Marik, Kristen
- Born: 2998
- Died: 2 May 3063
- Homeworld: Marik
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Mech:
- Hunchback (3025)
- Thunderbolt (3059)
The second child of Janos Marik's marriage to Ana Stewart, Kristen was very much her father's daughter. Not only did she physically resemble him, but she was similar in personality as well, having a measure of his stubbornness. For his part, Janos showed Kristen more affection than any of his other children, even his designated successor Thomas. However, this paternal devotion did not protect Janos from his daughter's disapproval when the widowed Captain-General took up with a mistress only a few years younger than Kristen herself. Considering such behavior a disgrace to her mother's memory, Kristen spent many years away from palace life on Atreus.
Her absence from court life was not simply due to personal issues with her father's relationship. Kristen was possessed of an adventurous spirit that led her to pursue a career as a soldier, but not one in her father's Militia. Her dream was to command her own mercenary unit and to build that unit into one that was known and respected throughout the Inner Sphere. On her twentieth birthday, Kristen, using the pseudonym "Kristen Markus," signed on with Langendorf's Lancers, a smallish mercenary unit in service to the Free Worlds League. They weren't the best-equipped or the most prestigious fighting force, but Kristen joined them as a tech, intending to work her way up throught the ranks without benefit of her family name. This plan was nearly derailed by the fact that the mercenaries all too easily recognized the daughter of their long-time employer but Major Wayne Roland, the Lancers' commander, allowed her to continue and she eventually earned a captured Lyran Hunchback and a place on the front lines. She also began a relationship with fellow Lancer Jiri Rousset, which resulted in the birth of a daughter, Ana, in 3031.
Kristen continued to serve with Langendorf's Lancers for many years, until her father was assassinated in 3035. As a part of his will, Janos left a sizable inheritance to his favorite child that allowed Kristen to realize her dream of forming her own mercenary unit. Kristen's Krushers was formed from her inheritance and a core of former Lancers who followed their comrade. One of these ex-Lancers was Jiri Rousset, who would eventually become Kristen's husband and with whom she would have two more children, Janos and Alys. By 3037, Kristen's Krushers was ready for business. Janos' will had contained a clause guaranteeing his daughter's unit their initial contract and their first five years were spent in the employ of the Free Worlds League.
In 3042, the Krushers accepted a contract with ComStar and they were posted as garrison troops to several HPG stations in the Federated Suns and eventually were also assigned to hunt pirates in the Periphery regions of the Lyran Commonwealth. Five years later, Kristen returned to the Free Worlds League and her unit was assigned to garrison the world of Claybrooke, bordering the Magistracy of Canopus. At the completion of their current contract in 3052, Kristen intended to leave League service but was persuaded to stay by her brother, Captain-General Thomas Marik, concerned about the turmoil created by the recent appearance and invasion of the Clans. However, Kristen became restless and, when the Krushers' contract expired in 3057, she wanted to move on to a new employer. Once again, however, greater issues prompted Thomas Marik, in the midst of Operation Guerrero, to prevail upon his sister to remain in his service. This time she agreed to only a two-year contract, determined to finally get the Krushers out onto the market in the rest of the Inner Sphere.
Throughout her time in the Free Worlds League, Kristen tried to keep herself aloof from League politics, preferring the life of a soldier to that of a politician. Many within the League saw her as a potential successor to her brother as Captain-General, even though Kristen herself continued to deny any interest in the position. As her children grew older, they joined the ranks of the Krushers and Ana Marik was generally considered her mother's heir as commander of the unit. The Krushers fully enjoyed the benefits of their commander's relationship with their employer. The Quartermaster Corps of the Free Worlds League Military often gave increased attention to Kristen's supply requisitions and Kristen herself received a brand-new League OmniMech from her brother on the occasion of her sixtieth birthday.
When their short-term contract finally expired in 3059, Kristen's Krushers were hired by the Lyran Alliance and posted to guard duty on the industrial world of Coventry. They remained in that post during the joint Inner Sphere efforts against Clan Smoke Jaguar and the initial moves of the FedCom Civil War. However, they soon became caught up in the chaos that engulfed both the Lyran Alliance and the Federated Suns during the latter conflict. In late 3062, Katherine Steiner-Davion's command to her troops to destroy any units pledging themselves to her brother or even those that remained neutral provided a Lyran commander with anti-Marik leanings the perfect chance to attack the Krushers. Caught by surprise by the assault of the Coventry Jaegers, Kristen Marik led her troops in a fighting retreat from their post. Sadly, Ana Marik was killed in the fighting, though there persist rumors that she had in fact been captured and executed by Lyran troops. Desperate to reach safety, Kristen and her Krushers fled towards the Free Worlds League, stopping to raid the world of Gallery for much-needed supplies. This action led to the unit being declared an enemy of the Lyran state and fair game for any available Lyran unit. The mercenaries managed to reach Arcadia, on the Lyran-League border, by March of 3063, where they broadcast a plea for help to their countrymen. But no help was coming. Thomas Marik refused to send any League units to the Krushers' assistance. By the end of April, the Krushers had been reduced to two companies. Just when things looked bleakest, though, Kristen's brother-in-law, Marshal Jeremy Brett of Tamarind, arrived at the head of the Sixth Marik Militia. Dropping onto Arcadia on 2 May, they forced the Lyran troops to withdraw long enough to allow the remnants of the Krushers to escape. In the final hours of the fight, however, Kristen Marik fell wounded and died before she could be evacuated to safety.
Kristen's death set off a wave of recriminations against Thomas Marik, accusing him of abandoning his sister for political reasons. Alys Marik, the sole surviving child of Kristen, found herself in the forefront of a movement to repeal Resolution 288 and abolish the position of Captain-General. Ultimately that movement was made irrelevent by the Word of Blake Jihad and the revelation that the man everyone thought to be Thomas Marik was actually an imposter. Kristen's descendents have left the shattered remains of the Free Worlds League and united their destiny with Devlin Stone's Republic of the Sphere.
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