Cassiopeia Suthorn

Cleanup tagged articles without a reason field Cassie Suthorn (Born 3031 ) She was a 31st Century infantry soldier, scout, and mercenary with the 17th Reconnaissance Regiment, more widely known as Camacho's Caballeros.

Character Description

In her prime, Cassie Suthorn was a tough and fearless Scout and Anti-Mech infantry trooper. She used her fear of BattleMechs from her childhood to over come most of her other fears. Ethnically, she has mix of Thai, Filipino, Japanese, French and Irish, which her Asian heritage most pronounced. She has been described, in her youth, as a small brown skinned Asian women, with black hair and gray blue eyes. Cassie's time on the streets in her youth helped her to control her emotions, allowing her to choose what she projected to the world.

Character History

Early Life

Born as Cassiopeia Suthorn, she was the child of Draconis Combine nationals Alexandra Yamaguchi Suthorn & Manco Suthorn. After her birth in the Combine, her parents immigrated to the Capellan Confederation world of Larsha as refugees. Her family had higher-status here than they had had in the Combine. Her mother and other fellow female refugees would wear clothing to recapture that status. In those years, Cassie was a happy child living on the out skirts of the planetary capital city of Kalimantan. This changed in May of 3034, when BattleMech force arrived to raid the planet's capital. Her father, at the time, was Commander of the armed forces protecting the city. He met with his family one last time before being called to fight.

The Larsha authorities, in an attempt to prevent panic, only issued an alert and forbid any evacuation. The fighting reached Cassie's home. An Atlas BattleMech, during the course of fighting the infantry troops, trashed her home before her eyes. Later, she learned her father was killed in the fighting she had witnessed and this event traumatized her with nightmares of BattleMechs.

Later on, while growing up, her mother became more detached and had many lovers after her husband had died. By Cassie's early teenage years, she had been raped by one of them. Due to her mother having multiple lovers, she developed feelings of guilt.

Later on, she came under the guidance of Guru Johann, who trained her in the martial arts of Pentjak Silat. She was drawn to him and he became her mentor & teacher since she felt he could sense her emotional hunger to destroy the demons in her dreams. On her 12th birthday, he gave her a twelve hundred year old Kris knife, which she named Blood-drinker. She loved Guru, and learned much from him as a mentor. He taught her how to master the panic and fear she experienced. On giving Blood-drinker to her, he told her the wavy shaped blade was alive, that it remembers all the battles it had been used since its forging on Terra's Malay Archipelago.

Shortly after receiving her Kris, A Guardsman lover of her mother attempted, again, to have his way with her. She used her Kris as a means of stopping him and threatened to kill him. He left, vowing he would return with his squad-mates to take care of her permanently. When she went to her mother, she slapped Cassie, saying she should have not done anything. With that, she left her home with only her Kris and the clothes on her back.

In Service with Larsha Home Guard

While living on the streets of Kalimantan, Cassie learned that stealth was the key to survival. She ran with a range of shady folks, from con-artists and street punks, to other street-smart individuals. Remembering her mother's behavior with relationships kept her from becoming prostitute and developed a dislike to beautiful women who seemed to flaunt themselves. When she was 16 years old, Cassie had become a street thug, and was forced by the authorities to join the planetary militia's criminal troops. Her unit was designated as the Glorious Redemption Detachment 325.

In 3047, BattleMechs were raiding the Larsha capital city. During the raid, her GRD troop was raiding businesses. However, as the BattleMechs neared their location, something deep down inside her changed. She turned her fears into fearlessness. Despite her not holding any rank, she took charge of the criminal youth and lead them out of the building. As the raiders closed in on their position, she devised a means to take down the 'Mechs she so hated. As a Wolverine, closed to her position she had her fellow troopers gather mop handle and a fire ax. She then scooped up the live electrical wire she had previously cut with the ax, and charged the Wolverine and struck the 'Mech in its knee joint. The powerful charge fused the actuator, and caused it to fall. Dumbstruck in her accomplishment, she could not believe that she had managed to cripple a BattleMech, she was surrounded by other 'Mechs of the raiding force. The downed MechWarrior, Bobby Wolf, angry at the destruction of his beloved machine, threatened to take her down himself. However, he is stopped by a woman piloting a Phoenix Hawk BattleMech identifies herself as Lt. Senior Grade Patricia Camacho of the 17th Reconnaissance Regiment. Patsy, after seeing the potential talent Cassie exhibited, asked for Cassie to surrender, which would mean her being taken off planet, likely forever. Cassie, having expected to die taking down the BattleMech, had nothing to loose and did so. Cassie passes out in front of Lt. Camacho's Mech, as she moves big machine to pick her up.

Early Years with the 17th Recon

Two years after her recruitment, Cassie was placed in the ranks of the infantry in the Regiment. However, she did not fit in. Many of the Regiment's clannish culture had prevented her from feeling part of the regiment and as part of the family. By 3049, the regiment was hired to work on the Magistracy of Canopus world of Borgan's Rift, on a contract to eliminate the pirate band lead by the Red Lion. A detachment of Light & Medium Mechs were sent by the Regiment to deal with pirates, lead by the hot-headed Lt. Gavilán Camacho, Regiment's commander's son. The mission was to serve as a make-or-break for Lt. Camacho's command. After two weeks on the ground, it was decided that then Private Cassie Suthorn would be the detachment's new scout, since all her jobs she was given before had been failures. Her assignment was to penetrates the pirates inner sanctum in the old industrial city of Howe.

She took up the role as a double agent. While slipping into the Pirate's strong hold, she met an ex-House Liao Colonel. Playing up her background, she fools him into believing she was a captive of the mercenaries. While in the camp, she discovered that the pirates have only six light & medium 'Mechs and a small DropShip. She is able to convince the Red Lion to have his infantry troops enter the woods outside of the city limits and place their 'Mechs in the deadlands near the city to fool her mercenary "captors" to fight in open, telling him it was their weaknesses.

During the resulting night battle, Cassie sneaked into an ancient hulk of a BattleMech, known as a Gladiator. In the stripped wreck, she watches the desperate fight of the Red Lion's reinforced lance. Using her stealth, she had placed a 'Mech grade SRM launcher into the 'Mech prior to the battle. As the Red Lion's Heavy BattleMech appeared on battlefield, she was able to ambush him. Using the launcher, she fired the missile into the thin armored back of the Rifleman, which was the largest threat of the field. In doing so, she clinched the mission, and saved her team from defeat. She had proved herself to her fellow mercenaries, and at that point she considered them as part of her her family.

To Clan Invasion and its aftermath

After being appointed and proving herself, she was transferred to the Scout Platoon of the Regiment. In intermediate years, she developed her keen edge to the art of hunting BattleMechs.

By the Clan Invasion the unit was caught on the world of Jeronimo, when the Clans invaded. There, the unit faced Clan Smoke Jaguars, and found themselves in a losing situation. In their retreat, Lt. Patricia Camacho dies fighting a Star of Clan 'Mechs. By doing so Cassie, lost her only friend. After the death of Patricia and half of the regiment, she and the rest of the unit would swear blood vengeance against the Clans, especially the Jaguars for their losses.

She was given the nickname Abtakha, a Clan nickname for an adopted outsider as her call sign. She was convinced by Colonel Don Camacho to take the rank of Lt. JR. for her actions on the planet.

In aftermath of the disaster on Jeronimo, the unit was reeling from the destruction the Clan had wrought. The unit conducted contracts in the Periphery in order to recover. One such mission was to the world of New Horizons in 3056. In their mission to hunt pirates, Cassie waded through swamps and muck of the humid world's outback for two weeks. She tracked down the pirate's base, while hunting a Marauder BattleMech. While in the muck, she marked parts of the great swamp for her people to know where not to go and get stuck. She then slipped into the base and left a homing beacon for the Regiments' artillery to bomb the base. After fooling the pirate troops, into their ambush, she begun to resume her hunt for the 'Mechs. Despite losing the 'Mech she was hunting for artillery to hit, she traps a pirate's Locust 'Mech in the swamp and kills the pilot as he egresses from the stuck machine. This helps to replenish the regiment's ranks of BattleMech they had lost to the Smoke Jaguars.

After leaving New Horizons, the 1st Battalion's, Bronco Company new commanding officer, Captain Kali MacDougall tries to befriend Cassie. However, Cassie ignores her attempts, partially due to her bias against MechWarriors, especially one who pilots an Atlas, which was the same design that killed her father and ruined her life.

Garrisoning of Hachiman & Uncle Chandy

In August 3056, the Caballeros arrive, under contract to Uncle Chandy to garrison his Hachiman Taro Electronics on the Combine world of Hachiman. Cassie was given the honor of leading the entire 90+ BattleMech regiment into the factory's compound on her mountain bicycle.

Cassie "befriends" a Federated Commonwealth News Service reporter Archie Westin. She does so to keep the young reporter from being roughed up and possibly killed by her fellow Caballeros. Though not a personal relationship, she explains to him how to handle her fellow Caballeros, for the sake of the Colonel's honor. After a brief encounter with Captain MacDougall while in a local bar Permissiable Repose, that the unit had adopted as their own, she begins to scout the complex and surrounding city. She, and members of the unit's unusual Scout platoon, checkout the buildings on opposite side of the complex's river shore. Feeling it’s a security risk, she insists in seeing Chief of Security of H.T.E, Mirza Peter Abdulattah. She explains to him that she wishes to utilize the buildings that are owned by Chandrasekhar Kurita, and rig them as booby traps and other surprises for potential invaders. She is confronted by the unit's command staff on what shes been doing. She convinces them that there is a undefined threat to the unit, and that she seeking it out. At the end of the discussion, Colonel Camacho gives permission for Cassie to scout as she chooses.

Over time, she is able over come some of her prejudice about MechWarriors, and became friends with Captain Kali, who told her she had admired her skills, unique beauty and her saving the unit in the past. As they became more acquainted in the unit's bar, personnel with the 9th Ghost Regiment enter the bar. After an opening brawl between the yakuza of the 9th Ghost, they "introduce themselves".

Undercover in Masamori City

In September, Cassie would go undercover, slipping into the underworld of City of Masamori. There, posing as a Davion worker from a interstellar merchant vessel, she inherently rescues prostitutes from violence and made them part of her intelligence gathering network she has been setting up across the city. As another means of collecting information, she posed as a dancer at the Kit-Kat Club. As she became more connected, she found that Kazuo Sumiyama had some interests against Uncle Chandy's H.T.E. Company and was now courting DEST to resolve issue he believe he had "discovered". Cassie immediately notices a threat as a red headed envoy of DEST with his escorts at meeting in a warehouse at the space port. She was able to record the meeting and barely escaped a DEST operative by killing him and making it look like an accident. Immediately after the meeting she goes to H.T.E's head of security Peter Abdulattah and reports her findings and is brought to his master, Chandrasekhar Kurita. Uncle Chandy revealed that the man Cassie had surveyed was heir-designate of the Draconis Combine's ISF, Ninyu Indrahar. Uncle Chandy confides this information because of the threat of the ISF thinking he has ambitions of power for himself and he needs prove his innocence. He informs Cassie that she will work directly for him. She helps Chandrasekhar Kurita discover the means to undo the threat to him and her regimental family. Through her meeting, she earns the trust of the Kurita lord.

In late September, Chandy's enemies generate a story of H.T.E. developing Faster-than-Light communication. This leads to the H.T.E. Compound being attacked by the Word of Blake raiders in a two prong attack. Cassie and the rest of the regiment respond to the attack, with minimum losses. However, it was soon discovered that the raiders were a cover for DEST troopers trying to penetrate the compound.

As part of the investigation, she stumbled on Chandy's exchange program with the Clans, in which the merchant caste has been quietly shipped to Hachiman as part of exchange program. After the invasion, Uncle Chandy called for Cassie, and discussed their chances of repelling the next attack by the Breath of the Dragon, the ISF. He felt that they need to prove their innocence and that his rival at Tanadi Computers is the true instigators of the situation. He suggests to Cassie to go undercover and get close to high ranking people of the situation.

At a party setup by Uncle Chandy, Cassie managed to trick Planetary Chairman Percival Fillington into thinking she was one of her employers lovers attempting to escape his clutches. Flown away as planned, Cassie played the role of a scared woman whom had fled from their enemies. During her stay, she came to known "Percy". She noticed that the Chairman had an innocent mentality about him which she came to like, despite her inner voice causing her to resist becoming involved. She began to see that Chandy's rivals had influenced the young governor into believing her employer was a threat. She doesn't get evidence to prove that Tanadi Computers and DEST dealings with the planetary governor, before she is pulled out of the mansion. However, she was able to plant a listening device before being retrieved.

After returning to the compound and reporting her findings, forces against Uncle Chandy stage an event that makes it look like Cassie and her mercenary family have staged a coup and taken their charge hostage. This forces their friends in the 9th Ghost to storm the compound on November 1st.

On the eve of the impending attack against the compound, Cassie was sent on a mission to deliver information proving that Tandai Computers and Yakuza boss Kazuo were involved with Clan activities and were framing Uncle Chandy. She had to penetrate through the city during the assault of the 9th Ghost to ISF headquarter and deliver the evidence of her regiment's innocence. Prior to the mission, Kali confronts Cassie one last time, and tells her she should no longer feel soiled from crimes done to her in childhood, to let it go before it destroys her. She is able to rid of herself at the last of her haunted grief during the night prior to the mission.

Siege of H.T.E. Compound and the Race prove their Innocence

On the Day of the Dead, 2nd November, she met with Colonel Don Camacho prior to the mission. He wishes her safe and told her she is like a daughter to him. However, Cassie senses Don wasn't expecting to survive the battle because of his grief he held for his long lost daughter. She confronted him like no else had before, and told him he is the glue that holds their regiment and their family together and he must survive for the sake of everyone. She also bluntly tells him he was not the true reason his daughter died, she had done it on her own. She convinced the Colonel to stay alive, despite how he felt.

She led her platoon of scout infantry through the sewers of the compound and past the battle between the 9th Ghost and her regiment. After by-passing the horrors of the battle, Cassie brought her platoon within distance of Ninyu Kerai-Indrahar's headquarters at the uncompleted building known as the Coordinator's Rest Hotel. Though abandoned, Cassie and her people begun their stealth approach into the building, taking down guards with armor-piercing ammunition. Once in the hotel, she and her scouts stormed the lobby with bullets flying at them. Despite her force being cut down in half, her surviving people managed to breach the lobby and ride up an elevator, leaving explosive decoys to lure away the DEST troopers attention. After arriving on the top floor, Cassie and her remaining troops moved to meet their target. She engaged in one-on-one combat with a female DEST commando, and managed to turn the tables on her. After ordering her remaining people to hold position, she knocked the trooper out. Using the trooper as a shield, she was able to over come Ninyu's last body guards. She presented him a holo-projector showing him evidence that proved that Chandrasekhar Kurita was innocent of the charge of treason. She motivated him more by twisting his arm with her Kris to encourage him to end the hostilities. Shortly after, Ninyu announce hostiles head ended.

Aftermath

After the battle, ISF produced a false story that the battle was against an unknown foe, not against her fellow Caballeros. She and the rest of her regiment were sited as heroes along with their friends from the 9th Ghost.

Cassie met with Earl once more, to apologize for hurting him and leading him on, but not for what she did for the regiment. In their brief moment together on a beach, he revealed to her he is still interested in her, despite everything she had done to him. Despite her instincts, she left open the opportunity for him to get to know her better.

Cassie convinced Uncle Chandy to reveal the truth, that it was he who had been smuggling Clansman to the planet. He revealed that he had been bringing Clan Merchant Castes from various clans as service to House Kurita. Through them, he told her, he can soften the Clan's people enough so when the Treaty of Tukayyid expires, they will not be as strong as they once were. He apologized for using her and her mercenaries, but did not want to hurt them personally.

After-wards, Cassie met with Kali and told her that Chandy had asked her to stay by his side. She tells her that she thought about it. With a laugh, they're conversation leads to them finally becoming true friends.

In December, as part Kali's attempts to humanize Cassie, she convinced her to attend the Chairman Day's ball as Earl's personal guest. The holiday, a thinly described Christmas Day celebration, became a day of opportunity for regiment's enemies. During the dance with Percival Fillington, Word of Blake commandos break into the Fillington's Palace. The commandos first kill Fillington when he challenged them. Cassie, wearing only a tight dancing dress and only armed with a vibro-blade and the late Percival's pistol, began to take out her party crashing commandos. After taking out some of the troopers with Ninyu Kerai-Indrahar, Blakist BattleMechs begin to arrive. Cassie convinced the ISF Assistant Director to help her disable the large machine. As Ninya distracted what turned out to be a BattleMaster with machine gun fire, Cassie, after cutting down her dress, jumped onto shoulders of the 'Mech from a fifth floor roof. She useed her extensive study of BattleMechs to release a hidden rescue lever and open the cockpit. Then sliced the MechWarrior with her vibro-blade and took over the BattleMech. She had limited knowledge of how to actually pilot the 'Mech but was able to ambush two of Blakist 'Machines, until she was forced to jump from the 'Mech into an icy pond. She is rescued by Eleanor Shimazu, who takes out the King Crab that disabled her captured 'Mech.

Events on Towne

Arrival

After fighting the Blakist, Cassie became determined to learn how to pilot a BattleMech. The 17th Recon was instructed by Uncle Chandy to help reinforce militia forces on the FedCom world of Towne. There, on the planet, Uncle Chandy had assets and also helped save face with the Combine. Elements of the Black Dragon society dispatched the 15th Dieron Regulars to attack the planet as an effort to re-start the war with their ancient enemies, the Davions.

Cassie and the rest of the Regiment arrived on Towne, a Federated Commonwealth world, now on the edge of chaos in the former Sarna March. Their arrival on planet was greeted with protesters, believing they were the head of a House Kurita invasion.

Immediately on the ground, her mercenary family was seen as House Kurita forces. With the appearance of organized militias confronting their arrival, Cassie went undercover to find out the facts of the Popular Militia.

In the course of waiting for the Kuritas to attack, they made contacts with Towne's legal militias that had been driven underground by political parties in charge of the planet.

As the hostile militias setup to attack her regiment, she found herself facing a women whose fighting skills equaled her own. Known only as Wolf Girl, she leads some of the Popular Militia in Port Howard area. After a bombing attack on their compound, the Colonel scatters his battalions to various Kurita owned companies.

Eventually, Cassie was able to contact a friendly militia group known as the Towne Air Rangers, where she met a pilot named Lt. Tim "Bad" Moon, who was one of the Air militia group's flights commanders. The volunteer Rangers invited Cassie and many of 17th Recon's leading officers to their headquarters in Morrison Plateau Gunderland region. They reaffirm ties and Cassie began to develop a relationship/affair with Moon

Invasion and Occupation of Towne

January 23rd, 3058, the 15th Dieron Regulars along with the Black Dragon Yakuza manned regiments invaded Towne. During the chaos of the invasion, Cowboy Payne and Buck Evans are caught off the Regiment's base when during the attack. They fought the Yakuza infantry to make their way to Town Air Ranger's headquarters at Python Base. There, they witnessed on local holovid, planetary official Howard Blaylock welcoming the Draconis Combine officials to Towne.

With some of the regiment able to make it to the Base, 17th Recon and Rangers arrange a meeting with other militia forces. They, in turn, are ambushed by traitors among the Militia, who back the Kuritas. Among these individuals is Wolf Girl, who gets into a one on one fight with Cassie. Cassie and Wolf Girl exhaust each other trying to kill one another, but Cassie loses the fight in the end. She was saved by Wolf Girl's admiration for Cassie skills and by the incoming reinforcements in the form of the 17th.

Shortly after, Cassie lead a small team and extracted the captured and raped Kali MacDougall from being executed by Blaylock and his thugs.

Cassie was put in charge of training volunteers to become resistance fighters with Father Doctor "Bob" Gracia. She befriended a young girl, Marly Joles, and trained her and other volunteers in anti-BattleMech warfare. Among the first lessons Cassie teaches her students, is in the form of an ambush in February. Cassie traveled to the Eiglophian mountain region, where, in March, met a Clan Broadsword Dropship smuggling supplies to the unit by care of Chandrasekhar Kurita. Among the supplies delivered, was an usual man named Enrico Katsuyama, a pleasant individual who turned out to be Assistant Director in ISF's Voice of the Dragon division. Ernie, as he prefered to be called, then worked with the unit to counter propaganda being produced by the pro-Black Dragon controlled government/media. As time passed, she continued her training of the resistance forces and her stormy relationship with Tim Moon.

On April 18th, the 17th Recon's Camp Mariposa in Gunderland Province, the Towne Air Rangers attempted to hold off the full scale raid, but during the course of the battle, the Regiment's dependants were captured, including the Colonel's lover, Diana Vasquez. The Regiment's Intelligence Officer, Gordon Baird had betrayed the regiment's base to spare their lives. However, Planetary Chairman Blaylock arranged for a firing squad and Diana was shot as a means to convince Cassie and the Regiment to surrender or have other hostages killed.

Battle for Port Howard

Days after Diana's execution, Colonel Camacho mobilized the Regiment, despite not completing his preparations for the assault. Cassie sliped into Port Howard aboard an Air Ship with deposed MechWarriors of the Regiment's First Battalion during the night. Geared in a sneaksuit, they arrived at Hachiman Taro Electronics, where they assembled their infiltration force. While the Regiment's two 'Mech Battalions conducted their divisional assault, Cassie and the other commandos conducted their objective to rescue the dependents and get revenge. She lead the expanded Scout Platoon and Planetary Militias infantry into the sewers of Port Howard to penetrate Admin Center of the city.

The teams attempted to reacquire the Regiment’s captured BattleMechs, but are spotted, bringing Black Dragon troops to alert. As the 17th Recon's Battalions made their attack for the city, Cassie and her people continued to penetrate further towards the headquarters. However, her team encountered the relentless and deadly Wolf Girl. Cassie engaged Wolf Girl in one-on-one combat. In the course of their dual, she was captured by the Blaylock's guards.

She was brought before Blaylock, who threatened to rape Cassie and kill the children being held hostage. However, Blaylock angered Wolf Girl after revealing he arranged her sister's death. She then freed Cassie and helped fight her now former boss. Blaylock managed to escape, but Wolf Girl is killed in the fighting. After Cassie kills Blaylock, she managed to find Kali injured. Cassie was told by Kali that she needs to take down Tai-sa Kusunoki to end the fighting.

Cassie took Kali's 'Atlas and piloted it in pursuit of the 15th Dieron's commander. She managed to ambush him, despite the Atlas damaged state, and charged forwards to the [i]Naginata[/i] Command 'Mech. He was knocked to the ground with aid of Tim Moon's kamikazing his plane into him. Cassie's [i]Atlas[/i] died holding onto the knocked out Kusunoki. She managed to capture Kusunoki and forced him to commit seppuku on live broadcast.

Notes

Cassie Suthorn was created by novelist Victor Milán. Her personal history, as of this writing during the Clan Invasion and Jihad, have not been written. During the Clan Invasion, her unit was written in early parts of the novel as being with the FedCom. However, during the war, it was made clear that their severe losses was on the Draconis Combine world of Jeronimo. In later parts of the book, the unit was fighting with the Draconis Combine.

Bibliography

• Close Quarters (Novel)
• Hearts of Chaos (Novel)
• Black Dragon (Novel)
• 25 Years of Art and Fiction (Short Story, Ozymandias)