Theron Valerius

Valerius's education is a classified matter, but it is understood he was a graduate of a highly secretive Council program focused on psychological warfare, cryptology, and infiltration.

Unlike Thorne's theoretical knowledge, Valerius's education was ruthlessly practical, focused on the arts of manipulation, information extraction, and the exploitation of human weakness.

Valerius's entire career was spent within the shadows of the Ministry of Intelligence. He never held a public-facing role. He rose through the ranks by orchestrating the quiet removal of the Council's enemies, not through force, but through carefully executed blackmail, manufactured scandals, and the masterful use of disinformation.

He was elected Commander of Intelligence three consecutive times because he was untouchable; he knew too much about everyone, and his network of spies and informants was so pervasive that no one dared to challenge him openly.

He was a master of the long game, thinking in decades, not years. His mind worked like a spider's web, sensing the smallest vibrations in the political landscape and tracing them back to their source.

If Kane was a sledgehammer, Valerius was a scalpel, able to dismantle his opponents from the inside out without them ever realsing they were under attack.

His greatest intellectual gift was his understanding of human nature—not as a concept to be managed like Julian, but as a system of levers and buttons (fear, greed, love, ambition) to be pressed to achieve a desired outcome.

Valerius's philosophy was one of Informational Absolutism.

He believed that true, lasting control came not from force or wealth, but from possessing secrets that others did not. To him, a fact was a weapon, a lie was a shield, and a secret was a key to a cage.

He was not interested in the "greater good" in the way Kane was; he was interested in the preservation of the Council through the absolute control of information.

He believed that the general populace, and even his fellow Commanders, could not be trusted with the truth, and he saw it as his solemn duty to take them to the grave.

Valerius was motivated by a profound, intellectual pleasure in control and mastery. He saw the Fortrop's political landscape as the ultimate game of strategy, and he was driven to be its undisputed master. Unlike the other Commanders who were driven by fear of chaos or a desire to fix the system, Valerius was driven by the desire to be the system. The unseen, unheard puppet master who pulled every string. His goal was not just to win the game, but to ensure no one else even knew how it was being played

Public records show no living family. It is a widely accepted, if unspoken, assumption that Valerius either never had a family or deliberately erased them from the records to ensure he had no emotional vulnerabilities to be exploited. He was a man who lived and died as a ghost.

Valerius rarely spoke in Council meetings, but when he did, every word carried immense weight. He didn't need charm or charisma. He projected an aura of absolute knowledge and quiet confidence.

He could end an argument with a single, softly spoken sentence that hinted at a secret he possessed about his opponent. His "social" interactions were acts of subtle intimidation and information gathering. He was deeply respected, universally feared, and trusted by no one, which is exactly how he designed his life.

His disappearance has left a power vacuum so complete that the remaining Commanders are terrified of who might have been capable of removing him, and even more terrified of the secrets he left behind.