Kidlat Kuchta

Third child of Emperor Kythran Carroll and Daved Kuchta. Kidlat, like his siblings, was raised primarily by his father and the extreme members of the Bubs party, which favored all-out war with the Patalanian Union.

Kidlat was particularly beloved by his sister Marilag, two years his senior.

Kidlat was a precocious child, with a quick intellect and an equally-quick temper. He was six years old when his mother took the Throne in 459; at once he began skillfully to play the various adults in his life against one another. Of the three siblings, Kidlat was the only one who betrayed any fondness for Kythran; such fondness, however, quickly waxed and waned according to how young Kidlat wanted to manipulate other adults.

In 467, when he was 13, Kidlat's mother died and his older brother Jonn succeeded to the Throne. Historians are now of the opinion that Kidlat himself was responsible for Kythran's death. Kythran had been taking steps to have Jonn disinherited in favor of Chen of Chen; if her plans had gone through, Kidlat would have lost whatever chance he had to inherit the Throne. Only months after Jonn's ascension, Kidlat took and passed his adulthood tests.

During Jonn's reign, Kidlat remained a firm supporter of his brother's rule -- outwardly. In fact, Kidlat maintained an extensive set of contacts with the most radical of the Bubs, and it is now known that Kidlat played at least a minor part in the death of his brother.

Marilag, Kidlat's beloved older sister, was simply not equal to the strain of Imperial rule: after only a year on the Throne, she killed herself and Kidlat became Emperor.

At once, Kidlat executed several of the radical Bubs leaders. He sent his father on a diplomatic mission to the Patalanian Union, where Daved Kuchta was seized, tried, and executed as a spy. Then, Kidlat began reshuffling the Navy, moving fleets and ships in unpredictable patterns, making war as much on his own rebellious Idara as on the Union.

Observers were uncertain about his motives and plans. Some thought he was trying to reunite the Empire for a last massive strike against the Union; others opined that his goal was to build up the Provinces and move toward some sort of federal system that might be more efficient at carrying on the war.

Finally, in January of 471, the Imperial Council demanded that Kidlat appear before them to explain his actions, or face censure. In response, Kidlat dissolved the Council and, on 16 January 471, abdicated the Throne.

Nearly five centuries after its founding, the Terran Empire ceased to exist.

Kidlat Kuchta moved away from Laxus to the independent world of Halettia. According to news reports, he died on 6 September 2635 (TE 482), little more than a month before his 29th birthday.