Cassandra Allard-Liao

Cassandra Allard-Liao is the second child of Duchess Candace Liao and superspy Justin Allard, and twin of Kuan Yun Allard-Liao. With her older brother being a soldier for the Federated Commonwealth, Cassandra is generally regarded as the “heir-apparent” to the St. Ives Compact, even though she also has started a full military career by the start of the Fifth Succession War and Operation GUAN XING. She also grew close ties with George Hasek II at the time, their units participating in operations on the same planets.

Early Life

Cassandra Allard-Liao and her twin Kuan Yin both had a mostly simple life after their birth. Their mother was very present in their lives while their father unfortunately had other engagements as the head of MIIO for the Federated Suns and then Federated Commonwealth. She still enjoyed her family time and lived a pampered, yet realistic, youth. While her older brother was expected to join the AFFS, Cassandra had no clear path ahead of her in life and began her education with a specialty in history. After graduating high school, she wanted to serve her nation and her family and decided to move on to the St. Ives Compact Military.

Cassandra finished her education at the St. Ives Academy of Martial Sciences, where she trained as a MechWarrior but also learning infantry squad tactics. Her skills as a MechWarrior were not comparable to her older brother, but she still had good grades overall, especially in tactical deployments. She was the head of her sorority and part of the debate club. She graduated on a Captain’s commission due to her family ties.

Military Career

Cassandra’s first military posting was with the First St. Ives Janissaries as they were put into service, where she helped setup the command structure. Not an active combat role, this did allow Cassandra to learn the ropes of command with skilled mentors and other leaders. She transferred to the Second St. Ives Lancers in 3057 as a Brevet Major, waiting for a permanent position to open as battalion commander.

Fighting terrorists

Her unit was part of the rotation for security on the border world of Armaxa as Operation GUAN XING escalated to its second phase. The St. Ives Compact was not affected by the first phase of the operation, but Zhanzheng De Guang started action on a few worlds of the Compact. Cassandra saw her first real action on Armaxa fighting terrorist cells, where she showed good leadership and reactivity.

Cassandra started pushing for her unit to fight the Capellan directly from that point, against the will of some other officers in the SICM. The leadership of many units in still held loyalty to the Confederation in some way and Zhanzheng was capitalizing on the “Capellan identity” of many to damage the power of the Compact. Thankfully, Tormano Liao started supporting Cassandra’s points about opposing the Confederation through his Free Capella movement. After the Kittery Bombing, Cassandra was able to convince her mother (with her uncle’s help) to start fighting against her cousin Sun Tzu.

Meeting the Man of her Dream

The Second St. Ives Lancers, with the newly promoted Major Cassandra Allard-Liao, was assigned to assist the Armed Forces of the Federated Commonwealth in retaking Immenstadt. The operation was rather simple and allowed her unit to get more experience, especially fighting an actual military unit. The big thing, however, was Cassandra Allard-Liao meeting Colonel George Hasek II of the Fourth Donegal Guards. The two noble scions tied a quick friendship, mostly over Cassandra’s love of history and George’s obsessive ability to compile data.

This was followed by a joint operation on Hexare, where Cassandra Second Lancers were supported by the Fourth Donegal and the Ninth Syrtis Fusiliers. The fighting there was much harsher than any previous operation. Even with overwhelming military superiority, the Capellan resistance was strong, and the Second Lancers were at the forefront of the fighting. Things became difficult when another Major, Marcus Poling, attempted to defect to the Capellan cause with his unit, forcing Cassandra to engage his command company directly. After the operation, Cassandra was promoted to Colonel of the Second St. Ives Lancers as Colonel Timothy Bairn was promoted to Lieutenant General.

Noble Conquest

The next major operation taken by the Second St.Ives was to take the Confederate world of Florarda, with the AFFC providing the Fifth Syrtis Fusiliers as a support unit. As the direct commander of the regiment, Cassandra had a lot to prove. Thankfully, her friend (and now lover) George Hasek provided her with important directions and tips on how to effectively command her units. She was also lucky that the Fifth Syrtis was an elite regiment which required very little “management” to work properly with her own troops.

The Free Capella movement was also a huge help during the operations, as they had infiltrated a lot of the worker’s unions across the planet, spreading a desire for “free and fair elections”. While originally the Capellan population was quite hostile to the Federated Commonwealth and St. Ives, there was now a general uprising on these nearby worlds against “Capellan oppression and communism”. Cassandra Allard-Liao was quite happy to meet with “freed Capellan” workers and provide aid, improving both her standing with the population and the popularity of the Free Capella movement.

Personal Life

Cassandra Allard-Liao leans more into her Capellan roots than the rest of her siblings, especially ancient Chinese history. In her spare time, she reads and watches everything she can from the early Chinese history period. She also owns a large collection of historical recreations, from dresses to weapons and even jewelry. She recently married George Hasek II, and is expecting a child.

Cassandra Allard-Liao’s BattleMech

Cassandra originally piloted an Orion which had been reclaimed from the Church of Kali during the Fourth Succession War. She replaced it with a Cestus in 3062 after her Orion was crippled in combat.