Species: Human
Affiliation: Dasarius Interstellar
Known For: Supervisor on Dasarius Interstellar’s Aphrodite infrastructure project; early professional mentor to Suicide
Gerard Kurz served as a supervisor on the Dasarius Interstellar infrastructure expansion project on Aphrodite, during the early stages of the company’s attempt to rebuild the war-torn planet’s cities and transportation systems.
In 421 IE, Gerard Kurz served as Suicide’s immediate superior when she began working as a civilian pilot under Dasarius Interstellar’s stabilization initiative on Aphrodite. A charismatic figure with a background in logistics and security consulting, Kurz initially presented himself as a reformer—someone committed to restoring order through careful resource allocation and intercommunal diplomacy. He was the first to orient Suicide into her new role, walking her through cargo manifests, political no-fly zones, and the unspoken rules of a planet already slipping into chaos. Though their early working relationship was marked by a mutual respect, Suicide quickly began to suspect that Kurz’s ideological leanings went beyond pragmatism. Beneath the professional demeanor, he nursed a vision of Aphrodite forged through a perverted strain of Cubism—one that justified centralized control, ideological purification, and the violent reshaping of society under a singular will.
As the years wore on and Aphrodite’s conflicts deepened, Kurz shed all pretense of moderation. His rhetoric turned militant, and his network of sympathizers grew. Suicide, having long since severed ties with him, came to view him as a dangerous fanatic—one whose hands were never clean, even in the early days. By the time of the Sanctuary massacre, the fingerprints of Kurz’s movement were everywhere, even as he avoided direct accountability. Following Priya’s death in a bombing many believed orchestrated by Kurz’s followers, Suicide left the planet. Kurz remained behind, consolidating power through fear and manipulation until 434 IE, when his attempted deployment of several mass-casualty weapons forced the core worlds of the Helios System to intervene militarily. His failure not only ended his ambitions but marked the final turning point in Aphrodite’s descent—and its forced return to order.
Radicalization and Break from Dasarius
Following the failure of Dasarius’s Aphrodite initiative and the planet’s continued descent into civil strife, Kurz withdrew from public life. Unlike the broader Helios System—which remained stable under the leadership of core worlds Tian, Ares, and Demeter—Aphrodite had become a long-standing “dumpster fire” of unresolved sleeper ship claims, violent uprisings, and ideological fragmentation.
It was within this climate that Kurz turned to radical Cubism, a warped interpretation of Frederick Ansel’s spiritual philosophy. Embracing entropy not as something to resist but to hasten, Kurz declared that the Compact and its systems were obstacles to transcendence. He took over Ansel’s compound on Mt. Buxanshal, attracting followers who saw destruction as a form of spiritual awakening.
Kurz’s rhetoric blended spiritual nihilism with revolutionary fervor, turning his compound into a training ground for domestic terrorism. While Ansel continued to preach moderation and introspection, Kurz twisted Cubism into a militant ideology, one that justified death as both liberation and sacrifice.
Capture of Suicide and Death
In 434 IE, during an investigation gone wrong, Suicide was taken captive by Kurz. He held her at his jungle encampment, attempting to convert her to his cause by invoking shared trauma and disillusionment. Suicide, unimpressed by his dogma and disturbed by his delusions, played along just long enough for Mitsuko Yamato and a joint strike team to mount a rescue.
Kurz was killed during the final confrontation on Mt. Buxanshal when he attacked Mitsuko as she disarmed a bomb planted in a nearby lake. The detonator—accidentally triggered during the struggle—exploded, killing Kurz instantly.
Aftermath and Legacy
Kurz’s death marked a turning point for Aphrodite. The chaos he unleashed prompted the core worlds of the Helios System—Tian, Ares, Demeter, and the colonies orbiting Zeus—to form a joint military protectorate over the planet. The deployment of Compact forces, supported by regional allies, brought Aphrodite under stable rule for the first time in generations. Ironically, it was Kurz’s extremism that galvanized the system’s leadership into restoring law and order.
His former retreat on Mt. Buxanshal was later reclaimed by Frederick Ansel and repurposed as a spiritual sanctuary. Kurz himself is remembered as a tragic and dangerous figure: once a competent leader and early influence on Suicide, ultimately consumed by his own warped ideology. His legacy is a cautionary tale about the seductive power of radical belief in times of personal disillusionment.
Appearances: Suicide Run, Royal Orders, Suicide Gambit