Gunther Hoerst

Gunther Hoerst
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Profile
Origin	Rheinland
Occupation	Squadron commander, SOA director
Affiliation	Red Hessians
Rank	Major
Status	Active
Born	26th June 778 A.S. Planet Stuttgart

Gunther Hoerst, (born June 26th, 778 A.S.) is a squadron commander in the Red Hessian Army, under the rank of Major. He also serves as Meisnerr's executive officer, and is often briefed by the Brigadegeneral himself and ordered to lead most RHA missions deemed important.

Hoerst is the founder of the Spezialoperationabteilung (Department of Special Operations) within the Red Hessian Army. This group has been in charge of all anti-Wilde operations across Hessian territory, in addition to heavily cooperating with the SCRA in several fields, including joint defence and weapons research.

Life

Gunther Hoerst was born in one of the few Stuttgart slums built around the largest shuttle ports on the planet. His parents (names unknown) were involved in the ongoing WVS legal actions against Synth Foods, Inc., being directly affected by the corporate giant as part of a motion to buy out a set of estates for "re-purposing". Having lost that battle and their holdings, they were forced to resettle around the planetary export terminals. Young Gunther was raised in deep patriotism, with the belief that corporate greed was responsible for the slow downfall of his nation. He was coached by his father to join the Military during his teen years to prepare for the "inevitable clash of Rheinland and Liberty", and he eventually signed up for the Stuttgart Military Academy in 795 A.S. graduating with honours 4 years later and proceeding to serve as a young officer from the fall of 799 A.S.

A year later he bore witness to the atrocities and war crimes perpetrated by the Wilde led Military during the Nomad War. He abandoned his post in New Berlin during the darkest hour of the war, just before the attack on Honshu, and fled to the Omega-11 system before disappearing from Military scanners shortly after. His status was changed to "missing in action, possible absent without leave" by Rheinland Military High Command in late 800 A.S.

Involvement in the Red Hessians

Hoerst is assumed to have joined the Red Hessians from his own accord during the Nomad War, having been disillusioned with both his homeland's government and military falling to what he considered foolish decisions. A few months after his defection, when the Nomad infested Rheinland fleet tried to make their escape through the Omega systems, Hoerst learned the truth about his commanding officers and their puppet masters. By that time however he believed in the Hessian cause enough to remain with them, and considered them as "the true defenders of Rheinland". Those events sparked his interest in the extraordinary, and would lay foundation for his later endeavours.

Red Hessian Army

He continued to carry out small raids as wing commander against both Rheinland and Corsair targets (a promotion he quickly earned owing to his military training) until 815 A.S. when he was hand picked by Kaspar Meisnerr, the newly appointed commanding officer of the RHA, to join the RHA Oberkommando. His experience and tactical prowess on the field quickly earned him Meisnerr's trust and respect, and Hoerst eventually became nothing less but the right hand of the Red Hessian Army.

In late 816 A.S. he continued intensifying raids against the Corsairs, eventually becoming a unofficial liaison for joint Coalition - RHA operations against Cadiz in Omega-5 as his own forces continued to frequently encounter SCRA fighters during his raids. Hoerst was instrumental to the signing of the Coalition - RRA cooperation treaty in 817 A.S. and continued serving as one of several official liaisons during the break off of the Reapers of Sirius and their subsequent attack on Red Hessian facilities in the Omega systems.

Current affairs

Hoerst is currently serving as executive officer of the Red Hessian Army, as well as the director of the Army's Spezialoperationsabteilung. He continues to lead most large scale Hessian raids within the Omega systems and Rheinland itself, and is currently wanted on several acts of terrorism by the Rheinland authorities, giving him a place on the Rheinland government's most wanted list.

Personality

Hoerst is above all a pragmatic man, judging people by their value rather than by their beliefs. This allows him to know and sometimes even befriend people that no standard Hessian would ever be seen with. Similarly, his moral flexibility allows him to deal with these people easily, and he is well known for being able to obtain or otherwise get to difficult things, places and persons depending on need. This trait coupled with a decent tactical ability allowed him to earn a spot on the Red Hessian Army Oberkommando, even if his style of command and conduct is frequently disputed by his peers in rank.

He takes his position squarely in the pragmatic camp of Hessian commanders, rather than the idealistic. "The ends justify the means" is a phrase he is very familiar with, and uses very often. That said, he does have some idealism within him as he joined the Red Hessian movement to begin with, exactly due to differences of opinion between himself and his commanders in the Rheinland Military.

As many Hessians, he doesn't respect authority without a good reason to do so. Nonetheless, he continues serving in only a slightly modified version of a typical Rheinland Military uniform, exactly because of his patriotism as well as his secret love for tidyness. He justifies it to his peers as "a statement of defiance" and makes it a point for his subordinates to know that he used to serve in and deserted from the Military long before most of them ever joined the ranks of the Hessians.

See also

• Red Hessian Army