Guthrey wears the uniform of a native
Sirian but was born on earth, roughly 350 years prior to the
start of the Zerg War. Guthrey was present during the Zerg invasion
of the Sol system in the late 22nd century and assisted a hit
and run highlander militia brigade in the heights of Scotland
to repel Zerg invaders from the countryside. As the war on earth
tilted heavily against humanity and it was inevitable that earth
would be overrun and conquered, the highlanders all agreed to
enter cryogenic freezing chambers in which they would be vitrified
until such time as humankind reclaimed the earth. The Zerg happened
upon the cryo facility a decade later and consumed most of the
men in their sleep, except James Guthrey. A human resistance
cell followed the Zerg inside and killed them all. They assumed
all humans in the facility had been killed by the Zerg and left.
Seventeen
years later, the planetary cerebrate was killed and the Zerg
menace ended. For the next three centuries, earth rebuilt its
cities and its population boomed. But no one happend upon the
cryo facility as it was so deep in the Scottish countryside.
With a solar powered generator, Guthrey's cryo-unit remained
functional for three centuries until he was finally discovered
when Irish prospectors found the cryo-facility while searching
for aluminum deposits in the area. Guthrey was released from
cryo-stasis and briefed on world events.
According
to his memory of the Zerg invasion, Scotland held its own against
the Zerg months after the rest of the world's nations had imploded.
According to earth history books, it was America that held out
and it was America that racked up the most Roach kills. Guthrey
was disgusted and left Terra. Wanting to 'rough' it as much
as such a thing could be done amidst the comforts of the future,
he selected the Sirian system as his new home, renounced his
citizenship of earth, and became a "Pup."
Seven
years after he was released from cryo-stasis, the Roaches attacked
the Confederation supply outpost Aeterna 6-AXL "The Axle"
after which Guthrey enlisted in the United Military Command.
Guthrey, having first hand prior experience in combat with the
Zerg, was asked to serve as a consultant to fleet commanders
but he refused. He stated he would be more than happy to lead
ships and troops in combat against the Roaches but would not
sit on the sidelines after seeing first hand what the Zerg did
to earth. Guthrey stated he would resign his UMC commission
if forced out of the kill zones, and was given his own battleship
and battle group to command.
Due
to his combat experience on earth of the past, Guthrey's opinion
was solicited often by fleet command during the first few months
of the Zerg War. Once the entire UMC had combat experience under
its belt, Guthrey became redundant and the flags no longer sought
his counsel. On the flipside, at the very beginning of the war,
he was invaluable and as such, his eccentricities which included
drinking while on duty and playing bagpipe music over the ship's
intercom system were tolerated. His eccentricities eventually
became a source of morale for the troops and was legendary among
the fleets to where the flags wouldn't order him to stop, even
if his usefulness as a Zerg consultant had ended.
Guthrey's
battleship, the Rigid Express, was nicknamed the Rigid Express"o"
as the Captain opened a coffee shop which the troops could use
prior to heading into battle or after. Later this coffee shop
became a bar. As more and more troops come to the Rigid Express
for shore leave, the bar needed to be bigger, so Guthrey cannibalized
adjacent rooms to ensure there was enough seating. It was speculated
after the last renovation that Guthrey's bar comprised 1/10
of his total ship's interior space. Guthrey himself was nicknamed
"Spitball" as during a meeting with the brass, he
slurped some coffee and then blew a spitball into the back of
Grand Admiral Ra'Chek's neck. Ra'Chek could never prove it was
Guthrey but the suspicion remained and spread among the fleets
like a brushfire.
