Editing Jasek Kelswa-Steiner

{{Update Needed|[[A Bonfire of Worlds]]|[[Era Report: 3145]]|[[Era Digest: Dark Age]]|[[The Anvil]]|[[Shattered Fortress]]|[[Children of Kerensky]]}}
{{InfoBoxCharacter
| image               = Jasek Kelswa-Steiner.jpg
| caption             = Jasek Kelswa-Steiner
| name                = Jasek Kelswa-Steiner
| birthdate           = [[3104]]<ref name=ER:DAAp20>''Era Report: Dark Age'', p. 20</ref>
| died                = 11 March [[3148]]<ref name=SFp51>''Shattered Fortress'', p. 51</ref>
| othernames          = 
| affiliation         = [[House Kelswa-Steiner]]
| rank                = 
| title               = [[Duke of Skye]] (title only),<ref name=SFp51/><br>[[Duke of Porrima]],<ref name=SFp51/><br>[[Duke of Tamar]] (title only)<ref name=SFp51/><br/>[[Landgrave]]<ref name=SFp51/>
| position            = 
| profession          = Noble
| parents             = [[Gregory Kelswa-Steiner]] (father)<ref name=BotIc1>''Blood of the Isle'', ch. 1</ref>
| siblings            = 
| spouse              = 
| children            = 
}}
'''Jasek Kelswa-Steiner''' was an early [[thirty-second century]] nobleman, [[MechWarrior (pilot)|MechWarrior]], and renegade, leader of the [[Republic of the Sphere|Republic]]-breakaway faction known as the [[Stormhammers]].

==History==
===Early years===
As the son of [[Gregory Kelswa-Steiner]], governor of [[Prefecture IX]] of the [[Republic of the Sphere]], he was part of the ruling family of [[Skye]] and [[heir apparent]] to the throne. Inheriting the title of [[Landgrave]], he was always at odds with his father, growing up believing that the Republic was a poor steward to the Skye people's ambitions for freedom. Jasek's rift with his father widened following the death of Jasek's mother, the daughter of [[Hermione Aten]]'s older sister.<ref name=ER:DAAp20/>

===Military Career and as a Renegade===
He later joined the Republic military, rising up the ranks to become Prefecture IX's military commander.  However, by [[3132]] the [[HPG]] Grid blackout changed things.  Jasek did not initially break away from the Republic until slightly later when he disapproved of the lackluster response the Republic gave in the midst of the crisis of Gray Monday.  Out of frustration, he appealed to several regiments of Prefecture IX and formed the Stormhammers in March 3133. Declaring support for [[House Steiner]], his charisma allowed him to take most of Prefecture IX's standing military forces with him. He undertook an erratic military campaign across the Republic, using it as a means to showcase his abilities as a commander to secretly appeal to his ancestral Great House as a marketable figure bring into the fold. His campaign was designed not to damage any worlds that would be favorable to House Steiner.<ref>''Era Report: 3145'', pp. 14–15: Early mentioning of Jasek military campaign as renegade in league indirectly for House Steiner.</ref><ref>''Era Digest: Dark Age'', p. 10: Timeline 3133 - Stormhammers date of forming noted.</ref> 

Seven months after forming the Stormhammers, Jasek dispatched his combat units to worlds which possessed functional HPGs. This was intended to rally House Steiner patriots within the Republic to join him in his intended goal to reunite the Skye region with the Lyran Commonwealth.<ref>''Era Digest: Dark Age'', p. 7: Important Military Actions of 3133 - Towne Entry Notes Jasek efforts to further strengthen his splinter military force by using HPGs.</ref> In late August [[3133]], as part of this effort, the Stormhammers, assisted by [[Lyran Intelligence Corps#Lohengrin|Lohengrin]],<ref name="TRO:3145Mp12">''Technical Readout: 3145 Mercenaries'', p. 12: "Garrot Superheavy Transport"</ref> launched [[Battle of Towne (3133)|a raid]] on [[Towne]]. The Towne raid ran into heavy resistance, including [[21st Centauri Lancers|Twenty-first Centauri Lancers]] forces and [[Triarii Protectors]]. The [[Lyran Rangers]] succeeded in hijacking the HPG for long enough to broadcast their recruitment message before being pushed off planet.<ref>''Era Digest: Dark Age'', p. 7: "Important Military Actions of 3133"</ref><ref>''Dark Age: 3132-3134 INN'', pp. 229–237</ref>

====Skye Campaign against Clan Jade Falcon====
In [[3134]], Prefecture IX was invaded by a [[Clan Jade Falcon]] military expedition. After claiming a number of worlds in the old [[Isle of Skye]] region of the Republic, Jasek activated his forces after [[Tara Campbell|Tara Campbell's]] [[Northwind Highlanders]] and Skye's remaining militia forces managed to defeat the Falcons on Skye.  He then mustered his forces and rescued elements of the Northwind Highlanders who were stranded in Falcon-controlled space. He then presented himself and his forces to Campbell and his father in a bid to fight off the Falcon's invasion. He began a relationship with Campbell, though did not reveal his feelings for her.

Jasek advocated that the forces stationed in Skye were insufficient to withstand another invasion. He then proposed to gather reinforcements, while Prefecture IX's defenders conducted strikes against Falcon held worlds. 

After meeting with [[Anastasia Kerensky]]'s [[Steel Wolves]], he convinced the renegade faction to join the fight for Skye.  He then retook a Lyran world that was captured by Falcons during the beginning of their invasion. Heading to the Lyran Commonwealth and convincing [[Hesperus II]]'s Duke [[Vedet Brewer]] to lend him forces and the [[WarShip]] [[Yggdrasil (Individual Mjolnir-class WarShip)|LAS ''Yggdrasil'']] for the battle for Skye, he also revealed his plans to bring Skye back to Lyran control to the Duke and Archon representative [[Trillian Steiner-Davion|Trillian Steiner]]. 

By early [[3135]], Jasek's forces arrived in the Skye system, escorted by the ''Yggdrasil'', to confront the second invasion of the Jade Falcons.  In a number of clashes battling for the planet, Skye forces were nearly ruined attempting to fight off the invasion led by [[Malvina Hazen]].  He saved his forces and his allies, using Clan ''[[Hegira|hegira]]''.  This allowed his and other forces to withdraw from Skye under a ceasefire. Jasek led these forces to the Stormhammer-held world of [[Nusakan]].  There he and his father had one last meeting, where his father accused his son of deliberately allowing Skye to fall so he could reclaim the world himself.<ref>''Era Report: 3145'', p. 15: Age of Destruction "Skye Campaign against Jade Falcons''.</ref>

====Victor Steiner-Davion Funeral====
Jasek was later seen on [[Terra]] at the funeral of [[Victor Steiner-Davion]] as part of the Lyran Commonwealth's funeral delegation. He met Tara Campbell again and tried to resume his courtship with her.  He participated in the reenactment of the [[War of 3039]], where he led the Steiner forces in an invasion of the [[Draconis Combine]]. During the simulation he was defeated by [[Alaric Wolf]], who volunteered to fight on the Steiner front of the war.{{cn}}

====In Service with House Steiner====
In later years, he and the Stormhammers were directly absorbed into the LCAF. In 3145, Jasek held the rank of [[Hauptmann-General]] as one of Archon [[Trillian Steiner-Davion]]'s key supporters. He commanded the [[Donegal Province]]. <ref>''Field Manual: 3145'', p. 133</ref>

====Death====
During the Jade Falcon [[Battle of Coventry (3148)|attack on the world of Coventry]] ordered by Malvina Hazen, Jasek was sent there to defend the planet, along with his ''cousin'', the General of the Armies [[Roderick Steiner]], facing the attack of [[Galaxy Commander]] [[Stephanie Chistu]]. The 11 March, he faced Chistu in a duel, where he would be killed while on the planet when she made a [[Death from Above]] attack.<ref>''The Anvil'', ch. 2-6</ref>

====Legacy====
Due to the state of his remains, Roderick ordered Jasek's remains cremated. With his forces demoralized, he used his death to motivate his forces, and put his ashes on the front of every soldier, including himself, so Jasek, symbolically, accompanied them one last time. That made the Lyrans fought as possessed, with ''"For Jasek!"'' their battlecry, eventually forcing the Falcons offplanet. 
Jasek would later have a medal named in his honor called the "[[Order of Jasek Kelswa-Steiner]]".<ref>''The Anvil'', ch. 7-10</ref><ref name=TAe>''The Anvil'', epilogue</ref>

==BattleMechs==
During the Skye campaign, Jasek piloted a ''[[Templar]]'' OmniMech which appeared to have a fixed weapons configuration. After rejoining the Lyran Commonwealth his 'Mech was an EFT-5S-M ''[[Eisenfaust]]'' which he named ''Scion''.<ref name="dossier">''Mechwarrior: Dark Age, Dossiers And Pilot Cards'', p. 349</ref>

==Quotes==
{{quote|Return to House Steiner! Join with the Stormhammers, and we shall salvage the legacy of peace, prosperity, and order that Devlin Stone once promised! Together, we shall reunite with the noble Commonwealth, and right all wrongs!|Closing words of a recruitment message broadcast on the [[Towne]] HPG, 28 August [[3133]]<ref>''Dark Age: 3132-3134 INN'', p. 233: "Kelswa-Steiner: The Hour of Steiner Has Come!"</ref>}}

==References==
<references />

==Bibliography==
* ''[[The Anvil]]'' (novella)
* ''[[Blood of the Isle]]'' (novel)
* ''[[Dark Age: 3132-3134 INN]]''
* ''[[Era Digest: Dark Age]]''
* ''[[Era Report: 3145]]''
* ''[[Flight of the Falcon]]'' (novel)
* ''[[MechWarrior: Dark Age - Dossiers and Pilot Cards]]''
* ''[[Shattered Fortress]]''
* ''[[Sword of Sedition]]'' (novel)
* ''[[Technical Readout: 3145 Mercenaries]]''

[[Category:Lyran Commonwealth Characters|Kelswa-Steiner, Jasek]]
[[Category:Notable Templar Pilots|Kelswa-Steiner, Jasek]]