Name: Kolt Christian Merkel
Rank: Flieger
Age: 29
Height: 183 cm (6 feet)
Weight: 79 kg. (174 pounds)
Hair Colour: Brown
Eye Colour: Blue
Planet/Station of Origin: Planet Nuremburg, Munich system.
Background Information
Kolt was born in the Altenfurt district of planet Nuremburg in early 790 AS. to Oliver and Elise Merkel. Both his parents worked in the local Military Vehicle factory, his father as a low level manager and his mother the chief administration clerk for his division. The combined income of his parents allowed Kolt to live in moderate comfort within the Rheinland middle class, though he could only spend a limited time with them due to the demands of their respective positions.
As Kolt grew up, he became more and more interested in what lied beyond Nuremburg, but he didn’t have the means to leave the planet and explore the wider world. At the age of 15, he decided the fastest way into space was service in the Rheinland military, and began studying subjects that would assist him in his endeavour.
Kolt applied for a position in the Rheinland Military in 808 AS. at the age of 18. Whilst in training, he picked up more than just the skills required for a fighter pilot. As he learned more about the criminal organisations he was to encounter as a fighter pilot and the atrocities they committed in the name of “freedom and equality”. He developed a desire to put an end to the violent acts perpetrated by groups like the Unioners and Red Hessians. Upon completion of his training, Kolt began his career as a fighter pilot in the Independent fleet, which allowed him the freedom to explore he desired as a child.
By late 812 AS. Kolt had reached the limit of exploration as a military pilot; having visited all of the systems controlled by Rheinland, along with its borders, but still wanted to see the rest of Sirius. He used his savings to purchase a civilian heavy fighter and handed in his resignation papers, starting off a 2 year long tour of the other houses.
Whilst touring the rest of Sirius, Kolt learned much about the other houses, dipping into their culture and taking in the sights, but also keeping up his military training, taking odd jobs against the local criminal organisations to finance his excursion. Though enjoying himself, slowly working his way through the houses and even venturing beyond their borders, he couldn’t help but feel out of place. For much of his life, Kolt was looking out from home, yearning to venture out and take in what the outside world had to offer; now he was looking back to his place of origin, wanting to return to the familiar.
In 815 AS. Kolt’s tour came to an abrupt end. While in the Kyushu System, he received a transmission from this mother. Unioners had launched a major assault on Ingolstadt station and his father was un-accounted for. Kolt raced back to his home at the best speed his fighter could muster, hoping his father was safe and vowing vengeance on those who carried out the attack. Upon his arrival in the Munich system, his fears had come to pass. His father was among the 700 people slaughtered in the attack, killed by a Unioner boarding party while trying to secure a hanger filled with military vehicles. The loss of his father initially affected Kolt rather deeply. After attending a memorial service for those killed in the attack, he applied to join the military once more, partly to avenge his father’s death, but also to prevent such a tragedy in the future.
Within just 6 months, Kolt was placed in command of a fighter wing, patrolling mostly in the Frankfurt and Munich systems, hunting down pirates and terrorists and protecting shipping lanes. With his father’s death still relatively fresh in his mind, he made a particular effort to kill every Unioner ship he came across, and even went as far as vaporising the escape pods of those he destroyed on occasion.
Kolt was briefly re-assigned to the Stuttgart system in late 815 AS. before being promoted to Kapitaen and granted command of the reconnaissance gunboat RNC-Fernspaer which operated mostly in the Omega region to keep an eye on pirate activity. He still hopped in the cockpit of a fighter whenever he had the chance, tagging on with local patrols to keep his skills in check. With tensions between Rheinland and Liberty sharply rising in 817 AS., the RNC-Fernspaer was retrofitted with newer scanning equipment and re-assigned to the border with liberty. Shortly after the current Liberty-Rheinland conflict broke out, the RNC-Fernspaer was heavily damaged by mercenary bomber wing while charting gravimetric anomalies in the Texas System. Though severely damaged, the vessel still managed to make it back to Hamburg, where it was subsequently deemed irreparable and de-commissioned. Kolt was temporarily assigned a fighter wing once more while a new position opened up for him.
In late 817 AS., Kolt was placed in command of a new class of cruiser fitted with long range heavy weaponry, the RNC-Jaeger, designed to counter the waves of capital class vessels employed by the Liberty Navy. The vessel proved to be quite effective in its role, participating in several engagements, including the successful defence on the Hamburg system from a particularly large assault force in mid 818 AS. Since the battle, the RNC-Jaeger has been assigned solely to the defence of the Hamburg system from liberty invasion forces. Recent recognition of his service to Rheinland has caught the eye of the Rheinland Military High Command, and has prompted him to apply for a position amongst their ranks.
Currently, Kolt in command of the gunboat RNC-Erfurt, based out of the Stuttgart system performing border patrols, but is still ensures he has access to a fighter and bomber. Kolt is also on call to command the RNC-Jaeger in case of a significant incursion by Liberty forces.
Basic Personality Traits: Kolt is generally an understanding and passive individual in the field, but he tends to be rather unforgiving when it comes to those he deems a threat to Rheinland and its people, particularly members of the Unioners and Red Hessians. He has proven proficient at commanding gunboat and cruiser class ships but prefers the speed and agility of a fighter craft over the lumbering mass of capital ships. In the office, Kolt shows good attention to detail, and is quite analytical.