Samuel Ostergaard

Samuel Ostergaad
Personal
Affiliation	Taurian Concordat
Career
Rank	Commodore
Family
Children	Samuel Ostergaard II

Samuel Ostergaard was a Commodore within the Taurian Concordat Navy.

History

Commodore Samuel Ostergaard took part in the civil war between the Aurigan Directorate and the forces of the Arano Restoration, leading a Taurian Concordat expeditionary force to fight on the side of the Directorate. Noted as largely fighting in the conflict for family reasons and inspiring passionate loyalty among those who followed him, Ostergaard would ultimately die during the defeat of the Directorate with those survivors who served under his command being exiled and unable to return to the Concordat.

Apocryphal Content
This box contains information derived from apocryphal sources, which may not be considered canonical for the BattleTech Universe.
Samuel Ostergaard's reason for fighting in the civil war was the death of his son, who had been serving as the captain of the Concordat DropShip Newgrange at the time of his death. The Restoration forces hired a small mercenary force to destroy or capture the Newgrange after receiving information that indicated that the Directorate was receiving weapons and armaments shipments from the Taurian Concordat, smuggled or transported aboard the Newgrange. Despite calls from Kamea Arano to surrender, Samuel's son had refused to hand over control of his DropShip. The Restoration mercenaries then destroyed a refueling station next to the grounded Newgrange , resulting in an explosion that engulfed and crippled or destroyed the Newgrange and led to his death. A Father's Revenge “ Go ahead and run--you won't go far. I volunteered for this shit assignment so I could have the pleasure of hunting you down. And when I catch you, I will make you pay for the death of my son. ” --Samuel Ostergaard to Kamea Arano upon fleeing from Castle Nautilus on Artru. The death of Samuel's son would motivate him to fight against the Arano Restoration. Samuel swore revenge on Kamea Arano and the mercenaries responsible for his son's death, agitating for continued or increased Taurian support for the Aurigan Directorate. He led a battalion of Taurian Defense Force BattleMechs to Artru after learning that Lady Arano and the mercenaries responsible for his son's death were engaged in covertly recovering a recently-rediscovered Star League Defense Force cache in a hidden Star League Defense Force base on Artru known as Castle Nautilus. In the resulting ambush Samuel's forces killed the majority of the Restoration personnel on Artru, and nearly managed to kill Lady Arano herself. The mercenaries retained by Lady Arano destroyed the Star League cache within Castle Nautilus with explosives as Lady Arano led a lance of recovered Star League Defense Force BattleMechs through the Taurian attack to the waiting ARS Delfinas, a Leopard-class DropShip; while Samuel was able to destroy the Delfinas, she was able to remain free long enough for her supporting mercenary forces to evacuate using their transport vessel. Over the course of the battle Samuel confirmed that his son had been unable to surrender the Newgrange because he was acting under orders, presumably from the Taurian Defense Force or Taurian government. Death In the final confrontation at Coromodir, the grief-stricken Ostergaard revealed that he was no longer with the Taurian Concordat Navy and his actions were his own. His DropShip was infected with the Locura virus by the defenders, suffered a host of catastrophic malfunctions, and in a final act the Iberia crashed on the surface of Coromodir. Samuel Ostergaard was killed in the crash, along with the Directorate and Restoration forces on planet. With Ostergaard's death, peace could be made between the Aurigans and the Taurian Concordat, and Lady Arano with her mercenaries could now focus on liberating the Aurigan Coalition once more. Quotes “ "Attention, forces of the Arano Restoration! I am Commodore Samuel Ostergaard of the Concordat Navy. You are surrounded by a battalion of the Taurians' most decorated Mechwarriors. On behalf of our allies in the Aurigan Directorate, I demand your immediate and unconditional surrender. But I know you won't stand down Lady Arano. You're The Sword of Restoration - you have a reputation to uphold. And that's good. I wouldn't have it any other way." ” --Samuel Ostergaard introducing himself to Kamea Arano and the Arano Restoration.

Notes

• Samuel Ostergaard's voice in the BattleTech video game was portrayed by actor Elias Toufexis.

Bibliography

• BattleTech (video game)
• House Arano (The Aurigan Coalition)