Jasek Kelswa-Steiner

Jasek Kelswa-Steiner
Jasek Kelswa-Steiner
Character Profile
Born 3104[1]
Died 11 March 3148[2]
Affiliation House Kelswa-Steiner
Title(s) Duke of Skye (title only),[2]
Duke of Porrima,[2]
Duke of Tamar (title only)[2]
Landgrave[2]
Profession Noble
Parents Gregory Kelswa-Steiner (father)[3]

Jasek Kelswa-Steiner was an early thirty-second century nobleman, MechWarrior, and renegade, leader of the Republic-breakaway faction known as the Stormhammers.

History[edit]

Early years[edit]

As the son of Gregory Kelswa-Steiner, governor of Prefecture IX of the Republic of the Sphere, he was part of the ruling family of Skye and heir apparent to the throne. Inheriting the title of Landgrave, he was always at odds with his father, growing up believing that the Republic was a poor steward to the Skye people's ambitions for freedom. Jasek's rift with his father widened following the death of Jasek's mother, the daughter of Hermione Aten's older sister.[1]

Military Career and as a Renegade[edit]

He later joined the Republic military, rising up the ranks to become Prefecture IX's military commander. However, by 3132 the HPG Grid blackout changed things. Jasek did not initially break away from the Republic until slightly later when he disapproved of the lackluster response the Republic gave in the midst of the crisis of Gray Monday. Out of frustration, he appealed to several regiments of Prefecture IX and formed the Stormhammers in March 3133. Declaring support for House Steiner, his charisma allowed him to take most of Prefecture IX's standing military forces with him. He undertook an erratic military campaign across the Republic, using it as a means to showcase his abilities as a commander to secretly appeal to his ancestral Great House as a marketable figure bring into the fold. His campaign was designed not to damage any worlds that would be favorable to House Steiner.[4][5]

Seven months after forming the Stormhammers, Jasek dispatched his combat units to worlds which possessed functional HPGs. This was intended to rally House Steiner patriots within the Republic to join him in his intended goal to reunite the Skye region with the Lyran Commonwealth.[6] In late August 3133, as part of this effort, the Stormhammers, assisted by Lohengrin,[7] launched a raid on Towne. The Towne raid ran into heavy resistance, including Twenty-first Centauri Lancers forces and Triarii Protectors. The Lyran Rangers succeeded in hijacking the HPG for long enough to broadcast their recruitment message before being pushed off planet.[8][9]

Skye Campaign against Clan Jade Falcon[edit]

In 3134, Prefecture IX was invaded by a Clan Jade Falcon military expedition. After claiming a number of worlds in the old Isle of Skye region of the Republic, Jasek activated his forces after Tara Campbell's Northwind Highlanders and Skye's remaining militia forces managed to defeat the Falcons on Skye. He then mustered his forces and rescued elements of the Northwind Highlanders who were stranded in Falcon-controlled space. He then presented himself and his forces to Campbell and his father in a bid to fight off the Falcon's invasion. He began a relationship with Campbell, though did not reveal his feelings for her.

Jasek advocated that the forces stationed on Skye were insufficient to withstand another invasion. He then proposed to gather reinforcements, while Prefecture IX's defenders conducted strikes against Falcon held worlds.

After meeting with Anastasia Kerensky's Steel Wolves, he convinced the renegade faction to join the fight for Skye. He then retook a Lyran world that was captured by Falcons during the beginning of their invasion. Heading to the Lyran Commonwealth and convincing Hesperus II's Duke Vedet Brewer to lend him forces and the WarShip LAS Yggdrasil for the battle for Skye, he also revealed his plans to bring Skye back to Lyran control to the Duke and Archon representative Trillian Steiner.

By early 3135, Jasek's forces arrived in the Skye system, escorted by the Yggdrasil, to confront the second invasion of the Jade Falcons. In a number of clashes battling for the planet, Skye forces were nearly ruined attempting to fight off the invasion led by Malvina Hazen. He saved his forces and his allies, using Clan hegira. This allowed his and other forces to withdraw from Skye under a ceasefire. Jasek led these forces to the Stormhammer-held world of Nusakan. There he and his father had one last meeting, where his father accused his son of deliberately allowing Skye to fall so he could reclaim the world himself.[10]

Victor Steiner-Davion Funeral[edit]

Jasek was later seen on Terra at the funeral of Victor Steiner-Davion as part of the Lyran Commonwealth's funeral delegation. He met Tara Campbell again and tried to resume his courtship with her. He participated in the reenactment of the War of 3039, where he led the Steiner forces in an invasion of the Draconis Combine. During the simulation he was defeated by Alaric Wolf, who volunteered to fight on the Steiner front of the war.[citation needed]

In Service with House Steiner[edit]

In later years, he and the Stormhammers were directly absorbed into the LCAF. In 3145, Jasek held the rank of Hauptmann-General as one of Archon Trillian Steiner-Davion's key supporters. He commanded the Donegal Province. [11]

Death[edit]

During the Jade Falcon attack on the world of Coventry ordered by Malvina Hazen, Jasek was sent there to defend the planet, along with his cousin, the General of the Armies Roderick Steiner, facing the attack of Galaxy Commander Stephanie Chistu. The 11 March, he faced Chistu in a duel, where he would be killed while on the planet when she made a Death from Above attack.[12]

Legacy[edit]

Due to the state of his remains, Roderick ordered Jasek's remains cremated. With his forces demoralized, he used his death to motivate his forces, and put his ashes on the front of every soldier, including himself, so Jasek, symbolically, accompanied them one last time. That made the Lyrans fought as possessed, with "For Jasek!" their battlecry, eventually forcing the Falcons offplanet. Jasek would later have a medal named in his honor called the "Order of Jasek Kelswa-Steiner".[13][14]

BattleMechs[edit]

During the Skye campaign, Jasek piloted a Templar OmniMech which appeared to have a fixed weapons configuration. After rejoining the Lyran Commonwealth his 'Mech was an EFT-5S-M Eisenfaust which he named Scion.[15]

Quotes[edit]

Return to House Steiner! Join with the Stormhammers, and we shall salvage the legacy of peace, prosperity, and order that Devlin Stone once promised! Together, we shall reunite with the noble Commonwealth, and right all wrongs!
  — Closing words of a recruitment message broadcast on the Towne HPG, 28 August 3133[16]

References[edit]

  1. 1.0 1.1 Era Report: Dark Age, p. 20
  2. 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 Shattered Fortress, p. 51
  3. Blood of the Isle, ch. 1
  4. Era Report: 3145, pp. 14–15: Early mentioning of Jasek military campaign as renegade in league indirectly for House Steiner.
  5. Era Digest: Dark Age, p. 10: Timeline 3133 - Stormhammers date of forming noted.
  6. Era Digest: Dark Age, p. 7: Important Military Actions of 3133 - Towne Entry Notes Jasek efforts to further strengthen his splinter military force by using HPGs.
  7. Technical Readout: 3145 Mercenaries, p. 12: "Garrot Superheavy Transport"
  8. Era Digest: Dark Age, p. 7: "Important Military Actions of 3133"
  9. Dark Age: 3132-3134 INN, pp. 229–237
  10. Era Report: 3145, p. 15: Age of Destruction "Skye Campaign against Jade Falcons.
  11. Field Manual: 3145, p. 133
  12. The Anvil, ch. 2-6
  13. The Anvil, ch. 7-10
  14. The Anvil, epilogue
  15. Mechwarrior: Dark Age, Dossiers And Pilot Cards, p. 349
  16. Dark Age: 3132-3134 INN, p. 233: "Kelswa-Steiner: The Hour of Steiner Has Come!"

Bibliography[edit]