Michael Jeon

== Michael Jeon ==
Michael "Mike" Jeon was an American special operative soldier in the Navy SEALs, and after the Great Collapse in the Appalachian SAACC.
== Early Life ==
Mike Jeon was born on December 3, 1991 in Plano, Texas. His parents were Korean-American immigrants from Seoul who had moved to the United States in search of better opportunities. Growing up in the Dallas metro area, Jeon was raised with a strong work ethic and a sense of duty to his family.
While in school, Jeon met Courtney Chandler, who would eventually become his wife. At the age of 18, Chandler became pregnant with their first child, a son named Ethan, who was born on August 17, 2011. Two years later, their daughter, Lily, was born on December 1, 2014.
To provide for his family, Mike joined the Navy in 2010 before the birth of his first child. Due to his exceptional skills, he was selected to become a Navy SEAL and underwent rigorous training to become an elite soldier in the force.
After completing his training, Mike was deployed to the Middle East, where he saw combat and distinguished himself as a capable leader. He eventually became a squad commander and led his teams on numerous missions, earning the respect of his fellow soldiers and superiors.
== Service in the Navy ==
Mike Jeon was known for a mission he led a mission to capture a high-value target in a remote area of Afghanistan, known as Operation Serenity Black. Dropped by helicopter in darkness, his team moved quickly to their objective. Despite encountering heavy resistance from enemy fighters, Jeon's team was able to infiltrate the target building and apprehend the target with only one injury on his team. The team then called in a helicopter for extraction and made it safely back to base. Jeon was able to complete the mission while ensuring his wounded sailor was to be safely extracted with them. Jeon's leadership and bravery on the mission led him to be awarded a Bronze Star.
In 2015, Mike Jeon and his SEAL team were sent to Pakistan to eliminate a high-value target and destroy a major enemy stronghold in the mountainous region near the Afghanistan border. The operation required the team to navigate through rugged terrain and engage in heavy combat with enemy forces. During the operation, Jeon and his team faced intense resistance from the enemy, and Jeon was injured by shrapnel from an improvised explosive device (IED) detonation. Despite his injuries, Jeon continued to lead his team and successfully completed the mission, eliminating the target and destroying the stronghold.
For his valor and leadership, Jeon was awarded the Purple Heart, as well as the Navy commendation medal. After his mission in Pakistan, Mike Jeon was reassigned to a position on base in New Jersey, US. He was relieved to be back with his family and grateful to have survived the mission without any permanent injuries. Jeon spent his days instructing new Navy SEALs in combat tactics, strategy, and survival skills. He was also able to spend more time with his family, who lived with him in the base housing. In 2016, Jeon began a four-year degree while still technically enlisted in the Navy with the intentions of becoming an officer. Sometime between studies, Jeon was assigned on a training mission in northern Norway for Arctic Training.
With the outbreak of the Jinanvirus in 2018, Jeon's plans were put on hold indefinitely, and he was discharged in the beginning of 2019 due to the steady collapse of the federal government. Chandler, Jeon's wife, had family in upstate New York, and them and their kids retreated their to resist the Great Collapse.
== Service to the Appalachian Republic ==
Following the destruction of the Harrisburg Committee, Jeon realized he needed to become involved in the effort against Seaboard. He joined the local militia, and then became a Lieutenant for the Naval ground forces for the Appalachian Republic, where he initially was assigned to certain recon missions and troop training. According to Jeon, he was responsible for many covert missions kept out of the public eye, as opposed to the SAACC unit's more glamorized assaults.
Following Burnett's disciplinary hearing, Jeon was reassigned to be the Lieutenant in charge of the SAACC company despite not being a Marine. Though he respected Brian Burnett, the two clashed a bit during their early days when Jeon tried to reinforce rugged discipline in the unit's leaders. Despite this, Burnett and Jeon quickly grew to trust and appreciate one another fully. In later 2023, with the fleeing of Abel Clark, Jeon saw it has his responsibility to find out more about the disgraced commando and locate him. He did not allow Burnett to take charge in this role as he viewed it would be a conflict of interests. Jeon took sympathy for Burnett's younger sister, Maria, who was caught up in Clark's escape. After coercing her to tell Jeon what she knew, the Navy Lieutenant made sure she was cleared of any suspicions or charges and viewed her as another victim of Clark. It was quickly discovered that Clark had been apprehended by Seaboard and favored the enemy state, and once in that position, Jeon had little authority over him, though he did try to keep track of his movements in and out of the territory.
After increasing structure in the company, Jeon began to take a more direct role in orchestrating and missions and keeping cohesion with upper officers as Burnett made sure they were carried out properly, often in battle. By 2024, he was seen as an invaluable asset to the team. As the questioning of Appalachian President Elaine Cocklin's loyalty grew, Jeon discovered that Lieutenant Brian Burnett was planning a military coup to remove Cocklin from power and hold a new election for a President loyal to Appalachia. Initially weary, in the face of overwhelming evidence presented by late senator Daniel Pierce among others, Jeon began to assist in keeping the plan under wraps. In May 2025, Jeon and Burnett commanded their unit in infiltrating the capitol, and they were met by neutrality by most military forces who refused to intervene on Cocklin's behalf. Despite this, there was considerable and unexpected resistance by Seaboard-affiliated guards and units under flag of Appalachia. Jeon failed, and Burnett was captured, and despite Jeon's attempt to reacquire him, it proved unsuccessful.
== Transition to Confederate Authority ==
After the coup, Jeon stayed in Camp Matamor, which refused to submit to Seaboard's authority. There was no initial conflict even after the Albany Accords, as Seaboard hoped that Camp Matamor would come around without a fight in time. This proved to be untrue. Jeon made sure Maria Burnett and her family with her were able to flee, insisting that they go south to Confederate territories to enlist their help. He made contact with CSA authorities as they began to annex territories to the south, and Camp Matamor joined forces and the Appalachian military, which was overwhelmingly opposed to the Seaboard acquisition, allowed their command to be integrated into the Confederacy. Jeon helped lead forces to take Harrisburg back, but was unable to apprehend the now former President Cocklin before.
Following the CSA annexation of Pennsylvania, Jeon and his unit was reassigned to the west in Pittsburgh, where he worked with Army Colonel Chambers in hopes of sparking an alliance with the Great Lake States. Despite Jeon's wishes, these attempts had mixed results- especially as Jeon kept Great Lakes President Zhi's former apprentice, Yun, under his unit's custody. As time went on, Jeon grew frustrated with the administrative changes brought by the CSA, namely the autocratic appointment of a new governor, although he stayed polite about it. Amid warnings from Maria Burnett and documented proof of the Confederacy's shaky history and inception, Jeon authorized a recon mission to extract encrypted communications data from a Great Lake States outpost. While under the ruse that it was to discover if Seaboard and the Great Lake States were collaborating, it was actually to find whether there was discussion among Great Lake and Confederate leaders that weren't being revealed. Though normally understanding in issues involving a need-to-know basis, Jeon was increasingly skeptical of the Confederate's loyalties to the Appalachian people.
As Maria Burnett often stayed with the unit hoping to help them with the information she had, her usefulness wore off on Jeon. As he saw her delve deeper into emotional instability and avoidance of her personal responsibilities, Jeon was contacted directly by Brian Burnett, who was out of Seaboard custody but still in their territory, working with a rebel cell known as the Liberators. It was revealed without much detail that Burnett and the Liberators were hoping to plan a covert but high-stakes mission against Seaboard's core that would otherwise not be possible by CSA forces. Jeon relayed this to Maria Burnett, expressing that she would not partake in his company's command nor that mission any longer.