Captain Li was an outstanding member of Kishiro for nearly fourty years. He was one of the lead designers in their Aerospace Division, and of high standing among the Kusari elite. His shares and bonuses amounted to a fortune, even by Kusari standards.
His marriage to his wife Danieru was somewhat less successful. Neglect of his home duties left Danieru personally unfulfilled, so much so that she joined the KNF as a pilot against her husband's wishes. Her promotion to Lieutenant and subsequent command of a gunboat earned her the respect of her family, and grudgingly, Sum-Gok-Li.
Perhaps this time was a second honeymoon, certainly Danieru spent more time with her husband whilst dry-docked at Yukawa Shipyard then they had at home for the previous ten years...
But all honeymoons end. Danieru, her ship and crew were reported MIA. She did not return from a mission deep into Tohoku. Sum-Gok-Li was able to use his influence to access top secret reports, indicating her ship entered Nomad space. The ship itself was actually found and quarantined at Kensai Research Facility, only half the lifepods were jettisoned.
But it was her last ship's log, in which she thanked Sum-Gok for giving her the opportunity to serve - and wishing she could have served him better as a wife - that changed Sum-Gok's life forever.
He felt he had betrayed his vows by not being a dutiful husband. Privately he had agreed to Danieru's enrolment in the armed forces as a means of distracting her, perhaps even dying honourably rather than face a life diminished as a non-wife and non-mother.
Over the next twenty years, Sum-Gok grew himself an obsession with finding Danieru. He started with collecting all the deep space probe data he could access. Then he began to use his place within Kishiro to commission his own probes. Then he went beyond his station, spending his own vast wealth, and mis-appropriating his budget to further his exploration.
Sum-Gok was found out - fortunately by a friend and not one of his corporate rivals. Sum-Gok was allowed to retire on medical grounds.
So now a shell of a ship, captained by a shell of a man, sought refuge on Kusari's fringe. Sympathetic (and some might say cynical) people within Kishrio and the GMG have steered him towards the Blood Dragons, where he found his niche within their Nomad Research Programme.
Since the departure of the Order, Sum-Gok has risen to be one of the key research scientists in the field of Xeno-technology. His knowledge of Naval Forces ship engineering has also proved invaluable to the Dragons.
Most importantly, Sum-Gok can continue his fool's quest...