Henry Holstein

Francis Simard, now going by the name Henry Holstein, is the current leader of the religious extremist group Sheep of Kentares. His religious fanaticism has led him to have multiple issues throughout his life. Highly xenophobic, with a penchant to hate members of the Buddhist faith ahead of all others, Henry Holstein is on the most wanted list both in the Draconis Combine and now the Federated Suns.

Early life

Francis Simard was born on Kentares IV to a upper middle-class family, spending a lot of time in Sunday School and studying the history of his planet and region. His hatred for the DCMS began at that time, but he generally kept it under wraps outside of the more common outbursts linked to his origin.

Simard joined the Focht War College on a Catholic School grant, where he trained to become a MechWarrior. He graduated in the middle of the pack and was assigned to the Draconis March Militia, on Xhosa. There, he learned the basics of leadership and larger unit warfare. His proximity to the Kuritan border also allowed him to let loose more with his vitriolic positions.

After the fall of Xhosa to the Draconis Combine, Simard returned to Kentares, where he wanted to raise a group of fanatics to help him reclaim the world. This went against the orders given to the Xhosa Draconis March Militia at the time. To avoid court martial, which he was courting for multiple issues at the time, Simard “disappeared” and came back as Henry Holstein and joined the Sheep of Kentares

Shepherd of Kentares

Unlike many members of the Sheep of Kentares, Henry Holstein had both military experience and a basic understanding of logistics. Using his connections with the local New Avalon Catholic Church, Holstein secured funding to acquire war materiel from various caches in the Draconis March. With a dedicated religious following, Holstein was given the title of Shepherd of Kentares in a vote.

With this position and basic equipment, Holstein and the Sheep began more actively protecting the civilian population of Kentares IV from “heathens”, preventing a Kuritan raid at the start of the Reconquista. Using funds received from an anonymous donor (which would later be revealed to be Alexander Hasek (internal)), Holstein acquired further materiel including DropShips and a JumpShip.

Fighting the Kuritans

While the Sheep of Kentares were not officially an AFFS unit, they were given “privateering rights” by the Draconis March Militia as the Reconquista was ongoing. Through sponsored piracy, Henry Holstein grew his organization quickly, capturing additional spaceships and growing his legend. Significant amounts of disenfranchised Catholics from the Draconis Marches saw the Sheep as a righteous hammer against the godless who killed their pope.

As the Treaty of Arc-Royal was signed, the privateering rights of the Sheep was revoked, but this did not stop Henry Holstein from planning attacks against the Combine. With the Avalon Grand Crusade getting underway, the Sheep kept recruiting in the Draconis March and beyond to grow their forces.

This came to a head when Holstein led a full-scale planetary assault against Proserpina. While the Sheep landed a regiment of mixed arms on the planet at first, this was soon supplemented by waves of religious fanatics and zealots trying to get revenge against the Combine. Henry Holstein led his troops to force the Third Proserpina Hussars off-world. The remaining planetary militia defended what they could as Holstein drove his men and women to begin a purge of all “heathens” on the world.

The wholesale slaughter of the population of Proserpina stopped when Erik Sandoval (internal) led the First Robinson Strikers to dislodge Henry and his followers. The former AFFS officer managed to flee the planet, even though a large portion of the Sheep were killed or arrested by the Prince’s Champion.

Henry Holstein’s Battlemech

During his service with the AFFS, Francis Simard piloted a Vulcan. As the leader of the Sheep of Kentares, this was replaced with a Grand Crusader.