“New rifles are disgusting; they look like toys and are completely inappropriate to break someone’s teeth with a butt whack. They are too damn light... That’s why I always carried a shotgun when in the boarding groups...”

Tarik Mansuri instructing his men in assault techniques, Rustán Camp, two years after the Silk Revolts.

As a soldier, Tarik Mansuri is a veteran of the Silk Revolts, Neocolonial Wars and Ariadnian Commercial Conflicts. For him, those were the good times. He hates peace and tranquillity: “Being active means to live taking it to the limit”. In combat, blood rushes through his veins like liquid mercury. Forty years of service as a conqueror and executor for Haqqislam have prompted his participation in several high-risk missions; he has flirted with death hundreds of times. Others would have been afraid, but not him, because fear has no place in the heart of a warrior. Moreover, Tarik Mansuri is above all a good soldier, with excellent discipline. On campaign he refuses to carry a tent if it allows him to carry more ammo. He sleeps out in the open even in the worst climates, with weapons close to his body to keep warm, his combat vest as a pillow. Even in combat with death hot on his heels, he smiles confidently, filled with a blood fury. Perfectly trained, he has escaped the claws of destiny several times and always has fought and won in spite of the enemy’s superiority. For Mansuri, Haqqislam is the most powerful nation, and his Khawarijs the best troops of all. He considers that his mission, and that of his men, is to carry his nation to victory. Not doing so would be the same as betraying his ideals. For him, Khawarijs are the heart and the soul of the Haqqislamite army, so they must set an example for everybody.