William Blane

Revision as of 19:26, 9 May 2012 by Cyc (talk | contribs) (tweaks to early days - still WIP)

Property "Update Needed From" (as page type) with input value "Era Report: 3062]], Shadows of Faith, [[Dawn of the Jihad" contains invalid characters or is incomplete and therefore can cause unexpected results during a query or annotation process.

File:William Blane 1.jpg
At Age of 60 in 3060

William Blane (2992[1] – 5 December 3067), served as the de facto Primus of the Word of Blake and the organization's public face prior the the Jihad.

History

Service with ComStar

Serving alongside the young Thomas Marik first as an Adept and later as Precentor, Blaine would establish a life-long friendship with the future Captain-General during his time with ComStar that would survive Thomas's return to Free Worlds League. Ultimately becoming Precentor of the Gibson HPG station thanks to his formidable political skills, while not as fanatical or militant as other's like Demona Aziz, Blaine was a firm believer in the religious aspects of the ComStar and fled the Reformation in the wake of Operation Scorpion.[2][3]

Word of Blake and Gibson

While Aziz established the initial agreement with Thomas (or rather, his double) to allow the forming Word of Blake sanctuary in the Free Worlds League, when the Captain-General expressed dismay at the sheer volume of refugees he organised a meeting with a delegation of defecting Precentors led by Blane to determine the best course of action. Thanks to his friendship with the Captain-General and his more moderate style of leadership, Blane gained Thomas's open support and became the Word's ad-hoc leader to the infuriation of former First Circuit member Aziz. Thomas and Blane quickly established an agreement where by Word was granted a landhold on Blane's Precentorship of Gibson in return Word administering the League's HPG network. [4] [3]

However the relocation of "tens of thousands of religious zealots" fanned the fires of an ongoing civil war on Gibson that had previously been kept secret by the planetary government and nobility. Concerned about what was going on, Blane contacted Thomas who then sent Sir Paul Masters of the Knights of the Inner Sphere back to Gibson with Blane to evaluate the situation in early 3055.
Masters discovered gruesome guerilla fighting going on, and eventually vanished after having a falling-out with the Word of Blake 'Mech lance he had been assigned—he had previously witnessed them slaughtering civilians for no good reason and had intervened, which prompted the Word of Blake commander to issue an arrest warrant because Masters had "interfered in an operation". Blane, who was apparently not informed of the details, truthfully reported Masters' fight with his own lance and subsequent vanishing to the Captain-General. Shortly afterwards, Assistant Precentor Starling assumed command over the Word of Blake on Gibson and had Blane arrested. In the subsequent chaos, Blane was freed by Masters with the help of local rebels concurrently with the arrival of the Captain-General in person. Order on Gibson was restored by installing Paul Masters as the world's new noble ruler, and the Word of Blake were reminded that they were guests on Gibson, not rulers. It is unknown if Blane was reinstated as Precentor on Gibson.[5]

Blane conceived and planned Operation Odysseus, through which the Word of Blake gained control of Terra in early 3058.

Jihad and Death

While both Blane and Cameron St. Jamais would attend the ill-fated Fourth Whitting Conference,[6] Blane's disappearance after the Word of Blake's initial assault on Tharkad and St. Jamais' increasing prominence raised numerous questions as to his whereabouts. An Interstellar News Network report on 25 October 3068 openly wondered if Cameron St. Jamais had Blane killed to take full control of the Ruling Conclave, an assertion that an unnamed Blakist rejected to claim Blane had merely retired to write his memoirs,[7] while a later INN report on 1 November 3070 raised Blane as a prime candidate to be the Word of Blake's shadowy "Master".[8]

It was ultimately confirmed[9] that Cameron St. Jamais had indeed put Blane to death, having him "Spaced over Tharkad" (implied to be on or around 5 December 3067, one of the opening shots of the Jihad), though this information is not publicly known within the BattleTech universe.

Portrait Gallery

References

  1. Shattered Sphere, p. 111 - "William Blane"
  2. Era Report: 3062, pp. 80-81 "Major Personas - William Blane"
  3. 3.0 3.1 ComStar, p. 96 "Word of Blake Personalities - Precentor Blane of Gibson"
  4. ComStar, p. 91 "The Marik Alliance"
  5. Ideal War (novel), see plot summary
  6. Dawn of the Jihad, p. 40 "On the Red Carpet"
  7. Dawn of the Jihad, p. 128 "William Blane Missing?"
  8. Jihad Hot Spots: 3070', p. 127 "Who is "The Master"?"
  9. In an official in-character chat that took place on 10 July 2011, "The Master" answered a question about Blane's fate with the words "Spaced over Tharkad". The veracity of this statement was confirmed in an official chat with Line Developer Herbert A. Beas II on 22 October 2011, who added that "Cameron" (presumably Cameron St. Jamais) had had enough of him. The fact of Blane having been spaced was once more confirmed by Herbert Beas in an official answer on the BattleTech forum, with the added notion that it happened off-camera, i.e. the event was not detailed in any published material so far.

Bibliography