The Defiant Agents · Character

Buck

Quiet, deliberate, and trusted, Buck steers Travis toward leadership while quietly confessing that under Redax he rode as a chief.

supporting

First appearance: i

As a supporting figure in The Defiant Agents, Buck is not background color—the story leans on what they do once the chapter opens.

Urges Travis to accept his role as a 'tender of growth' and advocates for clan solidarity and cautious wisdom.

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Buck is Travis's steady counterweight in the Apache camp, the man whose calm words about walking softly on strange trails can swing the group when Deklay's grumbling threatens to split it. He offers Tsoay as a scouting companion not just for the trail but to build Travis a following, showing a political instinct as sharp as his patience. His private admission that the Redax gave him the power of a chief, and that there is no going home, plants the question of what the machine has done to all of them.

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See Buck in i

Character Web

19 connections

A slice of how Buck sits in the book — open the reader for the full interactive map.

Relationship types

Friendship
Other

Character groups

Topaz Mission Agents
Protagonist
Cultural and Mythological Figures

+14 more in the full Character Web

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Narrative arc

Story tension across the book — this chapter sits in Exposition.

Setup
Escalation
Breaking point
Aftermath
Closing

This excerpt is the dramatic climax because it presents the psychological peak of Travis’s desperate calculati…

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Relationships

Travis Fox
friendship · positive
Buck is a loyal friend and fellow warrior who fights alongside Travis in dangerous… How this plays out →
Deklay
friendship · positive
Travis Fox
friendship · positive
Buck is a loyal friend and fellow warrior who fights alongside Travis in dangerous… How this plays out →
Travis Fox
friendship · positive
Buck is a loyal friend and fellow warrior who fights alongside Travis in dangerous… How this plays out →
Deklay
friendship · positive

Travis Fox
Buck is a loyal friend and fellow warrior who fights alongside Travis in dangerous situations.
Deklay
Buck and Deklay are fellow warriors and friends, fighting together as part of the same tribe.
Travis Fox
Buck is a loyal friend and fellow warrior who fights alongside Travis in dangerous situations.
Travis Fox
Buck is a loyal friend and fellow warrior who fights alongside Travis in dangerous situations.
Deklay
Buck and Deklay are fellow warriors and friends, fighting together as part of the same tribe.

Relationship notes

How these ties play out is in the reading companion — open the free preview.

See Buck in i

In the story

Buck appears across 9 companion beats. Open any chapter in the free preview to see the notes beside the text.

IV
Urges Travis to accept his role as a 'tender of growth' and advocates for clan solidarity and cautious wisdom.
VII
Mentioned as the leader to be informed by Tsoay about the discoveries.
IX
Leads the Apache delegation, stands with arms folded, and supports Travis's position.
XIII
Present among the clan, cuts in to hush the murmur during the challenge.
XIV
Proposes using Kaydessa as bait and describes the terrifying experience in the ship with Deklay.
XV
Part of the group executing the plan, reports on Kaydessa's movements.
XVI
Examines the alien weapons with caution, voices moral concerns about using them, and agrees to the taboo.
XVII
Backs Travis during the meeting with Menlik and warns about the Reds using controlled Mongols.
XVIII
Part of the attack team, fires the burner to melt the ship's hatch, initiating the assault.

Chapter companion notes

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See Buck in i

See Buck in IV