Editing Simone Marik

{{InfoBoxCharacter
| image               = 
| name                = Simone Marik
| birthdate           = [[2440]]<ref name=HHM84>''Handbook: House Marik'', pp. 84-85, "Captains-General in History"</ref>
| died                = [[2475]]<ref name=HM:FWLft>''House Marik (The Free Worlds League)'', foldout (p. 171 in PDF): "The Captains-General Line of Succession and Partial Marik Family Tree"</ref>
| othernames          = 
| affiliation         = [[House Marik]]
| rank                = [[Captain-General of the Free Worlds League|Captain-General]] of the [[Free Worlds League]]
| title               = 
| position            = 
| profession          = Noble
| parents             = [[Geralk Marik]] (father)<ref name=HM:FWLft/>
| siblings            = [[Carlos Marik (25th c.)|Carlos Marik]]<ref name=HM:FWLft/><br/>[[Brion Marik]]<ref name=HM:FWLft/>
| spouse              = 
| children            = 
}}
'''Simone Marik''' was a [[House Marik]] noblewoman, politician, and the fourteenth [[Captain-General of the Free Worlds League|Captain-General]] of the [[Free Worlds League]].

==History==
Simone was noted for being blunt and for her intelligence. Simone was never a soldier and was a reluctant leader. She also had a passion for horseback riding.<ref name=HHM84 />

===Captain-General===
Simone was the daughter of the bloodthirsty Captain-General Geralk Marik. She was appointed Captain-General at the age of nineteen by the Free Worlds League Parliament after her father's death on [[Loric]] in [[2459]].<ref name=HHM84 /> She was the youngest Captain-General to that point.<ref name=HHM>''Handbook: House Marik'', p. 21</ref>When taking office, she stated, "My first ambition is to avoid making history."<ref>''House Marik (The Free Worlds League)'', p. 16, "Tribute"</ref><ref name=HHMtsf>''Handbook: House Marik'', p. 21, "The Successful Failure"</ref>

She began her tenure by instituting reforms of the League's economy and pushed for technological expansion. Her foresight concerning the needs of the League led her to order NIA agents to gain access to Lyran secrets. Her agents convinced disgruntled technicians to defect with complete plans for the Commonwealth's new [[BattleMech]] designs in [[2462]].<ref name=HHM /><ref name=HHMtsf /><ref name=HM16>''House Marik (The Free Worlds League)'', p. 16, "Tenure of Geralk Marik"</ref>

Her efforts led to a limited production run of the League's first indigenous BattleMech design, considered primitive even by [[Succession Wars (History)|Succession Wars]] standards, the ''[[Icarus]]''. In one of her only notable military actions, she ordered the prototypes into battle against the Lyran Commonwealth. The Lyrans' incursion of League space, which started in [[2468]], had retaken [[Cavanaugh II]] and [[Bella I]] with their new BattleMech-enhanced forces. However, League military forces had been stalling their invasion on [[Alula Australis]]. In the midst of an ongoing battle to take the planet, the ''Icarus'' prototypes slipped onto Alula Australis. The League 'Mechs, combined with conventional forces, were able to turn the tide of battle and forced the Lyrans off the planet. Alula Australians were so thrilled with the victory that they conducted independence celebrations that went on for five weeks.<ref name=HHM /><ref name=HM16 /><ref name=HHM19>''Handbook: House Marik'', p. 19, "Proliferation: The Rise of the Free Worlds League BattleMechs"</ref>

Simone knew the state could not build BattleMechs efficiently, so she gifted BattleMech schematics to several League corporations in exchange for greatly reduced bulk purchases of their designs, setting the stage for mass-production.<ref name=HHM19 />

The wealth of the Free Worlds League grew, as did the rivalry between the League and the [[Terran Hegemony]]. Simone reshaped her military and economy.<ref name=HHM /><ref name=HHMtsf />

In [[2475]], [[Chancellor]] of the [[Capellan Confederation]] [[Jasmine Liao]] contacted Simone in a bid to strengthen their nations through marriage. These efforts ended in failure because Simone refused to marry then twelve-year-old [[Raxal Liao]], reasoning that her tenure as Captain-General would be over by the time they could consummate the marriage. In a bid to resolve the problem, Simone suggested one of her brothers should marry Jasmine's niece. This suggestion was put down by the Jasmine, as was Simone's more ambitious offer. Simone offered several worlds of the [[Duchy of Andurien]] in exchange for assistance in an invasion of the Terra Hegemony. The League's Parliament developed a displeasure with Simone's actions as Captain-General and took notice of Simone's failures. With the diplomatic failure with Liao, the Parliament  decided to no longer support Simone. So when her tenure came up for renewal as Captain-General in 2475, the Parliament allow it to lapse. They then appointed a new Captain-General, her brother Carlos.<ref name=HHM /><ref name=HHMtsf />

During her tenure there was a revival of the Twentieth-century sitcom in her court and writer [[Kenneth Branson]] showed how the numerous remakes that resulted were subtly altered to reflect the political goals of '''Simone Marik''' reign.<ref name=laugh>''BattleCorps: INN Newscast (Solaris Broadcasting Co. section), news item published [12/08/3071]: "Capsule Reviews"''</ref>

===Death and afterward===
Simone Marik stepped down from office and returned to private life. Within seven weeks of her retirement she was killed in a horseback riding accident. She was only thirty-five years old. She served the League's as its Captain-General for 16 years. Having no children of her own, she was survived by her brothers [[Carlos Marik|Carlos]] and [[Brion Marik|Brion]].<ref name=HHM84 />

==References==
<references />

==Bibliography==
* ''[[House Marik (The Free Worlds League)]]''
* ''[[Handbook: House Marik]]''

[[Category: free Worlds League Characters|Marik, Simone]]