Aranzor, on 24 June 2013 - 06:34 AM, said:
People 'Kathy' -love a supporter of her calling her this- 'might' have assassinated (a few highlights anyway):
Melissa Steiner - Her Mother when she proposed to abdicate and give the throne to Victor.
Omi Kurita - Her brother's lover to take the fight out from under him.
Salome Ward - Morgan Kell's wife for Morgan opposing her rise to power.
Morgan Hasek-Davion - Because he was Victor's friend.
People mentally scarred or messed up by Katherine (again, just a few highlights):
Galen Cox - The fiance of Katherine allowed to get caught up in an assassination but survived.
Morgan Kell -Not only was his wife murdered, but also the constant schemes and threats she used to try to keep him from siding with Victor.
Victor - First toyed with since he was horrible with politics, then stripped him of one half and then the other of his kingdom, killing friends and family close to him left and right, and finally his lover is killed when he begrudgingly came back to declare he'd stand up to Katherine.
Yvonne - Katherine's little sister who was driven to break down and gave up the throne because she believed Katherine who was telling her how bad she was at ruling.
And my favorite to come: Alaric Wolf...Thats right, a clanner born from genes from both Victor and Katherine, set up by Katherine as an everlasting spite to the Inner Sphere.
Oh and to stay on topic (too late) with the OP: Steiner by far. Draconis is an atrocity of the past, but the changes that have been made since Takashi put them a bit in the right direction. Liao is close but they've always been evil and conniving, so you knew what to expect. Steiners were the supposed friend that stabbed Davion in the back.
You're aware of the fact, that the BT-universe is still fictional, aren't you?
In addition, I don't support Katherine, but neither do I like Victor. Why?
He is totally incompentent, and he is seriously overtaxed with his duty to reign over the FedCom. Victor could have prevented the FCCW from starting at several points, even before the Lyran Alliance seperated. Seriously, the string of major incorrect decisions by Victor is back breaking:
-he didn't care about his public appearance, especially in the Lyran half of the FedCom (before the assassination of Melissa, even members of the Kell Hounds oppossed his politics);
-replacing 'Thomas Marik's' son after his death;
-hire his mother's assassin to assassinate Ryan Steiner (the assassin was captured quite fast after the death of Melissa);
-do nothing, when his lil' sister took over the power and seceded the Lyran Alliance;
-to support the decision to support the DC, and to destroy the Smoked Jags despite the fact, that both the FedSuns and the Lyrans were at war with the Combine for almost three centuries, and that the Combine encouraged their troops to enforce terror tactics, and to commit hundreds of massacres against FedSun and Lyran civilians as well as POWs during the Succession Wars;
-start a romance with the heir of his people's mortal enemy, despite the fact, that the Combine tried to take over the FedSuns in a very similar move during the Star League era;
-do nothing when Katherine took over the FedSuns;
-to support the election of Sun-Tzu Liao as First Lord of the 'Star League', which inevitable led to the annexion of the St. Ives Compact, and to the corruption of the position of the First Lord of the 'Star League' from the start (excluding that Rasaalhague guy, all 'First Lords' basically used their position only to advance their own agendas);
-do nothing when Combine 'peacekeepers' annexed the Lyons' thumb (which is pretty much like sending a wolf to watch over sheep);
-to start the FCCW in the worst possible position - in fact, the Allies were only rescued by ongoing pro-Victor FIAT;
-do nothing against increasing FedSuns or Lyran nationalism, which gravely increased the brutality of the FCCW;
-to place a
Capellan Warrior House on Tikonov for garrison duty during the FCCW (really, how stupid can he possibly be);
-and so on...
Victor might be a nice guy, but unfortunately he is totally inept to rule something like the FedCom. I don't like Katherine either, because she is quite cruel and cold as ice, and basically only interested in further increasing her power base. But to say that she is a murdering maniac, even if she had some of her enemies assassinated, is plain wrong. In addition, Victor wasn't above too assassinate unpleasant relatives, too, if you remember.
It is also ironic, that you state, that Takashi put the DC in the 'right direction'. His son Theodore is supposed to convert the DC into the shining Hello-Kitty-Combine. Takashi opposed him doing that.
Finally, the Lyrans didn't betray the FedSuns, the Lyrans were left to fend by their own by the Davions. At least, after Victor took over, since Hanse seriously helped the Lyrans against the Clans. Something, which Victor didn't, because he was preoccupied with alienating the Lyrans and the people from the Draconis March alike, while fraternizing with the DC.
Before I get totally OT, even if I mentioned it before, I despise the Dracs most, and I also think, that the
post-Clan Invasion FedSuns is the most boring Successor State anyone can ever think of. By far.
I like the FedSuns during the
Succession Wars-era, and the FedCom (you know, the State, which consisted of both the LyrCom and the FedSuns, not the renamed FS), though.
Edited by Tharkan Stuermer, 24 June 2013 - 11:39 AM.