Alexander Smolek was an Insurrectionist officer. Born in New Tyne on the rebel controlled planet of Venezia to a middle-class family, Smolek lived a relatively comfortable life on the outskirts of New Tyne. Due to his education and family connections, when Smolek joined the Venezian Colonial Legion in 2558, he was commissioned as a Lieutenant, and placed in command of a platoon of the security detachment at the New Tyne Airfield.