Vesar Kristofur

Vesar Kristofur.jpg
Vesar Kristofur
Character Profile
Born 2969
Affiliation ComStar
Profession Precentor ROM

Vesar Kristofur was the former Precentor ROM of ComStar. He was known primarily for his involvement with Wolf's Dragoons.

History[edit]

Early Life[edit]

Born on Tikonov to an impoverished family, Kristofur joined ComStar as soon as he turned 18. Mentally and physically quick, he ascended the ranks, transferring to ROM in 2998.[1]

The Dragoon Mystery[edit]

The appearance of Wolf's Dragoons in 3005 in the Federated Suns was of great concern to ComStar. Not only did the Dragoons possess mint condition BattleMechs, DropShips and JumpShips, but some of their 'Mechs were designs never before seen in the Inner Sphere, and could not easily be passed off as part of an "old Star League cache discovered in the Periphery" story that was commonly accepted as their origin.[2]

Having worked so long to establish a monopoly on such technology, ComStar considered the possibility of an independent mercenary group with its own 'Mech factories to be a threat to their position. Primus Allen Rusenstein ordered then Precentor ROM Karl Sims to learn the origins of the Dragoons, efforts that ended in dismal failure.[2]

Precentor ROM[edit]

Rusenstein promptly replaced Sims with the younger Kristofur. Although Kristofur made only minimal progress into learning more about the Dragoons, Primus Rusenstein would soon be replaced by the First Circuit. Coming shortly after the disastrous Jolly Roger Affair, the Dragoon Affair was one of several perceived failures of Rusenstein that led to his downfall. He would be replaced by Julian Tiepolo.[2]

Kristofur managed to secure his position despite his lack of progress. He never forgot, however, the importance the Dragoon mystery posed to ComStar.[3]

The Marik Civil War[edit]

An ambitious man, Kristofur believed that if he discovered the Dragoons' secret, he would ultimately rise to the position of Primus. Tiepolo was well aware of Kristofur's ambition, and was more than willing to give the Precentor ROM enough rope to hang himself with.[3]

Kristofur's opportunity presented itself in 3014 when the Dragoons entered the service of Anton Marik, who sought to usurp his brother Janos' throne as Captain-General of the Free Worlds League, thus triggering the Marik Civil War.[4] Kristofur personally placed himself within Anton Marik's command, and began to plot. He believed that if he caused Wolf's Dragoons to suffer heavy enough losses, he would force them to go on another "Periphery Run" to replace their losses as they had in the past, allowing ComStar to follow, ultimately discovering the Dragoons' secrets.[3] Damaging the Free Worlds economy to rebalance the C-bill was apparently a secondary concern of these plans.[1]

To this end, Kristofur convinced Anton Marik that the Dragoons were planning to betray him, playing on the young Duke's paranoia and stress from a war that was quickly turning against him. It eventually led to the arrests of Colonel Jaime Wolf's younger brother, Major Joshua Wolf, and 27 Dragoon civilians on New Delos. During Marik's interrogation of Joshua Wolf, Kristofur wound up shooting Wolf under unclear circumstances, prompting Marik to execute the other civilians, as well.[3] Marik then contacted the senior Wolf claiming that Joshua and the others were hostages to compel the Dragoons to disband amongst Marik remaining units.[1]

Predictably, Wolf's Dragoons responded by assaulting New Delos en masse, completely wiping out Marik's defending forces. The Black Widow Company personally struck at Anton's compound, Natasha Kerensky's Warhammer personally killing the Duke.[5] Kristofur himself would only narrowly escape.[3]

Aftermath[edit]

With the dismal failure hanging over him, Tiepolo promptly stripped Kristofur of his position, and reassigned him to the Periphery, to serve in penal servitude at the Hydri B Station on Alpha Hydri.[3][6] Unconfirmed rumors claim that he was rescued by a band of Periphery pirates whom he eventually came to command under the name Kristopher Kelly, with the bandit force named Kelly’s Kommandos. The rumors say he was eventually killed fighting another pirate band.[1]

Legacy[edit]

As late as 3030, ComStar ROM was still unaware of the exact extent Kristofur played in the deaths of Joshua Wolf and the other Dragoon families.[6] Published FWL reports in 3060 showed that Kristofur was a rogue agent, an assessment possibly influenced by the Word of Blake wishing to dispel suspicion.[1] There is no indication that Jaime Wolf ever learned of ComStar's full involvement in the affair.

Decades later, the Dragoons would reveal themselves to be advance scouts for the Clans, the descendants of Aleksandr Kerensky and the Star League Defense Force.[7] The tensions between the Dragoons and ComStar would lead to numerous flare-ups over the years, and would continue with the Word of Blake. The Dragoons would be the first to suffer under the Blakist Jihad.[8]

Documents recorded on the secret journal of Victoria Parrdeau secured by Chandrasekhar Kurita during the Jihad allegedly claim that Kristofur was actually a member of The Blood, the elements of Clan Wolverine supposedly harbored by ComStar. Rather than a means of obtaining the position of Primus, the documents claim Kristofur's fervor in actually joining Anton Marik's staff was due to the Bloods desperate desire to uncover proof of the Dragoons' Clan origins, and that their blinding hatred of the Clans is what prompted him to provoke Anton into slaying the Dragoons personnel and dependents.[9]

It must be noted that after the creation of Word of Blake group their members saw Kristofur as a hero, and created the Order of Kristofur as a decoration.[10]

References[edit]

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 Historical: Brush Wars, pp. 13–14
  2. 2.0 2.1 2.2 ComStar, p. 50
  3. 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 The Spider and the Wolf
  4. House Marik (The Free Worlds League)
  5. Wolf's Dragoons, p. 20
  6. 6.0 6.1 Wolf's Dragoons, p. 17
  7. Lethal Heritage
  8. Dawn of the Jihad
  9. Jihad Secrets: The Blake Documents, p. 131: "The Not-Named"
  10. ComStar, p. 52

Bibliography[edit]