Rodge McCaffrey

Rodge McCaffrey
by Jill Andersen
Titles	Callsign: Rigmarole
Aliases	Rig
Skills	Ship repair
Profession	Engineer, DDF pilots (formerly)
Groups	Engineering Corps
Homeworld	Detritus
Universe	Cytoverse

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Rodge McCaffrey (Rig, callsign: Rigmarole) is a childhood friend of Spensa who is accepted into DDF Flight School with her. He drops out after their first battle, pursuing the Engineering Corps and getting a job there.

Appearance and Personality

Rig is described as lanky and has red hair. He is often self-conscious, but through the designs he receives so much praise for at the Engineering Corps, he becomes much more confident. Rig is very smart, and is good with machinery.

History

Flight School

Rig has known Spensa for a very long time. They studied for their Flight School entrance exam together and Rig received a perfect score. He trains with Spensa at the flight school, but their flight is called into battle after only a short amount of training. In the course of the battle his ship gets struck by a Krell destructor blast, though his shield holds and he makes it out of the battle unscathed. The next day he drops out of the program, realizing that it has only ever been Spensa's dream.

Repairing M-Bot

Rig received multiple offers for jobs after dropping out, then Spensa showed him M-Bot, a crashed, high-tech fighter which she found in a cave. Rig was very excited, wanting to help repair it. Because of this, he decides to accept a job with the Engineering Corps to acquire the parts and knowledge he will need to fix M-Bot. As he learned more and more during his training as an engineer, he was able to help repair M-Bot bit by bit. He managed to get most of the necessary supplies through his job with the Engineering Corps, though lacked a few items, mainly a booster. Rodge wanted to share the designs some of M-Bot’s features, though many of his features were too complicated for him to understand and explain. Some of the features he managed to explain to his superiors, which quickly granted him favor and respect there. When Spensa managed to get a booster from the wreckage of Hurl’s ship, which allowed Rodge to finish repairing M-Bot.

Experiments with the Taynix

Along with Jorgen and FM, Rig is assigned to help with the investigation of how to use the taynix as hyperdrives, after Jorgen finds a colony of them in the caverns of Detritus. He worked on the more technical side of the experiments, and created a metal box made of the same material as the one that they found inside M-Bot.

Later Rig was working in the Platform Prime control room, trying to find where the FTL communicator is located. He subtly tried to get her to leave, and FM asked him what he had against her. Rig admitted that he liked her, and they awkwardly changed the subject. They found the FTL communicator, a metal box like the one in M-Bot’s ship, and they realized that if they put a taynix in it, they could use it for hyperspeed communication.

Rig heped devise an experiment for Jorgen, and he tries to teleport using a slug in the metal box. Jorgen tried to teleport using a ship, and Rig monitored the experiment from Platform Prime. When the Superiority was alerted to Jorgen’s cytonic abilities and they moved into position for bombardment, and Jorgen told Rig that he’d be in a fighter with FM. He told Rig that they’d be attacking the planetary cannon, and would need someone with mechanical knowledge to know how to best destroy it once she got up there. He was reluctant to go back into combat again, but Skyward Flight was glad to have him back even for a short time. Him and FM flew up to the battle, listening to FM’s music as they went.

After Jorgen teleported their ship up close to the Superiority main battleship, Rig analyzed the cannon and decided it was heavily protected. He told FM to target the controls, which were less shielded. They were soon swarmed by Krell however and forced to retreat. Cobb called the retreat as the cannon began firing at Detritus, but the Engineering Corps managed to get the planetary shield up to block the shots. Skyward Flight regrouped a ways away while Command figured out a plan, and gave the taynix time to recover.

Rig and FM cuddled with the slugs in FM’s ship while listening to music. They held hands, enjoying each other’s company and talking, and FM told Rig that she is interested in him. Once the slugs had relaxed, Skyward Flight and a few other ships touched wings, and Jorgen teleported them inside the shield.

After they landed on Platform Prime, Rig went to meet with the Engineering Corps and afterward informed FM that they were going to try using Fine to make the FTL communicator work. As they walked to the command room, Rig and FM discussed what they feared most, and FM admitted that she’s afraid of dying in battle and ceasing to exist. They discussed their days in flight school as well as the taynix, and the topic turned to their experiments. Rig proposed that they try different experiments, and him and FM kissed briefly.

FM and Rig worked on an experiment in the engineering bay, trying to teach the taynix to teleport to a familiar place. They showed Chubs some caviar in a box, calling it “home”. FM put Chubs in a separate box and told him to go to “home”. Though he doesn’t initially, he eventually teleports into the box. They tried the same experiment with two more slugs, with varying results. They headed to the command room on Platform Prime, where Fine had been loaded into the communicator. Cobb called Cuna, who responded. Rig listened as Cuna requested help, saying that they’re being besieged by twenty Krell fighters at the station of Sunreach. Cobb ordered Skyward Flight to depart immediately, and Rig said goodbye to FM as she left, fearing for her safety.

After Skyward Flight returned with Cuna and their staff, Rig had a joyful reunion with FM. They talked a bit, then kissed.

Relationships

“You will not tell her I said those things. She probably doesn’t even remember who I am....Does she? ”

—Rodge talking to Spensa after admitting he likes FM

Rodge has a crush on FM and thinks she is smart, cute, and has nice eyes. Spensa, while playing matchmaker, asks FM about her dating preferences to see whether she would be interested in someone like Rodge, although her attempts to find out information do not go very far.

During Rodge, FM, and Jorgen’s experiments on the Taynix, Rodge is quiet around FM, leading her to assume that he disliked her and was ignoring her. Later FM runs into Rodge while he’s working on Detritus’ shields, and he admits that he likes FM. FM, who feels the same way, awkwardly says she doesn’t know who she likes and changes the subject. Later on when the two of them are in a starfighter together, FM confesses that she shares Rodge’s feelings, and they grow more confortable and open around each other.

Trivia

• Rodge’s last name is a nod to Anne McCaffrey, the writer of The White Dragon

Notes

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