- Bick introducing himself to Malcolm Kelerchian(src)
Kevin Bick is the most recent director of the Terran Dominion Ghost Program. He is a round bulky man with a round shaved head. He speaks with a scratchy voice.[1]
According to Malcolm Kelerchian, Bick had little to no experience with ghosts when he was named Director (very shortly after the destruction of the Terran Confederacy) and believes more in keeping Emperor Arcturus Mengsk and other superiors happy than in protecting the Dominion.[1]
Biography[]
Following the Fall of Tarsonis, Kevin Bick became the new director of the Ghost Program. Bick met with Malcolm Kelerchian, the wrangler responsible for bringing in the "star recruit", Nova. Kelerchian asked Bick a few questions, including the fate of his predecessor, Ilsa Killiany. Bick implied that she had been terminated.[1]
A Special Student[]
- Bick welcomes Colin Phash to the Academy(src)
In 2500[2], Director Bick introduced a new recruit to the Ghost Academy, a young boy named Colin Phash, as he was considered special due to his quiet voice, a power which caused the zerg to ignore him. Bick tried to make him feel comfortable, telling him he would have happy memories. He also introduced him to Superintendent Angelini, a high-ranking ghost.
Bick fed Phash propaganda about the powers of a ghost, then he and Angelini subjected him to tests of psionics and endurance. In the mind-reading test, a number of marines were summoned and told to point their guns at Phash. Only one had loaded his rifle, and Phash had to point out which one did. Phash pointed at one of the marines, and the rest pulled their triggers. Phash had chosen correctly and so none of the rifles actually fired.
Bick examined Phash's test results, showing he had great telepathic control and endurance, but when Angelini said he was worried, Bick told him they just needed protocols to control Phash.
Bick and Angelini investigated the quiet voice by subjecting Phash to tests involving the zerg. Angelini noticed that Phash shifted his mental energy. Bick told him to stop Phash from using the ability. When Angelini did so, Phash ran to safety from the zerg, then initiated a new ability, astral projection, which Angelini pointed out. He and Bick agreed that more study of the ability was needed.[3]
The Team Initiative[]
Superintendent Sarco Angelini persuaded Kevin Bick to institute a team training program in order to improve the ghost training experience. Bick also made changes to generally make the Ghost Academy more pleasant. However, the changes were motivated by public relations against former senator Corbin Phash's anti-Academy propaganda.[4]
These changes were in force by 2501.[2]
Kevin Bick attended an airing of The Dominion and You in order to counter anti-Ghost Academy propaganda by former Senator Phash. Bick blamed the disaster at Maltair IV on the former senator, claiming that if he had given his son Colin to the Academy, the disaster wouldn't have occurred. He also countered Phash's claims that the Ghost Academy was the sort of thing the Terran Confederacy would have condoned by saying they were out of date and the new Ghost Academy did not experiment upon or otherwise abuse the students. He would go on to state that ghosts were needed to fight off aliens, saboteurs and UED threats.
In a meeting with Angelini, Bick insisted on assigning Colin Phash to a ghost team soon. This would make him more visible and thus help counter Corbin Phash's propaganda. Angelini disagreed, but the decision was up to Bick.
They also discussed a new student, Aal Cistler, son of Terran Dominion Treasury Ministry head Aldeo Cistler, who in turn was a close friend of Arcturus Mengsk. Aal had a PI of only 4.5, too low for the Academy, but Bick felt he had to ignore the rule in this case due to Aldeo's political power. Angelini and Bick both hoped Aal Cistler would wash out soon. In the meantime, Bick would assign Cistler to Gabriel Tosh's understrength Team Blue.
Cistler, a poor fit for the Academy, was caught dealing drugs to Lio Travski and so washed out. Instead of going to jail, he was simply returned to Korhal. Afterwards, Bick sent a memo to the Ghost Academy staff, informing them of Cistler's expulsion and Travski's (false) detox. He also issued a reminder that romantic liaisons were forbidden and an effort should be made to discourage ghost trainees to ignore their adolescent impulses.[4]
Media Manipulation[]
- Bick lets the media get to him.(src)
Cistler might have ceased training to become a ghost, but his 'haunting' of Bick continued. Cistler produced a video titled I Was Framed, which claimed that his expulsion was unjust, that the Academy had sponsored his drug dealing and that the Academy staff had played favorites. Bick had another interview with E.B. James to counter these claims, but was trapped within his own words by the newsman. By the end of the interview, James's silver tongue had made Bick look like an individual who had neglected Academy supervision procedures, or that there was some truth in Cistler's claims after all. Shaken by the experience, Bick ordered experimentation on Travski to cease and actual detox to begin.
Not long after the debacle, Cistler returned to the academy, with senators and the media behind him. With the charges against Cistler lacking sufficient credibility, Bick and Angelini were forced to re-admit Cistler to the Academy, who chose to become part of Team Red. To make matters worse for the director, Aldeo Cistler intended to review the Academy's finance records, along with Bick's personal ones. Coupled with Phash's continued anti-Academy propaganda, Bick was left to wonder why Mengsk was letting such scrutiny go unchecked. At the least, progress was being made with Colin Phash and his astral projection abilities and Travski had returned to Team Blue as a useful member. As an urban combat exercise showed, Travski's detox had paid off and Cistler could be brought to heel. After the exercise, Bick combined both teams into a single unit and informed them of an upcoming exercise on the fifth planet of the Baker's Dozen.
A few weeks later, Bick appeared on The Dominion and You for the third time. The occasion marked Mengsk's first anniversary of becoming emperor, and the children of the Old Families were discussed.[5]
Teams Blue and Red were combined into Team Purple. When assigning the mission, Bick confused the target of the mission (the fifth planet of The Baker's Dozen with the fourth one).
Bick was informed that the ghostmaster general was being dispatched to the Academy to evaluate Colin Phash and take him away. Both Bick and Angelini were unhappy about this development, believing Phash to be too young to leave the Academy, and they wanted to further explore his unique power.
Phash found out about this and decided to hide. When Angelini told Bick about this, Bick shouted that Angelini was an "idiot". Angelini took charge of the search and found Phash for him.
The ghostmaster general arrived. Angelini and Kevin Bick set up a test using holograms. Phash would use his astral projection ability to find them. However, he failed, and an angry ghostmaster stormed out, saying he would tell Emperor Mengsk about this. (Phash had lied about the location of the holograms and came to that decision by himself, as he didn't want to go with the general. Bick was unaware of this.)
Bick was worried by Mengsk's reaction, but when Mengsk contacted him, he was more interested in the details of the trip to The Baker's Dozen—the ghost trainees had gone to Shi and rescued four Old Family heirs, but had taken casualties. Mengsk ordered Bick to memory wipe the trainees (about their Shi experience) and hand over the Old Family heirs to the marines. Bick happily complied. However, Tosh wasn't wiped due to his injuries.[6]
The End of Training[]
Kevin Bick issued Nova with her hostile environment suit shortly before her final training mission.[1]
References[]
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