Michael Lipstein

Michael Lipstein
Personal
Affiliation	Federated Suns
Profile
Rank	Marshal

Michael Lipstein was the commanding officer of the Fifteenth Deneb Light Cavalry as of 3062.

History

Marshal Lipstein, serving with the Fifteenth Deneb Light Cavalry, was stationed on Demeter in 3062. While his appointment to command of the Fifteenth DLC ensured its loyalty to Archon Katherine Steiner-Davion, the pro-Victor Steiner-Davion commanders of the Fifth Crucis Lancers and Valexa PDZ saw Lipstein's placement as an obvious attempt to undermine support for the ex-First Prince on Demeter. An excellent commander and administrator, Lipstein argued that his promotion provided the planet with an essential chain of command in the face of growing Capellan Confederation-sponsored terrorist activity throughout the Tikonov region.

Civil War

The Federated Commonwealth Civil War came to Demeter on 7 January 3063, when Lipstein's executive officer Leftenant General Nicole Haswell vanished along with an entire mixed combat command after attempting to maneuver themselves along the Fifth Crucis Lancers' flank. The enraged Lipstein lead an assault that the prepared Fifth Crucis easily countered, hitting the Fifteenth DLC's command post in their rear area and disrupting the unit's supply flow. After three weeks of battle, this lack of supplies forced Lipstein's hand he ordered the Fifteenth DLC's retreat from Demeter, although the Fifth Crucis intended on hounding Lipstein's unit to destruction before they could recover and do the same to Fifth.

The Fifteenth DLC's retreat took them to Algol, where they found themselves amidst an ongoing battle between two regiments of the Twelfth Vegan Rangers and the Second and Third Republican Guards on 18 February, followed closely by a Fifth Crucis Lancers force bent on their destruction. The Victor-allied troops attacked the Republican Guards' base hours before the Fifteenth DLC could make planetfall meaning that, when Lipstein's troops did land, they were torn up by Victor's forces. Fortunately for Lipstein, the mounting casualties taken by the Vegan Rangers and the appearance of DLC DropShips near the mercenaries' encampment forced both Rangers and Crucis Lancers troops to fall back before completely annihilating the Republican Guards and DLC forces (although the Second Republican Guards had effectively ceased to exist). After another four months of indecisive conflict, the arrival of the First Republican Guards in July tipped the battle in Lipstein's favor, albeit by creating a situation where Lipstein had to work alongside the amalgamated Republican Guards regiments instead of serving in command of them. Lipstein's offensive on 10 August turned into an eleven-day long battle and, by the end of the assault, Lipstein could claim the city of Gregan and a Fifth Crucis forward supply dump but no decisive triumph to break the stalemate with.

Yet another change in the status quo occurred in September, when a third Vegan Rangers regiment arrived in the Algol system to aid the Allies' efforts to remove the Fifteenth DLC and Republican Guards from the planet. The newly-arrived mercenaries dropped directly on to Gregan and the Republican Guards' failure to maneuver fast enough caused the Katherine-loyal forces' lines to break and resulted in a nine-day-long battle for the city with the Allies holed up and the Loyalists locked out. On 6 October, Lipstein saw how his forces were outnumbered, outgunned, and outmaneuvered and ordered a withdrawal that allowed the Republican Guards to finally link back up with the Fifteenth DLC. The pursuing mercenaries couldn't keep up due to their casualties and mechanical failures in the Crucis Lancers' tank regiments allowed the Loyalists to fall back to their DropShips in the city of Hellen. On 20 October, instead of launching drop attacks like the Allied forces assumed he would, Lipstein took his DLC and the Republican Guards off of Algol, ceding it to Allied control.

Tikonov

Unbeknownst to the Allied forces on Algol, Lipstein was responding to orders to relocate his Fifteenth DLC and the attached Republican Guards to the strategically-important world of Tikonov. Arriving in November, two months behind the Allied Davion Assault Guards and First NAIS Cadre, Lipstein's presence was still enough to tip the scales in favor of the Loyalist forces. Unfortunately, the nationalistic attitudes of Tikonov's local defenders forced the Fifteenth DLC to garrison several small towns located a significant distance from any of the world's major factories or cities. Grabbing hold of what silver linings he could find, Lipstein utilized this isolation as an opportunity for the Fifteenth DLC to recover after almost a year of combat, although he maintained a heavy reconnaissance force near the capital city of Tikograd in case the Tikonov militia began to collapse. This collapse eventually came in February 3064 and Lipstein's planned counter-attack succeeded in keeping the city from falling entirely, although Tikonov's militia commanders had been killed and the Davion Assault Guards had gained a toehold in the city.

Bibliography

• FedCom Civil War
• Field Manual: Federated Suns