Editing Deirdre Lear

{{refimprove}}
{{Update Needed|[[Assumption of Risk]]}}
{{InfoBoxCharacter
| image               = 
| name                = 
| birthdate           = 
| died                = 
| othernames          = Deirdre Armstrong
| affiliation         = [[Federated Suns]]
| profession          = Surgeon
| parents             = [[Peter Armstrong]] (father)<br/>[[Marylyn Lear]] (mother)<ref name=AoRc6>''Assumption of Risk'', ch. 6</ref>
| siblings            = 
| spouse              = [[Kai Allard-Liao]]
| children            = [[David Lear]]<br/>[[Melissa Allard-Liao]]
}}
Doctor '''Deirdre Lear (Armstrong)''' was the wife of [[Kai Allard-Liao]], a veteran of the [[Armed Forces of the Federated Commonwealth]] during the [[Clan Invasion]], and the daughter of expatriate [[Federated Suns]] [[MechWarrior (pilot)|MechWarrior]] [[Peter Armstrong]], who fought in the stadiums of [[Solaris]].

==History==
===Early Life and Career===
During his time on Solaris, Armstrong was a part of the stables of Allard's archenemy, [[Philip Capet]]. Armstrong, Dierdre revered her father, but in a Solaris Games arena fight against [[Justin Xiang Allard]], Armstrong refused to eject from his battered ''[[Griffin]]'', resulting in his death. As Allard was considered a traitor to the Federated Suns by the general public at the time, Peter Armstrong became a virtual martyr and his daughter was treated commensurately.

During this period of her early life, Deirdre Armstrong developed an intense dislike of Justin Allard. Later, when Allard revealed he had been working as a deep cover agent for the Federated Suns, some citizens lost their previous view of Peter Armstrong as a martyr. At best, Armstrong was thought of as a stooge who died trying to prevent the heroic Allard from completing his mission; at worst, he was now seen as a traitor to the Federated Suns itself. After her mother remarried, Deirdre Armstrong changed her surname from the original "Armstrong" to her stepfather's, "Lear." She came to like and admire her stepfather, and after exposure to his work as a doctor Dierdre eventually trained as a physician.

===Service in the AFFC===
As a youth, Deirdre Lear came to disdain all things martial, particularly [[BattleMech]]s. Despite this, she enlisted in the [[Armed Forces of the Federated Suns]] as a surgeon following the invasion of the [[Clans]]. She claimed she joined the military in part to atone for her father's perceived sins, as well as to restore her own honor. It was during her service in the AFFS that she met [[Kai Allard-Liao]].<ref name=“LHc13”>''Lethal Heritage'', ch. 13</ref>

Initially Dierdre felt a strong attraction to Kai, but upon learning that he was the son of the man who had killed her father, she recoiled and vowed to avoid him. Confused by her actions, Kai acceded to her wishes to avoid contact. During the Second [[Battle of Twycross]] in [[3050]], the ''[[MASH]]'' unit that Deirdre was attached to was overrun by the [[Falcon Guard]]s at the Great Gash. Responding to the frantic calls for help from the MASH unit, and forced to borrow a 'Mech, Kai rushed to assist the beleaguered unit. In the process, Kai flanked the Falcon Guards, then rescued Deirdre, taking her into the cockpit of his borrowed 'Mech. Kai engineered the destruction of the Falcon Guards by self-destructing his borrowed ''[[Hatchetman]]'', thereby detonating demolition charges the AFFS had buried nearby. In turn, that caused a tremendous landslide which buried almost all of the Falcon Guards. He and Dr. Lear survived by using the [[Full-Head Ejection System]] of the ''Hatchetman''. Rather than appreciating Kai's rescue, Deirdre resented him even more for causing such violence while she was in his 'Mech, and they parted company again.

During the battle for [[Alyina]] in [[3051]], Deirdre was among those left behind when the [[10th Lyran Guards]] were forced to withdraw. In the same battle, Kai Allard-Liao sacrificed himself to ensure the escape of [[Victor Steiner-Davion]]. Kai and Dierdre reunited unexpectedly, and over the course of the next several months, Deirdre allowed her hatred of Kai to slip while they were trapped behind enemy lines. The two went on the run, and eventually Dierdre fell deeply in love with Kai, and the two began a physical relationship. Deirdre and Kai assisted the Jade Falcon garrison, led by Star Captain [[Taman Malthus]], to defeat the [[ComStar]] forces that had attacked them as part of [[Operation Scorpion]]. Both escaped from Alyina after they were granted ''[[safcon]]'' as a reward for their help.

{{Incomprehensible|reason=this page has multiple spelling, grammar, and sentence issues|small=left|machine=yes}}

===Later Life===
She raised her son David (whom she had named after [[David Jewell]] in order to conceal Kai’s identity as his true father) with her family on [[Odell]] for three years. In [[3055]], she accepted a medical posting to the [[Sarna March]] world of [[Zurich]], taking her son with her. On 30th March the following year, she successfully defended herself from and disarmed a young Free Capellan gunman who had stormed her clinic in an attempt to murder one of her patients.<ref>''Assumption of Risk'', ch. 6-15</ref> 

Despite initially not wanting any publicity about her heroic deed, she was eventually convinced to give an interview to the local news channel, which in turn attracted the unwanted attention of [[Tormano Liao]], Kai's uncle. After seeing a picture of the young David, Tormano correctly ascertained his true parentage, and ‘’invited’’ Deirdre and her son to [[Solaris VII]], where both became his personal ''guests'' on his house on Equus, as ''de facto'' prisoners to blackmail Kai into obeying Tormano. Deirdre attempted an escape with her son on 27 April [[3056]], which failed. Both were captured by Tormano's guards and she was about to be executed when the guards were slaughtered by a team of Clan Jade Falcon Elementals, led by Kai's former enemy turned friend, Taman Malthus.<ref>''Assumption of Risk'', ch. 18-35</ref>

After Kai defeated Tormano, Deidre was reconciled with him, and presented to him his son.<ref>''Assumption of Risk'', ch. 38</ref>

Following Kai's sojourn on Solaris VII as champion in his father's footsteps, he finally married Deirdre. They had another child, [[Melissa Allard-Liao]]. Deirdre continued her medical practice after her marriage to Kai.

==References==
<references />

==Bibliography==
* ''[[Assumption of Risk]]'' (novel)
* ''[[Lethal Heritage]]'' (novel)
* ''[[Warrior: En Garde]]'' (novel)

[[Category:Federated Suns Characters|Lear, Deirdre]]