Linda McDonald (31st c.)

Linda McDonald
Personal
Affiliation	Lyran Alliance
Profile
Rank	Brevet General
Profession	MechWarrior

Linda McDonald was a Lieutenant General and commanding officer of the Eleventh Arcturan Guards.

History

She was a colonel in the Eleventh Arcturan Guards by 12 November 3062 and being groomed by Maria Esteban to succeed her in the command of the unit.

FedCom Civil War

During the FedCom Civil War, the Eleventh sided with the Loyalists.

After retreating to Triesting and organizing a Loyalist task-force with her Eleventh, the Alarion Jaegers and the Alarion APM plus the near complete LAS Robert Kelswa, she promoted Linda McDonald to command the Eleventh Arcturan Guards themselves, while she took full command of the taskforce.

With this forces, Esteban set a trap for Victor Steiner-Davion at York.

York

On 12 March 3064, Victor Steiner-Davion's task force landed on York, where he intended to set up a new base of operations. The Prince was accompanied by the Com Guard 244th Division, the Sixth Crucis Lancers and the newly formed Outland Legion, made up of independent warriors from throughout the Inner Sphere who had answered his call for rebellion. The Allies landed safely and set up camp. It was only then that Esteban launched her ambush. Initially attacking with the Alarion and Carlisle Alarion Province Militias, the loyalists compelled the Sixth Crucis Lancers to pursue them across Salisbury Plains, away from the allied base camps. Esteban sprung her trap when she had McDonald launch a combat drop with the Eleventh Arcturan Guards, cutting the Lancers off from Victor and his remaining forces. The allies were forced into a fighting retreat that saw near constant fighting between the allies and the loyalists. At the climax of the battle, McDonald personally engaged Steiner-Davion in a personal 'Mech fight, coming close to killing the rebel prince. As the rebels converged on their evacuation area, Esteban revealed yet another surprise when she sent both of her WarShips in orbit to converge on the extraction site, threatening to close the back door on Victor's forces even as the Alarion Jaegers landed behind them. At the insistence of Precentor Raymond Irelon, Victor immediately evacuated, despite being forced to leave behind a battalion of infantry to be taken prisoner. It was the most devastating early setback for the allies in war, as Esteban had damaged all three of Victor's accompanying commands and knocked much of the momentum out of his advance.

Pursuing the Prince

Learning that Victor and his units had regrouped to Halfway where they had destroyed the loyalist militia, Esteban and most of Task Force 11A pursued, arriving in-system in mid-June 3064. To prevent another escape by the allies, Esteban split her task force in two, with her in command of the LAS Robert Marsden, the Alarion Jaegers and a mixed RCT drawn from the Alarion and Carlisle APMs as well as militia elements from several other worlds. Esteban's group appeared at the zenith jump point, and finding themselves unopposed, approached the planet. McDonald, leading the Eleventh Arcturan Guards and the rest of the task force, emerged at the nadir point. The Loyalists faced little opposition on their approach until the aerospace brigade of the Sixth Crucis Lancers attacked the force approaching from the nadir point, avoiding direct confrontation with Esteban and her WarShip. Enjoying a decided advantage over the loyalist fighters, the Lancers inflicted significant damage on the DropShips. Just when Esteban had sent her own aerospace fighters to aid McDonald's ships in their approach, the Sixth's fighters unexpectedly broke off their attack, withdrawing to their DropShip transports. Once her task force had landed, however, they quickly determined that none of the allied troops were still on planet. Esteban met with McDonald at the spaceport in Torrence on Halfway, Esteban quickly determined that Victor had used the same tactic Esteban herself had employed on Alshain and York, deceiving the task force into attacking on a world where they were no longer present. Determining that Victor's next likely target was Hesperus, Esteban determined that he would face great difficulty taking that prized, industrial world, given its proximity to Duke Robert's Isle of Skye, and that Esteban and McDonald could trap and finish him off there.

Here, Esteban's deduction failed her, as Victor instead enacted Operation SCATTER, splitting his forces in multiple directions from Clinton to prevent Katherine's troops from forcing a decisive battle. Esteban's own task force, with their accompanying WarShip, attempted to corner the allies at Furillo, but the 244th Com Guard Division, which had raided the Defiance Industries facility on-planet, successfully departed before Esteban could engage them. Esteban also sent McDonald and the Eleventh Arcturan to Thuban, where they successfully destroyed a battalion of the Twenty-third Arcturan Guards that had remained behind to repair itself.

Tikonov

Main article: Battle of Tikonov (FedCom Civil War)

On 8 January, 3065, all four primary commands of Task Force 11A descended on Tikonov in pursuit of Prince Victor and his accompanying forces. There were already loyalist forces on-planet in the form of the First and Third Republican Guards, the Tikonov Martial Academy Training Group and the surviving elements of the Fifteenth Deneb Light Cavalry. These forces had managed to secure most of the important sites on planet, including the capital of New Moscow and the vital Earthwerks Incorporated factory in Tikograd. The allies, in addition to Victor's escort in the 244th Com Guards, the Outland Legion, the Sixth Crucis Lancers, the Twenty-third Arcturan Guards and the Valexa Capellan March Militia, joined forces with the already on-planet Davion Assault Guards and First NAIS Cadet Cadre. All the allied units were understrength by this time as a result of the heavy fighting, while the loyalists, controlling the major industrial areas, were better supplied. Victor Steiner-Davion, on the other hand, had been badly shaken by the death of his paramour, Omi Kurita, which had been revealed to him by Katherine herself at the Third Whitting Conference. Victor's grief distracted him from the campaign, which became a devastating meat grinder for both sides with the allies getting the worse of it. The presence of the Free Tikonov Movement also caused problems for both sides with attacks from the local citizenry. In addition, Victor was forced to send the Assault Guards to Addicks to meet the Draconis Combine reprisal attacks. Sensing an opportunity, Esteban promoted McDonald to Brevet General, essentially leaving her in command of all loyalist forces on Tikonov. She then took the LAS Robert Marsden and some elements of the Eleventh Arcturan Guards back into the Lyran Alliance, claiming to be intending to gather more loyalist troops to finish the conflict. In February, Esteban, still retaining her command authority, approved Colonel McDonald's order that the Tikonov system be interdicted in an attempt to trap Victor and his accompanying task force on-planet.

Realizing they could not claim victory in the current situation, the allied command, effectively led by Morgan Kell, decided to change affairs by retreating Victor and much of his forces back to the Alliance. Most of Task Force 11A soon followed.

The Skye Revolt

Despite what she had told McDonald and the Eleventh Arcturan Guards, Esteban had her own plans on how she would proceed.

Feeling the treason, in April, the McDonald's task force arrived in the Skye system. The unit had learned from raid by the Eleventh Lyran Guards, that strength & dispositions of the First Skye Jaegers. Thus McDonald felt her Task force consisting of both her Eleventh Arcturans and First Alarion Jaegers would be sufficient against them. On May 13th, Arcturans and Jaegars landed Skye, brought the battle to the Skye Jaegars and their supporting planetary militia force. The Task Force easily takes capital city of New Glasgow, as the First Skye Jaegars, leery of the Arcturans' reputation, abandoned the city for a mobile defense. The Arcturans faced well-armed citizens defending the city. By June after weeks of off and on fighting, Fourth Skye Rangers arrive in-system from Hesperus II, where they were defeated by Loyalist forces.

This had given General McDonald pause, of facing another regiment of worth of troops. However, General von Frisch, CO of the Rangers, declared he and his forces were neutral in this fight for the planet, siting they had shed too much blood for the Free Skye movement. With relief, McDonald prepared to continue the pursuit of the elusive Skye Jaegers when she received message from Regent Nondi Steiner. She signaled that task force was to head to Tharkad, stating she believe coalition forces were meaning to take the capital.

By late 3066, the Task Force, now only consisting of Eleventh Arcturans and its allied force the First Alarion Jaegers arrived to reinforce Nondi Steiner's First, Second Royal Guards and local ComStar Com Guard unit, the Sixty-sixth Division.

In early January of 3067, the Eleventh Arcturans battled Blue Star Irregulars' Twenty-first Rim Worlds Regiment. The Arcturans gained the upper hand, as the unit overran the mercenary's command battalion during the battle. The loss of the command battalion sent the Rim Worlds into chaos and allowed the Eleventh Arcturans maul regiment, rendering the mercenaries combat ineffective for the rest of the conflict.

After the arrival of the Twenty-fourth Lyran Guards RCT, the General McDonald pulled back the Eleventh Arcturans back to Tharkad City and reinforced the city's defenses.

On March 23rd, General Nondi Steiner lead offensive with Eleventh Arcturan Guards held back with ComStar's Sixty-sixth Com Guard Division held in reserve. The offensive was in streams of water separating Nagelring and Tharkad city known as the Wash. The Fourth Skye Rangers enticed the Arcturan Guards out of position into what became a fruitless pursuit.

The campaign turned bad for the Loyalist since surrender of the Twenty-fourth Lyran Guards, Nondi determination had ever increased. The Peter's coalition attack directly at Tharkad City on the 27th. Where Arcturans' sister unit on opposition's side, Twentieth Arcturan Guards suffered terrible loss, only survive if was not for Blue Star Irregulars stepping in reinforce them. General McDonald, feeling the battle was hopeless and stupid since they were fighting their own people, disobeyed Nondi Steiner's orders and surrendered the Eleventh Arcturans to their sister unit.

BattleMech

Linda McDonald piloted a King Crab during the FedCom Civil War.

Bibliography

• Endgame (novel)
• FedCom Civil War
• Field Manual: Lyran Alliance
• Storms of Fate (novel)