Kaufman was an International Fleet WAMRED breach team marine.[1] He was first introduced in The Swarm.
History
The Swarm
Three years after the First Formic War, Kaufman was a member of Mazer Rackham's breach team in testing WAMRED technology for use in war against the Formics. In one exercise, Kaufman was in a capsule heading for a derelict ship that was being used as a fake Formic ship. After placing his Gravity Disruptor, he took out some simulation Formics, but he was shot shortly before the end of the excercise.[1]
Afterwards, the breach team began developing ideas for a shield to be used in combat against the Formic doilies. Kaufman knew that a riot shield based off of steel would not work, and he shot down Rimas' proposals based on that. However, the team started developing an shield concept based off the Nan-Ooze nanomachine technology.[1]
Later that evening, news came from the Hegemon Ukko Jukes in a vid, announcing that one of the eight Parallax Telescopes, Copernicus, was destroyed by a Formic fighter ahead of the main alien fleet. Kaufman discussed the news with the rest of his breach team.[1]
Some days later, Kaufman and the rest of the team set out to test the live Gravity Disruptor charges. However, one of the four cubes was faulty; Mazer radioed to mission control asking to abort the mission, but his request was denied. Instead, he used contingency Beta, where three cubes would align into a triangle. The resulting explosion ripped the test ship apart, sending shrapnel in all directions. One piece sliced into Shambhani's calf, creating a gaping hole in his suit. His suit sealed itself, but abandoned his leg from the knee down. The team was taken back to the station in a medic ship, but there was little chance of saving Shambhani's leg.[1]
Kaufman was reassigned along with 100 other special-ops marines to a cargo ship. After arriving at their target asteroid of Castalia, Kaufman was assigned to the squad that would infiltrate it, along with Rimas, Mazer, and a cadet named Bingwen.[1]
Two days later, the breach team was ready to go. They planned to kill the crew of the Formic Miniship, collect the bioengineered "bugs", and then send in Bingwen once the threat was eliminated. Kaufman and Rimas followed Mazer into the asteroid after he cut a hole in the resin shell and investigated the surface. After surmising that there were no Formics present above-ground, Zembassi sent in Bingwen. Mazer ordered Kaufman to leave and transfer his supplies to Bingwen, and then wait in the shuttle craft. After Bingwen found the Hive Queen daughter-general and blew the asteroid's atmosphere, Kaufman, Rimas, and Mazer rushed in to find Bingwen still alive but unresponsive. They took him back to the ship to recover.[1]
Personality
Trivia
- Before joining the International Fleet, Kaufman was a commando in the GSG9, which was a special ops unit of the German Federal Police.[1]
