it to him; he
 had met a nice young lady just before he was pressed into service. They
 married shortly after and did the best they could to have a happy life
and family. With a wife and two daughters, he had to be extremely
careful about his plans to split from the [[12]]. Cannon had many contacts from his military and carpentry friends, many of which thought the same about the [[13]]
 as Cannon. One of his contacts knew a mercenary band that would be
willing to take Cannon and his family to a different time for the right
price. Cannon offered his services as a recorder for a portion of his
fee, only he had to travel with the crew for several months before they
would come back for his family and take them to a new beginning.

Cannon had been
lost for what seemed like years, the spark had left him long ago. The
crew he was with had deceived him. He had gotten into a steady routine
and each day passed just as the one before it. He had almost given up on
 getting back to his family when he saw a familiar sight on the horizon,
 the aerodrome in the city his family was in. He managed to slip away
once the ship had docked. His first priority was to locate his family.
He stopped by a couple of places where he knew several people and began
asking about where his family was. He learned that after he departed,
they stayed with the family he had been assigned many years ago. After a
 few months, they sought out a place of their own and ended up setting
up a small camp in the forest, due to the harassment by the [[14]]. The[[15]]
 wanted to know where Cannon had gone. One of Cannon's old carpenter
friends knew just where they were. The friend lead Cannon to the camp
and a joyous reunion took place. He vowed to never leave them again.

While hunting in
the woods one day, Cannon happened across a band of men who seemed to be
 cordial and honest. He was leery of approaching them at first, as he
had been deceived by so many others in the past. They saw him in the
distance and proceeded to greet him with well wishes. A conversation was
 struck between the group and Cannon, where he learned they were a
merchant crew on their way to a market of sorts. At the mention of the [[16]]
 by one of the crew, the Captain's face soured and a look of cold,
bloody, rage emanated toward the man. In the Captain's ranting, Cannon
realized the [[17]]
 had boarded his ship many times and took all of his wares. He was not
going to let it happen again. He had armed his ship and was prepared to
travel to a different time for good. Cannon saw this as possibly his
last chance to get his family out of harm’s way. He curiously questioned
 the Captain about where he might be going and if he had room to spare
for passengers. The Captain was leery up front, but relaxed about the
idea as Cannon continued to speak of how the [[18]]
 had took him from his world and brought him here. This did not set well
 with the Captain, so he was reluctant, but agreed to let Cannon and his
 family travel with them. They agreed to meet at sunrise the next
morning for the trip.

Cannon returned to
 the camp and told his family of the plans. They were unsure of
everything, but agreed they had to get away from the [[19]].
 They set about the task at hand and began gathering and packing only
the necessities. As the sun began its climb to the sky the next morning,
 Cannon and his family broke through the trees into the clearing where
the Captain's ship was docked. The ship was nothing impressive, just an
ordinary merchant vessel. The guns were well hidden underneath the
barrels and boxes on the deck. Cannon and his family were shown to
meager quarters and treated with dignity not seen in the past. It was a
strange feeling for Cannon. The ship departed as scheduled. The Captain
had Cannon with him and was explaining that he would leave the area just
 as any other merchant vessel would to keep from drawing attention.
While standing at the helm, the Captain pointed out a small box on the
pedestal where the compass was located. "In that box contains the
controls to move us through time, undetected." Cannon thought back to
the day he was taken, the bright light, wind in his face, it all sent
chills down his spine. As they drifted out of sight of the city, the
Captain opened the box and indicated that it was time to make the
"jump", as he pressed a button and turned a dial. The ship lurched
forward, steadily gaining speed as if powered by a white squall. Streaks
 of light started to form on the sails and the masts. The light
resembled bolts of lightning and static discharge. Suddenly, the light
glowed bright and the ship disappeared into a smooth, fluid like body.
The air was still and dark, not a sound was heard, only the sight of
streaks of light here and there. Cannon saw the Captain move to the
control box out the corner of his eye, another turn of the dial and
press of the button and the process seemed to reverse itself. The sound
slowly returned, the flashes of light went from rapid to gradually
slower streaks, and the ship slowed down to a normal speed. "We're
here!" the Captain explained. Cannon could see over the edge of the ship
 an older looking town, eerily similar to the one they just left. The
Captain could sense the confusion in Cannon's face. He explained that
the town was the same they had just left, but 100 years earlier that
that time. The [[20]]
 had not over taken the town yet, that would happen in another 60 years.
 The Captains knowledge of events interested Cannon, he had to learn
more. As the ship docked, they talked about current, future and past
events for quite some time. Cannon absorbed as much knowledge as he
could in the amount of time they had. The ship had finished unloading
its goods and the Captain was preparing for his next trip when he told
Cannon that he would be leaving them here. Cannon was not unhappy about
the thought, just overwhelmed at the possibilities and uncertainties.

The family decided
 to visit the local market to get the feel for the area. Cannon began to
 capture images of everything going on. Everyone was friendly and
receptive, which put Cannon at ease with his surroundings. They met many
 different people that day, an illustrator, several craftsmen, an
ambassador, a Sky Captain, his navigator, and several others. Many
questions were asked and answered. Everyone in the Sky Captains party
was very helpful with information of how to make items that would be
needed during their stay in this time period.

Cannon knew he had
 finally found his place. It wasn't the home he was born in, but it was
as close to home as he had been in many years. His next task was to
outfit his family and raise a crew. He had plans to pilot his own ship
one day.

## Notes

Stories and articles.

[blog:Cannonas67/Unexpected Adventure - Based on a Real Life Experience|Unexpected Adventure] - 17 JAN 2012