Hanse Davion died one year ago this month. For most of us in the Known Sphere, he was for half a century the model of what a MechWarrior and a leader of men should be. All about us in the Inner Sphere, we still see the results of his legacy of statesmanship and courageous leadership. Even his enemies admitted that he made them work for their gains, that combatting him forced them to their best efforts. His f riends found him generous in victory and dogged against defeat. From his patronage of NAIS, to his sponsorship of Vagabond Academies, his reorganization of the AFFC, and his dynamic alliance with Melissa Arthur Steiner, his political influence across the Inner Sphere transformed it during his lifetime. It is not saying too much to say that without his example, his maneuvering, and his direct efforts, the Inner Sphere would not have been ready to withstand the Clans for the three years before Tukayyid. We at BattleTechnology couldn't let the year's anniversary go by without a chance to say one last farewell to the man who defined our times. Rest in Peace, Hanse Davion. Thank you for all you have done. Hanse's Last Words This was found among the papers on First Prince Hanse Davion's desk after his death. Citizens of the Federated Commonwealth! There has been a great victory over the Clans forces on Tukayyid. Your vid services have shown you what is surely ComStar's finest hour, as they won victory over those same Clans who have left kin and territory from your lives. Some of you may feel a pang that you could not take part in the fight, that the AFFC, which has given so much, was not permitted a part in the decisive battle. Let me remind you that not even the Free Republic of Rasalhague's own forces were permitted to be part of it. This was ComStar's battle for the system of Terra, the first time ComStar risked its own against the Clans. Com Star entered the fight late, but well. Whatever the reason they delayed so long, they have offered to supply us with new intelligence now. The communications blackout that some of you experienced in the early days of May seems to have been caused by a misunderstanding. A fanatical group within ComStar took matters into its own hands; that group has been dealt with. But enough of ComStar. Let us talk of our own people, of your long fight against the Jade Falcons, the Steel Vipers, and the Wolf Clan. In the past years you suffered a stunning shock as the Clans hit without warning. You faced overwhelming odds in the face of their genetic engineering and superior weaponry. You continued the gallant fight from system to system, never allowing yourselves to consider defeat. Our forces of the AFFC gave lives to gain crucial information; our ally Colonel Jaime Wolf gave time and personal anguish to preparing us for the Clans' methods of war. We will face the Clans again when the fifteen year truce is ended. Nothing could be surer. You have my pledge that the resources of the Federated Commonwealth are committed to preparing us to face that clash when it comes. Yet, just for the moment, let us rejoice. The Inner Sphere has had to work together to repel the invader of our homes. You have lost much; take a moment to enjoy your gains. A Day of Thanksgiving is declared... Here the proclamation breaks off. The First Prince must have put it aside, meaning to finish it later on. Only for him there was to be no later on. Remembered "Hanse is as good a MechWarrior as his brother - and a much better tactician! The old tight-shorts in the Armed Forces of the Federated Suns better hold on to their drawers when his reforms start coming through! I look forward to a revitalized AFFS, and a Federated Suns which is a confident leader of the Inner Sphere!" Field Marshal Yvonne Davion, mentor to Prince Hanse Davion Former Military Commander of the Capellan March CO, Analysis and Speculation Dept, MIIO at his coronation. "Hanse Davion married for politics, but it was clear that the marriage became a love match. As Melissa Steiner Davion matured, the two clashed often, but always with mutual respect. Eventually the older Hanse learned to value Melissa's ability to identify the system or unit that was being harmed by one of his schemes, to find ways to include that unit in whatever grand purpose Hanse was planning. Melissa's political gifts complemented Hanse's strategical sense. They made a whole greater than the sum of its parts. And they did it by listening to each other even when they were most opposed. That's all it takes." Dr. Sue Maybecker 'Advice from the Doc' vid show during the week of Hanse Davion's funeral Hanse Davion's Peculiar Aggression Hanse Davion was born a spare part. Many second children feel that way, but for royalty it's the truth. The oldest child gets everything, while other children wait in the wings in case anything happens to number one. (The oldest legitimate child, that is. There was an older half-sister who was not in the line of succession, the Marie Davion who married Michael Hasek, mother of the Marshal of the Armies.) As Hanse was growing up, the contemporaries he saw most of were his brother, Prince Ian, Ian's best friend Michael Hasek, both of whom were four years older, and Arden Sortek, ten years younger. Throughout his life, Field Marshal Sortek was Prince Hanse's closest friend, the one with whom he could let down all pretenses. His tutor, Professor Sharon Bryan, remained a friend long after Prince Hanse had left her guidance for the Albion Military Academy. The education of a Prince of House Davion tends to be excellent, but conservative. Bryan with her "Question, question, question!" and her reminders that assumptions are not data, influenced Hanse in acquiring the patience and trickery of the Fox. Both of the Davion sons were given educations befitting statesmen, leaders, and military men, with a broad base in history. Professor Bryan and Hanse were aware that the Succession Wars cost more than they could ever win. She had him analyze the Davion Claim to the throne of the Star League, and the odds that yet another war would not unify the Inner Sphere. She taught this general-to-be the difference between military and political solutions. Little did she know that she had also taught him to look forways to change the odds. Hanse and Hasek loathed each other. Prince Ian, who was a charismatic and hearty Man, seemed to befriend first one and then the other. He was probably aware of the useful potential in each of these men; eventually Prince Ian made Hasek head of the Bureau of Investigations of the MIIO, while Prince Hanse became Military Governor of New Aragon. Ian Davion was a fine strategist, yet he never learned to value political solutions; he distrusted human emotions. Then in 3013, First Prince Ian Davion died on the battlefield on Mallory's World, and Hanse's world turned upside down. As he returned to New Avalon for his brother's funeral, Prince Hanse barely fought off an assassination attempt. Rightly or wrongly, he blamed Michael Hasek, now Duke Michael Hasek-Davion. One of Prince Hanse's first acts was to relegate Duke Michael to his home base in the Capellan marches of the Federated Suns. Another was to send for Sortek to see him through the time of transition. Prince Hanse's public persona was hearty, jolly, hiding the keen cold observation beneath. And the uncertainty. He felt that he had to prove himself to his people as successor to the popular Prince Ian. Not long after he succeeded there came a time when he literally had to prove himself. Recent information released from ComStar archives reveals that Prince Hanse was kidnapped and replaced for more than a year by a double, a mind-imprinted man from the Capellan Confederation. It was upon his restoration (aided by Arden Sortek) that First Prince Hanse Davion ceased to be divided in himself. He was the Prince; he would do the job to the absolute best of his ability as politician and strategist. Chancellor Liao's attack had taught him that the Succession Wars were not wars of honor, but wars in which the honorable were endangered. He knew that he could not make a sizable gain toward unification unless he could change the odds. Archon Katrina Steiner's peace proposals had not received any response from Inner Sphere leaders until Prince Hanse began negotiations with her. It must have been hard to win her consent to a war of conquest, unless Prince Hanse let her in on the secret of the Liao subterfuge. Then came the formulation of Operation Goliath's wargames which turned to reality, and the strategem of the Wedding that Made War. The rest of Prince Hanse's life shows his determination to unify the Inner Sphere under the Davion-Steiner rule -- until the advent of the Clans. Then Hanse's real motivation to protect the Inner Sphere at all costs came to the fore. House Kurita was the traditional enemy of his House, yet Hanse unilaterally withdrew his troops along their borders to spearhead the defense of the Lyran Commonwealth. Theodore Kurita, just as wisely, trusted the signs and withdrew his troops to the Clans front. Hanse went further when he paid mercenaries to defend the Kurita homeworld of Luthien. He urged, cajoled, blackmailed, and bribed other Inner Sphere leaders into helping the fight against the Clans. He literally wore himself to death in fighting them, dying of a heart attack just after the Battle of Tukayyid. Back to BattleTechnology 20 Table of Contents Back to BattleTechnology List of Issues Back to MagWeb Magazine List © Copyright 1993 by Pacific Rim Publishing. This article appears in MagWeb.com (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. Other military history articles and gaming articles are available at http://www.magweb.com