Rigel Raine portrait, Absolon Valdez

Portrait of Absolon Valdez, from the upcoming graphic novel Rigel Raine.  Here is the bio that accompanied the release of this image on FB.

Hardened by battle, and disgraced by dishonor, Absolon has seen the best and worst of men.  Once hailed as a hero, his unmatched accolades as an Imperium Commander were tarnished by a massacre of civilians known as the Bleeding of Aris Nine.  Betrayed by his own company, he was left among the corpses of those he was supposed to have killed.

Though Raine arrived too late to stop the massacre, she recognized Absolon for the man he used to be, and saved his life.  Taking a subordinate position for the first time since his academy days, Absolon agreed to follow Raine through hell, piloting the Blood Bucket and acting as First Mate.  Not simply repaying a life debt, Absolon found in Raine a worthy commander, fierce warrior, and trusted friend.

Decades of war and colonial exploration has tempered Absolon into a tactician without equal.  His ability to visualize and read battles and enemy strategies gives him a near super-human foresight.  At Raine's side, Absolon has found a focus he never knew in his years at the helm of an Imperium Destroyer.

Though he generally keeps to himself, when he speaks he does so with the confidence and wisdom that can only be forged in the furnace of war.

"I don't live to kill.  I kill to live."  -Absolon Valdez