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.[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]