Peter Kennedy

Peter Kennedy
Tailcode	SCMC R-317572 PMC-OA
Biographical Information
Other Nick/Names/Aliases/Callsigns	Diplomat/Dip Hitman 2
Date/Place of Birth	Unknown
Nationality/ies	Cascadian
Relative(s)	Kennedy family
Affiliation(s)	Other air forces Sicario Hitman Team
Equipment	MG-29 †
Physical Description
Gender	Masculine
Height	Unknown
Weight	Unknown
Hair Color	Unknown
Eye Color	Unknown
Skin Type	Unknown
Blood Type	Unknown
Actor(s)
Voice	Ben Balmaceda
Appearances
Project Wingman

"In war, we profit"

― Peter's MG-29 nose art

Peter Kennedy, callsign Hitman 2/Diplomat, is a member of Sicario's Hitman Team. A man born of privilege, he foregone it to pursue his love of flying, but was rebellious to expectation and chose to forge his own path. His TAC name was apparently chosen by others, being a quip at his upbringing whose connection to which he vehemently denies.

He is one of the four main characters of Project Wingman and one of the player's main wingmen.

Biography

Early life and piloting years

Peter Kennedy was born the middle child of the Kennedy family, a Cascadian political dynasty, a background that gave him his eventual callsign. He lived most of his early life in Presidia, the Cascadian capital, and wished to become an astronaut, but his family pressured him to carry on the family business of public service; as a compromise, he agreed to enroll in the Federation Air Academy on the pretense of enlisting in the Cascadian National Guard afterwards.

Sometime between AC 412 and 422, he was expelled after several unsuccessful academic years with miniscule real pilot training and escaped to the Periphery, gaining sufficient flight experience by serving with numerous smaller air forces for reduced pay. Following a sortie with Sicario, its leader Arnold Frenken recognized Peter's potential and offered him more flight hours and pay - a better deal to him. Over the years, Peter shaped himself into a well-rounded fighter pilot, persevering long enough to become number two of Hitman Team.

Some years before AC 432, Peter was involved in a money laundering scheme which presumably ended poorly for him. Additionally, Sicario, or at least Peter and Dominic Zaitsev, was involved in a number of raids in the East Periphery, and were made to speak a script to prevent a conflict from spreading out to another country.

Cascadian Conflict

Pre-war

Peter took part in a contract with the Creole Republic on December 9, AC 431, mostly sloping around until the last day of the contract the following month. Following the end of Operation Red Current, Peter asked if they were still on track for spending their vacation time, and proceeded to joke about opening a beach bar resort with all of their money when Master Goose Squadron arrived. After hearing out their leaving the Burlok Privateers for the Cascadian Independence Force (the Cascadian Conflict had begun in full swing already), Peter commented their squadron name was much more "fun" than their own.

Returning home where the war is

Entering the conflict proper, Peter, right before defending his convoy flight, quipped about "committing high treason" against their previous contractors, the Pacific Federation, which was then quelling the CIF's rebellion. He was surprised at the Federation sending an airship, the Espadon, immediately after them, right after shooting down all of Blue Squadron, but his wingmen were focused on cleaning up the airspace. Once they were done, Peter questioned Evelyn London what was the Federation up to in their former home. Once Sicario moved to Rowsdower Air Force Base, he asked about reserving a "nice hangar space" for them, to which Eve lectured him there was "no such thing as nice" in Cascadia's frozen north. Peter replied they did not fly the sky the same way, but regardless, Frenken told Hitman they had first pick for personal quarters for their efforts.

During Operation Water Stable, Peter was asked about the wine at the Salvemini Vineyards, to which he had no answer as they were out of country for a decade. He made light of the CIF's complaints about relying on mercenaries to save them and was noted to have never left his Dust Mother faith behind by his wingman. Once the mission was complete, he expressed nervousness at taking the fight against a superpower, something they never did before. Eve told him to keep it to himself as their flight lead Monarch, as far as they are concerned, is taking it fine like the others. At Presidia during its fall, Peter asked Dominic to get their IFF right to avoid wasting money on covering collateral damage, and was told that they were cleared to down Federation airships over the urban areas.

Over a week later, Peter took part in Operation Flash Hazard, running out of ammo and first encountering the Federation Peacekeepers' Crimson Team. Completely outmatched and unarmed, he immediately retreated.

Watching Monarch break off to engage and drive off the Peacekeepers, Peter was impressed, remarking he "missed that class" from his Academy days.

Peter, along with the rest of Sicario except Hitman, flew on his own striking Federation-held resource facilities. Eve, during Operation Sea Farer, remarked he was "having fun" by himself and thought of giving Robin Kuo one of his spare aircraft.

All-out war

Peter and Monarch were on their own at Briggs Range in Operation Broken Chain, where they were ordered to shoot down all Federation transports without harming any civilian aircraft. He briefly bantered with Robin over not acknowledging her presence, stating she was riding coattails. During the intercept, he questioned Dominic if the Federation was deliberately using civilian traffic as human shields, to which he stated they should thread it as neat as possible regardless. He and Monarch were engaged by Federation Intercept Specialists later, with he himself struggling to match them. Once he dealt with them, he boasted about surviving the encounter before thanking Monarch for carrying them through. Robin, hearing this, mocked his hypocritical acknowledgement.

While Monarch was soloing the Chaohord Defense Region alone, Peter, at base, sent a message to his flight lead, reminding him they were standing by in case he got into trouble, complaining as well about being alone with Eve. In the following mission, he overheard the paratroopers' boasts and quipped about their contract, and once Dominic and Eve got back at him, he yelled at the former, telling him to come fly with them. He had difficulty with managing the air-land battlefield and the Solana Communications Array's railgun defenses, but survived.

Peter participated in Operation Guillotine and was heavily burdened by the sheer volume of the furball, Eve helping him focus on the battle despite straining. Though at first worried about facing Crimson Team again, he was able to beat the Peacekeepers with Monarch's help, even taking on one head-on. Following the battle, he was surprised that they were able to survive like that, and expressed astonishment at Monarch enabling them to survive all of that. He made a quip at J. Griffiths' own gratitude.

During Operation Null Star, he commented on the moon's pedigree and full phase and lamented his failure to achieve his astronaut dreams. He then concentrated on the mission and once again had trouble with railguns, and quipped on Ronin's infiltration of Harkema Industrial Park. He noticed that some of the explosions down below were unusual as well. During the fight with Klara Rask in her SP-34R, he had trouble keeping up with the prototype as well as getting a proper profile. In Operation Free Agent, he joked about Wai Mami Port's "property values" as a military base and told Gunsel 4 they should do fine in the attack. When Frenken informed their forces that Sawaiiki military units were about to engage them, Dominic reminded Peter of their script from years ago, and he reluctantly repeated it, which fortunately led to the Sawaiiki standing their forces down; Peter then told his AWACS he owed him "two bucks a word". He also threw a jab at a stray yacht caught in the crossfire and Robin herself for not taking the opportunity to get her own plane out into the raid.

Cataclysm and Deal

Peter expressed discomfort in the CIF Offensive Campaign with all the smoke that came from the burning Grimwood Forest. He was cleared to target evacuation transports to weaken the Federation further, and was in a hurry to finish up the war by then. He disengaged ASAP once the battle was over, observing white flags and surrender flares, and mused that he would take a deep dive into his base's nearby lake to get the smoke out of his hair. During Operation Anticipation, he was annoyed with the Federation continuing to fight despite everything, and meanwhile discussed his future plans after the war with Eve; they decided to keep flying with Sicario, though Peter opted for a year-long vacation off duty.

Peter was overwhelmed by the swarm of cordium-tipped cruise missiles that bore down on Prospero, and reluctantly did his best to intercept them all. Despite his and his allies' best efforts, the Cascadian Calamity Event happened, and he found his GPS being put out of action. On the way back to Rowsdower, he compared the catastrophe to the first Calamity, and was later reminded that they have friends to check up on first before leaving the country and that they were bingo fuel. Just then, however, they were engaged by bounty hunters led by Rask, comprised of the now-turncoat Master Goose Squadron. Being dragged into another difficult dogfight, he considered just retreating immediately, but Eve insisted that their personal effects were still down there. He called out Master Goose for selling them out, but was then shocked at Rask revealing his and his wingmen's identities. In a panic, he questioned how did she find out, since Master Goose wouldn't have known, but received only an indirect explanation. After taking care of their pursuers, he expressed concern at being marked for death.

Griffiths regrouped and offered to speak with them, but only after a tense conversation about Sicario - or what's left of it now - resuming their contract against their wishes. Though expressing suspicion, he landed and argued with the CIF Captain briefly before hearing him out. Becoming convinced by the deal he was offering, which involved Cascadia granting asylum for the trio, he calmed down Eve, who was now on a death wish, to see reason. He took a look at the Deal's contents and recognized it in shock, deciding to settle on continuing. When confronted with seeking new bases, he mentioned Highway 34, which his father, a Senator, chose to not finish, and the survivors packed their bags for their new base.

Persevering to the end

Two months later, the Highway 34 personnel received airmail on Operation Blue Shelter, a raid on Brite Fortress. At first, he was doubtful, but he eventually decided to take it. During the deployment, he confessed to Eve that he didn't feel at home anymore doing his usual fighting, stating it became "too easy" for their promised Deal. Eve reminded him it was worth their weight-pulling, and Peter continued engagement. Later on, he mocked the land battleships the Federation activated as "impractical SOBs" for their poor maneuverability and speed in spite of their overwhelming firepower.

Peter sortied to Prospero again as part of Operation Recall and engaged Crimson Team one last time; in the middle of it, he and his squadron were put through an impassioned monologue by Crimson 1 over his moral superiority and regret at not shooting them down earlier among other things. In a fit of rage, he told the Peacekeeper leader to shut his mouth, saying they did not ask for the fight at all nor did they care enough to, before smashing his radio transceiver. Exhausted from both his angry outburst and the fight, he mulled about "laying down somewhere"; Eve reassured him they were much closer to ending the war. He mused to Robin during the following mission he wanted to retire for good and become "a frickin' farmer or something", to which the WSO responded people like them do not have that luxury. Peter told her he did not like that insinuation and kept on fighting.

Peter was surprised at Frenken returning with reinforcements and gibed at his glory trip as usual, to which Eve quipped they aren't missing that. During the climatic Second Battle of Presidia, he and his wingmen bemoaned the Federation's futile holdout, but was surprised like the others at the Cascadian Conflict Ceasefire being called in. He expressed disbelief at the combat ceasing so suddenly, and had the gut feeling of being duped. He was somewhat proven right when Crimson 1 returned with a vengeance and opened fire on every single unit in his vicinity, himself included. He was shot down along with everyone else except Monarch but was able to eject, coming down watching his nation's capital burn. Rushing to find his other downed wingman, he was able to find Eve, who almost mistook him for an enemy soldier, and helped her up. Deciding not to get swallowed by coming world events, he and Eve made their leave, expecting Monarch to collect their contract and Deal payment.

Post-Cascadian Conflict

Peter, along with the rest of Hitman Team, remained at large post-war, with Cascadian citizens being issued a search warrant on them to report their findings to MPs, possibly to supplement their military again given its decimation by the war's end.

Personality, traits, and relationships

Personal nose art

"Wew. Hah, see, real easy, I can do this with one hand behind my back. Yep, that’s me. [sighs] Thanks for the carry, Monarch."

― Peter after a tense dogfight

Peter is calm, quippy, and easygoing under most circumstances, but compared to his wingmen, he tends to crumble and start panicking, even lashing out at others when the situation gets too complicated or hard for him to handle. His nose art text sums up his attitude rather well considering his reasons for becoming a mercenary pilot, though he resents senseless violence and unnecessary bloodshed and looks down on mercenaries without standards whatsoever, such as Rask. His self-taught flying style and amicability have done him good thus far in the cutthroat mercenary world, evident during his first proper fight against Crimson Team. He also keeps a kill tally on his aircraft nose.

Peter's privileged origins are common knowledge and is often brought up and made fun of by his fellow mercs, mostly for being the opposite of Eve's (a spoiled underachiever confident in her abilities and a formally trained veteran). However, he has grown spiteful of and has never taken pride in them, mainly because of his dreams of flying space shuttles being crushed by his controlling family who he refuses to reach out to. In fact, he took amusement in a building bearing his family name being burned to the ground during the Cascadian Conflict and declared he'd spend his life in the skies over a big city like Presidia.

In light of this, he privately confided during the civil war that his family would be safe, though it is unknown whether this was mere self-reassurance or a genuine personal belief. Furthermore, he sometimes leans to his TAC name, defusing conflicts from escalating, the O in "PROFIT" is a peace symbol ironically, and his blue and black chains emblem with a red line perhaps signifies the line between being chained to the ground and feeling free in the skies.

Despite being diverted from his dream of going to space, he still possesses some knowledge on astronomy, shown by him describing the moon's position. He also has some degree of regret for falling short of that and being a lowly mercenary pilot instead. He also appears to have inherited at least a portion of his family's wealth, having apparently purchased his MG-29 by himself at full price. Furthermore, his forced public education gave him knowledge of Cascadian tax politics at least, which benefited him in the war's rising action.

He apparently wasn't comfortable in Hitman Team when it was a five-plane flight, as the competition for the most kills was much more heated. He also banters a lot with his fellow mercs, especially Dominic and his wingmen, and is said to be close to Eve despite their repartees, according to Robin.

Following his identity reveal and the Second Calamity, he developed a more war-weary persona, wanting to simply get his job done with and not looking for much fight. Although still there, his drive for combat has been reduced.

Etymology

"Peter" is derived from the Greek "Petros," meaning "rock." See Kennedy family for an explanation of his surname.

Behind the scenes

Matthew Nguyen says Ben Balmaceda designed his personal emblem and that he only joined the development on the condition that his character flew the MG-29. He also claims that Diplomat's TAC name was actually Balmaceda's online username and forgetting to change it during development.

Gallery

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  2017 developer concept art (non-canon)