Leo Stenbuck

"It's the runner, not the frame, that makes the difference."

Years of active military service and the 'death' of Rei Ayanami have done a great deal towards making Leo Stenbuck the adult he was once so insistent he was. Originally from the space colony Antilia, in the Jupiter Sphere, Leo Stenbuck was pulled into the wars raging through the Earth Sphere when the Martian military BAHRAM attacked his home in order to reclaim two Orbital Frames that had been seized by the EFA. Although one, Anubis, was successfully captured, Leo ended up piloting the other, Jehuty, out of the colony, battling through hordes of BAHRAM forces and several veteran pilots, all without any prior experience. He successfully rendezvoused with EFA forces outside of the colony and immediately enlisted into the EFA as a pilot at the tender age of 14, only allowed thanks to his special circumstances. Since his arrival in the Earth Sphere in mid NCA 118, Leo has become a highly decorated combat pilot, and has been fast-tracked upwards through the ranks of the Federation military, in large part thanks to his close relationships with Paptimus Scirocco and a few more mysterious benefactors.

Background Information
Ever since Leo was born, no one has wanted him. The result of an accidental pregnancy by a young married couple, both of whom had immigrated to Antilia when they were young, Leo's formative years were much the same as anyone's. He did, however, spend much of his time with a babysitter, as both of his parents worked full-time; he only saw either of them a little each day, and he almost never saw them both at the same time.

When Leo was 10, he and his parents had a rare family meal together... at which they broke the news that they were getting a divorce. After some half-hearted assurance that it was not his fault, they proceeded to have a loud and lengthy argument over his custody; not over who GOT to keep him, but over who had to.

Leo's father lost, and his mother moved out; Leo never saw her again. The memory of the argument, and the concept that he was an unwanted burden, drove Leo to introversion, and he would spend much of the rest of his time on Antilia friendless and alone.

The trend of being unwanted continued in his school and social lives. His lack of motivation and interest in school subjects, crowned by a lack of any real academic potential, led every teacher he had to give up on him and allow him to coast through school a C student.

When he was 13, he finally fell in with a group of friends from school. Much to his chagrin, however, they only kept him around to bully and tease him. There was one exception, however; a girl named Celvice, the first person to show Leo genuine kindness, and they formed an awkward, tentative friendship

In early NCA 118, Leo's life was thrown into chaos when BAHRAM attacked Antilia in search of the Orbital Frame Jehuty. After witnessing all of his friends except Celvice being crushed under a falling Phantoma LEV, Leo fled into a nearby warehouse, pursued by an unmanned Raptor Orbital Frame.

In his attempts to hide, he literally fell into the cockpit of BAHRAM's target, Jehuty, and at the prodding of the Frame's onboard AI, A.D.A., and later the Co-Captain of the EFA Atlantis, Elena Weinberg, Leo piloted Jehuty in defense of Antilia and with the goal of crossing the station and boarding the Atlantis to flee.

Despite having never so much as played a giant robot video game, Leo tore a path through the primarily unmanned BAHRAM forces, and even defeated several officers of BAHRAM flying manned Class C Frames. Along the way, he managed to save an impressive number of Antilian residents, including Celvice, despite being massively outnumbered.

His path of victory stopped when he encountered, only minutes away from the Atlantis, Jehuty's sister frame Anubis, piloted by Colonel Nohman of BAHRAM. Despite being thoroughly beaten without so much as scratching the paint on Anubis, Leo managed to escape thanks to fire support from the Atlantis, and the Frame and ship escaped the pursuing BAHRAM forces and began their journey back to Earth, where they would arrive in early July, NCA 118.

Logs
2009-01-?? - Quality Bonding Moment - Yazan Gable punishes Leo Stenbuck for disobeying his order to shoot down a distracted Camille Bidan.

2009-09-27 - VI: Ramiel - Countdown to Third Impact: 12

2010-02-21 - Suck Under and Drown Slow - Betrayal. Death. Nothing short of a total war.

2010-03-07 - The Men From Jupiter - Paptimus Scirocco has a heart-to-heart with his fav- with his second favorite protege.

2010-03-09 - The First Seal - Rei Ayanami has questions. Leo Stenbuck has answers. Louise Halevy has a bajingo.

2010-03-18 - Under A Waterfall - Mister Bushido and Leo Stenbuck train under a waterfall and talk about depressing things.