Kaevat Suus

"The greatest strategy is not a tactic or manoeuvre, cadet - it is knowing the enemy's mind, and how to exploit it."

- Kaevat Suus

Kaevat Suus is a Lusaran admiral of the Ankoran Covenant, the commander of the Fleet of Divine Retribution, and a well-known strategist and tactician famed for his brilliant and ruthless command. Although unorthodox in his methods and strategies, and exceedingly rash and impulsive for a naval officer of his rank, Kaevat has become one of the most decorated admirals in recent Covenant history. Kaevat has earned all but three medals during his career, eight of which were earned during the four-year Covenant-Dominion War.

As the Fleet of Divine Retribution's leading admiral, the veteran officer leads the fleet from his personal flagship, the HCSS Empreyan Dawn, one of the Andromedan Covenant Territories eight Apostasy-Class Dreadnoughts.

Early Life
Kaevat was born and raised on Lusara, one of the Andromedan Covenant Territories' agri-worlds, where he tended to animals on his parent's farm. The young boy was always interested in arts, and wargaming, often spending his weekends in the town games shop, playing several tabletop warfare games; he was particularly fond of tactical and strategy games. Stellar Heresy, a naval wargame, was one of his favourite games during his youth.

Kaevat was particularly skilled in several tactical games, knowing his opponents intimately in order to defeat them. He often blundered against new and unskilled opponents, though won multiple tournaments through his knowledge of the opposition, becoming renowned as a gifted strategist locally in the tabletop wargaming community, and helping kindle his future interest in naval operation and tactics.

Academic Education
When he turned 25, Kaevat achieved his dream; a position in an illustrious off-world naval academy of education, where he would be able to earn a position in the Covenant Navy.

During his seven-year tenure as a student of the Gaiyama Academy of Naval Instruction, Kaevat became the target of significant contempt and bullying, being considered a "farmboy" by the other cadets at the academy. Kaevat and those who allowed themselves to be close to him were plagued by incidences of bullying and harassment during the first few years of his education, though the 'agri-boy', as he had derisively been nicknamed by his peers, never chose to respond. The chagrin of his bullies amused Kavaet greatly as he learned better how their minds operated, allowing him to eventually dismantle their attempts to harass him systematically and ensure that karma always followed their attempts.

Kaevat's masterminded manoeuvring through the social web of the academy soon began to earn him more respect from his peers, and his continued top-of-grade performance earned the admiration of his teachers. Kaevat would graduate second-to-none in his class, going on to be assigned to the HCSC Divinity as a lieutenant of the Fleet of Divine Retribution.

Service on the HCSC Divinity
As a junior officer in the Fleet of Divine Retribution, Lieutenant Suus found himself serving under Captain Riak Viglaen. Hunting smugglers, aiding distressed vessels and tracking down pirate strongholds became a major part of Kaevat's day-to-day. While the Fleet of Divine Retribution remained broken into its component flotillas, Kaevat was able to learn the ins-and-outs of fleet hierarchy and social conduct, managing to build friendships with several of his superiors.

Disappearance of the HCSC Ecclesiastical Intent
The first major incident that Kaevat was a part of was the disappearance of the HCSC Ecclesiastical Intent, one of the Andromedan Covenant Territories' Sacrosance-Class Destroyer's. No distress signal had been received by the navy, and the ship has apparently simply ceased to exist, all communication being cut off unexpectedly and without explanation. Sent to investigate with a small crew of six, Kaevat was ordered to travel by shuttle to the ship's last-known location and determine the cause of the blackout.

Upon boarding, the lieutenant ordered half of the group to investigate the engine bay, Kaevat and the remaining two officers attempted to access the bridge. It was found that the entire crew were either dead or missing, and the logs entirely wiped. It was also discovered the ship's hyperdrive had been rendered non-operable, and that the ships communication array had been completely destroyed; isolating the ship and preventing it from fleeing whatever had massacred the crew.

It was soon, however, discovered that pirates had been responsible for the loss of the HCSC Ecclesiastical Intent and that they had returned to the ship for salvage. Kaevat was quickly able to devise a strategy to deal with the pirates, utilising the ship's on-board virtual intelligence, turning the ship's weapons on the unexpecting salvagers, destroying their vessels. Kaevat's crew was then able to repair the ship's hyperdrive engines and return the ship to Daemoclef's shipyards for repairs.

Rising Through the Ranks
With the HCSC Ecclesiastical Intent recovered, it would need a new crew and captain, to which Kaevat was promoted; becoming the captain of the vessel he had recovered, and the new commander of its crew; most of its officers skimmed from other ships in the fleet to fill the majority of needed positions on the ship. Although it took several weeks to repair, the vessel would eventually rejoin the fleet with Kaevat at its helm. He would again be promoted several years later to Commodore, leading a flotilla within the fleet from the Ecclesiastical Intent.

Admiral's Apprentice
Kaevat was transfered to the HCSC Empreyan Dawn, the ship he currently serves upon, in 2806 by the order of then-admiral Jayelit Kaenita as her apprentice. Jayelit, recognising Kaevat's potential as a future admiral and leader of the Fleet of Divine Retribution, attempted to groom Kaevat to be her future replacement. Encouraging Kaevat's command and helping promote the young man to Provisional Junior-Admiral under her direct command and supervision.

Jayelit began to teach Kaevat the finer points of naval command, while using him as a personal strategic advisor. Exploiting Kaevat's genius to win several skirmishes against pirates, smugglers, and a terrorist cult, was able to earn her apprentice several medals and commendations, before ultimately having him promoted to a fully-fledged Rear-Admiral.

The Automated Dreadnought
"That is... a very big ship."

- Kaevat Suus Now a full Rear-Admiral in his own right, commanding a significant portion of the Fleet of Divine Retribution, Kaevat encountered an unexpected, automated juggernought of a vessel in 2818 during routine fleet patrols; a single immense warship of ancient design was discovered in the Sethelbak System - no organic lifesigns were detected within the ancient patroling ship's interior, though it was bristling with weapons, and fully powered.

The vessel was found to be hostile; engaging the fleet immediately upon their detection in the system - leading to a frantic battle against the immense, technologically superior but alone ship. Its sheer massiveness rendered it unevasive, and the Covenant fleet was capable of evading its own attacks in turn. Though the ship's shields absorbed the majority of Covenant fire, the fleet's Daemon-Class Dreadnought, the HCSC Consecration was able to puncture the ship shield's and disable the automated dreadnought with multiple rounds from its spinal cannon.

Although the automated vessel was ultimately disabled, it was not outright destroyed; instead it was recovered by Covenant boarding teams, whom removed the sapient combat computer aboard. It was transferred in secret to an unknown system, and its current status and location remains a closely guarded secret of Covenant Naval Command.

An Enigmatic Fortress
"I am intrigued by this... fortress we have found. It may be a construct of the gods."

- Kaevat Suus

The Scavenger Bot
"What is that...? Everyone, battlestaions!"

- Kaevat Suus

Appearance
Lean and tall, Kaevat is a typical example of the ankoran body. Though his age is slowly beginning to catch up with him at 181 years old, he nonetheless remains an exemplary example of the ankoran body. He has become a magnetic icon on his homeworld of the 'perfect' ankoran, though naval personnel describe him instead as merely a healthy, middle-aged admiral.

The admiral is almost never seen outside of his military uniform, a pure white admiralty uniform decorated with his eight medals earned from the Covenant-Dominion War. The admiral has a scar across his back, although it is essentially concealed by his outfit at all times.

Personality
An impulsive, boisterous and rash individual Kavaet is nonetheless a brilliant military strategist, known for his anticipation of enemy attacks and his own tactical precision. Quick to jump to the call to action, Kaevat rarely wavers in his temperament, typically making his speeches while ordering his fleets to traverse through Hyperspace to where they are most needed at the moment.

Despite being polite and respectful, even towards his enemies, whom he generally tends to admire, Kaevat is nevertheless firm and commanding as an Admiral, ensuring all crew under his authority remain disciplined and obedient, lest subversive attitudes threaten the overall strategy of the admiral.

Kaevat is known to hold his homeworld, Lusara, in particularly dearness, and has a very soft heart for his sister, Laeta Suus. Kaevat was also known for his admiration of alien art and loathed those who dismissed the value of cultural relics, going as far as to assault a subordinate for vandalising Dominion art during the Covenant-Dominion War. Kaevat claims to believe in a link between the art, culture, and military doctrine of allies and enemies alike; and that one could understand and anticipate his opponent's by studying the product of their artists.