The Chain of Command

Greg Kapplin was a character that is mentioned frequently in passing in the Chaos Chronicles story Deception. Kapplin himself was a Lieutenant in Chris' unit when both were on the swampy world of Talahan V during the Talahan Conflict. Chris, being a sergeant at the time, was pulled through the ranks due to his unwitting participation in an Officer Replacement Program, known publicly as the Accelerated Rank Program. Kapplin was the Executive Officer of the unit outranked only by Captain Roswell Benedict. Kapplin knew right away what Chris was and loathed him over the brass' assurance that he wasn't there to replace Greg if he took a bullet in the pan. He treated Chris poorly, though never placed him in serious harm. His fears began to come true when Benedict was killed in a missile strike while his unit, 5th Battalion of the 182nd Division, was crossing the Livido Grassplains, a wide-open and otherwise pleasant route between Forward Operating Bases. With Benedict dead, Kapplin became acting CO, and began to grow more hostile towards his sergeant, field promoted to keep the power structure in check. One documented incident reportedly involved an unarmed brawl which sent both men to the hospital and then the brig. 

Because of his hostility, Kapplin negatively ingrained himself into Chris' psyche, but all that was about to change when leading up to the ending of the war, Kapplin was kidnapped in the dead of night by Talahase Rebels, presumably to be interrogated for information involving unit positions. It is unknown if Kapplin succumbed to the torture, but approximately a week later, Kapplin's body was found in an area of Talahan V's Fratelli continent called Dagwood's Cleft, a pass through moderately sized mountains infamous for disappearances even before the war. Chris himself found Kapplin's body, though refuses to talk about it even to close friends, preferring the memory to go to his grave with him. 

This was not the absolute end of Kapplin though. Five years after his rotation from the planet, Chris began to suffer hallucinations due to alien technology invading his brain and unintentionally manifesting memories in reality. These memories, or 'shades' as they appeared to be, had certain parts of his past, such as Gregory Kapplin, appear first as himself, then as he was found in Dagwood's Cleft, to a phantom with barely discernible features, each growing more frightening as they progressed. Eventually, immediately before Chris' death in 3239, the visions faded when the alien program self-deleted, ending the pressure on his brain, but permanently damaging his memory in the process, which eliminated the visions, but also precious moments from his life. 

Despite his faults, Kapplin was a decent Marine with an exemplary mission success rating, obeying orders and sticking to protocol. On two occasions, Kapplin acted as maverick, disobeying direct orders to rescue civilians in the line of fire. Kapplin received awards for his bravery and a grilling for recklessness. It is believed that Talahan was the site of his mental downfall where he realized he was truly expendable. His spiral was mirrored by many men around him, though he never saw the far-reaching effects of that war.