Ach Styke

"May the Emperor have 40,000 more men like Lt. Styke"
-501st Commander 9509 Hunter
High General Ach Styke was a citizen of the Galactic Empire an officer in the 501st Legion and Imperial High Command during the early phases of the Galactic Civil War. Styke served on the ISD Prevention and for a short time served as Operations Director of the Death Star under Director Orsen Krennic. Styke served in the mid and outer rims on several campaigns and was killed leading the counter-attack on Yavin 4 against the Alliance to Restore the Republic. Ach was an Atreidean Styke. 
== Biography ==
=== Early Life (40 BBY - 20 BBY) ===
Ach was born into relative comfort on Abergrado-Rae to Josef and Hera Styke. His father, Josef, came from a long line of elite mercenary ship captains serving in planetary defence forces, his Mother Hera had been a staffer to a Republic Senator before meeting Josef. Ach grew up on his family's estate, where in his free time he'd study Galactic History, Military History, and literature among other things. 
The hardest part of Ach's life came from his familial situation. Up to and during the Clone Wars, Ach's father was away serving with planetary defence forces or with the Republic Navy. His mother focused mainly on having an active social life that drew her away from spending time with her children. As a result, Ach and his older sister Natcasa were mainly responsible not only for looking after themselves but also for looking after their two younger brothers Hoxha and Markrod. Often times due to Natcasa poor mental and physical health Ach had to manage the task alone. However, in spite of that, Ach was determined to do well in his studies-both for academics and for personal enrichment. He would briefly enter a band with his cousin, Malatche Atreidean Styke, during their time at their youth academy. At the age of 17 Ach chose to forgo the military service that his fathers family had always done in favour of pursuing a degree in Political Science and Galatic History. During this time Ach also began participating in sports, mainly foot races and swimming. 
Ach attended university starting at age 17 on Thyferra with dual majors in political science and diplomacy. This meant Ach wasn't on Abregado-Rae during the Battle of Abregado-Rae. Only returning in late 20 BBY when the battle was over. Ach was allowed to finish his studies on Abregado-Rae. 
By the age of 20 Ach was on course to finish his degree somewhat early, and was preparing to enter the workforce. He also began seeing a woman named Lota Arundel during this period. By this time the Clone Wars were raging all across the Galaxy and the tensions it brought to the community were palpable. It was during a celebration for Chancellor Palpatine that a coalition of Pro-Separatist and Anti-Palpatine Loyalists started a riot that spread to the Styke Estate. Both Josef and Hera Styke were known friends and supporters of Palpatine, which made them targets for the mob's anger. By the end of the night, most of the Styke Estate had been destroyed and most of the Styke family was dead. Josef and Hoxha were hung outside the entrance to the estate. His mother and sister were mortally wounded and died shortly after the raid. Markrod was never found and was presumed dead by the planet's authorities. 
=== Defence Forces and the Rise of the Empire (20BBY-18BBY) ===
Following the loss of his family and estate, Ach joined his planets defence forces in an attempt to prevent what happened to him to happen to others. Throughout his short service to his planet, Ach found himself unable to do much of anything to prevent crimes from occurring due to corruption and red tape. Ach oftentimes was reprimanded and placed on leave for pursuing cases against the criminal families, some of which worked with the CIS. It was here that Ach's distrust of the Republic and its values were first formed-seeing the entire government as caring more for vague principles than actual welfare for the people.
In 19 BBY when Chancellor Palpatine declared the end of the Republic and the rise of the Empire, Ach gave up his seemingly worthless work with the Planetary Defence Forces and enlisted in the Imperial Military. He proposed to Lota shortly before he was accepted into the Military Academy at Cardia. At Cardia, Ach was chosen to join the Imperial Stormtrooper Corps and began training to become one. After the brutal and challenging training was complete, Ach was sent to serve on the ISD Prevention where he would spend most of his military career. 
=== Stormtrooper on Board the ISD Prevention (17 BBY) ===
Ach found himself shipped to the Prevention with a whole batch of raw human recruits that included: Bravo, Dacker, Silver, Derek, Kujo, and a few others. Placed under the command of Commander 7788 Crimson, Ach went out of his way to prove himself to be a stand-up solider. His attitude drew a mix of respect and loathing from his peers and it would be often that Ach would have to argue or fight with his fellow troops. 
Ach saw action a few times while in the white armour, notably serving on a mission directed by Moff Sythe to the home-world of Major General Eros, the ship's highest-ranked army officer at the time. It was in missions like that one where Ach proved that his desire to be an upstanding trooper went beyond the easy parts and were consistent on the field of battle. Ach suffered several light wounds, which meant he was in the medical bay often, where he became with a Storm surgeon who went by Ringer. However, most of Ach's time as a member of the Stormtrooper Corps was spent patrolling the ship and being placed on guard duties at different low priority points of interest. Even the rare combat opportunities he did get were mostly fighting Separatist holdout forces rather than anything that was a real threat to the Empire.
=== Corrupt Moff and Joining the 501st Legion (16 BBY) ===
Like many other ISD's the Prevention often found herself in repair due to engagements. When the Prevention was ordered back to dry dock most the crew and troop attachments were sent on separate missions for a short time while a skeleton crew remained on the Prevention while it remained. 
While a part of a skeleton crew, an Imperial Moff came aboard for an inspection. Since this was his first time being inspected by Sector Command, Ach wanted to impress. Unfortunately, the only other trooper in Ach's bunk group that was part of the crew was an ageing clone with a drug problem. Upon inspection, an array of illicit drugs were discovered in the clone's equipment and both Ach and the Clone were ordered to be executed. While Ach tried to protest the decision he was still marched out to the Main Hanger Bay to be hung. The Clone was hung first and his corpse was shot several times by he Moff's men. As Ach was walked up to the noose, members of the ships 501st detachment burst into the Hanger Bay and began a firefight with the Moff's men. 
During the Moff's inspection, he forced his way into Vader's chambers where he planted a listening device and illicit materials in an attempt to bring down Lord Vader. Once the 501st discovered the treachery they marked the Moff for death and made their way down to make that happen. Luckily for Ach, they came in before he was hung by the Moff's guards. During the firefight, Ach managed to escape his bindings and dived for cover. He managed to get behind some boxes with another Stormtrooper named Derek. Derek passed Ach a rifle that one of the fallen guards had been using. Once armed the two Stormtroopers joined the 501st in combating the Moff's escorts. Once the firing began the Moff ran out of the Hanger Bay and tried to get to the Reactor room to destroy the ship. Ach and Derek, along with the 501st, rushed up and killed the Moff in a firefight in the Reactor Room. 
Once the ship had been secured, the 501st Commander named Hunter, took the two Stormtrooper aside and spoke with them. Both Derek and Ach were invited to join the 501st Legion to replenish the men who'd been killed in the skirmish. Both men accepted and became some of the firstborn humans to join the 501st Legion. Darth Vader would personally make an exception for Ach to join the ranks of the 501st. 
=== Service in the 501st Legion (16BBY-11BBY) ===
After joining the 501st Legion, Ach found himself in a position where elements of the 501st leadership and Imperial High Command put him on a faster promotion track due to his lineage and education. In spite of that Ach worked hard to distinguish himself as a trooper, which helped make him a notable soldier. As a part of the 501st Ach fought in more frontline capacities against more credible threats to Empire. At this point Ach came into contact with Darth Vader, often serving as an escort to the Sith Lord. As a part of the 501st Ach also worked closely with members of the Imperial Inquisitorius in hunting whatever Jedi survived the Great Jedi Purge. 
As Ach served longer in the 501st he developed a talent for relaying communications from command to his officers in the field. Ach became one of the first designated Radio Transmission Operator for the Imperial 501st Legion. Because of this, Ach often found himself in higher-level briefings that brought him to the attention of Imperial High Command members like Brigadier General Siegfried and Major General Eros. On the field, Ach performed extremely well, both as a front-line trooper and as his units RTO. 
Ach served with distinguished service, even earning the respect of many of the Clones he served alongside. Ach saw the clones as his brothers in spite of the fact he was one of the few clones in his regiment. Even after Derek left the 501st to retrain as a naval officer, they maintained their friendship which would last his life. 
=== Fall of Commander Hunter and Ascent to Command (11 BBY) ===
As Ach joined the ranks of the Stormtrooper Officers, he found himself under fire when he defended his Commander from criticism. Commander Hunter often ran afoul of many other Stormtrooper, Army, and Naval Officers with his insistence that 501st handle their duties. As a Lieutenant of the Legion Ach saw it necessary to defend his Commander from criticism regardless of whether he agreed with him or not. 
Soon after achieving the rank of Captain, members of the Imperial Security Bureau discovered Commander Hunter had been guilty of treason by encouraging his Stormtroopers to fight against the increasing Humanization of the Imperial Army. There was some evidence of a link between Hunter and elements of resistance groups. Many of the Clones under Hunter's Command had connections to Hunter's quasi-political ideology and were under suspicion of the Stormtrooper High Command and ISB. 
Being one of the few humans in the Legion, Captain Ach was above suspicion in this case. On top of that Ach was shielded from the ISB questioning by Brigadier General Siegfried. Before being arrested and exiled, Commander Hunter promoted Captain Xeno, a fellow clone, to Major to push his chances of being his successor. At the same time, Brig. General Siegfried promoted Ach to Major to give him legitimacy for becoming Commander. For several weeks the 501st was effectively in a state of civil war between Ach's supporters and Xeno's supporter's. This eventually culminated in the ISB removing Xeno for his role in supporting Hunter's Pro-Clone ideology, leaving Ach as the highest-ranked 501st officer left. 
=== Commanding the 501st Legion (11 BBY - 7 BBY) ===
After Ach had secured power in the 501st he wasted no time in reorganizing his detachment of the Legion. While technically only a Major and not a Commander, Ach was the undisputed leader of the unit. He forwent Hunter's clone only policy, selecting both clones and humans from the Stormcorps rather than just clones. Ach focused on instilling discipline into the legion that often went overlooked in Hunter's command. He also made amends with many other units and branches that Hunter had alienated by having the 501st step back into its role as a combat unit and Lord Vader's personal legion. Under his command, the 501st honed their skills as troopers, heavies, and combat medics which made them a dangerous group to fight on the battlefield. 
Ach also kept strict rules for the behaviour of his men, mandating they perform and represent the battalion the best they could since, under Commander Hunter, officers were often allowed to disrespect other officers and commanders. The 501st Legion detachment Ach built was recognized as one of the best units in the sector and distinguished itself many times. 
As 501st Major, Ach was the Stormtrooper Corps liaison for dealing with Darth Vader's inquisitors; A job he was both proud to have and loathed. It was his experiences of this time that caused him to begin to loathe force users, believing Lord Vader to be the only competent and worthwhile force user. His interactions with the Inquisitors often led to himself and his men becoming affected by Sith holocrons, which would plague Ach for much of his time with the 501st. However, Ach also believed he was one of the few officers capable of maintaining the patience needed to deal with them. 
=== Battle of Hapes (11 BBY) ===
The Battle of Hapes (*1) came at the end of 11 BBY and would be the first time Ach commanded his elements of the 501st as their major into the field of battle. The Battle of Hapes was the first of many Nightmarish battles Ach's 501st would have to face. Occurring on a small moon in the Hapes system the 501st and 42nd Stormcorps at large were forced to fight a series of battles in bunkers to recapture Imperial Prisoners from the Hapes Consortium. The bloody room-to-room fighting meant that casualties were heavy, and the losses Ach experienced would haunt him for the rest of his command.
=== The subjugation of Inusagi (10 BBY) ===
After the nightmare at Hapes, Ach's detachment of the 501st was dispatched to the Inusagi system at the orders of Moff Sythe. Inusagi would prove just as difficult a battle, a swampy world embroiled in trench warfare. In the closing days of the battle, Ach was ordered to charge an enemy position with his 501st with elements of the Prevention's Shock unit supporting him. It was during this last engagement hat a piece of shrapnel flew into his visor and irreparably destroyed his right eye, causing him to wear an eyepatch for the rest of his life. 
=== Promotion to High Command (7 BBY) ===
Following a purge of the 42nd Stormtrooper Corps High Command by the Internal Security Bureau Ach was on the list of officers who could replace the purged. In 7 BBY, Moff Sythe himself made the call for Ach to be promoted to the rank of Colonel under the command of Major General Eros. His first action as Colonel would be leading the 501st and 1st Stormtrooper Division on an operation Hargreeva during the Imperial annexation of the planet. Ach would enjoy a certain level of popularity from his men going forward, having risen through the ranks with many of them. 
=== High Colonel and the Death Star Council ===
While Major General Eros had not been informed that Ach would be a made a part of her command staff, she soon came to rely on the young colonel to directly interact with the troops under their authority as her duties had her elsewhere often. 
== Relationships and Friendships ==
=== Captain Derek Noll: ===
The alleged homosexual lover of General Styke early in their careers. While no official document has ever surfaced proving their relationship, a young waitress on Coyerti claims to have seen the two on a dinner date of some kind. This has never been confirmed, however. 
=== Admiral Pilikins Toshe: ===
"Attention all members of the Tenth Fleet...THERE ARE FUCKING SPACE WHALES OUTSIDE"
The Admiral of the 10th Fleet where the majority of Ach's troops were based, the two had an interesting relationship. A fat, somewhat incompetent, upper class, nepotism pick from the planet of Pilitown; Pilikins had every aspect in him that Ach despised. However, somehow against all odds, Ach had a certain respect for Pilikins mainly in his ability to not be killed for his many, many, many, many, many, many, many, failures and blunders such as: blowing up dozens of civilian vessels, promoting Simcoe, being fat, and above all letting his daughter, Ruby, anywhere near command. 
=== Director Orsen Krennic: ===
While in the 501st Legion Ach and Krennic butted heads a lot and generally considered each other rivals. However, when Ach ascended to the post of Colonel the former rivals became fast friends owing to their mutual hatred of Marshal Cross. The two worked together to bring down Marshal Cross and his infinite autism. After the defeat of Marshal Cross, Krennic invited Styke to become a member of the Death Star Council as a junior member. 
=== Marshal Cross: ===
When Ach was first promoted to Colonel, his direct commanding officer, Major General Eros, was very rarely there. As a result, Colonel Styke was often given direct orders from a Mandalorian former Bounty Hunter, Surface Marshal Cross. While the two were friendly at first, Ach's opinion of him quickly deteriorated into a secret loathing of him. Thus, when an opportunity to bring him down presented itself he eagerly agreed. Marshal Cross was found to have leaked the top-secret codes for the Death Trooper Program, causing Director Krennic to call upon Styke's 501st and Shock to arrest the Marshal. Colonel Styke, along with his men and DT, stormed the Emporium where the Marshal was hiding killing many Inquisitors in the process. While a Moff intervened and saved Cross' life, for the time being, it was the beginning of the end for Cross. 
Ach's involvement with the plot to arrest and kill the Marshal was kept hidden, which caused Cross to increasingly trust Ach as he believed the higher echelons of the 10th Fleet were out to kill him. Ach was called on by the Marshal to assist in the courtship of Grand Inquisitor Ice, which required Cross to divulge a plethora of information regarding his personal life. All that information was fed to the ISB and Krennic in order to assist in the downfall of Marshal Cross. 
=== Ruby Styke ===
To describe Ach's relationship with his eldest daughter as anything but complicated wouldn't fully encapsulate the relationship. Ach had hoped neither of his daughters would have to enlist in the military as he had. 
== Personal Politics ==
=== Republic Politics ===
In the waning years of the Republic Ach was a fervent Centrist, believing the decentralized nature of the Republic had not only allowed the Clone Wars to start but as well meant that crime organizations could develop too much power that put the populace at risk. Ach supported the idea of a standing Republic Military and a stronger Senate and executive to control the Galaxy. The Delegation of 2000, in Ach's mind, were cowardly politicians who cared more maintaining their planet's autonomies rather than advancing the general good. Members of the Delegation were corrupt, weak, and afraid of the positive steps Palpatine was taking to rebuild the Galaxy in the aftermath of the Clone Wars. When the Declaration of the New Order was announced by Palpatine in 19 BBY Ach celebrated and supported the move. 
=== Imperial Politics ===
When the Republic Senate was reformed into the Imperial Senate, Ach took to joining the New Order Party and voting with them. Ach was a textbook Imperial loyalist, he firmly believed in the Empire's goals of bringing stability to the Galaxy at any cost. To Ach the Republic had been little more than espoused ideas with no backbone, the Empire was making real tangible difference across the Galaxy. While Ach toed the party line on Human supremacy, he was not opposed to granting rights to non-humans who'd proven themselves, especially near-human races. 
It is also important to note Ach's undying loyalty to Emperor Palpatine, who he believed to be a saviour of the Galaxy. Later on in his life, Ach was firmly apart of Palpatine's Cult of Personality and revered the man as a modern-day mythic hero. However, Ach maintained traditional secularist beliefs in terms of faith as a part of Imperial doctrine. 
=== Military Politics ===
Once reaching the upper echelons of the Imperial Military Ach began speaking out on Imperial Military policy. While he became a member of the Death Star Council and later Director of Operations due to his connections with Director Krennic, he firmly was opposed to its construction believing it pooled too many resources in one place; A view shared by Admiral Thrawn whom Ach met a conference. Ach also was sceptical of the Tarkin Doctrine, preferring an expansion of the Imperial Army Forces to garrison planets and keep them under control. Ach was also a supporter of close cooperation between the Imperial Military and Imperial Security Bureau, believing ISB Commissars could ensure loyalty among non-Stormtrooper units. Ach also opposed the over-specialization of the Stormtrooper Corps and Army, arguing that "I have more Special Forces under my command than actual frontline troopers!" at a conference on Kuat. Throughout his career Ach also supported incorporating combined arms tactics into Imperial protocol, finding the human wave assaults with Stormtroopers a waste of time and manpower. He fought for additional equipment for combat drivers and army pilots and for the Imperial Star Fighter Corps to become more closely integrated with ground operations to provide close air support.
As an infantry veteran and Army/Stormtrooper General, Ach resented a vast majority of the Imperial Navy. Despite his several close friends and daughter being a part of the Navy, he viewed the branch as little more than snivelling desk jockeys too afraid to put their lives on the line for the safety of the Empire. "Little more than chauffeurs in military uniform" he once told a staff officer. However, his hatred of the Navy went beyond their actual role and encompassed their actions. Ach found throughout his command career, naval officers who knew nothing about ground combat operations would supersede his authority and command his men without his authorization. "I've fought more overzealous Naval officers than Rebel generals" he'd later lament. For Ach, a man who'd fought on the ground, been wounded, and seen friends die in his arms, the idea of the cushy jobs of the Navy enraged him. While he respected their role and authority in command, he never truly trusted or cared much for the Imperial Navy.
== Alternative Timeline ==
In another timeline Ach Styke was transferred to the ISD Ordo before meeting Commander Hunter. Category:GGN Characters
Category:The Stykes
Category:Crona/Ach