Born on Hamburg, Victor Sotskov is the son of Wilhelm Sotskov, a dockyard worker, now deceased. Little else is known about his immediate family or upbringing. However, we can be certain that Victor was more educated, ambitous and politically aware than his father; he became a believer of radical ideas during his time as a student on New Berlin.
Rheinland Military pilots examining a damaged fighter. Sotskov is circled.
After serving with the Rheinland Military, he completed studies in politics and law and moved to Stuttgart where he opened a law firm.
It was around thie time he was recruited by the Bretonian government as a spy. After more than three years spying in Rheinland for Bretonian intelligence, Sotskov was exposed, tried and stripped of his Rheinland citizenship. It was at this point that Sotskov turned to his British masters, defecting to Bretonia and joining the QCID.
According to classified documents, he became one of New London's most accomplished agents and worked in Liberty and Kusari before the war. His handlers circulated his reports among the top echelons of the Bretonian government's leadership - and were even read by the Queen herself.
A Bretonian trade delegation meets officials from the Kusari Department of Commerce and Industry. Sotskov, circled, posed as Henry Mountcharles, a Bretonian businessman dealing in precious metals. It is believed that he was directly responsible for the creation of a Bretonian sleeper cell within Kusari that operates to this day.
His self-disgust with the corrupt regimes he had devoted nearly half a lifetime to supporting prompted a political reawakening as Sotskov approached middle age, a process of self-reflection which would slowly lead him through underworld contacts to the Sirius Coalition Revolutionary Army.
Bretonian intelligence officers attempting to infiltrate the SCRA uncovered Sotskov's betrayal and agents of the QCID attempted to assassinate him as he returned to New London. Sotskov managed to elude his would-be killers, and fled Bretonian space aboard a civilian ship, armed only with his life, his ideals, and an old copy of "The Communist Manifesto".
Coalition recruits at their passing-out ceremony. Exact location unknown. Sotskov, circled, was the oldest in his class and, academically, was without equal among his peers.