You'll be running up against some very dastardly types in the air, you should learn who to trust and who to watch out for. Of course you'll have to do that on your own, all we can do is make introductions.

	Perhaps the most enigmatic figured in modern aviation is "The Black Swan," a pirate currently operating in and around the Empire State. The Swan (real name unknown) is a woman of mystery, indeed of many mysteries. Flyers in all corners of North America seem to revel in tall tales about this beautiful pirate, most wildly contradictory and often outrageous. The Swan seems to be aware of each of these stories, and in fact seems to go out of her way to acknowledge all of them as truth. The fact remains: no one knows where she was born, what her real name is, or even her nationality. After forming her own band four years ago, the Black Swan has systematically staged raids in the People's Collective, the Industrial States of America, Dixie and the Republic of Texas. As a privateer, the Swan mostly preys on Dixie and ISA shipping. She's been so successful in fact, that the price on her head now tops $10,000.
	Charlotte "Charlie" Steele is the founder and leader of the famed Hollywood Knights squadron. The daughter of film mogul Edward Steele and his wife Lena, Charlie was exposed to the glitz and glamour of the entertainment industry from a very early age. Most who knew her back then regarded her as a purely social creature, a beautiful partygoer and socialite with all the benefits that wealth could provide. This changed after the collapse of the United States. Charlie -- out for an afternoon flight aboard a friend's private plane -- came face to face with death. The plane developed engine trouble, which the inexperienced pilot could not correct. Panicking, the pilot grabbed the only parachute and jumped, abandoning her to her fate. Incredibly, Charlie managed to land the plane without injury. As a result, she became completely enthralled with aviation.
	A native of southern Kansas, Aaron Whittaker's home, wife, and dreams were snuffed out in one drought filled summer's day by merciless Texas Rangers. Using an old underpowered crop duster, Whittaker launched a one-man vendetta against his enemies. Not long after, he found himself befriended by ex-Ranger turned mercenary and pirate "Marshal" Bill Redmann. However, Whittaker soon realized that Redmann's idea of justice was worse than the atrocities that had been inflicted on his home and family. One of the few pilots to quit Redmann's band and live, Whittaker flew north and eventually landed himself a mechanics job with the People's Collective. He soon worked his way into the pilots seat once again and quickly earned a reputation as a talented pilot, earning the nickname "Easter" because he had shown "more surprises than a child's Easter basket".
	The infamous leader of the Red Skull Legion pirate gang, Jonathan Kahn has a well-deserved reputation for debauchery and barbarism. A Wall Street broker who lost everything in the market crash of 1929, Kahn became a pirate to finance his rather extravagant and sordid lifestyle. Kahn is a boozer, brawler, womanizer, scoundrel, liar, cheat, and murderer, with a taste for any number of vices. Kahn typically attacks only soft but valuable targets. He is surprisingly far ranging for a pirate, striking into virtually every nation in North America. "Genghis" Kahn's primary advantage is his unpredictability. He typically plans missions and raids off-the-cuff, counting on the element of surprise. In addition, he has excellent analytical skills and has an uncanny talent for sniffing out ambushes, along with his predilection for mayhem and capacity for bloodshed.
	Bill Redmann's early life indicated he would one day be a moral, well-educated and honorable man. The son of a prominent Dallas judge and scion of one of a well-respected family, Redmann excelled in his studies and was a fair athlete and in general gave everyone in Dallas no reason to doubt he would one day be a prominent lawyer or businessman. Instead, Redmann is one of the most hated and feared pirates in Texas. After high school, Redmann attended Princeton. After Texas seceded from the Union, Redmann quit college and returned home. After a year he joined the Texas Rangers air militia. After being dishonorable discharged, and ruthlessly killing his former flight instructor, Redmann became the most wanted criminal sought by the Texas Rangers. He has killed twenty-three pilots in combat, shooting down thirteen against the Rangers alone.
	Beauregard "Rapier" Travis is the most-decorated pilot in the Confederation of Dixie, the recipient of two Southern Stars for Valor. Travis was born in 1910, the oldest son of Great War hero Achilles Travis. Beauregard learned to fly just after his fourteenth birthday; his indulgent father bought him a Curtiss Sparrowhawk for his sixteenth birthday. Following the Crash of '29 and the secession of the Southern states to form the Dixie Confederacy, Travis quit Emory University and traveled west, hoping to join Dixie's fight against the Republic of Texas. Initially based in Shreveport, Louisiana before that state's departure from the Confederacy, Travis was the first in his squadron to make ace, earning the respect of most of his fellow flyers. At 27, Travis has been made a full colonel in the Confederate military, and is well known and respected in Atlanta's social circles. His mix of high profile daring and modesty has earned him a host of admirers and flatterers.
	Loyle Crawford, the nephew of Madison Avenue veteran Bryce Crawford, entered the elite of Empire State society at a young age. The Crawfords - one of the wealthier families in New York City - were early success stories in the publishing and advertising markets. Loyle eventually attended Yale and upon graduation spent a year involved in the family business. In his late 20s signed up for a tour of duty with the Empire State's militia. Because of his family's prominence, Crawford was accepted directly into the Broadway Bombers, the best pilots the Empire State could field. Loyle proved to be a natural pilot, and despite the occasional dressing-down from flight instructors for violating the occasional safety rule, Loyle eventually became a valued addition to the Bombers' flight roster. Loyle's performance earned him the nickname "Show Stopper" (for his combat style - fast, ruthless, efficient, and effective).
	As a Hopi, Soloho Salawa belongs to one of the tribes that form the backbone of the Navajo Nation. He was born in Phoenix, in the old state of Arizona, and lived both on and off Native lands during his early years. Fascinated with mechanized flight, he scratched out a living in air shows. During this time he took the name Soloho, Hopi for "the sound made by a bird's wing during flight." A simpler translation, from the Salawa perspective, is "whistling arrow." Soloho moved back to Native lands when the Navajo Nation formed, trading off his crop-duster-turned-stunt-plane for a beat-up Lightning. As the Navajo Nation clamped down on outside efforts to "subjugate or destroy the People with its poisoning drink" Soloho led the defense along the southwest border against Mexican smugglers and pirate bands. Salawa is a deeply committed warrior, taking his responsibilities as a protector of his people very seriously. In combat, Salawa combines the fatalism of the Navajo warrior with the grace, calm and style of a Hollywood Knight.