Stephen "Steve" Westman was a Montanan citizen and the leader and founder of the Montana Independence Movement.
Physical characteristics[]
He was 188 centimeters tall, with broad, powerful shoulders. He was very handsome, with sun-bleached blond hair, blue eyes and bronzed face. (SI1)
Family[]
Politician Clint Westman was his cousin. (SI4)
Biography[]
Westman was violently opposed to the annexation of the Talbott Cluster by the Star Kingdom of Manticore. He and his followers managed to bomb several government facilities. Westman did his best to avoid human casualties in his attacks, sending warnings so that his targets could be evacuated before he destroyed them. He also chose targets designed to make the government, the annexation proposal, and Manticorans and Manticoran property look ridiculous. One such example was when he ambushed a survey team from the Land Registry Office and forced the male members to strip down to their underwear before they were allowed to leave.
He knew that the considerable care to avoid injury or death would have to be changed sooner or later, but before that could happen, Captain Aivars Terekhov of the Royal Manticoran Navy and Bernardus Van Dort of the Rembrandt Trade Union provided him with evidence that his contact "Firebrand" was actually an agent of the Solarian League's Office of Frontier Security and that his entire program had been subverted without his knowledge. Westman then agreed to have his followers lay down their weapons and accept a general amnesty from the President. (SI1)