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Jonathan "Wolf" West Sr is an American Colonel who is one of the leading members of the CIEF, and is the father of Jack West Jr.

History[]

Early History[]

Jonathon "Jack" West was born in the United States, and enlisted in the U.S. Army at a young age. West proved himself to be a brilliant soldier thanks to his high intelligence as soon as he started out, and quickly rose through the ranks because of his many skills, earning the call-sign Wolf.

During a tour of Australia, he met Mabel 'Mae' Merriweather, a brilliant teacher and historian. Intrigued by her research into the Four Legendary Kingdoms that Mae's colleagues dismissed, Wolf encouraged her to carry on, starting a relationship with Mae and later marrying her. Together, he and Mae had a daughter, Lauren, and a son named after him.

However, Wolf treated his wife horribly, becoming physically abusive and cheating on Mae at least once with an American woman, having another son named Grant. Though Wolf was cold and critical of Jack (and occasionally violent whenever his son stepped up to defend his mother), he treated Lauren well, constantly praising her, providing gifts and giving her emotional attention, and so by her late teens, Lauren had been conditioned to care for her father more than her mother.

At one point when Jack was 13, Wolf and Mae picked their son up from school following a fight. During the drive home, as Jack explained that he had been defending his friend Sumil Gupta from bullies, Wolf scoffed in disbelief at his son's reason for fighting. Later that night, Wolf stood in his son's bedroom doorway and openly questioned why Jack couldn't have normal friends like his sister.

In spite of how he treated his son, Wolf recognised Jack's talents as he grew up, wanting him to join the U.S. military despite Jack's desire to go to university. When he came of enlistment age, Jack relented to his father's wishes, but to spite Wolf he joined the Australian Army instead of the U.S. Army.

At some point during his career, Wolf became a member of the Commander-in-Chief's In Extremis Force (CIEF), and rose to become one of its commanders, along with Marshall Judah.

Eventually, Mae grew tired of Wolf's abuse and divorced him in an Australian Court, deeply infuriating Wolf and wounding his patriotism. Following this he decided to try and find her to make his anger known, but Mae hid herself away where he couldn't find her, and Wolf made a point of deciding to locate her later. Following the divorce, Lauren continued to side with her father and lived with him, but during her mid-20's, Lauren began to see her father for who he really was and reconnected with her mother and brother. After Lauren married the Navy operative JJ Wickham, Wolf met his son-in-law, though Wickham had no love for Wolf, later noting that he was "the biggest asshole of a father-in-law a guy ever had".

Before The Six Sacred Stones[]

During his command of the CIEF, Wolf learned about the mysterious Vertex located beneath Diego Garcia, one of six corners of a Machine created by super-ancient beings, which when restored with the six Pillars would save the planet from the Dark Star. Working with Dr. Felix Bonaventura, Wolf was able to deduce many things regarding the Machine and its component pieces, as well as some of the rewards granted to the holder of the Pillars once they were laid. Wolf came to desire the Second Pillar's reward in particular, Heat, which Bonaventura interpreted to mean perpetual motion, and thus meant that they could create a safe fuel source.

Following Judah's failure in the Capstone mission to secure power for the United States, which was instead given to Australia, the CIEF was officially shut down. However, many of its members, including Wolf, continued to operate, since the Caldwell group that funded CIEF originally were able to keep it running. Wolf took charge of their operations, no longer intending to formally represent the United States despite their shared intent to continue preparations to try and restore the Machine.

Wolf negotiated a deal with China to share the Second Pillar's reward of heat, coming to work with Colonel Mao Gongli on the mission. Soon, he and Mao entered a bargain with the Saudi intelligence operative, Vulture, who sought the reward of the First Pillar, Knowledge. Wolf agreed that the Saudis could have the First Pillar and its reward, however, being aware of Vulture's reputation to abandon his allies once his ends were met, asserted that they would only get the Pillar once the Americans and Chinese secured the Second for themselves. He also came into contact with the British royals through Iolanthe Compton-Jones, who agreed to assist Wolf's alliance, however Wolf was aware that the royals had their own agenda.

In August of 2007, after learning that Australia had lost its invulnerability because of a counter-ceremony performed by the Japanese Blood Brotherhood, Wolf realised it was more critical than even to complete the restoration of the Machine. Wolf began making plans to secure the Firestone from Jack, who had kept it after the Capstone mission, and the Six Ramesean Stones in order to discover further necessary information regarding the Machine.

Wolf's researchers soon discovered that one of the Sacred Stones, the Twin Tablets of Thuthmosis, were apparently buried in beneath the Lalibala churches, so Wolf opened a mining operation to find the Tablets, using the local persecuted Jewish people as slave labour and employing the Catholics as guards.

Eventually, in late 2007, Vulture was able to learn where Jack and the Firestone were located, and Wolf began making preparations with Mao and the Chinese Major Black Dragon to invade the farm under the pretense of a Talisman Sabre exercise gone-wrong.

The Six Sacred Stones[]

Shortly after Black Dragon's failure to secure Jack, Lily or the Firestone, Wolf arrived at the farmhouse and began examining his son's home, noting with some disdain Jack's domestication. After having Black Dragon contact Mao to have him proceed with the torture of Max Epper, he told the Chinese Major to kill himself for his failure. When Black Dragon protested, Wolf had Rapier carry out the order. With that, Wolf had Rapier prepare to focus their resources on locating Jack's plane, and then contacted someone (presumably in the Caldwell Group funding Wolf's endeavors) to inform them of the development.

Jack was soon located in Dubai at the Burj al Arab, thanks to Vulture's ally Scimitar, son of Sheik Abbas who supported the coalition. Jack was arranging a new meeting of nations to discuss the restoration of the Machine, and the American government, unaware of Wolf's rogue operations, genuinely wanted to join the coalition and sent the CIA attaché Paul Robertson to the meeting. However, Robertson was in fact allied with Wolf's efforts, and so the pair decided to use the opportunity to find out what the coalition knew and insert Vulture, Scimitar and the Marine Astro into their team until Wolf decided the time was right.

The coalition's efforts after the meeting resulted in the team liberating Epper and Tank, recovering the Philosopher's Stone and discovering intel which would lead to the Vertices' locations. When the coalition made plans to rendezvous at Mortimer Island to determine their next move, Wolf journeyed there as well and watched the proceedings via the base's security feed. As the coalition team moved out to lay the First Pillar at the First Vertex at Abu Simbel, Robertson met with Wolf to see what he wanted to do. Wolf decided that they would allow the coalition to proceed in order to learn from their experience, and then he would have his men move in to claim the Pillar, noting that Iolanthe was to be watched closely and not to alert Astro to his unknowing role as a mole.

Wolf used his resources to hire a platoon from the Egyptian Army to help to capture the coalition team once they'd placed the Pillar, so that his own units would have time to move in and secure their targets; Wizard, Lily, the First Pillar and the cleansing Stones. Unfortunately, though Iolanthe did try to betray the coalition team of her own volition and the interference of the Japanese Blood Brotherhood kept her from getting away, the Egyptian forces were spotted by Jack's people onboard his plane, resulting in a lengthy chase to escape. Though Wolf's primary targets got away on the Halicarnassus, Jack, Pooh Bear, Stretch and Astro were apprehended and handed over to Wolf.

Wolf had his prisoners brought to the Lalibela mine, and, knowing Jack would never join his side and be too much of threat to be simply contained, allowed the mine's Christian guards to begin crucifying his son as part of their sacrificial ceremony. When Jack awoke he was unsurprised to see his father was in charge. After briefly inquiring about his ex-wife, Wolf began explained many things to Jack, including his alliance with Mao, and his apparent insertion of Astro into his team (having had him drugged and poised to appear to be looking at Jack coldly), and then introduced Jack's half brother to him. Wolf noted he was somewhat sorry that they couldn't have been on the same side in their mission, before allowing the Christian Ethiopian guards of the mine to slide another slab on top of Jack.

After Rapier asked what they were going to do about Stretch, with Wolf deciding that they would claim the bounty that Mordechai Muniz had set on him, Vulture confronted Wolf to admonish him for failing to secure his Pillar. However, Wolf reminded him that he was only supposed to get his First Pillar after helping him to retrieve the charged Second Pillar, reassuring the Saudi that they would locate Wizard and the Pillar, who were doubtlessly seeking the Neetha tribe who possessed the second Pillar. Wolf then ordered Vulture to set up drone searches and a bounty for African nations to seek out Wizard's team, and close off all access to the Second Vertex, which they'd determined was beneath Table Mountain.

During the next few days as the search for Wizard's group and the Neetha was underway, Wolf saw an incoming call on Jack's cellphone, and answered it to hear his adopted gran-daughter thinking he was Jack from their similar voices. After correcting her, Wolf informed her (and the rest of the people with Lily) that he had had Jack killed and prepared to have their phone's location traced.

Soon Wolf's people narrowed down their search for the Neetha by tracing a rogue Huey transponder signal they believed belonged to Wizard's team, and found the Neetha village. Using Congolese soldier they'd hired to move in first, Switchblade and Broadsword's unit began assaulting the village, and in the chaos managed to retrieve the two Pillars, the Philosopher's Stone and Firestone. When Wolf arrived himself, he was pleased with the results, and decided that the young boy from Wizard's team who had been captured would come with them. When the Neethan warlock Yanis spoke to him in Greek, offering to show him the entrance to the second Vertex, Wolf was pleased and affirmed it was time to claim their reward.

Wolf's CIEF team, guided by Yanis and bringing Alby along, found their way into the Vertex and began making their way through the trap system, but soon detected radio signals indicating their was someone behind them. As Wolf had them fired upon, he sent Switchblade and Broadsword out to the inverted pyramid to place the Pillar, eager to claim its reward of Heat. However, Wolf was shocked when Switchblade killed Broadsword and announced himself as a member of the Japanese Blood Brotherhood, preparing to drop the Pillar into the abyss and doom the world to the Dark Sun.

Though Wolf was unable to do anything, Jack, who was still alive, managed to get to the inverted pyramid's tip, tousled with the treacherous Switchblade and place the Pillar before the double-agent dropped them both into the abyss. Though he had been surprised to see Jack alive, and now believing him to truly be dead, Wolf sent men to claim the Pillar from the pyramid's peak. Once they'd done so, Wolf ordered his men to depart the Vertex, and when one of his men asked about Alby, Wolf dismissively decided to leave him behind.

The Five Legendary Warriors[]

After exiting the Lalibela mine, Wolf went to the truck Stretch where was being kept tied up and blindfolded. After mocking the Israeli for his decision to stand by his friends rather than his nation, Wolf informed him of his decision to take Stretch to the Old Master. Surprisingly, Wolf chose to do this personally, and on his way to Israeli to deliver Stretch he received the call from Lily on Jack's phone. After arriving at Muniz's headquarters at the Dimona Nuclear Research Centre, Wolf was granted the 16 million bounty by Muniz as Stretch was imprisoned in a tank filled with formaldehyde.

After leaving the Second Vertex with the Pillar, Wolf and Rapier met up with Mao, Iolanthe, Vulture and Scimitar in a limousine, where he granted Vulture the First Pillar as their bargain had dictated. Then, with Mao and Iolanthe, Wolf began discussing their next move for the placing of the remaining Pillars and locating the vertices in the three-month interim before the Third Pillar's placing. Mao questioned what would happen regarding the coalition team following Jack's apparent death, and Wolf affirmed that they would crush them if they got in their way.

Wolf relocated to Diego Garcia, where the CIEF spent the next two months researching the locations of the remaining Vertices. When Astro awoke, Wolf lied to the Marine and manipulated him into joining his forces. Eventually, Yanis's disclosure of an orb containing images of the Vertex entrances was discovered to be the same as a Fabergé Egg that Genghis Khan had possessed, and seeing the importance of this, Wolf set Bonaventura to work figuring out where the Egg was currently located. Soon Bonaventura concluded that the Egg was hidden within Genghis's lost arsenal somewhere in Mongolia, and Wolf made plans with Mao to uncover it.

Along with one of Mao's units, Wolf, Rapier and Bonaventura discovered the arsenal beneath a concealed meteor crater, and made their way inside to claim the Egg. Eventually reaching the arsenal vault, they found the Egg standing proudly on a pedestal, and Wolf ordered Rapier and Bonaventura to take pictures of the Egg and scan the vault with a digital scanner. As Wolf tried to request a report from the men he'd left at the entrance, the CIEF found themselves ambushed by Tank and the Brotherhood. After Tank destroyed the Egg, Wolf cursed the fanatics before Tank shot him. Lucky to be wearing a kevlar vest, Wolf seized the distraction of Jack and Wizard's arrival and shot the Japanese professor before he could set off a grenade.

Confirming Rapier had managed to get images of the Egg's images, Wolf decided it was time to depart, but first confronted Jack and Wizard. Noting his son's resilience, Wolf decided to instead break his spirit, and shot Wizard with a crossbow, fatally injuring the Canadian. As he walked away, Wolf called out to Jack that his luck wouldn't last forever, and that trying to be the hero would cost him while Wolf himself fought to win. Once he made it back to the entrance, Wolf gave the newly-arrived Mao leave to destroy the arsenal and Jack and his team within, while Wolf himself departed to make plans to get to the Third Vertex at Hokkaido.

A few days before the due-time to lay the Third Pillar, Wolf discovered that the Brotherhood, supported by the Japanese Navy, had blockaded the Hokkaido Vertex, and quickly prepared an invasion plan. Carrying the Firestone, Wolf's force landed on the tsunami-receded shore and attempted to get into the Vertex, only for the Philosopher's Stone-carrying Rapier to be pinned down. Knowing that without the cleansing stone they could not succeed, Wolf ordered his men to get his son into the Vertex, but it was Jack, Lily and Zoe was got Rapier to safety. With no time to spare before the tsunami struck, Wolf and the others made their way into the Vertex, and when Lily revealed she knew how to traverse the trap system, Wolf proposed a temporary alliance to lay the Pillar, which Jack reluctantly accepted.

Amused by his adopted granddaughter's obvious distaste for him, Wolf took the opportunity to mock the family-model of Jack and the others, questioning their loyalty to one another and challenging Jack's belief of what a family should be. After the Pillar was claimed, the group came across the inverted pyramid, with a stone chute into the abyss being the only way to place the Pillar. Organising the retrieval of cable and winches from a tanker to ensure a way back to safety, Wolf and Jack soon ventured out to the inverted pyramid's peak, and came under fire from more Japanese troops, but Wolf was surprised as Jack kept a hold of him while he set the Pillar. When they both touched the blood-covered Pillar, both Jack Wests received a vision of someone falling down a Vertex chasm.

Once they returned to shore, Wolf, believing that Jack was the one their shared vision had shown dying, and surprised by being rescued by his son despite their being enemies, ordered Rapier to stand down, decided to spare Jack and the others. After asserting that the injured Astro would only slow them down, Wolf opted to abandon the Marine, and though Rapier defied Wolf and used a grenade to strand Jack and the others, Wolf did not reprimand him. Once Wolf, Rapier and Yanis exited the Vertex, however, they were captured Russian forces.

Taken to a dam in Siberia, Wolf and several other players in the Machine-restoration mission were confronted by the Russian royal known as Carnivore, who revealed his intention to take the Pillars and their rewards, and to manipulate everyone else into completing the Machine's restoration for him. After seeing Robertson executed for refusing to hand over the Second Pillar, Wolf reluctantly agreed. Though Carnivore was unwilling to risk both Jack Wests being loose, he offered the chance for one of them to continue the mission on his behalf, depending on whether Jack or Rapier won a fight to the death, with Rapier to remain a hostage to ensure Wolf's cooperation if he won. However, after Wolf was forced to call the Diego Garcia base to ensure Iolanthe had access to the Fifth Vertex, Wolf was shocked to learn Rapier had perished in the fight. As a result, Wolf was imprisoned by Carnivore's men in a tank of formaldehyde to keep him secure until the mission was over.

However, after the Fourth and Fifth Pillars were confirmed to have been laid, Carnivore abandoned his base and the prisoners, informing them that they would likely perish from lack of oxygen after a few days. Soon after Carnivore and his people departed, Wolf managed to free himself from his tank with a few wads of C4 he kept hidden inside his Annapolis ring. Despite the pleading stares of his fellow prisoners, Wolf decided to leave them to their fate, and proceeded to call Diego Garcia to order them to turn on Carnivore's Pillar-laying team and request a pickup.

Making his way to Beijing, Wolf managed to get in touch with Mao, who claimed to have retrieved the final Pillar, and made plans to rendezvous with him on the Chinese's new aircraft carriers, which were already en-route to the final Vertex on Easter Island. However, as soon as he met with Mao, he quickly saw that the Pillar was a replica and smashed it. Slowed down by the harsh weather caused by the Dark Sun's approach, Wolf's annoyance at not heading directly to the island became outright fury when he discovered Carnivore and his people were already there.

Still determined to take their reward, Wolf and Mao prepared to lead a team into the Vertex, but just as they made it into the entrance they learned that the Halicarnassus was on approach. While they beat it into the Vertex and began making their way through the maze of spikes, Wolf was outraged when he saw Jack overtaking them in the badly damaged plane over the spikes. Wolf and Mao arrived on the balcony moments after Lily had set the Pillar in place and received its reward of power, and Wolf was lucky enough to avoid being gruesomely killed by the girl before Jack snapped her out of her trance.

In awe of the power Lily had received from the Pillar, and with Jack being the only one left in his way, Wolf suggested that he could use it to impose peace on the world, but otherwise encouraged his son to consider using the Pillar's power for himself, knowing Jack wouldn't fall for the temptation. Wolf's words managed to distract Jack long enough for him to shoot at him and make a run for the Pillar, however, a final swipe by Jack sent it sliding along the balcony, and despite Wolf's efforts it slid off into the abyss.

Wolf's final play for power ended up being his undoing; the battlement beneath the Halicarnassus, weakened by Lily's crushing of Mao, collapsed under the plane's weight and crashed into the balcony, and with no way to safety, Wolf ended up falling into the abyss. As he fell to his death, Wolf realised that the vision he and Jack had shared had not been of Jack's death, but of his own.

After Death[]

Due to having undertaken the Dark Sun mission without the U.S. government's authority, Wolf's death was never acknowledged, and so to the outside world he seemed to have simply vanished. (The Two Lost Mountains)

When she learned of her ex-husband's death, Mae came out of hiding and resumed her public life. She didn't hold Jack responsible for Wolf's death, and gave no illusions as to her opinion of Wolf once she was freed of his shadow. (The Four Legendary Kingdoms)

Personality[]

Intelligent, yet conceited about it, Wolf looks down on anyone who isn't as smart as he is. He is obsessed with securing power for himself, and occasionally for his own country, and refuses to allow anything to stand in his way, even compassion. Some of his ideals are frowned upon greatly. Wolf feels a great sense of patriotism, and was heavily infuriated when his ex-wife divorced him in an Australian Court to spite his ego.

Skills[]

  • Expert Combatant: As a long-time member of the United States Army, Wolf has been trained in several forms of hand-to-hand combat.
  • Expert Marksman: As a member of the U.S. military, Wolf is an accurate marksman and capable of using a variety of different firearms.
  • Expert Tactician: As one of the highest-ranking commanders of the CIEF, Wolf is a skilled strategist and leader, able to formulate battle strategies to fit the changing needs of the situation.

Equipment[]

Weapons[]

To Be Added: ...

Vehicles[]

  • PA-27 Airborne Assault Pod: To Be Added.

Other Equipment[]

  • Pillars: The bizarre uncut diamonds the size of a brick that were created by a race of super-ancient people for use in the Machine's restoration. During the mission to rebuild the Machine, Wolf personally participated in attempts to lay three of the Pillars into their corresponding Vertex in order to claim the rewards; arranging the attempt to place the Second beneath Table Mountain (only for Switchblade to interfere), placing the Third in the Hokkaido Vertex with Jack, and working with Mao to try and take the final Pillar from Carnivore at Easter Island. After seeing Lily use the Sixth Pillar's power, Wolf was tempted by the idea of possessing its power, and attempted to take it from Jack, only for his son to knock it into the abyss.
  • Six Sacred Stones: The ancient artefacts mysteriously connected to the Machine's restoration, only one of which Wolf actually used to further the CIEF's mission. The sacred stones that Wolf possessed, however, were taken by Carnivore after the placing of the Hokkaido Pillar.
    • Philosopher's Stone: The Stone used to cleanse the Pillars before their placement in the Machine, which Wolf took from Jack's team after they had already been taken from them by the Neetha.

Trivia[]

  • As has been shown with the concept of yin-yang, Wolf does have some good inside of him, as demonstrated when he allowed Jack to live after his assistance getting through the Third Vertex.
  • Wolf has the second-longest term as a main antagonist throughout Reilly's novels, just behind Sphinx, who was the primary antagonist of three novels; The Three Secret Cities, The Two Lost Mountains and The One Impossible Labyrinth.
  • Unlike most of the other main antagonist in Reilly's novels, Wolf does not have a defining physical feature/injury.
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