Isobel Carlyle
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Isobel Carlyle | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Personal | |
| Also known as | Bel |
| Born | 3131[1] |
| Affiliation | House Carlyle |
| Profile | |
| Position(s) | MechWarrior |
| Profession | Noble |
| Family | |
| Parents | Gardner Carlyle (father)[2] |
| Siblings | Ronan Carlyle[1] |
Isobel "Bel" Carlyle was a Lyran Commonwealth noble. She was cashiered from the LCAF despite her loyalty to the Lyran Commonwealth when her unit, the Twenty-sixth Arcturan Guards, defected to the newly formed Tamar Pact. Bel and her brother Ronan Carlyle, along with other former members of the Twenty-sixth, formed the new Gray Death Legion on Garrison.
Contents
Personal History
Early Life
Born into House Carlyle of Odessa, she was expected to join her family in their work restoring the plague-ravaged world to its previous greatness. However, the Blackout, which fell on her first birthday, changed her future. As she grow into an Inner Sphere ravaged by war, Isobel rejected her father's pacifism and sought to emulate her grandfather Alexander Carlyle, a hero of the LCAF who fought in the Word of Blake Jihad and his parents, Lori Kalmar and Grayson Death Carlyle, founders of the mercenary Gray Death Legion. Isobel devoured every record of their exploits and made headbands and skull emblems, the symbol of the Legion, part of her attire.[1]
LCAF Service
Isobel, or Bel, as she shortened her name, inspired by his grandfather Alexander, followed her big brother's steps into the LCAF, enrolling in the Coventry Military Academy in 3147. There she excelled in both MechWarrior and anti-Mech infantry training programs, though she was disciplined in early 3148 for taking a squad of fellow cadets on unauthorized field exercises to break up a criminal kangaroo-rustling operation. His brother Ronan testified in her favor. Isobel called her team Carlyle's Commandos, taking the name of her ancestor's early mercenary unit. The disciplinary hearing was interrupted by a Clan Jade Falcon attack, the Battle of Coventry. Bel was authorized to lead her "Commandos" in a flanking attack on the First Falcon Striker Cluster after they'd razed the town of Whitting. Despite her attack being only intended to serve as a distraction, the Commandos disabled a Binary of Falcon 'Mechs using satchel charges before being forced to fall back.
When the Falcon advance was driven back from the academy, the surviving members of Bel's company deployed with the rest of the Training Battalion to relieve the Lyran forces defending the Coventry Metal Works industriplex. Seeing her brother Ronan's Gauntlet threatened by Falcon Elementals, Bel led her Commandos into the fray, scattering the battle-armored troops and shoring up the Lyran defenders. Ronan congratulated Bel after the victory.[1]
After the Battle of Coventry ended, Bel joined her brother in the ranks of the Twenty-sixth Arcturan Guards, after she'd graduated from the academy with honors in 3150 as a newly commissioned first lieutenant, in the Third's Battalion's second company, which also named Carlyle's Commandos.[3]
Isobel and Ronan followed the Twenty-sixth to Arcturus, believing they were on a legitimate mission. They only uncovered the truth on 13 August 3151, when they heard General Sarah Regis' announcement of the resurrection of the Tamar Pact. The siblings discussed it and they agreed to try to find how many Lyran loyalists were in their ranks. In a later meeting of the troops, General Kathleen McQuade announced the official defection of the Twenty-sixth; those who wanted to remain in the LCAF had to leave. Ronan and Isobel exited from the ranks, but only a handful followed them.[4]
Ronan took command of the loyalists, and once their commercial DropShip arrived in the Lyran system of Garrison, both were arrested. After a week of interrogation, Bel was freed and dishonorably discharged from the LCAF, along with all the other loyalists, including Ronan, by orders of the garrison commander, Hauptmann-General Timofey Bondayehr.[5]
Ronan sent a message to his parents, and while awaiting the answer, he, along with his sister and most of his people, who continued following him, moved to a salvage yard property owned by his family. The manager gave it to him so the loyalists could exploit it. Ronan's intentions were to obtain enough money to buy a ticket to Odessa, but on 14 September, after finding a Clan Gargoyle OmniMech, Isobel informed him that most of their people wanted to remain together, under his command. They took the first steps toward creating a mercenary unit.[6]
Mercenary Career
By 26 October, the Carlyles' people already had a functional unit, and received another visit by Kipping. The Twenty-sixth Scout Company had defected to try to free some Hinterlands planets, and all the Lyran units were unavailable to stop them. Ronan's people were, and were contracted to do so with their still-unnamed unit. They had three working BattleMechs, including Isobel's Hatchetman, several tanks, and infantry armored and unarmored, but the defectors outnumbered them.[7]
At Isobel's suggestion, the newly formed unit took the name of the Gray Death Legion, and they intercepted the defectors and immobilized their support vehicles. Knowing that their mission was doomed, the Twenty-sixth's leader, Kommandant Liesl Wagner, surrendered.[8]
On 29 October, Ronan met with Isobel in a hotel and she gave him a message from Odessa. In it, their father congratulated both for their actions and gave them more funds. Isobel surprised Ronan by showing him that the defected General McQuade was there. She informed them of the Lyran plan to cashier all the Twenty-sixth's members, and offered the newly born Legion a contract with the new Tamar Pact in a few months, if they were big enough. After the general departed, Ronan and Isobel departed too, as suggested by her, to receive the Twenty-sixth's people and made sure they knew they weren't alone; there was a place for them in the Legion, if they wanted it.[9]
BattleMechs
During her time with the Twenty-sixth Arcturan Guards, Bel Carlyle piloted a Shadow Hawk she'd named Tyche, which she had piloted in the Coventry Military Academy. The name was apparently partly in homage to the legacy of Boss Lady, the legendary Shadow Hawk piloted by her great-grandmother, Lori Kalmar-Carlyle.[10]
Bel used it with great success against the Falcons, crushing several Elementals with Tyche's battlefists. After graduating, Academy Commander Petra Kühn granted Bel the permission to take Tyche with her to her new posting.[11] With the formation of the Tamar Pact, Bel became dispossessed. In the new Gray Death Legion on Garrison, Bel still wanted a Shadow Hawk but there weren't any available, so she moved on to piloting a Hatchetman.[12]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 BattleTech: Legends, p. 152: Isobel Carlyle
- ↑ The Price of Duty, ch. 4
- ↑ BattleTech Legends, pp. 152–153
- ↑ The Price of Duty, ch. 1
- ↑ The Price of Duty, ch. 2
- ↑ The Price of Duty, ch. 4
- ↑ The Price of Duty, ch. 6
- ↑ The Price of Duty, chs. 8–9
- ↑ The Price of Duty, ch. 11
- ↑ Recognition Guide: ilClan, vol. 12, p. 8: "Shadow Hawk - Notable 'Mechs and MechWarriors"
- ↑ BattleTech Legends, p. 153
- ↑ The Price of Duty[citation needed]
Bibliography
- BattleTech: Legends
- Mercenary's Honor (novella)
- The Price of Duty (novella)
- Recognition Guide: ilClan, vol. 12