Operation Revival

"Our forces will use Operation Revival to attack in much the same way an unseen falcon strikes at a fat, flying pigeon; with paralyzing surprise, undeniable momentum, and unstoppable force. We will leave behind only a haze of blood and a flurry of feathers."
-Khan Elias Crichell, in a speech to his commanding officers

Khan Crichell became the new ilKhan's most trusted adviser because they shared a vision of the invasion. Together they crafted "Operation Revival," a plan that would carve a deep gash through the Inner Sphere and seize Terra as its prize. Though the details changed slightly as the Grand Kurultai (war council) discussed Operation Revival, the plan survived virtually untouched. The operation's strategic objective was to conquer enough Inner Sphere star systems to provide a secure base of operations from which to launch further assaults against the Successor States.

But even this goal appeared insignificant when the Khans agreed to a proposal put forth by Khan Elias Crichell. Basing his suggestion on passages from the Kerensky archives, Crichell proposed that the Clan that conquered Terra become the ilClan and that the ilClan's senior Khan would automatically become the ilKhan. He further proposed, in accordance with those same writings, that the ilClan assume control of the Free Guilds, which are the merchants, techs, scientists, and other lower castes whose affiliation is to Clan society and not to one Clan. Every Clan eagerly accepted the challenge.

In what they felt was their coup de gr‰ce, Crusader leaders decided that the most fitting punishment for Clan Wolf's persistent opposition to the Clan dream of returning to the Inner Sphere was to include them in the invasion.
The simple invasion plan reflected the Clan expectation that they would encounter minimal organized opposition in the Inner Sphere. Four Clans would assault four separate corridors along a route that would slice through the Free Rasalhague Republic, the Federated Commonwealth, and the Draconis Combine. All four corridors ended on Terra, the final and most important invasion objective. Every Clan participated in the trials to determine which would be allowed to join the invasion. Special rules limited the trial forces to three Trinaries per Clan to prevent excessive bloodshed, ensuring that no Clan would risk so much to win a position in the invasion that it would have insufficient forces to fight effectively.

Because Clan Wolf was required to participate, it officiated at the trials to choose the remaining three. To no one's surprise, both Clan Jade Falcon and Clan Smoke Jaguar won positions. Ghost Bear, another strong Crusader Clan, won the final main position.
A second set of trials determined which Clan would use which corridor. Alpha and Delta corridors lay through the Federated Commonwealth and the Draconis Combine, the two most powerful militaries in the Inner Sphere, and afforded the greatest opportunity for glory. The ilKhan assigned Clan Wolf to Beta Corridor, another not-so-subtle insult to their Warden sensibilities.

Clan Jade Falcon won the honor of Alpha Corridor, prompting Khan Crichell to order a week-long festival of celebration in all Falcon enclaves. That the festival took place just two short weeks before the invasion force assembled to jump for the Inner Sphere indicates just how little concern the Clan felt about what lay ahead. While Clan Wolf doggedly prepared for the worst, struggling to rebuild its decimated Third Battalion, the Jade Falcons assumed that their Inner Sphere enemies would offer only uncoordinated resistance, simply ignoring what might happen beyond the first wave of the invasion.

Not all Jade Falcons shared that attitude. Commander Jessica Buhallin of Iota Galaxy and Logistics Overseer Tanner Calbot considered the amount of supplies Khan Crichell requested for the Falcon touman inadequate, and shook their heads at the Khan's proposed disposition of supplies and projected rate of use. They realized that the Khan and his advisers saw the coming invasion as little more than a series of trial-like encounters, and planned few or no reserves to supply the Galaxies, should the enemy offer more than token resistance. Buhallin and Talbot also recognized that the Falcons' stubborn neglect of exploration meant that the Clan would not have enough military and commercial transports to move even the meager scheduled amount of supplies in a timely fashion.

Khan Crichell brushed these concerns aside, simply refusing to transport materiel he was convinced would never be used. "It would make better sense to bring empty transports along to ferry our winnings back to our enclaves." He acknowledged their worries only so far as to order Falcon bankers to contract a few extra transports from the Free Guilds. The Free Guilds, in return for the Falcons' long-standing disdain for their caste, charged that Clan extraordinarily high fees for each ship, while giving the other invasion Clans a far more reasonable rate.

The rank and file warrior shared Khan Crichell's attitude toward the invasion; most expected to see little action than a glimpse of the enemy's backside as they ran away. General anticipation flourished among Clan Jade Falcon's lower castes, and many dreamed of soon traveling to the Inner Sphere among the first settlers.
In June of 3049, the ships of the Clan invasion made their first jump toward the Inner Sphere. The Clans' exile was nearly over, and they looked forward to returning home bearing the riches and wonders of the Inner Sphere.

PERIPHERY ACTION

"By Kerensky's heart, the computers in first-level 'Mech simulators are worthier opponents than these barbarians!"
-Comment of a Jade Falcon warrior after action on the Periphery world of Last Chance

The first inhabited worlds the Clans encountered on their sweep toward the Inner Sphere were small colonies on the dim outskirts of the Periphery that rings the Inner Sphere. These worlds and their tiny populations offered little or no opposition to the Clan forces that suddenly appeared on their soil. Their only defense were errants, individual warriors hired to protect the inhabitants in the same way the lawmen of the North American West and master swordsmen in the ancient Orient protected communities. While some errants were skilled fighters, the overall condition of their weaponry was so poor that the outcome of most of their duels against Clan warriors were a foregone conclusion.

One exception for Clan Jade Falcon came on a lonely hunk of grassed-over rock called Twilight, two jumps outside the Oberon Confederation. Jade Falcon forces approached the planet using what they refer to as an indoctrination sweep, sending forces from the Gyrfalcon Galaxy to provide a show of force. Stars of 'Mechs and Elementals paraded through the center of every village, using bullhorns to announce the planet's absorption into the Jade Falcon "Sphere of Clan Prosperity." The terror resulting from such sweeps usually served to quell any opposition.
The Falcon light 'Mech Star that strode through the clustered buildings of a small Buddhist monastery on Twilight received a shock. That monkish community counted among its members Sarah "Cat" Kattrin, a highly admired battalion commander in one of the Draconis Combine's elite Sword of Light regiments and an honored 'Mech instructor. Her wish to find inner peace following her retirement from active duty with the Combine military took Kattrin to many worlds and an equal number of monasteries. She always traveled with Self-Deception, the 'Mech awarded her by the grateful Kurita family. I was honored to meet her during her days of wandering, and was impressed by her skills and good humor.

The warriors of Gyrfalcon Galaxy, puzzled because the monks did not run in terror at their approach and showed even less emotion at the destruction of their temple, resorted to torturing the monastery's abbot in an effort to provoke a reaction. At this outrage, the fifty-nine-year-old Sarah threw off her robes, strode up to the Star Commander's 'Mech, and delivered a personal challenge in the time-honored Combine tradition, her gray hair trailing behind her in the wind and smoke. Star Commander Briggan of the Second Falcon Striker Cluster laughed, but accepted her challenge.

As I watched the tapes of the fight between Briggan in his Uller-A and Kattrin in her Phoenix Hawk, I understood why it raised some Falcon warrior eyebrows. Kattrin, though long out of practice, managed to stay out of danger long enough to regain her confidence. Briggan, momentarily surprised by his opponent's skill, approached her more cautiously than was wise, giving Kattrin even more time to reorient herself.
Kattrin warmed up in mid-battle, using a flurry of attacks and ripostes to search for a weakness in the Uller's armor and armament. She found precious few, and was almost defeated when Briggan counterattacked with several volleys from his Gauss cannon that forced Kattrin to shift quickly to avoid a direct hit. Despite her considerable skill, she lost whole sections of armor, ran up her 'Mech's heat, and, most damning, lost all her lasers. But she was not unarmed. Kattrin still managed to disable her opponent's left leg by rushing in and leveling a wicked kick at the outside of the Uller's knee, causing it to buckle immediately and freeze.

Kattrin, rapidly running out of options and with her 'Mech barely hanging together, ended the battle with a flair typical of her entire career. She jetted her Phoenix Hawk high above the Uller and crashed down, targeting the Hawk's legs at the Uller's cockpit. A panicked twist of the Uller's shoulders saved Star Commander Briggan, and Kattrin's Phoenix Hawk crashed to the ground, its legs useless.
The former battalion commander gave no quarter, and asked none. Star Commander Briggan lived up to her expectations, quickly hobbling over to his opponent and repeatedly firing his left-arm lasers into the Phoenix Hawk's cockpit. This sickening moment seemed worse because few Clan warriors appeared disturbed by the sight of Briggan reaching into the cockpit, ripping out the corpse of Sarah Kattrin, and holding it triumphantly aloft.

When I discussed the tapes and the Falcon warriors' reactions with several warriors from Clan Wolf, I was startled to learn that they had often seen such macabre celebrations. One warrior even admitted to behaving in a similar fashion. She described a battle against a member of the bandit caste who, after being defeated by the Clan warrior, taunted her by announcing with his dying breath that she had almost been undone by an old freeborn, an insult that apparently deserved a similar bloody demonstration of Clan warrior superiority.

THE BARONY OF STRANG

"I, the Baron of Strang, care not for your new names. Clans? Jade Falcons? I call you by your true name: Scum of the Star League, traitors of free will, persecutors of the Periphery come back to lord it over freedom-loving people. Come ahead, you steel-eyed robots! Come ahead and taste what a million like-minded people think of you and your damn Clans."
-Baron Stepan Von Strang, in reply to the Jade Falcon challenge

Because the Periphery worlds on the Clan invasion path did not lie within the four assault corridors, each Khan could bid for the honor of invading any of those worlds. Von Strang's World prompted the fiercest bidding of all, for two reasons. The Clans looked upon this world as their first challenge, a regiment of 'Mechs defended the planet, and an extensive network of defensive positions surrounded Amaris City, the planet's capital and only major city.
History provided the second reason for their intense interest. The Von Strang name is infamous to the Clans, and indeed, any student of the Amaris coup. The tall, gaunt, and thoroughly evil Colonel Gunthar Von Strang (reviled as "Vampire Von Strang") commanded the despised Eighteenth Amaris Chasseurs, known as the Death's Head Regiment. Stefan Amaris gave Von Strang and his sadistic soldiers administrative control over the northeastern section of the North American continents, to hold and exploit as Von Strang saw fit. The relish with which Von Strang and his troops stripped the cities of goods, killed countless citizens for perverted thrills, and deprived the survivors of even the most basic rights quickly made them the most hated of all Amaris units. General Von Strang and the Eighteenth met a bitter, violent end during the last days of the fight to liberate Terra when units from Kerensky's 146th Royal BattleMech Division (George S. Patton Division) crushed the Eighteenth as it attempted to flee Terra through the La Guardia Spaceport.

When the Clans discovered a world apparently named for Vampire Von Strang, every Khan wanted revenge on the Vampire's descendants. Clan Jade Falcon won the bidding, and Khan Elias Crichell immediately announced that he would lead the Turkina Keshik personally on the assault to "rid humanity of that accursed name."
Their faint hope of actually facing a descendant of Vampire Von Strang became reality when Khan Crichell issued his batchall, the traditional demand for information about a planet's defending forces. Stepan Von Strang, the planet's young leader and direct inheritor of the Von Strang name, replied with threats and curses.

The young Periphery Lord recognized the threat to his domain. Like his father and his grandfather, he grew up despising the Star League and the way it had run roughshod over the Periphery. When he saw the warships arrayed around his planet, his instinctive hatred of anything associated with the Star League prompted an amazing leap of intuition; he knew he was facing the children of Kerensky's Exodus.

Once Von Strang made it clear that he would recognize no rules, the Turkina Keshik DropShips began burning into the atmosphere toward a landing zone on the Plain of the Rim Worlds Republic, north of Amaris City. Von Strang's determined aerospace fighters met them above the planet, ignoring the escorting Clan fighters to attack the DropShips in an attempt to disable them. But Von Strang's force was outclassed, and Clan firepower slapped them from the skies.
Once on the ground, the Turkina Keshik encountered more formidable opposition. The approaches to Amaris City boasted heavy fortifications, a system of bristling turrets interconnected by tunnels. Though less effective than Star League-era fortifications, they served to slow the Keshik's advance. Only after two Points of Elementals found access to the tunnels and began a brutal corridor-to-corridor sweep did the gun turrets grow silent.

Then the 'Mechs and tanks of Von Strang's Guard Division began a series of attempted ambushes in the valley's cul-de-sacs. Though they seldom caused more than minor damage to the Clan forces, they, too, slowed the Falcon's advance. The Clan warriors emerged through the pass to a twilight view of the Amaris City entrenchments, a view quickly obscured by a fierce storm filled with furious lightning strikes. It was becoming harder by the minute to see Khan Crichell's target

Khan Crichell ordered the Keshik ahead at flank speed as planned, but sent a flight of fighters loaded with IR, electrical, and other sensing devices to scout the terrain.
This proved to be a wise decision. Von Strang hid the bulk of the Guard Division in a complex of underground garages, hoping that the Clans' faith in their superior equipment would lead them to risk a nighttime assault. The Clans took the bait. They fought their way through the ring of entrenchments and fortifications, depending on Elemental engineers to scout ahead, and entered the heart of the city. As the Clan warriors reached Von Strang's palace, the Guard 'Mechs moved out to attack from the rear.

The Falcon forces were unaware of their danger until a Clan fighter, just seconds from returning for refueling, spotted the Guards and sounded the alarm. Khan Crichell wheeled his forces to face the threat, and the two sides collided, fighting fiercely for an hour in the raging thunderstorm. Von Strang's forces, though determined and reasonably skilled, found themselves outclassed by the Turkina Keshik's superior technology. Even though the odds favored the Periphery forces, they could not find any weaknesses in the Clans' tactics and weaponry to exploit. Von Strang's forces hesitated for a moment when they realized that the Clans were apparently invulnerable, and the Elementals took advantage of that moment to swarm over the Guard 'Mechs like piranhas on a drowning cow.

Baron Von Strang's BattleMaster finally fell to Khan Crichell's Thor, and the Khan paraded around the palace with the Baron's body in the fist of his 'Mech. Von Strang's few remaining forces attempted to break contact and slip away in the night, but the Falcons hunted them down and killed them. They also killed those who surrendered and begged for mercy.

The Keshik crushed the few remaining pockets of resistance by dawn, and Khan Crichell officially renamed Amaris City as "Unity City" in honor of the former capital of the Star League. As an added reminder of who was in charge, the Khan ordered the body of Baron Stepan Von Strang hoisted up the flagpole to dangle, just below the banners of the Star League and of Clan Jade Falcon, until it putrefied and fell to the ground.

Legend says that the body fell on the day ComStar won Tukayyid, and that as it fell, people heard Stepan Von Strang's howling laughter in the wind.

CONQUEST OF THE PERIPHERY

"It was an aberration. A quirk, the exception that proves the rule and nothing more, I assure you."
-Star Captain Jinn Buhallin, in her report to the kurultai concerning the battle for Von Strang's World

The fight on Von Strang's World gave Khan Crichell a rude awakening, even though the Falcons suffered minimal losses. The defenders' fierce resistance and devious tactics contradicted their previous Periphery experience, but if this caused the Falcons any concern about facing the much stronger Federated Commonwealth in the upcoming campaign, they submerged those concerns beneath their typical arrogance. Khan Crichell dismissed the fierce intensity of the battle as a factor of the thunderstorm, which degraded everyone's ability to find the enemy, rather than acknowledge the skill of Von Strang's warriors. His Keshik fully supported his view, chalking up the fight to a fluke. The Khan and his advisors nonetheless suppressed the particulars of the battle, especially just how near the Keshik came to being taken unaware, restricting the most revealing records and providing only general information to the other Clans.

Twice more Clan Jade Falcon battled substantial enemy 'Mech forces, facing the Second and Third 'Mech Battalions of Redjack Ryan's regiment on the worlds of Last Chance and Gotterdammerung.
The Jade Falcons first met Ryan's forces in an encounter on Last Chance during the first week of September. Alpha and Bravo Trinaries of the Third Assault Cluster handily defeated Ryan's Second Battalion. When the Periphery units attempted to retreat off-world, Falcon fighters prevented their escape, and they surrendered. Clan warriors bonded most of those captured, imprisoned some, and executed the rest.

On Gotterdammerung, the Falcons faced Ryan's Third Battalion. This time, the defenders put up a better fight; it took two Trinaries of Gyrfalcon Galaxy to corner and destroy the battalion on the rock-strewn floor of the Mishup Crater. Both these victories took place after Clan Wolf's encounter with the remainder of Redjack Ryan's forces and units from the Kell Hounds on the asteroid called The Rock. Their opponents' skill impressed Clan Wolf, especially that of the Kell Hounds, who were in the area hunting for Ryan's forces. Wolf Clan's Khan Ulric Kerensky distributed tapes of the skirmishes to the other Clans, pointing to them as proof that the coming fight with the Inner Sphere could be more challenging than anticipated, but the ease with which the Falcons destroyed the rest of Ryan's regiment contradicted Ulric's assessment. The Falcon and Smoke Jaguar Khans brushed aside Khan Ulric's warnings and renewed their charges against him of persistent doom-saying and reluctance to carry out the Grand Council's wishes.

The last Periphery world fell to the Clans near the end of 3049, and the invaders spent the last two months of that year consolidating their holdings by ferrying in a minimal civilian force to establish basic services and to stockpile supplies. Khan Crichell ordered most Falcon supplies unloaded on the planet Lackhove to free up as much space on his JumpShips as possible for the coming wave of attacks against the Federated Commonwealth.

IlKhan Leo Showers convened a Grand Kurultai on 18 February 3050 aboard the Dire Wolf, the Clan Wolf flagship. His opening speech to the gathered Khans and their command staffs praised their efforts and predicted a bright future for the invasion, especially if the battles fought thus far were any indication of the Inner Sphere's strength. We can only guess at whether or not Khan Crichell and his staff grew uneasy at the ilKhan's words, considering just how hard they had fought on Von Strang's World. We know for a fact, however, that the Falcons used the results of this meeting to review and slightly revise the first wave invasion plan.

The Clans also discussed ComStar during the kurultai. During the previous month, our Blessed Order made its first official contact with the Clans. Seeing an opportunity to spread our message (and gain greater influence in the Inner Sphere), Primus Waterly allied our order with the Clans. According to the final terms of the alliance, ComStar agreed to provide to the Clans detailed information about worlds they planned to invade. In return, ComStar would receive at least nominal control over the populations of the conquered worlds.

Though Clan Jade Falcon trusted the ilKhan to further the Clans' cause with any negotiations he undertook, many within that Clan felt uncomfortable with the arrangement with ComStar. This faction included Khan Crichell, who questioned the wisdom of trusting an Inner Sphere organization on so little information and no guarantee of its intentions. The Falcons hesitated even when reminded of the "unexpected allies" prophesied by the Great Kerenskys. Privately, Khan Crichell considered our Blessed Order just another perverted barbarian organization undeserving of an iota of trust.

I believe I must shoulder some of the blame for this ill will. I met Khan Crichell during my initial contact with the Clans, and though the man and his senior officers impressed me, I disliked him. I still do not fully understand my unreasoned wariness of Khan Crichell, but he and his officers obviously sensed it and responded in kind, even though we exchanged easy pleasantries.
Khan Crichell's feelings toward ComStar and myself spread throughout his Clan, and severely strained the already tense relations between our representatives and the Clans. On worlds in the JFOZ (Jade Falcon Occupation Zone) particularly, members of our military suffered close scrutiny. Harassment of our troops, whether ordered by Falcon commanders or spontaneous, became commonplace and sometimes led to tragedy. This general distrust prompted the Falcon hierarchy to station extra forces on their conquered worlds just to keep a eye on ComStar, a policy that proved to be a poor use for troops that they would need later in their assault.

FIRST WAVE: FALCON IN FLIGHT

"Upon our gutted towers
The Falcon feasts upon our future
Devouring all that we could have been."
-Excerpt from The Clan Anthology: Poetry in Time of Crisis, edited by Virginia Davenport

Clan Jade Falcon began their invasion of the Inner Sphere on 20 March 3050 by launching simultaneous attacks against ten Federated Commonwealth worlds. Clan leaders intended to accomplish two goals in the first wave; to win and to completely demoralize the Successor States with their skill, ferocity, and appearance.

The Falcons went to great lengths to make their appearance as fearsome as possible. They painted their 'Mech exteriors in a wild variety of schemes, ranging from amazing camouflage patterns to almost psychedelic combinations of colors and designs. Elemental armor also received special attention, the Galaxy's falcon emblem appearing on the helmet, shoulders, and back of most. Some commanders even attached synthetic feathers to their armor.

All the worlds attacked during the first wave of invasions experienced an almost identical chronology of events. Clan naval vessels, remarkably adept at evading the Inner Sphere's electronic trip-wire systems, usually managed to approach to standard Clan orbit (.75 IS standard) unchallenged, then the Clan commander would issue the batchall, or challenge, to the oblivious defenders below.

Each Clan begins its batchall with a sentence unique to their Clan. The Wolves declare, "The Wolves of Kerensky have claimed this world for their own. What tame dogs defend it?" The Smoke Jaguar batchall begins, "The Smoke Jaguar claims this world. Identify the forces that defend it so that we from the mists of space may know on whom we pounce." The Ghost Bears use a more businesslike opening, "We are Clan Ghost Bear. This world is ours. Those who dispute our claim must identify the size and location of their forces for immediate disposal."
Clan Jade Falcon opens its challenge with, "What forces dare defend this world from the steel talons of the Jade Falcon?" Many worlds invaded by the Falcons during the first and subsequent waves, however, did not receive this courteous warning of their looming demise. Though technically a breach of Clan etiquette, many Falcon commanders refused to issue the batchall to "barbarians," and many defenders learned they were being invaded only by the sudden appearance of entry trails on their radar.

As the defenders scrambled for their vehicles, they discovered the Clans' devastating ability to drop 'Mechs and DropShips into landing zones too rugged and demanding for all but the most elite Inner Sphere units. Clan units usually chose drop zones well within their enemy's defensive perimeters, and the Falcons often landed so close to enemy positions that they opened fire on the defenders before hitting the ground.

Most Clan attacks also succeeded because they were direct. Current Inner Sphere military tactics strike at a combination of targets using anything but a frontal assault. The Clans, particularly the more conservative such as Jade Falcon, attack with the exact opposite strategy. They reject any other tactics as freeborn "deviousness." Their battle philosophy of dueling, even in large engagements, dictates a series of devastating direct attacks known as the nathaculor, "the strike of the unswervable sword."

In keeping with Nicholas Kerensky's goal of minimal loss of life and property in combat, the Clans' initial objective in each attack was to identify and cripple or destroy the defender's command, communication, and control positions. Failing that, they simply took on the largest concentration of enemy forces, using the rationale that, "if we can't cut off the enemy's head, we cut off his arms instead."

For the Jade Falcon touman, the first wave brought unexpected glory and a few surprises. Though they possessed a fair amount of information about their opposition, based in large part on the reports of Wolf's Dragoons and other independent operatives, some information was simply unavailable. The Falcons knew that AFFC regimental combat teams protected certain worlds, including Barcelona, Here, and Trell I, and would offer stiff resistance. Falcon commanders prepared for these worlds by setting the cutdown bid at a minimum of two Clusters and by assigning elite units, such as the Turkina Keshik and the Jade Falcon Guards, to either spearhead the initial assaults or act as a ready reserve.
Even the worlds classified as lightly defended required more effort than expected to conquer because the Clans, particularly the Crusaders, consistently underestimated the skill and determination of local militias. They largely dismissed reports provided by Wolf's Dragoons as the lies of traitors, and ignored their own intelligence service operatives. These low estimates proved accurate in the Free Rasalhague Republic, but disastrous in the Federated Commonwealth and Draconis Combine.

The core of the Federated Commonwealth militia are 'Mech companies, which the commanders divide into lances and attach to infantry and armor battalions. The lances serve as the cornerstones of the defensive positions. Instead of rushing to meet the approaching Falcon 'Mech Stars, they waited for the mechanized units to slow the enemy advance. This tactic thoroughly confused the Falcons, who expected 'Mechs to be at the forefront of every battle.
The militias took advantage of the Falcons' uncertainty to create a strategy that they used to good effect during the first and most of the second waves of the invasion. Conventional militia forces led by tanks and hovercraft contacted the advancing Clan units. The Falcons would wade into the militia force, causing heavy damage, but before they could completely destroy the defenders, a lance of 'Mechs would appear and challenge the Clan pilots to a duel. Clan honor required that they break off their attack against the ground units and observe the rules of the batchall (the Clan rites of honorable combat). The Falcons' strict adherence to Clan law, which included determining a Circle of Equals for a duel, gave the militia forces time to retreat. Once the conventional forces were safely away, the 'Mechs retreated, after loosing a single volley of firepower. Needless to say, the Falcons viewed this tactic with considerable disgust and anger. While the tactic, called "Falcon Foolin'," never prevented the Falcons from taking what they wanted, many soldiers survived that would otherwise have died.

The Jade Falcon Khans soon abandoned the batchall entirely, allowing Falcon warriors to ignore any challenge issued by an Inner Sphere warrior. They also gave their warriors permission to punish anyone who took advantage of their strict adherence to the code of honor.

TRELL I

"The loss of my son, albeit a tragedy for me, would not mean one jot more or less than the loss of any highly trained soldier of the Federated Commonwealth. The life of every man or woman serving in the AFFC is precious, but forfeit to protect what we are. More important, they themselves believe it is our right to exist free from outside tyranny."
-From a private communique authored by First Prince Hanse Davion and Archon Melissa Steiner-Davion during the height of the Trell I invasion

The planet Trell I consists mainly of marshes, mountain ranges, and spectacular cave systems that served as a haven for pirates and smugglers during the early days of the Lyran Commonwealth. Yesterday's pirate gradually became today's businessman, transforming Trell I into an important economic and administrative center. For that reason alone Trell I placed high on the Falcon commanders' lists of primary worlds to conquer. But the presence of a young battalion commander in the planet's defending Twelfth Donegal Guards, Victor Steiner-Davion, heir to the Federated Commonwealth, turned Trell I into a prize beyond all price.

The Twelfth Donegal Guards RCT adopted and adapted the military doctrine of the new Armed Forces of the Federated Commonwealth when other Lyran units resisted, quickly molding themselves into a swift-moving unit able to work in concert with other regiments to deliver a fearsome combination of firepower and speed. This was a marked contrast to the reputation of Lyran 'Mech units as plodding metal that spurned any assistance from conventional units.

Credit for much of the unit's success belongs to Leftenant General Jeremy Hawksworth, one of the first Lyran officers to receive special training at the New Avalon Military Academy. Under his skilled leadership, the Twelfth Donegal RCT served with distinction in the Third Succession War and the War of 3039, where they earned the nickname the "Foxy Crocodiles" because the RCT maneuvered and fought in a manner similar to that fearsome, cunning reptile.
Following the War of 3039, the Crocs went to Trell for rest and refit, and received a permanent assignment to that world as the parent unit of the CoOpFor (Commonwealth Opposition Force), a battalion-sized unit, commonly known as the Red Brigade. Trell I served as a training ground for Federated Commonwealth forces, and the Red Brigade regularly scheduled a month-long series of battles designed to simulate the tactics favored by the Draconis Combine and the Free Worlds League. Though the Red Brigade enjoyed a fierce reputation throughout the Commonwealth, Clan intelligence somehow overlooked it, ultimately allowing it to play an important role in the battle for Trell I.

The Jade Falcons considered Trell such an important prize that Khan Crichell declined all bids for that planet and instead assigned three Clusters, led by the elite Jade Falcon Guards, to seize it. The Guards and the First and Fifth Falcon Striker Clusters attacked using standard Falcon tactics, following a simple, direct plan created by Star Colonel Adler Malthus of the Guards.
The Foxy Crocodiles suffered horrible losses in the first thirty minutes of the attack. The rugged terrain favored the defenders, but caused communication difficulties that left small pockets of soldiers to fight and die without hope of relief. Company Bravo of First Battalion made one of the most heroic stands of the encounter, holding the Pirate Chasm Bridge on the raging Drebbin River for forty minutes against two Stars of Falcon 'Mechs and Elementals while Donegal combat engineers tried desperately to rig the bridge with explosives. They succeeded, but only a handful of soldiers survived.

Leftenant General Hawksworth quickly realized that the invaders were not interested in seizing Pirate's Paradise. They wanted his forces, specifically the commander of the Second Battalion of his 'Mech regiment, Victor Steiner-Davion. A recent graduate with honors from the Nagelring Military Academy, Prince Victor had no combat experience, and General Hawksworth must have shuddered at the implications of his death or capture by the Falcons.

The future leader of the Federated Commonwealth began his career as a military commander by fighting a lost cause. His battalion was in position on the far side of the Castle Mountains in the Chrysall Pass, on schedule to meet the Red Brigade in an exercise. When the battalion's outriders picked up unidentified hostile traces on their monitors, they assumed the Red Brigade had arrived to begin the exercise, and those scouts died for their assumption. They did manage to warn Kommandant Steiner-Davion, who put his battalion on full alert.

The onrushing elements of the Jade Falcon Guards seemed unstoppable. Their 'Mechs crashed into the battalion's defensive positions, all but ignoring "kill zones" of crossfire. What the Falcon 'Mechs did not immediately knock down or destroy, they left to the tender mercies of their Elemental Stars.
Kommandant Davion quickly ordered the remains of his command to retreat back through Chrysall Pass, hoping to reach Smuggler's Valley, but that plan failed. They arrived at the pass to be strafed by Falcon fighters and attacked by a Binary of Falcon 'Mechs and Elementals. Kommandant Davion rallied his forces and retreated again, losing more of his troops in the process. They moved toward Smuggler's Mouth, intending to seek refuge in the immense network of caverns that honeycombs the Castle Mountains. As his forces rushed toward the Mouth, Kommandant Davion realized that the rest of the Jade Falcon Guards could easily intercept their flight to safety, and the Falcons from the Chrysall Pass had position on them from the rear.

History turned on this moment in the battle. The Prince's capture would have devastated First Prince Hanse Davion and Archon Melissa Steiner, likely demoralizing the entire Federated Commonwealth. That nation looked upon the young Prince as the reality of the often tentative union between the Lyran Commonwealth and the Federated Suns. The death or capture of Victor Steiner-Davion would deal the Federated Commonwealth a tremendous blow. As the Prince and his command staff prepared to make a final stand, the Red Brigade came to the rescue. As part of the scheduled training exercise, the Brigade had taken up shielded positions and waited to ambush the Second Battalion. The Falcons failed to detect the Brigade unit as they passed. Leftenant General Nikolai VanLee, Brigade commander, realized what was happening almost immediately and began a forced march in pursuit of the Falcons. His forces arrived just in time to attack the Falcon Guards' rear echelon.

This rear assault forced the Jade Falcon Guards to turn and deal with the new threat, giving Kommandant Davion and what remained of his battalion the opportunity to slip into the maze of caverns. Only a handful of 'Mechs and soldiers from the Red Brigade made it into the caverns with the Prince.

The fight within the caverns deserves far more attention than I have space to describe it. The battalion's survivors, under the daring leadership of the Prince, managed to escape into Smuggler's Valley with few additional losses, leaving their pursuers behind in the caverns. The sacrifice of the Red Brigade and the Prince's escape slowed the Falcons' attempt to encircle Smuggler's Paradise. Leftenant General Hawksworth, his command of an entire RCT reduced to a handful of 'Mechs and a few regiments of lesser forces, used his one remaining advantage to send the Prince to safety: his aerospace fighters still controlled the sky directly above the valley.

As he watched the DropShip carry the unwilling Prince and his aide away from the planet, Leftenant General Hawksworth was heard to mumble, "There goes the last, best chance of the Federated Commonwealth. He'll give the hard road we're about to walk down some meaning."

The remnants of the Donegal Guards, led by Hawksworth, and the surviving detachments of the Red Brigade abandoned Smuggler's Valley by traveling back through Smuggler's Maze. Many soldiers fled into the heavily forested areas in the valleys beyond, while others remained in the caverns beneath the mountain. These forces fought a long and desperate guerrilla campaign that ended only when the last soldier was dead or captured, many months later.

FIRST WAVE CONCLUSIONS

"Success, fellow warriors! Success, and with it undreamed-of riches and wonders. We are truly blessed to have lived to see this day!"
-Comment by an anonymous Falcon warrior

For Clan Jade Falcon, the first wave of the invasion produced unhoped for rewards. Each world they conquered yielded a unique bounty of natural resources that far surpassed the most avaricious dreams of Falcon merchants. While the Falcon warriors appreciated the economic potential their conquests represented, most fell victim to a condition their scientists named "conqueror's euphoria." For most, the euphoria manifested in an almost childlike gawking and reverence for what they had been destroying just hours before in pursuit of victory. The euphoria made others far from reverential, and they took gross liberties with the conquered people and property.

Conqueror's euphoria so consumed the Jade Falcon warriors that most forgot the real difficulties of the conquest. The Inner Sphere defenders, from the frontline 'Mech regiments to the rear-echelon soldiers, fought with more skill and courage than any Clan expected. And their resistance continued past the destruction of the last 'Mech. The inhabitants of the occupied worlds simply ended one phase of defiance and began another. Militia unit commanders realized just how far the Falcons outmatched their forces in open combat and compensated with non-conventional actions. "If we can't push the damned invaders off our rock, then we'll sure as hell make life damned miserable for the SOBs," neatly summed up the defenders' new strategy. Federated Commonwealth militias abandoned organized resistance and melted into the untamed wilderness, leaving Falcon officers crowing in victory. Only a few, more thoughtful Falcon commanders were uneasy at this sudden capitulation.

The ilKhan's call for an accurate exchange of information at the end of the first wave was forgotten. Balloon reports (flexible facts stretched around a lot of hot air) replaced battle reports, and in the end, only Clan Wolf and Clan Ghost Bear produced truthful accounts of their conquests.

SECOND WAVE: THE FALCON STRIKES

"Some say that we should be more cautious in our advance, that the warriors of the Inner Sphere are valiant and dangerous opponents. But we are the Clans. We shall triumph in the name of the Star League. And if, among these barbarians, are valiant and honorable warriors, Clan Jade Falcon earns more honor for defeating them. Caution? Let us throw caution to the Wolves. . ."
-Star Admiral Adrian Malthus

Though the skills and determination of many Federated Commonwealth defenders shocked the Clan Jade Falcon Cluster commanders, Khans Timur Malthus and Elias Crichell, along with most of the Falcon high command, credited the Inner Sphere's performance to luck.

Even so, the Falcons created a few contingency plans to cover emergencies. They formed the best freeborn Clusters into a rapid-deployment reserve force that would respond ruthlessly to continued resistance or guerrilla activity on conquered worlds. They set up a system of convoys between the Inner Sphere and Clan space to ensure an uninterrupted flow of supplies and materiel (though a far less extensive system than Clan Wolf's). Finally, the Emerald Talon Naval Assault Star waited in reserve to deliver the ultimate retaliation of planetary destruction if needed.

The second wave of the invasion began on schedule in May 3050. This time the Falcons targeted twelve worlds, more than the number Clans Wolf and Ghost Bear planned to assault, but fewer than what Clan Smoke Jaguar intended to conquer.
The minimal opposition Clan Jade Falcon met in the second wave of attacks put to rest its commanders' fears of unexpected resistance. Most defending units in the second wave consisted of mixed militia troops or the remnants of units disrupted by the first wave of the invasion. The Falcons encountered determined resistance only on the planet Apollo, former capital of the hated Rim Worlds Republic.

APOLLO

Only Kentares IV exceeds the world of Apollo in the annals of infamy: Apollo once served as the capital of the Rim Worlds Republic and the homeworld of House Amaris. Clan Jade Falcon eagerly anticipated taking this planet for the reborn Star League.

The Turkina Keshik and the Jade Falcon Galaxy, escorted by three Stars of aerospace fighters, landed on Apollo halfway through the planet's monsoon season. The weather prevented the Jade Falcon OmniFighters from effectively supporting the ground forces. Both Falcon forces met with heavy resistance from the Apollo Militia and the Second Grave Walkers, a mercenary unit of some repute. The Jade Falcon Galaxy made quick initial progress, but the fierce resistance put up by the Second Grave Walkers was compounded by the bad weather.

Superior Clan technology and skills finally prevailed, and the Clans forced the defenders to retreat to two massive fortifications. These installations, built by Stefan Amaris shortly before the civil war he began by usurping First Lord Richard Cameron, were patterned on the Castles Brian in the Terran Hegemony. Several Stars of Elementals managed to take one fort by entering through a forgotten secret bolt-hole they discovered on building plans stored in their pre-Exodus records. The other fortress proved more difficult to penetrate. The defenders repelled repeated assaults; even aerospace fighter attacks failed to inflict much damage, blocked by the weather and the massive concrete emplacements protecting the fort's weapons. Khans Malthus and Crichell saw their chances of success diminishing with each passing day, and Khan Malthus finally ordered the 305th Assault Cluster to outfit their OmniMechs with Arrow-4 missile artillery units and reduce the fortress to rubble. The 305th Assault launched a series of massive missile strikes that split bunkers and pillboxes open like ripe fruit, silencing the fort's big guns and opening access for the OmniMechs and Elementals to the underground of the fortress. The Khans ordered their forces to use homing missiles in the assault, and so civilian areas near the fort remained untouched. Two hours after the second fort surrendered, the rest of Apollo's defenders also surrendered unconditionally.

Resistance during the second wave was light for the Falcons because Hanse Davion and Melissa Steiner-Davion had reluctantly decided not to reinforce the defenses of those worlds under attack. Even though this decision pained them, they realized that sending men in force against the Clans before learning how to match their strength was no better than asking their soldiers to commit suicide. They held back their strongest units and waited for intelligence-gathering to determine the most effective method of resistance. Meanwhile, the government actively supported guerrilla activity on many captured worlds.

THIRD WAVE: WINGS OF LIGHTNING

"If the rest of the Inner Sphere offers us only as much resistance as the defenders we have just faced, we will soon stand on the sacred ground of Terra."
-Khan Elias Crichell

Logistical problems with its supply line back to Clan space allowed Clan Jade Falcon to target only five worlds in the third wave. Adding to their embarrassment was the fact that Clan Wolf managed its supply line brilliantly, avoiding even the hint of a slowdown. Insurrections on several Falcon-conquered worlds forced the Jade Falcon Khans to bring Provisional Garrison Clusters forward from the Clan homeworlds. Though the Falcons hit their five worlds on schedule, meeting serious resistance only on Hot Springs, they had clearly lost their momentum, even when the planet Malibu surrendered after the initial engagement with Peregrine Galaxy.

Toward the end of the third wave, rumors claimed that Clan Steel Viper would take a more active role in the invasion's next wave. Khans Malthus and Crichell dismissed this rumor publicly, but sources close to the Khans say they showed concern in private.

HOT SPRINGS

Clan Jade Falcon targeted the world of Hot Springs, noted for the rich mineral water that had made it a well-known tourist attraction across the Inner Sphere. For a reason only recently made known, the founder of the Von Jankmon Bloodname was also born on that planet. Many members of that Bloodname held powerful positions in the Clan touman and convinced Khan Crichell to add Hot Springs to the invasion list. The green troops of the Hot Springs TMM sent their entire aerospace company to oppose the Jade Falcon landing. This proved the militia's undoing, as the Von Jankmon line historically produced almost as many fearsome fighter pilots as the Malthus line. The militia pilots managed to shoot down only one Jade Falcon fighter at the cost of their entire force. With the threat of further aerospace attacks neutralized, the OmniMechs of Turkina Keshik advanced steadily from the spaceport, swatting aside the few conventional fighters and VTOLs that attempted to block their progress.

The militia made its stand at the planetary capital, choosing the only position that could give them an advantage: the Falcons were reluctant to launch an all-out attack, because their orders were to take the city with minimum damage. Elementals formed the frontline force and made their way slowly through the streets, destroying tanks and pillboxes, routing the militia infantry, and eventually forcing the Hot Springs TMM 'Mech units from their prepared positions. The Jade Falcons allowed the militia to break out of the city, but stopped the defenders from reaching the world's wilderness areas, where they could organize guerrilla operations. The First Falcon Jaegers were in position to trap the militia as they escaped from the capital, and less than thirty minutes later, the last of the Hot Springs TMM fell to the overwhelming firepower of Clan Jade Falcon.

FOURTH WAVE: THE FALCON FALTERS

The fourth wave of the invasion called for Clan Jade Falcon to hit fifteen worlds. The Clan had solved its supply problem, and it seemed nothing would stop the Falcons from reaching Terra first. A rapid succession of disasters, however, managed to slow the Falcons down.

Initially, the Falcon attacks came off as scheduled, their troops mauling many AFFC units so badly that they had to be disbanded. The Falcon's first major setback came on the planet Twycross. The Falcon Guards, their departure from that world delayed by bad weather, discovered a Federated Commonwealth counterattack in progress. The Tenth Lyran Guards RCT, the Ninth Federated Commonwealth RCT, and both regiments of the Kell Hounds landed on Twycross and immediately came under pressure from the Falcon Guards and elements of the Jade Eyrie Cluster. The Clans' advantage was short-lived, and ended when Kai Allard-Liao led the Falcon Guards into a trap. Most of the Falcon Guards died in the resulting devastation, including their commander, Star Colonel Adler Malthus; the few survivors managed to withdraw.

The battle's aftermath devastated Clan Jade Falcon even further. When one Bloodright of a given Bloodname is disgraced, other Bloodrights of the same Bloodname usually suffer no repercussions. In this case, however, the shame of the defeat on Twycross affected the entire Malthus Bloodname. The lost honor did not significantly affect the codexes of the other Bloodnamed warriors, but rivals of the Malthus Bloodheritage created such a severe political backlash in the Clan council that Khan Timur Malthus was forced to resign. The same political maneuvering sent most of the Malthus Bloodnamed warriors back to Clan space with strict orders to avoid causing any further disgrace to their Clan. (Of course, members of the Malthus Bloodheritage viewed this dismissal as nothing more than an opportunity for their rivals to garner more glory.) Khan Elias Crichell chose Vandervahn Chistu as junior Khan.

Soon after his resignation as Khan, rumors began circulating about the fate of Timur Malthus. Many Clansmen believe he died in an accident or took his own life. One unconfirmed report claims that he returned to Clan space aboard the Emerald Talon. Our latest information indicates that Timur Malthus and Star Admiral Adrian Malthus currently command a special force designed to counter potential aggression from Clan Steel Viper.
One final misfortune awaited Clan Jade Falcon. The Crusaders' strongest spokesperson, ilKhan Leo Showers, died in a kamikaze attack by a Rasalhague pilot who flew her crippled fighter through the bridge of the Wolf Clan flagship Dire Wolf, where the leaders of all the Clans were gathered in a Grand Kurultai. The loss of their leader forced the Clans to withdraw their Bloodnamed frontline troops to the Clan homeworlds in order to elect a new ilKhan. Unfortunately for Clan Jade Falcon, the Clans elected Khan Ulric Kerensky, leader of their most hated enemy, as their new leader.

YEAR OF PEACE: THE FALCON RESTS

Following ilKhan Leo Shower's death aboard the Dire Wolf, the Bloodnamed warriors in the frontline units returned to Strana Mechty to convene the Grand Council and elect a new ilKhan. But before the main business of the Council could begin, Khan Lincoln Osis of Clan Smoke Jaguar introduced a motion to strip Khan Ulric Kerensky of his rank, because he blamed Khan Ulric for Leo Showers' death. Clans Jade Falcon, Ghost Bear, and Star Adder threw their support behind the motion, and Clans Wolf, Steel Viper, and Coyote opposed it. Clan Snow Raven, a moderate Warden Clan, remained neutral in the debate, withholding support from both sides for a purely political reason. Clan Steel Viper supported Khan Ulric, and though Clan Snow Raven may have felt the same way, the Vipers and Snow Ravens still nursed a bitter feud over a world Clan Snow Raven had lost to the Steel Vipers more than a century earlier.

The Wardens defeated the motion to unseat Khan Ulric, but the Crusaders struck with an excellent riposte. Loremaster Conal Ward, one of Clan Wolf's most vocal Crusaders, nominated Khan Ulric Kerensky as ilKhan, and the Crusader Clans recognized their chance to teach Clan Wolf humility. The position of ilKhan made Ulric Kerensky the supreme war leader of all the Clans, but, as ilKhan, he would be bound by the decisions of the Grand Council. The Khans of the Crusader Clans were confident that their votes and political power were sufficient to carry the invasion agenda past all Warden resistance.

Battles took place in more than one arena while the Grand Council was in session. Clan Steel Viper challenged Clan Jade Falcon to a Trial of Possession for the genetic material of Khan Elias Crichell, to be held on the Jade Falcon world of Huntress. Khan Elias Crichell, considered semi-retired because of his age, handled the Trial bidding brilliantly. Khan Crichell bid three of the four Clusters of Omega Galaxy, which had been bid away for the invasion, versus the whole of Clan Steel Viper's Gamma Galaxy. Khan Crichell proved that he still possessed military genius as well as political savvy by leading Omega Galaxy into battle. The Vipers got off to a bad start when Alpha Fighter Trinary of Omega Galaxy savaged one of their aerospace Stars. As the Falcon OmniMechs and Elementals landed, the Fourth Viper Guards Cluster launched a furious counterattack, pinning the Jade Falcons down only a short distance from their DropShips. Khan Crichell personally led the Omega Keshik in an orbital drop almost on top of the Steel Viper positions that trapped them between the Omega Keshik and the Fifth Falcon Assault Cluster, and proceeded to smash the Viper forces. The landing zone safely cleared, the Falcon Clusters swept up the remainder of the Viper forces, covering them with a constant bombardment until Clan Steel Viper admitted defeat.

Shortly after Khan Crichell returned victorious from the Trial of Possession, the Grand Council voted to install Ulric Kerensky as ilKhan. IlKhan Kerensky's first act as Khan was to make Clans Steel Viper and Nova Cat full partners in the invasion, to be teamed with Clans Jade Falcon and Smoke Jaguar. In a show of "fairness" that further infuriated the Falcons and Jaguars, ilKhan Ulric and the Council decided that the Steel Vipers and Nova Cats had the right to bid against Clans Falcon and Jaguar in Trials of Possession for invaded worlds that still had rebel activity. As Clan Jade Falcon had just fought a Trial of Possession for the Clan world of Hellgate against Clan Steel Viper, Khan Elias Crichell believed that the ilKhan added the Vipers and Nova Cats to the invasion mainly to slow Clans Jade Falcon and Smoke Jaguar by forcing them to bid for each planet, thus wasting valuable time. Only Clans Wolf and Ghost Bear benefited from this decision. The Jade Falcons felt that the Grand Council deliberately insulted them by assigning them to work with Clan Steel Viper.

Khans Crichell and Chistu of Clan Jade Falcon used the hiatus from the invasion to re-form the Falcon Guards. The Khans needed a Falcon Guards Cluster in the Clan touman, but the dishonor Adler Malthus brought the Guards at Twycross now made that unit the least desirable assignment in the whole Clan. Khan Vandervahn Chistu solved the problem by assigning command of the Cluster to Star Colonel Aidan Pryde, whose tainted history made him the perfect choice to lead a unit made up of the most troublesome warriors in the Clan, including some freebirths. Morale in the Falcon Guards hit an all-time low, and general opinion gave the once-proud unit all the honor due a glorified PGC. Star Colonel Pryde surprised his many enemies on the Jade Falcon Council by whipping the Falcon Guards into shape, and the unit became even more feared than before Twycross.

The Jade Falcon Khans took advantage of the break in the invasion to make arrangements regarding other matters of concern. Aware that they would soon share their Inner Sphere conquests with Clan Steel Viper, Khan Crichell assigned the Emerald Talon Naval Assault Star to perform what amounted to patrol duty in Clan space. Attached to two Galaxies, the combined units, known as "Turkina's Talons," provided a rapid deployment force designed to counter any Viper aggression against wholly-or jointly Falcon-held worlds. Khan Crichell believed the two uncommitted frontline Galaxies would give the Falcons an edge in any Trials of Possession against Clan Steel Viper. As an added precaution, he made friendly overtures of territory and genetic material to Khan Lynn McKenna of Clan Snow Raven. Prior to ilKhan Ulric's decision to include the Vipers as full partners in the invasion, Clan Snow Raven supported the Warden faction; afterward, the Khans of Snow Raven became more sympathetic to the Crusader cause. Khan Crichell saw and seized the opportunity to try to sway Clan Snow Raven to active status as a Crusader Clan. Their full support would increase the Crusaders' power in the Grand Council and gain Clan Jade Falcon a powerful ally against Clan Steel Viper. As of this writing, we do not know how Khan Lynn McKenna replied to Clan Jade Falcon's offer.

FIFTH WAVE: THE FALCON AND THE VIPER

When the Clans resumed hostilities against the Inner Sphere in November 3051, Clan Jade Falcon controlled several worlds jointly with Clan Steel Viper. The Steel Vipers bid against Jade Falcon for invasion rights in the fifth wave, and, as a result, Clan Jade Falcon ceded three worlds outright and fought Trials of Possession for the remaining four. The Jade Falcons won only two of these Trials, blaming their defeats on the fierce fighting and heavy casualties the Clan endured in the first year of the invasion, while the Viper Clusters were virtually untouched by the fatigue of fighting the Inner Sphere. The debacle at Twycross deprived the Jade Falcons of some of their best fighter pilots and MechWarriors, making victory even more difficult to achieve. Clan Jade Falcon only attacked two of the seven worlds it originally targeted for the fifth wave, further fanning the flames of hatred for both Clan Steel Viper and ilKhan Ulric Kerensky.

FIFTH WAVE CONCLUSIONS

Of more immediate concern to the powers of the Inner Sphere than the Clans' political infighting are persistent reports of Jade Falcon warriors adapting their tactics to match those of their Inner Sphere opponents. One confirmed report from Alyina describes two Jade Falcon MechWarriors combining their fire against a BattleMech piloted by Victor Steiner-Davion. Unconfirmed reports relate similar occurrences all along the front lines of the Jade Falcon invasion corridor. This news is distressing, as the Falcon behavior directly contradicts the Clan honor rule of one opponent per warrior. Their reluctance to concentrate fire has consistently proved to be the Clans' greatest weakness; if Jade Falcon uses these tactics successfully and is not reprimanded by the Grand Council, other Clans may adapt their tactics in similar fashion, and the Inner Sphere would lose its best advantage.

CLAN SNORD

"Star Colonel Damon was an old fool for treating this freebirth bandit like a true warrior. If he had included my ship in his bid, the matter of 'Clan Snord' would have ended that day."
-Star Captain Christopher Folkner, commander of the Aegis Class cruiser Hawk-Eye

More than any other incident, one single event in the Inner Sphere invasion solidified the Jade Falcon disgust for anything not Clan: a Wolf freebirth warrior named Rhonda Snord announced the formation of Clan Snord. The Falcons hated their forced partnership with the Steel Vipers, but at least that Clan conducted itself according to Clan law. By calling her assortment of misfits and rejects a Clan, Clan Jade Falcon felt that Rhonda Snord insulted every Clansman since Nicholas Kerensky himself.

In August of 3051, Rhonda's Irregulars made a deep raid into the Jade Falcon occupation zone to the planet Apollo, their goal to recover forgotten Star League data that could reveal the location of a legendary naval base located in the Dark Nebula. The Irregulars obtained the data, defeating a Star of the Dark Wing Cluster in the process, and jumped for the Dark Nebula. Star Colonel Damon of the Dark Wings discovered a crate of data the Irregulars had accidentally left behind, and used those fragments of information to reconstruct the location of the naval base. Star Colonel Damon's Cluster boarded their DropShips, attached them to the Hawk-Eye, an Aegis Class cruiser, and jumped into the Dark Nebula.

Arriving at the base, known as "Camelot Command," the Dark Wings landed on the huge asteroid station and challenged the Irregulars to a Trial of Possession. Rhonda Snord bargained for the right of uncontested possession of the base if she won the battle, also claiming the Dark Wings and their DropShips as isorla. Star Colonel Damon accepted the conditions of Rhonda's batchall, and the fight began.

The Irregulars' carefully planned tactics and clever use of the terrain soon reduced the Dark Wing Cluster to a shambles. A last, desperate attempt to destroy the base's main fusion reactor to avoid the shame of failure ended with Star Colonel Damon's defeat at the hands of Rhonda Snord, who piloted a Highlander. The captain of the Hawk-Eye, angered because Clan law forbade him to intervene and blast the bandits off the base, jumped back to Apollo and informed the Khans of Clan Jade Falcon via HPG transmission that the bandit caste now possessed a warship construction facility.

Khan Crichell knew that even with the Federated Commonwealth's help, at least fifteen years would pass before the base began constructing ships. The insult to Clan honor caused him more concern than the loss of the base, which would be the goal of Trials of Possession for years to come. And though the hated Steel Vipers could also bid in those trials, Khan Crichell believed that Clan Jade Falcon would have the final victory.

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