Hartigan, Sensei

[New Dornalia]

A younger, more active Mary Hartigan.

Sensei Mary Elizabeth Costello Hartigan is a generally unconventional PA Sensei. A rebel at heart, paralyzed in body if not mind, she commands the Sanctuary District Outreach Program for the City of Seattle's Temple.

Born in Belfast, Northern Ireland, the young Hartigan was raised in a tough, working class neighborhood, the daughter of sheet metal workers in the city's shipbuilding industry. Born before the Unification and the Workers State's first contact with the outside world, Hartigan's Belfast was under the rule of the State of England, which had reasserted control over the area in the wake of the Apocalypse and had used Belfast's shipyards to rebuild a nascent Royal Navy.

However, Belfast was now home to a revived Irish Republican Army, and Hartigan's upbringing in an environment which showed contempt for the English occupiers caused her to join the movement. Working by day as a bank clerk, at night, she became part of the "Fundraising Committee," a team of bankrobbers that raised funds for the IRA and fought the English, taking the time to destroy loan records and such as a form of Robin Hoodism. During the course of her operations, she discovered she had powers; her IRA comrades found that her ability to use the classic Jedi Mind Trick and the Spear of Midnight Black to silently assassinate and confuse English soldiers aided operations. Of course, the use of bootlegged MSG90 and PSL rifles didn't hurt either, and she was always the team's "Designated Marksman."

This brought her into conflict with the English Army, and in particular, with Emma "Spooky" McKinnon and Major West's unit, which was repsonsible for her neighborhood. McKinnon at the time was an English Army Intelligence agent, and used her psychic skills to hunt down the Irish insurgents. She knew Hartigan was particularly powerful, and thus sought to take her down personally.

This resulted in several operations to try and take down Hartigan's "Fundraising Committee." The last one, Operation Houndstooth, resulted in the death of several teammates and Hartigan's seizure. Tortured by "Spooky" for several weeks, Hartigan eventually escaped when the IRA broke her out in a raid. Free once more, Hartigan resumed her bank robbery and sniping sprees, until the MacIntyre Era began.

With the MacIntyre Era, things changed. Irish Independence no longer mattered as Mac's government was too ponderous to secede from. The IRA still existed; however, it gradually began to degenerate into a criminal gang, one that grew weaker as the zealous Internal Security Bureau did what Spooky couldn't--hurt the IRA. Increasingly, smaller splinter factions still existed, but solely as gangs that sold meth, robbed banks, and smuggled guns for bigger factions. This became the fate of Hartigan's section, and like all gangs, Hartigan's had its share of betrayal. In thsi case, Hartigan was tattled on by a snitch to the ISB, who arrested her and sentenced her to time in jail for her crimes.

Hartigan, in the meantime, sought vengance against those who betrayed her. To that end, she joined the People's Acolytes and, with good behavior and good works, got out of prison early, joining the PA in Seattle. Becoming a Sensei, she exhibited her characteristic leadership style--namely, an informal, flexible style that prided independent thinking and skill as well as a maternal demeanor. She proved a good leader and strong individual, motivating others in the Outreach Program to do right. However, she never lost her rebellious streak and contempt for law enforcement, and thus she also had a tendency to talk back to authority and rubbed people the wrong way.

And, there was the issue of the IRA. Asking too many questions for her own good, the Irish Republican Army decided to reward her curiosity with death. Hiring Elven Freigauneren killers using contacts in the Seattle PD, namely a young Harry McReary (who was contacted with the knowledge that he knew the Freigauneren), they tried to shoot her using Hajarran Peoplebane--a potent neurotoxin as lethal as VX.

Hartigan nearly died that day, and only timely medical treatment saved her. However, Hartigan was left with damaging nerve injuries and physical problems that left her dependent on others for life....

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Hartigan, at first glance, doesn't seem like much. Resembling a mother, a grandmother or even an aunt, she is friendly and generally flexible, welcoming suggestions and always taking time out to welcome people with good Irish tea. In particular, her copious experiences lend to good stories.

However, she is a stronger woman than she looks. A woman of principles, she is generally resistant to authority and anything resembling restrictions on personal freedom and what she calls "the laws of good conscience;" all facets forged in the cauldron of Belfast. She distrusts police, with good reason in Seattle, and especially distrusts NOOSE and the higher ups in the PA. And, she endorses and even encourages the rogue actions of her subordinates, declaring, "All legal channels have done, lads and ladies, is make the Sanctuary Districts. We're going to break them our way, the way they don't want us to use. Your laws may be well and good when people aren't starvin' and sufferin' the shakes, but when all they do is slow good men down, maybe its time to lose them."

She also is an active woman who doesn't feel like being shackled by illness. Assisted by Millie and Roberta, she tries to exercise as much as possible, and also works on her psychic powers, attempting to compensate for lack of physical power with mental power.