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| - Horace Harkness is a fictional character in the Honorverse. The weathered-looking, middle-aged chief petty officer in the Royal Manticoran Navy has a habit of picking bar fights with Marines; the latter regard this as a compliment, making the correct assumption that he is looking for sufficiently tough opposition. Officially, he's a gunner's mate; unofficially, he's an expert smuggler and computer hacker. Although he cut back on his illegal activities after Commander Honor Harrington took command of the HMS Fearless, he continued to use his skills to choose his own assignments.
- Harkness was born in the Star Kingdom of Manticore and enlisted in the Royal Navy in 1865 PD / 260 AL. In 1900 PD, he held the rank of Petty Officer and was assigned to the light cruiser HMS Fearless for its mission in the Basilisk System. At that point in his career, Harkness had been up for a promotion to Chief Petty Officer twelve times, but kept getting in trouble for fighting with Marines and smuggling. Ironically, this made him perfect for a special team assembled by Chief Petty Officer Sally MacBride on Commander Honor Harrington's orders, to inspect cargo ships passing through the system and enforce customs regulations more stringently than any previous Naval crew had bothered to. Harkness was notionally under the command of Ensign Prescott Tremaine, the beginning of what would bec
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| abstract
| - Horace Harkness is a fictional character in the Honorverse. The weathered-looking, middle-aged chief petty officer in the Royal Manticoran Navy has a habit of picking bar fights with Marines; the latter regard this as a compliment, making the correct assumption that he is looking for sufficiently tough opposition. Officially, he's a gunner's mate; unofficially, he's an expert smuggler and computer hacker. Although he cut back on his illegal activities after Commander Honor Harrington took command of the HMS Fearless, he continued to use his skills to choose his own assignments. When the ship he was on was captured by the People's Republic of Haven (commonly called "The Peeps"), Horace feigned defection and joined the Havenite Navy. Since Havenite technology was far inferior to Manticore's, he was easily able to subvert the system and engineered a breakout, rescuing his captain from execution, as well as his crewmates and (ironically) a Havenite Citizen-Captain from indefinite banishment on a prison planet officially called Hades, but best known as Hell. For this, he received the Parliamentary Medal of Valor as well as a knighthood. He is at least as tough as he looks but he also has a softer side: he mentored pilot Scotty Tremaine and young technician Aubrey Wanderman and eventually married Iris Babcock, a Marine. He remains attached to Scotty and has hacked the Bureau of Personnel database multiple times to remain in a post close to Scotty.
- Harkness was born in the Star Kingdom of Manticore and enlisted in the Royal Navy in 1865 PD / 260 AL. In 1900 PD, he held the rank of Petty Officer and was assigned to the light cruiser HMS Fearless for its mission in the Basilisk System. At that point in his career, Harkness had been up for a promotion to Chief Petty Officer twelve times, but kept getting in trouble for fighting with Marines and smuggling. Ironically, this made him perfect for a special team assembled by Chief Petty Officer Sally MacBride on Commander Honor Harrington's orders, to inspect cargo ships passing through the system and enforce customs regulations more stringently than any previous Naval crew had bothered to. Harkness was notionally under the command of Ensign Prescott Tremaine, the beginning of what would become a long and somewhat legendary partnership. Harkness's sharp eye uncovered a high number of smugglers' dodges, and Tremaine quickly learned to rely on his judgment. During the First Battle of Basilisk, Harkness was a part of the team organized by MacBride to go to Missile Room Two; after MacBride was injured, he took command. He and his team were in Missile One when Missile Two was hit by an enemy missile, so he led the team back to engineering.(HH1) In 1903 PD, Chief Harkness was assigned to the new HMS Fearless (CA-286). Tremaine, now a Lieutenant, recommended to Ensign Carolyn Wolcott that if she needed advice from someone other than an officer, that she should go to Harkness. It was later revealed to Honor Harrington that he had married Iris Babcock. (HH2, HH6) Wherever Tremaine went, Harkness would inevitably be assigned to the same ship. What the Bureau of Personnel did not realize was that Harkness had hacked their records. He and Tremaine were referred to by Admiral Harrington as the "Dreadful Duo". Later they were also refered as "Beauty and the Beast." In 1911 PD, Harkness was among those crewmembers under Commodore Harrington's command who were captured by the People's Navy. Cordelia Ransom wanted to use this capture as a propaganda weapon and personally took Harrington to her scheduled execution on the prison planet Hades. However, Harkness, acting like he was a defector, earned the trust of some crewmembers of the battlecruiser PNS Tepes and was able to stage a "prison break" which resulted in the Manticorans' escape and the complete destruction of the Tepes. (HH7) Harkness then made it to the surface of Hades with the rest of the escapees and helped Harrington in her campaign to overthrow the StateSec forces guarding the planetary prison. (HH8) After the survivors had safely returned to Manticore, Harkness was rewarded with promotion to Chief Warrant Officer as well as the Parliamentary Medal of Valor and a knighthood. His actions aboard Tepes were widely publicized, making him a public hero. (HH9) He was then assigned to the LAC wing of HMS Hydra. Later, in HMS Werewolf, he served as senior LAC flight engineer even though the position actually called for a Lieutenant Commander. (HH9, HH10)
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