Dirit Franz

Gen. **Dirit Franz** GE OAD (née **Lecce**; born 17 July, 1931), popularly known as **Dirty Dirit** by the Altivebrians, is a retired General of the Alconbrian Army. She is the first woman to have held the position of General in the Alconbrian Army, and the one of only two women to serve as Generals.

She served as the *de facto* leader of the brutal and oppressive military administration over the Metsarbarros from 2001 to 2009. The military regime led to the deaths of nearly 4 million Malpuros. She also provided military support to the Forward Alliance-led Alconacioist government, and was one of the important figures in the Alconbrian purges of 2007. Despite holding no political or military office, she asserted huge influence over both the Government of Alconbria and the Alconbrian Armed Forces even after her retirement in 2007.

## Biography

### Early life and education

Dirit Franz was born as Philipa Lecce in Assoro Hospital, Harfa on July 17, 1931. Her father was a mathematics teacher while her mother worked in a dairy farm run by an Altivebrian family. Her family couldn't afford her education, and she only attended school after Bartolomé Tirano implemented the mandatory education program in 1939.

Her father volunteered as a militiaman during the Second Altivebrian Civil War, and was killed during the First Battle of Desfila on 9 December, 1945. She joined a woman's militia at the age of 14, against her mother's wishes, but never saw frontline combat. With the defeat of the fascist government looming, Dirit fled to Mexico along with her mother, and the arrived at the United States border in November 1946. They moved to Las Vegas, where her mother worked in a resort and she completed her schooling.

She majored in biology for her undergraduate program at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and subsequently earned a masters degree in biology. She moved to the United Kingdom in 1958 to do her doctorate degree in Cambridge University. She was a highly accomplished scientist, producing works which are cited in a variety of textbooks and articles.

### Military career

In 1960, she met Antonio Durán, who at that time was the Deputy Chairman of the Alconbrian Action, the only active political organization representing the Alconbrians at that time in Altivebrio. She completed her PhD in 1963, and worked as a professor for two years. She moved to Mexico and joined the Uruti; but was displeased with the organization's lack of interest of an offensive war against the Altivebrio Defense Forces. She later joined the Arporleber in 1967. She impressed her seniors with her planning capabilities, and quickly rose through the ranks. She took part in the Arporleber operation to kidnap British ambassador Richard Goddard for ransom, and is also believed to have played a part in the University of Ciudad la Morenzo bombing.

She later began to gravitate away from terrorism and guerilla warfare and began to take
on roles in conventional offensive warfare. She attained a CO rank of First Lieutenant in 1971, and took part in Battle of Sheep's Pass, and her actions led to a tactical and strategic victory. For her actions, she was promoted to Captain.

### La Matriarca

She became a General of the army in 1994. Despite appearing neutral in public, it was noted that she tended to lean towards Serjo Gapas' Alconacioists; particularly for their support for the re-capture of the Milven peninsula. According to reports, several high-ranking military generals including Franz planned on a conducting a coup and making Gapas the President in order to authorize an invasion of the Milven peninsula, but the plan never materialized. Franz also allowed for the propagation of Alconacioist ideologies within the Alconbrian Armed Forces.

In response of Franz' support of Alconacioism, Paul del Santé began courting Chief of Defense Staff Elias Zerloner. This resulted in a fraction in the military top brass, with Franz taking sides with fellow Alconacioist sympathizers Kilvonder Foley, Ignacio Mallano and Chief General Nino Heurta de Soto. In 1998, Franz' protege General Carlos Lluch succeeded Zerloner as the Chief of Defense Staff. This led to the Alconacioist faction of the military taking over, and the military executed Operation Silicon to retake territory captured by the ADF in the Milven peninsula. The successful operation led to massive civilian support to the armed forces and the Alconbria People's Party. However, the APP fell short of a majority in the 2000 elections and Gapas announced his retirement as party leader. Meanwhile, de Soto retired as Chief General, and thus Franz' influence in the Armed Forces increased. She gave the go-ahead for Operation Voltage in the Metsarbarros, which severely weakened the Metsarbarros Red Brigades.

After Lrien Sreviza's execution and Gapas' retirement, Franz had the military stop supporting the Alconbria People's Party and announced that she was open to negotiations with President Paul del Santé. However, Ernesto Titeriez communicated through Lluch that he was willing to green light a military operation to retake the Metsarbarros if the military provided support to the Alconacioists. Later, Augustin Voimer met Franz at her estate, and promised that the state would ignore any acts of brutality committed against the Malpuros. Franz agreed, and the military began aligning themselves with the APP again. It is rumored that Franz gave her approval over the Alconacioists' plan to assassinate Paul del Santé in 2001. After del Santé's assassination, general elections were held which resulted in a Forward Alliance victory and Titeriez was appointed as the next President on 11 March.

On 29 April, the Metsarbarros Communist Party bombed a military base next to the border, which resulted in the death of 48 soldiers. The next day, the Mayan Liberation Front overrun the under construction town of Servancia and demolished it. After the attacks, Titeriez ordered Franz to mount a full-scale invasion of the Metsarbarros on 1 June, starting the Second Alconbrian-Malpuro War. The war saw intense urban combat between the the Alconbrian Army and the MLF-GC. The Mayan rebels were supported by Altivebrio and Guatemala. Franz allowed Diego Machado and Ferrinka Zavoyer to use their paramilitaries, the People's Security Force and the Relvaslukto, to undertake counter-insurgency and anti-guerilla operations in the captured territories, and these forces went on to perform several human rights abuses. Franz signed the order to destroy the building housing the Statna of the Metsarbarros during the Siege of Insentte in 2002. In 2003, Titierez officially dissolved the Statna of the Metsarbarros after the legislation was passed in the Léialegis. The power to govern the Metsarbarros was handed over to the General Military Administration of South Alconbria (GMASA), which was headed by Franz; making her the de jure ruler of the Metsarbarros. Under military rule, forced labor was used to construct massive military projects such as bases, airfields and testing sites. Construction of colonies also saw a massive boost under the Franz' military administration, along with railways. Several villages and settlements were depopulated to accommodate these projects. However, Franz refused to rebuild hospitals or schools for the Malpuros after they were destroyed during the invasion. Franz also refused to allow Alconbrian corporations to set up economic activities in the Metsarbarros.

She privately supported the APP during the 2005 Alconbrian constitutional crisis and the subsequent protests.