Katya Chaffee

Katya Chaffee
Personal
Affiliation	Federated Commonwealth
Career
Rank	Hauptmann
Position(s)	Intelligence Officer
Profession	MechWarrior

A former MechWarrior who was seriously wounded during the Clan invasion, she became the Thorin militia's intelligence officer. She was linked to some of the dissident groups on Thorin during Katherine Steiner-Davion's rule over the Lyran Alliance.

History

Clan invasion

As a Mechwarrior, Katya was gravely injured during the Clan invasion. She suffered from severe neural feedback damage, ending her days as a 'Mech pilot.

FedCom Civil War

Thorin

In October 3062 the First Battalion of the Fifteenth Arcturan Guards were posted to Thorin. This placed Thorin militia commander Lieutenant Colonel Archer Christifori and his militia under the command of Colonel Felix Blucher. Friction between the Guards and the native population occurred almost immediately. Archer's sister Andrea Kendrick Christifori was one such person, and penned several planet-wide editorials critical of Archon Katherine Steiner-Davion's policies and fitness to rule. During a "house call" at Andrea's residence, ostensibly to ensure mutual understanding and "cooperation", the Guard's XO Luther Fisk shot Andrea to death, claiming to have mistaken a letter opener she had picked up for a knife and deadly intent, though he was a good distance away from her. At Andrea's funeral, Katya handed Archer his sister's final, unfinished editorial criticizing the Archon and calling for liberty for Thorin. This editorial was an important factor in Archer's ultimate decision to rebel.

After Luther Fisk escaped justice due to political favors extracted by his father Count Nicholas Fisk, Katya let Archer know that the militia was firmly behind Archer, even if it meant civil war. Katya was a close friend of Archer's and she was instrumental in organizing the effort to rid Thorin of the Arcturan Guards and Katherine Steiner-Davion's rule.

Katya was Archer's main sounding board and one of the few people whose counsel he valued. She and Felix Blutcher talked Archer down from murdering Luther Fisk by crushing him with his Mech's foot during a joint training exercise between the Thorin militia and the Arcturan Guards. Katya connected Archer with various elements of Thorin's underworld, allowing him to (mostly) unite and direct a guerilla element in his personal war against the Guards on Thorin. She helped plan and execute Operation Little John: stealing the Guards' payroll and distributing it to the people of Thorin.

After being taken for questioning and jailed by the Guards, Archer broker her out of prison using his Penetrator 'Mech. Later, during the defense from the Guards' attack on the militia's hidden base within the University of Thorin ruins, Katya was knocked unconscious and taken prisoner by the Guards. During this time, Darius Hopkins filled in as the militia's intelligence officer. Since Prince Victor Steiner-Davion had previously recognized the Thorin militia as the First Thorin Regiment of Archer's Avengers within the Armed Forces of the Federated Suns, she was entitled to protection as a military prisoner under the Ares Conventions rather than being treated as a terrorist. Colonel Blutcher, though not acknowledging this commission, did not mistreat nor execute Katya during her capture.

After Christifori defeated Blutcher and his Guards, Katya was released and returned to duty with the newly-christened Archer's Avengers.

BattleMech

?

It is suggested that she was romantically involved with her CO, Lieutenant Colonel Archer Christifori, a native of Thorin and decorated Mechwarrior and Commander.

Bibliography

• Call of Duty (novel)
• Measure of a Hero (novel)
• Operation Audacity (novel)