Charles Wilkins Taylor

Grand Admiral Charles Wilkins Taylor, 1st Baron Taylor of Wifsbury GCMT GSIC OV OM (born 1 April 2614) was a Terran colonial military officer and space admiral who was a decisive field and staff commander during the Great War and has served since 2694 as Chief of Space Operations and nominal commander of the Space Force staff. Between the Great War and his appointment as CSO, he served as commander of the Sol System Command (SOLCOM) from 2675 to 2679 and led the military forces in Operation Crassus. He then served in various commands of space forces before being appointed to lead the Outer Rim Exploratory Fleet in 2688.
After the start of the Rim War, he was appointed as the principal deputy to Grand Marshal York in the Special High Command for the Outer Rim. He served in this role until 2694, when he was appointed Chief of Space Operations.
== Early life ==
Charles Wilkins Taylor was born on April 1st, 2614 at the Natal Hospital in the city of Wifsbury, Crown Colony of Packard. His homeworld is a remote planet in the Dane system, at the inner edge of the Reach province, largely described as a "colonial backwater". Taylor grew up in Wifsbury, attending education at the Strongbow Institute, a military-affiliated boarding school, where he participated in the Imperial JROTC program. At age 18 he applied for admittance in the Tulla Naval Academy, and was accepted. The Cruxite War was ongoing during the latter part of his secondary education, and he was inspired by patriotic fervor to join the Imperial Navy.
== Military career ==
Taylor enrolled at a Midshipman in the Tulla Naval Academy, starting classes on August 3rd, 2632; he was recruited on the strength of his test scores and on letters of recommendation from his teachers. He underwent Basic Training and induction during the summer prior to starting at the Academy. He attended the Academy until May 2635, graduating with a commission as an Ensign, followed by 4 months at Space Warfare Officer School for qualifying training as an unrestricted line officer. In September, he was assigned to the cruiser HMSV Tocarno as a junior officer in the ship's navigation department, and the ship was deployed into the front lines of the war.
On 23 November, the Tocarno was involved in a fleet action in deep space, intercepting a Centaurus supply squadron. However, poor intelligence and the recklessness of Rear Admiral de Vane led to the intercepting battlegroup underestimating the squadron's escorts. Several Terran spacecraft were destroyed, and the Tocarno was badly damaged. A kinetic kill vehicle detonated within close range of the ship, and the impactors struck amidships. Lieutenant Commander Eduard Thad, ship's Navigation Officer, was killed in action while personally manning a belowdecks radar terminal; Ensign Taylor acted quickly to assemble the rest of the navigation crew to battlestations and maintain accurate sounding and navigation while the Tocarno maneuvered and escaped. After the Tocarno limped away and performed an Alcubierre jump, Taylor was given a battlefield commission as a Lieutenant, and Captain Blick appointed him ship's Navigation Officer. The war ended on 12 December, while the Tocarno was undergoing repairs.
Taylor served as the Tocarno's Navigation Officer for over four years, and was promoted to Lieutenant Commander in 2640. He was promoted to Commander, and was assigned as ship's Executive Officer in 2644. He was again promoted to Captain and was appointed ship's commanding officer, effective 1 January 2650. He captained the Tocarno until it was decommissioned in 2654, whereupon he was reassigned to command the cruiser HMSV Coronado. During the late phases of the Colonial Wars in the 2650s, the Coronado was deployed in support of Marine orbital assaults on remote colonies that had fallen to rebel action. As a multipurpose cruiser, it could carry a battalion-sized component of a Marine Expeditionary Brigade, or use a combination of magnetic accelerators and missiles to provide orbital naval gunfire support.
In 2658, he was selected for promotion to Counter Admiral, placed in command of a battle group centered on the battleship HMSV Regality, including two destroyers, two frigates, and several corvettes and support ships. Two years later, he was promoted again to Rear Admiral, and appointed to command Task Force 213, a naval task force including his previous battle group and four others, which he held for two years. During his command over these forces, he directed naval gunfire support operations and counter-piracy operations, primarily targeting hidden rebel bases in asteroids or small moons in the Outer Colonies.
In late 2662, he was decorated for his command ability, and invited to be an instructor at the prestigious Space Academy at Cape Canaveral, Earth, starting in the 2663 spring semester. He arrived on Earth, and quickly networked with Space Naval high command staff, personally meeting the Emperor, and became acquainted with important members of the National Humanist Imperial Labor Party. The NHILP was supportive of naval expansion, with a governing policy of preparing for imminent war with both the Soviet bloc and the FIGN. Taylor worked as an instructor on naval tactics and counterinsurgency strategy at the Academy for two and a half years.
The Great War broke out in September 2665, and Taylor requested a combat command. He was essentially given his choice of commands, any of which carried with it a promotion to Vice Admiral. He selected the 21st Fleet, to which his previous task force had been assigned; was promoted to Vice Admiral and assigned on 1 December, by which point an undeclared border war was raging in the Cassiopeian Frontier. Negotiations between the Soviets and the FIGN broke down, turning the war into a three-way conflict; most importantly, it divided the ISTO's enemies and made the Spinward republics ripe for a preemptive attack. The 21st Fleet was deployed beyond the frontier, as an advance strike force to neutralize patrols and goad the RCSN into a battle of annihilation; as CINCFLEET, Taylor oversaw the modification of all cruisers and battleships for strict ship-to-ship combat, the redeploying of all troop carrier craft to other commands, and the acquisition of replacement combat ships.
Category:Living people
Category:Military personnel
Category:Military personnel of the Colonial Wars
Category:Military personnel of the Great War
Category:Space admirals
Category:Space Forces personnel
Category:Terran colonials