I admit to a certain fascination with Nicholas Kerensky, not as an
historical figure, but as a man. What was it like for him as a child, to deny his heritage
under the shadow of Amaris' cutthroats? How did he deal with people looking to his father
as a god? What force drove him to develop the whole of Clan culture?
That Aleksandr Kerensky single-handedly preserved the Star League is a
fact. That he was revered as a god is also a fact; one needs only look through The
Remembrance to recognize that. However, what is also plain is that Nicholas believed in
his father's superiority just as fervently. It must have been hard for him to live in the
shadow of such a man. Most boys feel the need to impress their fathers. But how could a
boy impress someone like Aleksandr Kerensky, who had accomplished more than any other man
in history? It is amazing that Nicholas Kerensky managed to move out of the shadow cast by
his father to cast his own upon the face of history. At what personal cost was he able to
do this?
I am disturbed by another, darker side to Nicholas Kerensky. He was
raised during the Amaris occupation of the Hegemony, but in the fragments of his personal
writings I have reviewed, Nicholas Kerensky never does more than hint at the atrocities he
witnessed on Terra. These images of brutality, torture, and calamity must have scarred the
mind of the young boy. Though I am certainly no psychiatrist, the absence of any record of
these experiences leads me to believe that Nicholas Kerensky repressed what he saw.
During the first chaotic years on the Pentagon worlds, Nicholas
contracted the same brain fever that killed his mother. For two weeks, he burned with an
illness known to cause extensive brain damage in most of its victims, yet he survived
unscathed.
Given everything he was exposed to in his life, the Clans and the new
society devised by Nicholas Kerensky appear to be inspired attempts on his part to forever
banish the demons of the society that had so traumatized his life. The trials by combat
are honorable and do not allow "ganging up" on an enemy, reflecting Nicholas'
bitterness over how DeChevilier and his brother Andery had died. There is no way of
knowing if the fever damaged his brain, no way to tell how much of what he created was
genius and how much was madness.
As I write this report, I continue to wonder if Nicholas Kerensky was
the genius that the Clansmen worship or a raving madman tormented by a life that offered
no escape. I doubt that we will ever know the truth. One thing is clear, however. Because
Nicholas Kerensky created the Clans, every person in the Inner Sphere may someday curse
his name.
-From the journal of Anastasius Focht, 22 December 3050
KHAN, CLAN JADE FALCON
Preferred BattleMech: Summoner
Elias Crichell, senior Khan of Clan Jade Falcon, is the foremost
political leader within the Clans and is widely expected to become the ilKhan once the
Truce of Tukayyid is formally repudiated. Though he has never been credited with tactical
genius, he compensates for this flaw by surrounding himself with the best and brightest
warriors in his Clan. An adroit politician, Khan Crichell manages to share the credit for
these warriors' successes while distancing himself from their failures. Crichell's age is
testimony to his survival skills; he is well into his sixties, and his days of piloting a
BattleMech are virtually over. He has relied on his saKhan, Vandervahn Chistu, to carry
the Falcon banner into battle for the past several years.
Suspecting that Chistu had ambitions to supplant him, Khan Crichell
supported Star Captain Vlad of the Wolf Clan in his Trial of Grievance against the saKhan.
Upon Chistu's death, Khan Crichell maneuvered to make Vlad his ally by granting him a
Bloodname and partly repudiating the Rite of Abjuration that Chistu had demanded. Khan
Crichell declared that, rather than being absorbed by Clan Jade Falcon, the Wolf
supremacist survivors of the Refusal War should become Clan Jade Wolf. Khan Crichell hopes
that this piece of politicking has removed at least one potential threat to the survival
of the weakened Jade Falcon Clan.
STAR COMMANDER, JADE FALCON GUARDS
Preferred BattleMech: Mad Dog
Although she is an aging MechWarrior of undistinguished rank, Star
Commander Joanna is a celebrated figure among many Jade Falcon warriors. A long-time
member of the Falcon Guards, the Star Commander joined that unit shortly before its
infamous defeat on Twycross. A lone Inner Sphere MechWarrior single-handedly decimated the
Falcon unit in that humiliating defeat, which haunted the Falcon Guards and the the entire
Jade Falcon Clan for years. Joanna, one of the few survivors of the battle, was stripped
of her rank of Star Captain after the defeat and forced to fight two Trials of Refusal to
gain her present rank. However, the Star Commander redeemed herself and the Falcon Guards
when she killed the legendary Wolf Khan Natasha Kerensky in single combat during the
recent Jade Falcon/Wolf battle on Twycross.
STAR CAPTAIN,CLAN JADE WOLF
Preferred BattleMech: Fenris
As a Star Commander, Marialle Radick led Bravo Nova of the 16th Battle
Cluster during the Battle of Tukayyid, downing seven ComStar 'Mechs before her Fenris was
shot out from under her. For this valiant action, she earned a field promotion to Star
Captain and was given command of the 6th Assault Cluster. An ardent Crusader, Marialle
helped engineer the downfall of Ulric Kerensky, and is expected to become saKhan of Clan
Jade Wolf. She is eager to use that position or any other she may achieve to propel the
Jade Wolves to the forefront of the Crusader faction's political and military leadership.
SAKHAN, CLAN JADE FALCON
Preferred BattleMech: Summoner
After the death of Vandervahn Chistu, Elias Crichell nominated Star
Colonel Marthe Pride as his choice for a new saKhan. Star Colonel Marthe Pryde has a
distinguished battle record and will make a formidable Khan.
Marthe Pryde has served with distinction throughout her military
career, and has led her unit to several impressive victories. Subconsciously, she
continues to measure her accomplishments against those of her legendary sibling, Aidan
Pryde of the Falcon Guards, whose memory still haunts her years after his death. The Star
Colonel is widely respected, but rarely forms friendships even with her peers. In recent
years, she has grown somewhat disenchanted with the Falcon Khans' emphasis on Byzantine
political maneuvering and believes that they have subtly neglected military achievements.
Pryde is determined to set the imbalance to rights by doing everything she can to
re-establish her battered Clan's military prowess and prestige.
KHAN, CLAN WOLF IN EXILE
Preferred BattleMech: Wolfhound IIC
His capture by Clan Wolf on the Periphery planet The Rock began a
radical new life for Phelan Kell. His captors at first refused to accept that this
freebirth had any worth except to perform the lowliest tasks of a bondsman, but his
obvious skill, intelligence, and knowledge of the Inner Sphere militaries soon brought him
to the attention of Wolf Khan Ulric Kerensky, who used the young Kell Hound as an asset in
order to push his Clan out ahead of the other invaders. Phelan soon proved his worth and
returned to the life of MechWarrior, this time for the Clans, and with great skill and
determination won a coveted Bloodname and command position.
Phelan Ward rose to the rank of Khan when Ulric Kerensky assumed the
ilKhanship of the invading Clans. When Clan Jade Falcon spearheaded the effort to unseat
Ulric Kerensky by accusing him of highest treason-deliberately conspiring to destroy the
Clans' genetic heritage by agreeing to the truce of Tukayyid and therefore denying coming
generations the opportunity to hone their fighting skills against the enemy-Ulric devised
a plan to save Clan Wolf and the Inner Sphere and at the same time cripple the most rabid
invading Crusader Clans. As the culmination of his plans, Ulric sent Khan Phelan, along
with the best and brightest of the Wolf Wardens, warriors and other castes alike, to
shelter with the Kell Hounds on their home planet of Arc-Royal. Knowing that the Clans
would strip Phelan of his rank, name and authority for running to the Inner Sphere, ilKhan
Ulric used the privilege of his rank to create the Bloodname of Kell and award it to
Phelan. He further charged Khan Phelan Kell with preserving the best of the Clan Wolf way
and continuing to protect the Inner Sphere from the worst ravages of the Crusader Clans.
KHAN, CLAN JADE WOLF
Preferred BattleMech: Timber Wolf
An exceptional MechWarrior, Star Captain Vladimir supported the
Crusader philosophy from a young age. After the Truce of Tukayyid, Vlad became the leading
voice of the so-called Wolf supremacists-young Wolf MechWarriors sympathetic to the
Crusader cause yet fiercely loyal to their Clan. During the five years of uneasy, forced
peace between 3052 and 3057, the younger Wolf warriors' discontent with their Warden Clan
leaders grew and Vlad saw an opportunity to achieve the glory he believed the Truce had
denied him. Along with the late Wolf Clan Loremaster Dalk Carns and a young Star Captain
named Marialle Radick, Vlad conducted a secret internal investigation of ilKhan Ulric
Kerensky. That investigation resulted in charges of genocide and treason against Ulric.
However, the subsequent Trial of Refusal forced Vlad to choose between allegiance to his
fellow Crusaders among the Jade Falcons and allegiance to his own Clan, and Vlad fought
side by side with Ulric Kerensky against the Falcon forces. He witnessed the dishonorable
act of cowardice and treachery by which the Jade Falcon Khan Vandervahn Chistu killed
Ulric and later retaliated by killing Khan Chistu in a Trial of Grievance. The reward for
his victory was the Bloodname of Ward that he had so long coveted, a Bloodname that had
once belonged to Khan Phelan Kell of the Wolf Clan in exile.
As the pre-eminent warrior among the Wolf supremacists that make up the
newly christened Clan Jade Wolf, Vlad is widely expected to become that Clan's first Khan.
If he attains that position, he will face the daunting task of rebuilding the Wolf
military machine and maintaining control of the systems the Wolves captured during the
initial invasion of the Inner Sphere. He will be aided in this enormous endeavor by his
staunch belief that the Jade Wolves are the best of the Wolf Clan, exemplars of the purest
Clan traditions.
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