Thomas Shepherd

Thomas' official portrait

**Thomas Liam Shepherd** is an American general in the Nuuk Empire, most famous for his participation in the Greater Decade's War. He was in charge of the defence of Northern Honshu, but ultimately failed at this task. However, he redeemed himself with the successful invasions of Amerika and the African Gold Coast. He would falter in the Gold Coast, but hold onto Amerika for the remainder of the war. He is known to have shown a bitter attitude at the ultimate concession of Amerika to the Reich. Today, he serves as an advisor the Emperor as well as an armchair general.

## Early Life

Thomas was born on January 29th, 2957 in Olympia, then occupied by the Nuuk Empire. Under the EGR, Olympia had been converted into a city of forced labor camps, factories, and prisons. Even after the Empire of Greenland conquered Cascadia, the city was still recovering from its violent past. Thomas was born into the city's rapidly growing slums. His parents died when he was young, resulting in him being taken in under a neighboring family. He grew up in poverty, among the abandoned prisons and factories of the city. The crime rate was high, and it was near impossible to climb out of the hole of poverty that was Olympia. One fateful night, when Thomas was 18, he was confronted by a member of the Circle, a powerful gang that had taken root in the city's abandoned factories. Thomas was at a disadvantage, as his adversary had a knife. However, Thomas knocked him to the ground by tackling him in the stomach, and in a rush, bashed his head in with a large rock. He died immediately. Thomas, now a target of the Circles, was forced to do the one thing he had always feared: leave Olympia. He knew there was nothing waiting for him, but he couldn't be seen in the city anymore, not with the Circles around. He hitchhiked and walked his way to Portland, a thriving economic center in North America. He was unfamiliar with the city, and didn't have a penny to his name. However, he did have one thing: his physical strength. In his time in the slums of Olympia, he had become a physically strong man. He enrolled to become a police officer, which in the Nuuk Empire is congruent with joining the military. After rigorous training, he was admitted into the Portland Military Police. Now with a steady job, he worked to put down Portland's crime problem. He was a tough officer who became known throughout the city - for better or worse. He gained attention from local criminals, who targeted him to kill. Their mindset was that by killing him, they'd put down one of their biggest obstacles. However, they always failed. Thomas was always armed, and was able to defeat any opponents who challenged him. It was through this chain of events that he gained a greater skill in combat, which did not go unnoticed by his superiors. In 2978 he was offered a position in the main military of the Nuuk Empire, a job he accepted without hesitation. He served under Kaviq II's battallion in Siberia, where he gained notability for his great skill. He was given control of a platoon, which he led to capture Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky. It was through this that he became a renowned figure in the Military, and he was quickly able to rise through the ranks and become a general of the Nuuk Empire.

## Middle Life

Thomas' unique background led to him becoming a figure of celebration in the Nuuk Empire. As a general, he became a close contemporary of Tamesse Ayodele, often working with him in field excersises and simulations. Thomas' unique strategy was appreciated by Ayodele, and he worked with him as a mentor to develop it more. In 2988, Thomas was stationed in Niigata following the Nuuk Empire's occupation of Hokkaido and northern Honshu. With the outbreak of the Greater Decade's War in the same year, he was the only Nuuk general in Honshu, and by default he was in charge of the armies stationed there. However, the occupation was understaffed and undersupplied. After several decisive battles at Mito, Niigata, and Hirosaki, he (and the rest of the Nuuk armies in Honshu) were forced to evacuate. Ashamed by his loss in Japan, Thomas was relocated to North America, while Ayodele was put in charge of the defense of Hokkaido. Now with the sufficient supplies and manpower he needed, Thomas led a full-on assault on the Weltreich territory of Amerika. He started in the West, but forced his way Eastward, destroying massive amounts of Reich troops at New Orleans and Chicago. By the time he reached the Eastern Seaboard, it became clear he was now unstoppable. Amerika was captured in full, leaving Motzfeldt XVIII with the easy job of eliminating resistence in Inka. Now with his reputation restored, Thomas would lead a naval invasion of the African Gold Coast. His forces would first land in Dakar, where he would spread South and East, conquering much of the Gold Coast before making his way down to Monrovia. He would capture Monrovia, and in doing so secure the Nuuk Empire's hold in North Africa. He would spend the remainder of the war desperately attempting to connect the his front with that of the main body of the military of the Nuuk Empire, pushing from the Southern African Grand Duchy. He never accomplished this goal, as the Reich continually flooded the front to secure their coast on the Gulf of Guinea. With the War's end in 2902, he would be recalled to Mexico City. When he heard of the Nuuk Empire not annexing Amerika, he reportedly said: "I am disappointed, above all else, that days upon days of hard labor and blood that paid for the occupation of that territory resulted in utterly nothing." To this day, it is said he is bitter about it.

## Modern Life

Today, Thomas Shepherd serves as a general in the Nuuk Empire and an advisor to Emperor Motzfeldt XIX. In the Weltreich, due to his failure in Northern Japan, he is joked about as an incompetent general, when this could not be farther from the truth.