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Max Zander was a marine in the Confederate Marine Corps. He was a short but strong hollow-faced man who knew his way around a truck engine.
During the Guild Wars he was assigned to the First Squad of the Special Tactics and Mission Platoon, 321st Colonial Rangers Battalion.
He used a man-portable grenade launcher and would often carry ten grenades over his authorized loadout, something a larger man couldn't get away with.
Biography
Max Zander grew up in a slum, leaving him somewhat ashamed and self-conscious about his origins.
Confederate Marine
Newly-graduate private Max Zander was transported by truck from Boro Airbase to Fort Howe. On the way, he made friends with fellow marine Hank Harnack. They played dice.
Near Firebase Zulu, the convoy was attacked by Kel-Morian Hellhounds. Two of the trucks were destroyed, and a third damaged, although Confederate casualties were low. Corporal Hawkes, one of the drivers, tried to rearrange the unit, and asked if anyone knew how to repair a truck. Zander, who had such knowledge, volunteered. Meanwhile, the new Confederate marines were cut off from the firebase by Kel-Morian infantry and armored vehicles.
Private Jim Raynor found himself in a leadership role, and he assigned Zander, along with Ryk Kydd (a sniper) and Harnack to find a path to the firebase. They were successful. Zander and Kydd then moved toward a farmhouse which could make a good sniper's post. Zander decided to watch Kydd's back, entering the farmhouse first and killing a Kel-Morian observer within. He listened to the Kel-Morian's comm unit as Kydd used his position to snipe the enemy. The Confederates eventually threw the Kel-Morians back, and Raynor was swiftly promoted to lance corporal for bravery.
Having made it to Fort Howe, Zander got his hands on a single-shot grenade launcher.
A Guilty Conscience
Sergeant Tychus Findlay was put in charge of the squad, and he sought out their barracks, having a score to settle with Raynor and Harnack. Before he could abuse his position, an announcement came over the PA system, telling them the Kel-Morians had attacked the base, which was nearly empty due to military strategy. Findlay ordered them to put on chest protectors, while Raynor suggested rushing to the armory.
On the way, they encountered a troop of Kel-Morian armored rippers. Harnack set one on fire with his flamethrower, and Zander followed up by dropping a series of grenades into the blaze, causing a spectacular explosion.
At the armory itself, they found suspicious Confederate marines loading trucks. During the battle, Harnack set more Kel-Morian troops on fire, and Zander put them out of their misery with his grenades. Findlay abruptly ordered the trucks to be hijacked, taking them out to Whitford, a town emptied by war, where their loot was stored until he could arrange for a sale. They had unwittingly angered Colonel Javier Vanderspool, who had stood to benefit from the scheme.
Findlay's squad, including Zander, were assigned to Lieutenant Marcus Quigby's Special Tactics and Missions Platoon. They were introduced to Hiram Feek, a four-foot-tall civilian technician, and inventor of the experimental CMC-230 Thunderstrike armor. It was capable of controlled jumps and drops from dropships. In addition, the platoon met Petty Officer Lisa Cassidy, a medic ... and spy for a suspicious Colonel Vanderspool.
While on leave, the squad arranged to sell the truck's loot to a buyer. Immediately afterward they were ambushed by hijackers, but fought them off. With his share of the loot, Private Zander bought food and intended to give it away to war refugees. He took Feek and Private Connor Ward with him as security. They were stopped at a "Confederate checkpoint" which was in fact operated by Silas Trask and his gang of bandits. Zander and Ward were captured, but Feek managed to escape.
They were stored in a pit in a barn until Trask learned that Jim Raynor and Tychus Findlay were looking for them. Then he had them moved to the farmhouse. Zander made little effort to hide his antipathy for the bandits, and thus suffered physical abuse. They were tied to chairs, and with nothing else to do, he and Ward conversed. Zander apologized for the mess, but Ward admitted to seeking death since the Kel-Morians killed his family, blaming himself for their deaths. He was only sorry he didn't get to kill more Kel-Morians. The conversation was interrupted by Hiram Feek, who blasted through the roof and set about rescuing them.
Findlay was angry at him for drawing attention to himself that way, but Zander still gave away the food.
War Heroes
Colonel Vanderspool had a new task for the STM platoon. They were to attack Kel-Morian Internment Camp-36 and free the POWs there. To do so, they would have to drop onto three heavily-defended hills around the camp, which meant they needed to undergo training. Findlay was put in charge of this, as Quigby had been embarrassed into transferring elsewhere.
As the date for the attack drew near, Jim Raynor, who despite his low rank acted as Findlay's unofficial second-in-command, decided to infiltrate the base early and warn the POWs of the rescue. Findlay chose Zander as his new second, since Hank Harnack was too impulsive and Connor Ward suicidal.
The STM platoon dropped onto the internment camp. They discovered Raynor being tortured and freed him. They moved to the camp's factory to steal Kel-Morian vehicles for the POWs. However, they were confronted by a saber command car driven Taskmaster Lumley and carrying the Kel-Morian overseer, Hanz Brucker. Raynor slew Lumley, while Zander shot Brucker in the leg, forcing his surrender. However, Brucker died of a heart attack under suspicious circumstances.
The platoon was attacked by Hellhounds and the Snakehead Kommando, a vehicle-mounted force, on their way back, and half their members were lost before the Confederates were able to rescue them. As a result of the victory, they gained the sobriquet Heaven's Devils.
The platoon was introduced to a new leader, Lieutenant Samantha Sanchez. She took the platoon to the south of Polk's Pride, a city divided between the Kel-Morian Combine and the Terran Confederacy. The north, which the Kel-Morians controlled, was home to a strategic resources repository. The south was split from the north by the Paddick River, which Sanchez pointed out was largely responsible for two previously failed Confederate assaults.
Colonel Vanderspool explained the situation: the STM platoon would be accompanied by strangely obedient marines who would storm the north using his secret plan – goliaths would ferry across sections of pontoon bridge, giving the Confederates a safe but narrow route across the river. The STM platoon was one of the first units across the river.
The picture of First Squad, taken after the victory at Polk's Pride
The combination of STM platoon and fanatical marines took the north of the city, but at high cost. Vanderspool arrived at the end to claim the battle's credit. Meanwhile, the victorious STM platoon, missing Lt. Sanchez, who had died in combat, had a picture taken by UNN reporter Max Speer. Zander lit his cigar off of Harnack's flamethrower.
Betrayal: A Needle in the Dark
Following their victory, Findlay's squad got a little leave. Zander, with nothing better to do, went with Ryk Kydd for some fine dining in the town of Darby.
Zander, conscious of his lower-class origins, was a little nervous of "using the wrong fork" but Kydd reassured him that, as a Heaven's Devil, it didn't matter. At the restaurant, Kydd was shocked to see Colonel Vanderspool there with Errol Bennet... an Old Family tycoon and his real father, along with an unidentified man. Kydd was upset that his father was spending time with Vanderspool – a known thief – although Zander was quick to point out they had also committed theft.
The two soldiers followed the suspicious men to a meeting. Kydd planned on entering the building their enemies were meeting in, but Zander insisted on acting as backup. They overheard their plotting: the unidentified man, Aaron Pax, a Kel-Morian overseer. The three men proposed a robbery of a Kel-Morian train, which was carrying an incredible amount of ardeon crystals through Korsy. Vanderspool's men would rob the Kel-Morians while the Confederacy's air power would keep the Kel-Morian fleet away for some time. Then, Bennet Industries would transport the cargo away. The Special Tactics and Missions Platoon would take place in the attack, but Vanderspool had a method for eliminating them. The three proposed to evenly split the loot. However, Vanderspool made Bennet another offer – he would tell him the location of his son for half his share. Bennet refused, disowning his son. Kydd was shocked and tried to cry out, forcing Zander to shut him up. Kydd suffered an injury as a result.
Kydd and Zander took the story to Tychus Findlay, who had been enjoying private time with his girlfriend, Petty Officer Lisa Cassidy. Findlay suggested interfering with the plan and making off with the loot themselves. However, Cassidy quickly took the information to Colonel Vanderspool in exchange for more drugs.
Colonel Vanderspool brought along a team of neurally resocialized men led by Lieutenant Fitz. The colonel's plan was to disguise his men as Kel-Morians and take over the starport of the Kel-Morian-controlled settlement of Korsy, which was filled with Confederate civilians controlled by heavily armed Kel-Morian troops. When Vanderspool headed to the train station the crystals were passing through, the STM platoon would sweep the west edge of the town. Findlay, whose troops were also disguised as Kel-Morians, took the opportunity to take control of their dropships without Vanderspool's knowledge. Zander, meanwhile, only used a gauss rifle, instead of his grenade launcher.
Findlay's troops easily dealt with unarmored Kel-Morian soldiers guarding terrified Confederate civilians who had been forced into slave labor. At one point, they defeated a small force of Kel-Morians, and one of them fled into a building. Zander and Ward entered, discovering a pair of civilian women. One of them told Zander it was a daycare. Zander sent them away so he could kill the soldier. Ward followed as backup. Zander found the soldier holding a child hostage. The soldier shot Zander in his armored chest to no effect. Zander shot him in the leg and rescued the child. Ward stopped the screaming by kicking the soldier in the head. Meanwhile Zander went to hide the children; he had grown up in a slum and knew how to move them. Ward told him to hurry and catch up with the rest of the unit.
Findlay's troops linked up with Vanderspool at the train station, where Lt. Fitz ominously ordered them to stand in the front of the platform. When the train stopped, Overseer Aaron Pax was there with ripper guards, armed with short-ranged weapons. It was a double cross.
The Confederates fended off the Kel-Morians, but the train escaped. A furious Vanderspool turned on the Heaven's Devils, but they managed to flee, stealing a number of saber combat vehicles as they did so. However, during the flight back to the starport, as they were pursued by enemy forces, Zander noticed one of the women from the daycare wandering into the zone of fire. He stopped his vehicle to get out and dragged her off the street. As he directed her to safety, Vanderspool and his troops rounded the corner and spotted him. Vanderspoool shot him twice with a needle-gun, killing him, then shot him again for good measure.
References
Dietz, William C. (April 6, 2010). StarCraft II: Heaven's Devils. Simon & Schuster (Gallery Books). ISBN 978-1-4165-5084-6