Garrett Caldwell is an American Royal, and one of the secret Kings of the Four Legendary Kingdoms, the King of Sea.
History[]
Early History[]
Garrett Caldwell was born as a royal. He eventually became a member of the Kingdom of Sea that included his American homeland, as part of the ancient group known as the Four Legendary Kingdoms. Because of his membership in the Four Kingdoms, Garrett was taught about the true history of mankind, as well as learning of the five trials set by super-ancient beings to test humanity.
Following his predecessor's death, Caldwell became the new King of the Kingdom of Sea. Publicly, Caldwell was seen as the patriarch and leader of the Caldwell Group, the front the Sea Kingdom used and which followed Freemasonry.
Prior to 1990, Caldwell and the Caldwell Group played a role in the founding of a new military force, the Commander-in-Chief's In Extremis Force, for the United States military to undertake special operations, ostensibly intended to operate on the direct orders of the President of the United States, but in fact answered to the King of Sea.
Towards the 21st century, Caldwell and other members of the Kingdom of Sea used their agents in the CIEF to undergo a mission led by Colonel Marshall Judah to restore the Golden Capstone for the first trial of the Tartarus sunspot. However, since there could be a reward for the nation that completed the trial, 1000 years of absolute power, the Kingdom of Land used their own agents in the Catholic Church to oppose the Kingdom of Sea for that power. Ultimately, Judah failed and the power was inadvertently granted to Australia.
After the Capstone's restoration, the CIEF was shut down by the President. However, many of its leading members continued to operate, as the Caldwell Group utilised their many connections with other the other American military forces to keep it running in secret. Soon afterwards, Caldwell once again had his own agents working on restoring the Machine to complete the second trial, the Return of the Dark Star, this time with Wolf leading the CIEF to locate the necessary components and knowledge. While the Kingdom of Sky didn't attempt to take part, China, looking to usurp the Sky Kingdom, allied with the Caldwell's CIEF to locate the necessary components and knowledge. Once again, however, the Sea King's agents failed in their mission.
While it is unconfirmed, Wolf's failure apparently led Caldwell to give up on the CIEF and had the Caldwell Group cease attempts to keep the organisation running.
In 2016, the Star Chamber within the Underworld opened, allowing the nine Golden Spheres to be retrieved. As this heralded the third trial, the Diverting of the Hydra Galaxy, Hades alerted the other Kingdoms of the development, with the fourth Great Games of the Hydra set to begin within the next month. Having been anticipating that the Chamber would open for nearly twenty years, Caldwell selected the reputable U.S. soldiers he wished to have participate in the Games on his behalf; Barrett Johnson, Jeffrey Edwards, DeShawn Monroe and Shane Schofield (the latter being a coerced participant).
Jack West Jr and the Chinese Splashdown[]
A few days before the Great Games were set to begin, having learned that the Kingdom of Sky had used its agents in the Chinese military and space administration to orchestrate a secret mission to send a lunar rover the moon, in order to examine an altar on the moon crucial to the Trial of the Mountains, Caldwell and the Kingdom of Sea began preparations to take the data the rover recorded following its splashdown into the Indian Ocean.
Whilst Caldwell himself waited at Diego Garcia, a squad of loyal Navy SEALs led by Vulture Six set off in an aerosub near the site of the impending splashdown. After the Chinese commandos aboard the Wuhan-II confirmed that they had retrieved the rover's rangefinder and camera, Vulture Six's team moved in and ambushed them. Once they had taken the rover's equipment and killed the commandos, the SEALs scuttled the Wuhan-II and headed back to Diego Garica to present their acquisition to Caldwell.
While en-route, however, a gull wing-equipped Jack West Jr intercepted the aerosub and knocked out the SEALs before taking the camera and lander himself, and once the aerosub returned to Diego Garcia, Caldwell and his agents found that the only things left inside were the groggy SEAL troopers.
The Four Legendary Kingdoms[]
Caldwell was present with many other members of the Four Kingdoms to watch the fourth Great Games of the Hydra, and made a wager with Orlando Compton-Jones regarding the two Brazilian special forces soldiers whom had been poached from his Kingdom's territory to participate on behalf of the Kingdom of Land. Caldwell proceeded to watch the various struggles of the Champions as they progressed through the first four Challenges.
Before the Fifth Challenge, Caldwell attended the lunch hosted by Hades, dining with his Champions who had survived thus far (Edwards, Monroe and Schofield). When it was over, Caldwell surreptitiously gave Schofield (and presumably his other two Champions) a syringe containing a hyper-oxygenated blood additive, in order to give him an advantage in the subsequent Challenges if he needed it.
After the Fifth Challenge was over, Caldwell went with the rest of the procession to the Summit Temple to watch as the first five Golden Spheres were set into place within the mountain's obelisk. Before proceeding to the observatory to observe the remaining Challenges, Hades announced on Caldwell's behalf the decision to promote his long-serving Master of Coin, John Marren, to the rank of Duke.
Caldwell watched the final Challenges as they took place in the observatory, in which his remaining two Champions (Edwards and Schofield) both perished, leaving the Great Games to be won by Jack West Jr, though Caldwell nodded in approval to Jack's show of humility to secure victory in the final Challenge, and congratulated Orlando for his Champion's victory.
Caldwell and the rest of the Royals soon went back to the Summit Temple in order to watch Orlando receive the Mysteries while the Hydra galaxy was diverted. However, when the minotaurs suddenly turned against the Four Kingdoms, Caldwell and the other Royals quickly fled down to the helipad in order to try and escape. Though the minotaurs had only wanted Dion and Zaitan, when Caldwell and the other Kings' guards opened fire on them, the minotaurs began attacking all the Royals indiscriminately, and Caldwell was killed in the ensuing carnage.
After Death[]
Following Caldwell's death in the Underworld, a successor for the title of King of Sea was soon found in the next in line of succession, which was Caldwell's own son. (The Three Secret Cities)
Personality[]
Like the other members of the Four Legendary Kingdoms, Caldwell displays signs of arrogance and disregard for those beneath his exalted status, all while giving the appearance of being gracious and refined. He is also willing to bend the rules to get what he wants, as demonstrated when he gave his remaining Champions a hyper-oxygenated blood additive to increase their chances.
Skills[]
- Ancient Knowledge: As a high-ranking royal in the Four Legendary Kingdoms, Caldwell has been taught many things regarding the true history of mankind.
Assets[]
- Kingdom of Sea Territory: One of the four long-lasting kingdoms of royalty that have existed in secret since the earliest ages of mankind, which Caldwell took control of upon inheriting the throne.
- Caldwell Group: A front organisation for the Kingdom of Sea which was believed to instead represent the Freemasons in the U.S., which Caldwell used to create the CIEF.
- Commander-in-Chief's In Extremis Force: A military organisation that the Caldwell Group funded for the U.S. military under the President's direct command, which in fact answered to Caldwell in order to carry out operations to locate the Capstone pieces and undertake the Dark Star mission.
Trivia[]
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