William Kulm


 * Gear Sergeant William Kulm was born twenty years before E-Day, in one of the upper class families of Jacinto. He grew up amongst some of the highest members of society there before the Locust War, and was sometimes disgusted when he heard that the COG army couldn’t keep the Locust at bay. However, after a stay with his uncle, he learned how his and every other high-ranking family was trying to claw their way to the top by any means necessary. Even, as in his uncle’s case, murder. After returning to his family, he announced that he was leaving to become a Gear.


 * His family was appalled, and if word was spread that their son was in the army, they may lose some status. As a result, they planned to kill him. William expected this, however, and slipped away that night. At seventeen, he first slipped the helmet of a Gear soldier onto his head. Becoming a sniper, his high kill count would warrant the attention of superior officers, and was promoted to being a squad leader. As his first assignment, he would take a Stranded camp to press them into military service, which William thought of as saving their lives.


 * The Stranded didn’t see it that way. While his men rounded up those who could fight, William tried to calm down the settlement’s leader, a man named Wayne that regulations deemed to old for service. As the squad was subduing a rebellious man with a shotgun, a Locust patrol chose its moment to strike. One of the Gears was wounded, and another killed, but the squad held its ground as the civilians made it to the squad’s transport. William ordered his squad back to the transport, and held off the Locust himself. Wayne, however, refused to leave, and the two were cut off and cornered in a ruined building. The squad made its retreat, leaving William and Wayne alone in the building, having to hold out against several waves of Locust troops over the next two days. During this time, William gained a new respect for Wayne, and the Stranded as a whole. Their willingness to fight for freedom meant more to him now than anything his family had struggled for.


 * With Locust snipers staying at a safe range, keeping them inside the house, grenadiers, a Theron elite, and even a Boomer wrecking crew were sent in to try and kill them. Fortunately, on the third day, a group of Stranded fighters killed the snipers pinning them down and rescued them. While the Stranded were set on killing William, Wayne spared him, even threatening the life of one of their rescuers who was pointing a gun at William. William returned to the Command at Jacinto in one piece, with a new squadmate by his side.