Tatjana Baptiste
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Tatjana Baptiste | |
|---|---|
| Personal | |
| Affiliation | Star League |
| Profile | |
| Rank | General |
General Tatjana Baptiste was the commander of the Star League Defense Force's Fourth Army from at least 2762 to 2784.[1][2][3]
Contents
History[edit]
Early Life[edit]
Tatjana Baptiste was born in one of New Canton's worst slums and was orphaned at age fourteen. Enlisting in the SLDF when she was eighteen, she worked hard to fill the gaps in her education and was allowed to enter officer training at age twenty-six. Following graduation, she held a number of combat postings before rising to command of LXII Corps, and then to leadership of the entire Fourth Army following the retirement of its previous commander General Hunter Mellon.
Fourth Army[edit]
Baptiste was a tall and lithe woman.[3] Generally quiet and introspective, she could become loud on the rare occasions she lost her temper. Restrained from being more proactive on the Taurian Concordat / Federated Suns border with her command due to political and military reasons, her relations with the subordinates were uneven.[4]
She had a quiet relationship with LIV Corps's Major General Kelson Ripley, a cordial one with LXX Corps' Major General Mitchell Cussler, and a tempestuous one with XXXVII Corps and LXII Corps' Major Generals Anne Borden and Roseleen McGuiness. The difficulties with Borden and McGuiness arose due to their aggressive nature, which conflicted with the more defensive posture Baptiste choose to adopt for her army, as well as supply problems and refusals to let the Generals move their headquarters.[5]
The tense relations with Anne Borden continued even though Baptiste had promoted her to the Corps' command, to replace Simone Ffolkes-Smyth after he had refused an SLDF High Command order to withdraw from the Capellan Confederation border during the 2760–2762 Confederation–Suns Border War. The clashes with Borden resulted in Baptiste wanting to remove her from her post, but a lack of qualified replacements made this difficult.[1]
New Vandenberg Uprising[edit]
Baptiste and the Fourth Army were dispatched to suppress the New Vandenberg Uprising, during which she lost half her command. Despite these losses, she was not considered a bloodthirsty officer and did not allow her troops to take out their revenge on civilians.[3]
Exodus[edit]
Baptiste survived the Amaris Civil War, still being in command of Fourth Army on 14 February 2784, to be at Commanding General Aleksandr Kerensky's announcement of Operation EXODUS to senior SLDF's officers on Terra. At this meeting, Baptiste advocated for destroying those SLDF units that had chosen to join one of the Successor State militaries on the basis they were deserters. This view was however rejected by other senior SLDF officers present, and ultimately by Aleksandr Kerensky himself, in preference for his Exodus plan.[3]