Carl Icaza

Carl Icaza
Personal
Also known as	"Carl Benno"
Affiliation	Star League Clan Jade Falcon
Profile
Rank	Star Captain

Carl Icaza was one of the four founders of Clan Jade Falcon. Formerly an infantry Colonel with the Star League Defense Force, he would become instrumental in the training of all of the Clans prior to Operation KLONDIKE, at the behest of Nicholas Kerensky.

History

Early Life

Carl Icaza was born Carl Benno on the world of Skye in the Lyran Commonwealth. As a youth, he had a liberal, rebellious bent that often left him at odds with the caste-bound society of his homeworld.

Attending the prestigious Sanglamore Academy on Skye, he was expelled for attempting to unionize the maintenance staff. He was in constant trouble with the dean, Lyran Count Vimmons Donakowski, and things only worsened when he caught the attentions of a young daughter of a noble, one Geena Drallith. The attraction and passion being mutual to both parties, young Miss Drallith spurned Count Donakowski's advances. The Count was embittered by this rejection and did what he could to make their lives miserable.

That would soon be made very easy to do. Charges of treason were leveled on Carl Benno, and the Count Donakowski was to be the chief prosecutor. Carl was accused of passing sensitive information to Terran Hegemony agents, charges that were in fact true.

Carl Benno served the next three years in prison. Geena had left for home long ago, crushed by the attention she had received during the trial. Upon parole, finding that he had nothing left in his life, he moved to the Terran Hegemony under the name Carl Icaza.

Star League Service

Attending the West Point Military Academy on Terra under his new name, Carl Icaza graduated an infantry Lieutenant after three years. He was assigned to the 889th Jump Infantry Regiment, attached to the 17th Jump Infantry Division, the Golden Talons.

Being stationed just outside the border of the Hegemony, his unit was able to assist several other units evacuating in the opening days of the Amaris Crisis in 2766. They were also involved with several probing raids against Amaris' troops while receiving negligible support from the Capellans, from whose worlds they were staging.

Carl Icaza was captured by Amaris' forces on Epsilon Eridani during an extraction/rescue of SLDF forces believed to be in the Diamond Mountains of the southern continent. It turned out to be a ruse by Amaris' forces and his unit was destroyed. Icaza was held prisoner for many years, enduring horrible conditions and routine torture administered by his sadistic jailers, surviving by sheer stubborn force of will.

Exodus and Forging the Clans

After liberation and the end of the Amaris regime, Icaza was only too glad to volunteer for the Exodus, having seen the worst that humanity had to offer.

Questions were raised regarding his mental health at about the time that civil war was about to break out on Dagda. Carl Icaza, a regiment commander in the SLDF by this point, demanded the right to use brutal force to quell the unrest. He was also infamous for the liberal use of corporal punishment on his troops and the civilians under his control. Nicholas Kerensky disregarded all requests to have him relieved of duty, considering Icaza to be a friend.

After the death of Aleksandr Kerensky in 2801 and subsequent Second Exodus, Icaza was chosen to teach Nicholas' new formations and battle tactics to the new Clans, helping to shape tactical doctrine in its earliest stages. He held the rank of Star Captain according to documents from this time.

Operation KLONDIKE

Having exorcised many personal demons during the twenty year exile on Strana Mechty, Icaza was ready for action in Operation KLONDIKE. Jade Falcon had been paired with Clan Wolf for the drop onto Eden's most important continent, and the two clans shared a growing rivalry that was fostered by the ilKhan, who viewed it as good for morale.

“

The Clans do not sit on their hands and wait to be told when it is safe to attack! —(Excerpt) Star Captain Carl Icaza, Personal Journals, 13 May 2818

”

The rivalry between Falcon and Wolf swiftly gave way to feud, when Icaza's infantry points discovered enemy infantry positions while working with Clan Wolf forces. After properly calling for the targets as his, a star of Clan Wolf light BattleMechs led by Star Commander Franklin Ward stepped over and past Icaza's troops, randomly shooting and scattering the enemy. Icaza reacted with furious rage, attacking Ward as soon as he debarked from his BattleMech. When the Khans of both Clans arrived, they had the Wolf MechWarriors whipped for violating the combat rights of Icaza's soldiers.

At some point while still on Strana Mechty pre–Operation Klondike, Icaza had entered a stormy relationship with Jenna Scott, saKhan of Clan Goliath Scorpion. The relationship would not last, but would still have repercussions that manifested later during the Dagda campaign. When the ilKhan activated the Jade Falcons to fight on Dagda after the end of operations on Eden, he would exclude the Goliath Scorpions from the Siege of the Black Brian, citing personal animosity between officers. The Jade Falcons earned the honor of the assault through their excellent performance on Eden, but being a friend of the ilKhan likely did not hurt matters for Star Captain Icaza.

Legacy

A stern if often harsh disciplinarian, Carl Icaza was a founder of Clan Jade Falcon, alongside Khan Elizabeth Hazen, saKhan Lisa Buhallin, and Daniel Mattlov. This is cause for some amount of reverence, but his true influence lies in the fact that his training of Kerensky's Chosen 800 would spread his teachings and methodology like ripples throughout each Clan, as each new generation of warriors was raised and trained to combat majority. Praised for the stubbornness and strength he imparted to the early Jade Falcons, his genetic heritage is alive and well in the Elementals of the modern Clan Jade Falcon touman.

Bibliography

• Field Manual: Crusader Clans
• Historical: Operation Klondike
• Jade Falcon Sourcebook