Avitue

Avitue.jpg
Avitue
Character Profile
Also known as Mary Durant;
Evita Jackson
Affiliation Word of Blake;
Manei Domini
Rank Spector Precentor
Position Commanding Officer, Forty-fourth Shadow Division[1]


Avitue was a Word of Blake Ascended MechWarrior and officer in the Manei Domini.

Character History[edit]

Early Years[edit]

Little is known about Avitue's early life other than her original name, Mary Durant. Her career prior to the Jihad is a mystery, as well, to major intelligence agencies. She appears to have worked in special operations in the years leading up to the Jihad, as her lack of certain cybernetic implants suggest she was a Ghost.[2]

The Jihad[edit]

By 3068, Avitue had attained the rank of Spector Precentor and was placed in command of the 44th Shadow Division. Avitue and the 44th first appeared in the conquest of Yunnah. She and elements of her command conducted special operations throughout the Inner Sphere, including working alongside the Opacus Venatori.[3]

Third Battle for New Avalon[edit]

Avitue and the 44th Shadow Division were placed in charge of the campaign on New Avalon in December 3072. On arrival, she personally killed the 36th Division's commander, Precentor Adler Geist, for his failures to take the planet. She moved to secure the Davion capital without excessive force. Her efforts led to discovery of the secret Legionnaire assembly factory, capture of the Fox's Den and the death of the Marshal of Armies, Jackson Davion. In that final battle with Jackson, she was forced to eject from her overheating 'Mech and was rescued. Severely injured, she handed command of the expedition to Precentor Geoffrey Zucker. Her division triggered the collapse of the complex and Mount Davion before departing the planet.[4][1]

Since her recovery, Avitue had lost confidence in herself and needed to again prove herself worthy of being part of the Manei Domini. She continued to have nightmares of that battle with Jackson for years.[5][6]

StarCorps Intelligence Mission[edit]

In 3077, she posed as Inspector Evita Jackson when she infiltrated StarCorps facilities on Ciotat. She met with StarCorps Director Abram Fitzhugh, posing as an accountant inspecting the director's finances of his division. Secretly, she met and bribed mercenary commander Steven Trevor to go against StarCorps' forces, as cover for her penetration of the StarCorps complex on-planet. She claimed to Fitzhugh that she was there to root out a spy among StarCorps personnel. Days after arriving, the mercenaries began their attack on StarCorps' associate security forces. In the midst of the battle, she revealed to Director Fitzhugh she was Manei Domini and disabled him with her left arm stunner. She installed a ROM-created computer virus to eliminate some of StarCorps' dossiers, by order of Berith. She then disposed of the stunned director, dumping him through a window down the side of the building they had been in. Setting the building on fire in the course of her mission, she hid amongst StarCorps employees, posing as a rescued victim of the firefight in the city, satisfied that her mission had redeemed her membership in the Domini.[7] Her mission was successful, and blame for information being corrupted was placed on Fitzhugh rather than her persona, Inspector Jackson.[8]

Late Jihad[edit]

On the 30th of April 3078, it was revealed by Colonel Marcel Webb—commanding officer of the Star Seeds mercenary unit and head of security for the allied coalition—in a news broadcast from Kittery that the allied coalition was filing criminal charges on behalf of all the allied nations against a number of senior or high profile figures within the Word of Blake, including Avitue. The coalition intended to charge her with treason, espionage, terrorism, murder, and genocide under her original name, Mary Durant.[9]

Appearance & Personality[edit]

Avitue was described as a beautiful woman who appeared to be in her thirties, with no apparent cybernetic implants. She could be very brutal and a strict disciplinarian of the soldiers under her command. She was shown to be a tactically competent in battle. After the conflict on New Avalon, Avitue appeared to have scars on her head resulting from the battle with Jackson Davion.[10] She was completely dedicated to the ideals of the Word of Blake and to the Master of the Manei Domini.[citation needed]

Notes[edit]

  • Avitue had been noted for piloting a modified Grim Reaper BattleMech while in command of the 44th Shadow Division.
  • It is unclear what kind of cybernetic implants she may possess, outside of her original standard implants a Ghost agent would receive. In the story Purification of the Damned, she appeared to have had her left arm replaced by a bionic one. It is not known if this was replaced due to her injuries from New Avalon or in some previous action.
  • It is unknown what has happened to her after 3077, as no canonical mentions have been made. It is unclear if she retained command of the 44th Shadow Division after the Third Battle of New Avalon in 3074.

References[edit]

  1. 1.0 1.1 Jihad Turning Points: New Avalon, pp. 6–7: "Combatants"
  2. Jihad Secrets: The Blake Documents, p. 82: Avitue - Information of her background reported in Intelligence Brief on her
  3. Jihad Secrets: The Blake Documents, p. 105: 44th Shadow Division - Avitue's unit actions in the early years of the Jihad
  4. Isle of the Blessed, ch. 4
  5. Masters and Minions: The StarCorps Dossiers, p. 8: "Purification of the Damned"
  6. Jihad Secrets: The Blake Documents, pp. 82–83, 105
  7. Masters and Minions: The StarCorps Dossiers, pp. 6–10: "Purification of the Damned"
  8. Masters and Minions: The StarCorps Dossiers, p. 213: untitled sidebar
  9. Jihad Hot Spots: Terra, p. 82: "Charges Filed"
  10. Masters and Minions: The StarCorps Dossiers, p. 7: "Purification of the Damned"

Bibliography[edit]