Reiko Akamine
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Reiko Akamine | |
|---|---|
| Personal | |
| Affiliation | Draconis Combine |
| Profile | |
| Rank | Tai-sa[1] |
| Profession | MechWarrior |
Reiko Akamine was a Draconis Combine MechWarrior and served as the last Professional Soldiery Liaison to Wolf’s Dragoons.
History[edit]
Reiko was the second Combine Liaison with the Dragoons during the time they were employed by the Draconis Combine. The first one was Tai-sa Tori Ishihara, until the Battle of New Avalon; in the middle of 3150, Tori was replaced by Akamine. Her predecessor had managed to smooth the difficult relations between Dragoons and Kuritans, but Reiko wasn't like her.[2]
The Combine was always reluctant to allow the Dragoons respect or honors, and after taking New Avalon, they began sidelining them, putting them on garrison duty, far from the front, which was a violation of their contract. Reiko's interactions with the Dragoons would worsen the situation quickly and dramatically.[3]
Akamine was a hard-liner with a severe disdain for mercenaries, and, probably acting under orders of her superiors, she began putting pressure on the Dragoons to force concessions from them. This didn't sit well with the Dragoons, who still remembered their previous conflicts with the Combine a century before. Gamma Regiment, stationed on planet Parma, was an efficient but undisciplined unit, and several incidents allowed Reiko to order the arrest of several of them. Gamma's leader, Colonel Nicholas Crews, claimed that some arrests were for minor causes, and that some had been fabricated and evidence faked. On 25 November 3150, in a meeting between Reiko, Crews and General Thomas Brubaker, the Dragoons' supreme commander, the latter attempted to solve the conflict, but Reiko, pretending to be protecting the Combine civilians, refused to transfer those arrested to the Dragoons, which was another violation of their contract. This would have unexpected consequences.[4]
Reiko ignored that a Clan Wolf envoy, Star Captain Marotta Kerensky, arrived on Parma the same day. He had been sent to recruit the Dragoons, under orders of Khan Alaric Ward, to fight in the Battle of Terra. Usually they would have refused, but the Combine's provocations opened a rift between Crews and Brubaker. The latter dismissed him, but Crews mutinied and decided to go to Terra, beginning the Battle of Parma.[5]
Akamine ignored what happened, but knew of Crews' rebels' assault on the prison to free the captive Dragoons. She informed Brubaker. The general only denied any knowledge and claimed Crews' mobilization was a simple exercise, before moving to engage Crews' people.[6]
Reiko was on another continent, and took a civilian flight to personally see what was going on. When she arrived, it was too late: the Dragoons-civilian conflict had ended, and Brubaker, captured by Crews, declared their contract void after several offenses, and left the Combine's service.[7]
Akamine's actions enraged the Dragoons, managing to make them break their contracts barely three months after her arrival, which deprived the Combine of five regiments, right when the Combine forces were stretched thin and needed them most. That, probably, would have bad consequences for her, as, whatever her orders were, her superiors must not have wanted to lose them.[8]
References[edit]
Bibliography[edit]
- Divided We Fall (novel)