Editing Danai Centrella

{{InfoBoxCharacter
| image               = Danai Centrella.jpg
| caption             = 
| name                = Danai Centrella
| birthdate           = [[3037]]<ref name=ER3062>''Era Report: 3062'', p. 83: "Danai Centrella Profile"</ref>
| died                = 23 April [[3060]]<ref name=ER3062/><ref name=POH125>''Prince of Havoc'', pp. 125–126</ref>
| othernames          = 
| affiliation         = [[House Centrella]]
| profession          = 
| parents             = [[Nicolas Ramilie]] (father; see Notes)<br/>[[Emma Centrella]] (mother)<ref name=HB:MPSp63>''Handbook: Major Periphery States'', p. 63</ref>
| siblings            = [[Naomi Centrella|Naomi]]<br/>[[Erde Centrella|Erde]]<br/>[[Newton Ramilie II|Newton]] and two others
| spouse              = 
| children            = 
}}
'''Danai Centrella''' was a [[Magistracy of Canopus]] noblewoman and military officer, and was the heir designate to the title of [[Magestrix]] up until her death.

==History==
===Early life and Career===
[[Image:Canopian Cuirassiers 1st logo.jpg|thumb|left|The [[1st Canopian Cuirassiers]] were Danai's unit.]]
Danai Centrella was the eldest daughter of [[Emma Centrella]], Magestrix of the Magistracy of Canopus, and to [[mercenary]] commander [[Nicolas Ramilie]] of [[Ramilie's Raiders]]. Danai was chosen as presumptive heir designate to the throne of the Magistracy, and to prepare herself she became an officer in the [[Magistracy Armed Forces]]. By [[3058]], she had earned the rank of [[Major]], and was given the prestigious command of the [[1st Canopian Cuirassiers]].<ref name=SS11718>''Shattered Sphere'', pp. 117–118</ref> She was widely considered to be an excellent 'Mech pilot.<ref name=SS125>''Shattered Sphere'', p. 125</ref>

According to her mother, Danai personally opposed the Magistracy's alliance with the [[Capellan Confederation]] in [[3058]]. She was loyal to her mother, however, and so she led her 1st Canopian Cuirassiers and other Magistracy Armed Forces in assisting the Confederation with the situation in the [[Chaos March]].<ref name=SS11718>''Shattered Sphere'', pp. 117–118</ref>

===Operation BULLDOG===
Later that same year, in an unprecedented event, the [[Successor States|Great Houses]] of the [[Inner Sphere]] founded the [[Second Star League]], with the goal of permanently ending the threat of the [[Clan Invasion]]. Danai and her Cuirassiers were among the [[Capellan Confederation Armed Forces|CCAF]] units chosen by Capellan [[Chancellor]] and [[First Lord]] [[Sun-Tzu Liao]] to participate in [[Operation BULLDOG]], a massive invasion against the [[Clan Occupation Zones|occupation zone]] of [[Clan Smoke Jaguar]], with the stated goal being the [[Trial of Annihilation|annihilation]] of that [[Clan]].<ref name=SS11718/>

During the short conflict, Danai and the Cuirassiers defended [[Meinacos]] against a Smoke Jaguar counterattack in the form of the [[267th Battle (Clan Smoke Jaguar)|267th Battle Cluster]], fighting alongside the [[8th Dieron Regulars]], the [[St. Ives Cheveau-Légers]] and reinforcements in the [[11th Alshain Avengers]]. The Cuirassiers fought with great skill, effectively employing [[Sniper Artillery Piece|Sniper]] [[artillery]] bombardment. The [[SLDF]] forces quickly drove the outnumbered Jaguars from the planet.<ref>''The Dragon Roars'', pp. 41–43</ref><ref name=HMPS62>''Handbook: Major Periphery States'', p. 62</ref>

With the Jaguars driven from the Inner Sphere, Danai and the Cuirassiers were chosen to be included in an Allied taskforce that would continue on towards the [[Clan Homeworlds]] to relieve [[Task Force Serpent]]. Preparing for this operation on [[Wolcott]], Danai encountered [[Hadji Doru]], former [[Marshal_(rank)#Taurian_Defense_Force|Marshal]] of the [[Taurian Defense Force]] and more recently an officer in the [[Second Donegal Guards]] of the [[Lyran Alliance Armed Forces]]. Danai persuaded Doru that he was needed far more in the Magistracy, a fellow [[Periphery]] power, arguing that the Magistracy and the [[Taurian Concordat]] would stand or fall together.<ref name=HMPS89>''Handbook: Major Periphery States'', p. 89</ref><ref name=FMP29>''Field Manual: Periphery'', p. 29</ref>

===The Great Refusal and Death===
Arriving on [[Huntress]], the task force quickly crushed the remaining Jaguar forces, rescuing the survivors of Task Force Serpent. They would continue on to [[Strana Mechty]], where they would challenge the Clan [[Grand Council]] to a [[Trial of Refusal]] in the matter of the Invasion.<ref>''Twilight of the Clans'', p. 13</ref>

Danai Centrella petitioned to be personally included in this series of Trials, which pitted elite Inner Sphere [[Company#Company|companies]] against Clan [[Binary#Binary|Binaries]]. After reviewing her records, she was chosen by [[First Prince]] [[Victor Steiner-Davion]] to join the [[Federated Commonwealth]] contingent in opposing the remains of Clan Smoke Jaguar, including the [[ilKhan]], [[Lincoln Osis]]. Davion was inclined to do this with the hope that helping Danai Centrella become a hero to her people would help them to resist the influence of Sun-Tzu Liao. Danai fought well during the battle, but a direct hit on her BattleMech's cockpit by a ''[[Warhawk (Masakari)|Warhawk]]''<nowiki>'</nowiki>s Clan [[Extended-Range Particle Projector Cannon|PPC]] killed her instantly. The [[AFFC]] troops would nevertheless defeat the Jaguars, and the Inner Sphere forces were ultimately triumphant.<ref name=POH125 /><ref name=HMPS62/><ref name=FMP31>''Field Manual: Periphery'', p. 31</ref>

===Legacy===
[[Image:Naomi Centrella ShSphere.jpg|thumb|right|[[Naomi Centrella]], Danai's sister.]]
Magestrix Emma Centrella, always putting the affairs of her state above even her own family, mourned Danai's death but consoled herself that her daughter had fallen in battle as a warrior, and that Danai's sister, the more politically skilled [[Naomi Centrella|Naomi]], might ultimately be better suited to lead the Magistracy.<ref name=SS11718/> Hadji Doru, inspired by Danai's death more than her words, did indeed join the Magistracy, becoming a Senior [[General]] and top military advisor to Magestrix Emma.<ref name=HMPS89/> Some dissidents within the Magistracy questioned whether or not Canopians should be shedding their blood to fight the battles of the Inner Sphere, though little seemed to come of this.<ref name=HMPS62/>

Ironically for Victor Steiner-Davion, his efforts to limit the plans of Sun-Tzu Liao by elevating Danai would backfire drastically, as the Capellan Chancellor would soon become close to the new Magestrix heir designate, Naomi Centrella, eventually leading to an engagement and marriage. The strengthening Liao-Canopian alliance would allow Sun-Tzu to use MAF troops during the [[Capellan-St. Ives War]], and later in continued pushes into the Chaos March.<ref name=FMP29/>

In [[3073]], the Magistracy began production of the [[Danai]], an artillery [[Combat Vehicle|combat vehicle]] named in her honor and produced at [[Detroit Consolidated MechWorks]] for the [[Trinity Alliance]]. The Danai would perform admirably against the [[Word of Blake]] during the [[Jihad]].<ref>''Technical Readout: 3075'', pp. 52–53</ref>

Nearly fifty years after her death, [[Danai Liao-Centrella]] would be named in her honor. A very accomplished [[MechWarrior (pilot)|MechWarrior]] of the [[Dark Age era]], she was publicly thought to be the daughter of Sun-Tzu Liao and Naomi Centrella (and therefore Danai Centrella's niece). In fact, she was the daughter of [[Daoshen Liao]] and his sister [[Ilsa Centrella]], and was therefore the biological grandniece of Danai Centrella.<ref>''Principles of Desolation (novel)''</ref>

==BattleMechs==
During the fighting of Operation BULLDOG, Danai piloted a [[Banshee (BattleMech)|BNC-5S ''Banshee'']], one of the few Canopian 'Mechs built with [[Technology Rating|advanced technology]].<ref name=TDR42>''The Dragon Roars'', p. 42</ref> During the Great Refusal, she fought her final battle in a ''[[Falconer]]'' provided by Prince Victor Steiner-Davion.<ref>''Twilight of the Clans'', p. 38</ref>

==Notes==
* Although Nicolas Ramilie is officially considered to be Danai Centrella's father, there are rumors that the supposed mutual dislike between Danai's mother Emma and [[Richard Humphreys (31st c.)|Richard Humphreys]] did not accurately describe their relationship, and that Danai and Richard's daughter [[Dalma Humphreys]] may actually be half-sisters,<ref>''Historical: Brush Wars'', p. 57; the true relationship between Emma Centrella and Richard Humphreys is explored in the apocryphal novel ''[[Gier]]''</ref> meaning that her true father was Richard Humphreys.
* ''[[20 Year Update]]'' lists the children of Emma Centrella as Sandra, Joseph, Mitchell, Newton, Albert, and Carol.<ref>''20 Year Update'', p. 86</ref> It is known that one of these was an alias used to protect Danai during her childhood.

==References==
<references/>

==Bibliography==
* ''[[20 Year Update]]''
* ''[[The Dragon Roars]]''
* ''[[Era Report: 3062]]''
* ''[[Field Manual: Periphery]]''
* ''[[Handbook: Major Periphery States]]''
* ''[[Historical: Brush Wars]]''
* ''[[Prince of Havoc]]''
* ''[[Principles of Desolation]]''
* ''[[Shattered Sphere]]''
* ''[[Technical Readout: 3075]]''
* ''[[Twilight of the Clans]]''


[[Category: Magistracy of Canopus Characters|Centrella, Danai]]
[[Category: Periphery Characters|Centrella, Danai]]