Operator story: Hoederer
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Hoederer is a Sarkaz mercenary who was active during the most recent civil war in Kazdel, working alongside W and Ines as a second lieutenant. His loyalty to the former Sarkaz King Theresa led to his service in Babel; after its fall, he was absorbed into the Military Commission of Kazdel. Under the Regent's order, he led his mercenaries to join the newly-formed Reunion Movement. So far, most of his past remains unknown other than the fact that he has a family whose fate remains uncertain.
Hoederer first appeared in Darknights Memoir before being introduced as an Operator with the release of Episode 13.
Plot
Darknight's Memoir
After Hoederer reports to Ines that their ally W was killed on the battlefield, the pair decide to leave his corpse behind. Before they depart, Ines senses a Sarkaz girl with red horns approaching them. The girl reveals herself to them with the gun and knife of W. Hoederer tells Ines that he wants to give the girl a chance, and asks to be left alone with her. Ines reluctantly agrees, giving him ten minutes before she would return to deal with any possible corpse. Now alone with the girl, Hoederer orders her to drop the weapons, but she refuses, stating that he would kill her the moment she turned and noting that his hand had been on the hilt of his sword the entire time. Impressed by her battle sense and unique character, Hoederer decides to welcome her as the new "W".[1]
Several months later, during a mission to fend off some mercenaries, Hoederer and the new W are chatting about the merc's bounty system and he mentions the previous W, leading to Hoederer telling W about her predecessor's past. W was with Hoederer's team for a long time, and worked hard to become the team's leader just to celebrate a self-appointed birthday: the day he took a gun from a Lateran he killed. He had a devil-may-care laugh, spoke like a schemer, and had an "obsession" that made him quicker to trust others than anyone else, with Hoederer noting that obsessed people "always fall into traps." W concludes that the old W was "a dumbass," but Hoederer states he expected her to come to that conclusion because she's the same type as the old W: good at putting on airs and good at living in the moment. Hoederer muses that her smile is the first one he's ever seen from her, and its resemblance to the previous W's smile makes him confident that W will someday become "a mercenary who could cleave a path forward".[2]
Later on, he's contracted by Babel to escort a "giant object." He has W and Ines lead a squad along the journey.[3] However, W and Ines's squad meets an ambush and both are severely injured in the fight. Luckily, Theresa's arrival saves their lives. After finding respite onboard the Rhodes Island landship, Hoederer remarks that he did not expect the King to be Babel's commander. He also thanks Kal'tsit for saving their lives.[4]
After serving for Babel for another few years, both Ines and Hoederer decide to leave, leaving W behind to stay. Although their contract had already expired, both Ines and Hoederer continue their cooperation with Babel as an act of their loyalty to the King,[5] lasting until the sudden fall of Babel in the year 1094.
Hoederer receives an order from Regent Theresis to lead his mercenaries and join the newly-formed Reunion Movement in Ursus. He also gets a chance to reunite with W, whose personality had completely changed for the worse.[6] During the Chernobog incident, he's also responsible for killing Scout who tries to run toward the core city.[7] Over time, Hoederer became disillusioned with Reunion and its lack of transparency, commenting that its rapidly unexpected change in goals without explanation was abnormal. His presumption is proven correct when Ines "sees" a second shadow inside Talulah, leading Talulah to send Reunion soldiers after her.
Before he leaves Reunion to head for Londinium, Victoria, with the Regent's Messengers, Hoederer informs W about Ines' "death" as well as her warning. He also orders W to stay back, as the leader for the Sarkaz mercenaries. Finally, he kills the Reunion soldier who was responsible for Ines' "death."[8]
Still, everything in Victoria is beyond Hoederer's expectation. From the words of Qui'sartuštaj, he discovers that Theresis was also secretly manipulating Reunion (alongside Kashchey). At the same time, the Regent punishes Hoederer by placing him under house arrest; despite this, he keeps in contact with W via his Sarkaz Messenger.[9]
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