Richard T. Kilgore

Richard T. Kilgore (b. 1683 AN) was a military officer who served as the Commander of Cudgels of the 1st Fugitive Pursuit Squadron, a paramilitary police formation of the Corps of the Gentlemen-at-Cudgels, from 1723 AN onwards . He gained notoriety for his brutal methods and obsessive drive in tracking down fugitives attempting to flee the Benacian Union.

Early Life and Career

Little is known about Kilgore's early years and background, as records from the era before the Scouring were often patchy and inconsistent. He was born in 1683 AN, within the territory of Elluenuueq, which was then newly independent from the declining Imperial Republic of Shireroth following the Kalirion Fracture in the previous decade. The surname "Kilgore" was suggestive of Calbian or perhaps Britannic ancestry. An orphan, like so many in his generation, Kilgore received education and indoctrination from the N&H National Sector Party of Elluenuueq whilst residing at displaced persons camps in Alalehzamin. His testimony, although unreliable in key details, would intimate that he believed that his parents perished in the conflagration of Islus. His attitude and receptiveness towards indoctrination had been assessed as promising and for this reason he was indicated into the Humanist Vanguard.

Kilgore's career began in 1703 AN when he was commissioned as a Cudgel-Carrier in the Corps of the Gentlemen-at-Cudgels at the age of twenty, this being four years before the Corps formally restricted its recruitment pool to ex service members of the BUDF. He quickly rose through the ranks, being promoted to Gentleman-Cudgeller in 1708 AN and then to Serjeant-Cudgeller in 1715 AN.

His zeal, ambition, and uncompromising dedication to the Corps' mandate of maintaining public order did not go unnoticed by his superiors. In 1723 AN, at just 40 years old, Kilgore achieved the coveted rank of Commander of Cudgels and was given independent command (uvnbivaroþ) of the 1st Fugitive Pursuit Squadron, attached to the Central Commandery based in Ardashirshahr.

Command of the 1st Squadron

As Commander, Kilgore gained a formidable reputation for his relentless efforts in hunting down fugitives and deserters attempting to flee the Benacian Union across its borders. He directed many operations to interdict human trafficking networks smuggling refugees out of the Governorate of Alalehzamin into the neighbouring Imperial County of Shireroth.

Kilgore took a harsh, no-nonsense approach to fugitive interdiction. He did not hesitate to employ brutality, torture, or extrajudicial killings during missions if he felt it necessary. This earned him a fearsome reputation but also criticism from those who viewed his methods as excessively cruel.

In 1731 AN, two major events occurred that would significantly shape Kilgore's life and approach to his duties:

1. His squadron was reinforced with a contingent of Elfinshi personnel recruited as infiltrators and scouts to better penetrate refugee smuggling rings. Additionally, Kilgore took a young Elfinshi woman named Layla Falrenor into his personal service as a consort and clandestine operative.
2. Kilgore uncovered a conspiracy amongst protected persons of Elw ancestry, who were plotting a uprising against the Babkhi majority in the bailiwick of Varpur. He subsequently directed a brutal crackdown that broke the back of this incipient insurgency through a campaign of mass incarceration, collective reprisals against villages, and widespread atrocities.

The addition of Elfinshi personnel and his growing obsession with rooting out the "Elw rebellion" became inextricably intertwined in Kilgore's mind. A disturbing codependency developed between himself and Layla as he immersed deeper into the barely suppressed sectarian hatreds and conflicts plaguing the Union-State's ethnic patchwork of peoples.

How this pathology evolved and shaped Kilgore's subsequent descent into infamy in the years after 1731 AN remains the subject of speculation. However there is little doubt the events of that pivotal year irrevocably disrupted the Commander's psychological bearings and set him on a path of escalating depravity from which he would never return.