Caesar Steiner

Caesar Steiner is a member of a cadet branch of the Steiner family, responsible for Furillo and neighbouring worlds. While his early career is marred by “silliness and whimsy”, he grew into prominence after the War of 3039 and a brush with death. He would oppose Nondi Steiner’s claim to the Archonship and become a firm supporter of Prince Victor Steiner-Davion.

Early Life

Caesar Stiner was born in Telesian, on Furillo, to Duchess Iris Steiner and a rich landowner, Dietrich Lowe. A single child, he was heavily spoiled by his mother while his mostly absent father (busy on business deals) spent untold amounts of c-bills to keep him happy with gifts. Even then, young Caesar already had learned a bit about politics, seeing his mother meet with deposed Archon Alessandro Steiner, which he always disliked. A bit of an epicurean even in his youth, Caesar often got in trouble for his overindulgences. In 3017, he was sent to The Nagelring by his mother both to give him future prospects in the LCAF and to “straighten him out.”

Caesar was the life of every party during his time at the academy. The instructors, however, noticed his skills as a strategist and as a leader, which he received praise for. His skills as a MechWarrior were not incredible, but more than sufficient to be at the top of his graduating class.

Military Service

Graduating with a Captain commission due to his family name, Caesar nonetheless very quickly rose through the ranks, becoming one of the youngest colonels in Lyran history at 22, taking command of the Second Donegal Guards. While some simply credited his mother’s ties to both the current Archon and the previous Archon, the Second happily connected with their new colonel due to his tactical acumen.

Fourth Succession Wars antic

At the outbreak of the Fourth Succession War, and the 900^th anniversary of the Second Donegal Guard, Caesar Steiner broke decorum and military planning. He took the Second Donegal Guard to execute a daring (and silly) objective raid against a distillery in Combine space. Unbeknownst to the 2^nd Guard, they would steal a large amount of rum and gin which was going to be used as a bribe towards Rasalhague rebels in Lyran space by the Combine. This likely prevented a full-blown revolt.

After their return, Caesar Steiner was put in stockades for a week for his insubordination and threatened with demotion, but Archon Katrina Steiner pardoned him after reviewing the operation debriefing. Caesar’s soldiers then celebrated using their spoils of wars while remaining on garrison duty for the remainder of the war.

War of 3039

The first real challenge in Caesar Steiner’s life happened as he was promoted to Leutnant-General during the War of 3039. The Second Donegal Guard and the Fourth Skye Ranger RCT were tasked by Nondi Steiner to take the planet of Kessel. While the initial attack was successful in taking key positions on the planet, the Twelfth Sun Zhang Cadre gave the young General trouble as they disappeared on the planet with the help of local yakuza. While Caesar installed himself as military governor, resistance throughout the planet remained and he never could suppress the unrest.

When the Second Sword of Light landed to reinforce the planetary defenders on July 16^th, Caesar Steiner decided to meet with his enemy in an open field of battle. This would protect the irreplaceable planetary atmosphere purifiers that the local population relied on, which did ingratiate him to General Goshi Tengwan of the Second Sword of Light. The two forces fought between July 29^th and October 5^th, with Caesar losing his main supply depot on September 3^rd.

While he felt defeated by the whole ordeal, Hanse Davion personally met with Caesar to discuss the fight on Kessel. This made Caesar Steiner respect his future Commander in Chief more and gave both men an understanding of each other on the military front.

Clan Invasion

Caesar Steiner was stationed with the Second Donegal to assist with the Tamarind March Militia, commanded by Thomas Hogarth. Caesar quickly took a dislike to the man which he saw as courting his aging, and now widowed, mother. While far from the Clan front, Caesar provided detailed tactical analysis of the situation (based on what data he had) to the AFFC throughout the conflict, often requesting his unit be moved to the front-line. This was both as a mean to leave Hogarth behind but also to improve his status. He became more involved in the defense of worlds near the Circinian and Marian border at the same time.

Fifth Succession War

The most important task Caesar Steiner had to perform after the Truce of Tukayyid was to keep an eye on other Lyran generals in his periphery. Hanse Davion had sent him a personal letter expressing his doubts about the loyalty of several officers, including Thomas Hogarth. The general happily mingled with these malcontents, finally discovering part of the plot involving Ryan Steiner and Nondi Steiner. This exploded in a confrontation between the Furillo Tamarind March Militia and the Second Donegal Guard, in which Caesar caught Hogarth unaware and captured various supply depots and forced him to evacuate Furillo. At the start of 3057, Caesar requested additional forces to replace the missing FTMM and was given command of the newly reformed First Lyran Guards Divisional Regimental Combat Team by Archon Melissa Steiner.

With 6 BattleMech regiments along with 8 combined standard regiments under his command, Caesar was unsure of what he should be doing as an Hauptmann-General. When Operation GUERRERO started out the Fifth Succession War, Caesar responded to Stephen Ducrimmon-Davion call for help by planning and executing strikes within the Free Worlds League. This is where Caesar Steiner first met with General Samuel Garibaldi of the Marik Militias, who was dispatched to take care of the fighting in the region. Faced with the general might of close to 20 regiments, Hauptmann-General Steiner was taken aback but kept using his tried-and-true mobile deployment tactics, performing hit and run strikes on as many worlds as possible. As his operations were successful, Archon Melissa Steiner assigned additional units to his front, first from the Lyran Regulars (11^th, 13^th and 16^th Lyran Regulars) and then from the reformed York Regulars (all 3 regiments). All local planetary militias were also placed under command of Caesar Steiner, who became the second most powerful man in the Lyran Commonwealth in terms of sheer number of troops (after Bishop Sortek on the Clan front).

To make his life easier in the fight against the Free Worlds League, Caesar Steiner approached a number of people, starting with Colonel Carlos Camacho of the 17^th Recon Regiment, Camacho’s Caballeros. Promising him regional independence for the Trinity of Southwestern Worlds, he secured the assistance of the mercenary outfit. The Recon Regiment served as raiders for the LCAF throughout most of the Fifth Succession War on the Marik front.

His next move puzzles most military historians, approaching H.R. McIntyre and Sean O’Reilly, both who were still viewed as little more than pirate kings. Having fought both men a few times, the President and Caesar held a begrudging respect for the Hauptmann-General. In exchange for international recognition of their states and technological assistance, Caesar Steiner secured an alliance with the periphery realm, which would then put pressure on the Marik forces in their vicinity, attack other pirate realms in the region which had allied with the Free Worlds League (namely the Lothian League and Illyrian Palatinate) and Letters of Marque were issued against various ships and organization serving under Nondi Steiner’s rebels. First Prince Victor Steiner-Davion did not approve of these actions, but his mother was confident in Caesar’s ability to manage the situation and calmed his doubts.

While the Federated Commonwealth would lose worlds to the Free Worlds League, they would also take worlds of their own. Unlike the fight in the Tikonov/Sarna March, the war in the Tamarind March turned into an odd game between the two lead commanders, who met a few times both on the battlefield and in person. There was an unusual lack of enmity between the two men and even their forces, with prisoners being exchanged frequently and without ransom. Samuel Garibaldi would write his memoirs of the war called “An Odd Kind of Friendship”, while Caesar Steiner’s comedic memoir was titled “War, War, It Ain’t A Reason To Hurt Each Other”.

Battlemech

As a good Steiner officer, Caesar Steiner originally piloted an early ZEU-6T Zeus. During the 5^th Succession War, however, he piloted a customized Caesar with command equipment.

Clan Watch report

“Caesar Steiner is an unusual character, with an original background based on dereliction of duty and grandstanding, combined with military failures. His appointment to the Tamarind March was viewed as a political move by Melissa Steiner to placate a middling noble officer, but he showed superior command capabilities and resourcefulness as the 5^th Succession War started. His dogged attitude and inventive political stratagems were often credited for his success on the Marik front. Unlike Stephen Davion who hated his Capellan and Leaguer enemies, Caesar Steiner and Brigadier-General Samuel Garibaldi were basically fast friends while fighting on opposite sides of a conflict.”