Editing Aidan Pryde

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{{InfoBoxCharacter
| image               = Aidan Pryde ER3052.jpg
| caption             = Aidan Pryde
| name                = Aidan Pryde
| birthdate           = [[3012]]<ref name=ER:3052p85,86/>
| died                = [[3052]]<ref name="Falcon Guard">''Falcon Guard'', p. {{cn}}</ref>
| othernames          = Jorge
| affiliation         = [[Clan Jade Falcon]]
| rank                = [[Star Colonel]]
| position            = 
| profession          = [[MechWarrior (pilot)|MechWarrior]]
| parents             = 
| siblings            = [[Peri]],<br>[[Marthe Pryde]]
| spouse              = Peri (lover)
| children            = [[Diana Pryde]]
}}

'''Aidan Pryde''' was a [[trueborn]] warrior of the [[Ramon Mattlov]]-[[Tania Pryde]] ''[[sibko]]''.  Aidan became a [[MechWarrior (pilot)|MechWarrior]] of [[Clan Jade Falcon]] who earned his warrior status and later his [[Pryde (Bloodname)|Pryde Bloodname]] through a very unorthodox and un-Clanlike path.  After years of undesirable postings and duties, he would be chosen as the commander of a new [[Jade Falcon Guards (Clan Jade Falcon)|Falcon Guards]] Cluster, going on to earn legendary status for his valorous actions and self-sacrifice during the [[Battle of Tukayyid (3052)|Battle of Tukayyid]].<ref name=JFSp59>''Jade Falcon Sourcebook'', p. 59: "Star Colonel Aidan Pryde"</ref><ref name=ER:3052p85,86>''Era Report: 3052'', pp. 82–83: "Aidan Pryde"</ref>

==History==
Described as tall and somewhat slender with an angular face, Aidan Pryde was motivated by a fierce drive to succeed in all situations.  Due to his experience of living alongside freeborn warriors for much of his early career, Aidan did not possess the deeply ingrained trueborn hatred of [[freeborn]]s, though he was acutely aware of the differences between the two subcastes.  Aidan was also known to have a love for literature, something nearly unheard of among the Jade Falcon warriors.  At some point he came into the possession of a collection of printed books taken from a [[Brian Cache]] in which he was assigned garrison duty.  He transported this collection with him from duty to duty throughout the rest of his career, learning a great deal about ancient [[Terra]]n culture from them, though the ideas contained on the pages often left him with more questions than answers.<ref>''Bloodname'', ch. 17</ref><ref>''Falcon Guard'', chs. 1–3</ref>

===Early life===
Born on [[Eden]] during the [[Political Century]], Aidan was originally one of many dozens of children comprising his ''[[sibko]]''.  He was especially close with his ''sibmate'', [[Marthe Pryde|Marthe]].  Both were said to most resemble their matrilineal heritage of all their ''[[sibkin]]'', though they were also said to have inherited their tall height and defiant posture from their genefather.  The young Aidan was known to care for a [[Jade Falcon (species)|jade falcon]] named Warhawk, with help from his ''[[sibparents]]''.  Reportedly, he and his ''sibko'' were once attacked by members of the [[Bandit Caste]] while out on an extended survival training expedition, some time in their tenth year.  The young Aidan used a knife to brutally kill one of the bandits, after he witnessed the death of a beloved ''sibparent'' named Glynn.  His fighting spirit would continue to burn bright throughout his life, sometimes contributing greatly to the troubles in which he often found himself, but also to his eventual status as a hero of the Jade Falcons.<ref name=ER:3052p85,86/><ref>''Way of the Clans'', chs. 1–4</ref>

===Trials of Position===
{{Quote|Look around you and start praising the ''sibko''. Once there were more than ninety of us. Now the others are gone, dead or assigned to nonwarrior castes.|Aidan, regarding cadet training<ref>''Way of the Clans'', ch. 9</ref>}}

Aidan excelled as a cadet, driven as he was by the harsh instruction of [[Falconer (rank)|Falconer]] [[Joanna]].  From the first day she saw him, she predicted he would test out fully as a MechWarrior.  But every day beyond, she would deny him praise, and do everything she could to break his spirit.  The tenacity and confidence that he built up in the face of her sometimes brutal treatment (at times involving a [[Circle of Equals]]) would one day serve him well.  From early on, his major weakness was apparent to his Falconers: young Aidan had a tendency to sometimes take mortifying risks, thus overreaching for his goals.  This tendency came to the fore in his [[Trial of Position#The Blooding|Trial of Position]], which would have qualified him as a warrior.  Attempting to create a chaotic situation that he could take advantage of by initiating a melee, Aidan attacked multiple targets early on in the engagement, causing extensive damage to several foes.  But in opening up the Trial to the rules governing a melee, he did not take into account the actions of his ''sibmates''.  Marthe took advantage of the lifting of ''[[zellbrigen]]'' by targeting Aidan in a moment of opportunity.  Before he could get his first kill qualifying him as a MechWarrior of the Clans, Aidan was forced to punch out, failing his Trial of Position, as Marthe went on to achieve two kills, qualifying her to enter the [[Jade Falcon Touman|Jade Falcon ''touman'']] at the rank of [[Star Commander]].<ref>''Way of the Clans'', chs. 4–22</ref>

Aidan was demoted to the Technician caste, where he served no more than a month in his new caste until fleeing his post.  He later arrived on the Jade Falcon world of [[Tokasha IV]], hiding with aid from [[Peri]], another ''sibmate'' who had flushed out of warrior training at an earlier stage of cadet training.  Peri was an apprentice in the scientist caste, and was able to help Aidan recover from a serious illness that he had contracted while on the run.  The two shared a romantic interlude, renewing their closeness, and conceiving a child that Peri would keep secret from Aidan.  The peace Aidan found at Tokasha was not destined to last long, as Joanna and a tech named [[Nomad]] (who was Aidan's superior as a member of the tech caste) arrived after a prolonged search, and brought him back to [[Ironhold II]].  There, through the manipulations of [[Ter Roshak]] — the [[Falconer Commander]] in charge of not only Aidan's ''sibko'' training, but dozens of others — Aidan secretly assumed the identity of a dead [[freeborn]] cadet named Jorge.  Under this identity, Aidan won his second Trial of Position alongside the freeborn, [[Horse]], whom he had previously met a year earlier on one of the many Trial fields, whilst still in his trueborn ''sibko''.  Aidan was granted warrior status as a freeborn, which in the Clan caste structure, meant very little respect and constant harassment from his trueborn counterparts.<ref name=JFSp59/><ref name=ER:3052p85,86/><ref>''Way of the Clans'', chs. 23–40</ref>

===Glory and Bloodname===
Living as a freeborn was not easy for Aidan.  He was constantly in some form of disciplinary trouble, mostly due to his unwillingness to back down from the many haughty and arrogant trueborn challengers that he faced.  While stationed on the planet [[Glory (planet)|Glory]] under the command of [[Star Colonel]] [[Kael Pershaw]], he would be punished for killing a trueborn Clan officer named Star Commander [[Bast]] in a brawl.  Later, during a battle with [[Clan Wolf]] at Glory Station, Aidan (as Jorge) was instrumental in the Jade Falcons' victory.  Formulating the winning plan with inspiration drawn from a book of poetry that he possessed in his secret collection, Aidan's tactics worked to defeat the numerically superior Wolves of the [[16th Battle (Clan Wolf)|16th Battle Cluster]], under the command of [[Star Captain]] [[Dwillt Radick]].<ref name=JFSp59/><ref name=ER:3052p85,86/><ref>''Bloodname'', chs. 1–4</ref><ref>''Bloodname'', chs. 5–20</ref>

{{Quote|I am canister-born and ''sibko''-bred, from the Mattlov-Pryde genetic line. My name is not Jorge; it is Aidan. Clan law permits me to compete for the Bloodname of Pryde, which was that of my genemother Tanya Pryde.|Aidan, making his claim for a Bloodname<ref>''Bloodname'', ch. 21</ref>}}

After the battle, Aidan decided he could no longer live as a freeborn warrior.  Word had reached him of the availability of a Pryde [[Bloodname]], and Aidan brashly made his claim, casting aside his assumed identity as Jorge.  A shocked and outraged Kael Pershaw ordered Aidan bound until a formal trial before the [[Clan Council]] on Ironhold, along with Star Captain Joanna, whose [[Trinary]] had been transferred to Glory Station just prior to the battle with Clan Wolf.  The Clan Council and [[Khan]] [[Elias Crichell]] eventually found Aidan and Ter Roshak guilty of Treason against the Clans, and stripped of all warrior status.  Joanna's culpability was judged to be of a lesser extent, though she stubbornly chose to stand with Aidan and Roshak, accepting the full weight of the verdict.  They went on to win the [[Trial of Refusal]] at stiff three to one odds, reversing the judgment of the Clan Council.  Though many still felt he was a disgrace for having pretended to be a freeborn in order to become a warrior, Aidan was now an undisputed trueborn warrior of Clan Jade Falcon, having exonerated himself through victory.<ref name=ER:3052p85,86/><ref>''Bloodname'', chs. 21–27</ref>

Aidan next participated in the [[Grand Melee]] for the final slot in the competition.  He would face many warriors who reviled him for the taint that he brought to their Bloodname House, many having sworn an oath to not leave Aidan alive.  Although he eventually won the Bloodname, most [[Clan Jade Falcon|Jade Falcon]] warriors still regarded him with contempt at the improper way he had first won his warrior status, and felt that his tainted [[codex]] would only bring dishonor the Pryde Bloodline.  Kael Pershaw (whose grudging respect Aidan had won by this point) would later mention his less-than-convincing win in the final round of the Bloodname competition as a probable reason for the disrespect many Jade Falcons felt for him.<ref name=JFSp59/><ref name=ER:3052p85,86/><ref>''Bloodname'', chs. 28–35</ref><ref>''Falcon Guard'', ch. 17</ref>

[[File:CJF Falcon Guards.png|right|thumb|Insignia of the Jade Falcon Guards]]

===Rebuilding the Falcon Guards===
During the [[Clan Invasion]] of the [[Inner Sphere]], Star Colonel Aidan Pryde held command of [[Nega Garrison Cluster (Clan Jade Falcon)|Nega Garrison Cluster]].  His duties mostly consisted of coordinating mop-up operations and pacifying newly conquered masses.  Most unexpectedly, Kael Pershaw paid him a visit while on [[Quarell]].  Pershaw was by this point a representative of [[saKhan]] [[Vandervahn Chistu]], and he was bearing important news; Aidan Pryde was to command a newly reformed [[Falcon Guards]], a recently disgraced unit that had been defeated at [[Twycross]] while under the command of Star Colonel [[Adler Malthus]].  This unit was considered ''[[dezgra]]'' and the replacements sent to rebuild the Guards were the misfits of the Clan.  Aidan recruited his old instructor and nemesis, [[Joanna]], to the unit.  Through her harsh training style, she was able to whip the Falcon Guard warriors into fighting shape.  Also among his new unit was a young MechWarrior [[Diana Pryde|Diana]], Aidan's daughter, a secret unknown to him at the time.<ref name=ER:3052p85,86/><ref name=FM:CCp92>''Field Manual: Crusader Clans'', p. 92: "Taking Wing: Operation Revival and Beyond"</ref><ref>''Way of the Clans'', Epilogue</ref><ref>''Falcon Guard'', chs. 1–22</ref>

===Battle of Tukayyid===
{{Quote|Dawn is here and there is still argument. Forget artillery cover. Forget how much personnel to assign. I am Star Colonel Aidan Pryde. I bid the Falcon Guard Cluster for the right to take both bridges!|Star Colonel Aidan Pryde, addressing the war council on Tukayyid<ref>''Falcon Guard'', ch. 26</ref>}}

The [[Falcon Guards]] were bid into the [[Battle of Tukayyid (3052)|fight for Tukayyid]], gaining the Jade Falcons a more favorable target.  There, Aidan rallied his [[Clan]] from their relative inaction to put up some fight against the [[Com Guards]] opposing them, first on Prezno Plain, then at Robyn's Crossing, where his Falcon Guards prominently in the fighting.  At a war council held in the field, Aidan used the opportunity to bid for targets that other officers were still only arguing about, nearly causing a [[Trial of Grievance]] with Star Colonel [[Gran Newclay]].  SaKhan Chistu acknowledged Pryde's success, but still held him back for the moment.  Aidan also reconnected with his ''sibmate'', Marthe, who was now known as Star Colonel Marthe Pryde.  Later during the fighting, Aidan and the Falcon Guards were allowed to break out.  He quickly headed for the target city called Olalla, along with Marthe and her [[2nd Falcon Jaegers (Clan Jade Falcon)|2nd Falcon Jaegers]], nearly seizing the objective for their Clan before being forced to turn back after destroying the Com Guard [[201st Division (ComStar)|201st BattleMech Division]] and [[77th Division (ComStar)|77th ComStar Division]].<ref name=JFSp59/><ref name=ER:3052p85,86/><ref>''Falcon Guard'', chs. 23–32</ref>

The Falcon Guards, also referred to as "[[Pryde's Pride]]", had fought well for their Clan, but the trickery of the Com Guards and general un-Clanlike attitude of the other Jade Falcon warriors led to a need to withdraw, in order to escape total destruction.  During the evacuation of [[Tukayyid]], Aidan Pryde fought fiercely to hold off the crushing advance of the Com Guards, so that the surviving Clan Jade Falcon forces could withdraw to their [[DropShip]]s.  During the withdrawal, the secret that MechWarrior Diana was actually his daughter became known to him only after she was wounded and incapacitated near the entrance to the DropShip ''Raptor''.  He chose to stay behind until she could be rescued by an [[Elemental]], Star Commander [[Selima]].  Realizing the advancing Com Guard [[4th Army (ComStar)|4th Army]] was too near for them to escape safely, Aidan never boarded the vessel, and instead concentrated on taking out as many Com Guard 'Mechs as he possibly could while his fellow Clanners made their escape from Tukayyid.  All told, he took out over a company of Com Guard war machines, with some tactical aid and support from Kael Pershaw, orbiting far above the field of battle in a reconnaissance craft.<ref name=ER:3052p85,86/><ref>''Falcon Guard'', chs. 33–37</ref><ref>''Jade Falcon Sourcebook'', pp. 31–32: "Battle of Tukayyid"</ref>

He appears to have been killed by the ComStar acolyte [[Dylan Dray]], piloting a ''[[Stinger]]'', as was the last one to shoot him. However, none of the 104 Division claimed his kill, probably for respect of his bravery.<ref>''Tukayyid'', p. 66</ref><ref>''Recognition Guide: ilClan, vol. 13'', p. 6: "CS233-STG-3G"</ref>

==Legacy==
Aidan's body was recovered from inside ''Deathtrap'' and returned to the Jade Falcons, with other war dead, but his 'Mech was unsalvageable, except for a small laser, and it was left where it fell, along with the Com Guards 'Mechs it fell, as a monument to the Jade Phoenix bravery.<ref>''BattleTech: Legends'', p. 80</ref>

Aidan Pryde was posthumously honored for his outstanding bravery and skill when the Clan added his genes to the Jade Falcon [[Gene Center]] to be passed on to many future ''sibkos''. Aidan was further honored when his genes were fast-tracked for immediate use in the creation of ''sibkos''. His daughter [[Diana Pryde]] would later earn the Pryde [[Bloodname]] despite her freeborn status.<ref name=JFSp59/><ref name=FM:CCp92/><ref>''Falcon Guard'', Epilogue</ref><ref>''Falcon Rising''</ref>

The Battle of Tukayyid would later be remembered by all of the [[Crusader Clans]] as ''Tukayyid the Accursed'' due to the near annihilation of the Clan way of life and is therefore rarely spoken about among the warrior caste.

Aidan's genetic legacy would also become secretly traded between certain Clans' scientist caste, as was evidenced when a copy of it was found to exist in the vaults of [[Clan Smoke Jaguar]]'s Mt. Szabo genetic repository. Unauthorized ''sibkos'' produced solely from his genetic code (effectively clones) were also discovered to exist in [[3060]] by Scientist [[Peri (Watson)]].<ref>''Freebirth'', chs. 20–37</ref><ref>''Falcon Rising'', chs. 2–3</ref>

''Remember those events that brought us these fifteen years of shame.''<br />
''But remember also those who fell to restore the glorious Star League.''<br />
''Above all, remember the blood legacy of Aidan Pryde, child of Kerensky;''<br />
''he made the final sacrifice so that his Clan could continue.''<br />
''For eternity shall we praise him;''<br />
''[[3067|in fifteen years]] we shall avenge him.''<br />
:-''The Remembrance (Clan Jade Falcon), Passage 417, Verse 29, Lines 74-79.''{{cn}}

==BattleMechs==
Aidan piloted a ''[[Summoner]]'' [[OmniMech]] for most of his life, including his original Trial of Position. Prior to the Battle of Tukayyid, however, his 'Mech was destroyed and he was forced to fight on in a custom configuration ''[[Timber Wolf]]'' which he named ''Deathtrap''. In an odd twist of fate, he fought his most famous battle in the ''Timber Wolf'', up until he met his death at the hands of the Com Guards, coincidentally, saving the life of his freeborn daughter, MechWarrior [[Diana Pryde|Diana]], whose own 'Mech had been crippled during the Jade Falcon retreat from Tukayyid.<ref>''Falcon Guard'', ch. 1</ref>

==Loadouts==
Aidan showed an aptitude for both strategy and tactics, and instead of favoring a single loadout for his BattleMechs, preferred whenever possible to utilize the [[OmniMech]]'s versatility to change his armaments to suit his particular battle strategy or situation. One major theme of Aidan Pryde's loadouts was the use of his missiles, which he often used to try and blind or confuse his enemies and opponents.

[[Way of the Clans]] Chapter 8: Training [[Kit Fox]]
As a child warrior Aidan's first experience inside a real 'Mech was a stripped down Kit Fox with two lasers in the left arm, one of which was certainly a small pulse laser, an [[LB 5-X AC]] in his right arm, 2x [[Streak SRM-2]]s (Presumably one in each shoulder), and an [[anti-missile system]] (Presuming his loadout was the same as his opponent's). The 'Mech had no jump jets.

[[Way of the Clans]] Chapter 21: First [[Trial of Position]]
In his first Trial of Position Aidan piloted a ''[[Summoner]]'' with his own custom loadout. It carried an [[LRM-15]] over the left shoulder and had a [[Large Pulse Laser]] in the right arm, apparently along with the [[PPC]]. As there is additional room and tonnage for weapons, it is likely he had other armaments not specifically named, especially since the 'Mech seemed to grow hot immediately after Aidan's first [[alpha strike]] and it's been said "In a [[Summoner]], the heat sinks seem more like an afterthought," [[Dermot]] once said. "That is, if you have employed them properly all along." — [[Way of the Clans]] Chapter 13

[[Way of the Clans]] Chapter 40: Second [[Trial of Position]]
In Aidan's second Trial of Position he was unable to make changes to his loadout of his 'Mech, and seems to have been given a [[Summoner]] in Alternate Configuration C, also known as a [[Summoner (Thor)#Alternate Configurations|''Summoner'' SMN-C]]

[[Bloodname]]: Chapter 28: [[Trial of Refusal]]
Aidan removed the [[PPC]] from his ''Summoner''<nowiki>'</nowiki>s right arm to increase the [[LRM-15]] to an [[LRM-20]] with [[Thunder LRM]] ammo, and mounted a [[Streak SRM-6]]. This precluded him from being able to mount an [[AMS]], which he laments over, stating that he prefers to always have an [[AMS]]. It also sported an [[LB 10-X AC]], presumably in the left arm.

[[Bloodname]]: Chapter 35: [[Trial of Bloodright]]
In his [[Trial of Bloodright]] Aidan Pryde's configuration matches that of the ''[[Summoner]]''<nowiki>'</nowiki>s Primary configuration, consisting of a [[PPC]], [[LB 10-X]], and an [[LRM]].

NOTE: These are Clan weapons, so while the books and [[Inner Sphere]] techs might refer to them as "ER PPC" or "Extended Range PPC" The Clans would simply know them as "PPC."

==Portrait Gallery==
<gallery>
Image:Aidan Pryde.jpg|Aidan Pryde
Image:Falcon Guard.jpg|Aidan's fate as seen in ''[[Falcon Guard]]''
</gallery>

==References==
<references />

==Bibliography==
* ''[[BattleTech Legends]]''
* ''[[Bloodname (novel)|Bloodname]]'' (novel)
* ''[[Era Report: 3052]]''
* ''[[Falcon Guard (novel)|Falcon Guard]]'' (novel)
* ''[[Falcon Rising]]'' (novel)
* ''[[Field Manual: Crusader Clans]]''
* ''[[Freebirth (novel)|Freebirth]]'' (novel)
* ''[[Jade Falcon Sourcebook]]''
* ''[[Way of the Clans]]'' (novel)


[[Category:Clan Jade Falcon Characters|Pryde, Aidan]]
[[Category:Characters with Pilot Cards|Pryde, Aidan]]
[[Category:Notable Summoner (Thor) Pilots|Pryde, Aidan]]