Menlo Drews

Lieutenant General Menlo Drews commanded the 3rd Defenders of Andurien regiment as of 3025, a unit known for being a rabid supporter of Dame Humphreys of Andurien and detractor of House Marik.

He was still in command of the unit during the Andurien/Canopian invasion of the Capellan Confederation, and last mentioned berating his own troops for their sluggish response to attacks by Capellan mercenaries on Palladaine in March of 3031. His fate is unknown.

Canonicity

Menlo Drews is mentioned as a minor character in several canonical sources, where he is listed as the regimental commander of the 3rd Defenders of Andurien.

His character is expanded upon in the (apocryphal) German novel Karma, where Menlo Drews (misspelled as "Menko" Drews) appears as a minor character.

Further apocryphal information

Karma is set in 3028 at the onset of the Fourth Succession War. In the book Vela Drews, Menlo Drews' only child, has a strained relationship with her father. Her crippled foot, a birth defect, prevented her from becoming a MechWarrior or soldier. She has instead begun a career in intelligence instead and has risen to the rank of Colonel with SAFE, reporting directly to the chief of information gathering.

Lieutenant General Drews, also known as the Silver Lynx among his troops, summons his daughter to a meeting on Shiro III on 31 August 3028, having heard about the outbreak of the Fourth Succession War two days ago. He is loyal to House Humphreys of Andurien over House Marik, and highly critical of the Concord of Kapteyn which he feels "cut our balls off" and amounts to "a paranoid, a coward and a runner amok banding together". He reminds his daughter that she, too, is of Andurien descend and that the Capellan Confederation still holds former Andurien worlds. Reasoning that the Confederation is bound to crumble anyways, he convinces her that the interests of the Duchy of Andurien are best served through a strike that might provoke House Liao into attacking the Free Worlds League. Dame Catherine Humphreys knows nothing of his plans; Drews is convinced that he is acting in her best interest if she can deny any responsibility.

Vela Drews' attention had been drawn to Niomede IV when the Duke of Sax detached Warrior House troops to guard the worthless planet. She has since inserted a SAFE agent there and confirmed the existence of a secret research facility. At her father's urging she uses the agent to provide jump data for Pirate Jump Points, and Menlo Drews sends a battalion of his 3rd Defenders of Andurien from their garrison on Sadurni to attack Niomede IV, setting in motion the events that form the novel's story.

References

• Historical: Brush Wars
• House Marik (The Free Worlds League) sourcebook
• Karma (apocryphal), as "Menko" Drews