Lincoln Osis

Lincoln Osis
Lincoln Osis
Character Profile
Born 3014[1]
Died 23 April 3060[2]
Affiliation Clan Smoke Jaguar
Rank ilKhan
Profession Elemental

Lincoln Osis was a Clan Smoke Jaguar Elemental who became Khan of his Clan during the invasion and later became ilKhan of the Clans. He presided over the death of his Clan when the Smoke Jaguars were pushed out of the Inner Sphere and were annihilated on their homeworld of Huntress. Osis himself was killed by Victor Steiner-Davion on Strana Mechty in 3060 during the Great Refusal.

History[edit]

Lincoln Osis was known from early on as one of Clan Smoke Jaguar's brightest ristars and a staunch Crusader. His rise to power was marked by a combination of battlefield and political acumen, leadership qualities, and sheer violence. Instead of simply claiming any Bloodright available, he waited for a specific Osis heritage to be opened to challengers, then triumphed over MechWarriors in augmented combat.[3]

At nearly 165 kilograms (364 pounds), Osis was considered massive even for an Elemental. With his size, ruthlessness, and all-consuming drive to conquer, Osis was a dangerous enemy who never balked at using whatever tools were necessary to achieve his goals, be it weapons, politics, or his fists. Though sometimes underestimated by his opponents due to his quiet, brooding demeanor, Osis' quick-to-ignite rages were legendary, and many died at his hands in a Circle of Equals simply for implied insults or poorly-worded admonishments. Despite, or perhaps because of, the violence associated with him, Osis gained a strong following within the Crusaders of both his Clan and others.[3]

When Khan Leo Showers was elected ilKhan in 3048, Osis challenged saKhan Sarah Weaver for the now-vacant post and defeated her in a battle along the spine of the WarShip Sabre Cat.[3]

Operation REVIVAL[edit]

During the first wave of Operation REVIVAL, Lincoln Osis split nine worlds evenly between the three Jaguar Galaxies involved, with the kudos on taking the tenth to go to the Galaxy that seized its targets first.[4] The brutality and lack of regard for civilian life that the Smoke Jaguars would become infamous for was already in evidence at this point, as Osis was soon called upon by the Grand Council to defend his Clan's actions on Idlewind.[5] In planning the third wave, Osis and saKhan Weaver sought to match Clan Wolf's pace by attacking the next three targets simultaneously; though the Jaguars succeeded in finishing their conquests before the other Clans, the Wolves' greater number of conquered worlds—including Rasalhague, a national capital—soured this achievement for Osis, who decided that his Clan had to match this accomplishment.[6]

The unexpected death of ilKhan Showers in October 3050 threw Osis and his Clan into shock and paralysis, only ended when saKhan Chistu of Clan Jade Falcon suggested that the Jaguars and other Crusader Khans hold Wolf Khan Ulric Kerensky responsible for Showers' death. The scheme was intended to result in Kerensky's downfall, either by execution or in his election as ilKhan and being forced to oversee the very invasion he had so strongly opposed. Thus Osis and Weaver charged Kerensky with somehow orchestrating Showers' death, but Osis own actions sabotaged his case: Kerensky's bondsman Phelan Kell, named as witness by Osis with the expectation that he would betray his master, defended Kerensky so eloquently that the Grand Council dismissed the charge. Osis then nominated Kerensky for the post of ilKhan, only to then find his Clan required to partner with an old enemy, Clan Nova Cat, and forced to cede some of the Smoke Jaguars' conquests to them. Angered but unable to reverse this decision, Osis effected some measure of revenge by handing six hotbeds of rebellion to the Cats and freeing up more of his own warriors for the upcoming fifth wave.[7]

In December 3051 Osis finally received the chance to match Clan Wolf's conquest of Rasalhague when ilKhan Kerensky approved Operation DRAGONSLAYER and placed Osis in overall command. Rejoicing, Osis anticipated that taking Luthien and decapitating the Draconis Combine would give him the means to challenge Kerensky for the position of ilKhan. Instead, the crushing defeat suffered by the Smoke Jaguars, in addition to the rest of the fifth wave being marked by heavy losses and delayed conquests, left Osis with no hope of successfully beating Clan Wolf to Terra. Thus, when ilKhan Kerensky made known ComStar's offer of a proxy battle for Terra, Osis desperately seized this final chance to redeem his Clan's failures.[8]

Battle of Tukayyid[edit]

During the Battle of Tukayyid Osis led both his own Sixth Jaguar Dragoons as well as serving as overall commander for the Jaguar's Alpha Galaxy attack against the primary target city of Dinju Heights. Defended by the veteran-ranked Com Guard Fifth Army, the assault on Dinju Heights started well for the Jaguars, with the Sixth Dragoons wiping out the green 50th Division to secure Alpha Galaxy's drop site.[9][10][11][12][13]

While the rest of Alpha assumed it was their superiority over the ComStar forces allowing them to effortlessly roll over the Com Guard defensive lines, Star Colonel Brandon Howell correctly suspected a trap in the seemingly undefended Dinju Pass, ordering his Jaguar Grenadiers to advance at maximum speed, preventing the hidden 299th and 323rd Divisions from catching the entire Cluster and reaching the other side of the pass.[14] [9][10][11][12][13]

Unwilling to be outdone by a subordinate, Khan Osis ordered the Sixth Dragoons to make their own run, by which time the 299th and 323rd Divisions had fully emerged from hiding. With the Com Guard divisions now crowding the floor of the pass and creating a gauntlet of overwhelming firepower, the Sixth suffered horrendous losses. Worse was to come when a Com Guard MechWarrior succeeded in defeating Loremaster Edmund Hoyt and seemingly killing Osis; in truth Osis was incapacitated and pinned beneath Hoyt's shattered Summoner. Osis's apparent demise followed shortly after by the death of saKhan Sarah Weaver during Beta Galaxy's push to the secondary target city of Port Racice led ilKhan Ulric Kerensky to order the shamed Smoke Jaguars to withdrawal from Tukayyid.[15][14][9][10][11][12][13]

ilKhan of the Clans[edit]

Though Brandon Howell had been recently elected Khan of the Smoke Jaguars, he graciously accepted the post of saKhan instead when Osis rejoined the Clan.[16] Between 3053 and 3058, Osis concentrated on rebuilding the Smoke Jaguars' strength, though constant rebellions and Combine raids hampered these efforts considerably.[17]

Despite the crushing setbacks the Smoke Jaguars had experienced during the invasion, the Refusal War left them at the head of the Crusader movement, in no small part due to Osis' force of character. Thus, when a new election for ilKhan was held on 19 November 3058, it was Osis who was voted into the position with a resounding victory of twenty-two votes to twelve.[18] Osis' intended to resume the invasion immediately, but Khans Marthe Pryde and Vlad Ward succeeded in stalling the planned assault for six months. Intended as a period for the Clans to settle challenges and make preparations, the delay was engineered by Pryde and Ward to undermine Osis as ilKhan: in encouraging fighting amongst the Clans, the Inner Sphere would have more time to prepare for the Jaguar onslaught, and Osis would have a harder time fulfilling his mandate.[19] Unbeknownst to all, the delay would also allow for the destruction of Clan Smoke Jaguar and cost the life of Osis himself.

As a result of this, Operation BULLDOG caught the Smoke Jaguars preparing for offensive operations of their own. Osis at first treated the matter as an internal Jaguar affair, despite the fact that Clan Nova Cat holdings were also attacked. When the sheer size of the Spheroid operation became apparent, Osis then attempted to open the invasion to Home Clan forces in hopes of preventing defeat, but the Wolves and Jade Falcons stated that any would-be participants would need to defeat both of them first.[20]

Humiliatingly for Osis, the Jaguars were driven out of their Occupation Zone in just four months.[21] Even worse news followed: the Smoke Jaguar capital of Huntress itself came under assault from Task Force Serpent. While Osis again solicited aid from the other Clans, the Grand Council decided that the Jaguars should be left to their own devices. An enraged Osis then oversaw the defense of Huntress before the arrival of reinforcements from the Inner Sphere crushed most of the remaining Jaguar forces.[22]

Great Refusal and death[edit]

Wounded by a nekakami assassin, Osis departed for Strana Mechty with the surviving Jaguar warriors. There they fought and died during the Great Refusal. Osis himself met Prince Victor Steiner-Davion face-to-face on the battlefield; the two had a brief conversation about the Clan Invasion and the depths the Jaguars had sunk to before Osis attacked Victor and forced the Prince to behead him with a katana.[23] With the death of Lincoln Osis, Clan Smoke Jaguar was no more, and history would consider the invasion ended with his demise.[24]

Quotes[edit]

We will crush the Inner Sphere until they are but smoke and dreams.
  — from The Invading Clans, 3058
I am Lincoln Osis. I can trace my bloodline back to Charissa Osis, one of those who left the Inner Sphere with General Kerensky. Her daughter, Terrisa, fought with Nicholas Kerensky and established the Clans.
  — from Prince of Havoc, 3060

Notes[edit]

  • There is a gray area concerning Osis' replacement as Khan following his election to ilKhan. While he was ilKhan, he apparently continued to act as Khan of the Jaguars. While this situation should not have occurred, there is no mention of any individual replacing Osis as Khan. Therefore, it is assumed that he inexplicably retained his position as Khan while also acting as ilKhan. This definitely seems to be the case according to Trial under Fire, the novelization of Mechwarrior 3 (as well as the game itself, which—unlike the story—is apocryphal), where Brendon Corbett is expected to be the next Khan with Osis' death.
  • In Era Report: 3062, Osis is described as the first Jaguar Elemental to ever become Khan of that Clan.[25] However, the Smoke Jaguar Khan at the time of the Londerholm Revolt in 2912 was Ian Moon.[26] The Bloodname is predominately an Elemental one, although not completely, as Logan Moon of the 6th Jaguar Dragoons was a MechWarrior. So it is possible that Khan Ian Moon was an Elemental, in which case the Smoke Jaguars had at least one Elemental Khan before Lincoln Osis.
  • In the novel Grave Covenant, Phelan Kell erroneously states that Osis did not become a true Khan until after Tukayyid, instead claiming that his title was purely honorary before then.[27] This is contradicted by other sources; in particular, Era Report: 3052 clearly establishes that Osis was the senior Jaguar Khan during the Clan Invasion.[3]

Portrait Gallery[edit]

References[edit]

  1. Twilight of the Clans, p. 16
  2. Prince of Havoc, p. ??
  3. 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 Era Report: 3052, pp. 89-90
  4. Invading Clans, pp. 53-54
  5. Invading Clans, p. 55
  6. Invading Clans, p. 57
  7. Invading Clans, p. 58-59
  8. Invading Clans, p. 60-61
  9. 9.0 9.1 9.2 Tukayyid, pp. 29-38 "Campaign: Clan Smoke Jaguar"
  10. 10.0 10.1 10.2 Tukayyid, p. 34 "Ambush at the Dinju Pass"
  11. 11.0 11.1 11.2 Wolf Clan, p. 47 "Days of Armageddon - Smoke Jaguar"
  12. 12.0 12.1 12.2 Invading Clans, pp. 61-62 "Tukayyid: The Crucible"
  13. 13.0 13.1 13.2 ComStar, p. 70 "Battle of Tukayyid"
  14. 14.0 14.1 Era Report: 3052, pp. 90-91, "Brandon Howell Profile"
  15. Era Report: 3052, p. 57
  16. Era Report: 3052, p. 91
  17. Invading Clans, p. 6
  18. Grave Covenant, p. 145 (PDF version)
  19. Grave Covenant, p. 145-146 (PDF version)
  20. Grave Covenant, p. 252-258 (PDF version)
  21. The Clans: Warriors of Kerensky, p. 24
  22. Era Report: 3062, p. 20
  23. Prince of Havoc, p. ??
  24. Era Report: 3062, p. 97
  25. Era Report: 3062, p. 96
  26. Invading Clans, p. 51
  27. Grave Covenant, p. 234 (PDF version)

Bibliography[edit]