The Memoirs of Kell Tainer

[Vape]

Idealism, we all go through that phase, we think we can conquer the galaxy and save everyone just through doing what's right. Everything is black and white, good and evil in that mentality. Then reality hits, and you're left speechless, a broken husk wondering where you went wrong. Every idealist faces this, and it either breaks or reforges you. We all eventually face this test, for me, that was the fall of Toledo.

I am Kell Tainer, formerly of the Liberty Security force stationed at Eureka Research Station, whom I fled to join the Order after witnessing atrocities committed in the name of scientific advancement. I have training in a number of different fields, I've always been more of a jack of all trades, some view it as a weakness, I do not. From there, I rose to become the second in command of the Order's Wedjat, its Director. And then in the wake of the destruction of Minor, I vanished. That is a story I have yet to tell, however the principal home of the Wedjat, the Theta-7 installation, was obliterated, taking with it thousands under my command. Only a small portion escaped, and they vanished with me. My old protege, Michal Golanski rebuilt the Wedjat from the remains of the old, and it has taken its current form from that. I once thought that through diplomacy and using force as a last resort, we could achieve peace with the K'hara. How wrong I was, and those under my command, along with tens of thousands more on Toledo paid with their lives for my folly. For my failure to see this coming. I knew something big was coming, but I pushed it aside, thank Terra that High Command knew otherwise. In the immediate aftermath, I, along with the Theta 7 survivors regrouped at Avalon in California and began the task of rebuilding, unaware of the greater survival of the Order. Its still ongoing, under the direction of my estranged wife Rebecca. I should have been there, but I faded into the shadows, eviscerated by the trauma of losing so many during the Fall. I disappeared for two full years, before old colleagues found me knocked out in an alleyway on New Tokyo, passed out from too much sake. The Order had survived after all.

Courtesy of my comrades, I spent the next three months recovering on Gran Canaria in the Omega 49 system, rebuilding myself. Then Rebecca visited and it fell into place. Apparently my old comrades had been trying to track me down at the request of my wife for the last two years. Avalon needed its commander, and she needed her husband. She brought files provided by our colleagues in the Order that indicated the depth of knowledge the High Command had regarding the lead up to the Fall and preparations for it...along with after action reports. It shocked me to my core, while my own attempts at diplomacy had failed spectacularly, the HC had set in motion the HORUS project, that yielded the now Battleship Thebes (interestingly, I had something similar planned for the Wedjat in the form of the Hestia's Fire and Bahamut). Thanks to their foresight, the Order survived more or less intact, along with thousands more Wedjat personnel that were not stationed on Theta 7. Oddly enough, we had been the first outpost in Minor hit by the Hunters and K'hara. While we lost everything, we still managed to tie up several battlegroups that would otherwise have attacked Toledo itself. But still, the post-battle images of Toledo shook me to my core, hundreds of wrecks of Order and Guild ships, and then the planet itself. Glassed completely, nothing more than a barren waste now. And then I read the casualty reports. The losses we faced at Theta 7 were insignificant by comparison. For two years I had deprived a wife of her husband, and an organization of its leader. While my grief was real, I realize now that I selfishly fled responsibility when I was needed most. And at that moment, my idealism hardened. Peace is still to be strived for, but as the saying goes, Si Vis Pacem, para bellum. Force must remain a last resort, when dealing with humans. But there are some groups that can be shown no mercy. For only in either eradication or subjugation can they cease to be a threat. These groups are a threat to humanity as a whole, every man woman and child and represent either our mortal enemies, or our worst excesses. We will give them a chance to repent, but only after they have ceased to be a threat. Humanity stands on a knife-edge overlooking the abyss. And we are the first and last line of defence.

Since then, I have rejoined the greater Order, I'm not in the position I once was, the Wedjat and the Fleet have changed much since the Fall. Golanski did a remarkable job turning things around, though I still have much to be briefed on. And surprisingly, we finally agree on methodology. He was never quite fully on board with my methods during my time as Director. Now, well, our first meeting will be interesting to say the least.

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