Jeannine Castro

Jeannine Castro
Personal
Also known as	Jeanine Castro
Died	February 3066 (presumed)
Affiliation	Federated Commonwealth; Lyran Commonwealth
Profile
Profession	Colonel

Jeannine Castro was a military officer who served in the Federated Commonwealth and later Lyran Alliance Armed Forces.

History

Hailing from a family with a long history of devoted military service to House Steiner, Leutnant-General Castro initially started her career in a regiment of the Lyran Guards, but was later offered and accepted the position of commanding officer of the 5th Lyran Regulars, taking command sometime between 3050 to 3054. During her service as leader of that unit, she led it into combat against the 7th FedCom RCT during ostensible 2nd SLDF peacekeeping operations on Nashuar in the St. Ives Compact from 3060 to 3062. Though her unit was ultimately forced to withdraw with heavy losses, she managed to salvage several BattleMechs from Compact forces, including her own signature Hauptmann assault 'Mech. At some point, it appears that Castro was demoted, as she had originally held the rank of Leutnant-General when assuming command of the Fifth Regulars, but is listed on all official rosters as being a Colonel after 3062. After the Fifth's retreat from Nashuar, Castro devised and led a raid against Clan Jade Falcon and was awarded the McKennsy Hammer for her actions during that operation, despite its ultimate failure.

In the FedCom Civil War, Castro declared loyalty to the Lyran Alliance and supported Katherine Steiner during that conflict. When news reached her of the 4th Davion Guards retreating back to Federated Suns space in 3063, she decided to attempt to salvage some of her unit's reputation and gain honor by eliminating the once-allied unit. Mustering her forces and acting on information provided by the Fifth's reconnaissance and intelligence division, Castro led her forces to Yed Posterior to confront an annihilate what she perceived to be a heavily damaged band of FedSun sympathizers. Unbeknownst to her, the 4th Davion Guards had retained their neutrality in the Civil War and had not suffered near as many losses as projected by the intelligence. Ignoring several communiqués from the Guards advising their status and requesting her not to interfere in their operations, Castro landed her forces and charged into the Guards' regimental headquarters, where her forces were overwhelmed and forced to retreat by the superior numbers and hardened Clan Wars veterans. Once again, Castro returned with her unit to Freedom to lick her wounds.

But there would be no respite for either her or the 5th Lyran Regulars. In 3064, Freedom came under attack by Free Skye Revolt forces. Two units of Freedom Theater Militia were allowed to land on Freedom's major continent of Republic and establish a foothold before the Regulars decided to formulate an armed response. Although they easily annihilated one of the militia units, they perplexingly decided to fall back to Freedom's capital, Jefferson City, and set up a defensive perimeter there. While Castro and her Regulars hid behind their walls, the remaining Free Skye militia forces managed to gain significant control of most of Freedom's land area and began a drawn-out siege with the intent of starving out loyalist forces in the capital. The arrival of General Maria Esteban sealed the fate of Castro and the Fifth Lyran Regulars. Increased pressure caused the civilian leader of the planet to request a ceasefire of General Esteban. In doing so, he had exposed how weak the position of the Regulars was. Instead of accepting the ceasefire, Esteban led an overwhelming assault against Col. Castro and her command, destroying them completely and redistributing their weapons and equipment to her forces. Although Col. Castro's death is not confirmed, neither she nor her unit are mentioned in any later Lyran military records. She is presumed to be killed in action.

Bibliography

• 20 Year Update
• FedCom Civil War
• Field Manual: Lyran Alliance
• Field Manual: Updates
• Objective Raids