Mad Stampede
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A Mad Stampede was a race by Clan Hell's Horses vehicles on hostile planets that soon became a tradition.
Contents
Description[edit]
A mad stampede was held several times a year, with a Star of fast combat vehicles, which could be wheeled or hovercraft, or both. They traveled to a different world, always held by a hostile power, in a single DropShip, to race each other across continental path while under fire from local forces. The participants expected to achieve ristar status and earn the attention of potential Bloodname sponsors. The exploits of each mad stampede are recorded in an unofficial record, called The Book of Barding. The racers are split into paired vehicles. It isn't enough to cross the finish line first – one must do it as part of his "herd".[1]
History[edit]
The first mad stampede took place on 17 July 3140 and quickly became a tradition in the Clan, which always had made heavy use of combat vehicles. Several times a year, one was launched, and though the races weren't officially approved by the Clan's leadership, the Horses' Khans made no attempt to halt them, which could be seen as tacit approval.[2]
The first mad stampede was launched on Hood IV, part of the Lyran Commonwealth; approximately ten vehicles participated. The local garrison commander mistook the Horses' racers as a recon or vanguard force, prelude to an invasion, so he ordered his men to pursue them. The garrison, elements of the Third Lyran Regulars, failed to stop the Horses. Of ten vehicles, five completed the race and boarded their DropShip, and of the five lost vehicles, three crews were recovered. Of the two remaining crews, there was only one survivor from a vehicle, which had bounced off the side of a hill during a high-speed turn. Taken captive by the Lyrans, he was interrogated for weeks, but he frustrated them when maintaining that he was there only to participate in a race.[3]
On 2 July 3141, the Horses launched another mad stampede on the Clan Jade Falcon planet of Denizli. A single DropShip landed and unloaded two Stars of vehicles, eight hover and two wheeled. The Falcons' search didn't have much success – only after a day of searching were they able to locate the vehicles in a forest. They sent several light OmniMechs to hunt them, but the fast vehicles were hard to catch. A Horses crew was killed by local fauna, and two more vehicles were abandoned due to damage, but their crews were safely evacuated. In the process, the Falcons lost two 'Mechs, and one of their pilots was taken bondsman by the Horses, who were allowed to depart unmolested.[4]