Sergei Komarov

Sergei Komarov was born on Sadaph in the Aerasia star system on 9 May 3180. He had two brothers, Ivan and Viktor, both of whom also rose to great heights in military service of the Protectorate, and the Imperial Alliance during the Perth War. He was educated in military strategy in schools on Sadaph and in the Protectorate Military Academy of Darkstar. On 9 May 3198 he received a commission in the Protectorate Navy as a captain of a cruiser squadron, being promoted automatically to this rank due to his tactical skills. He served in the Perth War and, at the recommendation of Imperial Grand Admiral Ruslan Kusnetsov, was promoted to the rank of Grand Admiral following his successful strategies in the battles of Caska and Kerdava. Kusnetsov taught Komarov even more strategies for space warfare, and together they organized some of the most effective fleet engagements against the Perth in the whole war. Komarov's strategies were so devastating to the Perth that they were driven out of human space, but leaders in the Imperial Alliance ordered their fleets to pursue the Perth fleets into Perth space and force their surrender. Komarov and his brothers, as well as Kusnetsov and many prominent Imperial and Bandorian officials and military leaders, spoke out against this decision, but the UN and Asgardian members of the Alliance were adamant about pursuing this course of action. On 7 November 3217, as the war entered its closing stages and the Perth forces continued to suffer massive defeats, Sergei Komarov was killed when his flagship's warp drive exploded while the ship was traveling at warp to a forward operations staging point at the planned starting point of a new campaign into Perth space. Many allegations were made about the cause of the accident, from implying it was a simple accident to sabotage by a Union agent, to sabotage by a Perth agent, which was the official position of the Imperial Alliance. Grand Admiral Kusnetsov was heartbroken by the death of his most talented student, and ordered ruthless attacks on the Perth fleets to force a rapid surrender, switching his position on the issue. Sergei Komarov was posthumously awarded the title Hero of the Protectorate, the highest award given to any Bandorian citizen. He is still renowned in the Protectorate for his military strategies, as well as his philosophy and political views, which included support for the "moneyless society" theory of economics and support for building up military strength, but only using it if needed, with no unneccessary wars. One of his most famous quotes is this: "The measure of a faction's capability to make war is the measure of its true power. To make war, we must have warriors. To have warriors, we must protect, train, and arm all our citizens, as well as instilling into them a love of the Protectorate." Another of his famous quotes is this: "Any unnecessary military action that results in the deaths of warriors is a stain on the history of the faction." In his diary, Komarov wrote that one of his greatest regrets was that the Perth never made any attempts to communicate with humanity and displayed such extreme xenophobia that they killed humans on sight, never even allowing them to make attempts at diplomacy; he wished very much that there could be a diplomatic solution to the conflict.