Archer Christifori

Archer Kendrick Christifori
Personal
Born	c. 3020
Died	3069
Affiliation	Federated Commonwealth
Profile
Rank	Major General
Title(s)	Knight of the Sword
Profession	MechWarrior
Family
Siblings	Andrea Christifori

Hailing from Thorin, Archer Christifori was a seasoned MechWarrior and respected commanding officer best known for his actions during Operation BULLDOG and the FedCom Civil War.

History

Operation BULLDOG

Along with Task Force Serpent, Operation BULLDOG was part of a two-pronged Inner Sphere plan to destroy Clan Smoke Jaguar. BULLDOG's purpose was to fight planet-by-planet to push the Jaguars out of the Inner Sphere, while Serpent snaked around the Exodus Road to strike the Jaguar's homeworld Huntress. A major in the AFFC at the time, Archer supported BULLDOG by commanding a company of Victor Steiner-Davion's elite Tenth Lyran Guards. The Guards suffered only light losses during the operation, and were able to link up with Serpent on Huntress, only to find the Task Force remnants under intense siege from the very Jaguar forces BULLDOG had chased back to the planet. As BULLDOG forces dropped to assist their comrades, Archer was ordered to relieve the Northwind Highlanders, who at the time were engaged in a pitched battle against the Jaguars. Archer ordered his company dropped directly between the two sides, and formed a line to defend the Highlanders. Archer himself engaged and destroyed six Jaguar 'Mechs and three Elementals. For his efforts, he was awarded the Star League Medal of Honor for extreme courage during combat, one of only two BULLDOG members to earn the award on Huntress.

Civilian and Militia Commander

After returning home to the Inner Sphere after the Great Refusal that followed the destruction of the Jaguars, Archer eased back into civilian life on Thorin. He resumed operation of his eponymous interstellar shipping company Christifori Express and accepted a reservist position as CO of the Thorin Militia. He reunited with his sister and only family Andrea Christifori, who was becoming known for her several planet-wide editorials critical of Archon Katherine Steiner-Davion's policies and fitness to rule. Though he considered himself somewhat apolitical and feared for her safety, he adored his sister and her dedication to principle, gifting her his Medal of Honor.

As militia commander, Archer reported to Colonel Felix Blucher, commanding officer of the Fifteenth Arcturan Guards. The two units conducted exercises together, though tensions would eventually grow between the ostensibly pro-Katrina Arcturan Guards and the militia. Katrina Steiner-Davion was gaining a reputation as willing to employ a heavy hand when dealing with criticism of her rule, and many feared the Guards were on Thorin to be that hand if necessary.

During a "house call" at Andrea Christifori's residence, ostensibly to ensure mutual understanding and "cooperation," the Guards' XO Luther Fisk shot Andrea to death, claiming to have mistaken a letter opener she had picked up for a knife and deadly intent, though he was a good distance away from her. Colonel Blucher, disgusted with his inept yet politically-connected XO, had Fisk court-martialed immediately and assured Archer justice would be done. Fisk was found guilty and sentenced to 30 years in prison; satisfying Archer's hunger for justice. However, Luther's father and Count of Odessa Nicholas Fisk carried heavy weight in the Royal Court, and Luther's sentence was quickly commuted by the Archon herself. For Archer, it was the final straw that led to his decision to revolt.

FedCom Civil War

Thorin

When Archer decided to liberate Thorin, he did so with the counsel of his close friends and fellow militiamen Sergeant Major Darius Hopkins and Hauptmann Katya Chaffee. They set their initial goals simply and clearly: to kick the Fifteenth Arcturan Guards off of the planet. Conveniently, an upcoming exercise between the Guards and militia offered an opportunity for them to gather as much intelligence as they could on their soon-to-be adversaries. During the exercise, Archer engaged newly-reinstated Luther Fisk in his Salamander, which fell to the ground in the exchange. Archer approached the fallen 'Mech, and held his Penetrator's foot over the cockpit in an unmistakable threat. Over the radio, Colonel Blutcher and Katya Chaffee talked him down, and Archer returned his 'Mech's foot to the ground, leaving his sister's killer unharmed.

Following the nearly bloody exercise, Luther Fisk set into motion a plan which he hoped would lead Blutcher into finally cracking down on the dissidents on Thorin. While Colonel Blutcher, a student of history and respected officer, preferred a light touch with the local population, Fisk openly wished for a more brutal approach. His plan involved placing a car bomb inside Blutcher's personal vehicle and detonating it near the Colonel; close enough not to kill him, but perhaps change his perspective. The bomb would be blamed on Davion terrorists, and the Guards would be justified in taking harsher measures against those who did not support the Archon. Blutcher was forced to arrest and detain anyone vaguely suspected of pro-Davion sympathies, including Archer's confidant Katya Chaffee. Archer was ready, and his militia began preparing to move to their secret base in the ruins of the ancient University of Thorin. On 8 December 3062, Archer resigned his commission, sent a recording to be broadcast to the public, marched his Penetrator to the police station where Katya was being held, and freed her along with the other detainees. Thorin was now embroiled in the FedCom civil war.

Archer had to learn how to fight a quasi-guerilla campaign, which he proved adept at. He made use of local resources and learned to utilize both criminals and spies. His militia performed multiple successful hit and run strikes against the Guards, and became adept at laying traps for the more rigid command. He even planned and executed an operation that robbed the Guards' of some of their payroll in an effort to further demoralize the unit.

On 26 December 3062, Archer received a message directly from his former commanding officer Victor Steiner-Davion. With it, Victor offered him support and a commission as Colonel in the AFFS, giving him a regimental designation of Archer's Avenger's, First Thorin Regiment (sometimes shortened to "A2"). The official designation gave Archer and his former militia status and protection under the Ares Convention as regular military unit if captured, instead of being treated as terrorists.

Following a brutal and ultimately unsuccessful battle at the recently-discovered Avengers' base, Colonel Blutcher made the decision to call for reinforcements from the rest of his Guards on Thorin's sister world of Muphrid. Thanks to a well placed spy in Blutcher's camp, First Lieutenant Thomas Sherwood, Archer was ready. In a daring plan, Archer's Avengers traveled to Muphrid before the Guards could muster, and extracted a surrender from the unprepared Second Battalion. On 2 February 3063, Archer returned his unit to Thorin disguised as the Guards' Second Battalion and surprised Colonel Blutcher, who had his Guards lined up in parade formation to receive the expected reinforcements. After a short battle, Blutcher surrendered. In an unexpected victory for his underdog unit, and after Blucher withdrew his remaining Guards, Archer's Avengers could claim both Thorin and Muphrid in the name of Victor Steiner-Davion.

On 9 February 3063, Commodore Alain Beresick arrived on Thorin and informed Archer of his field promotion to Leftenant General.

Odessa

After Archer's liberation of Thorin and Muphrid, he and his Avengers took the hit-and-run tactics they developed on Thorin and applied them on a more strategic level. Still just one regiment against the armies of Katrina's LAAF and operating with limited support, the Avengers conducted raids against garrisons on planets such as Alcor, Syrma, and Milton, fading away before reinforcements could arrive. Archer's raids created public genuine political issues for Katrina, while also keeping her forces tied up in chasing him. In order to quell her nobles' concerns, Katrina ordered Snord's Irregulars to garrison Odessa, believing Archer would eventually strike at the world and the Fisk family that ruled it.

Victor did eventually order Archer's Avengers to Odessa, not to raid but to convince the mercenary Irregulars to leave Katrina and join his side. He warned Archer that there was a possibility Katrina had placed the unit there as bait. Victor assigned an intelligence agent, Sergeant Anton Gramash, to Archer's unit, and on 15 April 3063, Archer's Avengers arrived on-planet.

Operation AUDACITY

In 3064 and 3065, Christifori also led Operation AUDACITY with A2, Phelan Kell and his Clan Wolf-in-Exile and Adam Steiner and his forces. This operation was designed to check the untimely invasion of the Inner Sphere by Clan Jade Falcon during the FedCom Civil War. This was done by jumping deep into the Jade Falcon occupation zone and taking worlds behind their lines.

New Avalon

Christifori and his unit took part in the battles on New Avalon in early 3067. They undertook a diversionary assault on Avalon Island, pretending to be the main assault force to draw loyalist units away from the true intended beachhead on the island's opposite side. Although this action exhausted his troops and incurred heavy casualties, Christifori and at least some of his troops also took part in the assault on Davion Palace, though it remains unclear if they were deployed as an irregular floating "firefighter" unit or acting entirely on their own behalf.

Ultimately, Victor Steiner-Davion did Archer Christifori the favor of sending him back with Jackson Davion to arrest Katherine Steiner-Davion following her unconditional surrender: It was Christifori who got to handcuff and march the captive Katherine Steiner-Davion off from her throne.

Post–Civil War and death

Following the civil war, Christifori and the Avengers were posted to Gibbs and undergoing demobilization as of September 3067. This process was aborted as the Blakist Jihad began and the unit remained on the LAAF rolls for the next year and a half.

In response in a new Jade Falcon incursion into the Lyran Alliance, Christifori and the Avengers were tasked with assaulting Baker 3 alongside the Knights of St. Cameron. This strike into the Jade Falcon Occupation Zone was intended to threaten their lines of communication and divert Falcon units from Lyran territory; instead it ended in disaster for the Avengers. Confronting two veteran front-line Clan Clusters (the Seventh and Eighth Talons) rather than the garrison cluster expected, the Avengers were hammered from the start and only a surprise attack by the Knights upon the Falcons' rear allowed the survivors to retreat to their DropShips. Archer Christifori was not among them and was listed as MIA.

When the Jade Falcons joined Devlin Stone's coalition some years later, they confirmed that Christifori had indeed been killed.

BattleMech

His trademark BattleMech was a Penetrator that was modified from its original stock model specifications over time, making use of captured Clan Extended Range Large Laser technology that was salvaged before he left Huntress. Clan technology gave him an advantage over Inner Sphere pilots not anticipating the advanced weapons' properties.

Bibliography

• Blake Ascending
• Call of Duty (novel)
• The Longest Road (short story)
• Masters and Minions: The StarCorps Dossiers
• Measure of a Hero (novel)
• Operation Audacity (novel)