Myra Aperlae (D5)

 Myra Aperlae '''is a character who first appears in Wes Imlay’s Ride of the Valkyrie. She later makes an appearance in the alternate universe story The Stryker Chronicles.

Early Life
Myra was born on Caprica to a wealthy and influential family. Her father, Joshua Aperlae, was on the board of directors for Wilkins Heavy Industries which at the time was a major player in the world of Colonial defence procurement. As such Myra was used to having the best in life. She attended the prestigious Athena Academy and was popular with students and teachers who, like herself, were considered to be in the upper echelons of Caprican society. By the same token she was known for her distaste of those who she considered to be below her and her family.

In his position as Head of the Caprican Division of Wilkins Heavy Industries, Joshua Aperlae became personally associated with Admiral Peter Corman who was quickly rising through the ranks and was tipped as becoming the next Colonial Fleet Chief of Staff. This relationship ensured that Wilkins Heavy Industries won several high profile contracts including buying in on the Jupiter-class Battlestar project. It also meant that when Myra chose to begin a career within the military she had the sponsorship of one of the highest ranking officers in the fleet.

Military Career
Myra was hardly the best cadet to enter the Abry Military Academy but the sponsorship of Corman ensured that any shortfall on her part was quickly brushed aside thus her graduation was almost insured from the start. Upon completion of her training she was assigned to the Battlestar Cerberus to fulfill the role of Tactical Officer.

Her early career was watched over rather closely by Corman who didn’t want her to ruin his name. This ‘public secret’ earned her few friends aboard the Cerberus but those she did make suddenly found themselves under the protective umbrella of Corman’s influence.

Nevertheless, Myra was proving difficult to keep under control. On more than one occasion she used her influence to threaten several senior officers. Corman was put under increasing pressure by Joshua Aperlae to protect his daughter after Corman accepted a bribe from Aperlae to insist that Wilkins Heavy Industries get the contract to develop a new landing craft for the Colonial Marines. Knowing he couldn’t trust Myra to act properly on her own Corman decided to make her his aide and thus keep her close.

Things were about to take a turn for the worse for Myra however when Joshua Aperlae’s back street dealings were revealed by an internal investigation within his company. The president of Wilkins Heavy Industries terminated Joshua’s employment before the results of the investigation became public and thus Myra lost her pull over Corman.

Nevertheless he kept her close for fear of her testifying to his accepting of a bribe from her father but he continued to look for a way to get rid of her.

Heroine of the Colonies
He got his opportunity when the Sagittaron Liberation Army (SLA) kidnapped President Adar’s sister and niece. For Corman, the incident was a golden opportunity and he quickly seized upon it. He organized a two pronged approach to the matter. The first was an operation lead by Scott Tolan to establish where the hostages were being held via the Commander’s criminal background. The second involved a mission lead by Myra.

The result was devastating. During the final assault on the SLA base where the hostages were being held she ordered that the tenth fleet bomb the base while several members of Tolan’s team were still inside. The result was the apparent death of Marcellus Britt and Galit Malka who were still inside at the time.

Although hardly a success story Corman put such a spin on what happened that she was portrayed as a true heroine of the Colonies and her career began to sky rocket. By the time of The Fall she was a full Colonel within the fleet.

Her fate following ‘The Fall’ is currently unclear.

The Stryker Chronicles
Myra Aperlae reappeared in the alternate universe story The Stryker Chronicles as the Executive Officer of the Titan-class Battlestar Stryker. By this point she was involved in a serious relationship with Rajesh Suman, a subordinate officer. Although her fame as a heroine of the colonies was still intact her ruthlessness had earned her many enemies including Scott Tolan (now a Rear-Admiral) and Commander Artimus Bowman of the Battlestar Hermes.