Emily Barrett


 * "Does she scare me? Hell, yeah. I'd tell her to take her attitude and shove it up her ass, but she probably knows how to kill me ten ways so's I'm eating lunch with the devil 'fore I can finish the damn sentence."
 * —#92, SGT Dalton Zvilckie

First Lieutenant Emily L. Barrett, also known as #717 or "Sev," is a Spartan Class CSR with the Allied Military Defense Force. She is the commander of the Alpha Corps, and provisional commanding officer of MOB NaMac's Spartan division. She serves as Pointman on Alpha 01, and also trains Privates Basic in Breach and Clear techniques, land navigation and cartography, and freefall parachuting.

Despite a pattern of generally destructive behavior, Barrett has a strong sense of responsibility that often confuses and frustrates her. A repurposed Marine, she thrives on the order and stability provided by the MDF, and the obligations of command often moderate an otherwise impulsive personality. Above all, Barrett is frightfully lethal, and she enjoys nothing so much as proving so against the necros. Because of this, she has transitioned to the world as it is now better than perhaps anyone on the continent.

Biographical Overview

Pre-Resurrection

Early Childhood On 14 August 1985, in Sierra Vista, Arizona, Emily Leigh Barrett was born to Cassandra Marie Barrett and her fiancé, US Army Ranger Captain Alexander James Ryker. Only three months later, however, Ryker broke off the engagement and was transferred overseas. Barrett's mother, devastated, took to drinking and promiscuity. Though Barrett was often left in the care of neighbors until she was old enough to fend for herself, Cass very much loved her, and even inebriated, she was able to provided for Barrett's emotional needs; Cass was always affectionate, all hugs and kisses and softly spoken tales of fantasy lands wherein Barrett was a princess who was her own white knight, slaying dragons and rescuing people from danger and despair. Though unorthodox and in most ways unacceptable, Barrett has nothing but fond memories of her mother and their life together.

Until, that is, Cass met Michael Gould, a construction worker from Tempe. Used to the general ebb and flow of Cass' partners, Gould's continual presence in their lives informed Barrett that this man was different. When they moved to Tempe to live with him, she even ventured to ask him if he was her father. Thereafter, the change in Barrett was unmistakable: she became introverted and sullen. Barrett's initial MDF psych profile implies that Gould molested Barrett in some way during the encounter, but she denies this, having gone so far as to assault the psychiatrist who suggested it.

What Barrett has confirmed is that Gould began abusing them, verbally and physically, only days after he and Cass were married. For over a year, Cass and her daughter lived in an atmosphere of fear and anxiety. In 1992, shortly after Barrett's seventh birthday, the situation finally reached a climax: Cass took a blow meant for Barrett. The girl was sent to her room, where she hid in her closet and fell asleep to the sounds of her stepfather's vicious tirade and her mother's messy apologies.

When she woke the next morning, Barrett found that Cass had somehow managed to crawl in with her in an attempt, presumably, to shield her from any of Gould's residual anger. An impressive feat, considering Gould had beat Cass so severely that she could only be identified by her tattoos. Barrett's screams summoned the police, but then she never cried again. Gould had been able to fabricate a solid alibi, and there was little in the way of physical evidence, so, though many suspected he had killed Cass, he was never indicted; her homicide was eventually declared the result of a probable home invasion.

After Cass' funeral, Gould was as charming and attentive to Barrett as he had been to her mother in the beginning. But, by this time, she understood that he was not acting out of care or sympathy; she knew that he was most likely grooming her to take her mother's place. She broke free of him and ran away, a pink nightgown express with white satin slippers.

Some say she has never stopped running.

Life in Texas

By some miracle, considering the various methods she employed, Barrett managed to travel from Tempe to Dallas, Texas. It had been her intention to reach Alabama, where her mother had been born, but she was tired and distracted by the State Fair; she stole enough tickets to ride the Texas Star Ferris Wheel every day for two weeks. By the time the fair shut down for the season, she had decided Dallas was as good a place to live as any. She would spend the next six years on the streets.

Barrett soon became a proficient thief, and one without remorse. At first, she only took what she required to survive, but after a few months, she had somehow convinced herself that she was allowed to pinch whatever took her fancy. This mostly meant books; Barrett didn't care what she wore or how often she ate, but she loved to read. By the age of 10, using phonics guides and dictionaries appropriated from bookstores and libraries, Barrett had acquired a high school-level vocabulary. She also found that she was relatively proficient in computers; science bored her and mathematics frustrated her, but the concept of string coding fascinated her. During the summer of 1996, her favorite hobby had been to choose a random site on the internet and try to interpret its source code, writing it out by hand.

When she wasn't teaching herself how to read and write or hack networks, she was dodging someone. Cops, baby pimps and pedophiles, gangs, and irate victims were all a danger. She came to hate corners, rooms with only one method of egress, and the dark. She was pathologically suspect of everyone, so skittish that she was as likely to attack as she was to run from anyone infringing on her personal space, for whatever reason, no matter their size. And so, Barrett became a scrapper, not always the most skilled in her inevitable altercations, but always the most persistent. She learned quickly how to pick herself up, patch herself up, and fight harder in the future.

Emancipation and Higher Education

One day, for no other reason than curiosity's sake, Barrett came in from the cold. She was 13 and wild, distrustful of adults and unable to relate to kids her own age, even if they shared similar life experiences. Protective Services contacted her stepfather, but he wanted nothing to do with her. So, she was placed in foster care, and shuffling from home to home became her life for the next two years. Barrett found herself often in front of a judge, remanded to juvenile detention centers on numerous occasions for truancy, coercion and assault, and a lingering propensity toward larceny.

While in one such facility, Barrett was encouraged to take a practice GED exam. Despite having less than a combined total of a few months' worth of schooling, she passed. The proctors were astounded, but Barrett was less than pleased with her score. She borrowed a prep book and did little other than study for two weeks. When the proctors returned and readministered the exam, Barrett walked away with nearly a perfect score.

With a GED at 15, and, not long thereafter, an SAT score of 1530, the state of Texas emancipated Barrett and awarded her a grant to attend Brookhaven, a Dallas County community college. She received her Associate's Degree in 18 months. From there, she was accepted to Baylor University. She worked two jobs to pay her way: tech support on campus, and as an assistant to the Criminal Support Supervisor at the Dallas County District Clerk's Office. She was able to graduate magna cum laude with a Bachelor of Liberal Arts in 2005.

The United States Marine Corps

Despite excelling in many of her courses, Barrett had only a vague idea of what to do after graduation. Initially, the Corps hadn't been within the realm of possibility; she remembered her mother never had a good word to spare for the military, and took pains to avoid coming in contact with servicemen—a difficult task, considering they had lived only five miles from Fort Huachuca, an Army instillation.

No menial job was good enough for her, and she had no desire to work toward an advanced degree. She knew she wanted something dangerous, something that would make her feel powerful and in control. At the same time, for reasons she still cannot explain, she wanted to be meaningful. During her time at the County Clerk's, she had met a few law enforcement officers, and briefly contemplated applying to the academy. She made an appointment with the Sheriff's Department to discuss her options, but, when she arrived, the deputy greeting her called her "little lady." Barrett walked back out without a word; just like that, law enforcement was off the table.

A few months later, Barrett was in New York for no other reason than that she wanted to be somewhere other than Texas for awhile. A chance encounter with an Air Force recruiter in Times Square made her rethink her inherited stance on the military. Of all the branches, the USMC appeared to be the most challenging, and the most likely to provide her with the risk and rewards she desired. So, in the Spring of 2006, after an initial application process, she was flown to Marine Corps Base Quantico, VA. She completed the Officer Candidates Class, and received a commission as a second lieutenant.

After a 26-week-long officer training course at the Basic School, where she took preliminary courses in reconnaissance, military operations in urban terrain, and explosive ordinance disposal, Barrett requested and was transferred to Marine Corps Air Station in Yuma, Arizona, to qualified in her primary MOS, Tactics and Training, She spent three months at MCAS Yuma, logging nearly as many hours in the computer lab as in class. During her final week, she took a trip back to Tempe; she claims the purpose of the visit was to check in on the neighbor who had been so kind to her after her mother's death, but Michael Gould, her stepfather, was never heard from again. The following day, Barrett completed her training and was posted with Marine Special Operations Support Group, MARSOC–the Corps' component of USSOCOM.

It is not certain how Barrett, by this time displaying a handful of character traits consistent with antisocial personality disorder, could have thrived in such a rigid and controlled environment, but there has always been very little she can't do if she has a mind to do it. In a way, it was almost like a game for her; she pushed boundaries and bucked the status quo, her career in the Corps a series of doing what they told her she couldn't or shouldn't do.

This is how, by the summer of 2008, Barrett had become one of the first female Marines not only accepted on the front lines, but unofficially welcomed. During the first year of her service with MARSOC, she had been little more than a glorified liaison, fostering connections in hostile territories in Iraq and collaborating with intelligence units to affect a favorable outcome for potential operations. She saw some combat and performed admirably, but on her first mission in Afghanistan, an ambush by insurgents led to an engagement lasting four days, during which time Barrett performed in such a manner that her presence on future missions into even more hostile territory was never questioned. Thereafter, she was officially attached to the 2d Marine Special Operations Battalion. She earned her blood wings at the Army Airborne School at Fort Benning in Georgia, and completed Level C Survival, Evasion, Resistance, and Escape training at Portsmouth Naval Shipyard in Maine, before being redeployed. Her team performed operations throughout the Middle East until the beginning of the Global Destabilization Period in 2010.

Post-Resurrection

The Fall of America

The UMF and Bolling AFB

Assault on Peoria

Alpha Corps at Camp Pendleton

MOB NaMac

Arrival and Incorporation

Operations Wildfire and Backtrack

Provisional Command

Personality and Social Interactions
 * Intro: "She's—"
 * Pup: "Laconic?"
 * Intro: "I was going to say 'creepy,' but that works, too.."
 * —#101, Pritchard and #721, McCormick

While Barrett is feared, if not respected, by most, she is not universally well-liked. She has been diagnosed with borderline antisocial personality disorder; skewing toward sociopathic, she is not often able to empathize with those around her, and is frequently and unapologetically careless with others' emotions. She is, by and large, an egotist—self-gratification is a strong motivating force, but self-preservation is hampered by a love of danger and an unusual sense of responsibility for the safety of others.

Her high IQ and martial acumen make manipulating others a relatively simple task, and she does so habitually. She is skilled at and takes pleasure in undermining authority, but only when it suits her; she rarely abides by another doing the same to her or those she considers hers. When crossed, even if the offense is one only she understands, she has a volatile temper and can become vindictive.

She is not without her redeeming qualities, however. Barrett's best attributes are what make her such a fine soldier; she is the epitome of a warrior. She is fearless, and cool under pressure. Whether fighting against zed or for her men, she doesn't give up and she doesn't lose hope, no matter the odds. She is a bit of an idealist hiding in the skin of a pragmatist.

Upon deciding that someone is worthy of her respect, she is fiercely loyal, and almost to a fault. Her sense of duty is fully entrenched, and while the MDF would prefer this meant blind obedience, it usually means she places the safety of the men under her command above the desires of her commanding officers. Often, when least expected, she behaves almost as a human being should.

She just doesn't make a habit of it.

Relationships

Family Alexander Ryker: Ryker is Barrett's biological father, though the two have a strained, at times hostile, relationship. Ryker abandoned Barrett and her mother, his former fiancée, when Barrett was a baby. They did not meet again until she transferred into NaMac in December of 2015; she knocked him unconscious, and earned one of many articles of reprimand. Since then, Barrett seems to have at least accepted Ryker's presence in her life. Even though he is her commanding officer, he often handles her with kid gloves, wracked with guilt for leaving her as a baby and eager to make amends. Barrett is always quick to assure him somehow that that kind of forgiveness is a foreign concept to her.

Friendships Victor Melendez: Melendez is the last of the Marines with which Barrett served prior to the Omega outbreak, and her current XO. He has known her longer than anyone alive, and is considered by most to be Barrett's chief, and, perhaps, sole counselor, a much-needed voice of reason in her ear. He knows the truth: she really only listens to him and considers his opinions because he is the last tie to her life before Resurrection Day. But, that's fine with him. He's always had a soft spot for her, and he doesn't even seem to mind much when she exploits it. Sergio César: Barrett and César met at Bolling AFB in D.C., just before the collapse of the US government. He was part of a unit of Grupo Aeromóvil de Fuerzas Especiales (Special Forces Airmobile Group) that had left Mexico to join the United Military Force. During the retreat from Bolling, Barrett saved César's life at great risk to her own. Since then, this Souboy has been more loyal to her than to the MDF or the Federation at large. Barrett said once that she likes him just fine, which is the greatest compliment she's ever been known to give. Derrick Frame: Barrett's first mission as an Ace was a disaster; Frame and his partner, Gracie, made up the second team she handled. They interacted little outside of missions during the two years she was their Ace, but she treated them with more respect than handlers did normally, and they returned the favor in kind. It wasn't until Gracie was killed and Barrett took his place that she and Frame grew closer. Theirs is as close to an authentic friendship as any, the first Barrett has ever had. That friendship eventually led to a romantic relationship that only ended when Frame was transferred to Pendleton. It is clear from Barrett's behavior that she doesn't know how to deal with his absence, and isn't happy about the situation, at all. Jacob Ryan: Barrett and Ryan met during the enfranchisement of Fort Pendleton. At the time, Ryan was 15 and struggling to care for his five-year-old sister, Rebecca, who had Stage IV leukemia. After helping the Ryans register and settle in at the hospital, Barrett went AWOL; she mustered Melendez, César, and two other Marines, and together they appropriated a truck in which they drove around San Diego searching for hospitals and clinics they could safely raid for chemotherapy and pain management drugs. Unfortunately, the chemo didn't take, and Rebecca died two months later. Since then, Barrett has kept the promise she made to the girl to watch over her brother, even bringing Ryan to NaMac with her when she transferred so that she could keep and eye on him. While Barrett will only ever go so far as to admit that Ryan is her responsibility, Ryan considers her family. Wesley Pruitt: Pruitt is less a true friend than he is a sort of devotee; his crush on Barrett is one of NaMac's worst-kept secrets. While he is many things she is not—easy-going, soft-spoken, selfless—there is something forlorn about him to which Barrett appears to respond. While she is not always kind to him, she rarely denies him her company. Most believe Pruitt is a fool, anyway, but they keep that to themselves; Barrett sent the last man who said as much to the infirmary. Dalton Zvilckie: Over the years, feelings between Barrett and Zvilckie have shifted from ambivalence, to animosity, to, at least on Zvilckie's part, a grudging respect and burgeoning admiration. Theirs is a strange relationship: he is a hothead with authority issues who doesn't mind pushing her buttons, and she hasn't killed him yet. Some think she suffers as much as she does from him as a way of keeping herself honest, but most don't believe she cares enough for that to be a consideration. On the surface, it doesn't appear that they have much in common beyond their job, but maybe that's fine with them; on more than one occasion, they've even been found with their heads bent over a chessboard, trading pieces in a quiet corner of the Kennel.

Romantic Relationships Derrick Frame: Considering that it took them two years to develop an authentic friendship, their romance might as well have been a one-night stand. Two months after Barrett and Frame became Deucemates, at the tail end of a particularly long reconnaissance mission into Edmonton, the couple made the decision to indulge in their mutual attraction. It was, in hindsight, a natural progression; Frame is perhaps the only man in the Federation equipped to handle her, and sufficiently like her to have kept her interest long enough for her to learn how to truly care for him. Unfortunately, when the extent of their involvement was discovered four months later, Frame was transferred to CFC Fort Pendleton to serve as Bravo Team Pointman. Barrett received an official reprimand for fraternizing with a subordinate, and since then, communication between them is heavily restricted and moderated. Though she refuses to speak of the incident to anyone, even at the request of psych personnel, those who know her best agree Frame's absence has made Barrett more dangerous than she ever was before.

MDF Service Record

Service History

Certifications

Commendations

Articles of Reprimand