Name	Tharal Grant
Appearance
Rank Nicknames	Grand Marshal The Resolute Defender of Oregon The Old Bulldog
Service Years	1564 PD - ?
Commands	1st Front 212th Army 2nd Division of III Corps of 434th Army
Wars/Battles	Velutarian War: - Battle of Oregon - Battle of Tozoria - Battle of Velutaria 1st Mardakii Crusade: - Battle of Crustai - Battle of Oporon - Battle of Bogo Rai
Date of birth Father Mother Spouse Children	21st May 1546 PD Clarence Grant Philippa Grant Mary Grant 14
Religion Ethnicity	Stoinian Catholicism Anglican
Age Hair colour Eye colour Height Species	75 T-years None Brown 1.91 m Terran

Tharal Grant is on of the 10 Grand Marshals of the Stoinian Star Kingdom. He is the head of the 1st Front, one of the most prestigious commands to have. Being also one of the most acclaimed war heroes who fought on the ground and few who actually survived the carnage.

Early Life
Tharal Grant was born in an Anglican family on the Louisianan dominated planet of Oregon. His family were middle-class, his father was a career police officer and his mother a computer scientist. In a family filled with 13 siblings, he learned not too value privacy too much as it wasn't really possible. At school he was a good student, just below the top of the classes. Like Regent MacArthur he would be fascinated by the military training from school and at 17 years old would enrol at East Point to become an Army Officer. His family was proud of him and approved his choice. At East Point he would live out his dreams and graduate top of his class. He would get his first Command in the Core Sector and make his way in the chain of command in his 20 year-long career. Eventually becoming a Major General of the 358th Division on his homeworld of Oregon and a respected leader in the military. However his most famous deeds are yet to come

Velutarian War
When the Velutarian War broke out, there was political turmoil and the O'Connell government proved ineffective in commanding a counterattack against the Velutarians. Within the first month, the Velutarians had arrived in the Reach Sector and Oregon itself was in danger too. MacArthur's rule proved to be a change for the better, but the components to make a planetary shield generator arrived too late on Oregon and the Velutarians invaded the planet days before the components were to arrive. The Oregonians were forced to improvise, martial law was declared and the military mounted a defence against the Velutarians. Families would be split and not even Grant would escape from it, losing his first three sons in the process as MIA and his eldest daughter would die on within the first hour. Even his parents were caught in the crossfire of all the mayhem. On top of that the invasion and the initial disorganization proved fatal for the leadership and within days it became clear that Grant was the highest ranking officer. He spared no time and acted quickly.
Grant moved the civilian populaces into cave systems which the military engineers had began working on. With the help of the civilian populace, the underground facilities expanded every day, though a three full year were needed to accommodate for bunkers for every person. Schools and hardware were moved underground as it proved to be the only safe option for the Stoinians. Meanwhile the military would put a valiant effort to push the Velutarians off their planet. Much of the Air Force of the planet was destroyed in the initial attack and within three months all Stoinian aircraft were destroyed, the Velutarians now had full air superiority. The Vleutarians weren't very aggressive with their expansion, later it would be revealed that in fact they had taken a large amount of civilians hostage and would start to experiment on them with cybernetic implants. The Velutarians were trying to replenish their numbers by making captive Terrans their slaves with cybernetics. Logs of these experiments were later and found and it took the Velutarians 8 years before they made significant progress. Propaganda says it was because the Stoinian populace was so resolute against the Velutarian cybernetics, but none really understand what really happened. The initial eight years began to form in a stalemate, but this all changed when the Velutarians released their Stoinian-Robotic hybrid soldiers. The Stoinians were now forced to shoot upon their own kin and henceforth would largely face against their own cybernetic kind. The Velutarians took officer roles and filled the soldier ranks with Terran-Robotic hybrids. It would later be revealed that two of Grant's sons perished during the fighting as they were transformed into Velutarian slave soldiers. Grant would be deeply struck by this experience like any Stoinian who was forced to fire upon his own family. This left a deep scar on the populace of Oregon and morale was shrinking to unprecedented levels, but then a message come on its way. Reinforcements were coming.
Grant coordinated with Stoinian Command and would help designate a launch site. Grant commanded his forces personally and would focus on preparing the landing site. The Velutarians caught wind of this and attacked head on with their forces. Grant was able to hold them of for two days, though eh knew he couldn't hold the third. His forces were depleted and only a quarter remained, many were starting to make their peace with the cosmos, praying to be received well in their Afterlife. Then a message came in. "Spartans incoming!" Grant and his forces were taken by surprise and sow something coming down hot from the sky, like a falling comet. Hundreds of them came in and punctured the ground. Doors opened and Spartans and ODST's emerged from their drop pods. Spartans were centred with Grant's while the ODST's were scattered around and wrecked havoc behind enemy lines. The Oregonians were in awe as they saw the Spartans pierce through enemy lines with ease. They truly believed that God had sent an angel from the heavens to save them. Rallying on the Spartans, Grant charged with his soldiers and were able to win the day. Through the destroyed city they eliminated every Velutarian soldier. After the battle new hardware arrived from the Support Dreadnoughts and new factories were put on the ground. With this new hardware Grant was able to create a new foothold with the new shield generator. Morale was at an all time high and it was now time to push the Velutarians off their planet.
 

With the new supplies Grant was able to push the Velutarians back over the course of 8 years as the Velutarians still were able to hold them off. The Velutarians would also selectively glass parts of the planet. Grant was caught on the fringes of such an attack and suffered heavy radiation damage, rendering him body hairless ever since. Eventually in 1998 new reinforcements arrived and the Velutarians were overwhelmed. Grant would be praised by many, both high and low, for his achievement. Regent MacArthur was so impressed by it, that he wanted Grant to command the ground forces to invade Velutaria itself. In 1600 PD he would do just that, through the use of drop pods Velutarians were thrown off balance after a series of bombardments. Grant's efforts proved effective and within a week he would have completed the designated parameters. The Velutarian government had surrendered thanks to his efforts, however the Velutarian people continued to harass his forces for days after the surrender. He told Command that if this went on for weeks, he feared it would become a year long campaign against guerrilla forces. Command, now lead by the young King Andrei, decided to bombard the planet. All forces retreated from the planet and watched the Butchering fall the Velutarian civilization asunder. Claimed by many as a true Stoinian Hero, he became a well known General and was even promoted to the rank of Grand Marshal. During the rebuilding efforts on his homeworld he would find his last lost son in a room full of suspended Terran-Robotic hybrids which was found a year after the war. Fortunately the kill algorithms were bypassed and Grant built a clinic to help rehabilitate victims from Velutarian experimentation. For this reason he refrained from public life compared to other grand Admirals, he saw that he still had one job left. The King even offered him the Lordhood over Oregon, but he refused as he didn't want to take the glory for himself, instead he recommended his second in command Donald Williams, though eh also refused it.
 
1st Mardakii Crusade
A respected member of the War Council by now, Grant's voice weighed heavily and was considered the first amongst the Grand Marshals. He was even considered to be the new Strategos when MacArthur abdicated, but because of his old age it was decided it should go to Grand Admiral Hague as much intensive work still nedded to be done. Grant would once again answer the call of duty when the King called for a Crusade against the Mardakii, here he would oversee all major ground operations against them. Due to his old age he was unable to join his troops on the front and refrained from personally killing Mardakii. Instead giving the honours to younger and eager officers like High Admiral Chekov on Oporon and the final battle at  Bogo Rai.
During the battle of Jamiron he would find a new respect for the Cheunh as he worked together with High Admiral Tholum. It was said that it is due to Tholum that Grant gained his openness towards xenos, though he has refused to give any comment on that. Once the Crusade was over, he wouldn't join the military parades and instead focus on advancements to remove cybernetics and synthetic organ growth to heal the victims of the Velutarian War. 

Personality
Reserved man is often used to describe Grant. He sees himself as an old dog who should let newer members of the military take charge as he has moulded them for long enough. He has seen all the bad parts of the Velutarian War, his planet rendered helpless, a fearful people, lost his family members through barbaric acts and who still suffer from it, scarred for life both physically and mentally. He is the embodiment of the old Stoinian grandfather that fought in the war and never gave up, but this came at a heavy cost. It is for that reason that doesn't preach for open war anymore, though he barely speaks in public anymore. Many see him as a hero, but instead he always plays down those claims and tells to instead focus on his soldiers as they did the actual fighting. Commanding many young soldiers to their death has left Grant somewhat cynical and finds it more and more difficult to enjoy the simple things of life.
Because of what the Velutarians have done with his son, he has a deep hatred for synthetics and robots as does any Stoinian who was faced with such Velutarian tactics. He therefor is a strong proponent to ban any further development of robotics and any sort of AI. He can be expected to ignore synthetic lifeforms, by the use of cybernetics or nanobots, he has come to view them as soulless creations which change the God given Terran form. When faced with synthetic and cybernetic xenos however, he might not show his disgust so openly and will initially ignore them as he doesn't like to create a scene and attract attention.