Roderick Simmons

Not much is known of Roderick Simmons' life before he helped found the Ascendency, but his life since has been well documented.
Roughly 227 years after the Great Burn, Teresa Garner and a number of other "Pre-Burns" left the ashes of Stockholm, Sweden and took to searching for any other human civilizations. Their group, numbering around fifty members, combed through the ruins and surrounding areas of all the great former cities. Promising care and aid, the Pre-Burns brought all of humanity out of the shadows and provided proper food, shelter, and health care. It is unknown exactly how many humans had lived prior to the Great Burn, but all there was nearly 500 million people when the search was called off.
During the period that Teresa was leading the Pre-Burns and the remnants, it fell to Roderick Simmons to organize and execute the search for survivors. This was a time of great uncertainty and strife; most of humanity was starving and lost without purpose and many fell upon the rescuers in desperation. Roderick was able to handle these desperate situations with a minimal loss of life.
After the survivors had been assembled and brought near Stockholm, Roderick was in charge of training them in the use of the technology and military tactics. Even though the vast majority of humanity had recovered, there were still some small pockets who refused to join the forming Ascendency. Although not the most peaceful of transitions, Roderick was credited with making it as bloodless as possible.
Together, with the remaining Pre-Burns, Teresa and Roderick led humanity into founding the Ascendency where he was promptly promoted to lead the military, eventually gaining the rank of Admiral. It was at this time that the Truth Seekers came about, and Roderick spoke sympathetically about their perceived grievances but resolutely denied that their fears were founded. As he was revered on both sides, he became the natural choice as a go between for the Ascendency and the Seekers.
Although the first meetings went well, little progress had been made. Roderick continued to speak with the High Council and was able to convince them to allow the Seekers access to some of the ruins to search for more records. As Roderick and his aides entered the meeting site, a group of militant Seekers ambushed the peace summit and killed all save Roderick, who was grievously injured. Crippled and in a coma, he could do little to dissuade the population from turning against the other, more peaceful members of the Seekers.
Upon waking, Roderick learned of the situation, but in his condition could not do much to stop the infighting. It would be years, before he could walk again, and years more before he was able to speak to the public again. By this point the Seekers had been dispersed and a relative peace settled on Earth. He was promoted to Grand Admiral and made a permanent member of the High Council. His failing health prevented him from continuing in a more active role in the military, but his words and opinions still carried great weight.
In 409, tragedy once again struck for Roderick as an accident claimed the lives of his sister and brother-in-law, leaving their four year old daughter, Alexis Walsh, as the only survivor. He took her in, but was unable to fully care for the child due to his health. Despite this, he did his best to take care of her, train her, and bring her up in the military life he knew so well. When she graduated from the Academy, he was the one who presided over the event, the first time he had done that since the Seeker Rebellion.
Although against the decision to promote Alexis to Vice Admiral and leader of the first Vanguard fleet, he respected her decision and backed her all the way. It is widely assumed that Roderick will step down shortly after the 400th year celebration of the Ascendency due to his failing health. Although younger than Teresa, and widely seen as her successor, he never fully recovered from the injuries sustained from the ambush. As with the commencement for Alexis, he has requested to be on hand for the launching ceremony of Project Vanguard.

Year of Birth

298 PB 725 Years old