Damien Redburn

At age of 60 in 3145
Damien Redburn
Character Profile
Born 3 February 3085[1][2][3]
Died 3151
Affiliation House Redburn
Rank Exarch[3]
Profession MechWarrior
Parents Theodore Redburn (father)[3][2]
Corrine Redburn (mother)[3]
Spouse Sasha Korkova[3]
Children Maggie Korkova (adopted)[3]
Ben Redburn[3]
Rapael Redburn[3]
Veronica Redburn[3]

Damien Redburn was the second Exarch of the Republic of the Sphere.

History[edit]

Early life[edit]

Born on Northwind, Damien hailed from a family with a long history of serving the Republic, with his great-grandfather Andrew Redburn and father Theodore Redburn both helping to mold the Republic in its infancy.[1][2] During his secondary school years, he spent weekends loading DropShips at Northwind's Jaffray Interplanetary Spaceport and his summers as part of a logging team. He was a gifted athlete and bright student, and applied to and was accepted at the Republic MechWarrior Academy in Northwind in 3102, where he graduated in 3106 as Cadet Commander of his class and was awarded one year's equivalent military duty upon entering the Republic military.[3]

Assigned to the Republic's Capellan border, he was field-promoted to the rank of Captain in 3108 after the Tau Ceti Lancers slaughtered his company's commanding officer and nearly overran their position; his actions stopped what would have a complete rout and saved the day.[3]

Stone's Liberators[edit]

Colonel Jerome Edwards from the famed Stone's Liberators requested him to serve in his unit in 3109, where he distinguished himself with his defense of Palos against raiders. He was promoted to Major in 3111.[1][2][3]

During the Capellan Crusades, Damien Redburn would fight with Stone's Liberators on Styk and Sarna. With the RAF forces on Sarna put on the defensive following the Capellan Confederation Armed Forces April 3113 counterinvasion, after the Liberator's CO Colonel Edwards was killed by a CCAF airstrike, Redburn was thrust into command of both the unit and the RAF defense of the city of Rajput. Brevet Colonel Redburn would lead the Liberators against the forces of Warrior House Imarra, the battle ending in stalemate with neither side able to overcome the other. Unfortunately the battles elsewhere on Sarna did not go well for the Republic, with both Stone's Pride and Stone's Revenants forced to pull back by late May, leaving the Liberators the sole RAF unit on the planet. Outnumbered and outgunned but recognizing how close Capellan were to folding, Redburn fortified the Liberators position as he prepared for a new offensive before the Council of Paladins finally ordered him to withdraw the Liberators back to Republic space.[4][5][3]

Heralded as a hero, Damien Redburn was awarded the Silver Cluster and inducted by Devlin Stone into the Knights of the Republic as a Paladin for his stellar service during the Sarna campaign.

Paladin[edit]

When peace came in 3113, Devlin Stone detached Redburn from the unit and brought him to Terra where he was made a Paladin of the Sphere. He was just twenty-eight years old.[3]

He traveled among the Republic worlds to promote Devlin Stone's programs and to assist wherever and however he might. In 3115, he spent half a year in a ConstructionMech, helping repair the damage on Sheratan caused by the April Fool's earthquake. In 3118 he tracked down Olson's Pirates to an abandoned system near Kervil, smashing the raiders and bringing Despot Terrance Olson to trial.[3]

By 3121 he was in Genoa, inside Prefecture V where devastating floods had ruined the Golden Plains farming community. He pitched in with a ForestryMech to help. While on that assignment, he met Sasha Korkova and found a loving partner. Sasha already had one child out of wedlock: Maggie. They married in 3122 and he adopted Maggie Korkova. During the next seven years they would have three more children: Ben, Raphael, and Veronica.[3]

During those seven years, he spent more time in the company of Devlin Stone, dividing his attentions fairly equally between a family on Northwind and the government on Terra. He also visited the homeworld of every Republic Senator. In 3129 he acted on behalf of Senator Russell Fahnstahk to recover the Senator's kidnapped son and bring the kidnappers to justice.[3]

Exarch[edit]

Stone would ultimately select Redburn as his successor as Exarch.[1] [5]

Made Exarch on the 10 August 3130,[6] his reign as Exarch was plagued with dissent right from the beginning. Damien did not have the offsetting aura or forceful personality that Devlin did, which meant that most groups that did not like the Republic's policies came out. His support in the Senate fell off, forcing him to reaffirm many political alliances though never at the cost of the Republic's integrity.[3] Ilya Moran, his press secretary, tried to fend off some critics.[7] The Blackout of 3132 was something that Damien's career could never recover from. He would retire from the position of Exarch in 3134 and be replaced by Jonah Levin.[1][5]

While Exarch, in 3131, Damien instituted Freedom Day, 18 March, as an official Republic-wide holiday commemorating Stone's Kittery escape.[8]

Retirement and the Republic Remnant[edit]

Shortly before the Republic raised the walls, Damien recruited a group of Republican Knights who were still loyal to the idea of what the Republic stood for and emigrated out of Prefecture X. Through his efforts, he has been able to create a haven of sorts for those who still believe in the Republic.[1]

After his retirement, he received in his house a recorded message of Devlin Stone, triggered by Levin's study of the plan Fortress Republic. As Damien had recovered his old Paladin rank, he volunteered to help to the plans, as Stone had asked him. After taking the command of a Fidelis unit, started to send him, under the command of other Knights and Ghost Knights, to launch black ops missions outside the walls, to distract the enemies of the Republic and win time to ensure the walls are finished. Every known mission was a success.

Redburn led the Republic Remnant for more than a decade. With no reinforcements from Fortress Republic, by 3149 the Remnant had been reduced to only two planets, including the capital Callison, from an invasion by Clan Wolf.

When Fortress Republic's Walls fell, and Stone send forces to Callison to reunite the Remnant and Fortress, Redburn opposed them, but was betrayed and attacked by their own Fidelis and arrested before being sent to Terra for court martial.[9]

Death[edit]

During his false-flag operation against Clans Wolf and Jade Falcon, he was able to spot Alaric Ward's 'Mech. Sensing the opportunity to end the Wolf leadership, he fired at the Wolf Khan, injuring the Khan rather than killing him. After this was noticed by the other Wolf forces, the angered warriors circled around the Exarch's Jade Hawk and killed him.[10]

Family and Children[edit]

He was married to Sasha Korkova in 3122, whom he met a year earlier at Genoa by providing assistance to residents affected by the floods. He adopted Sasha's daughter, Maggie.

References[edit]

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 Era Report: 3145 p. 84: "Damien Redburn profile"
  2. 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 Operational Turning Points: Capellan Crusades, p. 11: "Personalities - Damien Redburn"
  3. 3.00 3.01 3.02 3.03 3.04 3.05 3.06 3.07 3.08 3.09 3.10 3.11 3.12 3.13 3.14 3.15 3.16 3.17 Dark Age: Republic of the Sphere, p. 28: "Damien Redburn"
  4. Operational Turning Points: Capellan Crusades, pp. 8–10: "The Crusades"
  5. 5.0 5.1 5.2 Operational Turning Points: Capellan Crusades, pp. 29–30: "Touchpoint: Surviving Sarna"
  6. Era Digest: Dark Age, p. 10: "Dark Age Timeline"
  7. Dark Age: 3132-3134 INN, p. 9: "Clan Wolf Accuses the Republic of Keeping Wolf Descendants Secondary Citizens"
  8. Dark Age: 3132-3134 INN, p. 129: "Prayers, Pageantry Mark Freedom Day Celebrations"
  9. Shattered Fortress, p. 100
  10. Hour of the Wolf, p. 256

Bibliography[edit]