"They said it would be over quickly, they said there would be minimal resistance... they said a lot of things..."- Craig Jackson, following his third deployment
Craig Jackson is an IMC soldier serving on the frontlines of the Frontier Wars. Being only recently shipped off from his homeworld of Equius Prime in the Core, Craig had no idea what kind of war he was getting involved in. But he needed the money, and thought, as many of his firends in IMC's private army thought, that the Frontier War would be over fast and hard. Now, as the sole man left alive from the group he deployed with, Craig is faced with quite the delimma, stay with the IMC as the Frontier falls into the hands of terrorists, or desert and flee to the nearest backwater world?
History[]
Childhood[]
Craig Jackson was the youngest of three children, born to well-to-do parents on the Coreworld of Equius Prime. His father was a low level IMC executive, and his mother was the ideal domsestic housewife. His childhood on the verdant and temprate world of Equius Prime was full of small adventures, from touring the families compound to hikes in the vibrant forests of his homeworld. He differed from his bookish older brother and heavily feminine older sister, Craig was a wild child, he enjoyed adventure, excitement. Often he would go out with the family's pet, Bertrum, which was a Gen II Specter combat robot reprogramed to act as both a butler and bodyguard, and capture local fauna for "study" and release. With every alien lifeform he studied, Craig's wanderlust only grew. He wanted to see the even greater beasts of his homeworld, lifeforms he had only read about in his schoolbooks and various encyclopedias his older brother regailed him of. Though much of Equius Prime's Fauna was of intermiediate size, and thus less of a threat to the human population, the larger megafauna was kept from the habitated zones via various "Dog Whistle" Towers. One day, against the laws established since childhood, Craig shook off his robotic chaperone and explored the area beyond the range of the tower. It was then, as he marvled at the exotic lifeforms that lived beyond the carefully cultivated forests of his childhood home, that he was attacked by a large creature known as a Bandersatch. These large, vicious predators are terrors of Equius Prime's wilderness, and it was only by the timely intervention of Bertrum that Craig even survived. This moment would stay with Craig forever, as it drilled into him the importance of law, and finally, the responsiblity of his actions. Bertrum was shipped off and disasembled due to the event, in spite of the protests of the Jackson children. Craig's father had simply decided that the machine could no longer be trusted for its failure, and thus Craig lost his childhood friend.
Adolecence []
Craig's teen years were ones of introversion with forced popularity. Craig went onto secondary school, where he became a star athlete on the local football team. His world was one of the few that played the sport of "American" football, and thus he accelled in the sport. Its agressive, team oriented play style appealed to him, and he would soon go on to make quarterback. In spite of his good grades and potential career as an athlete, Craig's formitave years were usually spent either training or arguing with his overbearing father over his future. Life finally changed for Craig when an IMC recruiter came to his school. The IMC seemed to be the awnser to all of Craig's prayers, disapline, travle, and a hefty paycheck. He set his goal, he would be an IMC trooper if it killed him, which, considering his fathers pushing for him to be a football star, it very well might.
Adulthood/Early Career[]
When Craig graduated, he immidately joined the IMC's Private Security. His final farewells to the family was a heated fight with his father, who announced that he was offically cut off from all family assets. Craig coulden't have cared less. He passed the inital screening, and was shipped off to basic training, on the other side of his world. For the first time in his life since his days as a child capturing and releasing animals with his robotic guardian, Craig was happy. He loved the military life, the comradery, the regimine, the new and exciting places and experiences. For years he served on the local garrison on his homeworld, forming a tight bond with his squadmates. He did not see any combat, and his job was mostly relgated to guarding high value research facilites and high level compounds, and he never learned anything beyond his pay grade. Life, in essance, was good... then the Frontier War came.
Deployment to the Frontier[]
Equius Prime was near the edge of the Core, and when the fighting in the Frontier began to get serious, the IMC redeployed many Coreworld garrisons to the front. Craig was one of millions of soldiers sent away from their soft positions as glorfied security guards and shiped lightyears away to fight what they thought were nothing more than a coalition of farmers and miners that were propped up by a few renegade pilots past their prime. Craig and his squadmates from home joked about how quickly the war would be won, how they would all be back home in time for Christmas...
First Deployment: New Veina, Golavaug Province, Tarqus II[]
Craig and his squad first tasted combat during the battle for New Veina, captial colony of Taequs II, an arid desert world vital to the IMC due to its vast wealth of minerals and ores. The colony itself was a large, sandblasted ruin, practically abandoned due to the hellish onset of war between the IMC and Militia. Craig and his squad, made up of some of his best firends, were deployed via orbital drop in the center of the city. At first the deployment was quiet, the squad made its way to its objective, a fuel depot that was currently under Militia control. Halfway to the objective, in the sandblasted and smoked out streets, they were ambshed. Bullets and grenades seemed to rain from the sky as Militia troops fired from their vantage points on the roofs and within the windows of office buildings. Several members of the squad, close firends each and every one, were gunned down in the dusty streets. It was only the timely intervention of a IMC Pilot and her Atlas Titan that turned the tide.
Weapons/Kit[]
Craig has kept the same weapons issued to him from the day he began his first tour of duty on the Frontier with him through his hellish crucible, and considers his gear his closest firend. (which may be accurate, considering how all of his firends are dead)
IMC Standard Issue Combat Armor: Tough, economic, and dependable, Craig's uniform has saved his life more than once, though its once pristine white finish is now more of a gunmetal grey and pitted and scarred from intense wear. His uniform also comes equipped with various ammo pouches and pockets, useful in nearly any situation.
Hemlok BF-R: A reliable and efficant weapon, Craig's Hemlok has fended off all types of foes, from bloodthirsty terrorists and pirates, to alien beasts and murderous flora. Craig's Hemlok is equipped with a holosight and extended magizine. Craig has always been a bit of a crack shot, and this weapon suits his abilities well. It may not be a Titan killer, but it'll get the job done, much like its user.
B3 Wingman: Craig's only personal effect left following the destruction of the IMS Veronica, his Wingman was a gift from his now deceased squadmate, Bernie, when he joined they were both accepted into the IMC's private army. The weapon is not only the final reminder of a close friend, but also a potent holdout weapon should Craig find his other tools inoperable. His B3 Wingman has saved his life more than once. On its grip are the names of his fallen comrades, complete with dates and location, etched into it via a combat knife.