Tormano Liao

Tormano Liao (b 2996 – d. 3062), also known as Tormana Liao, was the youngest of Maxmilian Liao's three children, and is best known for his role as a political advisor. In the thirty years from the Fourth Succession War to the FedCom Civil War, Tormano Liao could be found as one of the lead advisors to many political leaders. Another of his legacies was the creation of the Free Capella movement, which united many disparate anti-Confederation groups into one cohesive organization. Free Capella would later fund the Blackwind Lancers and Jie Fang Legion.

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Tormana at the Age of 54

Biography

Early life

Tormano Liao was born on Sian in 2996. The only real time he went against his father, Maximilian Liao, was when he married a commoner from Brazen Heart, and refused to divorce her at the Chancellor's order. Enraged, Maximilian named his oldest daughter Candace the heir to the Celestial Throne, removing Tormano and his offspring from the Capellan ruling line. He then placed himself in exile to Hsien as part of the 1st Ariana Fusiliers.

Marriage and children

Sometime prior to 3025 Tormano married Hanya No Cha, a botanist. They had Two children, Treyhang and daughter.

Fourth Succession War

The events of the Fourth Succession War profoundly affected Tormano's life. In 3028, Tormano was finishing the fourth year of his self-imposed exile as a major in the 1st Ariana Fusiliers. In the first wave, the Fusiliers homeworld was attacked by the Eridani Light Horse and 3rd Davion Guards RCT. The AFFS forces found Major Liao's headless Centurion after the fighting, and assumed that Tormano had been killed in action.

Over the next three months, guerrilla operations on the world showed someone with official training was running the resistance movement. Rumors that a member of the Liao family was leading these operations fueled a planet wide manhunt. After two more months of ambushes and guerrilla strikes, the leader of the resistance, Tormano Liao, surrendered to Davion forces. In exchange for his surrender, the MIIO agreed to smuggle Tormano's wife out of the Capellan Confederation.

Hanse Davion extended an invitation to Tormano Liao and his wife; They arrived on New Avalon on April 19, 3028. While there Tormano (using "The Black Ram" as his alias) used access to military simulators to challenge cadets at the NAIS and Albion military academies. At the same time, Hanya No Cha used her access to the NAIS Information Network to learn about the new trends in botany.

In addition to these duties, Hanse Davion used Tormano's presence to gain a greater insight into the upper levels of the Capellan Confederation's political structure. These insights would serve him well when Pavel Ridzik formed the Tikonov Free Republic and Candace Liao contacted the First Prince about the secession of her St. Ives Commonality from the Confederation.

Death and afterward

Legacy Tormano's legacy could best be described as Machiavellian. He is known to have acted as an advisor to Katherine Steiner-Davion prior to the events of the FedCom Civil War.Reference Needed His self-interested behavior and habit of gathering as much power as he could can also be seen reflected in Katherine's policies.

On the other hand, Tormano was fiercely loyal to those who supported him. The Free Capella Movement, an independence organization focused on the Capellan Confederation, would never have been able to field two 'Mech regiments without his support. After Tormano's death, his son would take control of the Free Capella Movement. He would change it into a loyal opposition movement verses an attempt to usurp control from Chancellor.

Philosophical and/or political views

Though often cloaked in grandiose language, Tormano's politics basically existed to make his life easier. Tormano frequently held grudges against those that he felt wronged him; This habit was one reason he gave information to Hanse Davion in the Fourth Succession War (though it should be noted that Hanse's willingness to flatter Tormano made the process much easier).

See also

Candace Liao St. Ives Compact Kai Allard-Liao Fourth Succession War