Character Michael Hightower

[Michael Hightower]

Michael Hightower

Age	42
Species	Thyrsian
Gender	Male
Height	195cm
Weight	90kg
Force Sensitive	Minor

PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION
Michael is every inch a warrior’s warrior. Standing at an imposing 6 feet 4 inches, his frame is layered with the muscle of a lifetime of war and combat. His wide-shouldered frame exudes a sense of strength and authority, a powerful and intimidating presence on the battlefield. The man’s body is marked by the scars and marks of combat, a tapestry of the fights and wars he’s fought, though all his scars are on his front. Never once in his life has Michael shown his back to the enemy.
While his physical frame alone would mark Michael as a warrior, a fighter the truth of his being is revealed if you stare into his eyes. Dark orbs, they’re the eyes of a man who has seen too much, too many friends and allies killed, many by his own decisions. Behind that is self-assuredness, the gaze of a man who knows exactly who he is.
Michael keeps his hair cut short, a utilitarian cut not so different from that given to the rawest recruit in the armed forces under his command. Generally, Michael can be found in uniform, a black ensemble with only the barest signs of rank or of medals. Only the most important of medals, those he knows his men take pride in adorn his uniform, he needs no other signs of authority, to be in his presence is to understand he is in command. When in combat Michael dons a more utilitarian ensemble, military fatigues or combat gear designed for functionality and utility. His attire is impeccably tailored to fit his powerful frame, allowing him to move with precision and grace.


PSYCHOLOGICAL DESCRIPTION
Michael was born into a family, into a world riven by war and conflict, trained in military tactics and war from the time he could walk. From his youth, he always had a talent for war, for command, a charisma that drew his men ever onwards, even unto the mouth of hell. Perhaps it was the way he put himself into danger alongside them or the way he made sure they were well taken care of. Where other leaders made sure that their quarters were more luxurious, and more equipped than their soldiers, Michael sought only to keep what he needed. Not austere but minimalist, his bed, his mattress was a soldier's bed, his plate the same plate offered to his soldiers. His demands were high, far higher than the service demanded but if you met them, then he would have your back, no matter what the odds.

When he was young Michael approached his duty with a bullishness that gave a lie to his ability to manoeuvre around his opponents on the battlefield, something that his brother despaired of. Michael was good, very good, at the art of war, but he lacked that spark, that special something that made the greatest tacticians stand out, his victories were achieved through a grim determination and skill at adapting to the demands of the battlefield. He was hot iron, driven by will and determination, potentially the greatest military mind of his generation the planet he grew up in had seen apart from that one flaw. His emotion ruled him too easily, the very traits that lead his men to love him provided him an upper ceiling on his capabilities. Michael didn't understand the need for diplomacy, for that coldness and ruthlessness he saw in political leaders stating he preferred the honesty of the battlefield. It was a failing that almost proved to be his undoing. As the other youths railed in a civil war, brother was pitted against brother in a ruthless no-holds-barred conflict. Only, Adam wasn't willing to play fair, not with so much at stake. Faced with betrayal and almost insurmountable odds Michael fought a retreat that was like no other battle he'd ever fought. Through twist and turn, manipulation and strategic positioning he was able to draw out the armies facing him, defeating them in detail before returning home only to find that while he'd been fighting his brother's political allies had already decided the war. It was a harsh lesson that he’d never forgotten, combat was only one facet of the struggle and to win, he needed to see the whole picture.

He had started to grow beyond the hothead he had been growing up, had started to grow into the tactician he could be. However, it was only after his exile when he joined forces with the mercenary company that his education was completed. The hotheadedness that had characterised his youth was tempered in the forge of war, learning that he needed to be cold at times and that leading from the front wasn’t always the best way to handle a battle. Throwing his men at a problem head-on wasn’t the best way to handle a situation, that despite mutual loyalty sometimes lives had to be paid as the price to succeed. But, never to be thrown away for nothing, that was a waste and a dereliction of the duty and trust given to a commander. The war on Thrysia and his battles in the outside world had tempered Michael and left him able to switch between hotheadedness and cold ruthlessness. It was a mix that served him well in his career, making him an opponent it was hard to predict.

Much like their forebears, the Echani, the Thyrisians have made combat into an art form, into a means of communication. Combat permeated all levels of Thyrsian culture, and Michael grew up steeped in it, learning very early on how to read the smallest movements and twitches, understanding more about his opponent from a fight than a long conversation. He then, like many Echani Generals before him, applied that same inherent level of communication to warfare. The placement and movement of troops is a language of his own that allows him to understand and communicate with the enemy general.

INVENTORY



STRENGTHS

Experienced Commander: From a young age Michael has been trained in combat and warfare, both as an individual fighter and a commander. His entire life has been immersed in warfare, first on Thyrsia, and then in the rest of the galaxy, through which he’s developed an enviable experience when it comes to waging war.

Read the flow: Like All Thyrsians and Echani, Michael can read the movements of an opponent, an act he’s so skilled at that some have said that he’s able to predict their movements before they happen.

WEAKNESSES

Aged: Though experienced and in excellent physical shape, Michael isn’t as young as many of the combatants in the galaxy. Lacking their reaction speed requires him to find other means to defeat his opponents.

Exile: When he was young Michael was exiled from Thyrsia as the loser in a civil war, cutting him off from the ties of family and friends. This has left him both with a sore spot when it comes to his home planet and a soft spot for those of his troops and enemies with families.

HISTORY

There are few places in the galaxy where you can say you were born into war and combat more than Thyrsus, a planet of warriors where combat is a part of everyday life. Every child born on Thyrsus was expected to absorb that culture of combat, most were given their first practice blades before they could even walk, and they were expected to be warriors before anything else. It was in this world, this culture that Michael was born. The Hightower family was respected but they weren’t planetary leaders, they had produced their fair share of capable warriors but no generals. So imagine their delight when it turned out that both Michael and his elder brother, Adam, showed an aptitude for war.

Both Hightower brothers emerged as leading lights of their generation, constantly in competition with one another and the other warriors around them. When the two of them were united there were few foes they couldn’t defeat. Still, when they were divided by their differing temperaments they would inevitably spiral towards an inevitable clash. Adam was always the more coolheaded of the two, able to step back to see the big picture while Michael would charge into battle, relying on his skills to see him through. Both proved to be effective commanders, but while Adam was respected by his men, Michael was loved. Despite their differences, the brothers were joined by an almost unbreakable bond, and many had started talking about how they shored up each other’s weaknesses and complemented their strengths.

It was almost inevitable then that they would be torn apart by their beliefs, and their visions for the future of their planet. Where Adam dreamed of showing the galaxy the quality of Thyrissian might, Michael preferred to sit back, to leave the galaxy to its excess rather than following the path of the Mandalorians. This conflict between the two was echoed across the planet, whispers and incitement building up until it spiralled into a broader spreading conflict that engulfed the whole planet. In this fight, the two brothers found themselves on different sides, finally allowed to test themselves against each other. In clash after clash they found themselves tied as the conflict scaled to a climax, a final battle where Adam called in support from allies and those he could bully and cajole into helping him. Till the day he brought 5 armies in to face Michael, forcing them to retreat, to draw out his foes and defeat them one by one.

The conflict finally proved Michael to be the superior commander, even as Adam won the conflict, the crusading faction reached out to political allies to claim a victory separate from the war. It wasn’t as pure as they’d have liked, but victory was a victory, a lesson learned by both brothers.

It was perhaps an act of mercy on Adam’s part, to have his brother exiled rather than killed, a twist of fate that brought neither what they wanted. Adam, who wanted to travel the stars with his military might was confined on the planet, a leader in an insurgency that now had to deal with the issues of governance. Michael though, cast away from the planet travelled the galaxy as a mercenary for years before finally settling in the territory of the Sith Order, warring across the stars and cementing a reputation as one of the galaxy’s great military leaders.