Editing Joan Brandt

{{InfoBoxCharacter
| image               = 
| caption             = 
| name                = Joan Brandt
| birthdate           = 26 August [[2712]]<ref name=H:LOTV1p60>''Historical: Liberation of Terra Volume 1'', p. 60: "Joan Brandt"</ref>
| died                = 16 March [[2799]]<ref name=H:LOTV1p60/>
| othernames          = 
| affiliation         = [[Terran Hegemony]]
| rank                = [[Admiral]]<ref name=H:LOTV1p60/>
| title               = [[Director of the Naval Command]]
| position            = Commander of Task Force Commonwealth
| profession          = [[Aerospace]] pilot<br>Author
| parents             = 
| siblings            = 
| spouse              = [[Erik Peterson]]<ref name=H:LOTV1p60/>
| children            = [[Carl Peterson]]<ref name=H:LOTV1p60/><br>[[Andrea Peterson]]<ref name=H:LOTV1p60/><br>[[Demitri Peterson]]<ref name=H:LOTV1p60/>
}}
'''Joan Brandt''' was one of the three most senior [[Star League Defense Force]] commanders during [[Operation CHIEFTAIN]].

==History==
===Early Career===
Joan Brandt was born on [[Outreach]] and learned to fly as early as she could. By the time she entered the [[Star League Defense Force#Flight Academy of Graham|Flight Academy of Graham]], she had more than a dozen [[aerospace]] qualifications and logged nearly 1,000 flight hours. Upon graduation, Brandt was assigned to the [[Seventy-fifth Light Horse Regiment]]—considered an honor by many—though she felt their ground support operations were beneath her and not what she joined the SLDF to do. Her pride, ego, and poor attitude held up promotions and got her transferred several times within the [[10th Army (Star League)|Tenth Army]].<ref name=H:LOTV1p60/>

In [[2739]], Brandt engaged in a reckless, unauthorized, and highly skilled mock combat exercise involving two fighters from the [[Free Worlds League]] and was nearly court-martialed, but [[Vice Admiral]] [[Lucien Peterson]] had witnessed her exploits from the bridge of the [[SLS]] [[Golden Hind (Individual WarShip)|''Golden Hind'']] and intervened in the disciplinary proceedings on her behalf, instead transferring her to the [[711th Fleet Interceptor Squadron]], one of the units within the [[7th Fleet (Star League)|Seventh Fleet]]'s aerospace forces stationed aboard the ''Golden Hind''.<ref name=H:LOTV1p60/>

Finally able to utilize her full skill set and potential, Brandt's career skyrocketed. During the [[Third Hidden War]], she notched her fiftieth aerospace victory and was awarded the [[Awards#Geerson Flying Cross|Geerson Flying Cross]] in [[2741]] as the 711th claimed the most bandit fighter kills that year. Brandt rose to the rank of [[commodore]] in [[2747]] and was put in charge of [[Fleet Aero Wing 73]], and again promoted to [[rear admiral]] in [[2750]] to command the SLS ''[[Arkhangelsk]]'', the flagship of the Seventh Fleet. For most of that decade, she alternated between [[WarShip]] and fighter groups in the Seventh and [[5th Fleet (Star League)|Fifth]] Fleets, ultimately being given command of the [[2nd Fleet (Star League)|Second Fleet]] in [[2759]].<ref name=H:LOTV1p60/>

===Periphery Uprising===
[[Commanding General of the Star League Defense Force|Commanding General]] [[Aleksandr Kerensky]] promoted Joan Brandt to Director of [[Star League Defense Force#Naval|Naval Command]] in [[2762]] but she stepped down two years later to oversee combat operations in the [[Magistracy of Canopus]] during the [[Periphery Uprising]].<ref name=H:LOTV1p60/> Army Group Twelve consisted of five SLDF Armies and Brandt's initial efforts were focused on securing the border, with the [[13th Army (Star League)|Thirteenth Army]] securing the worlds around [[Lindenmarle]] and the [[12th Army (Star League)|Twelfth Army]] securing the worlds around [[Borgan's Rift]]. She then had the [[9th Army (Star League)|Ninth]] and Tenth Armies push deeper into Magistracy territory, isolating the capital, and plans were well underway for the capture of [[Canopus]] when Kerensky ordered a cessation of hostilities at the onset of the [[Amaris Civil War]].<ref name=H:LOTV1p95>''Historical: Liberation of Terra Volume 1'', p. 95: "Troops Involved in the Magistracy Uprising"</ref>

===Amaris Civil War===
Joan Brandt was the ideal officer to lead Task Force Commonwealth, one of Kerensky's three theaters during [[Operation CHIEFTAIN]].<ref name=H:LOTV1p60/> Having occupied the [[Rim Worlds Republic]] for a couple years as a staging area to regroup and resupply at the beginning of the war, the SLDF forces departed in early [[2772]], with Brandt's task force leaving last, by 9 February, due to having the shortest distance to travel to the [[Terran Hegemony]] compared to the task forces commanded by Kerensky and [[Aaron DeChavilier]].<ref name=H:LOTV1p110-118>''Historical: Liberation of Terra Volume 1'', pp. 110, 118: "The Death of the Republic - The Message"</ref> The total forces under her command included twenty-seven [[BattleMech]] [[division]]s, seventy-three [[infantry]] divisions, and 101 independent regiments—the largest of the three task forces given it was responsible for the largest front, with target worlds ranging from [[Bordon]] along the Free Worlds League border, to [[Nashira]] on the [[Draconis Combine]] border.<ref name=H:LOTV1p120-122>''Historical: Liberation of Terra Volume 1'', pp. 120–122: "Operation CHIEFTAIN - When the Hammer Falls"</ref>

In the opening wave, which started in July 2772 and concluded at the end of [[2774]],<ref name=H:LOTV1p138>''Historical: Liberation of Terra Volume 1'', p. 138: "Operation Liberation Wave 1"</ref> Brandt's task force faced mixed resistance, ranging from little to none on the Draconis border<ref name=H:LOTV1p122b>''Historical: Liberation of Terra Volume 1'', p. 122: "Draconis Front"</ref> to more determined Amaris defenders along the Free Worlds border.<ref name=H:LOTV1p127>''Historical: Liberation of Terra Volume 1'', p. 127: "Free Worlds Front"</ref> In instances where they encountered relatively light opposition, Brandt directed her troops to focus on supporting the local populations, though it also allowed the SLDF forces to push ahead rapidly to liberate additional worlds.<ref name=H:LOTV1p122b/> Meanwhile, Brandt felt the greatest threat to her task force was the Republican navy, but this ended up not being the case. They had been mostly preoccupied by the [[Secret Fleet (Star League)|Secret Fleet]], and those that encountered the massive SLDF invasion fleets were quick to withdraw. On the other hand, the naval battles at [[Lone Star]] and [[Nusakan]] would end up being the largest since the [[Reunification War]] and the costliest victories of the first wave,<ref name=H:LOTV1p122a>''Historical: Liberation of Terra Volume 1'', p. 122: "When the Hammer Falls"</ref> with more than a hundred SLDF WarShips destroyed or crippled.<ref name=H:LOTV1p124-127>''Historical: Liberation of Terra Volume 1'', pp. 124, 127: "The Battle for Lone Star - Hegemony Core"</ref>

In [[2775]], Joan Brandt was charged with liberating more worlds than either of Kerensky's or DeChavilier's task forces, bypassing most of the systems defended by powerful [[Space Defense System]]s and supporting so many ravaged worlds left crippled or abandoned by Amaris forces. Brandt's thinly-stretched forces were relieved of having to secure [[Altair]] and [[Tyrfing]], but [[Dieron]] would be her most dreaded assignment. There, the navy fleet would be assisted by over thirty of the new [[Project NIKE]] ships developed with jamming equipment which—refined after first being tested at [[New Home]]—reduced the effectiveness of the SDS' Caspar drones and led to the eventual pacification of the world.<ref name=H:LOTV2p40>''Historical: Liberation of Terra Volume 2'', p. 40: "Task Force Commonwealth - Dieron"</ref> Still, Kerensky's projections indicated the SLDF might not have the numbers to continue at their current pace liberating every world, and at the [[Carver Conference]] he proposed bypassing many SDS-protected systems to reach [[Terra]] within a year. For three days, Brandt and DeChavilier led heated arguments both for and against the plan, though ultimately agreement to proceed was unanimous.<ref name=H:LOTV2p47>''Historical: Liberation of Terra Volume 2'', p. 47: "We're Going Home"</ref>

Admiral Brandt commanded the battle group that jumped into Terra through the nadir point on 23 January [[2777]], opposite of Admiral [[Janos Grec]], whose task force entered through the zenith jump point, and [[Task Force Leonidas]], which entered through a pirate point close to [[Mars (planet)|Mars]] three days later. Together, they had to protect the troop transports against the daunting SDS drone fleet of around 250 ships. Brandt's forces would lose the better part of 100 WarShips but only a small handful of transports.<ref name=H:LOTV2p59-62>''Historical: Liberation of Terra Volume 2'', pp. 59–62: "Operation BARBICAN - The Gauntlet"</ref> Once boots were on the ground on Terra, Brandt's and Grec's sole focus was repairing as many ships as possible to clear out the four SDS-defended systems that remained, which commenced in November and wrapped up in the summer of [[2778]].<ref name=H:LOTV2p91-92>''Historical: Liberation of Terra Volume 2'', pp. 91–92: "Winner Takes All"</ref> At the end of the war, Brandt would oversee naval support from orbit for the final assault on [[Stefan Amaris]]' Imperial Palace in September [[2779]].<ref name=H:LOTV2p106>''Historical: Liberation of Terra Volume 2'', p. 106: "The Usurper's Redoubt"</ref>

===After the War===
Joan Brandt retired to [[New Earth]] with her husband [[Erik Peterson]] and son [[Carl Peterson|Carl]]. She would write several historical works recounting the SLDF's actions before and during the war.<ref name=H:LOTV1p60/>

==Notes==
* Special Rules for Joan Brandt can be found on ''Historical: Liberation of Terra Volume 1'', page 151.

==References==
<references />

==Bibliography==
* ''[[Historical: Liberation of Terra Volume 1]]''
* ''[[Historical: Liberation of Terra Volume 2]]''

[[Category:Terran Hegemony Characters|Brandt, Joan]]