Jessica Bassner
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Jessica Bassner | |
|---|---|
| Personal | |
| Affiliation | Federated Suns |
| Profile | |
| Rank | General[1] |
Jessica Bassner was the commanding officer of the Third Deneb Light Cavalry as of 2828.[1]
History[edit]
When the Capellan Confederation launched its invasion of the Federated Suns' Chesterton region in June 2828, General Bassner was the commanding officer of Chesterton's defenses. Bassner commanded a force comprised of two Capellan March Militia units, the Fourth Crucis Lancers, and her own Third Deneb Light Cavalry against Colonel Fa Zeng Li and his Seventh and Eighth Tikonov Lancers with heavy conventional and WarShip support. Bassner was unable to contest the Capellans' landings, as the two WarShips they brought to Chesterton quickly achieved orbital supremacy, but quickly put the landing zones under intense pressure once they were established. The Seventh Tikonov Lancers had to resort to chemical weapons in order to relieve the pressure on their LZ and the Eighth Tikonov, while successful in pushing out of their LZ and into the city of Tristram, was almost crushed between a Third DLC combat drop into their rear and a frontal assault from the Chesterton CMM.[1]
With the Eighth Tikonov battered and on the run from two of Bassner's units and the Seventh in a continuing stalemate with the Crucis Lancers, the word of Chancellor Ilsa Liao's death on Orbisonia spelled the end for the invasion of Chesterton. To add injury to insult, the arrival of two Federated Suns WarShips in orbit resulted in the destruction of a third of the retreating Confederation troops and the demise of both of their WarShip escorts.[1]
General Bassner remained in command of the Third DLC by 2834, when she was given command of the Federated Suns' third attempted conquest of Tikonov. Landing alongside the mercenary unit Kergawa's Blood Lances, Bassner's troops quickly secured most of their objectives ahead of the arrival of the much heavier Second Davion Guards. Despite these early successes, rumblings of a Confederation counterattack began to greatly concern Bassner, especially as the Second Davion Guards failed to appear after weeks of anti-insurgent policing actions. On 2 July, Bassner received an update that confirmed her worst fears: a Draconis Combine assault on Sanilac had locked the Second Davion in place, meaning that reinforcements for the Third DLC would not be coming.[2]
As the Federated Suns' High Command debated its options, the First Prince made a decision that would save Bassner and the Third DLC but doom any hopes of taking Tikonov for centuries to come: he recalled the unit rather than lose them to the inevitable Capellan reprisal. Just as the order to retreat arrived, McCormack's Fusiliers of the Northwind Highlanders broke through Bassner's naval cordon and began landing on Tikonov. The Blood Lances bore the initial brunt of this attack before the Third DLC could organize itself and launch a fighting retreat, leading to the salvation of the Third Deneb Light Cavalry at the cost of the mercenaries' destruction.[2]