Species: Human
Birthplace: Lansdorp, Amargosa
Birthdate: 414 IE
Connor Duffy is a native of Lansdorp on Amargosa and a crucial figure in the planetary resistance against the Occupation of Amargosa. A skilled field technician and demolitions expert, Duffy is known for his mechanical prowess, sardonic humor, and fierce loyalty to his companions. He is one of the youngest members of the underground network formed in the aftermath of the invasion.
Early Life:
Duffy grew up in the industrial city of Lansdorp, known for dismantling and reassembling anything mechanical. He formed a lifelong friendship with Ellie Nardino, sharing both a passion for technology and a knack for mischief. Before and during the invasion, Duffy and Ellie were an inseparable duo.
Role in the Resistance:
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Sabotage and Engineering:
After the Gelt invasion, Duffy joins the resistance, using his expertise in demolitions and engineering. Working closely with Ellie, he plays a pivotal role in sabotage efforts, most notably rigging the Edoras Transit Tunnel with explosives to halt Gelt and collaborator forces during the westward retreat. -
High-Risk Missions:
Though irreverent and sometimes brash, Duffy earns the trust of leaders like Suicide, who often taps him and Ellie for critical, dangerous missions where technical skill is paramount.
The “Trixie” Incident:
While traveling across the Central Plains, Duffy nicknames a captured Gelt girl “Trixie” when she refuses to speak. Unknown to him, “Trixie” is a vulgar slur in the Gelt Mother Tongue, translating to “whore.” The girl is later revealed to be Tishla, the widow of Lattus Kai. The nickname persists long enough to cause tension before they recognize Tishla as a potential ally. The incident adds a layer of bittersweet irony to their relationship as fellow survivors.
Ellie’s Apparent Death:
During a lycanth attack, Ellie is separated from the group and presumed dead, though her body is never recovered. Her apparent death devastates Duffy, leaving him grieving the loss of his best friend and closest partner.
Finding the Ban Ki-moon:
As the team arrived on the western coast, Duffy was instrumental in repairing an abandoned fishing boat. Suicide led the team aboard this vessel and found the fallen Ban Ki-moon. When Tishla was captured, he went with JT and Suicide to rescue her and fled to Hanar with them aboard Amargosa One.
Time on Hanar:
On Hanar, Duffy began training with Compact troops, honing his explosives and technical skills. He came under the tutelage of Mitsuko Yamato, who began treating him like a little brother.
Liberation of Amargosa:
Duffy flew with JT and Mitsuko in the liberation effort. While approaching the landing zone, their Falcon was knocked out of the sky by the fusion blast that destroyed Riverside. They were rescued by Ellie, whom they all thought dead. Though dazed from a concussion, he participated in cornering Lucius Kray and witnessed his bizarre Section 11 execution.
Post-Liberation:
Following the Liberation of Amargosa, Duffy departed the planet aboard the Challenger alongside Davra Andraste. While she entered naval officer training, Duffy was assigned to continue his education at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) on Earth, focusing on engineering and advanced propulsion. His technical expertise, honed during the resistance, made him a strong candidate for future military and civilian aerospace projects.
Cubist Incident in Boston (431 IE):
While attending MIT as part of his naval warp research assignment, Duffy became involved in the prevention of a mass casualty terrorist attack by radical Cubists in downtown Boston. When Cubist insurgents armed with incendiary nanites seized a theater near Harvard, Duffy improvised a counterstrike by illegally accessing a Cybercommand lab beneath the city. Using salvaged Gelt Stun Grenades and commandeered engineering spiders, he orchestrated an EMP-style neutralization of the insurgents without direct military engagement. Although his actions saved dozens of lives, Duffy was arrested for multiple Compact-level felonies, including unlawful entry and unauthorized use of classified technology. Vice Admiral Eileen Burke intervened to have the charges dropped, but Duffy was ordered to complete his studies remotely and reassigned to Officer Training School on Tian, effectively ending his time in Boston. The incident highlighted both Duffy’s brilliance and his lingering resistance-era disregard for formal command structures.
Involvement with Search for Jayne Best:
While on detached duty to the Valles Marineris, Duffy accompanied Mitsuko Yamato to the surface of Marilyn, where Suicide and JT Austin had come searching for Jayne Best. Best disappeared after an assassination attempt on her husband’s life on Amargosa. While Mitsuko joined the mission, Duffy provided off-the-books assistance camouflaging their new ship, a Zaran freighter. At JT’s insistence, he changed the transponder to give the name of his old ship, the Goldeneye, which had been destroyed in a recent crashed. The name became permanent after the mission.
Retaking the Queen Maria Sophia:
Despite serving in the Compact Navy, Suicide arranged for Duffy, along with Eric Yuwono, to join Ellie aboard the Bova to retake the Queen Maria Sophia. He worked with Ellie to blind the hijackers and override the CNC lockouts.
Operations on Aphrodite
Jungle Raid:
Duffy rode upriver with JT Austin and Davra Andraste to support Mitsuko Yamato’s special forces raid on the Cubist encampment that held Suicide. He was responsible for delivering the weapons cache to the forward teams, including incendiary grenades filled with “Duffy’s special brew”—a custom chemical mix designed for high-efficiency burn in humid environments. After the battle, he piloted the boat used to extract Suicide from the field.
Assault on Mt. Buxanshal:
During the final strike on Mt. Buxanshal, Duffy remained in orbit aboard the Valles Marineris, feeding live data to ground forces. Initially believing the device hidden in the Cubist stronghold to be a clean fusion bomb, he was frustrated to discover it was a fission warhead instead. He had to scramble to rework disarmament instructions mid-operation and update the tactical data relayed to Mitsuko Yamato, helping her team avoid disaster.
Operation on Hosh:
During the covert Cybercommand mission to Hosh, Duffy operates as the primary systems and surveillance tech alongside JT Austin and Ellie Nardino, with Suicide piloting the Goldeneye. Posing as tourists for the casino infiltration, Duffy uses his hacking expertise to disable surveillance systems, spoof biometric scans, and reroute internal security feeds. Though his role is largely behind the scenes, his coordination is critical to getting JT into the president’s suite undetected. Later, during the raid on Caro’s mansion, Duffy helps coordinate insertion and extraction logistics while improvising a series of short-range comm relays to bypass local jamming. As always, his banter with Ellie provides both levity and rhythm, but he remains oblivious to the deeper emotional subtext between her and JT—a detail that only makes his loyalty feel more earnest. His technical precision and ability to adapt on the fly once again prove vital to a mission operating under the radar of Compact authority.
Counter-Coup on Hanar
In Suicide Gambit, Connor Duffy rejoins the core team for the Hanar operation, once again partnered with Ellie Nardino in their signature role: making things explode. The two fall back into old habits with ease, coordinating demolition and sabotage efforts during the final push to retake Hanar’s parliament. Though no longer the reckless teen of the Lansdorp resistance, Duffy still carries the same dry humor and loyalty that made him indispensable. His dynamic with Ellie remains rock-solid—comfortable, teasing, and efficient. While others are entangled in emotional and political upheaval, Duffy keeps his focus tight: get in, blow the right things up, and help the right people take back power. He makes no comment on JT and Tishla’s relationship and doesn’t pry into Ellie’s emotional state, suggesting a quiet maturity and understanding of boundaries. As always, Duffy plays the role of reliable specialist—present, capable, and right where he’s needed.
Involvement with Pelgar Shrian
While on shore leave aboard Armaneya Station, Duffy met Pelgar Shrian, a Gelt engineer posing as a tourist. Their encounter began at a blackjack table, where Shrian openly flirted with Duffy and ultimately invited him to her hotel suite. Their mutual curiosity quickly turned physical, but Shrian soon revealed a far more significant interest: she had developed a working prototype of a quantum entanglement–based jump drive. To prove its viability, she took Duffy aboard her shuttle and jumped instantly from Armaneya to the Gelt Throneworld—without hypergates or projection drive—leaving him shaken and awestruck.
Duffy quickly learned that Shrian was indentured to Laral Raas, a disgraced member of the family responsible for the invasion of Amargosa. Though she initially entered the contract to fund her research, Raas now sought to exploit her work to restore his political standing. Shrian appealed to Duffy to buy out her contract—arguing that, under Realm law, the jump drive belonged to whoever owned her. Though disturbed by the implications, Duffy became her advocate, ultimately reaching out to Compact authorities and to his allies, including JT and Tishla Austin, Mitsuko Windsor, and Ellie Nardino, to intervene. Shrian insisted her affection for Duffy was genuine and that her original intent had been to recruit him as an ally, not a mark. Her plea—“Think of me as the bonus”—deeply unsettled Duffy but ultimately moved him to act.
Rigged Card Game to Free Shrian and Obtain the Jump Box
To secure Shrian’s freedom without violating Compact or Foundation law, Duffy agreed to a high-stakes game of reaper against Laral Raas, with Shrian’s indenture contract as the wager. The game—rigged in Raas’s favor—included cyberattacks on participants’ nanite swarms and a slow-acting neurotoxin slipped to JT Austin, one of Duffy’s allies. Despite this, the operation was quietly orchestrated by Cybercommand, with Eric Yuwono leading the countermeasures. Yuwono foiled Raas’s sabotage in real time, disabling the hacks and neutralizing the toxin before it became fatal.
When Raas lost the game, Shrian formally reclaimed the quantum entanglement device—now confirmed to be fully functional. With JT Tishla, and Ellie. Tishla was present to legally enforce the indenture’s termination on behalf of the Sovereign. Shrian transferred ownership of the jump box to Duffy and installed it aboard the Goldeneye. Though her indenture was dissolved, Shrian chose to remain with Duffy voluntarily, now a free citizen and partner in both personal and scientific pursuits.
In a deal to secure Foundation cooperation, Yuwono allowed Mitsuko to take Laral into custody. She took him back to Hanar for questioning.
Shrian’s Asylum, Navy Commission, and Testing the Box
Following the reaper game, Pelgar Shrian requested political asylum under Compact law, which was granted aboard the Goldeneye en route to Compact space. With testimony from Duffy and JT Austin, the Navy formally recognized her as a technical asset and offered her a commission as a civilian specialist—which was quickly elevated to Ensign Pelgar Shrian, Compact Navy, following a technical review by Naval Engineering Command. Though wary of further entanglements, Shrian accepted on the condition she remain with Duffy and continue overseeing the quantum entanglement system. As they lay in bed together in the ship’s engineering quarters—halfway between exhaustion and exhilaration—Duffy quietly proposed. Shrian accepted with a grin, remarking that it was the first time she’d ever been bought before being asked to marry. Compared to JT Austin proposing while trying not to bleed out mid-negotiation with the Sovereign, Duffy’s method was arguably less dramatic—and a lot less painful.
Over the next three months, Shrian and Duffy remained stationed at the Hub, working alongside Peter Lancaster to rigorously test the jump box across vessels of varying class and displacement. Their work focused on establishing the power curve, maximum safe jump range, and quantum calibration thresholds, with successful tests conducted aboard everything from light couriers to larger haulers. The final phase involved retrofitting a Vulture-class shuttle with reinforced shielding and upgraded entanglement matrices. During a live calibration sequence, the shuttle performed a flawless test jump—only to be immediately stolen mid-dock by a rogue Cybercommand cell embedded at the Hub. With the jump box now in enemy hands, the theft triggered a full security lockdown, and Duffy, Shrian, and Lancaster were pulled into a classified task force to recover the stolen technology and identify internal leaks.
Raid on Miranda
The stolen Vulture was eventually traced by Eric Yuwono to Miranda, over Uranus. The base was a black operations facility that had gone dark nearly a year earlier. Yuwono led the infiltration team, consisting of Duffy, Shrian, and Challenger‘s first officer, Commander Linbach. Inside, they discovered the jump box being reverse-engineered by an unsanctioned cell. During their recovery, Duffy witnessed a scientist mishandle the active unit—resulting in the man’s sudden disintegration, likely due to an improper baryonic swap. Shaken but resolute, the team used the box to jump directly back to their shuttle, proving its short-range teleportation capabilities and underscoring the dangers of using the system without a dark matter exchange buffer. The incident prompted an immediate Cybercommand response; Miranda Base was raided and shut down permanently, with all personnel detained and all records sealed.
Aboard the Endeavour, Gathering the Compact Assembly, and Encounter with the Yedevans
Following the Miranda incident, the recovered jump box was transferred to the newly commissioned Endeavour, the largest vessel in the Compact Navy. Chosen specifically because its warp drive systems were not scheduled for installation for several more months—eliminating interference with quantum entanglement tests—the Endeavour became the new center for classified FTL research. Duffy, Shrian, and Peter Lancaster transferred aboard as a dedicated project team, tasked with both system validation and tactical integration planning. Upon arrival, Duffy was pleased to discover that Davra Andraste had been appointed first officer. Their reunion—after years apart following the Amargosa resistance—reinvigorated Duffy’s enthusiasm for the assignment and provided an additional layer of trust and camaraderie within the growing experimental wing.
The team’s next assignment was strategic: use the entanglement drive to rapidly retrieve Compact Assembly delegates from across human space and ferry them to Tian for an emergency session. Most missions proceeded without incident, demonstrating the box’s unparalleled speed and precision. However, during a pickup over Trantor, the shuttle carrying that world’s delegation was destroyed by two ships whose captains were later confirmed to be loyal to Marcus Leitman. The same vessels immediately opened fire on the Endeavour. In response, Captain Darnell ordered an emergency jump to Jefivah—a known safe harbor—but the ship instead emerged in uncharted space, far beyond known Compact borders. The misjump marked the first known navigational error using the box and cast doubt on whether the system had been tampered with, damaged in the attack, or was affected by deeper entanglement drift physics.
The Endeavour‘s unexpected arrival in deep space was orchestrated by the Yedevans, a mysterious alien species who revealed themselves as the original creators of the entanglement drive. Initially viewing the ship’s crew as thieves and potential threats, the Yedevans executed one Compact delegate and Captain Darnell before assuming full control of the vessel. Command fell to Davra, who managed to negotiate with the aliens by claiming the jump box had permanently fused with the ship’s systems—making destruction risky. Though another delegate was absorbed in lieu of execution, Shrian—fearful the Yedevans would annihilate the Endeavour and its crew—offered herself in atonement. She admitted to taking the technology out of scientific curiosity, not malice or conquest. The Yedevans accepted and absorbed her, leaving Duffy emotionally shattered and drifting, having lost both his partner and the stabilizing presence she had become in his life.
Despite Shrian’s apparent death, Duffy chose to remain aboard the Endeavour, immersing himself in diagnostics and repair work as a way to cope. Concerned he was pushing himself to the brink, Davra Andraste ordered him to rest. Duffy awoke hours later to find Pelgar Shrian beside him—restored and disoriented, asking if she was real. Overcome with relief, he embraced her as she explained that the Yedevans had returned her—changed. She now possessed two thousand years of Yedevan quantum physics knowledge compressed into her mind. With data and raw materials provided by the aliens, Shrian rapidly constructed a new jump box, scribbling specifications and calculations in her native Gelt dialect for later translation into Humanic.
The Yedevans then sent Bernard Botaki, a human explorer absorbed three centuries earlier, to verify the fidelity of the new box. After the device was tested with a successful jump to Titan—retrieving the Jovian and Martian delegations—Botaki deemed the reconstruction sound and departed with the box. With the threat resolved and diplomatic recovery back on track, the Endeavour resumed its original mission, returning to Compact space with its surviving delegates. Though forever marked by the experience, Duffy remained at Shrian’s side, now bonded not just by love, but by the alien imprint of something far older and vaster than either of them had imagined.
Permanent Assignment and Marriage to Shrian
Following the Endeavour’s return to Compact space, Duffy and Shrian accepted permanent assignments aboard the ship under Captain Andraste, who valued both their expertise and their loyalty. Recognizing the bond that had deepened through crisis and loss, Davra quietly arranged for Suicide to sneak aboard along with the other Children of Amargosa to officiate a proper, if unconventional, wedding. Ellie Nardino stood with Duffy as his “best wolf,” wearing the same combat-seduction dress she’d used during several undercover operations—clearly chosen as a joke, though Duffy suspected Ellie wore it with real pride. The ceremony, held in the Endeavour’s CNC, was intimate, irreverent, and emotional—marking not just a marriage, but the forging of a family in the heart of the Navy’s most experimental ship.
Thulian Rejuvenation
Not long after their wedding, Duffy traveled to Aphrodite to undergo the Thulian rejuvenation treatment, accompanied by Shrian. The offer had been extended years earlier by the Thulians to the original six Children of Amargosa following the Liberation, though Duffy—like several others—had deferred until his recovery work was complete. On Aphrodite, Tishla personally oversaw his case at the clinic. Upon greeting the couple, she gave Shrian a warm hug and quipped, “You’ve got your work cut out for you now,” drawing laughter from the staff. Duffy emerged from treatment biologically reset, his youthful vigor restored—though his sarcasm and coffee dependency remained stubbornly intact. He completed his recovery in a quiet mountain cabin on Tian, loaned to him by Suicide's father, where he and Shrian spent their first uninterrupted season together since the project began.
Role in Peace Mission to Throneworld
By 439, Duffy has settled into his role as chief engineer of the Endeavour with characteristic stubborn brilliance. Though he still carries the laid-back charm and irreverent humor that defined him during the Amargosa occupation, Duffy has grown into a steady, reliable cornerstone of Davra Andraste’s command team. When Commander Bart Fuller oversteps his bounds and disrespects Davra during her first briefing as official captain, it is Duffy who silently backs her play—providing a presence that both grounds her and signals to the crew that Fuller’s authority is over before it begins.
Temporarily elevated to acting executive officer after Fuller’s removal, Duffy declines a permanent promotion, insisting his talents (and sanity) are better spent in Engineering. He encourages Davra to recruit JT Austin instead, cheekily suggesting that Fleet Admiral Burke can make anything happen—and grinning like he knows she will. Duffy’s recommendation proves pivotal, and his friendship with both Davra and JT remains unshakable.
His marriage to Shrian continues to ground him emotionally. When Shrian is injured during a sabotage attempt aboard ship, Duffy’s professionalism holds firm, but the quiet rage beneath reinforces just how seriously he takes both his duties and the protection of those he loves.
Still the same “big goofy man” Davra once compared to a soccer hooligan, Duffy is also one of the ship’s emotional centers—a veteran of loss who now thrives in stability, keeping the lights on, the hull intact, and the engine humming… while making sure everyone knows he wants nothing to do with command unless absolutely necessary.
Rescue of Tessa Dasarius and Disappearance of Suicide
In 440 IE, Connor Duffy played a critical role in several high-stakes operations. During the aftermath of the Gladwyn Jebb‘s destruction, he quietly cleared the Endeavour’s ready room so Eric Yuwono could support Davra Andraste as she processed the loss. Assigned to the rescue mission for Tessa and Shaneese Dasarius, Duffy served as Goldeneye’s chief engineer and quantum entanglement drive specialist. He collaborated with Ellie Nardino to override the estate’s security systems, enabling the team’s infiltration. Despite severe system limitations—including a drained QE box and flooded thrusters—Duffy executed a risky maneuver to land Goldeneye on the estate’s platform and successfully evacuated the team. He then managed to get the shuttle airborne and into orbit. Afterward, Duffy proposed a mission to locate the presumed-dead Suicide, a search Davra ultimately joined, with Mitsuko Yamato providing “humanitarian” support in full power armor. Duffy later attended the private wake for Suicide in Davra’s ready room, accompanied by his wife, Shrian.
Relationships
- Shrian Duffy (Pelgar Shrian)
Duffy’s relationship with Pelgar Shrian began with flirtation and intrigue aboard Armaneya Station, where she seduced him while covertly evaluating whether he—and his technical partner Peter Lancaster—could be trusted with alien quantum entanglement technology. Though their initial encounter was casual and physically driven, Shrian quickly confided in him about the jump box’s origin and functionality, even demonstrating its capabilities with an unscheduled jump to the Gelt Throneworld. Their bond deepened as they worked together to protect the box and expose Laral Raas’s attempts to exploit it. When Shrian revealed her indenture status, Duffy became her advocate and eventual rescuer, risking court-martial and political fallout to secure her freedom through a high-stakes reaper match.
After the ordeal, the two remained inseparable—professionally and personally. Duffy proposed while the couple lay together in quarters aboard the Challenger, and they were later married aboard the Endeavour by Davra, with Ellie Nardino standing as Duffy’s “best wolf.” Their relationship endured extreme stress during the Yedevan encounter, including Shrian’s apparent death when she offered herself to save the Endeavour. Her unexpected return—infused with centuries of alien knowledge—only strengthened their connection, with Duffy remaining steadfast by her side. Their bond reflects a blend of romantic partnership, scientific collaboration, and shared trauma, tempered by humor, mutual admiration, and the chaos of interstellar diplomacy. As of 431 IE, they serve together aboard the Endeavour, living proof that love, science, and survival aren’t mutually exclusive.
By the time Davra is named permanent captain, Shrian is not just Connor’s wife, but an integral part of the shipboard family he’s helped build. Their relationship, once marked by cultural barriers and trauma, has settled into a deep and affectionate partnership, one grounded in mutual respect and quiet defiance of convention. Though Shrian is technically a civilian, her presence aboard the Endeavour is a natural extension of their bond. The two are rarely apart for long, and Shrian’s blunt insight and quiet strength often serve as Connor’s emotional compass.
When a sabotage attempt nearly costs Shrian her life, Duffy’s reaction is telling—not outward fury, but a chilling focus that reflects how deeply intertwined she has become with his sense of purpose. He continues performing his duties with calm precision, but the incident underscores how fiercely protective he has become. Though he avoids command, Duffy makes it clear—without ever raising his voice—that any threat to Shrian is a threat to his world.
Their marriage, once an unlikely byproduct of war and exile, has matured into something unshakable. Shrian’s influence tempers Duffy’s chaos; his loyalty gives her roots. Together, they exemplify what peace in the postwar Compact can look like: messy, hard-won, and worth protecting at all costs.
During the rescue mission, Davra specifically chose Duffy not only for his deep familiarity with Goldeneye but also because bringing his wife, Shrian, offered a strategic advantage—her Gelt identity would reduce the risk of immediate execution if captured. Shrian provided support from the shuttle during the operation, helping manage the QE systems under strain. At the private wake for Suicide, she stood quietly beside Duffy as he, Ellie, and Eric shared old stories, jokes, and memories. Davra later reflected that Shrian felt like the newly married-in relative to their makeshift family, trying to catch up on over a decade of hard-won bonds and shared pain.
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Ellie Nardino:
Ellie Nardino is Duffy’s childhood best friend and constant partner throughout the early phases of the resistance. Growing up together in Lansdorp, the two shared a deep bond rooted in their shared love of engineering, technology, and rebellious mischief. During the Gelt occupation, they became an inseparable team, executing sabotage missions and resistance operations with near-telepathic coordination.
Her apparent death during a lycanth attack devastates Duffy, leaving him emotionally gutted and directionless for a time. Though he continues to fight, the loss of Ellie marks a profound turning point in his personal arc—one that echoes throughout his later actions, including his increasingly reckless behavior in combat zones and disregard for formal command structures.
Ellie’s unexpected return during the Liberation of Amargosa stuns Duffy. Although dazed from a concussion at the time, he is visibly overwhelmed with relief and joy, though he never fully articulates what her return means to him. Their old dynamic quickly reasserts itself, even as both mature into different roles within the Navy and broader Compact operations.
That bond holds strong during the mission to Hosh, where Duffy and Ellie work alongside JT Austin under deep cover. Their roles—posing as eccentric tourists during a casino infiltration—highlight just how naturally they operate in sync, even under pressure. As usual, Duffy handles the hacking and surveillance, while Ellie focuses on field operations. Their banter flows without effort, mixing old in-jokes with technical shorthand that no one else quite follows. Unaware of Ellie’s past romantic involvement with JT, Duffy continues to play the part of oblivious brother-in-arms—backing her decisions without question, even when the emotional landscape around them shifts.
Despite the unspoken complexities, their friendship remains a cornerstone of both their lives. Duffy may not grasp everything happening beneath the surface, but he never stops trusting Ellie completely—a loyalty that transcends even death, heartbreak, and battlefield chaos.
Connor Duffy and Ellie Nardino share an unexpected but deeply intimate chapter in their lifelong friendship. When Ellie undergoes Thulian rejuvenation, she asks Duffy to stay with her during the physically and emotionally taxing process—not just as a companion, but as a sexual partner. The arrangement honors a promise they jokingly made as teens—their “virgin suicide pact”—but it also reflects a more mature trust. Ellie wants someone she knows and trusts by her side, and she quietly worries that Duffy, despite all he’s seen, hasn’t truly lived. Their time together is tender, uncomplicated, and temporary. When they part, Duffy observes, “It’s different now,” to which Ellie replies, “It’s supposed to be different. That doesn’t mean bad.” Duffy becomes only the second human male she’s ever been with, a fact that underscores how much the connection meant to her.
Duffy’s lifelong friendship with Ellie deepened during the events of Jump, where she played a key role in the covert operation to free Pelgar Shrian from indenture. Though assembled by Suicide, the mission itself was orchestrated by Eric Yuwono, who coordinated a rigged reaper game designed to outplay Laral Raas and reclaim Shrian legally. Ellie served as both Duffy’s emotional anchor and a field operative, providing surveillance support and acting as a deliberate distraction during the high-stakes match. Her blend of tactical poise and irreverent loyalty made her indispensable. When Duffy and Shrian married aboard the Endeavour, Ellie stood with him as his “best wolf,” wearing the same slinky dress she’d once used in an infiltration op—equal parts inside joke and heartfelt gesture. The moment encapsulated their bond: fierce, funny, and forged in fire.
For Connor Duffy, the rescue mission also marked a reunion with Ellie Nardino—their first time working together in nearly a year. As childhood friends forged in crisis, the two fell back into rhythm effortlessly, syncing their efforts as if no time had passed. Hacking the estate’s systems side by side felt like old times, another wild ride in a lifetime of them. Their seamless coordination reminded both of the bond that had carried them through Amargosa and beyond.
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Initially skeptical of JT’s privileged background and outsider status, Duffy viewed him as another soft off-worlder unlikely to survive the harsh realities of life on Amargosa during the occupation. Their early interactions were marked by sarcasm, friction, and Duffy’s blunt critiques of JT’s perceived entitlement—often joking that JT couldn’t hack it without room service and backup.
However, as the resistance campaign unfolded, Duffy came to respect JT’s courage, ingenuity, and willingness to take hits for his team. JT’s resourcefulness in sabotage operations, his emotional resilience following personal loss, and his refusal to abandon those he led slowly earned Duffy’s admiration. Their bond solidified during the westward retreat and final phases of the resistance, where they fought side-by-side, improvised under fire, and took mounting risks to protect their people. By the time they fled Amargosa aboard Amargosa One, Duffy no longer saw JT as a runaway heir—but as a brother-in-arms with a sharp mind and an even sharper sense of responsibility.
Their connection deepens over time, especially on Hanar, where Duffy trains under Navy officers while JT navigates political chaos alongside Tishla. JT remains the more impulsive and emotionally messy of the two, but Duffy learns to trust his instincts—and often serves as his unofficial tech advisor and sarcastic conscience.
During Royal Orders, Duffy continues to back JT without hesitation, from the jungle raid on Aphrodite to the orbital overwatch during the Mt. Buxanshal assault. By now, their teamwork is seamless, built on years of mutual trust and hard-earned camaraderie. Duffy might grumble about JT’s constant magnetism for chaos, but he follows him willingly into nearly every firestorm.
On Hosh, their bond is on full display. Embedded in the same infiltration team, they pose as part of a tourist group while executing a multi-layered operation involving Cybercommand targets and corrupt planetary leadership. Duffy handles technical systems and surveillance suppression while JT plays the charming wildcard—each trusting the other to cover the blind spots. JT’s growing complexity—now a pilot, sometimes a soldier, sometimes a politician—doesn’t faze Duffy. He keeps things simple: JT has his back, so Duffy has his.
Though JT and Ellie’s former relationship occasionally confuses him (especially when Davra lets something slip), Duffy never dwells on it. He’s too loyal, too focused, and too used to everyone else being more emotionally complicated than he is. For all their differences, JT and Duffy remain one of the resistance’s most reliable duos—steel and spark, improvisation and firepower, never far apart for long.
Duffy’s relationship with JT Austin—forged during the Amargosa resistance—evolved into one of quiet mutual respect. During the events of Jump, JT played a crucial role in freeing Shrian by posing as his own less reputable brother in the rigged reaper game used to challenge Laral Raas. His reputation and unpredictable behavior served as a smokescreen that helped tilt the odds in Duffy’s favor, even as JT was poisoned mid-game by Raas’s operatives. Later, JT personally helped retrieve the quantum entanglement device once the operation was complete, ensuring it didn’t fall into enemy hands. When Duffy and Shrian were married aboard the Endeavour, JT stood proudly beside him, accompanied by his wife, Dr. Tishla Austin, as part of the intimate circle of fellow Children of Amargosa who had become family over the years.
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Beginning in the events of Checkmate, Duffy and Eric Yuwono frequently find themselves paired on patrols and tactical assignments. Though their personalities differ—Duffy being sardonic and outwardly irreverent, Eric more stoic and mission-focused—the two form a reliable battlefield partnership.
Their bond is built on mutual respect and complementary strengths: Duffy brings improvisational brilliance and technical expertise, while Eric offers grounded discipline and precise execution. Together, they strike a balance between impulsiveness and control that makes them highly effective in combat scenarios. Over time, their dynamic evolves into a quiet camaraderie, often expressed in understated moments rather than overt displays of friendship.
By the time of the jungle operations on Aphrodite and the Mt. Buxanshal assault, Duffy and Eric operate with seamless coordination—trusted by their commanders and each other to get the job done under fire.
On Hosh, Duffy and Eric’s partnership is tested in a new context—covert civilian operations under Cybercommand’s direction. While Duffy focuses on jamming surveillance systems and engineering clean access into the casino’s upper levels, Eric directs the mission’s tactical scope, briefing the team on intel and coordinating with Effie’s remote support. When Eric is flushed out of the system and nearly killed, Duffy is among the first to respond, helping revive him aboard the Goldeneye and stabilizing the mission. Though neither says much about the close call, it reinforces their mutual reliance—Duffy the improviser, Eric the anchor. By the time the team storms Caro’s estate, they’re working in lockstep, their bond now forged as much in quiet trust as battlefield efficiency.
Duffy’s working relationship with Eric solidified into lasting camaraderie during the Armaneya operation to free Shrian and secure the quantum entanglement drive. Eric—acting under Cybercommand authority—ran the entire mission, orchestrating the rigged reaper game and neutralizing Raas’s sabotage efforts, including a nanite hack and poison attack mid-match. His quiet efficiency and surgical planning ensured not only Shrian’s liberation, but also the safe retrieval of the jump box and exposure of the rogue Gelt plot. Eric later stood at Duffy and Shrian’s wedding aboard the Endeavour, where his fiancée, Davra, officiated the ceremony—cementing their bond as comrades, conspirators, and extended family.
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Duffy admires Davra Andraste’s tenacity, intelligence, and steady leadership under pressure. The two often work side-by-side on sabotage and reconnaissance missions during the resistance, with Duffy trusting her judgment and recognizing her natural command presence—even before she enters formal military service.
Their partnership deepens after the Liberation of Amargosa, when both are assigned to the Challenger for transport to their respective Compact Navy training programs. While Davra begins naval officer training, Duffy is sent to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) to continue his education in engineering and advanced propulsion. The shared journey marks a period of quiet transition for both—moving from battlefield improvisers to formally trained professionals within the Compact’s military and scientific communities.
On Hosh, Duffy supports the operation as the Goldeneye’s engineer and systems tech, working alongside JT Austin to coordinate Davra’s drop near the coastline for the extraction of Eric Yuwono. While JT pilots, Duffy manages surveillance suppression, sensor masking, and route timing. He also quietly ensures Davra and Eric have uninterrupted time alone during recovery—a small but intentional courtesy. It’s typical of his bond with Davra: no grand gestures, just silent backing when it counts. Their respect remains strong, grounded in shared roots and a common sense of duty.
Duffy’s working relationship with Yuwono solidified into lasting camaraderie during the Armaneya operation to free Shrian and secure the quantum entanglement drive. Eric—acting under Cybercommand authority—ran the entire mission, orchestrating the rigged reaper game and neutralizing Raas’s sabotage efforts, including a nanite hack and poison attack mid-match. His quiet efficiency and surgical planning ensured not only Shrian’s liberation, but also the safe retrieval of the jump box and exposure of the rogue Gelt plot. Eric later stood at Duffy and Shrian’s wedding aboard the Endeavour, where his fiancée, Davra Andraste, officiated the ceremony—cementing their bond as comrades, conspirators, and extended family.
As she rises to command the Endeavour, Duffy remains by her side not because of rank, but because of earned faith. He may be her chief engineer, but he’s also her informal big brother, devil’s advocate, and occasional partner in sarcasm.
When Commander Fuller tries to assert authority over Davra in the early days of her captaincy, Duffy’s silent support is crucial. He backs her play without hesitation, making it clear through action and presence that the crew’s loyalty lies with her. Though offered the XO position after Fuller’s dismissal, Duffy declines with a grin and a flat “hell no,” knowing he’s not meant to wear the second bird. Instead, he nudges her toward JT, understanding both the tactical and personal value of that choice.
Davra, in turn, leans on Duffy in subtle ways, relying on his emotional steadiness and refusal to be impressed by titles or pressure. He keeps her grounded without ever undercutting her authority, and he never forgets that, despite her youth, she earned her captain’s bars the hard way. Their friendship isn’t adorned with ceremony—but in every crisis, every briefing, and every quiet conversation over coffee and malfunctioning systems, it’s clear: Duffy would follow Davra into any fire, and she knows exactly why.
Duffy remained a steady presence for Davra Andraste during some of her most difficult moments. After the destruction of the Gladwyn Jebb, he quietly cleared the Endeavour’s ready room to give her and Eric Yuwono space to grieve and regroup. Recognizing the risk to Shrian as a Gelt, Davra protected her by assigning Duffy to the Goldeneye team during the rescue of Tessa and Shaneese Dasarius—trusting his skill and loyalty. When Duffy and JT attempted to slip away for a risky search-and-rescue in the wreckage of the Keiko Matsumoto, Davra reprimanded them, reminding them they were no longer teenagers improvising on the Central Plains of Amargosa. And yet, moments later, she joined the mission herself—calling in as “Fallen Angel.”
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Suicide (Commander Cui Yun):
Duffy respects Suicide’s leadership and trusts her tactical instincts, even when her orders seem unorthodox or her demeanor borders on aloof. As one of the first resistance leaders to recognize his and Ellie’s technical abilities, Suicide frequently tapped Duffy for high-risk sabotage and demolition work—assignments that shaped his battlefield identity.
Though her professional demeanor can be cold and emotionally distant, Duffy never doubts her commitment to the mission or to the people under her command. Over time, he learns to read between her silences, understanding that her detachment masks a deep sense of responsibility and loss.
Their shared history—from the Edoras Tunnel to Aphrodite’s jungle—cements a professional bond marked by mutual trust. Duffy occasionally razzes her in private, but never in the field, where his respect for her judgment is absolute. He also takes quiet pride in knowing she still personally selects him for missions that require improvisation, precision, and nerves of steel.
On Hosh, Suicide once again flies overwatch aboard the Goldeneye, with Duffy serving as mission engineer while Boolay, the regular Goldeneye engineer, is absent. The two operate with unspoken fluency: she flies, he breaks things, and together they keep JT and Ellie alive long enough to finish the job. Though they exchange few words, Duffy is acutely aware that Suicide trusts him with the systems—and by extension, with everyone on board. That trust, never sentimental, means everything to him.
During the events of Jump, she played a pivotal behind-the-scenes role in assembling the team that would liberate Pelgar Shrian and recover the entanglement drive. Though the operation was officially run by Eric Yuwono, it was Suicide who quietly pulled strings to ensure key members—Ellie Nardino, JT Austin, and others—were in place. Later, she boarded the Endeavour with the other Children of Amargosa to attend Duffy and Shrian’s wedding. While not officiating, her presence lent the ceremony weight and warmth, a quiet reminder of the battles they’d survived and the family they’d forged through fire.
Duffy accompanied Suicide on the mission to extract Tessa and Shaneese Dasarius, working closely with her throughout the operation. He ensured Goldeneye was in position to evacuate the team, timing the final jump and landing perfectly to allow Suicide to get everyone off the estate. Her apparent death during the final moments of the mission hit Duffy hard—she had been a guiding force since Amargosa, someone he trusted implicitly. He joined the others for the private wake in Davra’s ready room, raising a glass in silence to the woman who had led them all out of the fire more than once.
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Duffy’s first encounter with Tishla is fraught with misunderstanding—he nicknames her “Trixie” after she refuses to speak, unaware that the word is a vulgar slur in the Gelt Mother Tongue. The insult nearly derails trust between them, especially as Tishla is later revealed to be the widow of Lattus Kai and a potential political liability.
Despite the rocky start, Duffy gradually comes to respect Tishla as a fellow survivor of the occupation and a committed ally. He observes her willingness to risk herself for others, her ability to adapt in the face of grief, and her quiet strength during some of the resistance’s darkest moments.
By the time of the post-Liberation reunions and joint operations in the Helios System, Duffy views Tishla not just as an ally, but as an integral part of their found family—a circle of Children of Amargosa bound less by blood than by fire, loss, and perseverance. Duffy never questions her commitment—or her place at the center of whatever comes next.
Tishla participated in the mission to free Shrian. Though no longer Hanar’s First Citizen—having stepped down two years prior—Tishla remained a trusted Compact-allied contact to the Sovereign of the Realm, who relied on her to discreetly enforce His will beyond Realm borders. She arrived on Armaneya with the other Children of Amargosa, dressed (like Ellie Nardino) to distract during the rigged reaper game and carrying the Sovereign’s scepter, granting her full authority to mandate changes in Shrian’s indenture. Tishla later assisted in recovering the quantum entanglement device alongside her husband and Ellie Nardino. She attended Duffy and Shrian’s wedding aboard the Endeavour, and not long after, personally oversaw Duffy’s rejuvenation treatment on Aphrodite. Clinical, compassionate, and dryly amused, she welcomed Duffy to his new biological youth with a teasing warning to Shrian: “You’ve got your work cut out for you now.”
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During the Liberation of Amargosa, Duffy begins to form a sibling-like bond with Mitsuko. While closer to JT, Mitsuko grows fond of Duffy’s wit, competence, and loyalty in the field. She mentors him during their time on Hanar, sharpening his technical skills and helping refine his combat instincts. Their relationship evolves from mentor–apprentice into something more familial.
By the time of her wedding to King Edward, Mitsuko openly refers to both JT and Duffy as her “brothers”—a public and personal declaration that quietly affirms Duffy’s place within the extended found family of the Children of Amargosa. Duffy attends the wedding, seated prominently among the inner circle, a symbolic gesture of how far the former teenage saboteur from Lansdorp has come—and of how central he remains to the war-born family that grew around him.
On Hosh, Mitsuko is deployed on the ground with her special forces unit, backing up Eric Yuwono during the lead-up to the raid on Caro’s estate. Duffy operates in the tech role aboard the Goldeneye, feeding her team tactical surveillance overrides, building access coordination, and managing suppression systems. Their coordination is crisp and instinctive—Mitsuko never has to ask if the doors will open or the lights will fail when needed. Duffy ensures the environment bends to her team’s needs, and she returns the favor by keeping him out of the line of fire. It’s not dramatized. It’s just how they work.
During the Armaneya operation, Mitsuko used her royal status as a form of misdirection, presenting herself as harmless ceremonial nobility while quietly manipulating events in Duffy’s favor. When he made a catastrophic bet during the reaper game, she calmly stepped in and staked him with her personal funds—reminding everyone at the table just how dangerous she could be when underestimated. After Laral Raas’s defeat, it was Mitsuko who abducted him and arranged his discreet transfer to Hanar for interrogation by authorities less inclined to be lenient. She later joined the Endeavour’s jump mission to retrieve Compact Assembly delegates, serving as a composed and reassuring presence to panicking politicians unfamiliar with the chaos of experimental tech. Mitsuko attended Duffy and Shrian’s wedding aboard the Endeavour, offering warm congratulations—while quietly assessing Shrian as though she were evaluating a new co-conspirator.
Mitsuko Yamato fought alongside Duffy during the rescue of Tessa and Shaneese Dasarius, her presence adding royal authority—and considerable firepower—to the mission. When Duffy later organized an unsanctioned search for Suicide in the wreckage of the Keiko Matsumoto, Mitsuko joined without hesitation, technically as “humanitarian aid,” leveraging her status as a Foundation citizen to sidestep legal restrictions. Her armored support gave the mission weight, and her presence helped legitimize it once Davra retroactively approved and joined the operation. Duffy, as always, trusted her to have his back.
Though not directly involved in the warp program that sponsors Duffy’s studies, Burke frequently moves him between the Challenger and the Valles Marineris as needed—deploying him on missions that require a mix of technical brilliance and battlefield grit.
Burke respects Duffy’s ingenuity, quick decision-making, and hard-won experience from the resistance on Amargosa. However, she is often exasperated by his resistance-era instincts, improvisational style, and lack of regard for hierarchy. Their most significant clash occurs after Duffy’s unauthorized intervention in the Boston Cubist incident, when he commandeers a Cybercommand lab and reprograms combat spiders to neutralize a terrorist threat.
Rather than allow him to be prosecuted for multiple Compact-level felonies, Burke personally intervenes to have the charges dropped—using her authority as Regional Commander. She sharply reprimands him afterward, warning that while guerrilla tactics may have saved lives during wartime, core worlds like Earth require strict adherence to military and civilian law.
Despite their frequent clashes, Burke remains one of Duffy’s most powerful advocates. She sees in him the potential to become a critical figure in the Compact’s future—if he can learn, in her words, to “color inside the lines.”
As the senior-most officer aware of the entanglement drive’s existence and its implications, Burke authorized the reaper game operation to liberate Shrian and recover the technology, relying on Eric Yuwono and Duffy to handle the mission on the ground. After the rogue theft of the jump box, Burke backed Duffy’s continued involvement in the investigation, ultimately assigning him, Shrian, and Peter Lancaster to the Endeavour. Though typically reserved and blunt, Burke quietly trusted Duffy’s instincts and loyalty, seeing him as a stabilizing force on an unpredictable project. Her confidence in him only grew after the Yedevan encounter, and she later advocated for keeping the Endeavour‘s entanglement team together under Davra Andraste’s command.
- Quentin Austin:
Duffy’s relationship with Rear Admiral Quentin Austin has always been marked by a mix of distant respect and quiet intimidation. Though not directly under Austin’s command for most of his career, Duffy—like all of the Children of Amargosa—grew up in the long shadow of the man who led the failed first liberation attempt and later helped retake their homeworld. During the Jump operation, Duffy came into closer contact with Austin through shared reporting lines with Eileen Burke and Eric Yuwono, particularly as the strategic implications of the entanglement drive came into focus. While Austin largely left the day-to-day to Burke and Yuwono, he made his approval clear through action—supporting the reassignment of Duffy, Shrian, and Peter Lancaster to the Endeavour. Though not as personally close to Duffy as JT or Davra, Austin respected Duffy’s engineering discipline and quiet loyalty—and Duffy, in turn, viewed him as a living reminder of both the cost of failure and the courage to try again. - Peter Lancaster:
Peter Lancaster—known almost exclusively as “Tripod”—has been Duffy’s closest professional partner and longtime friend since their earliest days in the Navy’s warp program. The two share a deeply embedded rapport, forged through years of mutual respect, cutting sarcasm, and shared genius in propulsion and quantum systems. Tripod was at Duffy’s side during the fateful visit to Armaneya, where the two first encountered Shrian and were drawn into the covert mission to secure the entanglement drive. He provided both technical analysis and moral support throughout the operation, and his ability to mask his brilliance behind a barrage of lewd jokes and irreverent commentary helped deflect suspicion during the rigged reaper game. Lancaster later joined Duffy and Shrian aboard the Endeavour for extended testing of the box and accompanied them during the Yedevan contact. Equal parts comic relief and quantum savant, Tripod is one of the few people Duffy trusts implicitly—even when he’s being utterly insufferable.
Author’s Notes:
Duffy is based on an earlier character by the author named Charles Duffy. The original Duffy was around 40 years old and variously described as looking like a younger John Goodman or Danny McBride.
Appearances: The Children of Amargosa (Book), Second Wave, Storming Amargosa, “The Spiders of Boston,” Checkmate, Royal Orders, Another Way to Die, Suicide Gambit, Breaking Liberty, Jump, Davra's Endeavour, Suicide Solution