Character Major Lycus Merita

[Lycus Merita]

Lycus Merita

Age	28
Species	Human
Gender	Male
Height	6'
Weight	177 lbs
Force Sensitive	No

PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION

Merita is never seen in the field not dressed in the same uniform as his soldiers. He's young and carries with him the spirit of youth in his actions. Yet despite his seemingly brutish actions and gung-ho, his eyes betray an age much older than he is and a wisdom tempered by conflict.

PERSONALITY AND BELIEFS

Lycus possesses an easygoing but serious nature. He's loved for his men for making sure they get the luxuries they want yet respected when he cracks the whip to get them into shape for the next battle. Lycus is prone to sudden spurts of mania when in command, able to think and respond to situations at a frighteningly fast rate. He can process an entire battlefield at near tactical droid-like speeds while constantly adapting and employing creative solutions.

Lycus believes heavily in the Galactic Alliance's mission to bring democracy and freedom to the Galaxy. He believes that to survive the Alliance must partake in a great crusade of liberation to crush all those who would stand in its way. He has little tolerance for pacifists and so-called do-gooders who advocate for negotiating with those who cannot be negotiated with. The only concession that tyrants and dictators should get is if they wish to hang by the neck or the feet.

The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants.

HISTORY

Lycus Merita was born in Corellia in 872 ABY to a poor family. His father worked in the hazardous, yet famed, shipyards while his mother was a nurse. He grew up strongly patriotic to the ideals and flag of the Galactic Alliance of which Corellia was a member to such a point that he was ostracized by his peers. During breaks from the Public Academy, he would often work with his father as a welder in the shipyards where he gained a special appreciation for the ships he worked on, from single-seat racers to behemoth cruise liners. Seeking to bring pride to both his world and family, he enlisted in the Galactic Alliance Army and went into basic training. His skills in improvisation and aggressiveness got him noticed by Drill Instructors who placed him into the Pathfinder Program. He passed with flying colors and assisted drill instructors in training recruits.

He later attended the Balmora Academy where he received his officers commission as a second lieutenant. He was assigned as a secondary officer to the 76th Pathfinder Regiment's "Easy Company." It turns out that he joined just in time for action as the Third Sith-Imperial civil war broke out. He and Easy Company had their first combat engagement at Generis and sustained massive casualties. Most of the commanding staff were killed in the first hours and it was only thanks to Lycus managing an orderly retreat that any member of Easy Company survived at all. Due to the leadership, he had shown in battle, Lycus was given a battlefield promotion to Captain and assigned command to Easy Company.

He was responsible for their rebuilding and retraining. When his men were not on patrol, they were subjected to relentless training, as Lycus believed that training was the key to saving their lives. He believed that in the scrum and chaotic nature of the battle, the only way for his men to survive was to turn the most complicated acts into second nature.

"You fight as you train!" he declared.

This came just in time for their mission during the second battle of Ziost where they barely managed to escape the devastating orbital bombardment that decimated Eclipse Team. They managed to prove their mettle afterward during the Urban Fighting that took place where Lycus' leadership saw his Company manage to neutralize several enemy strongpoints with minimal casualties. However, even these deeds weren't able to hold together Easy Company as they were overwhelmed eventually. Lycus gave the order for an unauthorized retreat in the face of impossible odds that while preserving most of the lives of his men, only contributed to the tarnishing of the 76th's reputation at Zoist.

Lycus himself placed himself at the forefront of one of the court-martials, insisting that he took the blame instead of the men. However despite his attempts, several were dismissed. It seemed an insult then that he was promoted to the rank of Major and made battalion executive officer simply because all the others who would have taken the rank had been booted out. He had merely been the last one standing. A good officer no doubt, but a relative nobody who had been given command of the 283rd Pathfinder Battalion because nobody else was left.

Hoping to help rebuild the Regiment's reputation and desperate to prove himself, Lycus put forward a radical approach to transform the 283rd Pathfinder Battalion into airborne assault specialists. He hoped that success in such an experiment would once more place the 72nd back on the leaderboard and prove that they were still the best unit that the Galactic Alliance could deploy.