Anastasius Focht

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File:Anastasius Focht 1.jpg
At Age of 88 in 3060

Anastasius Focht (15 September, 2972[1] – 3???), born Frederick Steiner, was Precentor Martial during ComStar's Battle of Tukayyid against the Clan Invasion. He is noted for his role in the schism that led to the origination of the Word of Blake.

Biography

Frederick Steiner

File:Frederick Steiner.jpg
Frederick Steiner in 3025 at age 53

The man who became famous as Anastasius Focht was in fact Frederick Steiner, who was already a well-known (although not really famous) person at the time of his transformation. A member of House Steiner, Frederick was born with blond hair and grey eyes. He graduated from Sanglamore on Skye with honors and performed with distinction in the 7th Lyran Regulars and 10th Lyran Guards. A solid commander, he was believed to be a favorite to replace Archon Alessandro Steiner after his disastrous military policies. Instead, Katrina Steiner succeeded him after the Estates General voted no-confidence in their Archon. Though he badly wanted to be Archon, Aldo Lestrade cautioned him to bide his time. Lestrade seemed to manipulate him into attempting to assassinate Katrina and apparently wanted to make Frederick into his puppet on the throne of the Lyran Commonwealth. [2]


In 3029 during the Fourth Succession War, Alessandro's plots were discovered. Rather than simply arrest Frederick, Katrina instead sent him and the Tenth Lyran Guards on a suicidal mission against the Draconis Combine on Dromini VI where he was captured, having fought skillful and bravely against great odds. On September 15, 3029, at the conclusion of the fighting on Dromini VI, Loki agents sabotaged the JumpShips of the Kurita fleet, destroying the helium tanks on four, the drive charging units on two others and the conventional drive on a seventh, causing it to drift from the Jump Point towards the system's sixth planet.[3]

Gunji-no-Kanrei Theodore Kurita was outraged to learn of this dishonourable action and interrogated the captive Frederick Steiner on the same day. Steiner claimed to have known nothing about the plan, yet Theodore Kurita was going to execute him in his rage and decided to spare him only while already pulling the trigger on this gun; the bullet hit the side of Frederick Steiners' head and gravely wounded him. He survived by the slimmest of margins but had to undergo plastic surgery, and permanently lost his right eye. He was generally assumed dead following his doomed attack on Dromini VI and his survival in captivity was kept secret by Theodore Kurita.

In fact the captive Frederic Steiner was handed over (presumably with his consent, and probably even upon his request) to ComStar Primus Myndo Waterly by Theodore Kurita on July 21, 3034 to appease ComStar when the creation of the Free Rasalhague Republic did not immediately go as planned. With Theodore pointing out Waterly's reliance on mercenary troops to manage deployment of the Com Guards, the seasoned General was well received by the Primus.[4]

Anastasius Focht

Frederick Steiner joined ComStar under the name of "Anastasius Focht" ("Anastasius" latin for "reborn"; "Focht" german for "fenced" or in a wider sense "fought"). After being the pawn in Lestrade's schemes, Focht vowed to never get involved in politics again. At this time the Com Guards functioned as a division of the Order's shadowy intelligence agency ROM, with Waterly quickly replacing Precentor ROM Nicholas Cassnew with Focht to place him command of her military forces. Despite the lack of knowledge of his background or beliefs, the First Circuit approved Focht's appointment as Precentor ROM with minimal complaint, Waterly calling in political favors and offering concessions to opponents to ensure this. [5]

Externally, every intelligence organization launched investigations to try and discover Focht's background, attempts which ultimately failed due ROM's extensive efforts to protect their leader's identity. [6] As Precentor ROM, Focht set about making a number of organization changes as set about taking over from the mercenary commanders previously employed to direct the posting of the Com Guards in Davion and Kurita space. Focht's service as head of ROM proved relatively smooth until First Prince Hanse Davion launched Operation Flush, a mass purge of ROM elements in the Federated Commonwealth in 3034.

With dozens of suspected ROM agents captured in Flush's first "opening shot", while Primus Waterly expected a fiery counter-strike, Focht instead ordered ROM to wage a war of confusion, directing those ROM agents left in FedCom space to spread misinformation and false leaks to force the MIIO to waste its resources investing red hearings. Displeased with Focht's "soft-handed" response to Flush, Waterly proposed Readjustment Act of 3035 which saw ROM and the Com Guards separated, naming the agressive Charles Seneca as the new Precentor ROM and creating the position of Precentor Martial for Focht, placing him purely in direct command of the Com Guards. [7]

Focht was kept busy as Primus Waterly set about adopting a carrot and stick approach to get the other Successor States to agree to accept Com Guard forces within their boards. Thanks to Thomas Marik's service in the order and the offer of ROM aid in the capture of Dame Catherine Humpherys, the new Captain-General readily agreed to allow Focht to being posting troops as the Free Worlds League's HPG stations. The Capellan Confederation and the Lyran Commonwealth were much harder, but a 3038 agreement to wave a blanket 25 percent increase in transmission costs for Capellan HPG traffic and a unsanctioned "terrorist" action by the Free Skye movement in 3041 finally forced their hands.

When tensions between the Chancellor and the Primus only increased after the Maskirovka attempted to assassinate Precentor Villlius Tejh of Sian in 3041, Focht counciled the Primus against a military confrontation, pointing to Romano's unstable mental state and insisting that while the Com Guards could successfully defeat the CCAF that they would not be able to do so and maintain their Inner Sphere-wide defensive deployment. Waterly instead chose political solution, replacing Tejih with Adept Jen Li, a trusted confidant of Romano who was secretly a ROM feeding House Liao intel to ComStar.[7]

In the 3040's Focht would instigate sweeping changes to the deployment and organization of the Com Guards, assigning the component elements of each battalion, division and army to positions that would allow them rapidly reform into their larger functional units as required and further enhance their mix of infantry Combat Vehicles and AeroSpace Fighters. Cementing the combined arms focus of his troops via extensive training for any contingency both at Sandhurst Royal Military College and frequent training drills, Focht would tour the worlds upon which the Com Guards were stationed for two months every year.

With the Guards now posted across the width and breadth of the Inner Sphere, Focht expanded on efforts to promote the Com Guards neutral and pacifistic stance by deploying his troops to assist with relief efforts for natural disasters, hostage rescues, political unrest and search and rescue operations. The most notable of these was Focht's deployments of the Com Guards to defend Periphery boarder worlds against pirate raiders, a propaganda boom and recruitment tool for the Order, the public unaware that many were bandits who'd received a measure of support from ComStar during the Jolly Roger Affair. [8]

Envoy to the Clans

File:Anastasius Focht (1).jpg
At Age of 79 in 3050

Frederick Steiner joined ComStar under the name of "Anastasius Focht" ("Anastasius" latin for "reborn"; "Focht" german for "fenced" or in a wider sense "fought") and became their first Precentor Martial, head of the ComGuard. After being the pawn in Lestrade's schemes, Focht vowed to never get involved in politics again. After learning of the presence of strange invaders in the Periphery, Focht was dispatched by Primus Myndo Waterly to be her liaison to the Clans. He quickly established a rapport with Khan Ulric Kerensky of Clan Wolf.

Upon discovering that the Clans sought to conquer Terra, home of ComStar, Focht gathered the ComGuard and issued a challenge for a proxy battle on Tukayyid, a world in the Free Rasalhague Republic. If ComStar won, the Clans would move no closer to Terra for the next fifteen years. If the Clans won, ComStar would surrender Terra, join the Clans, and deny their communications services to the Inner Sphere. Focht challenged the seven invading clans in 3052 and succeeded in defeating Clans Smoke Jaguar, Nova Cat, Jade Falcon, Steel Viper, Diamond Shark by forcing them to fight a long, protracted campaign. He achieved a draw with Clan Ghost Bear, though the ComGuard force was defeated by Clan Wolf. Winning five out of the seven battles meant that ComStar won the battle.

At the same time, Primus Myndo Waterly initiated Operation Scorpion, her plot to bring all of humankind under ComStar's dominion. Upon returning from Tukayyid, Focht deposed Waterly through an "externally initiated brain aneurysm", played kingmaker for the new Primus Sharilar Mori, and worked to reform ComStar of its mystical trappings. He worked to preserve the truce and keep the Successor States ready for when the Truce runs out in 3067.[9]

Schism

Focht allowed ComStar to be weakened, however, when Precentor Atreus Demona Aziz took many members of the order who did not like his reforms into exile with her in the Free Worlds League and formed the Word of Blake with Thomas Marik as their Primus-in-exile. Part of his plan to keep the Inner Sphere ready involved turning Tukayyid, which was the first logical target of the Clans' renewed invasion after the battle that was waged there, into an armed camp. Rasalhague's Elected Prince Magnusson essentially turned the world over to ComStar, which made it into a major staging area.

Focht strongly suggested that Com Guard forces not be removed from the Inner Sphere Clan theater, when the need to strengthen Terra's garrison came up with the departure of Brion's Legion. This cautionary note led to the decision to hire the 21st Centauri Lancers for that five-year contract.[10]

Focht was on Tukayyid in 3058 when he learned that Clan Jade Falcon had launched an offensive into the Lyran Alliance and, later, that the Word of Blake was assaulting Terra. Focht made the decision to let the Blakists have Terra so that ComStar could focus on the Clan threat, a move that proved very detrimental to ComStar further down the road.

Star League

After an allied force led by Victor Steiner-Davion stopped the Falcon incursion on Coventry, the Successor States decided that they needed to resort to drastic measures to make themselves safe from the Clans. In late 3058, the leaders of every nation in the Inner Sphere and ComStar met on Tharkad to discuss the Clan threat. It was almost a foregone conclusion that they decided to resurrect the Star League as a banner to fight under and as a tool of psychological warfare against the Clans, since that was the purpose behind their invasion. For his part, Focht stayed out of the politics, though the Precentor Martial became ComStar's non-voting representative to the Star League Council.

Focht led the Star League Defense Force's Operation Bulldog, a massive offensive with the stated goal of removing Clan Smoke Jaguar from the Inner Sphere, though he never accepted the title of Commanding General. The assault succeeded beyond Focht and Steiner-Davion's wildest hopes, prompting Victor to lead a relief force to Huntress to aid Task Force Serpent. Focht accompanied him and commanded the ComGuard forces that participated in the Great Refusal against Clan Jade Falcon. The Falcon forces handily defeated Focht's ComGuard unit, though the Inner Sphere forces were able to secure enough victories to win the Great Refusal. The loss shook Focht, even though the Falcons had won the battle before a shot was fired.

Upon their return to the Inner Sphere, they found that Victor's sister Katherine had usurped Yvonne Steiner-Davion's regency of the Federated Commonwealth, leaving Victor a leader without a nation. At the Whitting Conference of 3061, Katherine endeavored to become the First Lord. The council was evenly divided, forcing ComStar to cast the deciding vote. True to his vow to never get involved in politics, Focht resigned as Precentor Martial rather than cast the deciding vote. Victor succeeded him and voted against her, paving the way for Theodore Kurita to become First Lord.

Retirement and the Jihad

Focht, now in his nineties, ostensibly retired to write his memoirs. He helped negotiate the final settlement to the Capellan-St. Ives War in 3063, but remained quiet other than that, though he did continue to train with his BattleMech.

Prior to the Fourth Whitting Conference, Focht had reportedly retired to the gardens of Dromini VI.[11] After the Word of Blake Jihad engulfed the Inner Sphere after the historic vote to disband the Star League in late 3067, Focht organized a raid on Tukayyid that rescued Primus Sharilar Mori and publicly spoke out against the Blakists. He remained among their most hated enemies, and continued to thwart them even in his dotage.

Death and Legacy

It is indicated that he survived to see the end of the Jihad, and aided in the birth of the Republic of the Sphere in 3081. An exact date of his death is not given. [12]

Battlemechs

During his life as Frederick Steiner, Focht favored a Lyran Zeus. He later piloted a 100-ton Atlas during his attack on Dromini. While retiring from direct combat in the field after becoming Precentor Martial, Focht reportedly kept up on his 'Mech piloting certification all the way into his retirement from ComStar, having retained an upgraded AS7-K variant during the Battle of Tukayyid and Operation Bulldog just in case.

Philosophical and/or political views


Notes

  • In the novel Lethal Heritage, a Clan medic told him that he could have saved the lost eye had he been present at the time of the injury.
  • In the same novel it is stated that he is fluent in German but not Italian. He mentions this in a conversation with then-bondsman Phelan Kell. Focht was attempting to clear up Phelan's confusion regarding Clan social norms. This bit of information and others would later help Phelan learn his identity.
  • Also, it mentions that he spent some time in a Combine monastery. Primus Myndo Waterly wondered if that experience was what gave him his calm demeanor.
  • It was he who named the Timber Wolf "Mad Cat" after he studied the battle footage of Phelan's encounter with Clan Wolf. He also pointed out that it would be impossible for ComStar to replicate the 'Mech when Myndo Waterly suggested that their armorers modify their Catapults to that configuration.
  • Before he discovered the truth about the Clans, one of his theories was that they were an alien species that had consumed Kerensky's people and had come to harvest the rest of humanity. The hypothetical species he described had the ability to assimilate DNA, and this was why they piloted human-style 'Mechs. In his discussion with Primus Waterly he did not favor the theory that they were Kerensky's people returned, which ironically turned out to the correct one.
  • According to the Comstar Sourcebook, Focht publicly revealed his identity not long after the Battle of Tukayid. Obviously, this was later ret-conned out. [13]

Positions

Preceded by
None
 Precentor Martial of Comstar
3035-3061 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Precentor ROM of Comstar
3034-3035 		Succeeded by

Portrait Gallery

  • Anastasius Focht - Tony Roberts.jpg

    Anastasius Focht

  • Anastasius Focht 2.jpg

    At Age of 87

  • Anastasius Focht.jpg

    At age of 78 in 3052

See also

References

  1. ↑ Era Report: 3062, p. 78, "Anastasius Focht Profile"
  2. ↑ House Steiner Sourcebook, p. 154
  3. ↑ Heir to the Dragon, p.[citation needed]
  4. ↑ Heir to the Dragon, p.[citation needed]
  5. ↑ ComStar, p. 60 "Rosebud"
  6. ↑ ComStar, p. 61 "Mystery Man"
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 ComStar, pp. 61-62 "Flush" Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; name "CS-61" defined multiple times with different content
  8. ↑ ComStar, p. 64 "War of 3039 - Aftermath"
  9. ↑ ComStar (sourcebook), p. 4
  10. ↑ The Fall of Terra (scenariobook), p. 7 - "Gathering Storm"
  11. ↑ Historical: War of 3039, p. 5
  12. ↑ http://www.classicbattletech.com/downloads/DA_The_Republic_of_the_Sphere.pdf
  13. ↑ ComStar (sourcebook), p. 87

Bibliography

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