General Elias Rourke

General Elias Rourke

Basic Information

Name: Elias Rourke
Age: 48
Title: Dominus | House Rourke of New Bastillon
Current Role: Director of Strategic Defense, North Continental Union (NCU)
Former Role: GEU Military Command Instructor / Air Force General
Base of Operations: New Bastillon (NCU Capital)

Overview

Elias Rourke is a former U.S. Air Force General who became one of the earliest high-ranking military figures to quietly reject NeuraSync adoption. After the Great Disruption and the rise of the World Council, he served as a command instructor within the elite GEU military academy system.

For seven years, he trained high-potential officers — including Marcus Wolfe and Adebayo Khumalo — shaping them into elite operatives. His mentorship emphasized ethics, decentralized command, and human-governed autonomy.

His ideological break with the GEU began long before he left — but the fracture became irreversible during Operation Sandglass in 2074, when he witnessed political manipulation of military forces and the suppression of truth around the recovered Tabun Tablets.

When New Bastillon was formally established, Rourke accepted command and later defected to the NCU, choosing sovereignty over obedience and seizing control of the city.

Personality & Philosophy

• Principled, quiet strategist

• Believes in human autonomy over machine governance

• Wary of ideological extremism — technological or metaphysical

• Trusts analog systems, redundancy, and decentralization

• Carries a protective guilt for soldiers lost under his watch
  

“The future belongs to those who can think for themself.”

Key Canon Events

2074 — Operation Sandglass (Classified)

• Oversaw elite cadet strike unit including Marcus Wolfe & Adebayo Khumalo

• Mission: Recover Tabun Tablets from Ashen Covenant

• 8 cadets killed

• Marcus critically wounded

• Adebayo refused orders to abandon him → rescued Marcus

• Rourke witnessed loyalty fracture in real time

• Tabun Tablets disappeared after recovery

• Truth sealed; cover narrative issued

• First major ideological break with World Council leadership
  
  

2081 — New Bastillon Commissioned

• Rourke accepts appointment as Director of Strategic Defense

• Declines NeuraSync — off-grid exception granted under emergency sovereignty charter

• Helps establish NCU Decentralized Defense Doctrine

• Becomes foundational architect of non-Algorithm state security

  
  

Relationships

Marcus Wolfe: Former student

Adebayo Khumalo: Former student

Naomi Carter: Ashen Covenant

World Council / Solas:

Skills

• Asymmetric warfare doctrine

• Cyber-defense architecture (pre-Algorithm era)

• Analog command systems & signal-isolated logistics

• High-pressure political and military leadership
  

Appearance

Broad-shouldered, weathered from field time rather than luxury command.
Permanent fatigue behind sharp eyes — a man who has carried too much weight for too long.

Prefers:

• rugged field gear

• hardened jackets / tactical fibers

• analog watch

• physical notebook instead of Neural Link
  

Carries himself like a soldier who never stopped scanning exits.

Personal Motto

“Freedom survives only where memory and will are unmodified.”

Visual Profile

• Height: 6'0" (183 cm)

• Weight: ~205 lbs (93 kg)

• Build: Solid, military athletic

• Hair: Black with early gray

• Facial Hair: Trimmed beard

• Expression: Intense calm; eyes like someone always weighing options

• Posture: Command presence without ego — hands often behind back, chin slightly down, scanning room[