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Kzinbane was destined from birth to lead Lyran forces against their ancestral enemies, the Kzinti. Though he was born to nobility, and holds the title of Baron, he came by his status as a great leader through hard work and a tenacity in battle unequaled among his peers. His parents, who governed a Duchy near the Kzinti border, had litter after litter of female offspring. The Baron was contemplating an affair with a serving wench in hopes of fathering a son or two when the Baroness announced her final pregnancy. They were shortly rewarded with yet another litter of mewling she-kittens -- save one lone male. Dubbed Kzinbane in honor of his parents’ unmatched hatred for their enemies, his father had only the highest expectations for his lone male heir. Kzinbane’s earliest memories are of ripping the stuffing out of a Kzinti doll, only to be dejected to find no bloody entrails upon which to feast. As he grew, he embraced his father’s teachings in the arts of war and leadership.
His coming-of-age was the result of a Kzinti raid on a Lyran supply convoy. Kzinbane’s father was teaching his young heir the subtle nuances of the Expanding Sphere Generator aboard the command cruiser Kzindeath (the Baron’s creativity in coming up with names was rather shallow) when they received the convoy’s distress call. When they arrived, only one freighter remained. It was engaged in a futile attempt to outrun a swarm of Kzinti drones. The Baron instructed his helmsman to intercept the swarm with full power to the ESG fields. Knowing that several missiles would still get through, the Baron knew his ship would need to absorb the impacts if the freighter had any chance of survival. His only regret was that his son might never reach his full potential and take his rightful place among the leaders of their noble race.
Kzinbane realized what was about to happen, and took over weapons control from the officer on duty. As the swarm approached, he transported space mines into the path of the drones and set the ESGs to their tightest radius. After the first two waves were destroyed by the mines, he manually targeted and destroyed 14 drones with phasers and disruptors. The remaining missiles hit the ESG fields and were either destroyed or held in place by defensive tractors -- except for one. The final drone struck the Kzindeath’s forward shield, already weakened by the proximity of the mine detonations. While the freighter began to warp out of harm’s way, the pursuing Kzinti cruiser launched another swarm toward the Kzindeath. Defenseless, the Baron attempted to execute a high-energy turn to place a stronger shield in the path of the salvo while trying to power up engines for a strategic retreat. Though the maneuver was successful, some drones penetrated the shields and hull to damage the engines. The Kzindeath was powerless to fend off any further attacks.
Kzinbane sized up the situation in an instant, and initiated a site-to-site transport to the shuttle bay. He quickly fired up a shuttle that had been on stand-by alert, and launched into the path of a fresh wave of drones. By setting the shuttle’s engines to mimic the Kzindeath’s energy signature, he was able to confuse the incoming drones’ seeking systems into locking onto the shuttle. Just before impact, he managed to transport back to the Kzindeath’s shuttle bay, from which he witnessed the explosion as the shuttle was engulfed. However, the Kzinti cruiser was now closing into phaser range. As a volley of phaser fire lanced out toward the Kzindeath, two Lyran cruisers dropped out of warp. Though the command cruiser rocked with the hull explosions caused by the phaser fire, it remained intact while the reinforcements chased off the drone-depleted Kzinti cruiser.
Elated with his triumph, Kzinbane returned to the bridge, expecting to find his father’s fangs gleaming in a congratulatory smile. When he arrived, the scene was anything but what he had envisioned. A drone casing had embedded itself into the hull, piercing through the bridge into the deck underneath. Several Lyran officers lay wounded by shrapnel as medics tended to their injuries. His father was not among them. One of the doctors quickly explained that one drone had ignored the shuttle, but had failed to detonate upon impact.
Frantically, Kzinbane searched the wreckage for any sign of the Baron, still trusting his father would have found a way to escape victorious. A glint of gold caught his eye from a pile of hull remnants. As he neared it, he realized the gold was his father’s signet ring, bearing the family crest. A limp and bloody paw stuck out from under the heap. When Kzinbane and other crewmen cleared the rubble, they found the Baron’s lifeless body.
Since that day, Baron Kzinbane has risen to a position of honor among the Lyran people. As his reputation grew, he helped to found the Golden Pride Fleet, to which only the cream of the Lyran military receive invitations (those who seek membership and are deemed unworthy receive large lumps of used cat litter). He dedicates all of his victories to the memory of his noble father, whose sacrifice to save a freighter crew stands as his highest model of behavior.
More recently, Kzinbane has set up a base of operations outside of normal space-time, the result of spatial rift discovered by Lyran scientists near the Baron’s territory (exact location classified). From this spot he is able to freely enter various planes of reality at will. He has also captained Klingon vessels as part of an officer exchange program with the Imperial Klingon Navy. In one recent war, Kzinbane found himself allied with the Kzinti, whom he learned to respect and even like. Breaking totally with Lyran tradition, Kzinbane has a plaque of friendship from Kzinti leader Gook on the mantle above his fireplace. Kzinbane is aware that he will likely again do battle with the mighty Kzinti and their KAT fleet, but will do so with new appreciation and respect. Never again will he fight them with hatred and loathing.
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Kzinbane has been acknowledged as a master without equal in the use of the ESG. His devastating Onion Maneuver is legendary in its destructive efficiency. Any captain cursed with the misfortune of facing Kzinbane while he commands a battlecruiser armed with four ESGs might as well surrender at the first opportunity. Aside from the incredible power of the ESG, Kzinbane is enamored of phasers for their precision in delivering his message to enemies: "This is my turf -- enter it and suffer the consequences!" Despite the fact that many Lyrans have learned the Sabre Dance from their longtime allies, the Klingons, Kzinbane prefers to use disruptors sparingly, if at all. His need for speed finds him occasionally captaining smaller, more nimble ships, including escort cruisers and war destroyers. On occasion, he has been known to take a Military Police Ship out for a spin; enemies who encounter Kzinbane in such a small vessel would be wise not to overestimate their chances against this master of Lyran weaponry and tactics.
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