Difference between revisions of "Kol Seraph"

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Koltan 'Kol' Seraph
Master Sergeant Kol Seraph Imperial Army
Biographical Information
Race	Coruscanti
Homeworld	Coruscant
Mother	Lasha Seraph †
Father	Garran Seraph †
Spouse	N/A
Siblings	N/A
Children	N/A
Born	Year -7, Day 234
Imperial Service
Branch	Imperial Army
Positions	Current: 1IL Signals Officer 1st RECON BN 2IC Scout Trooper Archivist
Prior Service	Imperial Academy
Awards

Koltan 'Kol' Seraph is a 19-year-old Coruscanti male, currently serving as a Master Sergeant in the Imperial Army. He also serves as the 1st Imperial Legion's Signals Officer.

"Primus Introire, Ultimus Exire : First In, Last Out"

— The motto of the 1st Reconnaissance Battalion, of which Seraph is Battalion 2IC

Biography

Painful Memories

By age 8, Kol had had enough of servitude

Kol Seraph was born on Coruscant 19 galactic standard years ago, on Day 234 of Year -7, in the district known as Sah’c Town. His father, Garran Seraph, was the manager of an interstellar shipping firm, which he and his wife, Lasha Seraph (née Evard, a commercial accountant from Bonadan, in the Corporate Sector) had co-founded a few years before Kol was born. Unfortunately, Lasha died in a tragic speeder accident when Kol was three. Grieving over his wife’s death and now bereft of her financial expertise, Garran slipped into a steadily deteriorating state of depression, worsened by an increasing dependence on stimulants to escape his problems.

Vigo Hartland, the man in charge of Black Sun’s operations in the Undercity, made Garran a proposal to settle the debt if he sold Kol to him as a slave. Kol’s father, knowing of Hartland’s reputation as a pederast, refused the Vigo’s ultimatum, and the enraged crime boss sent his enforcers to ‘teach him a lesson’. The 3-year-old Kol, hiding under his bed, watched in horror as the Vigo’s men brutally murdered his father before his very eyes. After they ransacked the dilapidated apartment, Hartland’s men found Kol and ended up enslaving him anyways, and he suffered his master’s abuses until he was 8 years old, when Kol killed his master in his sleep with a knife. After escaping the Black Sun stronghold, he learned to survive by his wits alone on the unforgiving, ruthless streets of Coruscant's decaying, neglected Undercity, while Black Sun’s operations on Coruscant reeled from the Vigo’s death for months. On the merciless streets, Kol joined a relatively unknown juvie street gang, known as the 'Undercity Shades'. With his ambitious nature and his affiliation with violence, it was not long before Kol became the head of the gang. His leadership eventually brought the Shades notoriety and the ire of Black Sun.

Kol always wanted more

Although the events of his life denied him a proper Imperial primary education, and he eschewed the abusive curriculum taught at the Imperial orphanages, Kol understood the value of learning. A testament to his sharp intellect, Kol retained basic reading and comprehension skills his parents had imparted to him at a very early age, and as he grew older, he taught himself how to read and write Imperial Basic. His time as a slave proved to do very little in preventing him from developing his intellect, although the experiences he witnessed at a premature age undoubtedly had an effect on his juvenile mind.

Kol and his followers managed to outwit Black Sun's agents for about 6 years, and could have eventually forced the Syndicate off the planet entirely if it had not been for Cardin Shrike, Kol's most trusted friend, and second in command of the Shades. Cardin had always been secretly envious of Kol’s popularity and resentful of his leadership, and enthusiastically betrayed the Shades when given the chance. In exchange for a small fortune in credits, Cardin approached Black Sun’s new Undercity leader in secret, and betrayed his fellow Shades by giving the new Vigo information on the gang’s current activities, whereabouts, and safe houses. Despite his vicious upbringing, betrayal at the hands of his best friend was the very last thing Kol expected. The trap Black Sun had set resulted in the deaths of the entire Undercity gang, and Cardin’s too: the one thing Black Sun tolerated less than competition on its turf was a traitor motivated by greed.

Born Again Imperial

Kol was given a new outlook on life by the Galactic Empire

It seemed Kol's brutal life was about to be cut short until a squad of Imperial Army soldiers suddenly burst into the scene and made short work of the unsuspecting and ill-prepared Black Sun agents. By chance, or perhaps even fate, the leader of the Black Sun hit-squad that had killed Kol's gang, a Zeltron, had raped and murdered the daughter of an Imperial Moff several years earlier, and the Empire had come to bring justice down upon the criminal's head, a fortuitous coincidence for the 16-year-old Seraph. The coldly efficient and professional Imperials saving his life and inadvertently avenging the deaths of his friends had a profound effect on Kol's life. After convincing the squad Sergeant to allow him to tag along, Kol soon made up his mind to join the Imperial Army, motivated by a sense of duty to uphold the Empire's values: the brutal enforcement of order and justice upon a chaotic, lawless galaxy.

Seraph's old Imperial Youth Militia uniform

Having to wait two years before being eligible for enlistment in the Emperor's armed forces, Kol spent the time by enrolling and serving in the Imperial Youth Militia, a paramilitary detachment of the Imperial SAGroup, itself a subsidiary body of COMPNOR, to gain the military ethos he believed he required to excel in an Imperial Army career. Due to his previous life experience on the streets, Kol excelled during his time in the Militia, and through them, he earned a scholarship to attend the Imperial Academy, which he did as soon as he turned 18. Under the tutelage of Captain Rik Zoidic, then CO of the 3rd Imperial Legion, Recruit Seraph found the inspiration he needed to excel in his Academy studies as well. During his time at the Academy, Recruit Seraph's superiors and peers noted that he not only possessed an above average IQ and that he absorbed the customs of Imperial military life with gusto, but also that he was no stranger to violence and the responsibilities of leadership.

Two weeks after graduating, Private Seraph received word from 2nd Lieutenant Santiano Salazar, his unit’s Signals Officer, who assigned him his posting in the Army, and from there, Kol’s life as an Imperial truly began. Upon graduating from the Academy, Kol was initially expecting to receive a posting to 3IL, the Shadow Guards, under the command of his Academy mentor, Captain Zoidic. Instead, he received a message from RADIA stating that they had assigned him to the 1st Imperial Legion, the Immortals, and arguably the most elite Brigade in the entire Army. Initially surprised that RADIA had assigned him to such a prestigious Army unit, Kol felt quite honored about where Army administration had placed him. It was not long after successfully doing so that Kol arranged transport to the Legion’s VSD, and looked upon his homeworld from space for the first time in his life, an exciting prospect for the young Coruscanti soldier.

A Soldier of the Imperial Army

Kol's homeworld, Coruscant, as he saw it for the first time from orbit

Seraph soon came to be viewed as a valued member of the unit due to his incredible self discipline and sense of professionalism, meeting General L'Annan, the Army Executive Officer at the time, through his eccentric BCO, 2nd Lieutenant Akai Ai, whose demeanor and idiosyncrasies often reminded Kol of his former friends in the Shades. Seraph and Lieutenant Ai often joked about life in the Imperial Army and the Empire in general, although Kol always remembered to restrain himself when doing so, so as not to receive disciplinary action for misconduct by any of his other superiors. Despite a few incidents and mistakes on his part that his superiors fairly attributed to military inexperience, the Lieutenant must have been impressed with his performance, as even in the presence of superior officers, Ai took the liberty of labeling Kol as 'the best Private in the Imperial Army' several times. To Seraph’s astonishment, Lieutenant Ai actually made good on his offer to try and make Kol his BXO by requesting permission to do so from ACOMD, although they denied this request, and the position went to Dante Erinith, a newly commissioned officer who was without a doubt the most eligible man for the job.

Kol began his career as a Marksman in the 1st Recon Battalion

Private Seraph's first posting was as a designated Marksman of Alpha Squad, the command Squad of the 1st RECON BN's 1st Section, under the immediate command of Sergeant Mikhail Perry, a career soldier the young Private came to respect immensely. The 1st Reconnaissance Battalion, also known as 'the Vanguards', was the premier Recon unit in the whole Imperial Army, and it was in this outfit that Kol Seraph first proudly donned the armor of the Imperial Scout Trooper. As a Marksman of Alpha Squad, Kol saw his first combat action, on the politically troubled planet of Fenves, in the aid of besieged government forces seeking to deliver the planet into the Imperial fold from Rebel insurgents. The so-called Fenves Intervention, known officially as 'Operation: Exorcist', was a resounding success for Imperial forces, although the leader of 1st Section's Bravo Squad, the Section's 2IC, was wounded in action, and shortly thereafter, she retired from active duty. Not long afterwards, Seraph, on Sergeant Perry's personal recommendation after he distinguished himself during the Fenves operation, received a promotion from Private to Corporal, and therefore became Perry's new 2IC. This appointment simultaneously made Seraph Squad Leader of the Section’s Bravo Squad.

ISD Protector

A disabled Protector

While en route to the Kuat Sector and their next assignment, Bravo Squad participated in the defense of the Imperial Star Destroyer Protector after the actions of a Rebel saboteur crippled her, and when Rebel reinforcements subsequently arrived to attempt to take control of the ship. Coordinating their efforts with their Navy comrades, Seraph and his Squad successfully repelled the hostile boarding action, although the survivors of the Rebel strike force managed to wound Corporal Seraph quite seriously while he personally saw to the defense of the Protector’s bridge.

Elandorea Raid

All of Seraph’s Legion comrades were shocked when one of their own, Corporal Alzie Jamima, an Imperial Academy honors graduate and Seraph’s peer in the 3rd Infantry Company, went AWOL. After a probationary period had ended, Legion Command charged the errant Corporal guilty of deserting her post. This incident sparked further outrage when Jamima had commandeered her assigned craft, designated Inferno 10, which LCOMD had tracked to none other than a recently discovered Eidola-controlled base on the Imperial planet of Spira, in the Lytton Sector. To deal with the fallout of this incident, LCOMD deployed two units. The first was the entirety of the 2nd Heavy Armor Battalion to wipe all traces of the pirates from Spira for good, and the second was a small unit of 1st Reconnaissance Battalion soldiers. The latter’s objectives were to bring the traitorous Jamima into Imperial custody, and secure Imperial property (Inferno 10 itself) and spare it from the complete destruction of the pirate base. The unit chosen for this inherently dangerous operation was Corporal Seraph’s former Squad, Sergeant Perry’s Alphas.

LCOMD gave Alpha Squad exactly 48 standard hours after deployment to complete their mission and extract themselves, at which time 2nd HARM BN would have the go-ahead from Command to commence their operation and obliterate the Eidola cancer on Spira’s otherwise pristine surface. Unfortunately, after their 2-day operational window closed, LCOMD still had received no word from Perry or his men. Fearing the worst, but reluctant to condemn an elite Imperial Army unit to death by friendly fire, LCOMD had no choice but to accept Corporal Seraph’s proposal for Bravo Squad to conduct an extraction operation. The most time Seraph and Bravo Squad had to conduct their operation was 24 hours, as the 2nd Heavy Armored Battalion could not afford to delay the commencement of their own operation any longer.

Under Seraph’s orders to split up and pursue the completion of multiple, simultaneous objectives, Bravo successfully infiltrated the Eidola facility, codenamed ‘Elandorea’, and shortly discovered that most of their Alpha comrades, Seraph’s former squad mates, had been killed, and the survivors had been imprisoned.

Team 3 in action

As Section 2IC, the duty fell upon Corporal Seraph to complete Alpha’s mission, and rescue the Alpha Squad survivors, before getting the hell out of dodge. Carrying out the remainder of the Raid as Acting Sergeant, Seraph successfully directed his Squad with the experience and decisiveness expected of a veteran leader. Kol personally led the rescue operation of the Alpha survivors, conducted by Bravo Team 1 (consisting of Private Bisenti, Private Faroe, and Bravo Lead himself), liberating only two Alphas out of the former 8-man unit. 1st Section’s command squad was now a shadow of its former self, a truth that enraged and saddened Bravo Lead immensely. After liberating the exhausted, tortured POWs and securing their confiscated arms and armor, Team 1 and the Alpha survivors linked up with Teams 2 and 3 for extraction.

Team 3, Private Sidewinder and Private Hicks, accomplished the first of Alpha Squad’s two primary objectives, and apprehended Jamima, whom Corporal Seraph considered personally responsible for the deaths of his former squad mates. The two young Privates, relying upon their training and discipline, were able to escort Corporal Jamima through the pirate base, linking up with Team 2, and assisting them in the ongoing defense of Inferno 10, which they had secured. Team 2, consisting of Private Petrik, Private Delorian, and Private Franco, accomplished the second of Alpha’s objectives by securing the stolen Imperial Army starfighter and defending it against wave after wave of lightly armed pirate mobs led by deadlier mercenaries in Eidola’s employ.

With all three primary objectives completed, and his men reconsolidated without sustaining casualties, Acting Sergeant Seraph declared the Elandorea Raid over, and called for immediate extraction. As soon as Bravo Squad blasted its way clear of the Eidola base, Seraph relayed his Squad’s mission complete status to LCOMD. At last, given clearance to begin their operation, the 2nd Heavy Armor Battalion moved to assault Elandorea in force, and easily swept aside all enemy resistance, which had been significantly scattered and demoralized by Bravo’s operation. Within hours, Imperial forces had completely annihilated the Eidola presence on Spira, and declared victory.

With Sergeant Perry killed in action, and in recognition of his excellent leadership of Bravo Squad and rescuing the Alpha survivors, LCOMD promoted Acting Sergeant Kol Seraph to full Sergeant, making him Commander of 1st RECON BN’s 1st Section. As Alpha Squad did not at the moment possess enough members to be considered an ‘active squad’, Seraph’s superiors granted him special dispensation from standard Imperial military doctrine, and allowed Sergeant Seraph to continue to serve as Squad Leader of 1st Section’s new command squad: the Bravos. For the rest of his days, despite having saved the lives of two of his former Alpha squad mates, Seraph refused to recognize the Elandorea Raid for anything other than a pyrrhic victory in every sense of the word.

Unit Administration

As 1st Section's new Commander, as well as Bravo Squad Leader, Seraph had quite a workload to get used to upon returning from the Elandorea Raid. The Section's newest member, Private Ka`Marick, who had been slated to be added to Alpha's roster, now had no Squad to serve in. Ka`Marick possessed prior combat experience before enlisting with the Imperial Army that Sergeant Seraph knew better than to ignore. When LCOMD followed through with promoting Ka`Marick from Private to Sergeant himself, Kol approached him with a choice: either he now could leave 1st Section to become a Section Commander himself, or he could remain in 1st Section and serve as Seraph's 2IC. Fortunately for Seraph and 1st Section, Sergeant Ka`Marick chose to remain on Bravo's roster, agreeing to temporarily take up the dual positions of Section 2IC and Bravo Squad Leader. This allowed Sergeant Seraph to concentrate wholly on his duties as Section Commander: to rebuild 1st Section into a viable combat unit in the wake of Alpha Squad's dissolution.

In due time, Kol's hard work and the talent he displayed in his administrative duties was noted by his superiors, and on the Year 13, Day 37, he was appointed to Signals Officer of the 1st Imperial Legion, replacing his predecessor, 1st Lieutenant Salazar, who had been promoted and appointed to Army Signals Officer at an earlier date.

Conveniently, a position opened when Command Sergeant Marco Kerred, Commander of the 1st RECON BN, received an officer’s commission and transferred to command another unit. His replacement, Command Sergeant Hellebore, lacked a 2IC and chose Master Sergeant Seraph, newly promoted and the most eligible soldier in the battalion, to take his place. Hellebore’s own protégé, Sergeant Perry, held the young Coruscanti soldier in high regard before his death at Elandorea. Therefore, the newly promoted Master Sergeant left command of 1st Section to his former 2IC, Sergeant Ka’Marick, and became 2IC of the 1st Reconnaissance Battalion. However, before leaving 1st Section, it is worth noting that Seraph reconstituted Alpha Squad, leaving Ka'Marick in command of a fully combat-ready unit. Command of Alpha Squad naturally fell to the new Section Commander, and leadership in Bravo Squad fell to Corporal Sidewinder, who now served as Ka'Marick's own 2IC.

Description

Kol's traumatic experiences, namely witnessing firsthand his father's murder, suffering as a slave of the Black Sun Criminal Syndicate before murdering his master, and later, fighting his way to a position as a gang leader in Coruscant's Undercity, have left their marks on his mind, but most prominently on his body as well. When men like Seraph smile, it is a twisted parody of the usually reassuring expression, more akin to a predator baring its teeth. More often, Kol’s expression changes from its typical stern self into a self-satisfied smirk that leaves too much to the imagination.

Recruit Academy Recruit	Private Alpha Marksman	Corporal Bravo Lead/1st Section 2IC

Sergeant 1st Section Commander	Master Sergeant 1st Battalion 2IC

Imperial Personnel Profile

General Information

Surname: Seraph
Given Name(s): Koltan, 'Kol'
Race: Coruscanti, Class A Citizen
Gender: M
Rank: Master Sergeant, Imperial Army
Service Number: IA-B52-693-665
Education: Imperial Academy Graduate
Age: 19
Preferred Religion: No Religion Expressed
Homeworld: Coruscant, Sah'c Town
Family: Garran Seraph (father; deceased), Lasha Evard (mother; deceased), no siblings

Psychological Profile

Social Attributes
Aggressiveness: Kol is a fighter at heart, but he never lets his inner rage cloud his judgment, and it is very rare to see him enraged.
Control attitudes: A tolerant man, Kol respects aliens so long as they respect the New Order and its ideals in turn.
Dependability: Kol’s BCO considered him 'the best Private in the Imperial Army' for good reason.
Egocentrism: Kol's greatest strength is also his greatest flaw: his burning ambition.
Emotional expression: Kol only reveals his deepest feelings with those he considers his friends and comrades-in-arms.
Fairness: Kol has no problem keeping secrets, offering advice to those he cares for if they require it. For an Imperial soldier, he is very open-minded, especially to non-Humans.
Leadership attributes: Kol has distinguished himself many times in his life as a person who has the ability and resolve to lead others.
Physical appearance: Kol never really placed much emphasis on fashion or style, but he has always valued the importance of hygiene, keeping in mind its impact on his health.
Regard for Rules: Almost seeing the lifestyle of a gang leader to the end, Kol recommitted himself to serve the Empire, and developed a newfound appreciation for rules, procedures, and regulations.
Team Spirit: Kol learned the value of teamwork from a very early age, first with of the Undercity Shades, the Youth Militia, and again in the Imperial Army. Kol understands that teamwork lessens the burden of leadership significantly, and that the espirit-de-corps between him and his followers (gangers, militiamen, and soldiers) has spared his life many times in the past.

Individual Attributes
Achievement attitudes: Kol’s ambition is the one thing that defines him more than anything else does.
Emotional temperament: Another of Kol's faults would have to be that, as a young man driven to succeed, he possesses little to no patience for things to follow their own course. Emotionally, Kol is very much an introvert due to past betrayals and hardships, fearing exposure would lead to vulnerability.
Energy level: Kol never forgot a life lesson he learned in the Undercity: the stagnant whittle away and die, while those who are enterprising and who actively pursue their goals are prosperous.
Intellectual factors: Despite lacking a formal education in his formative years, Kol never underestimated the value of learning new things. A testament to his intellectual prowess, Kol taught himself how to comprehend Basic with only the minimal knowledge imparted to him by his parents from a young age. In joining the Empire, Kol's hunger for knowledge increased.
Material attitudes: A childhood on the streets imparts a young man with a sense of conservatism when it comes to material affairs, and Kol is no different.
Maturity: Despite not having a formal education or any meaningful family upbringing, many have considered Kol mature for his years, and he has a reputation for being levelheaded and extremely polite most of the time. However, Kol's upbringing on the streets has given him a dry, sometimes-cruel sense of humor, but his duties always come first.
Philosophical attitudes: After narrowly escaping death at 16, Kol abandoned the street life, determined to make his own way in the Galactic Empire. In the time between this, and enrolling in the Imperial Academy, Kol joined up with the Imperial Youth Militia, a subsidiary of SAGRec, where he excelled. During his time in the IYM, he accepted the ideals of the New Order as his own, but he never truly agreed with the Empire's human centrist views in regards to non-Human species, having struggled to survive alongside them on the Undercity streets in his youth.
Physical attributes: Kol retains a lean figure from his years in the Undercity. From the memories he has of her, Kol remembers that he inherited his mother's striking green eyes and blonde hair.
Risk attitudes: As can be expected with his background, Kol is no stranger to violence and risk.
Task performance attitudes: Kol is a man driven by the pursuit of excellence in everything he does.

Physical Description

Height: 6'2
Weight: 180 lbs
Build: Athletic
Skin Color: White
Eye Color: Green
Hair Color: Blond
Addendum:
Clean Shaven and well groomed,
Signs of past physical trauma (scars)

Imperial Army Service Record

Ranks

Grade	Insignia	Rank	Time held (Combine Time)	Time held (Real Time)
[E-1]		Recruit	Year 12 Day 189 - Year 12 Day 191	June 6th, 2011 - June 8th, 2011
[E-2]		Private	Year 12 Day 191 - Year 12 Day 284	June 8th, 2011 - September 9th, 2011
[E-3]		Corporal	Year 12 Day 284 - Year 12 Day 327	September 9th, 2011 - October 22nd, 2011
[E-4]		Sergeant	Year 12 Day 327 - Year 13 Day 043	October 22nd, 2011 - January 11th, 2012
[E-5]		Master Sergeant	Year 13 Day 043 - PRESENT	January 11th, 2012 - PRESENT

Awards

[IABG]

Awarded Imperial Academy Basic Graduate Ribbon
Year 12 Day 191
June 8th, 2011

Appointments

[LSO]
Appointed to the position of 1st Imperial Legion Signals Officer
Year 13 Day 037
January 5th, 2012

Memorable Quotes

"Welcome to MY world, where we do things MY way..."

— Kol during his time as leader of the Undercity Shades

"Hail to the Emperor, the Empire, and the New Order. May its righteousness never falter!"

— Cadet Seraph reciting the salute of the Imperial SAGroup

"A great people can be killed, but they cannot be intimidated."

— Recruit Seraph, when asked about his views on the Empire's citizens during his time at the Imperial Academy.

"There is simply no room in an Army uniform for second thoughts, especially not one cut from His Majesty's cloth."

— Private Seraph upon hearing the news of the desertion and arrest of former classmate and friend, Private Kaylin Shen

"So long as the Empire is victorious, it does not matter how much blood we lose, or how much we shed."

— Private Seraph's opinion on what victory means to the Empire

"Come on, you Rebel DOGS! You want to live forever?!"

— Corporal Seraph, while participating in the defense of the ISD Protector from enemy boarders

"I am often at a loss to explain why death in battle is so sought after. I even hear tell of some actually recommending their offspring to seek it. Better to live and keep fighting, I say."

— Corporal Seraph addressing his men before deploying on the Elandorea Raid

"Well, that life made me the man I am today. Down there, 8 years is half a lifetime. We're talking about the Undercity, mind you. Much of the planet, the tops of the towers I mean, is quite beautiful. You know, I see Coruscant as being a mirror of the Galaxy itself. There is horror and real danger in most places, but there is also beauty, even in the most unlikely places."

— Sergeant Seraph discussing his early years and his homeworld, Coruscant, with Crewman Urist Nammoth

"Thank you for this honor, sir. I swear that, as always, you will only get my best."

— Sergeant Seraph to 1st Lieutenant Santiano Salazar, the ASO, upon being appointed to LSO of the 1st Imperial Legion