Fredrick Gregor

Out of Maximilian’s ‘Triumviri’ during the Empire’s invasion of Gallia in EW2, none was as hated and deeply despised as the Major General Berthold Gregor, not just by the Gallians for his key role in setting up the infamous Darcsen concentration camps in Fouzen, but also by his own countryman. For the Imperial Remnants, many in the military blamed his obsession and dependency on overly complicated and expensive weapons systems such as the Equus armored train as an utter waste of resources that ultimately contributed to the Empire’s defeat in the war. Or for progressive elements in what remains of the Empire, whom the late general finds himself serving as a convenient scapegoat to explain away their own country’s atrocities during the war on the actions of a single induvial that does not reflect upon the Empire as a whole (Ignoring the inconvenient fact that other atrocities that took place elsewhere or that general Gregor had not hand in). While for the UEESR, they viewed the general’s utter disregard for the welfare of the soldiers under his command during the war as yet another example of the aristocracy’s exploitation of the proletariat, with his background as one of the Empire’s most prominent purebred noble families further contributing to this image.
It is because of this that for many people in the year following EW2, the legacy of Berthold Gregor has been reduced to that to a caricature, one of a dealer of death, a failure as a military command, and that of a cold-blooded tyrant that threw the lives of his man away in his quest for glory, an unflattering portrayal that is perhaps representative of how the rest of Europa viewed the Empire as it had existed in the two continent-wide conflicts that he fought in. But behind his dark image, people often forget that like many other hated figures throughout history, Berthold Gregor was still a human being with his own family and loved ones that he cared for.
Born a year before the outbreak of EW2 in 1934, Fredrick Gregor was Berthold only child. With his father being away fighting in EW2, and perishing when his son was only a year old, Fredrick lacked even the vaguest memories of his father, with the exception of stories that his mother told him as a child, with her portray of Gregor being that of an honorable solider that was loyal to his country, and one that heroically made the ultimate sacrifice fighting for the ideals and values that the Empire stood for.
Fredrick was only 4 years-old when the East Europan Revolution broke out. With the Gregor family being one of the Empire’s oldest and most prominent noble households in the Empire, it made them a natural target for retributive violence at the hands of the Communist revolutionaries as fighting spreads all over the country. Fredrick and his mother only barely managed to escape thanks to the help of their family bulter as an armed mob consisting of army mutineers together with a group of Darcsens, stormed their family's grand estate located in the capital. With one of the most iconic images of the revolution being that of the mob broking into the estate, throwing books, ancestral portraits, tapestry with the Gregor family coat of arms, and even cremation urns and other symbols of the nobility out the windows intending to burn them in the courtyard, while a young Darcsens woman a waved the hammer and sickle flag above the roof of the building.
Fleeing into exile together with other Imperial loyalist to then north-western provinces, the Gregor family soon find themselves being reduced to one of the many ‘penniless nobles’, with nothing left on them except for what little they managed to carry during their escape, and their family’s name and titles.
Unfortunately for Fredrick and his mother, they soon find that with all their family assets being collectivized in the West, together with the stigma associated with Berthold, their family’s name no longer command the same level of respect as it once did. As such, Fredrick spent his childhood being raised by his mother and their family butler (Who stayed with them out of personal loyalty) who served as his father figure, as they struggled to maintain the family’s fortunes, with his mother at many points honestly considering remarrying into a wealthy landowner family Septentria just to improve their situation, but ultimately decided against doing so in honor of her late husband’s memories.
In such as adverse environment, Frederick was forced to grow up fast, and take things more seriously than other children from an early age, giving him a much more mature outlook on the world. Being unable to afford many luxuries due to his circumstances and alienated from the children of many other nobles, young Fredrick spent a lot of his time with his family butler, whom, being once a farmer himself, introduced him to the field of animal husbandry and horticulture, which he quickly developed a deep passion in, with him dreaming of one day reclaim the homeland and rebuilding his family’s stables in their countryside estates, using this as a coping mechanism to help him overcome his loneliness and hardship.
Wishing to enroll in university to study in a course for agricultural science, but with his family lacking the money to allow him to do so, when he was 18, Fredrick tried to join the Imperial military in order to finance his way through university. Unfortunately for him, due to his father’s reputation and being one of the people that was blamed for the Empire’s defeat on the Gallian front during EW2 (And his family’s being unable to pay enough bribes), his application was quickly rejected.
Fredrick’s aspirations would have been dashed if it wasn’t for the military coup that broke out 2 years later in 1954, with the control of the Imperial Remnant’s government taken over by the military council, who proceeded to enact widespread reforms throughout the country. One of the many reforms that the new government introduced was to learn from Gallia’s example in order to develop a method of overcoming the country’s much smaller population compared to the UEESR. To this end, the Imperial Civil Defense Auxiliaries was created to serve as a paramilitary civil defense force raised from the civil population to supplement the regular army (The term ‘auxiliaries’ was chosen to distinguish themselves from the ‘militias’ or ‘national guards’ of other countries, which according to some more old fashioned conservatives, were perceived to be of lower class, and barely better than cannon fodder peasant levies). Taking this opportunity, Fredrick applied again, and was accepted. After 4 years in university and receiving officers training, he was given the rank of second lieutenant within the auxiliaries, and was given command of his own platoon.
According to those who served under Fredrick, the lieutenant is for the most part open-minded, fair, and accepting of everyone within the unit, being always open to input and suggestions to his subordinates. Though he does have a tendency to be overly serious at time, combined with his melancholy personality and desire to keep to himself outside of professional situations resulting in him always keeping a distance between himself and those under his command. During wargame and training exercises he was noted as having an utterly pragmatic and ruthless tactical mind, one that is able to creatively overcome the enemy in unexpected ways in order to win at all cost. While in private, he was noted to being loyal and patriotic to the Empire, devoted towards their goal of retaking their homeland. Yet even with the Imperial Remnants’ opening of diplomatic relations with Gallia, Fredrick continues to hold a strong sense of hostility towards the small principality, viewing them as being the cause of his family hardship and miseries. In particular, he holds a strong grudge against the Gunther family, due to Welkin being the person who devised the tactic to defeat his late father, while Alicia was the one who pulled the trigger that killed him during the Battle of Fouzen more than 20 years ago.But he later let it go once he found out the shit his father did.
Category:Civil War Universe
Category:Males
Category:Characters