Colleen Schmitt
Sarna News
Colleen Schmitt (b. October 13th 2756[1] - ???) was a Star League officer and MechWarrior who fought during the Amaris Crisis. She would later go on to become the founding Khan of Clan Blood Spirit.[2]
Contents
Biography
Colleen Schmitt was the daughter of Colonel Hanni Schmitt, the last Commander of the Royal Black Watch Regiment of the Star League Defense Force. Colleen and Hanni Schmitt's ancestors came from the country of Wales on Terra. The name "Colleen" translates as "girl" in Irish Gaelic.[1][2][3]
Early Life and Star League Service
Growing up steeped in her grandmother's tales of service with the Royal Black Watch, Colleen Schmitt was deeply influenced by the stories of camaraderie and the tremendous sense of belonging to an entity greater than one's self. The ideals of integrity of service and loyalty also figured prominently in Schmitt's young psyche. She would carry these influences with her throughout her life.[1][2]
After the Usurper Stefan Amaris seized control of Terra in 2766, Colonel Hanni Schmitt and the remnants of her Black Watch were destroyed in a nuclear strike. Young Colleen and her family went to ground in the Cascade Mountains of North America, joining the resistance that was already gathering. She would survive to the end of the long struggle, and eventually joined the SLDF as a MechWarrior without her parent's approval or even knowing of her decision.[1][2]
After the defeat of Amaris, she was faced with a difficult decision: whether or not to accompany the bulk of the SLDF and General Aleksandr Kerensky for Operation Exodus. Torn between loyalty to her home and the rebuilding process and loyalty to her new Star League "family", Schmitt eventually decided to depart with Kerensky into the Deep Periphery, her loyalty to the general prevailing.[4]
Founding of the Clans
Schmitt's role during the colony years on the Pentagon Worlds is not specified, though it is noted that she felt disconnected from events for many years until the Pentagon Civil War. At that time, she would rise from her depression and throw her full support behind Nicholas Kerensky and his plan for a Second Exodus to newly discovered Strana Mechty. Her loyalty and support - as well as her skill at piloting a 'Mech - earned for her a high place in Kerensky's new society: a Khanship over Clan Blood Spirit, one of twenty new Clans founded after 2807. Unlike her peers in the other Clans, Khan Schmitt stressed teamwork, and especially inter-Clan cooperation, training her warriors to work with each other to achieve their goals.[1][5]
One of their first acts together as a Clan was to pledge to always remember the spirit that brought the 800 loyal warriors along on the Second Exodus. Through the early years of intense training, the warriors of her Clan were forged into a unit that could not only fight, but would also work well with other Clans. She refrained from choosing a saKhan at this time, instead choosing to wait until the conclusion of the looming operation that would retake the rebellious Pentagon Worlds.[5]
Operation Klondike
Spurning at the Dawn of the Golden Century
Death and Legacy
The Schmitt Bloodname and genetic legacy are highly revered by the Blood Spirits, leaders of the Cllan have often hailed from her line. Colleen Schmitt's most famous descendant was undoubtedly Karianna Schmitt, Khan of Clan Blood Spirit in the mid-31st Century.
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 Historical: Operation Klondike, p. 119 - "Colleen Schmitt Profile"
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 Field Manual: Crusader Clans, p. 19 - "Inception"
- ↑ Technical Readout: 3067, p. 38 - Welsh heritage noted in fluff
- ↑ Field Manual: Crusader Clans, p. 19, 20 - "Despair"
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Field Manual: Crusader Clans, p. 20 - "Rekindling"