Editing Suzanne Mulvanery

{{InfoBoxCharacter
| image               = Suzanne_Mulvanery_FoT.jpg
| caption             = Suzanne Mulvanery
| name                = Suzanne Mulvanery
| birthdate           = [[3016]]<ref name=FOTp68>''The Fall of Terra'', p. 68</ref>
| died                = 6 June [[3061]]<ref name=FMC1>''Field Manual: ComStar'', p. 4: "Voice of the Resistance"</ref>
| othernames          = 
| affiliation         = [[House Mulvanery]]
| rank                = [[Precentor]]
| title               = 
| position            =  
| profession          = Noble
| parents             = 
| siblings            = 
| spouse              = 
| children            = 
}}
'''Suzanne Mulvanery''' was a [[ComStar]] and [[Word of Blake]] military officer who most notably served as the commander of the "Shadow Lancers", the Word of Blake infiltrator unit that spearheaded [[Operation ODYSSEUS]], the Blakists capture of [[Terra]].

==History==
===Early Life to ComStar Schism===
Born on the [[Federated Commonwealth]] world of [[Tatlawiksuk]], Suzanne was the fourth child of a [[House Mulvanery|minor noble family]], allowing her to indulge her interests free of the restraints and expectations placed upon her older siblings. This changed when she turned eight years old and told her parents of her desire to become a [[MechWarrior (pilot)|MechWarrior]]. Initially hopeful she'd grow out of the idea, when Suzanne showed no signs of doing so as she grew older they took the extreme step of using their influence to ensure she would not find a place in any military academy in the Federated Commonwealth.<ref name=FOTp68/>

Her dream seemingly crushed, Suzanne left home on her eighteenth birthday, using money she'd saved to visit a number of worlds. During her travels she encountered [[Com Guards|Com Guard]] garrison troops and saw another path to become a MechWarrior, joining ComStar's military branch in the fall of [[3034]]. Despite her youthful ambitions, Suzanne discovered she lacked the innate talent necessary to be a truly great MechWarrior, but found she had an aptitude for strategy and tactics, as well as a knack for dealing the military bureaucracy that saved her from an unremarkable career and permitted her to slowly rise through the ranks.<ref name=FOTp68/>

When the Com Guards were called to [[Battle of Tukayyid (3052)|battle]] the [[Clans]] on [[Tukayyid]], Suzanne received a battlefield-promotion to [[Precentor]] and was given command of the [[167th Division (ComStar)|167th Division]] after its CO was killed in action. Surviving Tukayyid, upon learning of the death of [[Myndo Waterly]] and [[ComStar Schism|the reformation and secularization of the Order]], Mulvanery chose to join the Word of Blake. Less fanatical or political than many of the Word, Mulvanery found a kindred spirit in the Blakists' then-[[Precentor Martial]] [[Trent Arian]] and was given command of the [[1st Division (Word of Blake)|First Division]] of the new [[Word of Blake Militia]].<ref name=FOTp68/><ref name=CSp94>''ComStar'', p. 94: "Blake Guard/Word of Blake Militia"</ref> When Arian and Precentor [[William Blane]] presented a plan to retake Terra, she enthusiastically accepted her part on it.<ref name=FOTp68/>

===Operation ODYSSEUS===
Responding enthusiastically when Precentor Martial Arian and Precentor [[William Blane]] approached her, Mulvanery had an dangerous part in the preparation of [[Operation ODYSSEUS]], the Blakist recovery of [[Terra]], masquerading as [[mercenary]] unit [[Twenty-first Centauri Lancers]]. When the Lancers accepted ComStar's contract on November 30th [[3057]] to defend Terra, Mulvanery led the Blakist First and [[6th Division (Word of Blake)|Sixth Divisions]] to their homeworld of [[Nestor]] and took the unit's dependents to [[Gibson]] as hostages.<ref name=SSp100-2>''Shattered Sphere'', p. 100: "The Fall of Terra - The Shadow Lancers"</ref><ref name=TFOTp8>''The Fall of Terra'', p. 8: "Operation Odysseus - A Wolf in Sheep's Clothing"</ref>

When the real Lancers arrived on Nestor on 4 December 3057, Mulvanery sent a message to Lancer CO [[Colonel]] [[Evelena Haskell]], showing Mulvanery holding captive the Colonel's son at gunpoint and offered her a stark choice: lie low for the next few months and be reunited with their families or put their dependents' lives at risk if they chose to oppose the Word of Blake. The mercenaries reluctantly complied. Mulvanery then proceeded to reorganize the two Word of Blake divisions to match the reported composition of the real Twenty-first Centauri Lancers while Blakist operatives within ComStar altered Com Guard records to avoid security problems with the Lancers' "new personnel recruited to replace losses on Hsien." The new "Shadow Lancers," led by Mulvanery masquerading as Colonel Evelena Haskell, headed to Terra.<ref>''This Too Shall Pass''</ref><ref name=SSp100-2/><ref name=TFOTp8 />

Landing in January [[3058]] in the midst of regular Com Guard rotation of troops, with the [[104th Division (ComStar)|104th Division]] shifted to the Free Rasalhague Republic and with Precentor Martial Focht hosting interstate wargames on Tukayyid, Mulvanery's so-called "Shadow Lancers" immediately occupied the facility recently vacated by the departing [[Brion's Legion]] at Bowling Green Kentucky. Within days the disguised Word of Blake units began a series of joint orientation exercises with the Com Guard [[201st Division (ComStar)|201st Division's]] Alpha and Beta [[Level III|battalions]], slowly reaching out to Word of Blake sympathizers and agents within ComStar. With Precentor Martial Focht and the Com Guard high command distracted by the [[Jade Falcon Incursion (3058)|Jade Falcon incursion]] into the [[Lyran Alliance]] and paying scant attention to Terra's military defenses, by the end of February the "Shadow Lancers" were in place and ready to launch their attack. Luck also continued to favor the Blakists when a spate of bad weather flared up across North America and confined many Com Guard units to base, prompting the Word's forces to strike.

On February 28 as the [[Terran Defense Force]]'s new commander Precentor [[Lisa Koenigs-Cober|Lisa Koenigs-Cober's]] [[DropShip]] approached Bowling Green for an inspection tour of the Twenty-First Centauri Lancers, Mulvanery ordered a pair of "Shadow Lancer" fighters to shoot her ship down in Odysseus's opening move. As other Blakist elements began remotely locking down Com Guard and [[TerraSec]] facilities by secret backdoors in ComStar computer systems, Mulvanery proceeded to send her "Shadow Lancers" on strikes against both [[Hilton Head]] and the 201st Division's base at Salina Kansas. Considering the 201st the larger threat, despite the Lancers numerical superiority Mulvanery opted for a surprise attack against Saliaa, with a pair of Lancer fighters requesting emergency landing clearance before dropping two J91 Fuel-Air Explosive devices on the base, destroying the 201st's command staff and killing or injuring almost half its combat-ready troops. However the unit's junior officers under [[Adept]] [[Edelle Kearny]] rallied the survivors of the 201st against the Blakists, the remaining twenty-two [[BattleMech|BattleMechs]] of the 201st withdrawing under the cover of a raging blizzard and breaking through the encircling Blakist forces to head toward the [[Gunnison Castle Brian|Gunnison]] [[Castle Brian]] in the Rocky Mountains.<ref name=TFOT-9>''The Fall of Terra'', p. 9: "Operation Odysseus - Homecoming"</ref><ref name=TFOT-14>''The Fall of Terra'', pp. 14–15: "Scenario 2: When the Bough Breaks"</ref><ref name=SS-102>''Shattered Sphere'', pp. 100–102: "The Fall of Terra - Outbreak of War"</ref>

The next step, the capture of [[Hilton Head]] complex, however did not go according to plan. While the lockdown left Hilton Head's security in shambles and prevented its personnel from broadcasting requests for help, the Primus's bodyguard unit of light armor and infantry put up stiffer than expected resistance to the Shadow Lancers' [[Combat Vehicle|armor forces]] charged with taking the complex, the Blakist forces pulling back to soften it up with artillery fire in preparation for a second assault.<ref name=TFOT-12>''The Fall of Terra'', pp. 12–13: "Scenario 1: Hold the Line"</ref><ref name=SS-102-2>''Shattered Sphere'', p. 102: "The Fall of Terra - Assault on Hilton Head"</ref> The surprise arrival of Koenigs-Cober to their rear also disrupted the attack, as she destroyed some of their artillery and ammunition supplies before breaking through to Hilton Head and ensuring the safe evacuation of Primus Mori, destroy most of the facilities on the island but not before to looting them of valuable information and technology.<ref>''Malicious Intent'', ch. 23</ref>

===Death===
On 6th June [[3061]] while on his way to a memorial service to commemorate the anniversary of Primus Myndo Waterly's death, Trent Arian and his aide, Suzanne, were killed instantly by a car bomb.<ref name=FMC1/> While Word of Blake investigators tracked the explosive device to Com Guard insurgents, members of the [[Sixth of June]] performed the assassination to allow Arian's rival and their fellow Sixth of June member [[Cameron St. Jamais]] to be appointed Precentor Martial in his place.<ref name=FMC2>''Field Manual: ComStar'', p. 46: "Word of Blake Militia - Recent Events"</ref><ref name=ISP>''Interstellar Players'', p. 16: "Sixth of June"</ref>

==Relationships==
Suzanne had a nearby relationship with Arian, a fellow soldier, not a politician or religious fanatic, like most Blakists. Both became close friends, and some suggest than even lovers, though it wasn't confirmed.<ref name=TFOTp68/>

==BattleMech==
Suzanne Mulvanery's 'Mech was a [[Grasshopper|GHR-5J ''Grasshopper'']].<ref name=FOTp68/>

==Notes==
* The year of Suzanne's birth has been determined from ''[[The Fall of Terra]]'' noting that she was fourty-two years old in [[3058]].<ref name=FOTp68/>
* There's some discrepancy in Mulvanery's actions during Operation ODYSSEUS: ''The Fall of Terra'' states that she posed as Colonel Haskell on Terra, while ''This Shall Too Pass'' suggests than she stayed on Nestor watching the Lancers. This attempts to reconcile the two versions.

==References==
<references/>

==Bibliography==
* ''[[The Fall of Terra]]''
* ''[[Field Manual: ComStar]]''
* ''[[This Too Shall Pass]]'' (short story)

[[Category:Federated Suns Characters|Mulvanery, Suzanne]]
[[Category:ComStar Characters|Mulvanery, Suzanne]]
[[Category:Word of Blake Characters|Mulvanery, Suzanne]]