Soren Gallagher

Born Catherine Lawson
Born: 2020 (United States)
Nationality: American
Ethnicity: Mixed Mongol–Japanese
Gender: Male (currently)
Affiliation: U.S. Military
Era: Active 2038–present
Status: Alive
Known For:
– Surviving the engineered destruction of his Special Forces squad
– Record-breaking SF Medic qualifications
– Silent reputation and extreme armor discipline

EARLY LIFE

2020–2038

Catherine Lawson was born in 2020 in the waning years of pre-war America. Childhood and civilian records are scarce due to wartime data loss, but she is known to have a mixed Mongol/Japanese background, with darker-toned skin and East Asian facial features, traits that later helped her ambiguous male-coded appearance.

She enlisted immediately upon turning 18 in 2038, entering active service the same year.

THROAT INJURY & IDENTITY SUPPRESSION

Late 2038

Six months into her enlistment, Catherine suffered a catastrophic neck injury during a live-fire training accident. A negligent discharge from a neighboring lane tore through her throat, destroying her voice box.

After surgery, her voice was deep, broken, unstable, and masculine. Speaking triggered emotional collapse. Fearing ostracization, harassment, or discharge, she abandoned her original identity.

Lower officers sympathetic to her situation quietly submitted altered paperwork. Catherine Lawson “died” administratively, replaced by a deliberately bland, bureaucratic male identity.

EARLY CAREER & CONCEALMENT TACTICS

2039–2040

During his first years as Soren, he relied on:

Medical justification for full-time neck wrapping and partial face covering
Compression garments under BDUs
“Graft rupture risk” to avoid exposure
Silence attributed to the throat injury
Eating with mask partially lifted, never facing anyone
Volunteers for every mission to avoid routine barracks exposure
The ABCC11 dry-earwax gene variant (naturally low body odor), preventing suspicion during long periods without undressing

Military apathy toward pain and medical oddities allowed this deception to thrive.

SELECTION FOR U.S. SPECIAL FORCES

2040–2041

Soren’s relentless mission volunteering and high endurance drew command attention. Believing him to be a promising (male) infantryman, they recommended him for Special Forces.

Sympathetic brass filed “recent exam results” to exempt him from full medical review.

He passed all physical, tactical, and psychological evaluations, entering the U.S. Special Forces pipeline in 2040 and graduating in 2041.

At the moment of graduation, lower-ranking officers disclosed Soren’s biological sex to High Command. Instead of removing him, they classified the information and used it to coerce him into high-risk assignments.

BLACK OPERATIONS & COERCION

2041–2043

For roughly two to three years, Soren was assigned:

Suicide-designated infiltration missions
Covert sabotage
High-value retrieval
Wetwork with no operational safety net

The threat of exposure ensured compliance. Soren survived them all through dissociation, precision, and extraordinary endurance.

TRANSITION TO SPECIAL FORCES MEDIC

2043–2044

Seeking escape from black ops, Soren volunteered for the Special Forces Medic qualification. Command let him attempt it out of mockery, expecting failure.

Instead, he broke multiple all-time medical program records in trauma retention, field surgery, endurance, and live rescue scenarios.

The SF Medical Division clashed violently with High Command over his assignment. The medical side won. Soren formally transitioned to the role of Special Forces Combat Medic in 2044.

SEVEN-YEAR SQUAD TENURE

2044–2051

Soren served on a stable Special Forces team for 7 years. This was his only extended period of relative stability.

In 2051, High Command attempted to reclaim him by forcing his squad into a sabotaged mission designed to fail.

Only Soren survived. He abandoned rescue attempts to complete the objective, as conditioned by black ops doctrine.

The sabotage scandal resulted in several High Command resignations.

ASSIGNMENT TO LONG-TERM SQUAD

2051–2055

After the scandal, Soren was reassigned to a new Special Operations squad. Over the next four years, he became a silent, mythic presence, never removing his armor, always carrying disproportionate weight.

RED’S NUCLEAR STRIKES & THE COLLAPSE

2055–2057

When Red launched the nuclear strike on North Korea in 2055, Soren had 17 years of service.

He had already completed his entire U.S. military career and both SF phases before this event.

As the global chain reaction unfolded (Scorched Earth, collapse of national governments, destruction of major capitals) Soren continued fighting with no command structure left.

His dissociation prevented introspection: the identity of Catherine was gone. Soren believed himself fully male, fully dissociating and subconsciously ignoring any anatomical differences. Dissociative amnesia sealed the identity overwrite.

POST-COLLAPSE TRAVEL THROUGH THE RUINS

2057–2068

For over a decade, Soren traveled through the lawless remains of the United States. Raiders dominated the cities; wilderness remained the only safe zone.

His survival was uneventful externally but psychologically destructive: no squad noise, no familiar rhythms, no comrades. For someone who lived surrounded by teams for nearly 20 years, the silence was unbearable.

He hid his body obsessively. Not out of dysphoria, but behaving as if hiding Catherine’s corpse.

EARLY SIGMA CITY & FOUNDING CONTRIBUTIONS

c. 2070s–2080s

Upon reaching the region that would become Sigma City, Soren became one of its early combat and logistics pillars:

Designed layered defensive doctrine
Trained early SCDF medics and operators
Established raider deterrence routes
Shaped internal medical & tactical policies
Served as a high-value field operator during early instability

He is not listed publicly as a founder, but internally he is recognized as a primary stabilizer of the early city-state.

Zoey's Blog

Character Profile - Soren Gallagher