Gideon Nostra-Gardbaum had much to live up to the day he was born. He is the oldest grandson of Arjun Nostra, the legendary Nova Cat warrior from the mid 31st century. His parents met each other as part of the Terran resistance, where they both played prominent roles during the Blakist Jihad. Although everyone in his family became citizens of the Republic after the Jihad, they still maintained close ties with the Nova Cats and took several trips to Irece in Gideon’s youth. On one of these trips, a twelve year-old Gideon was deeply affected by the devastation wrought to the Nova Cats’ home world during the Second Combine-Dominion war.

Given his family pedigree, Gideon always knew that he was destined for service in the Republican military. It was a proud moment for his entire extended family when he was awarded a spot at the prestigious Sandhurst Military Academy on Terra, where both his grandfather and grandmother had been faculty members. He received high marks in academy. His instructors described him as an “absolute professional” and “cool as a cucumber” but also expressed some concern that these same characteristics might not endear him to those whom he was asked to lead. Nonetheless, Gideon earned a billet in the prestigious Stone’s Pride regiment. He barely had time to acclimate to his junior grade lieutenant role before he was thrust into the growing conflict later dubbed the “Capellan Crusades.” He showed quick thinking and tactical ability in the heat of battle, first on Phact and then again on Sarna. Given his impressive performance and the heavy losses inflicted on The Pride during the campaign, he found himself promoted first to company commander by the war’s end and then to battalion commander a few years later. At twenty-eight years of age, he was the youngest battalion commander in the regiment’s history.

The most life-changing event of the war for Gideon however was not his promotion nor his initiation into the carnage of total war. Rather, it was discovering his future wife. Sarina Bashar, a young mechwarrior in The Pride, was the sole survivor of a House Dai Da Chi ambush on Sarna that wiped out the rest of her lance. Wounded badly in the attack and unable to pilot a mech, she became a de facto communications and logistics director after the brigade command staff was decimated by an airstrike. In this role, she and Gideon interacted frequently and despite the tension of the time (or perhaps because of it), they were instantly attracted to one another. Sarina and Gideon were married shortly after the conclusion of the war and their first child came not long after that. Sarina stayed on as a logistics officer for the regiment.

In 3123, Gideon was recruited into the Knights of the Republic by Thaddeus Marik, with whom he had served in The Pride during the Crusades. Sarina retired from service and settled down on Shitara to raise their two children, Tess and Arjun. Gideon was home irregularly during this period as his Knight Errant duties took him all over the Republic and beyond. His promotion to Knight in 3130 meant he spent more time in Prefecture II, but he was still away from home as frequently as he was there.

While Gray Monday and its aftermath were shaking the foundations of the Inner Sphere, the Nostra-Gardbaums were facing a more personal tragedy. Months before the blackout, Sarina was diagnosed with terminal cancer. Gideon took a leave from his duties and rushed home. Within a year, she was gone and Gideon was left with two teenage children who he had barely helped to raise, amid a universe gone mad. Gathering his Knights Errant about him, he set out to right things once again. After helping to fight the Senate rebellion, he was holding back Jade Falcon incursions when the Fortress Republic order was sent out. Gideon refused to abandon the people of his Prefecture and continued to fight. It was only in 3138, after hearing rumors that Nova Cat forces were part of the Combine forces taking over Prefecture worlds, that Gideon decided he had enough. Still mourning his departed wife, with a depleted and damaged force, and with divided loyalties all around, he decided to go to the one place left he could call a home of some kind, the Nova Cat world of Irece. Most of his troops supported his decision, although there was some dissent. The official reason was a rest and refit, but the real reason was that no one quite remembered who or what they were fighting for anymore, except each other. The Nova Cats accepted Gideon and his troops with open arms. For almost three years, he would have some peace to get to know his children and properly mourn his wife. Then came the Nova Cat rebellion and it all went up in flames once again…

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