Evelena Haskell

Evelena Haskell
Character Profile
Born 3018[1]
Died 3068
Affiliation 21st Centauri Lancers
Rank Colonel[1]
Children Michael Haskell[1]


Evelena Haskell was the commanding officer of the Twenty-first Centauri Lancers.[2]

History[edit]

Under contract to the Free Worlds League during the Operation GUERRERO, the 21st Centauri Lancers were loaned to the Capellan Confederation in 3057, under the command of fellow mercenary unit McCarron's Armored Cavalry on Hsien. Following several particularly bloody engagements with the Second FedCom RCT, the Lancers began to feel they were being minimalized by all parties, and Thomas Marik in particular. They decided to close their nearly forty year contract with the League and seek employment elsewhere. Evelena Haskell's message announcing their availability, sent through a Word of Blake HPG station to the Hiring Hall on Outreach, was delivered to Blake Precentor William Blane, who was also aware ComStar was actively seeking a mercenary unit to replace the garrison on Terra recently left open with the departure of Brion's Legion.[3]

Operation Odysseus[edit]

This knowledge was used to surreptitiously lead ComStar to hire the Lancers for that five-year contract in November 3057, to begin at the beginning of 3058. The First and Sixth Word of Blake Divisions arrived on the Lancers' base world of Nestor prior to the unit's own return, capturing the unit's dependents, shipping them off to Gibson and securing the Lancers' base.

On 4 December 3057, when the Lancers returned to take their dependents, Precentor Suzanne Mulvanery contacted her, sending her a video showing Haskell's son at gunpoint, and explained to Haskell that all she had to do to keep their families' alive was to keep the Lancers quiet for the foreseeable future; in return the Lancers would not be attacked and their families would be protected. Haskell agreed to the terms. Mulvanery assumed Haskell's identity for the lead-up to Operation ODYSSEUS.[3]

Haskell and the Lancers remained on Nestor, isolated, until 25 December. Then, the Blakists departed and informed the Lancers than they could retrieve their dependents on Gibson. Once they landed there, Evelena's DropShip landed, and she was received by Precentor Sylvia Elliot, who conveyed her to the Lancers' dependents, and even sympathized with her, excusing the Blakist actions. After seeing her son, Evelena was shocked to hear him accuse her of having committed war crimes, as the news painted the Lancers as pirates and betrayers. She told him the truth, and he believed her, embracing her.[4]

The Lancers evacuated their dependents with an escort to keep them safe. Most of them didn't return to Outreach but returned to Gibson, landing on the Blakist base. Evelena led the assault, facing Elliot. The enraged Lancers made short work of the Blakists, and Haskell defeated the Precentor. Elliot attempted to explain and excuse the Word's words, but Evelena didn't want to listen to her, killing her with a shot to her cockpit. After the victory, the Lancers razed the base and salvaged any useful Blakist 'Mechs.[5]

Following a post-Odysseus vindication by the Mercenary Review and Bonding Commission, the Lancers were excused for their apparent complicity in the Blakist attack. Wolf's Dragoons Colonel J. Elliot Jamison read Evelena a letter from Jaime Wolf, in which he sympathized with her and approved of her actions. After the meeting, ComStar offered to keep their contract with the Lancers, but in another place. She gladly accepted.[6]

The Lancers' contract consisted of operating as an opposing force for training units on Tukayyid. Haskell had been attempting to prepare Lieutenant Colonel Ryan Searcy for command of the unit by teaching him the value of "big picture" strategy and the wisdom of leading from behind, when appropriate.[2][7]

Death[edit]

Haskell was killed in 3068, along with over five hundred civilian dependents, by Word of Blake WarShips orbiting the planet seeking out any ComStar or mercenary remnants.[7]

Personality[edit]

Colonel Evelena Haskell was a fearsome on the battlefield, she was known for her honesty and integrity off of it, offering fair treatment to prisoners and swift retribution for any betrayal.[8]

Family[edit]

Her son, Michael, showed no interest in continuing the family legacy.[9]

BattleMech[edit]

Evelena's 'Mech on Gibson was a Star League–era BLR-1Gb BattleMaster.[10]

References[edit]

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 All Good Things
  2. 2.0 2.1 Field Manual: Mercenaries, Revised, p. 56: "21st Centauri Lancers: Best of the Best"
  3. 3.0 3.1 The Fall of Terra, p. 8: "A Wolf in Sheep's Clothing"
  4. This Too Shall Pass, p. 339
  5. This Too Shall Pass, pp. 340–342
  6. This Too Shall Pass, p. 344
  7. 7.0 7.1 Mercenaries Supplemental Update, p. 41: "21st Centauri Lancers"
  8. Combat Manual: Mercenaries, p. 27
  9. Field Manual: Mercenaries, pp. 50–51
  10. This Too Shall, p. 340

Bibliography[edit]