Joannie Swigard
Sarna News
Joannie Swigard | |
|---|---|
| Personal | |
| Affiliation | Free Rasalhague Republic Clan Ghost Bear |
| Profile | |
| Profession | Överste Star Captain |
Character History
===Free Rasal Hjalmer Olsen was the commanding officer of the 1st Hussars in 3050. She fought Clam Ghost Bear in Thule.[1][2][3]
Despite being caught off guard by the Clans batchall, she was intimately familiar with Thule, so she selected the time and place for battle that clearly favored her own troops. When the Ghost Bear warriors OmniMechs overheated after failing to also account for the incredible heat of Thule's noonday sun in the treacherous terrain of the Fresdon Desert, the Hussars artillery support were able to destroy over a Trinary of equipment.[4][5]
This setback prompted Star Colonel François Cote of the 3rd Bear Striker to break his bid to order the rest of cluster into battle. Having already anticipated just such a strategy, the Hussars sent their AeroSpace Fighters to strafe the 3rd on its approach from the east, inflicting yet more losses. With Star Colonel Stephan Huntsig breaking his bid to order the fighters of his 50th Striker Cluster, the Bears were able to surround the Hussars. As the fighting petered out, Swigard sent out recon units to try and determine the reason for the lull, realizing the Bears were waiting for nightfall and the end of the oppressive heat.[4][5]
Rather than waiting for the Bears to gain the advantage, the Hussars struck the Bear northern flank while the sun was still high in the sky, using artillery to cover their attempted break-out through the encircling Bear forces. When the Ghost Bears attempted to block the break-out with their lighter and faster units to give time for their heavier elements to arrive, the Hussars succeeded in escaping even after the Ghost Bears gained air-superiority thanks to continued artillery barrages.[4][5]
This ongoing difficulty prompted Star Colonel Paul Vishio to finally break his bid as well, calling down additional fighter support to silence the Hussars artillery. The now desperate Hussars bolted for the large river that divided the Fresdon Plains in the hopes of reaching their naval support assets, losing over a company of troops as they hurriedly boarded massive cargo ships to head upriver and out of reach of the Ghost Bear 'Mech forces.[4][5]
With Thule's population accepting the Ghost Bear's rule and deciding that sinking the Hussar's ships outside of combat would be dishonorable, the Ghost Bears left the 3rd Bear Striker's 312th Assault Trinary behind as a garrison unit content they would be able to mop up the survivors while the rest of the Bears moved onto other targets. With the Bears wholly unprepared for guerrilla resistance from the Rasalhague population, Överste Swigard led the survivors of the 1st Hussar in eliminating the skeleton garrison left behind and retaking their homeworld, planning and preparing for the day the Ghost Bears would surely come back.[2]
saKhan Theresa DelVillar and her Golden Bears landed on May 14th, finding the Hussars' remaining battalion worth of troops in frigid plains of the Southlands. Like the first attack, Överste Swigard planned her defense in a region her unit were intimately familiar operating and which she hoped would hinder the Clan troops, unaware the Bears favored the cold even more than her own troops. The Golden Bears easily swept through the prepared positions and traps the Hussars had set, and by the 17th the 1st Hussars had lost two companies of 'Mechs and were forced to their final "last stand" location, the so-called "Icebox".[2] [6]
A massive abandoned coal mine and processing plant, the enclosed space of the Icebox removed the Ghost Bears range advantage and gave the Hussars ample opportunity for physical combat, but saKhan DelVillar welcomed the brutal fighting to come and ordered her troops in, certain her own Elemental forces would easily tilt the battle in their favor. DelVillar would be proven right when even in the face of mined approaches and heavy artillery support the unceasing advance of the Ghost Bears eventually shattered the last company of Hussar 'Mech and resulted in the capture of Överste Swigard. [2] [6]
Clan Ghost Bear
After her capture, she was made a Bondsman of saKhan DelVillar. Joannie would rise to be a Star Captain in the 50th Striker Cluster.[1][2][3]
BattleMechs
He piloted a Hunchback when serving in the 1st Hussars.[1][2][3]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 20 Year Update, p. 51 "Rasalhague Kungsarme - Rasalhague Province"
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 Era Report: 3052, pp. 5-7 "Second Chance"
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Field Manual: Warden Clans, p. 88 "50th Striker Cluster
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 Era Report: 3052, p. 52 "Factions - Clan Ghost Bear - Third Bear Striker"
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 Invading Clans, pp. 19-20 "Clan Ghost Bear - Wave One: Looking for a Fight"
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 Invading Clans, pp. 20-21 "Wave Two: Disaster Strikes"