Editing Necess Kurita

{{Update Needed|[[Second Succession War (sourcebook)]]}}
{{InfoBoxCharacter
| image               = 
| caption             = 
| name                = Necess Kurita
| birthdate           = [[2884]]<ref name=HKDCLS>''House Kurita (The Draconis Combine)'', foldout: "The Draconis Combine's Line of Succession and Partial Kurita Family Tree"</ref>
| died                = [[2962]]<ref name=HKDCLS/>
| othernames          = 
| affiliation         = [[House Kurita]]<br/>[[ComStar]]
| profession          = 
| parents             = [[Shinjiro Kurita]] (father)
| siblings            = [[Hugai Kurita]]<br>[[Shon-Lee Kurita]]
| spouse              = 
| children            = 
}}
The eldest child of [[Shinjiro Kurita]], '''Necess Kurita''' chose to join [[ComStar]], triggering the so-called '''Necess Kurita Affair'''

==Character History==
While the first born child of 27th [[Coordinator]] Shinjiro Kurita and nominally next in line to the throne after her father's death in [[2925]], Necess was never considered for contention by the generals of the High Command. Thanks to the ''[[bushido]]'' mentality that pervaded the [[DCMS]] and deemed women to be of second-class status, only the most stubborn, strong-willed and exceptional women transcended this bias. Though Necess was just such a woman, she was also singularly uninterested in the Coordinatorship, allowing it to pass unchallenged to her younger brother [[Hugai Kurita|Hugai]].<ref name=HKTDC-83>''House Kurita (The Draconis Combine)'', p. 83: "History - The Third Succession War - Hugai Kurita"</ref>

From an early age Necess had been drawn to the arts of healing and medicine, considering it to be a more noble and honorable pursuit than ruling the Draconis Combine, focusing primarily on the rediscovery of medical techniques and technology lost to the early [[Succession Wars (History)|Succession Wars]]. Operating as medical archaeologist, Necess even traveled to the other Great Houses, refusing to let political boundaries prevent her research. Necess's father was intensely displeased with his daughter's trips, vetoing many and ensuring that the [[ISF]] would track and observe her every move while abroad. These restrictions would only strengthen after his death and the rise of her younger brother to the Coordinatorship, Necess's frustration reaching boiling point and prompting her to join the mystic communications organization ComStar in [[2931]].<ref name=HKTDC-83/><ref name=HKTDC-84>''House Kurita (The Draconis Combine)'', pp. 82–83 (84–85, PDF edition): "History - The Third Succession War - Abduction of an Acolyte"</ref>

{{quote|''I've found that being a Kurita was a major hindrance to my growth as a person. I look forward to anonymity as a member of ComStar.''|Necess Kurita, in a public announcement on her intention to join ComStar, [[Luthien Peoples' News]] Broadcast, 2931<ref name=HKTDC-84/>}}

===Necess Kurita Affair===
While she had hoped for anonymity, as the sister of the serving Coordinator and first member of the main branch of the Kurita family to join the Blessed Order, word of her decision spread like wildfire despite the best efforts of the ISF to suppress it. While ComStar had long desired to attract a high-ranking member of the Kurita family into service with the Order, [[Primus of ComStar|Primus]] [[Hollings York (ComStar)|Hollings York]] and the [[First Circuit]] were deeply concerned by Hugai's response, the Coordinator angrily warning the Primus he considered such recruitment efforts to be akin to meddling in the internal affairs of the Draconis Combine.<ref name=HKTDC-84/><ref name=CS-39>''ComStar'', pp. 39–40: "Age of Enlightenment"</ref><ref name=FMCS-12>''Field Manual: ComStar'', p. 12: "The New Dawn"</ref>

Curtly replying that ComStar likewise did not appreciate the Combine's interference in the Order's internal affairs, Primus York ordered [[Precentor]] [[Luthien]] [[Stephanie Hendriks]] to personally verify if Necess indeed had a calling to join ComStar.  Necess easily passed the usual battery of [[ROM]] tests and her skills as a medical archaeologist made her a welcome addition to ComStar's medical science division, York ultimately approving her appointment as an [[Acolyte]]. While the First Circuit pressed York to exploit Necess's "defection" for its propaganda value, Primus York was greatly concerned about increasing the tensions between ComStar and the Combine and attempted to throw a veil of secrecy over her appointment. Hoping this would act as a show of good faith, York would send a cordial message to the Coordinator explaining her appointment and that rather than the usual yearly transfer of Acolytes, in Necess case he would allow her to remain on Luthien for two rotations as an additional compromise.<ref name=HKTDC-84/><ref name=CS-39/><ref name=FMCS-12/>

Necess would serve her initial apprenticeship as an Acolyte as a medic at the ComStar hospice on Luthien just outside the [[Imperial City]], tending to the [[Unproductives]] who visited the hospice for medical care, food and board. Worried that the tensions between ComStar and the Coordinator showed no sign of abating, Precentor Hendriks assigned two of her best ROM agents to shadow and protect her. In November [[2931]], six ISF agents posing as civilian orderlies tailed Necess to the hospice, opening fire when the ROM guards attempted to arrest them. Four of the ISF agents were killed during the resulting gun battle before both ROM operatives were felled, the surviving ISF agents spiriting Necess to the Imperial City, Hugai ordering her locked away in a distant wing of the palace, two dozen ISF agents guarding against any ROM rescue attempt.<ref name=HKTDC-84/><ref name=CS-39/><ref name=FMCS-12/>

When the First Circuit received Precentor Hendrik's priority transmission of the event, the body debated whether to acquiesce to the Coordinator or escalate the conflict. Though a number of members of the First Circuit called for an [[Interdiction]], York refused the move with support from Precentor [[Dieron]] [[William Fullerton]], pointing out that House Kurita's pride would force them to resist it and that only a military response could satisfy the Combine's honor. While reluctant, the First Circuit ultimately chose to support York's hardline stance and use military troops to back the will of ComStar.<ref name=HKTDC-84/><ref name=CS-39/><ref name=FMCS-12/>

Though the Order lacked a true military, with York's approval the organization used its capacity as the [[Mercenary Review Board]] to sign contracts with almost six [[regiment]]s worth of crack [[mercenary unit]]s, a force considered large enough prompt the Coordinator to reconsider. The pièce de résistance however was [[The Bandersnatches]], a ROM employed mercenary unit in close proximity to Luthien. Primus York then contacted Precentor Hendriks and evoked the never-before used Emergency Powers Act of the [[Communications Protocol of 2787]], allowing her to operate without interference from [[Terra]] and candidly informed her the kidnapping of Necess could not stand, regardless of her background or name.<ref name=HKTDC-84/><ref name=CS-39/><ref name=FMCS-12/>

While he traveled from Terra with the remaining mercenary forces, York placed the Bandersnatches en route to Luthien and all ROM elements on world under Hendrik's direct command along with the order to use whatever force necessary to enforce the will of Blake and ComStar. Hendrik came up with a daring plan to use the Bandersnatches as the Sword of Damocles and perform a combat drop directly onto the Unity Palace to cripple or destroy House Kurita's leadership, receiving York's full support.  As the Bandersnatches approached Luthien, Stephanie Hendriks would spend the time in intense negotiations to try and arrange a meeting between only Hugai, Necess and herself.<ref name=HKTDC-84/><ref name=CS-39/><ref name=FMCS-12/>

Two weeks after Necess abduction Precentor Hendriks finally got her audience with the Coordinator to discuss "a number of open issues" only after she was forced to shut down the Luthien [[HPG]] for twelve hours, sending the Combine government into a panic. Politely but firmly, Precentor Hendriks laid out Primus York's terms to allow Necess to make up her own mind to join ComStar and allow her to leave without interference, Hugai refusing almost immediately, accusing Hendriks and ComStar of brainwashing his sister.  Hendriks then informed the Coordinator that if he did not comply ComStar would impose an Interdiction against the entire Combine, but as Primus York feared, Hugai informed her that the Combine would prevail and that he had already made plans for couriers [[JumpShip]] to carry his orders.<ref name=HKTDC-84/><ref name=CS-39/><ref name=FMCS-12/><ref name=CS-41>''ComStar'', p. 41: "Age of Enlightenment - Outfoxing the Dragon"</ref>

Forced to play her final card, Hendriks presented the Coordinator with a small portable holovid linked to the Bandersnatches commander [[Colonel]] Dietrikson, who informed the leader of the Combine in clear and certain terms that his [[battalion]] was less than ten minutes from initiating a combat drop on the Unity Palace with orders to either rescue Precentor Hendriks and Necess or lay waste to the palace and the Imperial City before evacuation if this was not possible. With his aides convincing him of the danger of headhunter attack, and Hendriks revealing Primus York had further positioned six regiments of troops within striking distance of two of his [[Military District (Draconis Combine)|Military District]] capitals, Hugai eventually agreed to allow both Necess and the Precentor leave without further incident.<ref name=HKTDC-84/><ref name=CS-39/><ref name=FMCS-12/><ref name=CS-41/>

While the Combine hushed up the affair, within ComStar itself York publicized the incident to good effect. Traveling to Terra, Necess would take part in a number of parades and speeches beside the Primus and the Bandersnatches' commander as York used the successful resolution and his personal zeal and charisma to raise his statue almost to the level of [[Jerome Blake]] himself.<ref name=HKTDC-84/><ref name=CS-39/><ref name=FMCS-12/>

The rest of her service in ComStar is unknown.{{cn}}

==References==
<references />

==Bibliography==
* ''[[ComStar (sourcebook)|ComStar]]''
* ''[[Field Manual: ComStar]]''
* ''[[House Kurita (The Draconis Combine)]]''


[[Category:Draconis Combine Characters|Kurita, Necess]]
[[Category:ComStar Characters|Kurita, Necess]]