Aleksandyr Novak

Aleksandyr Zigmund Novak, also known by Lex and Sasha, is a Theban soldier serving in the Naval Infantry Brigade of the Theban Defence Forces. Born in the city of Thisvi on Thebes, he was raised amidst the height of the and enlisted in the Theban Defence Forces in 2520, being deployed to both and . Following his unit's botched withdrawal from Gao in the aftermath of the , he and several others were forced to snooze drift in space a few light-years from the Boeotia System. 
Novak and his comrades would stay in suspended animation until 2551, when their ship was recovered by a scavenger ship captained by shipmaster Kov Yat. Following his recovery, Novak would continue his service in the Theban Defence Forces with distinction, fighting during the Battle of Thebes and participating in Operation: GRENDEL, where he was one of the few Theban personnel to escape relatively unharmed. Following the war, he deployed during the Kadangan War, and, after the sudden rise of the and occupation of Thebes, found himself attached to the Epsilon Flotilla.
As part of the flotilla, he led several raids against Created-occupied installations and, ultimately, participated in the Battle of the Archive, leading the assault that successfully crippled the .
==Career Service Vitae==
==Biography==
===Early Life===
Aleksandyr Novak was born in Thisvi, Thebes, on 17 Tiksas, year 6 of the Theban Revolutionary Calendar, roughly equivalent to March of 2503 in the UEG calendar. His father was a dockworker and his mother raised Aleksandyr and his two siblings full-time. Growing up at the height of the , the effects of the ongoing war were ever present in his early life despite Thebes avoiding direct counterassault by the UNSC. Following the launch of , he and his peers performed biweekly survival drills in school and was expected to be able to field strip and perform maintenance on a Colt Blaster by the time he graduated secondary school. 
Not satisfied with simply enlisting in the Territorial Defence Service and remaining stationed within the Commonwealth, Novak was eager take the fight to the imperial power that had, for so long, threatened his home. He and his older brother, Vasil, enlisted in the Naval Service in the year 23. Aleksandyr passed selection for the elite Naval Infantry Brigade and was initially assigned to the 22nd Battalion of the 4th Regiment. 
===Operation: TREBUCHET===
===Blockade of Gao===
===Rediscovery===
===Battle of Thebes===
===Post-War===
===Created Crisis===
==Character==
===Personality===
Novak is generally casual and lighthearted, even while on duty. He has a strong distaste for faux courtliness and military ceremony, a trait that he attributes to his time spent fighting alongside guerillas during Operation: TREBUCHET. He will, however, perform such formalities, when necessary, albeit reluctantly, though those superior officers who know him well will typically give him a pass in this area. 
He enjoys small talk and likes to get to know people as best as he can, even if he does not intend to or cannot establish a long-term correspondence with them. He enjoys getting to know people during meals, especially. 
When dealing with his subordinates, he does his best to be firm yet supportive, but can become irritated with repeated incidents of perceived incompetence. His quickness to frustration has been a recurring and consistent problem for him throughout his life, particularly following his extended period of snooze drifting. He was diagnosed with a sleep disorder after this event, as he experienced a compulsion to remain awake. Prescribed medication and therapy have largely alleviated these symptoms, but he continues to feel some anxiety about sleeping, especially if unable to access his prescription. He has experienced major anxiety around cryopods and the idea of cryosleep, but technological advancements in the aftermatch of the Human-Covenant War have, luckily for him, made this far less of a presence in the Defence Forces and himself in particular.
Novak rarely prefers to be called Aleksandyr. His preferred name, among his friends, is Sasha, though he accepts being called Lex as well. The one aspect of military formality that he does enforce is that subordinates he does not know personally refer to him by his rank, because he "worked damn hard for it".
===Physical Appearance===
Novak is 177 centimetres in height, roughly average for an unaugmented male human. He maintains a fairly lean build, at 75.6 kilograms. Since his extended period in cryosleep, he has grown and managed facial hair, keeping a fairly thick moustache and well-trimmed beard. His hair, by contrasty, is almost always just longer than Theban regulation, and usually unkempt. Though he is over 50 years old, due to his time snooze drifting he is biologically around 30. The only major physical symptom of his cryosleep is somewhat pronounced dark circles beneath his eyes. On his lower right thigh is a fairly large scar, received from a shrapnel injury on Eridanus II. 
===Skills and Hobbies===
Novak is multilingual, and a bit of a language buff. His native tongue is Theban Slavonic, but he is also fluent in English and German. He is capable of holding a brief conversation in Persian and has learned some Hungarian from his comrades with origins on . He has even made an attempt to learn the , primarily out of gratitude for their involvement in his rescue from the Škotovudet. As a fan of The Lord of the Rings, he has been gradually learning the Khuzdul language of the Dwarves, his favourite of Tolkien's races, since he was a child. 
His sport of choice is fencing, preferring the sabre discipline. He has fenced since he was a child and competed in tournaments until he enlisted into the Defence Forces. Though his military service has prevented him from fencing as much as he would like, he continues to do so whenever he gets leave, and has been successful in convincing some of his friends in the service to take up the sport as well. He has also recreationally played football and was part of the recreational league on the DFC Pelopidas. 
Novak's instrument of choice is the accordion, which he can play with some skill, though by no means expertly. He, at one point as a teenager, attempted to pick up the guitar, but chose not to continue it. 
===Personal Items===
Novak has a number of personal items that he keeps with him at all of his garrisons and/or on his person:
*Osni ("Eight") - A slightly modified with wood furniture. A gifted hand-me-down from his grandfather, Novak rarely carries Osni on his person while on duty, but rather keeps it as a keepsake, item of affection, and a personal sidearm while off-duty. He does, however, always keep at least two magazines with his personal gear at all times.
*Hot sauce - Novak is a lover of spice and keeps a small plastic bottle of hot sauce on his person at all times.
*Year 18 Vintage Pinot Noir wine - Upon shipping out for basic training, Novak's parents gifted both him and his brother a bottle of Pinot Noir wine, which they promised they would share upon completion of their service. As Novak's parents both passed away during his time in cryosleep aboard the Škotovudet, he keeps the unopened bottle of wine with him as a treasured keepsake.
==Equipment==
==Notes==