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[Prepared by Anastasius Focht, Precentor Martial of the Com
Guards, Hilton Head Island, Terra.]
[Edited by Master Archivist George Macoukji]
The Exodus:
Whether General Kerensky knew where was leading the Exodus when he left the
Inner Sphere is one of the questions historians have tried to answer for the
past two and a half centuries. Information gleaned from my studies of the Clans
make it obvious that General Kerensky had only a vague sense of his destination.
Data from the computers of the Star League Astrological Mapping Corps were
downloaded to the flagship McKenna's Pride in preparation for the Exodus, and
the original Star League map and chart files were destroyed. The general may
have had only a rough idea of his destination, but he made sure that no one from
the Inner Sphere could track him or his followers.
The Inner Sphere has dissected and reassembled the life of General Aleksandr
Kerensky countless times. Despite all this interest, several crucial facts about
his private life have remained unknown until now. At the outset of the Exodus,
the general stunned everyone by announcing that he had a wife, Katyusha, and two
sons, Nicholas and Andery. According to Wolf Loremasters, Aleksandr had been
married for more than 17 years before the Exodus began, but kept the identity of
his wife and children secret to shield them from the political intrigues that
swirled around him. During the Amaris regime, their anonymity saved them from
possible harm by the lunatic leader and his cutthroats.
General Kerensky mounted an assault on Moscow in 2777, during the initial
stages of Terra's liberation, in order to rescue his wife and her underground
rebel cell. He kept their identities concealed even after Terra's liberation to
protect them from the spies of the House Lords. Once the Exodus was underway,
however, Katyusha and the two boys took their rightful places alongside the
general.
Kerensky was strong and dynamic during the Exodus, shuttling between ships as
much as possible to address his followers during the layovers between jumps. He
made sure that each man and woman understood the ideals of the Star League. He
explained why those ideals were best served by the Exodus rather than by staying
and trying to force the House Lords into submission.
The fleet explored new worlds, taking consumable supplies (oxygen, water, and
foodstuffs) on board when available. Kerensky changed course many times to
discourage pursuit. He also sent out ships to jettison garbage and other debris
in randomly chosen star systems to confuse any pursuers. As our own ROM
Explorers can attest, the general's precautions were extremely effective.
Over the course of the first uncertain year, the strain and stress of the
Exodus began to take its toll despite Kerensky's efforts to maintain unity. The
most blatant challenge to his authority came nine months into the Exodus, when
the crews and passengers of nine ships mutinied. Led by officers of the Prinz
Eugen, a Texas class battleship, the group refused to continue on with the rest
of the fleet, choosing instead to return to the Inner Sphere.
The general formed a task force and went after the mutineers, ordering them
to surrender unconditionally. They refused, and so the general ordered his task
force into action against the rebels. Kerensky's marines captured the Prinz
Eugen in a daring boarding action, and the rest of the vessels quickly
surrendered. A quick trial was held at the jump point, and all officers at or
above the rank of captain were summarily executed.
Clans sources do not record the names of those executed. Research into our
own records reveals that the leader of the revolt was probably Major General
Wilbur Braso, a highly respected officer of Cameron blood, albeit a distant
relation to the First Lord's line.
Hidden Hope:
The Prinz Eugen incident further lowered the morale of the fleet. The mutiny
itself was shocking, but the general's swift execution of the ringleaders was
not accepted without question. Kerensky's actions made it clear that he
considered himself not only the fleet's commander, but also its ruler. Many
began to suspect that Kerensky did not have a final destination for the fleet,
openly questioning his authority and the decision to leave the Inner Sphere.
In order to quell the growing dissent, Kerensky published General Order 137.
This document is etched just above eye level into the Common Room walls of every
Clan ship. It is Kerensky's justification for the execution of the Prinz Eugen
mutineers, the need to maintain discipline, and the harsh penalties for failure
to obey orders or in any other way hinder "the smooth functioning of this
emergency operation." His formal yet eloquent statement of goals for
himself and those who followed him made this more than just a cold warning.
General Order 137 expressed what became known as the Hidden Hope Doctrine.
In the general's own words:
Return to the Inner Sphere is impossible for us. Our heritage and our
convictions are different from those we left behind. The greed of the five
Great Houses and the Council Lords is a disease that can only be burned away
by the passing of decades, even centuries. And though the fighting may seem to
slow, or even cease, it will erupt again as long as there are powerful men to
covet one another's wealth. We shall live apart, conserving all the good of
the Star League and ridding ourselves of the bad, so that when we return, and
return we shall, our shining moral character will be as much our shield as our
BattleMechs and fighters.
His prophecy proved chillingly accurate in the light of the destructive
Succession Wars the Inner Sphere endured.
Kerensky's order apparently served to renew his followers' resolve to
continue the journey. How it quelled the swelling discontent is uncertain.
Perhaps the dissenters' devotion to the general allowed them to forgive his
harshness in hope that his words would prove true. The Jade Falcon Remembrance
hints that the general had spies in the Inner Sphere who were already relaying
information that illustrated just how pointless return would have been.
A New Beginning:
The ships of the Exodus traveled through barren star systems for another
month without further incident, but the general must have realized by this time
that unless he called and end to their journey soon, his followers would become
truly desperate. The fleet, now more than 1300 light years away from Terra,
arrived at a cluster of five marginally habitable star systems. The systems lay
less than one jump apart and only a few jumps away from a large globular
cluster. A thick dust-nebula soon christened Kerensky's Cloak hid them from the
Inner Sphere. Short supplies and short tempers prompted Kerensky to announce
that the fleet had reached its destination. The date, 24 August 2786, is still
celebrated by the Clans as Founding Day.
The five worlds they colonized, Arcadia, Babylon, Circe, Dagda, and Eden were
dubbed the Pentagon because of their nearly five-pointed arrangement. The
planets were hostile: three hosted microbes that manifested in hideous forms on
human hosts, while the other two gad only marginally viable ecosystems. The
members of the Exodus nevertheless willingly set up camps and began to colonize
the five worlds.
General Kerensky and his second-in-command, General Aaron DeChevilier,
realized during their 21-month journey that their people lacked the cross-
section of skills necessary to colonize new worlds. Overloaded with soldiers and
military technicians and lacking experienced farmers and a manual-labor force,
Kerensky knew that his new society required more members able to handle the
non-military aspects of a community. Ironically, the Inner Sphere would face
just the opposite problem in the years ahead: a lack of military technicians to
fight the long Succession Wars.
Five months after the colonization began, warships intercepted a Rim World
merchant JumpShip that was hopelessly off course. The vessel attempted to flee,
but surrendered when boarded. The merchant vessel's crew unwillingly joined
Kerensky and served as the seed from which would grow the merchants and laborers
of Kerensky's new society. Interviews with the crew and information extracted
from the ship's computer plainly showed that the general's grim prophecies were
already coming true. The Inner Sphere's slide into destructive conflict was
accelerating. Many of the Exodus felt more isolated than ever, and allowed
General Kerensky great latitude in shaping their society.
The general's answer to the glut of warriors was obvious but subtle. He
ordered a controlled demobilization of 75 percent of armed personnel. The
mustering-out was not arbitrary, however. Kerensky introduced a series of tests
that everyone from the lowliest private to the highest general had to face. The
test left only the top soldiers in uniform. Those who failed were given another
series of tests to determine where he or she would best fit in the new order.
The use of tests was a shrewd move on the general's part, because those who
tested out of the military could not blame anyone but themselves.
The demobilization program resulted in a surplus of military hardware. Huge
storage caches were constructed to prevent material from falling into
unauthorized hands. The Remembrance refers to those depots as "Brian
Caches," an obvious reference to the Star League's Castle Brians. These
caches were strongly fortified and guarded by the most loyal troops of the
Regular Army. Excess naval vessels were mothballed in orbit around distant
planets or moons in each inhabited star system.
General Kerensky's remarkable vision not only foresaw the coming of the
Succession Wars, but also the resulting loss of information and technology. In
the Inner Sphere, only our Blessed Order was able to preserve this knowledge. In
order to prevent this loss among the new colony worlds, he ordered vast
libraries of information to be created and stored in the caches. Everyone with
technical or scientific skill recorded his knowledge for these libraries as
quickly as possible, even when it meant neglecting important expeditions and
projects.
The active naval vessels explored the nearby globular cluster that The
Remembrance calls "The Kerensky Cluster" or "The Stars of the
Protector." Many of the demobilized troops found a place in the Explorer
Corps, a quasi- military organization whose sole aim was to explore and exploit
the cluster worlds. The best worlds were colonized. Katyusha Kerensky named the
most promising world in the cluster Strana Mechty, Russian for "Land of
Dreams."
Though no maps or star charts were made available to me during my stay with
the Clans, I was able to learn the names of some of the other worlds discovered
in the cluster. They include Ironhold, Shadow, Hector, Gatekeeper, Brim, and
Roche. Most of these worlds supported only small farming and mining communities
at first. The worlds of the Pentagon remained the centers of development and
continue as the heart of Clan society today.
Within a few years, the people of the Exodus had conquered their environments
and overcome their lack of civilian skills to become fully functioning societies
with individual economies and cultures. The makeshift camps grew into cities.
Each planet's economy became self-sufficient, no longer relying on others to
supply food and shelter. All the newly settled worlds boasted light industry,
and heavy industry was developing quickly.
General Kerensky was the guiding force behind the progress. Once again taking
the title of Protector of the Star League, he led a provisional government that
oversaw the five planetary governments. The few references to the general's
government call it the Exodus Planetary Council. Some Loremasters refer to it as
"The Star League in Exile" as a reminder of their origins and future.
As head of the government, the general encouraged large families by offering
generous incentives of goods and land. He sought to expand the population base
beyond chance decimation by any natural force such as disease. A large
population would also have both the training and size to respond to any
challenge or threat.
For a time, the Star League in Exile appeared to be a stunning success. The
strong, united people were free and eager to pursue whatever course their
believed leader suggested. Sadly, the plague of war racing through the Inner
Sphere would soon stir hatreds thought forgotten.
Time Of Darkness:
Despite the efforts of General Kerensky and his staff, it gradually became
obvious that not all was right. discontent among the civilians grew from
grumbling about a lack of once-cherished luxuries to full-scale rioting on all
five Pentagon worlds. The problem seemed to be linked to the resentment of
demobilized soldiers who could not accept their new roles in society. To be
treated as just another civilian was not the reward they thought they deserved
for their faithful service to the general. These malcontents agitated for the
creation of planetary militias in which they felt they would regain pride in
their place in society.
Other tensions rose from cultural differences. The population accepted the
concept of a unified world view, but cultural differences began reasserting
themselves when demobilization broke up the artificial military culture. All the
Pentagon worlds became caught up in the unrest because the political and
cultural divisions (Hegemony, Capellan, Lyran, Federated, Combine, and League)
reemerged after colonies became established. People of common backgrounds
gravitated together and eventually began to view those from other societies with
increasing suspicion and bigotry. The globular-cluster colonies did not suffer
these problems as severely because they were settled by relatively homogenous
groups. They were also too busy trying to survive to be concerned about past
loyalties.
Eden's advanced industry and large population centers made the planet a
natural focal point for the growing tensions. The Remembrance refers to Eden as
"the Garden where the seeds/Of our downfall and birth were sheltered."
Most of Eden's population had been raised in the Federated Suns or the Capellan
Confederation, two societies not know for mutual cooperation.
Tensions between the colonists on Eden reached the boiling point 15 years
after their arrival at the Pentagon. At first the violence was limited to local
riots and minor clashes between villages, but it escalated steadily, even in the
face of harsh punishment from the planetary government. After months of bloody,
but still sporadic fighting, full-scale rebellion broke out. Several Liao
settlements led the fighting, declaring independence and mounting an attack on
one of the caches in order to arm themselves with BattleMechs and other weapons.
General Kerensky sent General DeChevilier and a detachment of troops to put
down the rebellion. During the firefight, General DeChevilier was killed in his
BattleMech by a fluke rebel hit from a hand-carried missile system. The cache
was intact, but the loss of his closest aide and friend was a heavy price for
the aging Kerensky to pay.
By any standards, the general's response to DeChevilier's death was brutal.
Citing General Order 137, he ordered the execution of all rebels, ignoring any
legal concerns. Whole settlements were razed and their remaining populations
dispersed in what became known as the DeChevilier Massacre. However, instead of
preventing further trouble, this overreaction only sowed the seeds of further
resentment against General Kerensky and the standing military.
On Babylon, rioting broke out between citizens of Combine and Lyran heritage.
Attacks against Exodus government facilities on Arcadia, Circe, and Dagda became
common. With blood on their hands from the DeChevilier Massacre, the Regular
Army tried to regain moral high ground by obeying orders to quell the violence
in an even-handed manner using a minimum of force. Unfortunately, BattleMechs
are not effective riot control vehicles. A 'Mech cannot control a crowd without
fatalities, so the military's attempts to back off from the level of violence
seen in the massacre were unsuccessful. The rioting and attacks continued and
news of more massacres was widely publicized. Before long, the military and the
Exodus government were universally despised.
Eden erupted in all-out civil war between the former Liao and Davion
citizens. On other worlds, rebels successfully secured arms and weapons from
military depots and caches. Soon, private armies staffed with soldiers who had
been mustered out of the Regular Army controlled key towns and cities on all
five worlds.
General Kerensky, by now more than a hundred years old, had been kept alive
only by pushing the limits of Star League medical technology. Deprived of his
closest friend and wife, who had died five years earlier from a mysterious
fever, the burden of fighting another civil war proved too heavy. While
preparing plans for a campaign to secure Eden, General Kerensky suffered a
massive heart attack and died at his command post. Most people reacted to the
news of the general's passing by igniting further civil unrest rather than
mourning.
With both Kerensky and DeChevilier dead, the military was crippled. The
general's designated successor was his son Nicholas, then in command of the
146th Royal BattleMech Division. Though he had the support of most of the Navy
and the military units garrisoning the cluster colonies (no more than one or two
regiments per colony), the division commanders on the five Pentagon worlds
unexpectedly rejected him as a leader, citing his lack of active command
experience. In a situation that oddly parallels the start of the Succession
Wars, each division commander pressed his claim to take command of the
government, just as the Lords of the Inner Sphere sparked the first Succession
War. Within a few months, each of the five planets was divided into enclaves of
rebellious citizens and armed troops. The situation was ripe for someone to
trigger all-out war.
The 146th did not mobilize to enforce Nicholas' right of command. When his
officers urged Nicholas to press his claim, he referred to the writings of his
father, saying that "individuals stricken with greed, envy, and avarice
hiding behind false patriotism and justice cannot be made to change: they must
either burn the sickness out of their lives with years of futile fighting, or
die a senseless death, as all fools do."
The young Kerensky saw that the eventual salvation of his people and the
preservation of his father's ideals were far more important than fighting a
"political squabble." Thus did Nicholas call for his own
"Exodus" to the cluster world of Strana Mechty. Kerensky knew that he
must save the civilians and scientists so vital to the survival of his people.
He issued pleas through the media of all five planets, urging them to join him.
For several tense weeks, loyal Navy ships collected those willing to flee, often
under the guns of what were now enemy units. The last ship leaving for the
cluster marked the exodus of almost 25 percent of the civilian population,
including most of the scientific community.
Full-scale wars erupted on all five worlds within three weeks of Nicholas'
Exodus. Passage after passage of The Remembrance describes battles that wiped
out entire populations. The land was ravaged by the soldiers once considered the
best humanity had to offer. Military units loyal to Nicholas resolutely stayed
in the cluster, impervious to pleas for assistance, no matter how compelling or
desperate. When the Navy withdrew to the cluster, communication between the
Pentagon worlds quickly broke down, yet the fighting continued.
This period of unrelenting violence, called the "Exodus Civil
Wars," lasted for almost two decades. The men and women on the Pentagon
worlds pounded each other back into barbarism. By the time the civil wars
finally ended, most technology was destroyed and the harsh environments, once
controlled, were killing those few who survived the man-made holocaust.
In stark contrast, Nicholas Kerensky and his followers thrived on Strana
Mechty and the other cluster worlds, furthering the technology their brothers
and sisters had abandoned in pursuit of pointless battles and foolish wars.
Nicholas bided his time.
Origins:
Nicholas planned the retaking of the Pentagon worlds for 20 years. While he
waited, aided by Jennifer Winson, his wife and most trusted confidant, he moved
to rid his supporters of the "last vestiges of that contaminated society
that gave us such woe." Central to his plan was the complete and total
reorganization of his military.
He declared the traditions of the Regular Army hopelessly tainted by its
sinful past. He organized his strike force of 800 into 20 "Clans" of
40 warriors each. Gone were the lances, companies, battalions, and regiments
favored by the Star League. As their base, the Clans used "Stars" of
five MechWarriors each. Two Stars formed a Binary, and four Binaries formed a
Cluster. Each Clan was a Cluster, and several Clusters formed a Galaxy. The most
reliable evidence indicates that this germinal force contained five Galaxies,
but conflicting records place the numbers at three to seven Galaxies. The
original 800 warriors proved crucial to the final form of the Clan structure.
Star League ranks, and every other aspect of that army glorifying the
individual, were replaced by an organization stressing ongoing testing. The new
order also stressed that each Clan was a family, a society unto itself. Using
BattleMechs from caches on Strana Mechty, Nicholas equipped and trained his army
according to his vision.
When the newly formed Clans returned to the worlds of the Pentagon, they
found a nightmare situation. From the descriptions of the Loremasters and the
intelligence holotapes taken by Nicholas' forces, it is clear that the Exodus
Civil War was far more devastating than any of our Succession Wars. The soldiers
who survived faced the Clans in barely functional 'Mechs. Even though the rebels
on each of the five worlds had numerical superiority, the firepower and
reliability of the Clan BattleMechs won the day. Battles were bitterly fought,
and many Clan warriors died. Nicholas Kerensky suffered personal losses. In the
final battle for Eden, his younger brother Andery was ambushed and killed by
five rebel BattleMechs. Within a year, however, the Pentagon worlds were beaten
and forced to acknowledge the supremacy of Nicholas and his Clans.
Many of the survivors hailed Nicholas as a savior. His physical appearance,
strikingly similar to his father's, added to his mystique. The supplies he
distributed freely saved countless lives. The survivors were so grateful to him
and so unbalanced by the events of the past 20 years, that they virtually
worshipped Nicholas. In fact, they often hailed him as his father, a mistake
Nicholas seemed reluctant to correct.
The Exodus Civil War took a tremendous toll on the populations of the
Pentagon worlds. A census taken soon after Nicholas' invasion found that the
survivors numbered less than half the population of General Kerensky's Exodus.
The war had cost millions of lives.
Nicholas reformed Clan Society utterly, so as to
prevent such disasters in the future. Five castes make
up the structure of Clan society: warrior, scientist, merchant, technician, and
laborer. A sixth caste, called the dark, or bandit, caste, exists unofficially
for those who cannot or will not fit into mainstream society. Each caste has
myriad sub-castes based on specialties within a professional field. Using these
castes, Nicholas created 20 original Clans. The
Clans have their own language, and a unique form of government not found in the Inner Sphere.
Clan Trials:
Nicholas was determined that civil war would not claim his new society.
Instead of banning warfare, which he considered part of human nature, he created
controlled conflicts through regulations and rituals. Thus, the Six Trials of
Combat were established. Each trial begins with the batchall, the formal
challenge, by which the aggressor announces to his opponent his intentions, his
goal, and his fighting force. For descriptions of the various Trials, click here.
Nicholas Kerensky's new society, with its formalized rules of combat, was not
completely accepted by all his followers. In 2823, Clan Wolverine rejected a
Grand Council decision on the division of equipment found in a Brian Cache in
Wolverine territory, claiming that the cache belonged to Clan Wolverine alone.
They invoked a Trial of Refusal and lost. They did not accept the ruling, but
shocked the rest of the Clans by declaring Clan Wolverine totally independent.
ilKhan Nicholas Kerensky declared that Clan Wolverine had become "tainted
by the old ways of lust for power." He urged the Grand Council to vote for
a Trial of Annihilation against the rebellious Clan. The resulting vote was
swift and unanimous, and Clans Wolf and Widowmaker won the honor of annihilating
Wolverine.
Wolf and Widowmaker took the opportunity of the Trial of Annihilation to
expand their prestige, each at the cost of the other. The long-time rivalry
between these two Clans was fierce and bitter. The bidding between the two Clans
for the honor of destroying Clan Wolverine turned the bitterness into hate. The
Wolf Clan version of The Remembrance states that Clan Widowmaker deliberately
drove the bidding down to dangerous levels, then withdrew, leaving the warriors
of Clan Wolf facing the majority of Clan Wolverine at very poor odds. Clan
Widowmaker was pleased when Clan Wolf suffered major losses in the battle, but
their hatred was fanned higher by Clan Wolf's eventual triumph over Clan
Wolverine. The warriors of Clan Wolverine were dead, and the Grand Council moved
to purge its tainted ways from Clan society. The Wolverine Bloodnames were
eliminated from the gene pool, all Wolverine lower-caste citizens were
sterilized, and all mention of Clan Wolverine was removed from Clan documents.
Rumors among the Clans say that some Clan Wolverine warriors escaped and fled
the Clan worlds. It is probably no coincidence that the "Minnesota
Tribe" that attacked the perimeter of the Combine struck in 2825, a year
after the annihilation of Clan Wolverine. This tribe was reported as using
brand-new 'Mechs, fighting in ways alien to the Inner Sphere.
Tensions between Clans Widowmaker and Wolf escalated into a bitterly fought
battle that would mark the end of an era for the Clans. Warriors from Widowmaker
claimed Wolf had cheated in its victory that annihilated the Wolverines. Clan
Wolf responded by accusing Clan Widowmaker of misusing the bidding system to
deliberately place Wolf warriors in hopeless situations. This animosity lasted
through a decade marked by vicious Trials of Possession that often skirted the
limits of the Grand Council's rules of combat.
It was during a Trial of Possession between Clans Widowmaker and Wolf that
the merchants of Clan Widowmaker lodged a formal protest against their parent
Clan with the Grand Council. The cause of the tensions between the freebirth
merchants and their Clan is unrecorded, but the warriors' response is well
documented. Mass arrests and the execution of the protest's leaders were carried
out with ruthless efficiency.
 Emotions on both sides
were running high, and they reached a flashpoint when Khan Cal Jorgensson of
Clan Widowmaker publicly accused Clan Wolf of having agitated the Widowmaker
merchants to rise against their Clan. Khan Jerome Winson of Clan Wolf vehemently
denied any involvement. He countered by claiming that Clan Widowmaker's massacre
of its own people invalidated their right to govern. Clan Wolf demanded before
the Grand Council that Clan Widowmaker be absorbed.
Clan Widowmaker eventually lost the debate, but immediately invoked a Trial
of Refusal. Clan Wolf competed for and finally won the right to defend the Grand
Council's decision.
The trial took place on the Steitz Plains of Ironhold. Widowmaker was
defending with a Cluster of ten Stars against eleven Stars from Clan Wolf. Off
the battlefield, warriors from the other Clans watched the trial through a
system of monitors and satellites. The Khans of the Grand Council, led by
Nicholas Kerensky, officiated the duel to ensure that the rules of this bitter
battle were strictly enforced.
The initial exchange was fierce, with both sides committing large forces to
frontal attacks. Well into the battle, Khan Jerome Winson and Khan Cal
Jorgensson mutually declared a Trial of Grievance. As the combat around them
gradually died down, two Khans squared off. When it became clear that Khan
Jerome Winson was about to disable the 'Mech of Khan Cal Jorgensson, a Star of
Widowmaker BattleMechs leaped into the Circle of Equals and attacked the Khan of
Clan Wolf. Whether they attacked orders or on the spur of the moment will never
be known.
Nicholas Kerensky and the rest of the Grand Council immediately moved to
defend Khan Jerome Winson from this cowardly action. A moment later, one of Khan
Cal Jorgensson's large lasers discharged at point-blank range into ilKhan
Nicholas Kerensky's cockpit. There is no way of knowing if the action was
intentional. The melee came to an abrupt end as technicians and medics tried
desperately to extricate the stricken leader from his 'Mech. By the time they
reached him, ilKhan Nicholas Kerensky was dead.
In a fit of rage, Clan Wolf attacked Clan Widowmaker full force. The battle,
which lasted for three days, was marked by uncompromising brutality. The Wolf
Clan warriors, with the aid of the other Clans, tracked down and captured or
killed all warriors of Clan Widowmaker. Clan Wolf emerged victorious and the
Grand Council unanimously granted their demand to claim all Clan Widowmaker's
resources.
The Widowmaker symbol, a red hourglass against the abdomen of a black widow
spider, was removed from Clan records. It became synonymous with disregard for
Clan rules and traditions. The bandit caste frequently uses the symbol as a sign
of its independence. More recently, Khan Natasha Kerensky has adopted the symbol
as her own, not because she is associated with the bandit caste, but because she
believes that many Clan traditions hinder rather than help the Clans.
Rite of Forgiveness:
Recent discussions with members of the Third Battle Cluster revealed some
curious insights into Clan honor from their reaction to the Invasion vote. The
Wardens in Clan Wolf, those who disapproved of the invasion, were eager for the
chance to show their extreme displeasure at having been outvoted, which I
understood. I found it surprising that the Crusaders within the Clan, those who
agreed with the idea of invading the Inner Sphere, were just as eager to accept
punishment as a way of atoning for their Clan having dared disagree with the the
Grand Council's decision. This instance of desiring to atone for disagreeing
with authority was not unique. My research into Clan literature has uncovered
many poems, by warriors and lower castes alike, describing the joy and pride
with which the poet willingly endured punishments that we in the Inner Sphere
would consider beyond the realm of human decency. All dissent is subject to the
Right of Forgiveness. This holds true from the highest level (Clan against
Council) to the lowest (laborer caste against warrior caste). In the latter
case, however, proper atonement does not guarantee that the warrior will spare
the laborer's life. I am not aware of an equivalent among Inner Sphere societies
and governments for what the Clans call Surkai, the Right of Forgiveness.
Rebirth and Expansion:
The death of ilKhan Nicholas Kerensky, followed by the election of Jerome
Winson of Clan Wolf as ilKhan, marked the first time that the Clans were not led
by a Kerensky. Instead of marking the beginning of an age of indecision and
uncertainty, the next century came to be known as "The Golden
Century." All facets of Clan society experienced a period of intense
development and growth during this time. The worlds of the Pentagon were
reconstructed, erasing the final scars of the Civil War. Nicholas Kerensky, like
his father before him, was elevated to the level of a demi-god, and both his
writings and recorded speeches became objects of reverence.
Exploration continued in the Kerensky Cluster, but exploitation of its worlds
lagged for two reasons. One was the sheer lack of people trained to take
advantage of any discoveries, and the other was the Grand Council's desire to
keep Clan society on a short rein. This did not prevent the Clans from bidding
for newly discovered worlds. Although most Clans established only small outposts
on new worlds, Clan Wolf seems to have taken fuller advantage of what they
owned. They established major industrial complexes on the cluster worlds of
Paxon and Tiber, despite rumblings within the Grand Council against such
extensive colonization.
The scientist and technician castes reached new heights of excellence during
the Golden Century. They perfected artificial womb technology, rebuilt the
Clans' industrial base, and made advances in virtually every field of endeavor.
Not surprisingly, it was in military technology that they made the greatest, and
ultimately the most devastating, advances.
In 2854, scientists from Clan Coyote carried the concept of the Mercury
BattleMech to its logical extreme by developing a 'Mech with a completely
modular weapons system. The result was an "OmniMech," a machine whose
weaponry could be completely reconfigured or replaced by a few technicians to
suit the situation in just a few hours. This was the first significant
improvement of the BattleMech since its development by the Star League, and it
gave the Clans tremendous flexibility, which they have used against us to great
advantage. Because of the OmniMechs, Clan Coyote enjoyed a considerable
advantage until the other Clans could create their own versions. This took
several years.
At about the same time the OmniMechs were being developed, Clan Wolf
scientists were working on an armored infantry suit. It protected a soldier,
allowed him to keep up with 'Mechs, and enabled him to carry weaponry that could
threaten 'Mechs. The Wolf Clan used the first of these powered armor suits in
2868, when two Stars of Clan Wolf infantry defeated a light Star of Clan Nova
Cat OmniMechs during a Trial of Possession.
Both the battle armor and those wearing it were called "Elementals"
because they could fight in any element: air, water, fire, earth, or even space.
It is interesting to note that some passages of The Remembrance mention specific
elements when referring to the battle armor, which suggests that early versions
of the units functioned in specific environments. The scientist caste began
breeding larger and physically stronger warriors who could better cope with the
strain of wearing the armor. Other technological and biological advances
resulted in the Clans boasting troops of genetically superior Elementals before
25 years had passed.
During the Golden Century, the Clans matured into a society totally unlike
anything with which we are familiar. Discussions with various Loremasters
indicate that it was during this era that the Clans began to foster a hatred for
the peoples of the Inner Sphere. Though The Remembrance couches the Clan's
sentiments in quasi-religious tones, their view of us is made clear. We are
considered unenlightened savages living in luxury, while a far more civilized
people is forced to live on hostile worlds far from Terra. In In particular,
they developed a strong contempt for the five major Houses, whom they consider
responsible for the Star League's fall. Clan warriors see the worlds of the
Inner Sphere, especially those of the former Terran Hegemony, as virtual
paradises, but their view is distorted by both bitterness and idealization.
Crusaders' Call:
By 2980 many in the Clans were ready to return to the Inner Sphere. Citing
The Remembrance, warriors noted that three generations had passed many times
over, and that it was time to reestablish the Star League and end their
self-imposed exile. This zealous faction called itself the
"Crusaders." Other warriors embraced the Crusaders' views, not because
they believed in the faction's interpretation of The Remembrance, but because
they saw the Inner Sphere as an opportunity to prove themselves. Even the lower
castes, particularly the merchants, who were always eager for new markets, began
to agree that the Hidden Hope would be resolved by the Clans' return to the
Inner Sphere.
The Grand Council had strong reservations about returning, mainly because of
an almost total lack of information about events in the Inner Sphere since the
Exodus. They expressed the fear that the Inner Sphere had not gone up in flames
as predicted, but was united, as strong as or stronger than the Clans.
The council decided to form Intelser, an intelligence service whose
operatives would move cautiously toward the Inner Sphere to gather information.
Operatives traveling as independent traders made contact with and infiltrated
the Periphery states, relaying what they learned to the Clans. By 2984, a
somewhat confused picture of the Inner Sphere had begun to emerge.
The Clans learned that there had, indeed, been a holocaust, called the
Succession Wars, as predicted by Aleksandr Kerensky. However, they mistakenly
believed that the technological level of the Periphery domains was typical of
the entire Inner Sphere. The Grand Council decided that the Inner Sphere was not
a military threat. Those who wanted to return claimed that the conditions laid
out by General Order 137 proved that the time was ripe: "When the time is
right, when the strength of our will and our honor is humanity's only hope to
struggle up from the ashes, only then can our strong descendants make the long
journey to the home that is rightfully ours." The Crusaders felt these
conditions had been fulfilled. The Grand Council agreed to discuss the
Crusaders' call to arms, and thus began what would become known as the Great
Debate.
The Clans eventually formed two camps, the Crusaders and the Wardens. The
Crusaders were those who favored an immediate return to the Inner Sphere to
reestablish the Star League according to the writings of the Kerenskys. The
Wardens, on the other hand, believed that the Kerenskys had never meant their
words to be read so literally. They asserted that the words were meant not as a
command to future generations, but to stir courage. They believed the Clans'
destiny was to develop their own culture, separate from the tainted ways of the
Inner Sphere, but willing and able to come to the Inner Sphere's aid if menaced
by any outside threat.
Though challenged to do so, the Wardens never clearly articulated what they
meant by "outside threat." Some suggested intelligent life forms from
beyond human-conquered space. Others made reference to the possibility of a
despotic domain in the Inner Sphere whose principles ran so contrary to human
decency that the Wardens would feel compelled to intervene.
At most, said the Wardens, the Clans should establish only the coolest of
relations with the domains of the Inner Sphere, returning only if invited or if
the Successor States collapsed through their own folly. Both sides supported
their arguments with the writings of the Kerenskys, but neither side could claim
a majority and force the issue. Individual Clans were divided over the issue,
most being split almost evenly between the two suggested courses of action. This
is the most divisive issue that the Clans have ever faced.
The debate lasted months, then years, during which the Crusaders slowly
mustered a majority. Though Clan Wolf remained primarily Warden, even their
influence could not stem the tide of support for the Crusaders.
Dragoon Compromise:
In 3000, Khan Nadia Winson of Clan Ghost Bear, sensing that the Crusaders had
finally gained the upper hand, attempted to force the issue with a vote. She was
stymied when Khan Kerlin Ward of Clan Wolf suggested a clever compromise. Khan
Kerlin Ward contended that not enough information was yet available to make such
an important decision. He proposed sending a sizable Clan force, under the guise
of a mercenary unit, into the Inner Sphere to judge its military, economic, and
political might, providing the Grand Council with a detailed report of the
strengths and weaknesses of their future opponents.
The Grand Council agreed the plan had merit, and Clan Wolf was awarded the
honor of mustering the force. Rather than risk their best fighters, they planned
to use freebirths and other low-regarded warriors. If these warriors performed
well, they would be rewarded by having their genes added to the gene pool.
 The unit was dubbed
"Wolf's Dragoons." Commanding the multi-regiment unit were Jaime and
Joshua Wolf, controversial choices because both were freebirth. Many of the
Clans balked at this choice, but the Grand Council finally decided that Clan
Wolf had the right to outfit and staff the Dragoons as they saw fit. The roster
of the Dragoons included several Bloodnamed warriors who volunteered for the
mission, among them a young and feisty Natasha Kerensky.
The Dragoons left for the Inner Sphere in 3004, outfitted with pre-Exodus
BattleMechs from some of the oldest Brian Caches. Other vehicles and equipment
were retro-fitted with pre-Exodus parts to prevent advanced technology from
accidentally falling into the hands of the Inner Sphere. Young freebirth
"dependents" rounded out the appearance of a nomadic mercenary
company.
The Dragoons made contact with the Inner Sphere a year later, after making a
long, circuitous journey to prevent the curious from discovering their point of
origin. They went on to make their historic circuit of service through the Inner
Sphere, gathering detailed information on each of the governments and militaries
they served. In 3009, the unit returned to the Clans for refitting. They also
filed their first-hand reports on the Inner Sphere.
The Dragoons' reports contrasted significantly with the previous Clan
perception of the Inner Sphere. The Dragoons reported that the Inner Sphere was
not on the verge of collapse, but on the road to recovery. This revelation
further divided the Grand Council. The Dragoons were ordered to return to the
Inner Sphere and continue their mission, while the Clans considered the
implications of their new information.
The Dragoons returned, but near the end of the Third Succession War, their
intelligence reports to the Grand Council began to slow, for no known reason. It
is possible the Dragoons found the freedom of the Inner Sphere, where there were
no real castes and where growing old as an active warrior was accepted, to their
liking. On the other hand, the death of Joshua Wolf may have played a key role
in turning Jaime and the rest of the Dragoons away from the Clans' grand scheme.
The Grand Council was unprepared for the Dragoons' sudden reticence, and could
not agree on how to react or how to supplement their intelligence-gathering
efforts.
The Wardens and Crusaders squared off for a new, more hotly contested debate
in late 3029 when rumors from the Periphery suggested a possible union between
the Federated Suns and the Lyran Commonwealth. The Crusaders claimed that if the
rumors were true, such a union would represent a major obstacle to any attempt
by the Clans to restore the Star League.
Khan Ulric Kerensky, successor to Khan Kerlin Ward in Clan Wolf, stalled a
decisive vote in the Grand Council long enough for news of the Fourth Succession
War to reach the Clans. This new war took much of the steam out of the
Crusaders' argument that the Inner Sphere was on the verge of reunification.
Khan Ulric took advantage of the situation by sponsoring a proposal to postpone
the Great Debate until the end of the Fourth Succession War. The proposal was
narrowly accepted, but Khan Ulric Kerensky had antagonized the leaders of Clan
Jade Falcon, the most radical of the Crusader Clans.
Invasion:
I was stunned to discover that the incident that eventually tipped the scales
in favor of invasion was triggered by our own Blessed Order. One day a ROM
exploration vessel, "Outbound Light," appeared at a jump point near
Huntress, a world dominated by Clan Smoke Jaguar. Sensing an opportunity but
fearing that the Inner Sphere might be on the verge of discovering the location
of the Clan worlds, Khan Leo Showers ordered that the vessel be taken intact,
with the crew unharmed. Instead of instantly informing the Grand Council of the
capture, as might be expected, Khan Leo first interrogated the crew of the
explorer ship for several days.
When Khan Leo finally notified the other Clans of his discovery, he did so
with superior knowledge of the Inner Sphere situation and of how ComStar, a
force previously unknown to the Clans, fit into the picture. By manipulating
what he had learned, Khan Leo Showers forced the Clans to reopen the Great
Debate and consider several new issues. Most convincing was his argument that
our Blessed Order might soon uncover the location of the Clans, thus exposing
them to the entire Inner Sphere. The thought of Inner Sphere forces invading the
worlds of the Clan, instead of the converse, was unthinkable to most Grand
Council members. Khan Leo Showers laid out the facts of what was happening in
the Inner Sphere. The Federated Commonwealth was now a battle-proven, undeniable
fact. Also, there had been a sudden recovery of lostech, and the Inner Sphere
was far from falling into shambles. The Khan extrapolated that the Federated
Commonwealth might well subdue the rest of the Inner Sphere and declare itself
the Star League reborn. This was a travesty every Clansman would be willing to
give his life to prevent. It was an extremely persuasive argument.
The result was a Grand Council vote in favor of invasion. Only Clan Wolf
voted against. Khan Ulric Kerensky demanded a Trial of Refusal for Clan Wolf.
The odds began at sixteen to one, but the bidding reduced the odds to four to
one. The warriors of Clan Wolf fought bravely, particularly those of the Third
Battle Cluster, who bore the brunt of the action. They nearly seized victory
from Khan Leo Showers and his forces, but sheer numbers prevailed, leaving the
Wolf force devastated. Khan Leo Showers took advantage of pro-Crusader
sentiment, and was elected ilKhan of the Grand Council. Preparations to invade
the Inner Sphere began immediately. Their plan was named Operation Revival.
ilKhan Leo Showers, satisfied that he would soon see his life's ambition
fulfilled, issued a formal recall order to Wolf's Dragoons, calling upon
"our valiant warriors in the barbarian hinterlands to return home,"
despite his long-standing disdain for the unit. The recall was actually an
effort to prove once and for all that Wolf's Dragoons had turned their back on
the Clans and could no longer be trusted. He hoped to imply by this that Clan
Wolf was also suspect. Natasha Kerensky, the only living Bloodnamed warrior of
the Dragoons, was the only Dragoon to return to the Clans when called, which
seemed to prove the ilKhan's contention.
The invasion was halted when ComStar negotiated the use of Tukayyid as a
proxy battlefield for Terra. If the Clans won, Terra would be theirs, while if
they lost, the Clans would cease hostilities for a period of fifteen years,
ending in 3067.
This data file was originally obtained from the BattleTech
3056 MUSE. It was originally converted to HTML by Michael J. Flynn of The Company Store and Team
SPAM! who believe "Information is in the noise!"
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