Editing Cassie DeBurke

{{InfoBoxCharacter
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| name                = Cassie DeBurke
| birthdate           = 
| died                = 
| othernames          = 
| affiliation         = [[Terran Hegemony]]
| profession          = Scientist
| parents             = 
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}}
'''Cassie DeBurke''' is credited with the invention of the [[hyperpulse generator]] and FTL communications.

==History==
During the so-called [[Good Years]] of the [[Star League]], Cassie DeBurke was a brilliant young professor from the [[University of Terra]] located near the [[Court of the Star League]], an authority on the faster-than-light physics theories of [[Thomas Kearny]] and [[Takayoshi Fuchida]]. On April 14th [[2614]], [[First Lord]] [[Nicholas Cameron]] appointed [[Joshua Hoshiko]] as the [[Star League]]'s [[Minister of Communications (Star League)|Minister of Communications]] with the express mission of developing a faster means of communications to aid in the rule and expansion of the already massive Star League. In February [[2615]], Hoshiko enlisted DeBurke as a member of the [[Technological Communications and Specifications Project]] to investigate possible means of FTL communications. <ref name=TSL-54>''The Star League'', pp. 54-55 "History - Economic and Scientific Advances"</ref><ref name=CS-6>''ComStar'', p .6 "History of ComStar - The Rise of Blake - Linking the Stars"</ref><ref name=ER2750-24>''Era Report: 2750'', pp. 24-25 "History and Review - Friends - Technology Ascendant"</ref>

In one obscure section of Kearny and Fuchida's papers published in [[2022]], they speculated on the possibility of creating artificial [[jump point]]s and they provided the equations for generating them. Because the energy costs would have been astronomical, the scientific community did not pursue these hypotheses any further, but DeBurke saw infinite possibilities in them. While the energy costs to send physical matter were excessively high, Professor DeBurke theorized that radio waves could also be transmitted via such jump points, their lack of mass lowering the energy requirement considerable and putting it within the range of even modest reactors.<ref name=TSL-54/><ref name=CS-6/><ref name=ER2750-24/>

For the next 15 years, Professor DeBurke and her research staff worked secretly and feverishly, receiving the final clue following a breakthrough in hyperpulse generator technologies developed by [[Rhylene HyperTech]] of [[Oriente]] in the late [[2620]]s which allowed her to make her theories reality. The culmination of their work was the first HPG station, built in [[2629]] just outside the Court of the Star League, which transmitted the first HPG message from [[Terra]] to [[New Earth]] on New Year's Day [[2630]]. In tribute to past pioneers in communications, DeBurke's first message was "Watson, come quick, I need you".<ref name=TSL-54/><ref name=CS-6/><ref name=ER2750-24/><ref name=HMTFWL-20>''House Marik (The Free Worlds League)'', p. 20 "History - The Star League - Economic Crisis"</ref><ref name=HHM-26>''Handbook: House Marik'', p. 26 "History of the Free Worlds League - The Star League Era - Backlash"</ref>

For her historic and pioneering role in the development, DeBurke would receive considerable acclaim. The successor to the Star League Communications Network, [[ComStar]] would also honor her achivements, most notably the creation of the [[Cassie DeBurke Institute for Hyperspatial Studies]] in Sydney setup to restore the HPG net in the wake of [[Gray Monday]].<ref name=ER3145-116>''Era Report: 3145'', pp. 116-117 "Major Personas - ComStar''</ref>

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==Apocryphal information==
[[Image:ÜberdemGesetzCover.jpg|thumb|350px|right|''[[Über dem Gesetz]]'' cover - Cassie DeBurke and David Gibbs running from a ''[[Chameleon]]'']]Cassie DeBurke appears as a supporting character in the ([[canon|apocryphal]]) German novel ''[[Über dem Gesetz]]''. In the book, she is assaulted by two wanted assassins on 24 July [[2600]] and her research results are stolen. She joins David Gibbs, a Star League secret service agent, in a chase of the attackers, one of whom eventually hijacks a modified ''[[Chameleon]]'' [['Mech]] to attack his pursuers. This scene is shown on the book cover (with Cassie DeBurke depicted in the foreground on the right).

The ''Chameleon'' is brought down by another 'Mech piloted by Gibbs. Cassie DeBurke, having previously jury-rigged a fire extinguisher system to track the fugitive, continues to provide some help to Gibbs. She is also present when [[Burton Avellar]] is murdered on [[Alpheratz]] some time around late 2600/early [[2601]].
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==References==
<references />

==Bibliography==
*  ''[[ComStar (sourcebook)]]''
* ''[[Era Report: 2750]]''
* ''[[Era Report: 3145]]''
* ''[[Handbook: House Marik]]''
* ''[[House Marik (The Free Worlds League)]]''
* ''[[The Star League]]''
* ''[[Über dem Gesetz]]'' (apocryphal)

[[Category:Star League Characters|DeBurke, Cassie]]