Editing Katana Tormark

{{Update Needed|[[Dark Age: 3132-3134 INN]]|[[Era Report: 3145]]|[[Technical Readout: 3145 Draconis Combine]]|[[Redemption Rift]]|[[Era Digest: Dark Age]]}}
{{refimprove}}
{{InfoBoxCharacter
| image               = Katana Tormark.jpg
| caption             = 
| name                = Katana Tormark
| birthdate           = [[3102]]
| died                = [[3143]] (presumed)
| othernames          = 
| affiliation         = [[House Tormark]]
| rank                = ''[[Tai-shu]]''
| title               = Duchess<ref name="DARoSp34">''Dark Age: Republic of the Sphere'', p. 34: "Katana Tormark"</ref>
| position            = [[Warlord of Dieron]]
| profession          = [[MechWarrior (pilot)|MechWarrior]]
| parents             = [[Akira Tormark]] (father)<ref name="DARoSp34"/><br>[[Rachel Jefferson]] (mother)<ref name="DARoSp34"/>
| siblings            = Two half-brothers<ref name="DARoSp34"/>
| spouse              = 
| children            = 
}}
'''Katana Tormark''' was the former [[The Republic of the Sphere#Prefectures|Prefect]] of the [[Republic of the Sphere]]'s [[Prefecture III]]. She became the leader of the splinter faction known as the [[Dragon's Fury]] and, after her defection to the [[Draconis Combine]], [[Tai-shu|Warlord]] of the [[Dieron Military District]].

==History==
===Early life===
Katana Tormark was born in [[3102]] on [[Ancha]] as daughter to [[Akira Tormark]] and [[Rachel Jefferson]]. Due to her father's heritage and her mother's affection for all things Japanese, the girl was raised in accordance to Combine traditions in spite of growing up on a [[Republic of the Sphere|Republic]] world. Her life changed drastically when, at age eight, she witnessed her father behead her uncle [[Kan Otome]] as part of an [[ISF]]-sanctioned execution. The deep-cover agent subsequently withdrew from the family he had started, leaving Katana with her mother.

Rachel Jefferson was a known musicologist and expert at playing the ''shakuhachi''. In the years following Akira's disappearance, she received a number of invitations to perform on Combine worlds, always taking her daughter with her. In [[3113]], the two visited [[Oniji Otome]], Kan's brother, to return his swords. Seeing the manner of her upbringing mirrored by an actual Combine world had a tremendous impact on the young girl's perception and instilled her with a sense of belonging that would later become a key factor in the cause of her defection.

At age ten, Katana volunteered time at a local counseling center, helping immigrant children and young teens from the Combine who had trouble adapting to life in The Republic. This dedication did not go unnoticed, and in [[3116]] the girl was awarded Republic citizenship, a year earlier than the usual required period.<ref name="DARoSp34"/>

In [[3117]], Akira Tormark returned to take Katana in after her mother's death in a hovercar accident, but failed to reestablish a connection with his daughter, who spent more and more time in the Combine, visiting Oniji and studying ''bushido''. When Katana turned fifteen, she left her father, convinced that she could take care of herself. By her sixteenth birthday, she had gained special dispensation to carry ''daishō'', the traditional swords of the samurai, on Ancha.<ref name="DotD">''Daughter of the Dragon''</ref><ref name="DARoSp34"/>

===Service to the Republic===
[[File:Katana Tormark2.jpg|right|200px|thumb|Duchess Katana]]

In [[3119]], fate brought Katana Tormark to meet Sir [[Reginald Eriksson]] when the latter was forced to defend himself against local criminals. Being chased into a local gym, the Republic Knight was forced to shoot two of his attackers, but also found unexpected help in the form of Tormark and her ''daishō'' swords. Eriksson stayed on Ancha to interview the young woman and, in light of her previous involvement in community service, sponsored Tormark for a service career in the [[Republic Armed Forces]]. She graduated from [[Northwind]]'s academy in [[3122]] one year earlier, but opted to extend her stay in a training position, leading her cadet corps dubbed [[Dragon's Fury]] to academy honors in three consecutive years. It was during these years that she also made the acquaintance of then-cadet [[Tara Campbell]].<ref name="DARoSp34"/>

Promoted into active service in [[3124]], Tormark found herself in a military that was engaged in more parades and 'Mech-smuggling investigations than actual combat, but managed to inspire a sense of loyalty and self-worth among her troops rarely found in untested warriors. In [[3126]], [[Major]] Tormark was disciplined for using "non-standard training techniques" on [[Ozawa]] base, but reports of this incident are sketchy and no mark was made in her personal file.<ref name="DARoSp34"/> She was promoted to the rank of [[Lieutenant Colonel]] in [[3127]], after leading the [[Black Lancers Brigade]] along a trio of Knights in case diplomatic support was needed against a pirate force attacking the world of [[David]], an action which also saw her awarded with the bronze cluster for courage in the face of the enemy.<ref name="DARoSp34"/>

The [[Paladin of the Republic|Paladins]] of the Republic convened in [[3128]] to select a new Prefect for [[Prefecture III]], and Tormark was invited to [[Terra]] to be interviewed together with Countess [[Tara Campbell]]. Citing a lack of experience, Campbell declined the post in Katana's favor, and Tormark was raised to the position of [[The Republic of the Sphere#Prefectures|Prefect]], a Prefecture's military leader. Scaling back her visits into Combine space to an annual pilgrimage, she invested a great deal of energy into her new position, determined to forge the military forces at her disposal into a well-drilled fighting force to better defend the people of Prefecture III.<ref name="DARoSp34"/><ref name=ASitH>''A Silence in the Heavens''</ref><ref name="DARoSp34"/> On 18 June [[3132]], having been nominated by Knight [[Carter Dylan]], Katana became the first person to ever turn down an offer of a Knighthood from the Republic. She explained that it would require her to leave her position as Prefect and to dissolve her loyalties, loyalties she left unstated.<ref name=DAINNp6>''Dark Age: 3132-3134 INN'', p. 6, "Prefect Katana Tormark Declines Knighthood"</ref>

===Dragon's Fury===
On 7 August [[3132]], the Inner Sphere was plunged into a new [[Dark Age]] as large parts of the [[HPG]] network were sabotaged, crippling the established means of communications throughout the galaxy. The resulting chaos and the unknown identity of the perpetrators culminated in social unrest, exposing the fragile nature of Republic unity. Among the many people left disillusioned by these events was Katana Tormark, who began to think of the long-established Draconis Combine as a guarantor of stability.

Resigning from the position of Prefect before her five-year-term ran out and turning down the [[Knight-Errant of the Republic|knighthood]] offered to her by the Republic, Tormark instead retreated to [[Proserpina]], where she began to build a splinter faction by secretly recruiting like-minded individuals and military units loyal to her command with the eventual goal of returning traditionally Draconian worlds to the Combine. In remembrance of her academy days, Tormark named this group the Dragon's Fury.<ref name="GW">''Ghost War'', p. ???</ref>

Although a powerful force built around the elite [[Amaterasu]] regiment, the subsequent campaign failed to garner open endorsement from [[Coordinator of Worlds|Coordinator]] [[Vincent Kurita]], the unexpected lack of any kind of response—be it approval or condemnation—greatly troubling the group and being a cause for ongoing concern and arguments between Tormark and her most trusted companions during a number of briefings.{{cn}}}

Cut off from Republic supply lines and being denied support from the Combine, the Fury soon saw itself strained to the limits and struggling to hold on to the worlds they captured. Still resolved to see her vision through, ''Tai-sho'' Tormark worked hard to increase recruitment from among the population of the planets the Fury had liberated, using carefully orchestrated propaganda and her own charisma to sway public opinion and appeal to the people's Draconian heritage.{{cn}} The civilians and militia troops pledging their loyalty to the Fury quickly came to form the bulk of its forces, a force simply called [[The Brotherhood]] in an effort to appeal to the unifying force of its members' alleged Combine blood – their nationalism encouraged by a fabricated history, crafted by Katana by cobbling together bits and pieces from half a dozen real DCMS regiments.<ref name=FDFury>''Dragon's Fury'' Faction Dossier</ref><ref>''Era Digest: Dark Age'', p. 15: "The Brotherhood"</ref>

In [[3134]], ''[[Tai-shu]]'' [[Mitsura Sakamoto]] began his own series of unauthorized raids into Republic space, eventually coming into conflict with the Fury whose leader he deemed an obstacle to his ambitions. Dreading to fight fellow Combine warriors, Tormark ordered her forces to "pull their punches", establishing a doctrine where the Fury would fire a few half-hearted volleys before withdrawing, refusing to stand their ground against their kindred. As Sakamoto's soldiers began to take notice and develop an unexpected respect for their foe, the Warlord commanded his units to shoot to kill. An aerospace bombing run on retreating units of the Fury ultimately resulted in the death of ''[[Chu-sa]]'' [[Antonia Chinn]], Tormark's lover.

Pushed to the brink and facing rising pressure from Sakamoto's forces, Tormark finally resolved to confront the Warlord, utilizing a hidden ace in the form of 'Mechs and other matériel as well as soldiers and even a few [[Black Box|Black Boxes]] her agents had only recently acquired through careful negotiation with yakuza descendants of the dissolved [[Ghost Regiments]]. Tormark never faced her nemesis in battle and was denied the satisfaction of revenge, however, as the Warlord—poisoned by a third party—failed to control his 'Mech during a combat drop, crashing the ''[[No-Dachi]]'' into [[Saffel]]'s ocean. Sakamoto's second-in-command, ''Tai-sho'' [[Carol Worridge]], reacted to Tormark's arrival on the battlefield by ordering the immediate cessation of hostilities and offering to join the Dragon's Fury.<ref name="DotD"/>

===Warlord===
On 30 November [[3135]], Katana was appointed the [[Tai-shu|Warlord]] of the [[Dieron Military District]] and tasked with securing the planet [[Dieron]] and other territories for the Draconis Combine.

Tormark secured the aid of [[Clan Nova Cat]] forces. In her efforts to secure the Nova Cat aid however, she gave [[Khan of Clan Nova Cat|Khan]] [[Jacali Nostra]] of the Nova Cats a document that both seemed to shock the Khan, and fill her with some vague hope.  As to what was in the document was not disclosed, but the Nova Cats did attach to Tormark's forces a [[Galaxy]] of Warriors. Tormark was eventually successful in taking Dieron, fulfilling the District with its namesake Capital.

===Downfall===
Katana, by her connection with the Nova Cats, sided with them and [[Emi Kurita]] in the [[Draconis Combine Civil War]]. She had chosen the wrong side, as the rest of the [[DCMS]] sided with the ultimately victorious [[Yori Kurita]]. The Nova Cats were annihilated, and Yori Kurita concentrated her forces against Katana's people, who continued in rebellion until the unit was defeated in March of [[3143]]. Tormark was taken prisoner and imprisoned on [[Luthien]].<ref>''Field Manual: 3145'', p. 20</ref>

Katana's destiny is unknown, only that she had been imprisoned and expected to be executed. This may have happened in secret to avoid making her a martyr.<ref>''Field Manual: 3145'', p. 53</ref>

==Family and Relationships==
Katana Tormark is the second cousin of Governor [[Reinaldo Tormark]] and a direct descendant of [[Fuhito Tetsuhara]].<ref name="DotD119">''Daughter of the Dragon'', p. 119</ref><ref name="DARoSp34"/> Tormark was in a relationship with ''[[Chu-sa]]'' [[Antonia Chinn|Antonia "Toni" Chinn]], a MechWarrior from her [[Amaterasu]] regiment at some point prior of her death.<ref name="DotD212">''Daughter of the Dragon'', p. 212</ref>

==Katana's ''Katana''==
As heir to the [[House Tetsuhara|Tetsuhara clan]], Tormark inherited the ''katana'' once gifted by [[Coordinator of Worlds|Coordinator]] [[Miyogi Kurita]] to [[Jackson Hayes]] in [[2865]]. This legendary weapon, its 69 cm blade still flawless even after the passing of almost three centuries, was also carried into battle by [[Minobu Tetsuhara]], revered as having been one of the greatest samurai of his generation.<ref name="SP-TBoA">''Gambit: The Battle for Addicks!''</ref>

==BattleMechs==
Tormark was in possession of ''[[Katana Kat]]'', a [[Panther|PNT-9R ''Panther'']] and heirloom 'Mech originally piloted by [[Minobu Tetsuhara]]. During her campaign as leader of the Dragon's Fury, she instead fought in either a ''[[BattleMaster]]'' or an [[Nyx|NX-23L ''Nyx'']] named ''Kolyu'', loaning ''Katana Kat'' to Brotherhood MechWarrior [[Abeda Measho]]. After assuming command of the Dieron Military District, her 'Mech of choice became ''Kuro Ha'', an [[Hitotsume Kozo|HK-P ''Hitotsume Kozo'']].<ref name="DotD"/><ref>''MechWarrior: Dark Age - Dossiers and Pilot Cards'', pp. 6, 268, 306</ref>

==Titles and Positions==
{{s-start}}
{{s-bef|before=''unknown''}}
{{s-title|title=[[Prefect of Prefecture III]]|years=31?? – [[3131]]}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Tara Campbell]]}}
{{s-end}}

==Quotes==
{{quote|... But I'm on my course now, claiming worlds for the Dragon. People might think I'm nuts, tempting a power as awesome as the coordinator's. And if Vincent Kurita demands my death? I'd do it. Gladly. Because then, finally, I'd belong. I'd be someone's daughter, not a ghost's or a memory's, but a real, flesh-and-blood daughter: a Daughter of the Dragon.<ref name=MWDASPp104>''MechWarrior: Dark Age - Sneak Peeks'', p. 104: "Katana Tormark"</ref>}}

==Notes==
* Although some artist renditions show Katana Tormark as a woman with a comparatively light complexion, the character is noted to have "milk chocolate" or "chocolate-brown skin" in the novels, perhaps fitting given her African-Asian heritage.<ref name="DotD"/><ref name="GW"/>

* The name of Katana's ''BattleMaster'', ''Kolyu'', has no actual meaning. This is most likely a mistaken spelling of ''Koryu'', which would mean "old school" – a reference to pre-Meiji restoration martial arts, but generally fitting to a warrior who adores traditional Japanese feudal culture.

==Reference==
<references />

==Bibliography==
{{div col|colwidth=25em}}
* ''[[Dark Age: 3132-3134 INN]]''
* ''[[Dark Age: Republic of the Sphere]]''
* ''[[Daughter of the Dragon]]'' (novel)
* ''[[Dragon Rising]]'' (novel)
* ''[[Era Digest: Dark Age]]''
* ''[[Faction Dossiers (MWDA)]]''
* ''[[Field Manual: 3145]]''
* ''[[Gambit: The Battle for Addicks!]]''
* ''[[Ghost War]]'' (novel)
* ''[[MechWarrior: Dark Age - Dossiers and Pilot Cards]]''
* ''[[A Silence in the Heavens]]'' (novel)
* ''[[Tales from the Cracked Canopy: No Rest for the Accursed]]'' (short story)
{{div col end}}

[[Category:Republic of the Sphere Characters|Tormark, Katana]]
[[Category:Draconis Combine Characters|Tormark, Katana]]
[[Category:Notable Panther Pilots|Tormark, Katana]]