Difference between revisions of "Ian Dresari"
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During the final assault on the capital, Ian was forced to choose between rescuing his sister, who had been captured during a failed insurgent operation, and capturing a cache of much-needed Mechs, supplies, and materiel. Knowing that the cache would be critical in securing victory, Ian reluctantly abandoned his sister. Using the supplies obtained in the cache, he led an assault on the palace, where he defeated his treacherous cousin [[William Dresari|William]] and drove the last of the Loyalist forces off world. Ian was subsequently crowned Duke of Kentares. | During the final assault on the capital, Ian was forced to choose between rescuing his sister, who had been captured during a failed insurgent operation, and capturing a cache of much-needed Mechs, supplies, and materiel. Knowing that the cache would be critical in securing victory, Ian reluctantly abandoned his sister. Using the supplies obtained in the cache, he led an assault on the palace, where he defeated his treacherous cousin [[William Dresari|William]] and drove the last of the Loyalist forces off world. Ian was subsequently crowned Duke of Kentares. | ||
| − | The game has an alternate ending in which Ian does not abandon his sister and instead saves her. Once the Loyalist forces have been defeated, Ian passes the rule of Kentares to his sister and leaves with his forces to join the fight against Katrina Steiner off-world. However, the later expansion ''Black Knight | + | The game has an alternate ending in which Ian does not abandon his sister and instead saves her. Once the Loyalist forces have been defeated, Ian passes the rule of Kentares to his sister and leaves with his forces to join the fight against Katrina Steiner off-world. However, the later expansion ''Black Knight'', where the player is cast as the leader of the eponymous mercenary unit and has to depose Duke Ian Dresari, establishes that this was not Ian's choice in the games canon. |
===Tyrant=== | ===Tyrant=== | ||
Revision as of 02:44, 31 January 2024
Ian Dresari | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Personal | |
| Born | ca. 3031 (implied; see Notes) |
| Affiliation | House Dresari |
| Profile | |
| Title(s) | Duke of Kentares IV[1] |
| Profession | MechWarrior |
| Family | |
| Parents | Eric Dresari (father)[1] |
| Siblings | Joanna Dresari[1] |
Ian Dresari was a noble from the Federated Commonwealth world of Kentares IV, who became Duke following the murder of his father, Eric Dresari, by Loyalist forces under the command of Lord Marcus Roland[2]. Dresari was able to mount a successful resistance against the Loyalist forces and secured the world against further raids for the duration of the conflict.[3]
Contents
History
FedCom Civil War
Ian Dresari was away from his home planet during the initial purges conducted by Lord Roland against his father, the militia, and those loyal to him. Hearing word of what had happened, Dresari returned to Kentares at the head of a motley mix of former AFFC officers and mercenaries hired from the Chaos March, arriving sometime between September 3063 and February 3064. Once he made landfall, he was able to link up with the extant resistance cells and wage a successful guerilla war against the occupying Clovis DMM and Fifth Donegal Guards forces, despite being grossly outnumbered. Within three months, he managed to rout both much larger forces and captured both Lord Roland and the head of the Clovis DMM, Leftenant General Jackson Pory. Dresari put both of the men on trial for their crimes against the people of Kentares, then moved to cement his hold on the planet. These efforts demanded much of his focus until October 3064.[3]
By January 3065, Dresari had organized the remnants of his personal force, along with elements the Clovis DMM and Fifth Donegal Guards that chose to join his side, into the Kentares DMM. The unit consisted only of two 'Mech battalions and two combined arms battalions, but compensated for their small size with high morale and experience. On the 23rd of January, the Draconis Combine's Third Benjamin Regulars launched a surprise raid on the newly-liberated world and managed to successfully drive the Duke and his Kentares DMM from their headquarters in an old Star League fortress. Dresari and his forces were not used to conventional battle and took heavy casualties, despite putting up fierce resistance that was itself costly to the encroaching DCMS forces. The AFFS forces were saved when the Tenth Lyran Guards fortuitously arrived in system while en route to reinforce Victor Steiner-Davion. Knowing that they were outnumbered, the Regulars mustered their 'Mechs and faced the Lyran Guards and Kentares DMM head-on in honorable combat. Duke Dresari led his unit into battle once more and successfully defeated the Regulars, who were captured and treated humanely until their release at the end of the war.[4]
MechWarrior 4: Vengeance
Ian Dresari is the protagonist and main character of the MechWarrior 4: Vengeance computer game and the main opponent in its expansion pack, MechWarrior 4: Black Knight. While these games provide a great deal more information about the character, they do not fall under the current criteria for canon, and must be regarded as apocryphal instead along with their portrayal of Ian Dresari.
History
Ian Dresari was the son of Duke Eric Dresari, the heriditary ruler of Kentares and a highly vocal political enemy of Archon Katherine Steiner-Davion. Ian was also the nephew of AFFC Colonel Sir Peter Dresari, a MechWarrior commander in the Fourth Davion Guards, Duke Eric's brother. With two older brothers, Ian was third in line for the title of Duke. Feeling that he would never rule, but still feeling the weight of his family's expectations, Ian slowly devolved into a wild and irresponsible young man. His lifestyle was so hedonistic and embarrassing that his father eventually disowned him, despite the protestations of his sister Joanna. With nowhere else to go and no pressure from his family name, Ian decided to enlist in the AFFC, hoping to find some thrills in action against the Clans.
Though he joined for what some might consider the wrong reasons, Ian's trial by fire against the Clans matured him and unearthed the potential buried deep within him. He distinguished himself admirably in battle during Operation Bird Dog, the Star League Defense Force invasion of Port Arthur, and later during his service in Operation Bulldog and Task Force Serpent. With his new found maturity, he found a new perspective on his family and father. Instead of being bitter towards Duke Eric, Ian was thankful that he had forced him to find his own way. He secretly hoped to return home one day and finally win his father's approval.[5]
Return Home
After the murder of Duke Eric Dresari in late 3062 at the hands of Lord Marcus Roland, Ian returned to his homeworld, under the command of his uncle, Peter Dresari. When Peter was killed in combat by the Loyalist officer Duncan Burke, Ian, as the last surviving Dresari known to the resistance, was forced to take command of the unit. After building the unit and successfully executing several guerilla operations against the occupying forces, Ian discovered that his sister Joanna was still alive, leading a local resistance cell. Together, the two joined their forces against the Loyalist forces and eventually regained control of Kentares IV.
During the final assault on the capital, Ian was forced to choose between rescuing his sister, who had been captured during a failed insurgent operation, and capturing a cache of much-needed Mechs, supplies, and materiel. Knowing that the cache would be critical in securing victory, Ian reluctantly abandoned his sister. Using the supplies obtained in the cache, he led an assault on the palace, where he defeated his treacherous cousin William and drove the last of the Loyalist forces off world. Ian was subsequently crowned Duke of Kentares.
The game has an alternate ending in which Ian does not abandon his sister and instead saves her. Once the Loyalist forces have been defeated, Ian passes the rule of Kentares to his sister and leaves with his forces to join the fight against Katrina Steiner off-world. However, the later expansion Black Knight, where the player is cast as the leader of the eponymous mercenary unit and has to depose Duke Ian Dresari, establishes that this was not Ian's choice in the games canon.
Tyrant
Shortly after Ian was confirmed as Duke, House Steiner used propaganda broadcasts and deviously planned attacks to make it appear that Duke Ian was responsible for the destruction of the planet's cities, killed numerous innocent civilians, disbanded the Kentares Senate in revenge for two of their Senators turning against him, suspended civil liberties by declaring planetwide martial law and even claimed that Duke Ian had turned his back on the Davions and was cooperating with the Lyrans. As a result, most of the people of Kentares rebelled against their Duke and labeled him a tyrant, little different from his Loyalist predecessors.
House Steiner ordered one of their mercenary liaisons, Major Carissa Dupree, to hire the Black Knight Legion to kill Dresari and his closest supporters and take back the planet for "Archon Katrina". The Legion succeeded in their mission on Kentares, believing they had killed Duke Ian.
(It has been suggested that the fight against the Black Knight Legion is covered under the "occasional attacks" mentioned in the FedCom Civil War sourcebook.)
DCMS Reprisal
It turned out that the Black Knight Legion had failed to kill Duke Ian, as he was still alive in January 3065, nearly two years after his supposed "death."
During the FedCom Civil War, Duke James Sandoval of the Federated Commonwealth's Draconis March (where Kentares IV is located) attempted an unauthorized invasion of the Draconis Combine, his family's longtime enemy. When this invasion failed, generals of the Draconis Combine Mustered Soldiery organized a counterattack against Duke Sandoval and his Draconis March. One of the planets chosen as a reprisal target was Kentares IV, long considered a grievous stain upon the honor of the Combine.
The Third Benjamin Regulars were assigned to erase that stain of honor by capturing Kentares for the Combine. On 23 January 3065, the Regulars landed on Kentares and immediately engaged Duke Ian and his Kentares DMM in battle. Although Ian and the DMM were determined to hold off the Regulars, the DMM was heavily outnumbered and outgunned.
Salvation for Duke Ian and the DMM came in the form of the pro-Victor Tenth Lyran Guards, who were en route to Tikonov to assist Prince Victor, but were forced to make an unscheduled stop in the Kentares system due to sabotage of their JumpShips. Marshal James McFarland, commander of the Tenth, decided to assist the beleaguered Duke Ian. A week later, the surviving Third Benjamin Regulars were forced to surrender and were imprisoned on Kentares.[6]
BattleMechs
Ian Dresari piloted a Shadow Cat, probably a war trophy from the war of the clans, during the first phase of the campaign to liberate his world of Steiner's rule. After becoming the Duke of Kentares, he would pilot a Dire Wolf that he claimed from the fallen Evanda Castro, until his defeat at the hands of the Black Knight Legion.
Notes
- Jules Gonzales noted that Ian had "served during the Clan War." Ian told Karl Sonntag how he used artillery strikes against Clan Smoke Jaguar on Port Arthur.
- In the computer game, Ian Dresari was portrayed by actor Troy Norton. At the time of filming the scenes in 2000, Troy Norton (born in 1969) was 31 years old. This would suggest Ian Dresari's age to be around 31 at the beginning of MechWarrior 4: Vengeance (set in late 3062), in turn loosely suggesting his birth date might be around the year 3031.