In Seek-Locate-Destroy
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Federation officer with rank of Space Commander, number given in Trial
as "Alpha 15105". Orac noted in Voice from the Past that he was of
similar size and weight to the rebel leader Shivan. Travis himself stated in
Trial that he had "been in the service all my adult life".
| In Seek-Locate-Destroy |
 In Duel |
The earliest reference to Travis dates to Blake's earlier period of
dissidence four years prior to his deportation to Cygnus Alpha. Travis
discovered the location of a rebel meeting and hid there two days beforehand.
When all the dissidents were gathered he and his men appeared, butchering
most of those present. Blake shot Travis and thought he had killed him, but
Travis survived, albeit without his left arm and eye. His life was saved by
Maryatt, probably in relation to this incident, although Travis merely said
that his face was seen to by "a field medic"; by the time of
Deliverance Maryatt was a senior figure in the Federation medical
corps, something of a heady promotion. Travis later expressed some regret on
learning of Maryatt's death.
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His left arm was fitted with a lazeron destroyer, though few of the people he killed died by this weapon. See LAZERON DESTROYER for more details of its use.
His over-riding obsession was to kill Blake, and he almost succeeded in Seek-Locate-Destroy, Orac, Pressure Point, Hostage, and Star One, where Blake was severely wounded after a direct hit from Travis. He also wounded Avon in the arm in Hostage.
Known relatives: None. Blake also noted in Duel: "How do you illustrate the death of a friend to a man who hasn't got any?".
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Bodycount: Travis' kills include a Phibian on Aristo, a clone of Blake, Olag
Gan (with a strontium grenade), a trooper at his court-martial (shot with a
handgun), Nagu (with a knife), Ven Glynd, and Cevedic and henchman (with a
Federation pistol).
|  In Weapon |
Notable brawls: Travis fought Blake hand-to-hand on UP-Duel, but lost. In Freedom City he was quickly overpowered by Cevedic's men.
Places visited: He was seen to set foot on Centero, UP-Duel, UP-Project Avalon, Aristo, UP-Clonemaster, UP-Weapon, Earth, Exbar, Asteroid P-K118, Atlay, UP-Gambit, Goth and Star One - a total of 13 planets.
| After the failure of Project Avalon he was suspended from duty again. With Servalan he set out to collect Orac on Aristo, but was beaten by Blake. After this defeat he apparently needed drastic psychotherapy, and Rontane later described him as "a psychotic". After the debacle at the Control bunker on Earth he became an embarrassment to Servalan and was court-martialled in order to dispose of him before he could testify against her in an official enquiry. He escaped and became a renegade, later working unofficially for Servalan. |  Waiting his court martial in Trial |
 In Trial |
She promised to have him listed as dead if he
helped her eliminate Blake. At some point, probably after his court-martial,
he discovered or was contacted by infiltrators from M31, and raced against
Blake and Servalan to find the location of Star One. He discovered the brain
print left by Lurgen on Goth, and came to Star One intending to deactivate
the antimatter minefield keeping the alien fleet at bay. He seemed to be
aware of the aliens" intent to eradicate humanity, and actively sought some
responsibility for the inevitable carnage. He was shot in the back by Blake
after switching off one sector of the defence zone, and died after being shot
again by Avon moments later, falling spectacularly into a circular well of
unknown purpose.
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Mentioned by "Blake" on Terminal, a part of his life-support system that sounded an alarm when treatment was due.
In Redemption, Jenna told Blake that Gan was there after a servo link he was trying to repair burned his hand. No indication is given as to whether this treatment unit is another name for the medical unit or a different unit entirely.
See also MEDICAL UNIT.
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Trees of various species can be identified on a number of planets, although
their presence ought not perhaps be taken too literally most of the time.
Oaks and Holly are visible on UP-Duel, Beech, Yew and Scots Pine on
UP-Bounty, Cedar of Lebanon in the grounds of Residence-1 and Buddleia
on (amongst others) Exbar, Sardos and Xenon.
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 Buddleia on Exbar | It could be conjectured that these species were brought from Earth by early colonists. It could equally well be conjectured that they are not worth dwelling on at length. See also BIRDS. |
| Krantor and Toise both described Thrylce as a "trekker", presumably some form of habitual spacefarer. |  |
The following were the proceedings in the trials of Blake in The Way Back and Travis in Trial:
1. Blake's trial: The clerk of court brought the tribunal to order and the arbiter entered. The clerk then announced that the arbiter would allow submissions and Tel Varon and Alta Morag, the legal representatives for the accused (Blake) and the Federation, submitted their cases.
The advocates had prepared their cases in advance of the hearing and their submissions were stored in clear spheres containing electronic components, one for the defence and one for the prosecution. One of those spheres is illustrated and labeled here as a 'Submission Sphere', although the name was not revealed in the episode. The spheres were presented to the tribunal in sealed, pink, semi-transparent boxes or cases, one of which is illustrated and labelled here as a 'Submission Case'.
The arbiter then asked for the accused to be brought forward and enquired as to whether he, Blake, had been made aware of the charges against him and that he understood the nature and gravity of the charges. The arbiter then established who was acting for Blake and for the Federation. The arbiter ascertained that each advocate was satisfied that the evidence was fairly obtained and that all statements were certified as true and correct by lie detector.
At this point, the arbiter turned to Blake to establish that he was satisfied that his defence was fully and fairly prepared. Blake stated that the charges against him were totally false and therefore offered no defence. The clerk presented a 'Submission Case' to each advocate and they were requested by the arbiter to see that the evidence for the prosecution was sealed and approved by the defence and vice versa. The advocates removed the 'Submission Spheres' from their cases; and the spheres were placed into a plinth that might have been part of what the arbiter later described as the judgement machine.
This machine then evaluated each of the submissions by interrogating them, each sphere illuminating as it was interrogated. After the assessment was made, the machine stopped and only one sphere was seen to be illuminated. The clerk removed what could be best described as a 'Verdict Sphere' from the top of the plinth. He placed it on a stand, similar to that on the top of the plinth, to the left of the arbiter's desk. This has been illustrated here as the 'Verdict Stand'. The verdict was then displayed on a large screen behind the arbiter and Blake was found guilty on all charges by the judgement machine. Sentence was then decided in the case, also by the judgement machine, not the arbiter.
2. Travis's trial: The charges against Travis were brought under Section 3 of the War Crimes Statute Code. In this case, the computer was programmed with judgement programme one oblique three. As in The Way Back, a tribunal of three, with Fleet Warden General Samor presiding as temporary arbiter, ran the court proceedings. The defendant reported for judgement and was asked to identify himself. Once recognised by the court, the defendant asked if he accepted the authority of the arbiter, the balance of the judgement programme, and the competence of the defending officer. Travis accepted; and the computer read out the formal indictment, to which he was asked to formally answer.
Travis pleaded not guilty; and the defence was given the opportunity to make an opening declaration, to which they declined but reserved the right to respond later. It is at this point that the prosecution's data was entered into the computer. Note that the defence's data was not entered, unlike the judgement machine in The Way Back, which had both sets of evidence entered in at the same time. The defence, via the arbiter, could challenge the evidence as the computer processed it. Again, this was in complete contrast to the judgement machine, which underwent its evaluation without interruption.
After the prosecution's evidence was complete, the computer awaited further instructions or data input. The defence then asked for their data to be entered; but in this case, Major Thania, the defending officer, requested permission to make her opening declaration, for which permission was granted. However, an argument broke out between Travis and Thania, the result of which the former was allowed to make the declaration, During this declaration, he alleged that his actions were instinctive, reacting under battle conditions, just as he was trained to and that if he was guilty, so were his superiors. Thania was then asked once again if the defence data was ready, to which she responded positively and it was entered into the computer. The arbiter instructed the computer to run judgement, after which it judged Travis to be guilty as charged.
The tribunal then retired to consider sentence. Again, this was in complete contrast to Blake's trial, in which the judgement machine decided the sentence. Samor advised Travis that they could not accept his contention that his actions were a result of his training and that he would be stripped of all rank and privileges, dishonourably dismissed the service and executed. The trial was brought to an abrupt conclusion as Blake attacked Servalan's headquarters, where the trial was being held; and Travis escaped justice.
See also ADVOCATE, ARBITER, BLAKE, CLERK OF COURT, COURTS (FEDERATION), LAWYERS, Alta MORAG, SAMOR, THANIA, TRAVIS, Tel VARON.
A model of android, used as a basis for the substitute Avalon put aboard the Liberator.
The term used by Governor LeGrand to refer to the alliance of herself, Blake and Shivan.
| Federation officer, rank unspecified but superior to Sergeant Selson and subordinate to Space Major Provine. Based with the Federation Space Assault Force detachment on Albian, he remained behind in the control room after Provine and Selson left for the rocket silo, waiting four minutes before activating the solium radiation device. He was shot and fatally wounded in the process, but managed to start the countdown before he died. |  |
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Federation troopers appeared frequently, and quite a few ended up dead on the
floor. They were seen in The Way Back, Time Squad,
Seek-Locate-Destroy, Project Avalon, Bounty,
Shadow, Weapon, Horizon, Trial, Killer,
Countdown, Voice from the Past, Star One,
Aftermath, Powerplay, Volcano, The Harvest of
Kairos, Children of Auron, Rumours of Death, Moloch,
Traitor, Games, Warlord and Blake.
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The helmet was black with a hinged visor. A green band ran around the upper rim in most cases, but this was missing from the troopers in Volcano and Children of Auron and some of those in Rumours of Death. This may indicate a particular kind of unit (such as marines) but there is no evidence for or against this.
Normal weaponry was a standard issue carbine, referred to by Avon in Volcano simply as a "handgun". Fan lore sometimes refers to this weapon as a 'paragun', a term not used in any episode. A pistol version was also seen on various occasions, wielders including Del Tarrant in Powerplay and Sula in Rumours of Death. The stock of the handgun was extendable, as demonstrated by Avon in Cygnus Alpha, and also removable, effectively making the weapon a heavy pistol - this was seen in Games. Various marks of each weapon may have existed, as a number of different sound signatures were heard at various times. Troopers were seen carrying different weapons in Moloch, Traitor, Warlord and Blake.
Ranks mentioned included Trooper, Squad Leader, Sergeant, Sergeant-Major, Section Leader, Captain, Major, Space Major, Subcommander, Space Commander, Colonel and General. Others, such as Base Commander, Brigade Commander, Deputy Commander, Guard Commander, Intelligence Commander and Security Commander may have been ranks in their own right, but were more likely positions of responsibility held by officers of varying rank. Tarrant trained as a Space Captain, but this might be a space fleet rather than an army rank. Trooper as a rank is probably equivalent to Private, Par being addressed as "Trooper Par" by Thania.
Troopers were frequently seen in groups of six: six troopers rode on each of the electric cars seen in The Way Back, patrols of six were seen around Sarkoff's residence in Bounty, and at Residence-1 on Earth in Rumours of Death. This might indicate the size of a squad. The only other bodies mentioned were the section, with no indication of its strength, and the brigade, again with no details.
Several units were referred to. The Interrogation Division took charge of Cally in Seek-Locate-Destroy. Maryatt was a Space Surgeon in the Medical Corps. Both of these may have been blanket terms for a number of more discrete units. The President's personal security force may have been a Space Command unit, as may Governor LeGrand's forces, but this seems unlikely, particularly in the case of the latter. The Space Assault Force were described as "crack troops". Klegg and his troopers belonged to the Federation Death Squad. Survivors of the Fifth Legion were encountered on Sardos, which rather implies at least four other legions - their equipment included a T-16 troop transporter, suggesting that legions were a combined arms force. The President was, amongst other things, Lord General of the Six Armies, but such a title may not have meant much as far as practical military organisation was concerned.
In Project Avalon Blake said that Federation troopers were very highly trained, but little indication of their combat expertise was evident.
See also DEATH SQUAD, FIFTH LEGION, RANK, WEAPONS.