Prager Reid Sondeheim

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Prager Sondeheim was a highly decorated Major-General in The Terran Republic during the 26th century, known for his service in most early Terran Republic conflicts.

Early Life

Prager Sondeheim was born in 2495 as the son of Commander Travic Sondeheim and Marinna Buckland, as a member of a lesser branch of House Sondeheim. He was the grandson of Lord Reid Sondeheim. When Prager and his twin Kinvon were 3, their father was captured by the Karkouri at the Battle of Vanheim. It is thought that Travic was sent to a Karkouri slave planet and perished there.
Prager grew up as a sullen and introverted boy, living with his single mother and brother on New Berlin. He was seen as a bitter and arguementative young man, frequently getting into fights and was noted for his agression. He moved between 4 schools on New Berlin.

Boot Camp

Prager enlisted in the young Republic marine corps at 18 as a private. However his attitude was poor and made it so he barely qualified as a marine in late 2513 with his instructors citing his moody and sullen attitude was the cause of this. He was known as the "Prince" for his connections to Terran nobility, specifically House Sondeheim. He underwent a hard time at the boot camp, being bullied relentlessly for his attitude. After some particually savage non-judicial punishment he was "born again hard" as a marine and earned the respect of many of his fellow marines.
Initially assigned as a battalion clerk, he served as a assistant and a driver to a senior officer before being transferred to a combat unit upon his request. Inially assigned as a rifleman to I company he was transferred to Delta company after a year and promoted to specialist. Despite his name he earned the respect of his fellow marines for refusing to pull strings or asking to be reassigned when deployed to Nova Terra during the Burning Coup.

Nova Terra

Specialist Sondeheim was included as part of then Lt-Dempsey's squad, seeing action almost right away as the squad shuttle was shot down near the town of Little Sibley. The squad made it to the town and defended against a much larger force of Burning Path insurgents (known as Bo Peeps to the Republic Marine Corps) only being saved by Alpha company rienforcing the town.
Prager continued serving on Nova Terra, serving in the now Lt-Dowty's squad for the reamainer of his tour, recieving a commendation for his service and was promoted to the rank of Sergeant. With his first tour ending in 2518, Prager enlisted for another tour, he saw a lot of action as the counter-insurgency heated up.
The higher ups recognised a lot of promise in the young marine, as a consequence Prager was commissioned as a 1st Lietentant in 2522 as recognition of his great service, 9 years after enlisting.
Prager earned another commendation after his squad charged an enemy position, clearing out a fortification held by Burning Path Insurgents while suffering limited casualties which turned the course of the battle. Prager started to earn a reputation as a aggressive commander, pushing his men forward and often leading from the front. Coming to the end of his tour he was redeployed to New Berlin against his wishes.
After seeking and obtaining redeployment to Nova Terra, Lt Sondeheim continued in service until "the end of Combat Operations". He was given a training assignment near Dhaka and promoted to Captain in 2529.

Liberation of the Hassal League

In 2531 the Republic launched audacious military operations in the Hassal League alongside the Antares Federation and Tazzyn Imperial Troops. Prager was deployed as a company commander and was deployed to New Silesia, gaining praise for his aggressive yet restrained style of command, catching the defending Salborians off guard with smash and grab tactics. Following the liberation of New Silesia in late 2531 Prager was promoted to Major.
After New Silesia, the focus was switched to Vanheim, where Prager fought alongside Martian marines, the Legion of Earth and linked up with local resistance efforts. He was awarded the Republic Distinguished Service Cross for his efforts in the liberation of Svarthelm City. When his battlion found themselves isolated from the regiment, Prager lead them further into Svarthelm.
General Hague Sullivan reported that "Sondeheim lead Epsilon battalion further into Svarthelm, causing chaos wherever they went. This allowed Colonel Duchan to advance as the enemy was distracted, routing the Salborians as they went. The Salborians then found themselves between Sondeheim and Duchan. Should Sondeheim stay in the marines, it is my belief that he will make General."
Prager was promoted to Colonel following the liberation of Vanheim in 2532 and was considered one of the best young combat officers in the Republic Marine Corps by many of the top brass.

Personal Life

In 2530, while Prager was training troops outside Dhaka, the Colonel was often off base over the weekends. It was later found out that Prager had been seeing an enegmatic woman called Katherine van Zant. Katherine ran a nightclub in Dhaka, and was rumoured to be involved in the criminal underworld. Prager publicly broke up with Katherine in 2531, shortly before he was deployed to New Silesia.
However, in 2532 Katherine gave birth to a girl named Iza van Zant, who was later confirmed as the daughter of Colonel Sondeheim.
This information was leaked after a man by the name of "Sako" attempted to blackmail Prager into dislcosing low level military information to him. Conflicting reports were prevelant concerning this event but all agree that Sako attempted to blackmail Prager, then Prager agreed to go along with it but actually had arranged a sting operation in co-ordination with his CO to arrest Sako.
While Sako was indited for attempting to coercise and bribe a Republic Marine officer, he had left measures in place to embarrass Prager by leaking details of his continuing relationship with Katherine van Zant and the existance of his daughter, Iza in 2537
With the embarrassment of a Colonel being involved with a nightclub owner with possible connections to the criminal underword and who had fathered a child outside of wedlock, Prager's career stagnated. Prager continued to serve as a Colonel and regimental commander but was passed over for promotions until 2555.
Prager married Katherine in a quiet ceremony in Dhaka in 2538, which was attended by his brother and a few close marine friends. Following this Katherine and Iza adopted the name Sondeheim.

Operation Liberator

With President Xavier Inkerman pushing for Operation Liberator to go into Karkouri space, Prager lobbied the then Chief of Staff Aston Groff for a promotion to try and restart his career. Being as disgraced as Prager was, the only way he could have obtained the rank of Brigadier General would be through politcal support or being involved in a major combat operation.
Fortunatly for Prager, General Groff took a chance on him and due to the planned intervention into Karkouri space, gave him training command over a brigade. in 2557 Prager was promoted to Brigader General.
In 2557, The 44th Combat Brigade was put under Prager's command during this operation and took part in five different combat operations. The then 62 year old still lead from the front despite consistant Divisional orders against it. However as Prager continued to produce results, playing into his nature as a agressive and unpredictable combat leader, this was overlooked by the upper brass. Prager was commended for bravery on three seperate occasions during the Operation.
Under Prager's leadership the 44th Combat Brigade gained the nickname "The Ironsides" on account of Prager's advanced age, the fact he still lead from the front and that the 44th frequently found themselves surronded by enemy forces and prevailed against the odds.
In 2559 Prager was presented with the Navy Cross.

Post Liberator

Following the ceasasion of Operation Liberator in late 2559, Prager served until his 70th birthday leading the 44th. While he did not see any combat himself, members of his brigade were deployed to various operations hunting down Jericho.
In 2565 at the age of 70, Brigader General Sondeheim officially retired from the Republic Marine Corps after 52 years of service. He retired to Mars to be with his wife Katherine, daughter Iza, and grandchildren Kerservan and Evelyn.

The Second Zzendi War

When the Zzendi threat was made clear in 2567, Prager reenlisted to fight in the war. His offer was accepted and he was made a Major General and remained a marine officer. He was assigned to Al Ahily and commanded a division of Colonial Infantry as part of Operation Crusader.
Because of the wide spread devestation that occured on Al Ahily during the defence, records of Major General Sondeheims actions remain sparse and unconfirmed.
What is known is that the 395th Colonial Infantry Division under Prager's command was still functioning up until 2572 when the defence on Al Ahily finally collapsed with Prager coorditinating the eastern defence of Interval City.
Major General Prager Sondeheim was killed in action during the end of the battle of Al Ahily. According to verified reports and transcripts of communications, he called an airstrike in on his own position when it was overrun.
Transcript of last communication from General Sondeheim:

"Sabre-One, this is Cobra-Actual. Posistion overrun. For the record, this is my call. I want you to drop all remaining ordanance on my POS. Repeat, hit my posisition with all your remaining. Give em hell Sabre-One"

Legacy

When the news of the fall of Al Ahilly reached Mars and the limited list of KIA and MIA was published, in a small newspaper, in the very full obituary section, a small dedication read:

Major-General Prager Reid Sondeheim

January 2495 - November 2572

A dedicated soldier, husband, father and grandfather.

Veteran of Nova Terra, New Silesia, Vanheim, Hadidir, Sal Allamha and Al Ahily.

An Inspiration to us all.

We Were, We Are, We Will Be

Species

Human

Life

2495 2572 77 years old

Circumstances of Death

Artillery Bombardment

Place of Death

Al Ahily

Family

Sondeheim

Parents

Travic Sondeheim

Aligned Organization

The Terran Republic

Appears in...

• Patrol 143 AAR