Turtledove
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Liu Han
Fictional Character
Worldwar
POD: May 30, 1942
Appearance(s): In the Balance
through
Aftershocks
Type of Appearance: Direct POV
Species: Human
Nationality: China
Date of Birth: Late 1910s
Date of Death: Unrevealed
Religion: Buddhism; later atheist
Occupation: Diplomat, Guerrilla, Political Commissar, Revolutionary
Spouse: Unnamed husband (d. 1942),
Bobby Fiore (common law, d. 1943)
Children: Unnamed deceased son (d. 1942)
Liu Mei (daughter)
Military Branch: People's Liberation Army
(Race Invasion of Tosev 3)
Political Party: Chinese Communist Party

Liu Han was a Chinese peasant who lost her family to the Japanese in 1942, became a test subject of the Race for a period of time, and then became a leading member of the Chinese Communist Party and its People's Liberation Army, actively participating in the resistance against the Race.

Liu Han's village was bombed by the Japanese, an attack that killed her son (her husband was killed by the Japanese in a prior attack). All that remained of him was a hand. However, the Japanese occupation of the village was short-lived as the Race's Conquest Fleet attacked shortly after, forcing the Japanese out.

Liu Han was taken up in one of the Race's starships and forced into a study of human sexual behavior. She was forced into intercourse with a variety of men who had also been captured by the Race, including sleazy businessman Yi Min. Liu Han unexpectedly made a connection with American baseball player Bobby Fiore. They began a monogamous relationship. Once Liu Han became pregnant, they were both returned to China for the birth. During that time Fiore attracted the attention of the Communist party with his pitching skills. He was coerced in to leaving the camp and becoming a grenadier. Fiore was shot dead in Shanghai.

Liu Han was left alone for some time before learning Fiore was dead. When Liu Han gave birth to her daughter, Liu Mei, the child was taken by Race psychologist Ttomalss as part of a project to begin integrating humans into the Race's empire. Liu Han sought revenge by joining the Communists; at first simply providing information, but later, with the help of Nieh Ho-Ting, she joined in strategizing against the Race. She hit on the idea of using animal trainers (a talent that fascinated the Race) to carry bombs into Race buildings.

While becoming an ardent Communist, Liu Han refused to give up on getting her daughter back. She and Nieh Ho-'Ting became lovers, and Liu Han gained a reputation as a gifted guerrilla fighter. Her position gave her leverage in negotiations between the Party and the Race. Liu Han's baby became a central part of the negotiations and in the end she was able to get her daughter, Liu Mei, back from the aliens. In gratitude, she officially joined the Communist party.

Liu Han realized that the Race would attempt to take another child to study, and thought that it would be another Chinese one. When Ttomalss, the researcher that had abducted her child, came to Canton to take another infant, she had him captured. After holding him prisoner for some time, she released him, ostensibly to show the Race that the Communists were both unpredictable and in total control. But she had also come to realize that Ttomlass had not intentionally sought to harm her child.

Liu Han continued to rise through the Communist Party over the course of the war. In the years after the fighting, Liu Han remained an effective guerrilla fighter and devoted party leader.

In 1964, Liu Han and Liu Mei traveled to the United States to draw attention to the situation in China. One of the dignitaries the pair met was Sam Yeager, a former baseball player and America's expert on the Race. By a happy coincidence, Yeager had been a teammate of Bobby Fiore's just before the Race invaded. He gave a picture of Fiore to the two. It was the first picture Liu Mei had seen of her father.

Liu Han and her daughter returned to China and continued to be a thorn in the Race's side.

In 1966, when Peking was captured by the PLA for the second time, Liu Han served as the judge of a people's court which tried collaborators. The slightest cooperation with the Race, including filing papers in one of their municipal offices, was punishable by death by firing squad, carried out summarily. There were a few extenuating circumstances which could mitigate the punishment to hard labor, a penalty that killed a bit less swiftly than bullets. Liu Han was swift and efficient in passing these sentences.

In 2031, Ttomalss still felt chills when thinking of Liu Han.

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