Colonel Valestein

Colonel Valestein (バレスタイン大佐) was the founder of the Jaeger corp, The Northern Jaegers, and the adoptive father of Class VII's home room teacher, Sara Valestein. 
== Profile ==
=== Appearance ===
Valestein has a veteran appearance, having seen many years on the battlefield as both a jaeger and a solider. He has swept back grey hair and a trimmed moustache, along with visible stubble. 
Valestein is dressed in a variation of typical jaeger gear, armoured plates and tactical clothing including bracers, greaves and chest-plate embossed with the crest of North Ambria, all in shades of dark blue and navy. He retains his part of his army military uniform in his long grey officer's coat which he wears around his shoulders like a cape. 
=== Background ===
Valestein was a colonel in the North Ambrian army. After the North Ambrian disaster, the huge casualties, damage to livelihoods and widespread poverty required radical action on the part of its inhabitants. Seeking wealth and funds from other neighbouring countries, Colonel Valestein and the other army higher up formed the Jaeger Crops named the Northern Jaegers in order to fight in other nation's wars and disputes in exchange for much needed Mira which would help feed his nation's populace. These jaegers were considered heroes to the starving populace. 
Sara, who had lost her own parents to the disaster, was taken in by the Colonel. She idolised him and by age 10, was already enlisting in the Juvenile Jaeger Squad (少年猟兵隊), hoping to follow the same path as her father figure. She would join the main corp after three years of training. Sara took on the Colonel's surname as her own, becoming Sara Valestein.
On August 22, S.1198, a Northern unit led by Sara were one day hired to fight in a proxy war in a remote region in Erebonia between a Noble family and a large enterprise. Their opponents on the battlefield were to be their rival, Nidhoggr. Although achieving near victory, there was a risk of endangering civilians and in an effort to protect one neighbourhood, Nidhoggr seized the opportunity to attack. 
Driven into a corner and running out of options, Colonel Valestein, jumped into the fray and saved his daughter's unit from certain death at the cost of receiving mortal wounds to his own self. In his last moments, he approached Sara and said with his last breath, 
"You know, right? This is what being a jaeger is. Please think again whether this really is the path you want to follow."
Valestein soon passed away in the screaming Sara's arms, but his last words heavily impacted Sara to reconsider her current lifestyle to which she did.
Despite the corps' victory in the conflict and the considerable investment, the Northern Jaegers suffered a heavy loss as Valestein was the unifying force to keep the Corps as one faction. To keep the corps solidified, the other heroes Glark Grommash and Vlad Winslet decided to pin Valestein's death on Winslet, while leaving Rogan Mugart and his war hawks anguished, further souring Sara's view of the jaeger lifestyle.The Truth Coated in Lead
Sara attributes her fondness for older men to her love for Colonel Valestein.
=== ===
Sara brings up the Colonel when explaining her backstory. He is also referenced by a group of jaegers formed from the remnants of Northern Jaegers looking for a place to die following the annexation of their country by Erebonia. Sara uses the experience of losing her adoptive father to help bring the others around. 
Rutger Claussell, the commander of another jaeger corps, Zephyr, remarks that Colonel Valestein was a fine man.
== Gallery ==
Sara Valestein 1 - Visual (Sen III).jpg|Sara admiring the Colonel
Sara Valestein 3 - Visual (Sen III).jpg|The Colonel's death
=== The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel: Northern War ===
Colonel Valestein (NW).png
Colonel Valestein death (NW).png|The Colonel's death
Category:Characters
Category:Trails of Cold Steel III Characters
Category:Deceased Characters
Category:Northern Jaegers