Silke Kraushaar | Imperium | Krieg Colonel

[Silke Kraushaar]

SILKE KRAUSHAAR OVERVIEW » NAME: Silke Kraushaar » ALIAS: K-One-Three » AGE: Thirty » GENDER: Female (She/Her) » AFFILIATION: Imperium » OCCUPATION: Siege Korps Colonel » FACE CLAIM: Art by slmsxiaodu » PLAYED BY: Fairemont PROFILE THEIR ASPECT Silke Kraushaar might have been a lovely woman once-upon-a-time, but war has taken it's toll on her. Her pretty face has been marred by numerous scars from serving in the line-of-duty which makes it difficult to envision what she might have looked like otherwise. She has sharp, hooded eyes with cold blue irises which, combined with her narrow, slightly down-turned lips and passive expression, tends to give her a look of perpetual annoyance. Silke's face has a diamond shape, with a particularly slender jawline and chin, a good combination of feminine and hawkish. Her hair is a very uninspiring sooty-blonde color and is often unkempt from wearing her helmet and rebreather, but even if she were to try and clean up, the jagged, uneven cuts and seemingly randomized lengths leave a lot to be desired. The Krieg colonel stands just shy of six feet tall, making her a stand out among other women. While she may be tall, she is not large. Silke has a very slender, petite frame, and even when she is armored up looks she rather scrawny. She's particularly long-limbed, giving her a lengthy, loping gait. Noteworthy Features » Tall for a woman » Abnormally slender » Blue-eyed » Sooty-blonde hair » Numerous scars THEIR PERSONA Silke is the dour, taciturn commander of the 13th Siege Korps Regiment and as far as Imperial officers go, she is a bit of a tactical genius, something her regiment may be thankful for in the coming months. She has her faults, as anyone does, but she tries her best and is fiercely loyal to the Emperor, so she has the basics covered. She is diligent and level-headed, able to stay on task and focused over great periods of time without faltering or being perturbed by ongoing events. However, she is a bit uncompromising and obsessive, easily able to over-invest in particular things if she isn't paying enough attention. In a similar vein, Silke can also hold a grudge unlike most, and the passion associated with it will stay hot for a long time. As a member of the Death Korps of Krieg, Silke is very conscientious when it comes to her duties. She takes them very seriously and expects the same of everyone else under her command. Those that do not meet her expectations are faced with her ire. Under such circumstances, Silke can become rather manipulative, tweaking the conditions and situations to suit her and pushing others towards her desired outcome. She can even use the same manipulative tendencies to her advantage, tricking her opponents with cunning stratagems.  Silke is generally a good person. She tries to do her best, sees good in others, and serves the Emperor as best she can. She is well aware that she will die in the line of duty some day, but that is the price of atonement, and one that Silke is proud to pay when her time comes.  » POSITIVE TRAITS ✔ Diligent ✔ Level-headed ✔ Magnanimous ✔ Conscientious  » NEGATIVE TRAITS ✘ Uncompromising ✘ Obsessive ✘ Holds a Grudge ✘ Manipulative » LIKES ✔ Amasec ✔ Regicide ✔ Loyalty ✔ Strategy » DISLIKES ✘ Heretics ✘ Mutants ✘ Spicy Food ✘ Insubordination THEIR CONNECTIONS Allies » Major Karsten Bauer Karsten serves as the 13th's executive officer, and has served alongside Silke for quite some time. When she was a captain, he served as her lieutenant, so the two have a long and successful working relationship. » Captain Katrin Engel Captain Engel is the current officer in charge of the 1st company of the 13th Siege Regiment, and is one of Silke's most reliable subordinates. As the 1st company serves as the frontline, it requires a hard leader who does not allow insubordination, cowardice, or hesitation, and Katrin has done an exemplary job. » Voxmaster Dietmar Barsch Dietmar Barsch is the current voxmaster for the 13th Siege Regiment, and coordinates the entire regiment's communication, as well as communication to other military or political entities as necessary. He and Silke work well together, and someday having to replace Dietmar is something Silke dreads.  Enemies » Commissar Jaques Lacan Commissar Lacan is the head commissar of the 13th Siege Regiment, and often butts head with Silke. He resents being "useless", as he puts it, as it is rare that the Kriegers under her command require a commissar to keep them in order, and she dislikes his meddling. Both of them understand that, if Jaques ever becomes necessary, he will almost assuredly be leaving the battlefield in a body bag.  » Inquisitor Alessio Lapice Inquisitor Lapice of the Ordo Hereticus is the reason that the 13th Siege Regiment is in the Corinthe sector, and while the two had worked well together, that has passed. Alessio has worn out his welcome with the 13th, and though Silke cannot necessarily vent him out an airlock or tell him to pound sand, she'd much prefer he left the 13th alone. If he was not so self-serving and didn't use the 13th for his own ends rather than the Emperor's will she might not have as much of a problem with him, but alas, he is a petty, vindictive, and ambitious man who will use any-and-all pawns to his advantage. » Ademar de Barros Ademar is a man of dark intent. As the colonel of a heretical regiment who turned its back on the Emperor, he is not only an enemy of the Imperium, but of Silke. However, the two fought a hard and bloody war in the Corinthe sector before Ademar disappeared. She suspects the heretic will show up again, and when they do, Alessio will undoubtedly send the 13th to finish what they started. THEIR APTITUDES Silke Kraushaar is one of the Krieg's finest. Trained from youth to fight and die for the Emperor, she has done the former, but not the latter. She has moved through the ranks, from humble trooper to grenadier, to captain, major, and finally, Colonel. In doing so, she has accumulated a wealth of experience and skills that few of her peers can equal.  She is sound of mind, perhaps too keen for her own good, and possesses a tactical and strategic acumen that elevates her above the common officer, perhaps well out of their reach. Consequently, she is one of the best regicide players around, and has defeated numerous players of exceptional renown.  As a combatant, she fights as if she were still a grenadier. With her trusty hellgun, she tears apart incoming enemies or presses hard to take an enemy point. However, having been recently promoted to colonel, she has taken a slightly less personal approach. Despite that, she is aggressive at heart, and prefers to take the fight to the enemy personally, much like her fellows.  Silke is a strong leader, with exceptional presence and the mien of a natural leader. She has outmaneuvered heretical officers across multiple fronts, and ensures that her regiment is always taken care of. By doing so, she has proven herself an excellent officer worthy of the respect she commands. One of her failings, though perhaps a reason she is so successful as an officer, is that she sees those under her command as little more than numbers. On an individual basis, she understands that they are humans, but when the regiment goes to war, it is a matter of equations. Does the regiment have what it takes, what advantages can they leverage, and will they exhaust before the foe? It is far easier and much more efficient to do what she does because she views her soldiers as numbers in her equations, and most of the Kriegers understand that.  She is quick on her feet, perhaps more-so than most humans. Quick to react, fleet of foot, and particularly agile, Silke does her best to avoid directly hand-to-hand combat when she can, because while she is highly mobile, she is not very strong. Her body is lean and swarthy, not powerful. » STRENGTHS ✔ Tactical Acumen ✔ Force of Personality ✔ Natural Leader ✔ Cunning Combatant » WEAKNESSES ✘ Aggressive ✘ Only Sees Numbers ✘ Physically Weaker ✘ Fears Fire Abnormal Traits » Strange Luck There's something concerning about Silke. Much like the regiment she leads, she possesses an uncanny luck that seems to come at the detriment of those around her, be they friend or foe. Things just go her way, for better or worse, and everyone else around her finds that they struggle with chance, as if fate itself has turned against them. Silke was tested by the inquisition who believed she may have been a latent psyker, but so far everything has been inconclusive. Until something changes, Silke is just a very lucky girl and a bad omen to everyone else. ACCOUTREMENTS THEIR WEAPONS » Lucius Pattern Type XIV (Heavy) Lasgun This powerful lasgun is the mainstay of the Death Korps' grenadiers. What it acquires in the way of destructive potential it makes up for in maintenance requirements, but Silke is very careful to tend to its needs. It is equipped with a sophisticated advanced sight system with 4x magnification, and low-light infra-scope for nighttime combat.  » Multi-purpose Mono-knife & Hellpistol Like the rest of the Death Korps comrades, Silke was issued a very useful knife. This knife serves as a bayonet, as well as a field tool, and is sharp enough to pierce armor. Superior construction and materials means it holds its edge much better than most. In the event of a failure with her primary rifle, Silke carries a hellpistol as her sidearm. » Grenades All good soldiers are equipped with grenades which serve a number of different purposes. Silke, like other grenadiers, is equipped with 4x frag grenades, 2x photon flash grenades, and 2x smoke grenades. If the situation calls for it, she may switch one or two out for a krak grenade. THEIR ARMOR Heavy Carapace Armor All grenadiers are issued carapace armor which is then considered part of their standard kit. As a one-time grenadier turned colonel, Silke still wears hers. Because the typical gasmask is not compatible with the carapace armor, she has the Mark V version, which incorporates a canister strapped to her hellgun's backpack. As a colonel, she has been outfitted with a conversion field emitter that is integrated into her armor. Silke's carapace armor comes with the Mark IX helmet with the grim, skull-faced mask in silver and a golden aquila over the company's motto on the front of the helm.  Though she serves as the 13th's commanding officer, Silke does not take advantage of many of the perks. She does have a much fancier dress uniform than the rank-and-file, however.  THEIR EQUIPMENT » Standard-issue Krieg Korps Kit Though some of Silke's equipment is fancier than that which is issued to the basic rank-and-file Kriegers, she still carries most of it. A respirator, entrenching tool, a rucksack with a tool kit, mess kit, and canteen among other things are all included in her kit.  » An Auspex This hand-held scanner and surveyor tool is useful for determining the flow of battle or hunting down specific targets. » Cameoline Cloak Though she does not always wear it, much less make use of it, Silke was gifted a cameoline cloak when she was promoted to Major by the inquisitor that took command of the 13th and brought them to the Corinthe sector.  THEIR VEHICLES » Storm Chimera This up-armored, autocannon-mounting chimera variant serves as the command vehicle for Silke Kraushaar, colonel of the 13th Siege Regiment. Aside from the increased armor and up-tiered weaponry which takes up some of the personnel space, even more has been overtaken by communications and scanning equipment, reducing space to about four passengers beyond the normal crew.  BIOGRAPHY HEADER Early Career Silke's early career wasn't too outlandish. She was, for the most part, a standard Kriegsman. She was born to fight, trained to fight, and then thrown into the fight where she flourished. Battle-after-battle, she fought as one of the 13th.  She survived, earning the opportunity to become a grenadier. Among the ranks of those most likely to die, she still flourished, as if the Emperor watched over her and kept her safe. Silke's fate was to survive, and survive she did. It earned her a promotion to watchmaster, and she was put in charge of first company, third platoon's first squad.  Stuck in a rather grim campaign, Silke led her squad to success-after-success. It was hard to miss the promising young candidate fighting tooth-and-nail in the service of the Emperor, and by the end of that campaign she was promoted to lieutenant of the platoon, filling the boots of a man who perished in battle, bringing Krieg one step closer to atonement.   The Siege of Menton Sometime later, the 13th was called to fight in the Siege of Menton, a vicious trench battle against ork forces on the world of Menton in the Segmentum Obscurus.  It was a bloody confrontation, in which millions had already perished by the time the 13th even had boots on the ground. It wasn't long until the 13th joined the fight and saw their first casualties. At the front, the 1st company was battered hard by incoming orks who wanted nothing more than to get into the trenches and kill everything they could. The 13th held admirably, but losses quickly mounted, including the 1st company's captain. After a brief discussion about who to promote, Silke was chosen to replace the lost captain.  The siege continued for months unabated, and it appeared that the 13th's luck might have been running thin. The colonel, stubbornly refused to call for reinforcements, and even as Silke and the other captains demanded he do the right thing, he became adamant. His disregard for the campaign and the sacrifices they were making upset them all. As others stormed off to do their duty, Silke remained behind for just a moment. She approached the colonel, hand on the hilt of her knife, fully intent to end the raving man's life to protect the regiment and pursue victory, but never had the opportunity. One of a number of ork fightas shot down by their hydras crashed into the command center, it's burning husk shearing away part of the building and taking the colonel and most of command staff with it.  Silke, badly injured, but alive, crawled to relative safety and took control of the situation. She used what strength she had to call for aid, and the call was answered.  Forces under the banner of inquisitor Alessio Lapice arrived, bringing much needed reinforcements in the form of numerous regiments, Astartes, and even a deployment of towering titan warmachines.  Silke learned after her recovery that the battle had turned in their favor and the orks were finally routed. The 13th survived, a bit battered, but still able to continue fighting if needed, especially since they were slated to absorb two devastated Krieg regiments that had only a handful of platoons left over, which would replenish their ranks.  Her elation, and recovery, was short-lived, however. With the loss of the command staff, the 13th was without it's head. With the support of the other captains and the recommendation of inquisitor Lapice, she was promoted once more, and had attained the vaunted rank of colonel, the highest rank afford to Kriegsman.  Along with the promotion came a message from Lapice. The 13th would redeploy under his banner to a sub-sector far away, and they would do so immediately.  The Conquest of Valhur Having been recently promoted, and so quickly, Silke was not accustomed to leading from the rear, so it surprised no one when she insisted on fighting at the front, a common tactic for Krieg officer. That meant that she intended to enact her own stratagems alongside her soldiers, which boosted morale, something that was desperately needed in the Conquest of Valhur. Valhur, in sub-sector Varek of the Corinthe sector, was the capital world of the system and had fallen under the control of a renegade commander named Ademar de Barros, an ex-militarum colonel. He had fortified his position and hunkered down for a long fight that no one speculated he would win, at least not in the end. However, in the interim, something had to be done before the entire system fell into disarray, so the 13th was dispatched alongside several other guard regiments to deal with the problem.  Silke devised a cunning plan, a quick and methodical advance through the streets and trenches under the cover of artillery which would allow them to cleave a path to the enemy command center. The plan was approved and put into action, and Silke, along with the 1st company, some additional grenadier squads, and a few volunteer platoons from other regiments, pushed hard through dangerous close-quarters battles and finally reached the enemy's bunker network. There, they found that de Barros had already fled, or contrary to their information, had never been there at all. To make matters worse, the enemy had decided to shell their own soldiers in order to take out Silke and her allies. Quick thinking on her part and those with her led the survivors into the bunker network where they were pinned down. A request for aid was sent out, but inquisitor Lapice considered them expendable and ordered the remaining forces to continue according to plan.  However, Silke was not the type to give up, nor were the rest of the 13th. They fought through the bunker networks, clearing out any enemies they found despite mounting casualties and dwindling supplies, and a week later, she and what remained of the company stumbled out of the bunker network to greet the advancing allies.  Their success and survival was lauded by all but inquisitor Lapice who showed little interest in their survival or remorse over his orders, much to Silke's chagrin. However, the campaign continued, and with the loss of the most significant strongpoint, de Barros' forces were put on the backfoot and slowly, but surely, routed.  However, they never found Ademar de Barros, and rumors among the fighting forces were implying he had snuck off the planet during the fighting and the inquisition was hunting him down as best they could. The conquest of Valhur was at an end, and the 13th was recalled to resupply and recuperate at the nearby sector capital. However, like so many others, they found themselves stranded only days after arrival as the entire galaxy was split asunder by the Cicatrix Maledictum.

[Last Order]

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