Latha Pischel
Sarna News
Latha Pischel | |
|---|---|
| Personal | |
| Died | 2797[1] |
| Affiliation | Federated Suns |
| Profile | |
| Rank | Sergeant |
| Profession | Infantry |
Latha Pischel was a infantry soldier, infamously known as the killer of the Draconis Combine Coordinator Minoru Kurita, which inadvertently caused the Kentares Massacre.
History[edit]
Latha Pischel was a Federated Suns infantry soldier and sharpshooter of the Seventh Crucis Lancers regiment. In 2796, was a Sergeant in the Lancers. That year, he was destined to fight against the Kuritan invasion on the planet Kentares IV.[2]
Kentares[edit]
With the arrival of these fresh, elite troops of the Sixth Sword of Light, the stalemate on Kentares IV was broken, forcing the Davion defenders onto a single continent.
The 14 September 2796, near the town of New Snowfield, at the foot of the Charmelite Chain range, Pischel, along with his platoon, monitored the movements of a company of BattleMechs of the Sixth, when the leader, a BattleMaster pilot, descended of his 'Mech. The elderly MechWarrior was mesmerized of the beauty of the landscape and wanted to enjoy it. As the rest of the Combine forces moved to the town, Pischel ordered his men to retreat, but stayed there to watch the officers walking. The elderly MechWarrior had dismissed his guards and had only a buddhist priest at his side. He wore standard DCMS coveralls, with Colonel insignias, but Pischel realized that this was someone of great importance and shot him, catching him in the back. As he had no armor, the shot passed through the old warrior, burning through his heart and killing him instantly.[3]
In the confusion, Pischel managed to slip away undetected, unaware of how important was the man he had just killed: He was the Combine Coordinator himself, Minoru Kurita. [4]
When word of Minoru's death on Kentares reached the AFFS High Command, the general reaction was of dread, and rightfully so: the son and successor of Minoru, Jinjiro Kurita was an intelligent warrior, but he was also ruthless and with some psychopathic tendencies. The latter facts proved that.[5]
The Suns' First Prince John Davion, fearing the reprisals and expecting to deny Jinjiro a target to vengeance, ordered all AFFS troops on Kentares IV evacuated. Almost all of them were evacuated quickly, including Pischel. Unfortunately, the results weren't as expected: Jinjiro, without the killers to punish, decided to punish the Kentares population. His order "Kill them all" was very clear and Jinjiro ordered every civilian killed as well as the officer that asked him to clarify the order and the monk who was with his father at his death, who pleaded him to stop. In the end, almost all Kentares population was slaughtered: about fifty-two millions of deaths.[6]
Death[edit]
Pischel learned whom he had killed, and the consequences of his shot, in 2797. Blaming himself for the atrocity, he committed suicide.[7]