Lucius Tullius Castus

Lucius Tullius Castus is a First Sergeant, temporary platoon commanding officer in the New Luna Militia's Marine Corps as well as his Company's Sergeant. He is known as a bit of a hardcase when it comes to the conduct of soldiers under his command. However, he has shown himself to have a fun side when not on duty as well as a good combat commander, further cementing the high self-opinion he holds. Lucius is not always known to be the most orthodox non-commisioned officer. He is very politically minded and patriotic, both about Mars and New Luna.

Childhood
Lucius was born on Mars September 19th, 2979 to Quintus Tullius Castus and Claudia Apronia, both families having long history on the red planet. Quintus was a vetern of various Guardian Fleet conflicts and a former senior NCO with very developed views on the way Mars 'should be'. This set the frame for his son Lucius, already 8 when his father retired from active service. He grew up with dreams similar to his progenator, and at 17 was awarded his high school diploma early (through his father's influence) to join the Guardian Fleet as a marine.

Guardian Fleet
He served for several years as the support gunner for his squad, which initially was deployed with the Guardian Fleet battleship 'Resistance', an Iowa-Class. The ship had several run-ins with the Lunite Militia, skirmishes for all intents and purposes, and also participated (as a boarding party) in a major destruction/capture of a pirate fleet around Neptune in 2997 which had been disrupting trade for several months prior. This mission had been intended to be a surprise sweep for the Fleet, but ill-gathered intelligence turned it into a pirate ambush, which was beaten off and turned around. For this action, he recieved two Purple Hearts for his wounds and a Distinguished Service Cross.

Due to his unit's excellent service record, they were transferred to the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force, a strike force of heavy infantry that were posted with the SCD Falstaff. Lucius was also promoted to Staff Sergeant and served as the unit's senior NCO. Here he participated in several more pirate exterminating operations, rooting them out of their compounds in the outer reaches of the Sol system. Later in 3000, the troops were stationed in Hesperia to help contain against the possible threats of revolution from a Mars that resented Earth's role in its politics; unfortunately for the Earthlings, the 1st Marine Expeditionary Unit was overwhelmingly Martian and was one of the first units to openly revolt against the Guardian Fleet and aid the Martian revolutionaries, becoming part of a new military that was dubbed the Martian Legions. After the relatively short and bloodless civil war (in what could have been an absolutely massive conflict), Lucius's unit was even given the distinction of having its members as part of the guard detail in the Consortium-Republic peace talks onboard the Galactix, representing of course the Martian Republic's side.

Martian Legions
After the fledgling Republic had proven to the galaxy that it was legitimate and had solidified its military, Lucius was reposted in the Martian Outback for the various retraining of his unit, security of the Legions' top secret base in Olympus Mons and the recruitment of Fairfax clan Outbackers into the force. Later his unit was pulled back to the MRD Falstaff and he was present during the discovery of Deserata, although he did not play a role in the first contact of the 'natives'. By this point he was a Legionary II, or of the second tier, meaning that he was the XO of a platoon. However, although his record indicates several more assignments until 3002, abruptly in this year his locations and assigments are listed as CLASSIFIED.

Finally, with the Moebius Effect he re-appears in records transferred to one of the last units of the remaining Martian military, Legio I Pallas Concors, commanding a platoon of his own. He served with distinction here, his unit having to put the massive riot down on Deserata after the First Consul, Emerson Mauthus, committed suicide in a public speech and killed the Martian Praetor. He also went on the mission going to alt-Mars to colonize it and continued after King Colin Neidermeyer got the 'fealty' of the Martian Republic in exchange for a reversal of the Moebius Effect. However, his faith in the military wavered when the Legions were dissolved into the Guardian Fleet and severely demoted in status as well as rank, and finally when a huge amount of his colleagues and comrades were killed in the Battle of Ganymede, when the Maltarians detonated their moon and destroyed an enormous amount of the OATO and Consortium fleets. After this conflict, Lucius Tullius Castus got an honourable discharge from the Fleet, and settled into what appeared to be civilian life. Yet things were not always as they seem.



Life as a mercenary
He decided that to earn his living, civilian life was not for him. He was still young, and still had all the élan of a soldier pumping through his veins; mercenary, he though, would be an appropriate occupation for one such as him, whose government had (in his and others' minds) apparently betrayed him. Three other Legionairies who were discharged from the Fleet after a severe blow in pay decided to form a group which work in tandem as possible. They called themselves Hesperia’s Finest. Only off-job for a bare minimum amount of time, they hopped from world to world carrying out contracts, sometimes to take out a certain crime lord’s estate, or sometimes providing some other private citizen’s defence against volatile and angry trespassers. As their experience as mercenaries increased, so did their repute, especially among the underworld. They certainly did, however, take contracts from more legal sources as well. The foursome joined the I.A.M. (Intergalactic Association of Mercenaries) and were hence put on reputable and dangerous contracts, frequently involving para-military forces. The last mission they went on, however, on La Terre in April of 3005, was the one that made Lucius’s mind up about finding another source of employment. It was here that during a bungled recon op that his best friends were killed in action, and here he decided that living by contract was no way for him to live. After a narrow escape for himself, he was contacted by Giuseppe Marcuccilli of the The Warren, inquiring whether he was interested in a job as security personnel. This seemed to be what Lucius was looking for; permanance of some sort. Packing up his belongings, he made the long trek to Tomin Kora on a rickity old freighter.

The Warren
Lucius's tenure at the Warren was quite eventful; he accompanied the Don on most of his missions as head of security personel, defended the enclave from gang related attacks as well as interior strife and generally kept it in good order, at least for an establishment based on Tomin Kora. Many of the Don's dealings were handled by the Martian, almost always under the table and covertly enough that things couldn't be traced back in a negative fashion to the establishment. He also began to develop a drug habit beyond marijuana consumption, becoming a frequent user of synthetics such as cocaine and amphetamines. Luckily he never moved on to the heavier and more modern drugs and was able to get his consumption under control. After the return of Lord Fagin to Tomin Kora, Marcuccilli began to work on expanding his operation off world, specifically to New Luna. Lucius immediately fell in love with the world and applied for citizenship, making him a dual citizen of New Luna and the Solar Republic. He also formed friendships with the crews of the IND Jackal and DMS Faux and worked with them when his obligations on New Luna didn't interfere. He dissapeared in June of 3006 only to resurface in August, when he amicably severed his ties with his former employer. It is unknown where he was in between these two months.

New Luna Militia
Soon after finishing employment with the Warren, Lucius found his calling again, oncemore doing the thing he'd done for a good portion of his life - soldiering. He joined the New Luna Militia and after a trial period of a couple of weeks as a consultant was given the rank of Sergeant in the Marines. Already on his first day he was involved in an engagement with enemy, more specifically in the boarding action on the Galatea-class freighter Orion's Pride as it attempted a suicide mission against Hancock Station. During his first short period as squd Sergeant, he and an element of marines were sent to Vollista to help with humanitarian aide. Disobeying the local law in lieu of the chaotic situation on planet, they were heavily armed. The soldiers would say that they were attacked psionically and opened fire to defend themselves, while others might disagree, but the political fallout that came after caused Lucius to be pulled from active duty for a short period of time.

Soon after, the People's Army Of New Luna began to take over terrorist action on New Luna and Sergeant Castus was called back into active duty. He served at an observation post on Jasper Point, the PANL stronghold, which was eventually burnt down by a mob, and also in other actions against these revolutionairies. It was during the course of this that he was promoted to the rank of Sergeant First Class to fill the void left by the discharge of Chief Warrant Officer Urfkgar. He is now the Executive Officer of 1st Platoon, 3rd Company, 2nd Marine Battalion and defacto Commanding Officer, since his former commander was killed in the PANL conflict.

Since then, he has been very active with the military of New Luna, submitting his troops and himself to extensive training which has turned the 1st Marine Battalion into an elite fighting force within the planet's militia. Numerous other skirmishes have given the unit a veteran status, with about fifty percent of its soldiers having fought in previous militaries and ninety percent having had some combat experience. In June of 3007, he was promoted from Sergeant First Class to First Sergeant. This solidifies his command of 1st Platoon (as the senior NCO of the Company) as well as making him Company Sergeant, a position which was vacant since the PANL conflict. In essence it means he has the responsibilities of two important positions, but for this soldier who is far more frequently on the job than off it doesn't seem like it will affect his performance. He is also known as a somewhat prolific gunsmith, and often appears with custom weapons in public. To those with knowledge of Tactical Advantage Industries will possibly know that he is in the process of negotiating a possible contract with them regarding a new battle rifle design.

Religious Beliefs
Lucius was born into and is a very active member of the Religio Romana. When he can, he attends most public banquets held at the Pantheon Nova Luna (New Luna's large temple dedicated to all the Gods) and also is known by those who are familiar with to personally sacrifice on a regular basis. A large proportion of New Luna's Martian citizens are soldiers of the NLM or civil servants, which seems to have given Lucius a high visibility in this community. He is known to especially favour the Gods Iuppiter Optimus Maximus, Mars and Ianus, though in accordance with custom would never think of concentrating solely on these three.