Candace Liao

Candace Liao
Personal
Born	2988
Died	3068
Affiliation	House Liao
Profile
Profession	Duchess of St. Ives
Family
Parents	Maximilian Liao (father)
Siblings	Romano Liao Tormano Liao
Spouse	Justin Allard
Children	Kai Allard-Liao Cassandra Allard-Liao Kuan-Yin Allard-Liao Quintus Allard-Liao

Candace Liao (b. 2988- d. 3068, age 80) was the oldest daughter of Chancellor Maximilian Liao of the Capellan Confederation. She was an accomplished MechWarrior before injuries forced her into less active roles. She presided over the rise and fall of the St. Ives Compact, and was known as a peacemaker and a moderating force on the Star League Council.

History

Early Life

Born on Genoa as the eldest child of the Chancellor, and his heir-apparent after her brother Tormano Liao fell out of favor, Candace became the Duchess of St. Ives. She did not want to become married as she preferred the life of a single woman and loved diamonds, fur, and leather. Intelligent and beautiful, she was able to remain heir even though she disagreed with, and barely even liked, her father. Maximilian Liao for his part saw in the strong-willed Candace the perfect means to dominate Anton Marik when, as part of encouraging Anton's failed rebellion against his brother Janos Marik, he promised then-adolescent Candace as a future bride for Anton.

Candace was also a talented MechWarrior. Her military career was cut short in 3017, when she was forced to eject from her 'Mech during a battle on Spica. She suffered serious injuries due to a malfunction which caused the canopy to remain partly in place when she was ejected. Ironically, the pilot who defeated her was Justin Xiang Allard.

Fourth Succession War

On August 20, 3028, Candace attended the wedding of Hanse Davion and Melissa Steiner on Terra. When Davion made his now-infamous speech to his new bride ending with: "I give you the Capellan Confederation!", thus beginning the Fourth Succession War, Maximilian Liao, who was sitting to Candace's right, jumped out of his seat, gathered up his dishes in his arms and began screaming insults at Davion. Candace, momentarily stunned by this shocking revelation and Maximilian's most undignified response, attempted to calm the Chancellor. Justin Allard, who was sitting to her left, calmly raised his wine glass in a silent toast to Davion, who returned the gesture with the same calm.

Candace spent the war on Sian engaged in subtle power struggles with her sister Romano, while her relationship with Justin Allard grew stronger. In an effort to preserve something of her nation's people and culture, which Candace believed was facing doom, she also composed a message to Hanse Davion requesting terms for surrender. Candace confided this to Justin, about to depart for a raid on Bethel, who agreed to leave the message where it would be found and delivered to Davion. Candace also denuded the St. Ives Commonality of JumpShips, signalling to Davion that St. Ives would not be used as a staging area for attacks on the Federated Suns; the First Prince reciprocated the gesture and shifted his forces elsewhere.

Marriage and Children

She met Justin Xiang on Sian in 3027, whom she did not realize was a Davion spy. In 3029, at the end of the Fourth Succession War, she escaped with the rescue mission sent for 'Xiang' (Allard), broke the St. Ives Commonality away from the battered Confederation, renamed it the St. Ives Compact, and married Allard.

Together the couple had four children.

• Kai Allard-Liao (3030-3123) was a close friend of Victor Steiner-Davion. He almost single-handedly destroyed the Falcon Guard on Twycross, was a two-time Solaris champion, defeated Khan Vlad Ward during the Great Refusal, and died fighting the Capellans for the Republic of the Sphere.
• Cassandra Allard-Liao is at least partially responsible for escalating the violence that led to the Capellan-St. Ives War, after which she joined Rubinsky's Light Horse.
• Kuan-Yin Allard-Liao helped run relief shipments from the Capellan March into the Compact during the Capellan-St. Ives War, then negotiated the treaty that ended that war on behalf of her mother.
• Quintus Allard-Liao followed in his father and older brother's footsteps by attending the New Avalon Military Academy.

Around 3045, she was diagnosed with breast cancer. Successful treatments at the New Avalon Institute of Science sent the cancer into remission.

Ruler of St. Ives

In a bid to rescue her St. Ives holdings from the disintegrating Confederation and her father's growing madness, Candace declared her realm's independence at the end of the Fourth Succession War. With her husband's aid, and building upon the unspoken detente established during the war, support and an offer of mutual peace between St. Ives and the Steiner-Davion alliance was negotiated.

Candace spent the first two years of her reign struggling with threats internal and external. Confederation loyalists opposed to the secession mounted armed resistance on several Compact worlds, even briefly seizing control of St. Ives' capital Tian-tan, while Romano Liao ordered numerous raids against the new nation that inflicted damage to half a dozen worlds. Despite her soldiers' valiant efforts, they were unable to stop the raiding, and Candace was forced to appeal to the Federated Suns for aid. With military and intelligence-related assistance from the Suns, the rebels were crushed and the Confederation raids curtailed. Fortunately the majority of the Compact's people were firmly supportive of their new ruler and nation, and the threat of internal rebellion never arose again.

Ironically, Candace's next challenge came from the very ally that had just cemented her rule over St. Ives. When the Confederation was invaded by a joint Canopian-Andurien alliance in early 3031, Hanse Davion intended to take full advantage and finish off the Confederation for good. Believing that Candace would support the final liberation of the Capellan people from Maximilian's tyranny, Davion was unprepared for her curt refusal to aid him. Instead she expelled the AFFS forces in her realm and declared that the Confederation would receive the full support of the Compact if it were attacked by the Federated Suns. The threat of war between Candace's tiny realm and the vast Steiner-Davion state was averted, partly thanks to the efforts of Justin Allard and Melissa Steiner-Davion, and Hanse Davion ceased both his invasion plans and his covert attempts to assimilate the Compact into the nascent Federated Commonwealth.

The remainder of the 3030s and 3040s passed with little turmoil, as the Compact's economy boomed with the increase in trade with the Federated Commonwealth. Candace did not pursue overt hostilities with the Confederation but did constantly and publicly advocate the removal of her tyrannical sister from power.

The Clan Invasion

Though she was not personally affected by the Clans, she journeyed with the other leaders of the Inner Sphere to Outreach in 3051 to take part in the summit led by Jaime Wolf. She did little there except earn the renewed ire of her sister Romano. Romano sent an assassin to dispatch Candace and her husband, but the myomers that replaced her real muscle after the removal of the breast cancer absorbed the assassin's blow. Justin did not fare so well, however, though he managed to kill the intruder before he succumbed to his wounds.

Candace secretly traveled to Sian while she was believed dead to exact revenge upon her sister. With the help of Warrior House Imarra's Master Ion Rush, she gained admittance to the Celestial Palace and killed both Romano and her long-time lover, Tsen Shang. In a subsequent meeting with Romano's son Sun-Tzu Liao, she explained to him her reasoning for the killings and why she would allow him to take the throne - Candace saw in Sun-Tzu a ruler the Confederation would need - as well as a warning that she could at any time arrange for his downfall.

The Capellan-St. Ives War

This decision returned to haunt her when Sun-Tzu manipulated a war between his Confederation and her Compact in 3060. The Capellan-St. Ives War slowly but surely saw her Compact fall to the Capellan Confederation. The capital of St. Ives fell in 3062 after Candace made the decision to abandon it so she could concentrate her nation's resources on holding the bulk of its worlds. Realizing that this was only delaying the inevitable, Candace sent Kuan-Yin to Sian to negotiate for a cease fire. Together with the efforts of former Precentor Martial Anastasius Focht, an agreement was reached in which the Compact would become the St. Ives Commonality once more, but Candace and her scions were confirmed as its hereditary rulers.

Despite expectations to the contrary Sun-Tzu did not insist that Candace stay on Sian as a hostage, and so aside from Prefectorate meetings there she remained on St. Ives for the next four years overseeing the integration of her Commonality with the rest of the Capellan state.

Death and Afterward

In early 3068, Duke George Hasek launched an offensive that was aimed at securing a buffer between the St. Ives Commonality and the rest of the Confederation so that the Compact could be resurrected. It is unclear whether or not this invasion was made with the approval of Candace or any other member of her family. She was killed when the Word of Blake took advantage of the situation and used a WarShip to bombard the Capellan capital of Sian in late 3068 as part of their Jihad.

BattleMechs

During her battle with Justin Allard on Spica, she piloted a Vindicator.

Quotes

“	Oh, yes, we are a brake on the wishes of the Chancellor. My father sits at the head of our council, determines who can and cannot hold the nobility required to sit, and controls the military that protects us. Quite a brake we are.	”
	— Remark made by Duchess Candace Liao, 3026

“	Romano's paranoia makes her dangerous. Giving her something to focus it on makes her decidedly less so.	”
	— Prime Minister Candace Liao, Outreach, 13 Jan 3051

Portrait Gallery

• 

  Illustration of Candace Liao

• 

  Candace at the Age of 62

• Candace Liao 2.jpg

  At Age of 73

Bibliography

• Blake Ascending
• Blood Legacy
• Dawn of the Jihad
• FedCom Civil War (sourcebook)
• Field Manual: Capellan Confederation
• Grave Covenant
• Handbook: House Liao
• House Liao (The Capellan Confederation)
• The Killing Fields
• Lost Destiny
• Prince of Havoc
• Threads of Ambition
• Warrior: Coupé
• Warrior: En Garde
• Warrior: Riposte