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Dechan Fraser

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Dechan Fraser
Personal
AffiliationWolf's Dragoons
Draconis Combine
Career
ProfessionMechWarrior
Family
SpouseJenette Rand

Dechan Fraser was a MechWarrior with Wolf's Dragoons, and later became the trainer and commander of the rebuilt Ryuken regiments in the Draconis Combine.

History[edit]

Career with Wolf's Dragoons[edit]

Little is known about Dechan Fraser's life before joining Wolf's Dragoons. He was recruited in Lyran Commonwealth space[1] at a relatively young age, one of the relatively few Inner Sphere warriors to be adopted into the Dragoons. After a customary training period, Fraser was made a full Dragoon member approximately around early 3023.[2] He was assigned to Alpha Regiment, widely considered the elite of the elite.

Fraser quickly became a rising star with the Dragoons. As a Sergeant on Quentin in June 3023, he assisted Minobu Tetsuhara, the Draconis Combine liaison officer, in rescuing Colonel Jaime Wolf when Wolf's Archer overheated in combat.[3] By November 3024, he had made Lieutenant and was given a Lance command.[4] He saw particularly heavy fighting on Barlow's End in 3026, where circumstances placed him in command of more than a company's worth of Dragoons during combat against the Eridani Light Horse.[5] By April 3027, he was promoted to Captain, with a Company command in Alpha Regiment's Baker Battalion (Fraser's Company - "The Hackers"),[6] and fought against the Seventh Crucis Lancers on Misery and Udibi.

Conflict with the Combine[edit]

The Dragoons' relations with their employers took a downward turn once Warlord Grieg Samsonov was determined to put them under his personal control. When his efforts failed, Samsonov became determined to destroy them. He was aided in this by Jerry Akuma, an old rival of Tetsuhara's. Tetsuhara was reassigned to build a Kurita unit based on the Dragoons' tactical doctrine, the Ryuken, while Akuma replaced him as the liaison officer to the Dragoons. By the close of 3027, matters quickly came to a head. Outright fighting broke out on An Ting between the Dragoons and a regiment of the Ryuken under Akuma's command, after attacks on the Dragoons' civilian dependents. It fell to Fraser's company to disrupt the Ryuken order of battle in the initial stages of the conflict and evacuate the Dragoon staff from their exposed HQ in the city. In the following weeks of fighting, Fraser personally killed Ryuken field commander Andrew Subato Chou during an ambush.[7] During the Dragoons' final push to dislodge the Kurita defenders, Fraser led an ad hoc unit that penetrated behind the enemy lines ahead of the main Dragoon force[8] and arrived at the enemy HQ in time to kill Jerry Akuma himself.[9]

Battle of Misery[edit]

To cover the Dragoons' withdrawal from the Combine, Wolf sent a challenge to the Combine to meet in battle on the world of Misery. Opposing them would be the four remaining regiments of Ryuken, the Seventeenth Galedon Regulars, the Twenty-first Galedon Regulars and the Eighth Sword of Light. Minobu Tetsuhara was put in overall command of the Kurita units. On 23 April 3028, during a reconnaissance mission before the main battle, Fraser and his lance successfully ambushed a Ryuken lance, and discovered they had captured Dragoon traitor Fadre Singh. Singh, now holding the rank of Tai-sa in the Ryuken, had betrayed the Dragoons to Samsonov. Fraser personally dragged Singh before Colonel Wolf, and after Singh revealed he had informed Samsonov of the Dragoons' Hegira plan, he was executed on the spot by Natasha Kerensky.[10]

Like every other Dragoon unit, Fraser's company took heavy losses on Misery. However, it was his unit that defeated Tetsuhara's command lance in the end and took him (and Michi Noketsuna) prisoner, with Fraser personally delivering the killing blow to Noketsuna's 'Mech.[11]

At some point, Fraser became enamored of fellow Dragoon officer Jenette Rand, although it is unclear when exactly they began a relationship. At the conclusion of the Misery battle, Fraser and Rand were ordered on a special mission to accompany Noketsuna, the former aide and pupil of Tetsuhara, on his quest for revenge against those who had wronged the Dragoons during their service to the Combine. As a result of this mission, Fraser missed the Dragoons' further battles with House Kurita during the Fourth Succession War.

Bounty Hunter[edit]

The exact details of the trio's adventures are sketchy at best. They spent time in the Periphery, and at some point Noketsuna assumed the identity of the infamous Bounty Hunter, inheriting the Marauder, the power suit and the legacy. (It is speculated that the previous Bounty Hunter either owed the Dragoons a favor or was killed outright by Natasha Kerensky, his archenemy, after coercing her on Benet III in May 3027 to take him with her on her DropShip, effectively putting himself at her mercy.)

Fraser and Rand accompanied Noketsuna in this new identity as part of the Bounty Hunter's lance, along with a man named Vic Travers, who was known to have extensive yakuza contacts. Under uncertain circumstances, the trio reentered the Combine and Fraser assisted Noketsuna in killing Samsonov, after Samsonov refused to commit seppuku. The exact timing of these events is unknown.

The revenge turned out to be unfulfilling. In January of 3030, Fraser accompanied Noketsuna as he presented Samsonov's preserved head to Tetsuhara's widow, Tomiko, who had joined a Buddhist nunnery on Awano. Tomiko refused the offer, however, and told them to give it to Tetsuhara's father, Minoru Tetsuhara.[12] However, the senior Tetsuhara also refused to accept the head, feeling that House Kurita had had the right to act as they did, and that Minobu Tetsuhara had failed in his duties.[13]

In October of 3030, Fraser again accompanied Noketsuna in an ambush on Benjamin of Internal Security Force agent Panati, who had aided Jerry Akuma in his efforts. To the surprise of Fraser and Noketsuna, Panati was accompanied by Theodore Kurita and Ninyu Kerai, with all three being incapacitated in the ambush. When Theodore Kurita protested the execution of Panati, Noketsuna revealed his identity and his vendetta. Theodore agreed to allow him to kill Panati, but persuaded him to forestall his vendetta any further, as the Combine was in a dangerous situation facing the newly formed Federated Commonwealth, and could not survive the loss of Coordinator Takashi at that time, in Theodore's opinion. Noketsuna agreed to this, and agreed to serve Theodore in his attempt to save the Dragon. He turned the Bounty Hunter identity over to Vic Travers. Out of loyalty to their companion, Fraser and Rand accompanied him.

Rebuilding the Ryuken[edit]

Fraser and Rand soon proved their value to Theodore Kurita by training the new Ryuken and Genyosha regiments.[14] The long-term goal was to allow Theodore's new military doctrine to take hold throughout the Draconis Combine Mustered Soldiery. During this time, they were even considered part of his shitenno.

In December of 3038, Fraser and Rand met Warlord Kester Chi of the Galedon Military District. Chi was pleased that Fraser and Rand were being assigned to his District for the coming war, and Fraser quickly realized that Chi was nothing like his predecessor, Grieg Samsonov.[15]

War of 3039[edit]

Fraser personally commanded the Ryuken-roku during the War of 3039. In July, they counterattacked the AFFS invaders on An Ting against the elite First Davion Guards. Fraser and his troops accredited themselves well, fighting with fierce determination and using tactics that the enemy commander, Field Marshall Ardan Sortek, was unprepared for. When Warlord Chi arrived with reinforcements, Sortek was eventually forced to retreat his unit. As An Ting was strategically critical, the Davion thrust in the Galedon district soon faltered.[16]

Fraser continued to command the Ryuken after the war, eventually marrying Jenette Rand. For a time, they continued to send reports to Wolfnet, but they received no response to their communications.[17]

Clan Invasion[edit]

By the time of the Clan Invasion, Fraser had become convinced that he and Rand had been forgotten by the Dragoons (whom they still technically served as sleeper agents). He became particularly resentful of Jaime Wolf when Wolf chose another to deliver the invitation to Theodore Kurita to the summit on Outreach, where the Dragoons would reveal their origins to the leaders of the Inner Sphere.

During the second stage of the Invasion, Fraser and the Ryuken raided the occupied territory from Wolcott.[18] In the aftermath of the Battle of Tukayyid, Fraser, Rand and the Ryuken were eventually transferred to Luthien. In 3053, he was summoned to a private meeting with Takashi Kurita, Theodore's father and Coordinator of the Draconis Combine. He questioned Fraser's loyalties, both to the Dragoons and to Noketsuna, who had not been seen since shortly after the War of '39.

Dragoon Civil War[edit]

Upon Takashi Kurita's death, Jaime Wolf arrived at Fraser's home on Luthien to invite Fraser and Rand back to the Dragoons. Fraser confronted Wolf regarding his abandonment, dismissing Wolf's claims that he had resisted contacting Fraser and Rand to avoid endangering them. Nevertheless, Rand – who had been born to the Dragoons – convinced her husband to go with her to Outreach with Wolf.

Upon their arrival on Outreach, the party was informed that Jaime Wolf's son, Mackenzie Wolf, had been killed. During the Remembrance memorial, Fraser was disturbed that another warrior was given credit for defeating Minobu Tetsuhara on Misery.[19] Later, when Wolf was removed from command by the machinations of Alpin Wolf and Elson Novacat, Michi Noketsuna warned Fraser that the new Dragoon leadership was planning to assassinate the senior Wolf. Despite his continued sense of betrayal, Fraser warned Dragoon officers still loyal to Jaime Wolf, and even took part in evacuating him, though he turned down Wolf's offer to join them in the Outback. This set the stage for the Dragoon Civil War. After an argument with her husband, Jenette Rand went off to join Wolf.

Elson Novacat soon approached Fraser with an offer to lead a newly recruited mercenary battalion against Wolf's rebel forces. Those who fought well would be fully inducted into the Dragoons, and Elson believed Fraser was just the man to train and assess such a unit. He accepted the offer, forming Kappa Battalion using the unit Carter's Chevaliers as a foundation.[20] In one of the pinnacle battles of the conflict, Fraser and Kappa Battalion turned on Elson's loyalists, immediately after Maeve Wolf killed Alpin in single combat, saving Maeve's life and sending Gamma Regiment into a retreat. This helped to end the war and return of Jaime Wolf to command. Fraser was reunited with Jenette Rand, though he remained cool to the senior Wolf.

It is hinted that Fraser continued to command an "independent" Dragoon battalion after the civil war and the Dragoons' subsequent reorganization in 3054.[citation needed]

BattleMechs[edit]

During his early career with the Dragoons, Fraser piloted a Shadow Hawk to great success.

While commanding the Ryuken during the War of '39, he used a Hatamoto-Chi of the -Ku variant.[21]

While leading Kappa Battalion during the Dragoon Civil War, he fought from the cockpit of a Black Knight.[22]

Notes[edit]

  • There is some discrepancy in whether Fraser commanded the entire Ryuken brigade in the years immediately following the Clan Invasion. The novel Wolf Pack indicates that he did, whereas Objective Raids indicates he was only commander of the Ryuken-ni regiment. Both sources indicate he was ranked a Tai-sa at the time, which was the standard rank for a regimental commander in the DCMS. It is further notable that he was not listed as a regimental commander as of 3050.[23]
  • Much of the Wolves on the Border novel, which chronicles the Dragoons' departure from the Draconis Combine among other events, is told from Fraser's perspective. He was an ideal choice for narrator given his "adoptee" status with the Dragoons left him ignorant of their secrets and origins at the time.

References[edit]

  1. Wolves on the Border, p. 248: Fraser and Scott were recruited in Steiner space
  2. Wolves on the Border, p. 255: Fraser claims to have been a Dragoon for five years
  3. Wolves on the Border, pp. 55–61
  4. Wolves on the Border, p. 90
  5. Wolves on the Border, pp. 158–162
  6. Wolf's Dragoons, p. 51
  7. Wolves on the Border, p. 275
  8. Rise and Shine
  9. Wolves on the Border, p. 281
  10. Wolves on the Border, pp. 299–303
  11. Wolves on the Border, pp. 318–320
  12. Heir to the Dragon, pp. 214–216
  13. Wolf Pack
  14. Heir to the Dragon, pp. 247–251
  15. Heir to the Dragon, p. 306
  16. Historical: War of 3039, pp. 102–104
  17. Wolf Pack, p. 57
  18. Wolf Pack, p. 64
  19. Wolf Pack, p. 257
  20. Wolf Pack, pp. 326–330
  21. Heir to the Dragon, p. 344
  22. Wolf Pack, p. 387
  23. 20 Year Update, pp. 40–43

Bibliography[edit]