Andrew Tremont

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Andrew "Bad Andy" Tremont was the Commander of the Faithful of the Righteous Army of the Christian Federation, a breakaway faction during the 3rd Civil War.

Background

Andrew Tremont grew up like many other youngsters did, on the suburban planet of New Paris, resting comfortably in the shadow of Avalon. His parents were avid churchgoers and drilled into him the precepts of the Reorganized Orthodox Baptist Church, an ultra-conservative break-off of the Right Baptists who, for all their opinions that bent right of Attila the Hun, were too liberal for the Orthodox Baptists. His parents had lost everything during the 2nd Civil War and, hoping for a better life, immigrated to Van Diemen, a humid tropical planet. His mother couldn't take the new environment and died of a mutated malaria strain two years later. From the age of ten to eighteen, he was raised by his father who, between mourning for his wife and beating "discipline" into his son, wasn't very loving. The young man vowed never to be as weak as his dad.

Forced into Christian private schools and attending every function of the local Orthodox Baptist church, Andy could find little escape from his father. Finally, he threw himself fully into the one option available to him: Tremont became the perfect church kid. He attended every youth rally, volunteered for every possible church project, and became quickly known as an effective and charismatic youth leader. He maneuvered himself into the denomination's hierarchy, and by the time he graduated high school, he was administering the church's youth effort throughout the Earth Federation.

He didn't bother with college but threw himself completely into seizing power inside the church. By the age of twenty, he was charge of missions. By 22, chief of staff to the Moderator. In order to quell the petty factions inside the church, he married the frail little daughter of one of the regional directors, one of the faction leaders. At 25, he was elected Moderator of the Reorganized Orthodox Baptist Church. Under his leadership, the church flourished like never before. After his one-year term, he was unprecedentedly reelected... twice!

However, at the age of 28, in firm control of the Reorganized Baptists, he needed something more than the church could give him. He allowed himself to be elected to a lesser position (Stated Clerk), but there was no doubt who was running the show. From his post, he sought out membership in a rather understated group called the Fellowship of Right Christian Evangelicals (FORCE). This was a group of many different denominational leaders who (unsuccessfully) tried to gain political power in the Federation in order to impose their ultra-conservative agenda. Once he joined, Andrew quickly formed the Military-Revolutionary Committee, and gathered like-minded church leaders who believed in the need for direct action. Through quiet invitation, Tremont collected a small group of ex-TI, Colonial Marines, pirates, and reformed mercenaries into what he called the Praenonen. This group conducted terrorist attacks on Fed bases and was soon fanatically devoted to Tremont.

By 34, he was leading FORCE, while still maintaining his power base in the Orthodox Church. He expanded the Praenonen to 500 members, planting many in rival sects to check his political opponents. Tremont also started a series of youth camps, discreetly formed for the purpose of training these Christian kids into soldiers, all necessary for Andy's future plans. In the end, he had indirect control over 40 separate denominations, and a potential recruit population of several million. He also capitalized on the Anti-Awakened movement to gather more people to his camp.

3rd Civil War

In 2242, when Andrew was 37, he realized the full potential of what the Daughter's War would bring. His plans were accelerated and expanded, so when the TI coup failed, Tremont made his move. After assassinating all dissenting leaders in FORCE, he activated the "Righteous Army", determined to take back the galaxy for Christ. Recruiting the same kids they had trained to be soldiers, he staffed the officer corps with his Praenonen, leaving himself only a small knot of them as his personal bodyguard. Reorganizing FORCE into his rubber-stamp "Christian Elder Assembly," the Righteous Army proceeded to seize control of several systems. On his 38th birthday, Tremont proclaimed himself Commander of the Faithful and took personal command of his forces, just as the 3rd Civil War was beginning.

The Righteous Army, although possessing incredibly high morale, good officers, and trained troops, had little money and virtually no fleet. They seized freighters to convert into troop carriers, in order to land their overwhelming numbers on a planet's surface. Bad Andy's military strategy left much to be desired. He simply tried to seize every system in his path, rather than focusing on the most important ones, thanks to his lust for power and control. Tremont rose to the height of his power when the Righteous Army captured the Fleet shipyards at Phoenix. For a little while, it looked like they were going to be able to start cranking out ships and expand the Christian Federation. The Phoenix yards, however, were sabotaged and badly damaged by Xinjao O'Reilly before he and his Earth Fleet engineers escaped. Short thereafter, a TI sleeper agent within the Righteous Army, Alastar Dimiye, destroyed the Righteous Army's experimental space-capable power suit program. With little left to fight with, the Christian Federation maintained a purely defensive strategy until the end of the war, when the Earth Fleet used their superior numbers and firepower to take back the Christian systems one by one.

The Battle of San Angeles, the capital of the Christian Federation, was simply a slaughter, as the Righteous Army was destroyed by the armored troopers of the Tech Infantry. It was rumored that Bad Andy took his own life rather than surrender; it was also rumored that Carlton Reks, leader of the Righteous Army, ran off with Andy's family (his wife Constance and their kids) and headed for the rim. Neither rumor was ever officially confirmed or denied by the Federation.

Return Under the Empire

During the dark days of the Ascension War, the Red Spring saw pro-Imperial demonstrations, riots, and uprisings across many worlds of the rump Federation of Joseph Smythe. Among those worlds that rose in support of the Empire were the old Christian Federation heartland of San Angeles, Arnheim, and Beowulf. Many former Reorganized Orthodox Baptist Church members, sick of two decades of persecution by the Federation under Clarke, as well as other disaffected groups, saw the Cult of the Emperor and the Holy Terran Empire as a means to an end, their best shot at getting out from under the Federation jackboot. Into this bloodbath of religious persecution and martyrdom, Andrew Tremont made his triumpahant return from hiding.

Declaring that Vin Dane was the long-awaited second coming of Jesus Christ, Tremont gave theological cover for his former followers as well as large numbers of people from other broadly-Christian denominations to embrace the new Imperial Cult and the political allegiance that went with it. When the Empire won the Ascension War at last, Tremont was rewarded for his services by being granted his original 3-system Christian Federation as a fief, and became the founder of House Tremont. As Duke of San Angeles and Warden of the Northern Marches, Tremont is responsible for three planetary systems and Imperial defenses along the isolated Northern frontier.

Behind the Scenes

"Bad Andy" was a monkey-like puppet used in Pizza Hut commercials popular at the time TI Season 4.3 was played. Tremont is the name of a town in Illinois between Bloomington-Normal and Peoria, near where the players Josh and Andy Wooden lived. His Actor Avatar is Marc Singer. The term "Righteous Army" comes from the name for the independent Korean army that fought for its independence from Japan. Their style of battle is similiar to that used by the Chinese People's Liberation Army against the United Nations during the Korean War.