Operation DOPPELGANGER

Operation DOPPELGANGER was a plot by Capellan Confederation Chancellor Maximilian Liao to replace First Prince of the Federated Suns Hanse Davion with a double.

Background

In 3015, the Maskirovka abducted seven scientists from Sanilac, a world in the Federated Suns. They were subsequently placed under direct Maskirovka control and coerced into creating the double. The process suffered multiple setbacks and loss of life, but eventually succeeded.

The Capellan plan required that the false Hanse Davion truly believe he was the real thing, so he was subjected to several extreme personality modifications including brainwashing.

Apocryphal Content

This box contains information derived from apocryphal sources, which may not be considered canonical for the BattleTech Universe.

According to the apocryphal German-only novel Präludium, one Dr. Yol Song from the Capellan Confederation was named as having been deeply involved in the creation of the Hanse Davion doppelgänger. He would later be tasked with creating a body double for the Ash Witch, whose heavily burnt and comatose body was the focal point of a potentially important religious movement, by using a volunteer from the Death Commandos.

Execution

The plan was finally carried out in 3025. The Maskirovka inserted this double in the Davion Summer Palace on Argyle with the help of a network of conspirators. The real Hanse Davion was captured on arrival and held in the palace's "medieval" dungeon where he was tortured for information. His double meanwhile took over the role and began to sabotage the nascent alliance between Houses Davion and Steiner.

Hanse Davion's close personal friend Ardan Sortek had been captured in battle on Stein's Folly, and - injured and delirious - had seen the double at the hospital just before the Capellan forces were driven off-world, leaving him behind. (This was explained as actually a planned encounter, in a Capellan attempt to cast doubt about Sortek's state of mind to undermine the one person who could reliably identify Hanse Davion and cast him as a lunatic.) His confused state of mind combined with his exalted position as a personal friend of Hanse Davion led to the decision to evacuate him to Tharkad, capital of the Lyran Commonwealth, instead of returning him to Federated Suns space. Recovering at Tharkad, Sortek managed to convince House Steiner of a possible conspiracy that he had to investigate. Together with some friends from his unit he privately traveled back to Stein's Folly where they uncovered more evidence and followed leads to Argyle. Together with the House Steiner ambassador on Argyle they were eventually able to uncover what was transpiring, free the real Hanse Davion and prove his identity, foiling the Capellan plot.

Aftermath

As an immediate result of the failed plot, a network of Capellan informants, agents and conspirators was uncovered and weeded out in the Federated Suns administration and military. The doppelgänger, a man with no recollection of his old identity, was acknowledged as another victim of the Liao plan and given a pension and comfortable retirement.

Hanse Davion took the incident personal. At the conclusion of the Fourth Succession War in which the Federated Suns and their Lyran allies dealt a crushing blow to the Capellan Confederation, he sent a message to Maximilian Liao explaining that it had been the doppelgänger ploy that prompted Davion to focus on the Confederation in the war. The extent of the defeat, possibly combined with the message, pushed Maximilian Liao over the brink and drove him insane. Although he technically remained Chancellor, Romano Liao took over the rule of the Confederation's remnant.

Other body doubles

In 3027, inspired by a report from Quintus Allard, Simon Johnson and Katrina Steiner selected Jeana Clay to become the body double for Melissa Steiner. Like the original Capellan plan the volunteer's previous existence was eliminated, but unlike the Capellan plan, the body double was a volunteer and therefore wasn't brainwashed.

A similar tactic was used decades later in Operation GEMINI to conceal the death of Joshua Marik.

Bibliography

• House Liao (The Capellan Confederation)
• Intelligence Operations Handbook
• Präludium (novel)
• Shattered Sphere
• The Sword and the Dagger (novel)
• Warrior: Coupé (novel)
• Warrior: En Garde (novel)