Nathan R. Koster

There's a lot of bad in the world, and not a whole lot of good left in it. Honestly I'm just glad someone's even trying to make a difference.

— Nathan Koster, 383

Nathan Richard Koster, sometimes shortened to Nate, is an operator employed by Serandite Global Security and the most recent addition to Charlie Team. His previous occupations were dubious at best, with various odd jobs making him somewhat of a wildcard. He keeps most of his past to himself, especially his past life before his short incarceration. Still, his medical experience and knowledge of New Calypso's streets and people have proven to be reliable, at the very least.

Despite his pessimistic nature, his calm demeanor and noble heart often serve as the voice of reason among Charlie team. While Maximilian and Emmanuelle would favor brute forcing their way through obstacles, and Song would try and give them a wide berth, Nathan has a more balanced approach, albeit somewhat shrewd, to deal with unexpected situations. His knowledge of unofficial channels and street rules have also proven invaluable in recent missions, at the cost of drawing more attention to himself.

Biography

Background

Nathan was born on Asteria on February 8^th, 355, in the Amber Hills suburbs. His parents were both born of Vestan immigrants, but could only offer him an average life in the city. This caused quite some issues in Nathan's childhood, especially in high school. His lineage, contrasted with his modest lifestyle, led several Vestan-born kids to bully him regularly, until the day he eventually snapped and retaliated. Unfortunately, the influence held by Vestan-borns meant that Nathan was expelled shortly after, despite his excellent grades and otherwise impeccable behavior. From this point on, Nathan's life slowly deteriorated, as the other kids eventually ostracized him entirely.

At first, Nathan found solace in martial arts and meditation, but even so, he had no prospects for his own future in Amber Hills. After his graduation from high school, Nathan moved to the capital of New Calypso to apply for college. There, his life began anew as a medical student, but he could not turn a blind eye to the class disparities he witnessed in the campus and in the city. After several futile attempts to help other students and neighbors, Nathan eventually gave up and left after five years, only gaining a basic medical degree. He then moved from odd jobs to odd jobs until he joined a clandestine clinic associated with some extremist groups and smugglers.

This would tarnish Nathan's record in the eyes of the law, but his noble intentions meant that the local police officers would often turn a blind eye to his activities. In fact, Nathan was known by the locals to help everyone, even if his associates, who helped fund and protect his clinic, had preferential treatment. Less that a year later, however, the Asterian Insurrection turned the entire region into a fierce battlefield. During this time, Nathan joined the Resistance to help those who needed it the most, along with most of his associates. Together, they assisted the local population and Vestan soldiers as best as they could under the occupation of the AEL, honorable deeds that would eventually help him later down the road.

Nathan Koster by Thean

Current Status

Alive

Age

28

Date of Birth

February, 8th, 355

Birthplace

Asteria

Gender

Male

Eyes

Hazel

Hair

short brown ponytail

Skin Tone/Pigmentation

Tanned

Height

2.12m

Weight

76kg

After the insurrection was quelled, the martial law and newly arrived soldiers, military contractors and investigators methodically pursued the numerous open cases of the local police departments, among which was Nathan's. He was arrested shortly after the conflict ended, surrendering peacefully as he helped in the reconstruction efforts. His trial ended rather quickly, with multiple parties agreeing to give him only a minimal sentence, including various military officers. Nathan was incarcerated in a low-security prison for several months and released early for good conduct. After his release, Nathan worked in various temporary jobs related to the reconstruction of the city before meeting Alina Lindberg and joining SGS at her recommendation.

Personality

Nathan has a rather bleak and grim outlook on life, and yet continuously hopes for the world to get better. He is very cunning in conversations, often getting information the other party would not naturally divulge. This makes him an excellent negotiator, even if he would rather blame it on the other party's incompetence. Nathan generally prefers to remain in the background of conversations, only intervening when necessary or when appropriate. He also has a hard time trusting people he doesn't know, in turn making people naturally wary of him.

On the field, Nathan is still new to the work of Private Military Contractors and has yet to catch on the habits and rules. Still, his instincts and reflexes are adequate, and his habit of trying to negotiate, even during a fight, have surprisingly worked more than once. He remains rather lazy, however, and is satisfied with mediocre or average results in training and on the field, causing some tensions between him and the rest of the team.

Equipment

VC CASPR: The standard issue weapon of SGS, Nathan has been trained to use it, although his marksmanship leaves a lot to be desired compared to professionals. Nathan uses either regular armor-piercing jacketed rounds or training paint rounds, depending on the mission and location.

Sidearm: Nathan has also been issued a regular pistol for self-defense, but the lack of integrated ballistic computer makes its use difficult beyond short ranges for Nathan, who only had moderate training with it.

Tactical AR goggles: Issued in conjunction with the VC CASPR, these AR goggle are interfaced with the weapon to provide real-time ballistic data such as the current aiming point, the target's ID, the weapon's remaining ammunition, and much more. They are also used to display other user-related information such as heartbeat, mission objectives and maps.

Trauma Kit: Nathan often carries a trauma kit to treat the wounded, both allies and enemies, after a firefight. This is unusual for PMCs, but as they are not under the same legislation as the military, this has saved on a surprisingly high amount of paperwork for lethal use of firearms.

Abilities

Street knowledge

Nathan's past experiences have given him a deep knowledge of the traditions and rules of the city's suburbs and gangs. This allowed him to evade danger more than once, and now serves his team for the same purpose.

Back channels

Nathan has helped many people in the past few years, including some influential or resourceful people. This allows him to have an understanding of the black market and the people around its activities in the area, even if he would rather avoid such people and places.

Martial Artist

Nathan has continued to train in martial arts and has become quite proficient. He is able to hold his own against Emmanuelle and even Maximilian, even if he doesn't have their endurance to actually win.

Relationships

Alina Lindberg

An old friend from his college days, Alina has gone on her own path and became somewhat distant to him after he abandoned his studies. Still, after meeting her again by chance and joining SGS at her recommendation, the two have rekindled and sometimes meet outside of work. While they don't share a lot in common, their relationship is slowly but surely growing stronger.

Maximilian Lasch

Nathan respects his leader as his boss, but doesn't particularly appreciate the ex-soldier's opinion on everything. The fact that he left the military for money doesn't help either, as Nathan views his leader as a plain mercenary with no convictions and as a result, somewhat untrustworthy.

Emmanuelle Winston

Nathan's opinion of Emmanuelle is rather conflicted. While he does appreciate the efforts she puts into her work, and her apparently similar opinion on life and politics, her outgoing nature and somewhat nonchalant approach of everything often puts him off and disturbs him.

Song Jun

As new recruits of SGS, Song and Nathan often hang out together, even if the age gap between both men often leads to awkward conversations. Nathan appreciates Song's background and willingness to do more for the world, but remains wary of his Vestan lineage due to his past experiences.

Quotes

• "Yes, well, perhaps if you didn't shoot first and asked questions instead, we wouldn't be in this situation!"
• "Maybe some things aren't worth knowing, like how many people Max killed, or how many guys you didn't make out with. OW, that hurts!"

Trivia

• Nathan has several tattoos on his arms, some of them purely decorative and some of them having hidden meanings.