Hannibal de'Zama

Hannibal de'Zama was the second Regent of the Esper Union, who reigned during its rise to power. His rule culiminated in the Leviathan War, where he spent most of the war stranded in the extensive bunker networks underneath Nikeah. He was rumored to have been killed by Scandian soldiers, but lived. He was betrayed by Ceriz Altrega, and led the fight against the New Wraith. He now serves as commander of the Malakim.

Biological

• Born: August 16, 7 WR
• Birthplace: Albrook, Esper Dimension
• Sex: Male
• Hair: Dark brown
• Eyes: Grey
• Height: 6`3"
• Weight: 211 lbs.

Personal

• Religion: Atheist
• Nicknames and Titles: Former Regent of the Esper Union, Former Regent of the Sky Riders Aerospace Navy, Former leader of the Hundred, Rear General in the Grand Army Malakim Special Operations Force, the Gravedigger, the Last Regent
• Hobbies: Boxing, piloting, fighting, tinkering with weapons
• Favorite Color: Grey
• Inspirations: Mic Hosluft, Gestahl I, strength, courage, firepower
• Motto: "Victory requires knowledge of three things: yourself, your enemy, and your guns."

History

Hannibal de`Zama was raised in the Esper Dimension following the disaster rendered upon his world by Kefka and the Imperial forces. Shortly after, the Web came calling upon the world and the Great War expanded to take it in. Hannibal, at the age of fourteen, lied about his age and joined a desperate Republican Expeditionary Force and fought with Tasnica for two years. Following that service, he was attached to a battalion placed in a rare, out of the way dimension that had recently been discovered by the name of Carrion, and fought against the forces of the Dark Gods in the Kingdom of Carrion`s State of West, attacking supply lines that later became key for the Dark Wrath. The REF forces in West slowly fell apart because of the distance from the main Tasnican operations, and became a hotbed of guerrilla activity. At age seventeen, Hannibal left West to join the Grand Army Regulars, where he served with until the end of the war in 27 WR.

He spent a short amount of time as a civilian in Albrook, but the outbreak of the Ticonderan-Kuvallan-Medinan War brought him back into the Grand Army. This time, he served as a Spitfire pilot in the Luftwaffe, and continued a tour of service through the Hivan War. After the Hivan War ended, he was contacted by his uncle, Mic Hosluft, who had been a Tacfortress captain in the Great War and Ticonderan-Kuvallan-Medinan War, and was brought into the Sky Riders at his behest.

Hannibal was commissioned as a General, a rank established (and later removed) to give him a broad command over the general structure of the Sky Riders and essentially fulfill Hosluft`s job as Regent. Along with another General, Darius Laenus, Hannibal formed the De`Zama and Laenus Design Bureau (often called DZaL, pronounced "dee-zal"). DZaL created most of the new designs for the Sky Riders, and remained the premier design group in the Esper Union until it was absorbed into and replaced by the Fort Locke Research Group. Hannibal was also the hand-picked successor of his uncle.

Amidst the growing controversy of the brewing Omnisent Conflict, Mic Hosluft`s harsh policies on the organization and efforts to unite the Esper Dimension under the banner of Nikeah resulted in his murder on January 1, 31 WR. Afterward, Hannibal, along with Darius and an ally of Hosluft`s, Mayor Solomon Aemilan of Zozo, united against the Republican Army of Duane Leiparizic and Caius Caleina to defeat the anti-Hosluft forces and form a proto-Esper Union. However, Darius retired to the independent Kohinglen, under Hosluft`s former lover, Beryl Dalton. Hannibal eventually led a force against Darius. Afterward, Aemilan outcasted him and announced the formation of the Esper Union, declaring himself Regent. Hannibal also declared himself Regent, making an alliance with his former enemy and soon to be best friend, Beryl Dalton, and the two fought the third war of the Esper Wars against Aemilan. At the end of it, the Grand Army came down on Aemilan for trying to strike a deal with the OmniSent, and Hannibal`s forces invaded Nikeah and took the country.

Hannibal promptly proclaimed the Esper Union to be a fascist nation and took the same stance on the Omnisent as his late uncle. The Esper Union saw a major military expansion following the reunification of the country, which led to souring relationships with the Kingdoms of Figaro and Doma. In mid-32 WR, Figaroan planes bombed Nikeah and Doman forces invaded Mobliz. As a result, the Esper Union entered the Imperialist War (so named because at the same time, the Scandians invaded Gant and the Tasnicans took the Kingdom of Winlan). The Kingdom of Guardia sided against their allies, assisting the Figaroans and Domans, and the Republic of Medina backed the Esper Union. The Esperians prevailed, seizing all of Figaro and Doma, and forcing the seceding Narsheans back into the Union.

Following the Imperialist War, the Esper Union became embroiled in the Omnisent Conflict. Hannibal tried to solidify his nation against attacks by the Omnisent, which left Thamasa in ruins. When the conflict reached a head, he saw his forces pounded by the Zevin that emerged into the Esper Dimension. His best friend, Sky Marshal Lainer Cheskle, was killed aboard the Hosluft. The death of his friend severely effected him, and he withdrew into seclusion for the rest of his Regency.

After the end of the Omnisent Conflict, Hannibal began to push the Fascists into a confrontation with the Communists, while expanding fascism. This reached a head in the Leviathan War, in 36 WR, which saw the Communist Protectorate invade the Esper Union, attempt at a Communist invasion of Fabul that was turned around into a Fascist invasion of Damcyan, and a Fascist (though soon disowned from the Fascist Pact) invasion by the Dwarven Skull Empire into the Merge League and People`s Kingdom of Tycoon. Nikeah fell to the Scandians early on, and Hannibal was thought to have fled to the Hellstag Fortress in Kohinglen. Instead, he remained in COWARD (Command Operations Wyrm - Air Redundant Defense), the compound underneath Nikeah that served as the command and control center for the Nikeahan resistance. He employed a mercenary with a Seraphim named Ceriz Altrega. While Nikeah was being liberated by Halberg`s Returners Expeditionary Force (REF, no relation to the Great War era Tasnican REF), Hannibal and Ceriz led the resistance forces against the Dracoforms. Ceriz later turned on Hannibal, betraying him and becoming Regent after it seemed that Hannibal had been killed by Scandian soldiers.

Hannibal had not. He fled in the Seraphim he hi-jacked from Ceriz, and with help from Vladius Rinster of the Fort Locke Research Group and Beryl Dalton, director of the Esperian Civilian Intelligence Department (E-CID), he began a one man war against Ceriz and the secret army supporting him. This led him to the city of Kupopolis, where he met Kremer Fremen for the first time, and to assist Abdiel Zion and Rhodes Palmerston against the threat of Typhon. He then formed his own private force of Seraphim, dubbed the Hundred, and assisted in trying to thwart the invasion of the Federal Kingdom of Carrion, manipulated by the Organization (as he called it). He found out during the conflict that it called itself the New Wraith. Hannibal then attempted to stop the New Wraith from seizing the plans for the Dracoform at Spring, in the Scandian Lague. He was captured by the New Wraith in the interim, and tortured for information. The Hundred continued on without its leader to attempt to stop the New Wraith from using its puppet nations to attack the Kingdom of Naba`al. Hannibal escaped, and then assisted Theodore Halberg`s rebel Esperians, Halder Skalice`s Scandian League Combined Military, the Grand Army, and the Diamond Corporation forces in thwarting this attack by the New Wraith. He killed Ceriz in the battle, who was cast from the Regency, as well as Alucard Dereize. Kremer Fremen fled with the aid of his son, Alfred Jared Fremen of Kakkara.

After the battle, Hannibal was offered the rank of Rear General in the Grand Army and made the field commander of the Grand Army Malakim Special Operations Force, which incorporated the Hundred. Still thought to be dead by most of the Web, he told Halberg to make the Esper Union into a democracy and now serves, for the third time, as a Grand Army officer.