User:Kermit/Sandbox/Notable Republic Figures

This is a page dedicated to notable figures within the Republic of Biesel who wield incredible influence, importance within the Republic or the greater Orion Spur.

Contents

Political

Åke Torvald

President of the Republic of Biesel

Birthdate: August 13th, 2420

‘Without a clear goal and efforts to reach it, no man can live.’ - Åke Torvald's office desk inscription.

Åke Torvald is a New Gibsonite politician, former Biesel Intelligence Service officer, and the current President of the Republic of Biesel.

Torvald was born in 2420 in Fallanland, New Gibson to a lower-middle class family. His father was a foreman at a NanoTrasen Corporation phoronics factory and his mother was a local councillor. The young New Gibsonite was active in school and local politics clubs and has said that he often got in trouble when espousing pro-independence and anti-Solarian Alliance views. He would secure exceptional grades in secondary schooling, pass his Gymnasium’s Social Sciences programme, and then study for a BA in ‘’Politics, Philosophy and Economics’’ in 2438 at New Gibson University.

While at university, he secured an administrative placement at NanoTrasen Corporation’s New Gibson branch office at Respite in 2440. He has disclosed very little about his employment at NanoTrasen, only that — at the time — he felt ‘satisfied’ with his employment terms. In 2450, Torvald would abruptly end his employment at NanoTrasen Corporation and go unemployed for 2 years, a period in which he has spoken even less about.

Shortly after the Republic of Biesel’s independence in 2452, the Biesel Intelligence Service would be officially established, with Åke Torvald among its original staff. Between 2452 and 2457, Torvald was New Gibson’s Regional Director at the BIS. Once again, Torvald has revealed very little about his time at the intelligence agency.

After departing the BIS, Torvald would enter New Gibson’s local politics. He has claimed that the experience and earlier connections made both at NanoTrasen Corporation and the Biesel Intelligence Service helped propel his political career forwards quicker than most. In 2459, Torvald would already hold the cabinet position of Minister of Home Affairs, managing the moon’s police and prosecution services. At the time, Torvald’s politics were largely unremarkable and he was regarded to be a very ‘bland’ if ‘stern’ politician who was quite tough on crime.

In 2460, at age 40, Torvald would marry his partner of 6 years, who he appears to have a good relationship with. Beyond this, much of his private life is unknown and Torvald often refuses to comment on any questions related to his personal life.

In 2461, Åke Torvald would be elected Presiding Speaker in New Gibson’s parliament.

Torvald would enter Republic of Biesel federal politics in 2466, running for President of the Republic of Biesel as an independent, though with the support of the Cetian Congress of Conservatives (following an agreement where the party’s leader, Adalet Uysal, would run as Vice President). During his initial campaign, he was a strong critic of the Biesellite Free Market Party and the at-the-time administration led by former president Joseph Dorn, highlighting the Republic’s failures preparing for and in the aftermath of the Solarian Collapse and in the Peacekeeper Mandate. He campaigned for increased defence spending and took a notable anti-Zo’ra Hive stance which saw the Electoral Integrity Act passed that banned Bound vaurca from voting. His campaign was defined by rather arrogant and occasionally xenophobic displays (though he objects to the latter, blaming ignorance), with critics of Torvald and the Cetian Conservatives accusing him of bullying and speciesism. Nonetheless, he would succeed in his presidential bid and become the 2nd President of the Republic of Biesel.

As president, Torvald has advanced much of the agenda of the Cetian Congress of Conservatives, with the Republic’s defence budget the highest ever, another round of Tau Ceti Armed Forces reforms, and has implemented phoron rationing to remedy the Phoron Scarcity. However, he has also appeared to be advancing his own agenda, which is perverting various apparatus of the Republic of Biesel to better suit him — best seen in the Biesel Intelligence Service, which now more often exceeds the powers given to it by performing actions within the Republic and overstepping on the Biesel Security Services Bureau. Supporters of the Cetian Conservatives and the Torvald Administration are adamant that all of these measures are necessary to counter the threat posed by the Solarian Alliance and any other foreign actor that may threaten the Republic of Biesel, though critics decry the infringements upon personal liberties and politicisation of state apparatus seemingly required to achieve such. His actions have made him a controversial president, however the low seat share held by other parties in the Tau Ceti Assembly of Spokespeople has so far seen no impeachments levied against Torvald, and the Cetian Conservatives have affirmed the measures taken by Torvald. He has also yet to severely spurn the megacorporations — particularly NanoTrasen Corporation and its presiding Trasen Family — and so he has avoided any unfortunate ‘accidents’.

Torvald has never fully disclosed his political vision, and so despite the public eye preventing him from remaining elusive, he is now instead enigmatic. He is often described as Machiavellian and the distilled essence of a politician, and he is both lauded and condemned for his ruthlessness and intelligence. Half way through his first presidential term, the Republic of Biesel and the rest of the Spur will soon see where he stands as his vision comes into shape.

Joseph Dorn

Former President of the Republic of Biesel

Birthdate: January 9th, 2406

The former president of the Republic of Biesel, President Joseph Dorn was the first leader of the nation and guided it through a series of threats to its continued existence throughout his twelve year reign.

Now in retirement, his legacy is mostly defined by the later years of his presidency: the creation of the Corporate Reconstruction Zone, the deployment of Tau Ceti Foreign Legion troops as peacekeepers within the CRZ, the disastrous Peacekeeper Mandate, and the civil unrest that came along with all of this.

His party, the Biesellite Free Market Party, was ravaged in the election of 2466 and is now relegated to being a minor party within federal politics. After his defeat Dorn retired from political life entirely, and now lives at the Top of the World, writing memoirs that focus on the early parts of his life and career — one of which, ‘The First President: Lighting The Beacon of Liberty’ was recently released with solid reviews. It is likely that the remaining time the former president has left will be peaceful, living safely in a country he helped found. It is rumoured by tabloids that he has weekly coffee with Miranda Trasen herself.

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Biesel

Gerald Biedermann

Political Activist

TBD

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New Gibson

Theresa Lindqvist

Presiding Speaker of New Gibson

Birthdate: October 21st, 2391

TBD

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Reade

Daniel Zhuang

Governor of Anemenostrovilos

Birthdate: x

See here for now.

Darla Petrenko

Administrator of Thyella

Birthdate: x

See here for now.

Quinn Turner

Mayor of Beacon

Birthdate: x

See here for now.

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Port Antillia

Julien Guerrier

'Premier of the Union of Port Antillia

Birthdate: x

See here for now.

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Mictlan

Ladislao de Santos

Prime Minister of Mictlan

Birthdate: May 18th, 2418

Prime Minister Ladislao de Santos is considered by many to be a rather charismatic individual, who won the election for Prime Minister of Mictlan in early 2462 by the will of the people, and the power of his moustache. His primary campaigning point being that of standing against the Solarian Alliance, and putting Mictlan first, was popular among those and the planet - and is the likely reason why he won the election in a landslide. However, with the collapse of the Solarian Alliance, and independence becoming a possibility, Prime Minister Ladislao de Santos has been accused of having shirked the promise to his people, and instead opted to allow the Republic of Biesel to claim Mictlan and allow the proliferation of megacorporations across Mictlan. Many have protested against the decision, with some even taking arms against it and fighting for their freedom.

To most, Prime Minister Ladislao de Santos was meant to be the people’s Prime Minister, a politician that had a bleeding heart for the people of Mictlan. His speeches, even today, are filled with compassionate remarks and often incur sympathy within the minds of those listening. With protests flaring up over his recent decisions regarding the governing of Mictlan across the major population centres, those who stand against him have begun referring to him as the true antagonist against the freedom of his planet, allowing Mictlan to be exploited to line his own pockets. Despite these claims, Ladislao de Santos has asserted that a strong Mictlan can only exist with the help of the Republic of Biesel and the Stellar Corporate Conglomerate - especially in the face of the phoron scarcity and the Solarian Warlords.

Xiomara Salvo

Former Mictlanian Political Opponent

Birthdate: March 14th, 2419

‘For more than twenty years I’ve kept myself going with the belief I served my planet. I’ve done things I regret, seen things nobody should remember, and I told myself it was all for a good cause. I should have come to the conclusion long ago; we do not fight for our planet, or our people, we fight for whoever is oppressing us, and our oppressors reward those who do so well.’ - First Sergeant Xiomara Salvo addressing her company after their officer had gone to meet members of the TCFL after the establishment of the Peacekeeper Mandate.

A photograph of Salvo, circa 2464.

Despite remaining in hiding, Xiomara Salvo has become a well-known face across Mictlan. Born in the city of Saladas, she grew up shuttled from foster home to foster home after the death of her mother (her father, on her birth records, is listed as an unknown). At the age of eighteen, she enlisted in the Mictlan Defense Force, reaching the rank of first sergeant after several years of distinguished service. Considered an exemplary NCO, commentary from squadmates and her commanding officers claimed her to be a strong-willed, yet charismatic and courteous individual who led her own squad of enlisted in a manner described as “familial”. MDF records prior to the Peacekeeper Mandate, which have since been redacted, show that Salvo received a “Golden Cross” medal for personal heroism, after she risked life and limb in a disaster relief operation carrying two paraplegic hospital patients to safety after a flood in Caxacoatl. One MDF lieutenant described her as a “human can-opener”, and she was often stationed on military bases that her superiors believed required stronger discipline. In contrast to her exemplary record, Salvo had begun to become disillusioned with Mictlan's government, and the Solarian Alliance. Shortly prior to the Collapse, she anonymously published via a variety magazine an edited collection of diaries and poetry, titled The Windmill Crusader. In the book, Salvo recounted witnessing corruption and bribery, the mire of bureaucracy, and the suffering that poverty and mismanagement inflicted on the Mictlani people. After she rose to prominence as the commander of the Samaritans, The Windmill Crusader was revealed to be her work and officially published, where it soared in popularity. The book itself was banned by the Peacekeeper Mandate, but this did not stop its circulation.

By 2462, Salvo had become something of a revered, and even slightly feared, figure among the enlisted in the Defense Force. Her forceful personality and willingness to stand up to high command decisions made her a celebrity among the enlisted not only under her command, but across the MDF. During the Solarian Collapse, the MDF found itself suddenly cut off from Alliance support, and pay and supplies rapidly dwindled. Lower-ranked enlisted began to struggle to feed themselves, and medical supplies that the MDF used to treat victims of disasters and their own troops ran so low that some army hospitals had to resort to using sugary drinks as an intravenous rehydration solution.

In her later writings, which were published in late 2464, Salvo claims she began to question the government’s motivations and her purpose as a soldier during the months between the Solarian retreat. Her company was usually assigned to protect corporate property or the neighborhoods of the wealthy, rather than offering aid to the less fortunate. But as Mictlan began to establish itself as a trade partner apart from Sol, and when it looked like the worst ripple effects of the Collapse might be over, the Tau Ceti Foreign Legion touched down on the surface. To the shock of many, Mictlan was absorbed into the Corporate Reconstruction Zone, and megacorporate influence began to assert itself over the Republic of Biesel’s newfound colony.

During negotiations between the MDF and the TCFL, Salvo made a statement; exposing her belief that the armed forces should not serve yet another oppressor, but work towards the liberation and protection of the planet and its people. While desertions had been rampant the past months,hearing the legendary Xiomara Salvo openly decry the chains of command sent shockwaves through the company. As she departed the MDF, first her squad, then hundreds, then thousands of enlisted and officers alike began to desert en masse. Entire bases were looted of weapons, supplies, and technology as word spread further, leaving the soldiers that aligned themselves with the planetary government still to join the TCFL.

In her writings Salvo had always reserved light scorn for commissioned officers, generally ascribing stereotypes of rich busybodies or clueless bureaucrats to them. But as she established her movement on the continent of Huitzilopochtli, the consensus to name her as general of the newly-christened Samaritans was clear.

With the Peacekeeper Mandate now over, with Salvo instrumental in signing a peace deal, she has retired to a quiet life in Caxamalca as a community organiser, having expressed no desire to re-enter the public eye, despite her status as a national hero for some.

Isabel Alvarez

Mictlanian Political Opponent

Birthdate: April 19th, 2419

‘You extremists look at her and see someone spineless. I will tell you right now, she has more will and spine than any of you. To not strike back in the face of atrocity is the hardest thing of all.’ - An unknown supporter of Isabel Alvarez’ within the Founding Movement.

Isabel Alvarez was born to Joao Silva, a best-selling writer and poet, and Angela Alvarez, a physician previously commissioned in the Mictlan Defense Force. Both of them were activists who rallied others against Mictlan as a Solarian state. While their activities were non-violent, centered mainly around organization, peaceful protests, and promoting political candidates who also supported Mictlan’s independence, they nonetheless caught the attention of Solarian authorities on the planet. When Alvarez was nineteen, Silva was killed in an abrupt car crash which Alvarez would later loudly speculate was a reaction to a recent pro-independence rally he headed, with turnout reaching thousands of citizens.

The incident pushed Alvarez into furious action, and she worked towards a degree in political sciences while gathering a group of like-minded Solarian dissidents in university. She and her group of friends would become the Founding Movement (or Movimiento Fundación), named after the original government that had wrested control of Mictlan away from the tyrannical Captain Tlaloc. After Alvarez’s graduation, the Founding Movement was later officially established as a left-wing party promoting Mictlan’s cultural diversity and multi-species population, and most notably, its independence from Sol.

The party grew to have a notable presence in the planet’s parliament, but did not grow to outsize proportions owing to the population’s general contentment with the relatively loose grip that Sol had on the Middle Ring, and among some, a dislike for the pan-speciesism that the party held claim to. Alvarez herself would drift in and out of the party’s leadership, generally sharing the position with her compatriots from her school days; Leon de Rosas, Corazon Santanas, and Miguel Maia.

The party suddenly rocketed to prominence in 2462 after the collapse of the Alliance. Chaos had come to the Wildlands, and in the midst of it all the Founding Movement campaigned harder than ever, hoping to gain some semblance of control in the aftermath of Solarian retreat.

Then came the Peacekeeper Mandate, and Mictlan’s absorption into the Corporate Reconstruction Zone. Alvarez unsuccessfully railed against Laslo de Santos’ acceptance of Biesellite rule, with the Founding Movement attempting to rally against corporate projects on the planet’s surface. In the meantime, association or voting with the Founding Movement could quickly get a citizen blacklisted from megacorporate employment, particularly with NanoTrasen. With rising costs of living, more Mictlani than ever were choosing to go gently and be employed with the megacorporations, remaining on the planet to become citizens of the Republic of Biesel.

Despite Alvarez’s disavowment of violence, the movement she heads has been branded as a terrorist organization by the Republic of Biesel, due to riots and protests where the symbol of the Founding Movement is displayed. As a result, Alvarez has entered hiding, having become one of the top targets for Biesel and the Corporate Special Action Groups. She has evaded Biesel/Corporate Intelligence services many times, her location constantly changing.

Alvarez has not forgotten her roots as an organizer, and now continues to rely on speeches posted on social media and desperate attempts at political pressure to limit mega corporate influence on her beloved planet. Her status as a wanted terrorist leader has meant these attempts have gone ignored by those still in Mictlan’s parliament and the wider media; despite her many condemnations of those who use violence under the Founding Movement’s banner, these sentiments have not been quoted or mentioned in the media outside of those organizations who lean heavily anti-corporate.

Causing further friction, suspicions have arisen that Alvarez is closer with the dissidents than she lets on. Xiomara Salvo was publically supportive of Alvarez’s political campaign prior to her dishonorable discharge, which has not gone unnoticed by Tau Ceti media. It remains to be seen whether Alvarez’s efforts will prove beneficial, or even effective in the long-term.

Cultural

Devin Paraiyar

Entertainment Hegemon

Birthdate: x

TBD

Margot & The Phoron Dolls

Music Icons

TBD

Aramis

Tau Ceti Times Journalist

TBD