Nathan Phillips

Nathan Roger Phillips is the Commander of Shellguard’s Operative branch. A seasoned soldier, war hero, and a former member of the U.S. Naval Special Warfare Command, he was one of the first people proved to be V-positive. It was Phillips’s testimony that gave an impetus to comprehensive scientific research of the Crystalline and ultimately led to the founding of Shellguard.

## Bio

Nathan was born in 1982 in Klamath Falls, Oregon to Brandon Phillips Sr., head of the local firefighter brigade, and Jasmine Phillips, middle school teacher. He was raised in a typical ‘American suburbia’, and enjoyed a carefree childhood in a lower middle class family. In High School, under his father’s auspices, he took part in seasonal firefighter brigades, where he learned teamwork and comradery. In 2001, Nathan graduated, and after 9/11, made a decision to serve his country.

Phillips joined the Navy and, after boot camp, served a year and a half on a destroyer, where he earned the rank of Petty Officer. After that, he filed an application for the Navy SEALs’ training, and in 2003 was transferred to NAS Oceana – Naval Special Operations Headquarters, based in Norfolk, Virginia. There, he met Nicole Hayes, a sophomore student at Norfolk State University. Five months later, they married, and in March 2004, they celebrated the birth of their son—Brandon Phillips Jr. However, the happy family life did not last long: in summer 2004, Phillips was re-commissioned to Iraq.

Nathan spent the next seven years in the Middle East: Iraq, Afghanistan, and Libya. He was engaged in special operations of both the Navy and the Coalition Forces, made many useful acquaintances and proved himself an intelligent planner and tactician. As is often the case, a successful career undermined his family life. His wife and son did not see Nathan for months, sometimes even years. By 2013, the marriage had collapsed completely. Nicole took Brandon and moved to Richmond. Brandon, who grew up on his father’s war stories, maintained a good relationship with him but due to Nathan’s frequent overseas tours, they did not see each other often.

n February 2028, following the Strafe, Phillips took command of the First Descent – the first consolidated military expedition to the Dubai Impact Zone. Nathan was one of the few survivors of this ill-fated endeavor and, after a rehabilitation course, he addressed the delegates of the Vancouver Global Security Summit. Once Shellguard was founded, the Pentagon recommended Phillips to the post of Commander-in-Chief.

## Personality

Phillips is a ‘paladin’-style commander with high moral values and a ‘no-compromise’ approach. To him, every war is fought to achieve peace, and if it does not do that, then it isn’t worth fighting. He values every member of his team, and tries to avoid casualties at all costs.

While fully devoted to the grand task of ending the Crystalline threat, Nathan is torn by the fact that his son has joined the Strafers, and is now somewhere in their midst. There is a sense of guilt in him for being unable to properly raise Brandon, and giving up on his marriage and family for career’s sake. This may be the reason why Phillips plans every operation cautiously, and likes to give direct orders to the teams that operate on Strafer territory.

## Trivia

* Nathan Phillips's voice actor is Darien Sills-Evans.