Nathan Krauss

== Nathan Krauss ==
"We are Americans, and no matter how we go down, we go down with a fight!" -Krauss addressing his troops during the Battle of Harrisburg.
Nathan Krauss, also known as Colonel Krauss, General Krauss, Commander, or simply Nate, was an American Marine officer and later Appalachian General who was instrumental in forming the Harrisburg Committee, as well as helping raise an army to fight against Seaboard. He is a major protagonist and narrator in The Seaboard Element.
Born in Franklin, North Carolina in 1974, Krauss was raised in a middle-class family. He joined the Marine Corps reserves while attending college at eighteen, traveling to Somalia during the civil war of 1991 during his time out of school. Nathan Krauss first saw action as an officer in War in Afghanistan. He remained in the war until 2005, when he was honorably discharged.
After the Great Collapse, Krauss became involved in the reconstruction of the Pennsylvania state government and military, which had become the Harrisburg Committee. While doing so, he mentored Brian Burnett, who he saw great potential in. A self-claimed USMC Colonel, Krauss was instrumental in successfully commanding and raising large amounts of Appalachian troops. Just before the First Battle of Harrisburg, Krauss' rank became subject to controversy after Captain Gonzales revealed he was not a Colonel, but a Major in the USMC. This, combined with the death of his son and the inevitable destruction of his regiment, caused him to relive himself of his command.
Two years later, Krauss had found and trained a defected Seaboard soldier, Leonardo Evans. He once again was in contact with Burnett, and was offered the rank of General- to which he agreed. In the next months, Krauss led several successful missions, including the Second Battle of Harrisburg. His offensive north saw numerous victories until his ill-fated attempt to occupy the town of Cobleskill.
== Early Life ==
Nathan Krauss was born on 11 May 1974 in Franklin, North Carolina. His only known sibling is Benjamin Krauss, three years older than Nathan. Krauss' mother stayed at home, while his father managed a nearby farm. The Krauss father was a Vietnam veteran, who was a US Army officer.
After completing high school, Krauss joined the Marine Corps reserves in his brother's footsteps, while attending college. In college, he met his first wife. During one of his summers, he briefly traveled to Somalia in 1994 during the Somali Civil War. There, he was on a training mission but unintentionally part of an attack. where he killed his first person. Upon returning, his first son, Anthony Krauss, was born. A year later, Krauss divorced. However, Anthony stayed with Krauss because a court ruling deemed his mother to be unfit to be his legal guardian.
Graduating with his bachelors in 1996, Krauss became an officer and was stationed at Camp Pendleton, California. He met his second wife, Sandra Davis Krauss.
== Military Service (1992-2005) ==
Krauss was stationed at Camp Pendleton in California, in an environment he was not used to. At the time, the United States was in no major conflict. As a second Lieutenant in 1997, Krauss had his second son, Tyler Krauss. In 1998, he was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant. Krauss remained with Sandra Davis while they raised his son, as well as Anthony, who Sandra was rather ambivalent about. Due to Krauss's limited time to be with his family, and Sandra's favoritism with Tyler, Krauss spent most of his free time with his eldest son, Anthony.
In 2000, Krauss was promoted to Captain while being transferred to Cherry Point air station in North Carolina, Krauss' home state. While he was pleased, the move caused strife between Sandra and Nathan, of who the former was not pleased. Krauss was stationed at Cherry Point during the September 11th attacks, and then the beginning of the War in Afghanistan in 2001. The next year, Krauss was promoted yet again for his excellent performance on base. However, he was to go to Afghanistan as a Major on a newly built American military base in the country. At the time, the Taliban had been mostly pushed out of the country.
As the Taliban began to become influential again, Krauss was assigned to lead a battalion of Marines in the far east of Afghanistan. The soldiers had a main duty of searching and securing locations which may have been thought to contain escaped Taliban leaders. As the insurgency began to pick up momentum, and the war in Iraq began, Krauss remained in holding off forces. In 2004, Major Krauss was responsible for orchestrating an offensive operation, Operation Pigtail, against a built up Taliban garrison. It was a controversial attack, since the Taliban forces at the hideout had ten young children held hostage. Ultimately, Krauss made the decision to decimate the garrison when it was falsely reported that the children had already been killed.
Despite the deaths of the children, Krauss was unaware for years. Due to the lack of American casualties, Major Krauss was celebrated for his ability at commanding the mission. He was informed he would be promoted to Lieutenant Colonel, and be on the road to a Colonel. However, sometime in 2005, Krauss decided not to peruse the rank of Colonel. He returned to the United States. Prior to his departure, Krauss met Katrien, a young Dutch journalist who was documenting the war. The two had an extramarital affair before he split with her.
== Post-military life (2005-2018) ==
Once Krauss had left the Marine Corps, Anthony and Tyler Krauss were eleven and seven respectively. Still living in North Carolina, Krauss received a job opportunity as a manager for a company that dealt with the legal processing shipments and orders of military equipment. The company was based just east of State College, Pennsylvania. Without his wife agreeing, Krauss made the decision to move.
In 2008, Nathan Krauss divorced with Sandra Davis. She fought for custody of Tyler, but settled for shared custody. In the next few years, Krauss met with a Dutch journalist he had met overseas, Katrien. The two began dating, and a couple of years later Sandra Davis moved to Toronto, Canada, with Tyler. Krauss didn't fight for custody. While working, Krauss bought land with a dilapidated lumber house that he and his son Anthony refurbished. This became the Krauss Ranch.
After graduating high school, Krauss' son moved to North Carolina to live with his grandparents. After his failed attempt to joined the military, he stayed away from home. Nathan Krauss continued working and came into contact again with Katrien, while he slowly picked up an alcohol habit. Soon, she moved in with Krauss, and the two lived together as a couple. Before the Great Collapse, Krauss was given a report that informed him of classified information about Operation Pigtail that he was unaware of. It revealed that ten children were in the Taliban hideout, and due to his own orders, were shot and killed. This, combined with the state of the government, increasing workloads, and a declining relationship with his girlfriend, led to a rapid decline in his mental health. Krauss began drinking heavily and became aggressive until the Great Collapse.
Katrien left Krauss, and he contracted the Jinanvirus. Nearly dying from the virus, he managed to survive- and his son, Anthony, helped him through his recovery. The two remained on his ranch until Krauss met Brian Burnett.
== Call to Action ==
After Brian Burnett attracted heat to the ranch in the form of a delinquent gang, Krauss felt compelled to assist the newcomers due to their peculiar situation. Alone, he intercepted a drug deal involving the gang, and killed Phillip Cunningham, as Burnett had reason to believe eliminating him would end the group's vendetta. This proved to be false with the introduction of Jason Payne, who doubled down on the quest for vengeance. A former enlistee in the Army, Payne proved to be more capable than the rest of the gang, effectively leading them on their quest. Afterwards, Krauss met Jayden and Lily Harris, inviting them to return to his property for a period of time.
With the reintroduction of Kyle Wald, who was cloaked in mystery both to Krauss and Wald's friends, the situation grew dire. The gang took Brigitta Wald and her boyfriend, Justin Harlem, as captives after they returned to their house from a camping trip, clueless to the situation that unfolded. Krauss and the others on the ranch were promptly taken captive, being lined up outside the house. After breaking free from his captivity, the two groups clashed. Wald viscously killed the rival members, only after his mother was executed by accident. After the confrontation, Wald took Burnett's car and abruptly left.
Over the next few months, Krauss felt compelled to reach out to others in the county. As the local authority recovered from the devastating Jinanvirus, Krauss and Burnett began to form a close relationship, one that his son Anthony, became jealous of. Krauss and Burnett met with the county leader, Mayor Donovan Young. Krauss was untrusting of the unprofessional mayor, and was differed to Harrisburg, the state capitol. Both Krauss and Burnett left to Harrisburg, where they met the Governor, Edwin Parrish. Because of his military and diplomatic experience, Krauss had work piled up that he accepted, feeling he had an obligation to repay the debts of his orders that cost ten children's lives. Krauss helped reconstruct the shattered Pennsylvania military, specifically the Marine Corps, which he was previously an officer in. He also helped arrange alliances and deals between different political factions and counties, a requirement for creating stability in the region.
While traveling in a military unit to Philadelphia, the forces were attacked in the King of Prussia Skirmish. It turned out to be a disastrous misunderstanding, and Krauss absorbed the post-Army unit, stripping their leader of his command. After organizing in Philadelphia, Krauss was sent out without a break, this time to New England. He easily took control of a town in Vermont, noting that the Seaboard units were vastly undertrained and unprepared. After returning to Harrisburg, Krauss insisted that he was issued a convoy to take control of Juniata County, which was still politically neutral. He made it clear it wasn't a request after learning Donovan Young had killed the previous mayor and took the position for himself.
Krauss, Burnett, and a team of Marines took to the town, only to discover that their family and friends were missing. Realizing they were held hostage, the team understood that provoking the enemy occupiers might lead to the death of the hostages. Instead, Burnett went solo, linking up with Kyle Wald, who had unexpectedly returned from the West. Once it was clear that the situation was out of control, Krauss made the decision to send his unit in. They converged on an abandoned church, and the remaining pseudo-police force was destroyed. However, Burnett's girlfriend, Emily Allen, died in the confrontation.
Left with a motherless child, Burnett fell into a depression. Krauss, the only one in the group with experience as a parent, felt responsible for the safety of the child and his clan as a whole, who had been brought closer together amid the events. Kyle Wald reached out to Harper and Zoe Brooks, who agreed to stay on the Krauss property and contribute to the homestead, notably looking after the infant.
== Commander of Alpha Division ==
As the Seaboard threat grew more intense, Krauss vouched for an occupying force to move north and swamp up counties in New York that might be absorbed by Seaboard otherwise. He did so, and he led Alpha Division as a Colonel.
After beginning his operation with relative ease, Seaboard initiated the Catskill Offensive, utilizing tactics and organization that the Alpha Division wasn't totally prepared for. The force began to meet fierce resistance in central New York. Krauss vouched for a formal retreat from New York, knowing that the original plan of taking control of the state was now unrealistic. However, Seaboard forces led by General Sherman and strategized by Brigadier Zhi quickly dispatched to the territory south of Alpha Division. Effectively cutting them off, Krauss realized a swift and forceful retreat had to be made. This attempt boiled over in the Battle of the Big Indian, which was a turning point in the conflict. Alpha Division was defeated by a force of Seaboard troops nearly twice the size, the best Trailblazers of them led by Major Parth Yudhan. The allied force was fractured and sent back north, and during the conflict, Krauss' son, Anthony, was killed.
Beaten down by the tragedy, unexpected Seaboard strength, and lack of reinforcements, Krauss' leadership started to break down. His subordinate officers, including Captain Gonzales, Major Bolt, and Lieutenant Moore, started to take the reigns from the Colonel. After consecutive defeats, Krauss realized that either he would have to surrender to General Sherman or his forces would be totally destroyed. Unable to make the decision, his stress boiled over when he was confronted by Captain Gonzales, who outed him for lying about his rank. Gonzales hoped to take command of the unit and surrender to Seaboard, saving himself. After Burnett spoke with Krauss on the matter, Krauss rejected a promotion to General and abandoned his post.
While initially blamed, the Appalachian Marine Corps came to forgive Krauss for his actions, especially after Gonzales' true motives were revealed and he was killed. Krauss, however, was nowhere to be found. For almost two years after, he laid low, trying to uncover truths about Seaboard as they took control of his homeland. Krauss understood that there was much more to the growing power than anyone knew, and hoped to find answers. Despite his attempts, Krauss never made any substantial discoveries in his time away from leadership. On one of his excursions, Krauss eliminated a squad of Seaboard trailblazers, hoping it would lead him to something more. He then stumbled upon Leonardo Evans, who happened to be looking for his brother in the deceased squad. Despite not finding him, the two paired up, and Krauss took the young fighter under his wing, training him as he had done for Brian Burnett.
== Taking the Rank of General ==
Krauss began to realize that his attempts at uncovering Seaboard truths wouldn't be possible alone. He also believed that Kyle Wald might be an important asset, although, he didn't know how to feel about reintroducing himself into his old clan. Instead, Krauss promised to help Evans find his brother, who was enlisted in the Seaboard military. All of their plans converged when Evans' older brother was found taking part in a low-profile mission in an abandoned shopping mall. Unknowingly, Brian Burnett had plans with them as well. By the time Krauss and Evans caught up with the group, Burnett had killed Andrew Evans in a confrontation. Following this, Burnett offered Krauss the star that represented his General rank. Krauss knew his emergence would be awkward, but to his surprise, was welcomed with open arms.
Leading the Appalachian Resistance as a General, Krauss acted far more carefully than he had before. Coming from the West and the North, the Appalachian force converged on Harrisburg in October, 2021. Despite extreme doubts, Krauss' forces pulled through and took control of the capitol, leading to Seaboard withdrawal and the death of Levi Sherman Frazier.
Once the city was taken again, the leading military officers recognized the importance of finding or electing a General for the Armed Forces- Krauss agreed, but wasn't interested in the task. Instead, he emphasized the importance of securing territory north to thwart any subsequent Seaboard invasion, as the region was shattered and lightly defended in the aftermath of the Second Battle of Harrisburg. Once Pennsylvania was within solid control again, Krauss led a new division of Army, Navy, and Marine Corps units north once again. Already spread thin, Seaboard continued to retreat north with relative ease as Krauss gained traction. Eventually, the Appalachian Republic had a solid foothold of the 42nd parallel north, well into New York.
Krauss, as he hoped, began to uncover Seaboard truths. This included their capture of children, possibly for usage as future soldiers, civilian labor camps, and development into advanced robotics and AI. Knowing that a small town just north, Cobleskill, held a key facility for Seaboard investments, Krauss led a detachment to the town and attempted to occupy the town. However, counter forces led by Seaboard's Colonel Russel had anticipated the invasion. Russel spread rumors and created a false trail to lead Krauss and his troops to the town, which was, in reality, devoid of any real meaning to Seaboard and their technology. The 7th Alpha Company and the majority of the Recon Task Force were cornered and picked off. After being pushed into a church, Krauss and the remaining troops were forced into submission. Sergeant Angela Ellis and Captain Alex Mitchell were killed in the battle, which destroyed the Recon Task Force. After fulfilling his final act of redemption, Lyons Russel executed Krauss via decapitation, using a sword that once belonged to Kyle Wald.
Leonardo Evans was let free, as Russel wanted someone close to the General to give the news to the Appalachian Republic. While the death of Nathan Krauss was a major blow to the Appalachian Republic, and helped expose Colonel Buck's treason, the Republic continued to hold their territory for years after. Krauss' body, on orders of Russel, who held a certain respect for the General, was later returned to Harrisburg. Krauss was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor, which was kept by Maria Burnett after his son, Tyler, refused to take it.
== Krauss Family ==
Krauss' parents, William and Gloria Krauss, were born in 1937 and 1945 respectively.
== Unit Commander ==
As Colonel, Nathan Krauss presided over the Marine Corps forces until a higher ranking officer was positioned. However, he remained in control of Alpha Division, which mobilized forces for northward battles and territory control. The Regiment was composed of around thirty to thirty-five companies and five battalions.
Recon Task Force A/B - Two platoons of elite Marine Corps and Naval troops. Navy Lieutenant Mitchell and Sergeant/Lieutenant Davidson commanded them.
The 7th Alpha Company
Following the Catskill Offensive, Alpha Regiment was completely routed. With his return to the Appalachian Marine Corps as a Brigadier General, Krauss commanded the Appalachian Marine Corps in its entirety. However, he also led charge in the Northern offensive as he did before. This led to his sudden and unexpected defeat and death in the Battle of Cobleskill.