Zachary Colson
| Zachary Colson | |
|---|---|
| ?-2667 | |
| File:JazzWC2.gif Zachary Colson in 2666 | |
| Callsign | Jazz |
| Allegiance | Terran Confederation, Mandarins |
| Years of service | 2654-2667 |
| Rank | Major |
Zachary Colson started his service life as a young, inexperienced pilot on the TCS Austin. He got his callsign from being a musician and was known to perform on the TCS Austin, playing the piano.
Colson later transferred temporarily to the TCS Tiger's Claw along with Etienne Montclair. Even at this point, Colson despised everyone on the Tiger's Claw.
In 2656, Colson betrayed the Confederation and leaked the coordinates of the Tiger's Claw to the Kilrathi in K'tithrak Mang, as the Terrans were planning to destroy the Kilrathi's Sector Command HQ in the system. The Kilrathi ambushed the Tiger's Claw with a flight of Strakha Stealth Fighters, destroying the vessel and killing its entire crew. Colson subsequently framed Colonel Christopher Blair, one of the only survivors of the attack with allowing the Claw to be destroyed. To ensure his claims of stealth fighters remained unfounded, Colson stole Maverick's flight recorder disk, making him a scapegoat and forcing off the frontlines for nearly a decade.
Over ten years later, long after the destruction of the Tiger's Claw, Colson served on the TCS Concordia. By this time, Colson had secretly joined the Mandarins and began a campaign of betrayal and murder. He sabotaged ships, transmitted information to the Kilrathi, and planted explosives on the Concordia's flight deck.
Eventually, Colson's betrayal was discovered when he revealed that he knew more than he should have about the Confederation's operation in K'tithrak Mang. He attempted to kill Colonel Jeannette Devereaux but was forced to flee the Concordia when Angel disarmed him. Jazz subsequently fled on an F-57 Sabre but was swiftly shot down and captured by his old enemy, Christopher Blair. Blair went to see him to ask why he betrayed the Confederation. Colson believed that the Goddard colony and his brother would have been saved if the Tiger's Claw hadn't detoured to attack a Kilrathi troopship. Colson had sworn to kill everyone who served on the Claw, and admitted to killing Mariko Tanaka.
At his military tribunal, Colson was convicted of murder and high treason and was sentenced to death, but he was freed from the TCS Bastille by the Mandarins while en route to the TCS Alcatraz. Colson spent a few days on Ayer's Rock but fled in a F-95 Morningstar when Blair destroyed the base. Blair eventually tracked and killed Colson on 2667.
