Hermia Adelphi Kalivas was born in 1985 on Caprica in the city of Delphi. Her parents were Matthew and Diana Kalivas, a career soldier and her architect husband. They had almost given up on having a child when Dell was born and thoroughly derailed their plans for the future. Only somewhat, however; her mother still reenlisted at the age of thirty-seven and her father still traveled the world. Now, however, he had a tagalong.
Dell grew up on the road as a result, with primarily her father for company. She started taking sketches of structures, appreciating their beauty, the work that goes into constructing a city, the effort it takes to make something a thousand years old look brand new, planned. While her father gushed about artistic vision, however, Dell found that the devil was in the details. She wondered why a suspension bridge could stand. How a tower could be built so that it seemed to reach the Heavens themselves, threatening to disturb the Lords of Kobol on their perch high above. Matthew could answer her, of course, but it wasn't the same.
When Dell finally settled in enough to attend a real school for more than six months at a time she was twelve, and already set in her ways. She had picked up her fathers wry sense of humor, his need to be right, his attention to detail. She had never learned how to fit in with other children. Between this and her relatively slight size Dell was bullied quite a bit. This didn't stop her from succeeding; she took all of the energy other kids would have buried into eachother and shoved it into studying. Reading, occasionally.
Dell had a few friends as a kid, she didn't really begin to socialize at all until she was in highschool. Clubs gave her the opportunity to find likeminded people- other math nerds, book geeks, would be artists. It was after drama club- which she went to for company, not in pursuit of actually acting out anything- that she learned to play Triad. She was good. If they had been gambling they would all have lost their shirts.
Dell enlisted when she was seventeen. Her mother raised a few concerns, but her father didn't hesitate. The decision came with the stark realization it was the only way she'd pay for school. Dell put the same singleminded determination into her enlistment she did into everything else. Low and behold: she was actually good at it. With her father's background as an architect and her mathematics scores she was a shoe-in for engineering training. At first the officer in question wanted to direct her into fieldworks, but Dell was firm: she was a combat engineer. Her mother, her grandfather, and her uncle had all been riflemen, and there was a certain pride there she hadn't even quite realized she felt so strongly about it until she'd been assigned her MOS.
With terrorism a problem in certain districts Dell was deployed frequently on EOD runs. Demolitions for four straight years. They taught her how to set explosives as well, but that was incidental to her primary work. In fact, the Corps taught Adelphi everything. How to build a field barracks. How to construct a mobile bridge. Building repair. Ditch and earthworks construction. She enjoyed the opportunity to put her brain to work while working with her hands, and her quiet enthusiasm and wry wit earned her a number of friends amongst her fellow marines. She finally belonged. She also made some pretty good money playing Triad against them, unit champion.
Adelphi met Mia when she was 22, both assigned to CMF Alastor on Caprica. At first they didn't get along at all. Mia was a loud, athletic tough girl who always seemed to be in the thick of things where Dell was all business most of the time and couldn't wait to be out of the spotlight. Mia particularly didn't enjoy being directed to dig ditches. It was all part of the job, of course, but it's easier to blame the person next to you than the officer the order came from, even in a training exercise. They connected over a game of Triad. After awhile, they just started talking about their lives, laughing… Connecting. Dell was able to make Mia laugh; Mia showed her a more sensitive side Dell had never guessed at. Before long they fell in love.
When she was 24, Dell left the Marines in order to go to college. Structural engineering, full ride, with recommendations from the head of her battalion. She barely even said goodbye. She'd had a fight with Maria over some guy; it was complete misunderstanding, but it came just when Dell, procrastinating on telling Mia she wasn't reenlisting, was getting ready to finally tell her. So a few days later, without warning, she was gone. The two of them talked periodically, but it seemed as though that chapter in their lives was closed. Dell focused on her schoolwork, plowing through it single mindedly. She already had numerous credits from her career as a Marine Engineer, and the College of Engineering at the University of Delphi was more than happy to give them to her. In two short years Adelphi was nearly finished with her degree. She had more than enough construction experience to skip the practicums entirely.
Mia tracked Dell down at the University of Delphi. She arrived at Adelphi's apartment in the pouring rain in the middle of the night, threw stones at the window, and demanded to be let inside. They talked, made up, and eloped the next morning. Not long after, Dell got a call about the mining project, Task Force "Nomad". It was strongly suggested that she take a large reenlistment bonus, her fancy new education, a promotion to Staff Sergeant, and volunteer. Mia took the opportunity to do the same, and they both ended up stationed on the Battlestar Orion over Piraeus.
Dell helped establish the colony in the early days, working in erecting the first buildings and organizing the ground crews, getting basic power established… Plumbing. She had to be on the ground during all of this. Lucky her. Somehow, however… She enjoyed it.
