Roderick Steiner

Roderick-Steiner.png
Roderick Steiner
Character Profile
Also known as Roderick Frost
Born 3115[1]
Affiliation House Borge-Steiner
Rank General of the Armies
Profession MechWarrior
Parents Frederick Steiner (father)

Roderick Steiner is the Lyran Commonwealth's General of the Armies and the staunchest ally of Archon Trillian Steiner.

History[edit]

Early life[edit]

Roderick grew up in the palace on Tharkad as a result of his mother dying when he was still young and his father being on constant deployments. While growing up in the palace, he was perpetually in the presence of his cousins, Melissa Steiner and Trillian Steiner, which allowed him form a close personal bond with each of them.[1]

When his grandfather Archon Adam Steiner passed away in 3121, Roderick grieved for him. The bond that Roderick shared with Adam was so special, that Roderick decided to follow in his grandfather's footsteps by putting aside the name of Steiner for the name of Frost in order to carve out his own future without the pressure of living up to the Steiner name.[1]

Roderick Frost[edit]

As Roderick Frost, he was able to graduate from the War College of Buena in 3135 and was assigned to the Lyran Rangers as a Hauptmann.[2] While serving with the Rangers, he nearly destroyed his military career during a skirmish against the Jade Falcons.[1]

Jade Falcon attack[edit]

In April 3136, the Rangers were participating in a joint military exercise with the Republican Armed Forces on the world of Algorab. While they were training together, an expeditionary from Clan Jade Falcon Occupation Zone invaded.

During the defense of the world, Roderick was under orders from his commanding officer to fall back to a location which Roderick felt was a bad tactical decision. He chose to disobey the orders he was given and decided to instead issue orders that would save the lives of his men. Once the Falcon threat diminished, the Military Court reduced his rank from Hauptmann to Lieutenant. Though in the eyes of the public, and anyone else that followed his story, they all sympathized with him and his decision of saving his soldiers. Roderick became popular after he shunned the fame that came with his court martial, he became a legend when he insisted on defending his people over his reputation and career.

Operation HAMMERFALL[edit]

Trillian was able to save Roderick from obscurity; she was able to get him to become a part of the invasion in addition for him to be allowed to create a new unit filled with soldiers that he got to handpick. He chose his soldiers from those who were not going to be given a second chance to redeem themselves. Roderick regained his rank of Hauptmann and would lead his unit which he called the Broken Swords.

First operation[edit]

The Sword's first combat deployment was to the Duchy of Tamarind-Abbey world of Labouchere in September of 3137. They faced a militia unit which called themselves the "Fangs of Marik". Roderick considered them a third-rate unit that any force could easily defeat, which Roderick's men were able to accomplish giving them valuable combat experience.[citation needed]

Second operation[edit]

Trillian's second operation for Roderick and his men was not for an invasion, but for a show of force in order to persuade Duke Fontaine Marik to surrender the Duchy. Once news broke on the world of Tamarind that the 1st Steiner Strikers were in orbit, Roderick received a message from his cousin that stated the negotiations had failed. In order to protect his cousin, the battalion sent its three Union-class DropShips to land on the world: the Sandpiper, Archon's Pride, and the Rogue Star.[citation needed]

Roderick led his forces against the 1st Tamarind Regulars and would be able to stay one step ahead of them until reinforcements arrived. Reinforcements arrived in the form of the 3rd Lyran Regulars which had General Bernard Nordhoff attached to them who took command of all forces on world. When the Marik forces on the world attacked en masse, Roderick and his unit were left to die. This pushed Trillian to persuade Roderick to reveal his true family name in order to get the Lyran forces to follow him instead. Following the revelation of who he was, he proceeded with an attack by deploying his forces via DropShip into the rear flank of the 1st Tamarind Regulars. Seeing the attack, Nordhoff ordered his battalions to link up with the 1st Steiner Strikers by piercing the center of the enemy.[3]

Left as the ranking officer of the forces on world, Roderick took command and ordered all remaining units to refit before proceeding to Zanzibar, the capital of Tamarind. The city and the rest of the planet quickly surrendered to the Lyrans, but not before Fontaine Marik vowed to continue fighting to free his people.

General of the Armies[edit]

After the death of Melissa Steiner and the rise of Trillian Steiner to the throne of the Commonwealth, Roderick was rewarded by being appointed General of the Armies. He has been steadfast in his devotion to the Archon, and his battlefield skills have served to stifle most of the criticism that Trillian has received. Roderick has been quick to stop any mutinous elements within the Lyran Commonwealth Armed Forces that may arise to prevent another coup d'état that happened to his cousin Melissa.[1]

BattleMech[edit]

Roderick Steiner is a noted pilot of a modified Clan Rifleman IIC 3. As it has been modified, the IIC 3 is armed with Large Pulse Lasers instead of the typical Heavy Large Lasers.

References[edit]

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 Era Report: 3145, p. 98-99, "Roderick Steiner profile"
  2. Fire at Will, pp. 60, 82
  3. Fire at Will, pp. 263, 271, 277, 281: Tamarind Campaign and Roderick being forced to reveal his true last name

Bibliography[edit]