Katsuo Okazaki
| Katsuo Okazaki | |
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| Profile | |
| Origin |  Kusari |
| Occupation | Guild Master |
| Affiliation | Gas Miners Guild |
| With the GMG | 795 A.S. - present |
| Born | 23rd May 771 A.S. Planet Honshu |
Okazaki Katsuo, (岡崎 勝雄, born May 23rd, 771 A.S.) is a prominent guild master of the Gas Miners Guild. Recognised within the ranks of the Guild for his martial nature and strong sense of honour, he is one of the few guild masters who actively and personally oversee the Guild's paramilitary service.
Katsuo is also known for his strong opinions on Guild politics and organisation, and has been known to involve himself in many political events, such as the signing of the Aomori Treaty of 818 A.S. during which he was a key negotiator for the GMG side.
Biography
Early life
Katsuo's life began on Planet Honshu, in the home of Kunisuke (邦輔) and Kotone (琴音). His father, Okazaki Kunisuke was a Kusari nobleman who enjoyed relative wealth from the proceeds of a small family company passed down to him by his father, and Katsuo's grandfather Munemitsu (宗光). The company provided small scale secure and anonymous transport of unique materials, objects or technology, an endeavour which required much attention from Kunisuke, leaving Katsuo at home and attending the best schools on Honshu.
Despite his benefit of excellent education however, young Katsuo, completely fascinated by the concept of space travel and the freedom from gravity, was determined to make it off the surface of the planet and into space. Eventually, shortly after his 18th birthday he managed to convince his father to hire him into the company, and began working as a part time freighter pilot. He continued to study aerodynamic engineering at Saitama University in the mean time.
First contact with the Guild
Reaching the age of 22, Katsuo was offered by his father the opportunity to lead his first shipping mission - an opportunity he graciously accepted. He was supposed to silently deliver a single package from New Tokyo to Aomori Station in Honshu. He did not know until he arrived in his freighter on the surface of New Tokyo that this 'package' was in fact an older man called Genichi Oshiro, a GMG Guild Master. The man was on New Tokyo to conduct some Guild business despite having a hit put on him by the Hogosha, and he decided his best bet to make it on and off the planet would be on an unmarked transport. Katsuo, realising his freighter was outfitted for cargo shipping and not VIP transport due to this lack of information, promised to keep Genichi company in the cargo hold for the rest of his trip to Honshu. The two quickly became friends over the course of the journey, and by the end of the mission Katsuo was presented with an engineering design job prospect in the GMG.
Following his successful completion of his university course in 795 A.S. Katsuo went to work in the GMG first as a design engineer for the new generation of Guild nebula speeders, helping to create some of the most innovative fighters making full use of the heavy density of gases within the nebula to boost their own agility and speed. He volunteered himself as the test pilot for many of the prototypes of said speeders, and is considered as an instrumental influence in designing the extremely successful Karasu heavy fighter.
Life in the GMG
In 801 A.S. after the events of the Nomad War, Katsuo took his time to carefully study the history of the Gas Miners Guild, specifically the Eighty Years War and GMG's role and strategy in defeating the Rheinland Military incursion. He became convinced of GMG's complete entitlement to the Sigma-13 system, owing to all the blood spilled to secure it.
In early 802 A.S. Katsuo asked and was officially transferred to the GMG paramilitary division. Studying well the tactics of nebula warfare used by GMG guerillas during the last conflict, he became very proficient at setting up counter-ambushes for Corsair pirates in the system, and eventually came to lead a security wing in day to day patrols and operations. He spent the next 10 years rising through the ranks and gaining the respect of his peers, slowly becoming one of the better known pilots and commanders in the Gas Miners Guild.
GMG Guild master
In July 816 A.S. Genichi Oshiro, aged 88, died peacefully from natural causes in his quarters on Aomori Station. Katsuo, then a lieutenant commander in the paramilitary forces, used whatever influence he had to make sure that Genichi would be properly honoured for all his help to his family and to himself. Only during the customary space burial ceremony was it revealed that Genichi had left behind a will with a set of very specific instructions, one of them asking that the GMG board of directors reviews Katsuo as a possible replacement for Genichi's position. The board had obliged to this request, and owing to Katsuo's excellent track record in the Guild, he was soon approached with the position - a proposition he accepted with the words: "We cannot deny Genichi's wishes."
Thus, in September 816 A.S. Katsuo Okazaki officially became a GMG Guild Master, and took his seat in the board of directors chamber. While initially met with scepticism due to his lack of experience in large scale organisational matters and what was a rather unusual promotion, Katsuo quickly proved his wit in political and military matters, being a skilled pilot and training instructor as well as a sharp negotiator.
One of the more recent examples of his political will, and one that cemented his position and respect among his peers, was the signing of the Treaty of Aomori of 818 A.S. where even in the face of the entire Kusari political cabinet putting pressure on the GMG to cave in to the Emperor's demands, Katsuo specifically pushed for greater Guild independence and authority over the Okinawa and Sigma-13 systems, going so far as to secure the right for the GMG to bar any vessel entry into its sovereign space unless part of a Kusari diplomatic mission.
