Rotislav Grimheald

Rotislav Grimheald
Personal
AffiliationClan Hell's Horses
Profile
RankStar Commander

Rotislav Grimheald was an officer of Clan Hell's Horses who fought in the Word of Blake Jihad.[1]

History[edit]

Jihad Era[edit]

Rotislav was a trueborn aerospace fighter pilot. He failed his initial Trial of Position, but later was offered another chance. His Clan was using ProtoMechs and aerospace pilots were particularly suited to piloting them. He not only succeeded this time, he excelled; he even fought for and won a Grimheald Bloodname. By 3078, he was a Star Commander in the Eleventh Mechanized Cavalry, leading the Cluster's ProtoMech Star under orders from Star Colonel John Lassenerra. The Cluster was part of Stone's Coalition, sent to free Hsien from the Word of Blake. On 22 January, the Cluster was activated by the task force leader, Duchess Alys Rousset-Marik.[2]

Rotislav was special, because he became the last survivor of five original pilots: all others had been killed in combat or driven mad but he wasn't; somehow, he was immune to the God complex which affected all other ProtoMech pilots. During the battle of Hsien, he led the Cluster's full Star of ProtoMechs.[3]

On 22 January, he led his Star, under orders from the Star Colonel, to make a deep recon towards a Capellan Confederation force, reporting what they detected. The 11th was ordered to attack and crush the Capellan elite unit, the 4th Tau Ceti Rangers, locating and reporting on the Rangers' support units. He was worried about his subordinate, Point Commander Colin, who had become very arrogant and showed signs of paranoia.

His worries were justified. When the Star attacked, targeting support personnel first, it was a slaughter; Colin attempted to kill a wounded technician who was tending to another. In the batchall, only MASH units and medics were excluded, but Rotislav argued than even if she wasn't a medic, she should be treated as one. Colin reluctantly agreed. Before departing, Rotislav gave a first aid kit to the tech and informed the medic that he had requested medical assistance before departing.[4]

The Star continued its advance through the Capellan rear lines. Every loss was deeply felt by Rotislav, as their EI allowed them to feel contact with their starmates. The Star Commander promised he would be with his subordinate, Jaine, when she died.

After reaching the Capellan landing zone, Rotislav's unit began pinpointing the landed DropShips, eliminating lone units and those Capellans who entered the woods. When Colin's Point broke cover, advancing towards an Overlord DropShip, he ordered him to retreat, but his subordinate ignored him. As promised, he was "with" Jaine when she died. After seeing a J-27 Ordnance Transport, inside the Overlord, he ordered Colin not to attack it, but the Point Commander only laughed and shot at it. Rotislav ordered the Point members to escape, but it was too late; the explosion annihilated Colin's point and the Overlord.[5]

After the battle, the losses to Rotislav's Star led to his unit being merged with Epsilon Trinary of the Cluster, but he, probably due to his Star's success, was promoted to Nova Commander, becoming Star Captain's Bethany's deputy.[6]

Vehicle[edit]

Rotislav Grimheald piloted a first-generation Roc.[7]

Notes[edit]

References[edit]

  1. A Trial Most Acceptable, p. 87
  2. A Trial Most Acceptable, pp. 83–88
  3. A Trial Most Acceptable, p. 83
  4. A Trial Most Acceptable, p. 109
  5. A Trial Most Acceptable, p. 120
  6. A Trial Most Acceptable, p. 126
  7. A Trial Most Acceptable, p. 82

Bibliography[edit]