Commander Norten Kirkland was more than a skilled soldier and brilliant strategist, he was a war hero portrayed on several posters calling young littlings to arms and used by newspapers as the perfect example of the virtues and tenacity the Free Dominions stand for.
After the end of the Household War, Commander Kirkland decided he would not lay down arms, that he would instead stand up against the state and the High Council to ask for the complete independence of the Upper Floor.
Faced with the demands of the undine, the Symposium answered with resolution, ordering Kirkland to disband his loyal squadron and accept to the will of the State. When he refused, Norten Kirkland was declared an Enemy of the State, and when gendarmes arrived to order him to surrender, he answered by opening fire.