Clovis Van Andel

Portrait of Clovis Van Andel

## Viceroy of New Gloria

**Clovis Van Andel** is the first Viceroy of New Gloria and a war hero from the Wars of Extermination. During the Battle of Brittany, Clovis demonstrated a clearly brilliant understanding of both strategy and tactical organization that allowed him to turn the tides of battle. During the remainder of the war, Clovis used a variety of brutal tactics to draw the French resistance out of hiding, which ultimately led to Artemis's victory in the war. After the 2018 Treaty of Dissolution, Clovis was asked to oversee the transitional establishment process of New Gloria in which he re-constructed much of the war-torn nation into the economic hub of the Artemis Empire on Earth. Following his ascension to the role of Viceroy in 2020, Clovis used his authority to continue economic development while harshly suppressing any dissent to his rule.

## Appearance

Clovis is a middle-aged man who has an imposing stature due to his height. He has brown, slightly-greying hair. He has always worn an eye patch of his right eye which hints at some accident prior to the Wars of Extermination. His average outfit consists of black trench coat with a gold aiguillette strung across his right shoulder over a black and grey Imperial uniform paired with black steel-toed boots. Inside of his coat in a holster he carries a standard issue officer's pistol. Opposite of his pistol on his hip is his sheathed saber which is his primary weapon in combat. During formal events, Clovis can be seen wearing his war-time metals, a golden sash, and a gold-rimmed officer's cap signifying his position as Viceroy. During the brief time he is away from work, he often wears a dress shirt with rolled up sleeves and grey pants with brown shoes.

## Personality

In public settings, Clovis maintains an enthusiastic personality that irradiates throughout the room, he prepares himself to be easily approachable and well-beloved by the masses. This shows especially during his addresses to the public in which he captivates his audience through expressive word choice and charisma. However, beneath the sunny exterior is a harsh man dedicated towards achieving his goals at any cost. To Clovis, failure is never an option, as a result he is obsessed with victory at any cost. Often this is demonstrated through his rogue-like actions on the battlefield where he exploits his skills and presence to both motivate his troops into frenzy and push and send fear striking into the hearts of his enemy. Battle is just a test of wills, lives are nothing more than pawns to chase after his ultimate goals.

Clovis's savage mentality on the battlefield likely originates through his involvement with the Nirvana Project and participation in the Battle of Brittany. In his youth, he was taken away from his mother, and was trained to become the next Emperor of the Empire. Just moments prior to when the car pulled away, Clovis saw the men fire two bullet rounds into his mother's head. This planted the seeds of resentment between the Artemis establishment and Clovis. Clovis harnessed this hatred as his compelling motivation to succeed throughout the program resulting in his selection as one of the few heirs to the Stewarts.

During the beginning Wars of Extermination, Clovis led his troops using a mastery of strategic maneuvers but refrained from commanding with emotion. This led him on an initial string of victories, however, they soon stalled after a year into the war. Following a string of stalemates, the Battle of Brittany occurred where Artemis suffered its worst loss at the hands of the French, however, Clovis took the loss personally after the loss of his mentor General Bradly. Clovis quickly took the reign of his troops and for the first time led his troops into battle using the fullness of his anger as the motivating factor for his troops. This resulted in an absolute slaughter and undeniable victory for Artemis, from that point forward Clovis harnessed the fullness of his anger and set his mind on the goal of ending the oppressive cycle of lies fed by the Stewarts.

## History

### Early Life

Clovis was born shortly after his mother arrived on Artemis, he never knew his father beside the fact he was someone that was relatively accomplished from London. In his early years, Clovis lived in close to destitute poverty in Deimos, his mother struggled to pay the bills often resorting to illicit means to ensure they could stay in Portia. When Claude Stewart took power in 1991, his life drastically changed. One day men in suits began appearing outside their block in Portia, they irradiated an aura of coldness and harshness, quickly Clovis learned to keep his head down around these men. Three year after they first began appearing, they knocked on the door of the family apartment. Clovis was filled with fear and powerless to do anything as they let themselves in. Quickly they grabbed him and led him away into a car, while the shot his mother twice in the head. From that point forward, Clovis's life was never the same.

After his mother's death, Clovis was transferred underground compound under the Spire called the Nirvana Project established for the purpose of selecting the heir to the Stewart's throne. Clovis was one of the youngest candidates brought in at the age of 9. Surrounded by older and more fit candidates, Clovis channeled his rage to overcome his obstacles. Over the course of 10 years, Clovis mastered the use of the sword, cultivated expert tactical and strategic military knowledge, while developing a skill for statesmanship, rhetoric, and persuasive motivation. It is around this time people suspect Clovis loss the use of his right eye which caused him to wear an eye patch after his selection as an heir to the Imperial Throne. The list of heirs were not publicly disclosed nor did the heirs know who else had been selected, the Nirvana Project was treated with utmost secrecy. Clovis entered the Artemis Imperial Armed Forces Academy at the age of 19 and quickly excelled through the ranks reaching Lt. General by the age of 23.

### The Wars of Extermination

Clovis had been informed that the Emperor would invade the world in the coming decade following his selection as an heir, however, he did not realize that the Stewarts would use Damocles to begin the war, nor the scale of the war. When the Vortex Missiles were dropped, Clovis landed with his Army and began the invasion as per General Bradley's orders without question. Clovis marched across the French countryside spreading havoc and chaos in order to make time for reinforcements to secure strategic ports and a base of operations. Clovis's initial campaigns relied heavily upon his strategic knowledge and rarely did he implement his own tactical skills into his fighting style. After the first year of the war, Clovis faced a series of stalemates which allowed the French to re-group at Brittany setting up the stakes for Artemis's greatest loss in the war.

During the Battle of Brittany Clovis and General Bradley tried to outmaneuver the French forces by going around their strategic defense line which ended in spectacular failure. The casualties ranged in the upper 50,000 and Bradley was killed in the resulting withdrawal. Clovis has no-one to blame but himself which resulted in a dramatic shift in his tactics to more personal involvement on the battle field. After a month of re-establishing his lines, Clovis spearheaded a charge back across enemy territory and led his forces to absolute victory in the resulting massacre. Clovis in that moment changed his motivations against the individuals who perpetrated the attack: The Stewarts. Clovis vowed that he would remove the ability to lie which the Stewarts exploited to maintain dominance in this new world.

Following Brittany Clovis used brutal tactics to bring the war to an end after he was assigned Supreme General of the French Theater in a campaign known as "The River of Blood." Clovis focused his armies strength on suppressing rebel strongholds in the countryside instead of engaging their main organizations, thereby severing their recruitment networks. He used VORTEX missiles indiscriminately to draw out rebel forces and then brutally massacre them in what were often the bloodiest battles in the Extermination Wars. Slowly, Clovis's tactics yielded results leading to a string of victories which resulted in the signing of the 2018 Dissolution Treaty in which the provisional French Government ceded all claims to the Empire of Artemis.

Following his victory, Clovis gathered a group of confidants he made during the war to support him in becoming the colony's Viceroy when it would be incorporated into the empire. These confidants included Lt. General Lyons, General Iwasaki, Maj. General Augustus Lancaster, and Maj. General Brooks. Using this support, Clovis was promoted to become the first Viceroy of newly established colony of New Gloria. In his position as Viceroy, Clovis quickly instituted several land-reforms to increase agricultural productivity in the countryside while focusing heavily on economic development within the colonies main cities. Quickly, New Gloria saw a boom of economic prosperity as peace began to settle in, however, rebel agitators continued to threaten peace. As a result, Clovis instituted harsh measures to suppress dissent while balancing economic interests to ensure sustainable growth. Over the course of five years, Clovis has positioned himself as one of the most successful men in the Artemis Empire and under his watch New Gloria has prospered despite some rebel cells.

## People Killed

* 5 million civilians across his "Bloody River Campaign"
* 350,000 French Armed Forces during the Wars of Extermination
* 10,000 Artemis Casualties during his command during the Battle of Britanny (Unintentional)
* 5-10 candidates in the Nirvana Project
* Ordered the deaths of 1,500 Insurgents as Viceroy