Duchess Katherine Steiner-Davion

Katherine Morgan Steiner-Davion is the first daughter of First Prince Hanse Davion and Archon Melissa Steiner. While originally trained more towards politics, with a degree in law and political science, Katherine’s own political conniving forced her family to remove her from the “political front lines”. Forced into a marriage she did not quite agree to, she learned to respect life and the service of her fellow countrymen through the Fifth Succession War.

Early Life

Katherine was the second child of Melissa Steiner. While she did not have “a lot” on her shoulders compared to her brother Victor, she showed quickly that she was quite competitive and ambitious. She competed with her relatives for the limited attention their parents could give them, usually getting into trouble just to get a reaction. Katherine did not expect to have to pursue a military career but went to the New Avalon Institute of Science to get a degree in law, political science while also getting basic training as a MechWarrior.

When her father had a heart attack in 3052, she was sent to Tharkad as a representative of House Steiner-Davion to the Lyran people, continuing her education through correspondence courses.

Political career

Katherine originally was slated to work as “regent” when her mother was absent from the Lyran Commonwealth under the agreement they took with her father and her brother. The young woman did have bigger aspirations, however, and got embroiled in a variety of small-scale court plots and built a network in the Lyran portion of the realm. She was approached early on by her great-aunt, Nondi Steiner, who had desires to see the Lyran state restored due to “failings of the Federated Suns”. This was compounded by the presence of Ryan Steiner, who had long been a thorn in everyone’s side with his support of the Skye independence movement.

The whole gig was up when the co-conspirators attempted to hire an assassin to murder Melissa Steiner. The assassin, sometimes referred to as “Dancing Joker”, was captured by special forces agents hired by Hanse Davion to keep an eye on his daughter, and he revealed the plot as he had no loyalty to those involved. Katherine was recalled to New Avalon by order of the former First Prince while Ryan Steiner was accused of fomenting the plot, leading to the revolt in the Skye province in late 3055 and 3056.

First Prince Victor Steiner-Davion wanted to remove his sister from political affairs completely, and he arranged a quick marriage with heir-apparent to the St. Ives Compact Kai Allard-Liao. Katherine was detained on New Avalon until Kai returned from Solaris VII for the marriage, during which she spent time with her paralyzed and crippled father. Katherine’s political aspirations were toned down from those meetings, where Hanse forgave her for joining with Nondia and Ryan Steiner, but not for attempting to kill her own mother.

Military career

Having relocated to the Capellan March with her new husband, Katherine Steiner-Davion was “forcefully recruited” into the AFFC to atone for her sins. While her MechWarrior skills were limited and strategic skills were almost inexistent, she was given a Major commission in Andrew Redburn’s First Kathil Ulhan along with her husband, Kai. This was done against the desire of her father, but Victor believed some military discipline might make Katherine a bit more reasonable. This position also removed Katherine from any previous associations she had and isolated her in the Capellan March, under the eyes of the stern Redburn and her uncle, Morgan Hasek-Davion, which was not going to let her manipulate him (or try to manipulate her).

Operation GUAN XING and the Kittery Affair

The unexpected happened as both the Capellan and Leaguers attacked the Federated Commonwealth for Operation GUERRERO at the tail end of 3057. Escalation in the conflict came the next year as the Fifth Succession War was more or less declared in the media, with the Capellans striking out against the Capellan March with Operation GUAN XING. While Duke Hasek-Davion mobilized his own Syrtis Fusiliers and the March Militia, the First Kathil Ulhans were dispatched to Kittery to reinforce the already seditious world. While the Ulhan mainly served in police action, Katherine was kept on “long distance patrols” to keep her away from any form of political power play. There, her company was met with a team of Death Commandos that had infiltrated the planet under the guise of a mercenary unit and she was forced to fight a real enemy for the first time in her life. During her debriefing, she informed her commanding officer of the presence of the Death Commandos but was not taken seriously.

6 days later, a hotel in Can Fu was hit by a bomb, killing various Federated Commonwealth diplomats and St. Ives ambassadors. In a fit of rage, Katherine barged into Andrew Redburn’s office and demanded to know why it happened, as she had warned his executive officer before of the presence of the Death Commando. His response was cold as ice: “How does it feel to see and hear of people dying in a terrorist attack? From a bomb, of all things? How do you think their families feel?” Katherine froze at that point, realizing just what she was saying. Later that day, the Ulhan’s XO was removed from her post and Katherine was given the role. She would never know if this was intentional on the part of Andrew Redburn or not.

Executive Officer and Duchess

As XO of the Kathil Ulhans, Katherine Steiner-Davion was mostly dealing with the day-to-day dealings of the unit, including logistical matters. She was pregnant for most of 3059, leaving her off the battlefield but she kept busy by making sure her husband would not get himself killed. During that period, the Ulhans would assist with the recapture of Ziliang and Uravan, which had been lost the year before. Katherine was forced to fight on Uravan, against the advice of her unit, to make sure their headquarters would remain safe from an unexpected raid.

After giving birth in early 3060, she took 6 months off the frontlines to her new Duchy on Taygeta, 3 of which she spent with Kai who was granted leave as well. Katherine setup her own little ducal estate on the planet rather than reusing the previous lord’s mansion, which had burned down due to an “accident” a few years earlier. She used a lot of her father’s and MIIO contacts in the region to build herself a security force. During that time, her husband was promoted Colonel and put in charge of the First St.Ives Lancers by his mother. Katherine remained attached to the Kathil Ulhans, however.

A Mother At War

Katherine did not want to return to the front, but she needed to as the Kathil Ulhans were being redeployed in 3061 as part of the coalition forces. Still serving as Colonel Redburn’s Executive Officer, Katherine took part in the planning of the invasion of Capricorn. Her insight into the operation were not very valuable, but Redburn made notes that “she took great notes and was able to point out things that had escaped our attention.” During the military action, Katherine’s company fought against the local defenders and she proved herself capable of defending herself (potentially due to coaching from her husband).

A Second Child

Katherine got pregnant after meeting with her husband during a military planning session on Spica in 3062. The Ulhans deploy nonetheless to New Westin and Katherine sees limited action there before being put in charge of more paperwork as executive officer. She left for her estate on Taygeta a month before the Word of Blake terrorist attack on Spica, which injured both Morgan Hasek-Davion and Andrew Redburn. Hanse Davion had suspicion that her daughter was involved in the plot and dispatched multiple agents to investigate her, but she was found not guilty and enraged that someone would, again, use terrorism to hurt people she now cared about.

After spending months with her children, Katherine requests to return to the front, but is denied by both Andrew Redburn and her brother, Victor Steiner-Davion. A new battalion of BattleMechs are brought to Taygeta, where Katherine is asked to get them organized into the first unit of the Second Kathil Ulhan before the rest of the unit is dispatched and deployed. Her organizational skills make this task easy and by 3065, she is promoted as Colonel of the Second Kathil Ulhan, which is then deployed in a defensive posture on Taygeta and surrounding worlds.

Personal life

Katherine’s political aspirations and desires did not completely disappear, but she doesn’t see herself as someone to rule a nation anymore. The difficulties of the Fifth Succession War and seeing her aunt Nondi basically fail at creating a “new Lyran state” reminded her of just how much work this could really be. Her current desires are much more focused on the Capellan March and Crucis March, where she is gaining new allies in a campaign to move “up” from a simple Duchess.

Her marriage to Kai Allard-Liao has been quite tumultuous. The two basically had nothing in common when they were betrothed and then quickly married and had to learn about each other on their way to the Capellan March. Katherine was headstrong while Kai was quite insecure, but they completed each other well. Katherine’s first child, David, was born in 3060, with their second child, Meilin, was born in 3064.

Katherine has an encyclopedic memory for soap operas and “dramas”. He husband often refers to it as “The Library” when he tries to remember the plot point of a particular show they both enjoy. This memory, apparently, has found other uses while serving in the military, but she would rather not remember most of it.

Katherine Steiner-Davion’s BattleMech

Katherine Steiner-Davion is a middling MechWarrior at best, having trained more for politics than for combat. She was gifted a Penetrator 6M by Kallon Weapon Industries to match her husband’s own Penetrator.

Clan Watch Report

“The Watch supposes that if Katherine Steiner-Davion had stayed in Lyran space and not been recalled by her father, she could have taken Nondi Steiner’s place as the leader of the Lyran Alliance. A much shrewder politician, Katherine likely would have caused lasting damage to the Federated Commonwealth with her action.

Is it currently stands however, she appears to have settled in her role as duchess of a minor world, wife to a Solaris champion and regimental commander. A woman of her stature could easily be swayed by desires of power, but it is unusual to see one become so devoted to her role after being more politically aggressive in her youth.”