Manon Batiste

Manon Batiste is the main character in ' as well as a minor character who appeared in "Medal of Honor", ', and '. She is based on Helene Deschamps Adams, a real life member of the OSS, the forerunner of CIA. Her last name was changed from Batiste to Du Champs in '.

Early life

Auburn-haired Manon was born in the small village of Dubuisson, France, but spent most of her life in Paris, where she lived with her brother Jacques.

=The Maquis (Occupied) (1-10 May 1942)=

After Germany invaded, Manon and Jacques joined the Maquis to resist the invaders. After a brief battle with the Milice in May 1942, Jacques was killed when the truck he was driving was blown up with supplies and munitions. The mortified Manon escaped Paris through catacombs where she meets up with members of the French Resistance group "Combat". She helps the destroy evidence of their efforts, slow down the advancing German army, and hide their supplies before she captures German Panzerfausts and destroys several tanks.

= Recruitment to the OSS =

Having escaped Paris, Manon volunteered to join the American Office of Strategic Services. Colonel Hargrove hearing of her brother's heroism, takes her in as an agent.

= Hunting the Desert Fox (5 November 1942) =

Manon's first assignment is to disrupt German defense's in North Africa in November 1942, in perperation for the impending Operation Torch. Finding a disguise as a Vichy French photographer for the German propaganda ministry, she infilltrates a German fuel depot, radios the American fleet and destroys the depot. She escapes by running to an airfield and disables the anti-aircraft guns guarding it. Signaling the plane, the OSS sent to get her out. The pilot is none other than Lt. James Patterson, who Manon will get see more often before the war is over.

= Undercover in Crete (12 June 1943) =

After her success in North Africa, Manon is sent to Crete where the Germans have installed a heavy artillery battery to sink Allied shipping in the Meditereanean. The Germans are also desecrating artifacts of the palace of Knossos. After treading through a fire fight between German soldiers and Greek privateers, Manon reaches the site. She eliminates the pseudo archaeologists and liberates artifacts. After destroying the bunker supplies she makes her way to the guns themselves, destroying the bunker communications and the guns.

Wewelsburg: Dark Camelot (19-20 September 1943)

The OSS is nervous about the power the SS has achieved under Hitler. They are even more worried about what secrets lie in Heinrich Himmler's headquarters. In September 1943 Manon is sent in to investigate. She sneaks through the outer defense and gets on board a cable car to the castle itself. Inside the castle Manon steals the Knife of Abraham and blows open Himmler's safe, stealing whatever information she can, while battling SS troops and SS knights. Manon also finds Valhalla, a burial chamber for Hitler, Himmler and his 12 "knights". She flees down the castle and destroys a bridge and alarm controls to slow the Germans, and hides out in a safe house until she can reach Allied headquarters.

= Last Rites at Monte Cassino (15 June 1944) =

In order to break the stalemate in Italy, the Allies decide to bomb the historic Monte Cassino Abbey. Unfortunately, a transmission from a monk notifies the OSS of American prisoners in the abbey. In June 1944, Manon is sent to rescue them. After getting through German defenses, Manon reaches the abbey. Freeing the Captain, he helps her free the other prisoners. Manon captures and destroys vital intelligence, and is able to destroy several German halftracks.

Involvement in France (22 June 1944)

During the Allied invasion, Manon was a vital source, helping OSS agent Mike Powell in his mission to gain intelligence on the King Tiger Tank. She was surprised later to find out she was the boss of James Patterson after he joined OSS in June 1944.

A Mittelwerk Saboteur (4 July 1944)

In June 1944, the Allies successfully invade France. However the Germans begin to use V-1 rockets to terrorize London, one happening to hit near OSS headquarters. Determined to stop this, Colonel Hargrove sends Manon into Northern France in July to stop the V-1s. Meeting up with an Allied agent, Manon receives the factory plans and explosives. After navigating through the German lines, Manon takes the tram into the factory. There she destroys V-1 machinery and destroys a large V-1 stockpile. Running for her life she barely escapes the explosion. Manon finds the Allied agent disguised as a German and gets on his motorcycle, and mans the machine gun, shooting down any Germans in the way; en route to escaping she also destroys two V-1 launch sites.

= Liberation (19-22 August 1944) =

In August 1944, with the Allies on the offensive, the citizens of Paris rise up against their German occupiers. The OSS is aware of this and is also aware of Hitler's orders to burn the city to the ground. Manon is sent in to prevent this from happening. Destroying tanks and German barricades, Manon liberates the Paris prefecture and heads towards the subway where two trains bringing explosives are expected. After an intense fire fight Manon diverts both trains and they crash into each other causing a huge explosion. Her fight to liberate Paris avenges Jacques' death.

After Paris

After September 1944, Manon continued to work for both French Intelligence and the OSS. In December 1944, she was involved in an OSS operation to investigate the Nazi Virus House project. For the first time in the war she was captured by a high ranking German officer named Freder Engel and held in a farmhouse in Belgium. Fortunately she was rescued by OSS agent William Holt, the two of them holding the farmhouse against a full scale Nazi counterattack destroying several Panzers. Finally, they were relieved by a large platoon of Gis from the 101st Airborne driving the German troops away. Near the end of the war she was involved in a relationship with James Patterson who proposed marriage to her. It was not revealed whether she accepted the proposal.

Medal and Mementos

*Jacque's Locket

*Foreign Legions Badge

*Photo of Knossos ruins being defaced

*Captured SS Ring

*La Médaille de la Campagne d' Italie

*Piece of destroyed V1 Buzzbomb

*La Croix de guerre

*Panzerknacker

*Légion d'honneur

*La Médaille de la France libérée

*La Croix de la liberation

*DWI Medal of Valor with Clusters (Awarded for completing every mission with three stars)

Trivia

*When Manon is briefed before she enters Mission Six, where she must destroy a V-1 factory, she is told that Patterson will soon be a part of the OSS and the Manon is to be his boss. What most people do not notice though is that this mission is dated 4 July 1944, but Patterson's first mission in the OSS began on 12 June 1944 and Manon briefed him on that mission, meaning that Manon should have been told she would become Patterson's boss directly after her operations in Wewelsburg, because the following mission starts 15 June 1944. Another small glitch that few people notice.

*In Manon's first mission she fights the Milice, a military unit made of Vichy French sympathizers. The odd thing about this though is that the mission takes place in May of 1942, but the Milice wasn't created until 1943.

References

*: for the PlayStation game console and Game Boy Advance
*: for the PlayStation 2, Xbox, and Gamecube
*: for psp