Difference between revisions of "Clan Diamond Shark"
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===Political Century and invasion=== | ===Political Century and invasion=== | ||
| − | During the [[Political Century]], the Diamond Sharks tended towards the [[Warden]] viewpoint, though the election of Ian Hawker swung them to the [[Crusader Clans|Crusader]] camp just in time for [[Operation Revival]]. The Diamond Sharks did not fare well enough to be included in the invasion force, but won a Trial of Refusal naming them as a reserve clan. | + | During the [[Political Century]], the Diamond Sharks tended towards the [[Warden]] viewpoint, though the election of [[Ian Hawker]] swung them to the [[Crusader Clans|Crusader]] camp just in time for [[Operation Revival]]. The Diamond Sharks did not fare well enough to be included in the invasion force, but won a Trial of Refusal naming them as a reserve clan. |
The Diamond Sharks were given the opportunity to win the planet Nysterta from the [[Clan Ghost Bear|Ghost Bears]] and participated on [[Tukayyid]], though they were utterly defeated. The only way any Diamond Sharks survived was through the noble sacrifice of its freeborn warriors, whom Khan Hawker despised. The Diamond Sharks lost Nystera soon afterwards and returned to Clan space to protect their holdings. | The Diamond Sharks were given the opportunity to win the planet Nysterta from the [[Clan Ghost Bear|Ghost Bears]] and participated on [[Tukayyid]], though they were utterly defeated. The only way any Diamond Sharks survived was through the noble sacrifice of its freeborn warriors, whom Khan Hawker despised. The Diamond Sharks lost Nystera soon afterwards and returned to Clan space to protect their holdings. | ||
Revision as of 11:36, 1 May 2013
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| Clan Diamond Shark (Clan Sea Fox) | |
|---|---|
| Faction Profile | |
| Time period: | 2807 – Present |
| Classification: | Clan |
| Controlled systems: | ? |
| Capital world: | ? |
| Ruler title: | Khan |
| Military: | Clan Diamond Shark Touman |
| Secret Service: | Clan Diamond Shark Watch |
Clan Diamond Shark was originally named Clan Sea Fox by Nicholas Kerensky. Its behavior, exemplified by its name change, marks it as one of the most unique of all the Clans.
Contents
History
Nicholas Kerensky selected the Sea Fox as a clan totem because it seemingly made a bow prior to striking its prey. He appreciated the honor it showed its opponent.
The Sea Foxes' original Khans were David Kalasa and Dianne Sennet. The two requested that the ilKhan reassign Karen Nagasawa, a Star Colonel with the Blood Spirits, to the Sea Foxes instead. A journalist who had helped the Founder write many of his major addresses, including The Remembrance, Nagasawa had given the Blood Spirits cause for concern because she also espoused language that bordered on egalitarian between the castes, and they agreed to the transfer.
Clan Sea Fox was part of the liberation force for Babylon during Operation Klondike. They were paired with the Cloud Cobras, Coyotes, and Ice Hellions. The Sea Foxes were highly critical of the battle plan, believing they had direly underestimated their opponents. Additionally, the Coyotes had developed a style of combat that involved a series of single-combat duels, and insisted that the invaders use this new style. While this would eventually be adopted by the Clans as a whole as Zellbrigen, at the time even the Clans did not practice it. The Sea Foxes thought the whole idea was suicidal.
The attack eventually bogged down in a siege of the main rebel stronghold. The Coyotes continued to insist on breaching the fortress using single combat, and losses were heavy. Finally, Star Colonel Nagasawa lead her aerospace point on a bombing run against the fortification, breaching it and permitting the attack to resume. The Coyotes, furious, abandoned the attack entirely and with the Ice Hellions and Cloud Cobras otherwise engaged, the Sea Foxes completed the attack on their own. Khan Kalasa died in the fighting and, at the suggestion of Nicholas Kerensky, the Sea Foxes elected Nagasawa as their new Khan after the fighting ended.
Karen Nagasawa was not a member of the Star League Defense Force, but was a journalist and historian. Her impassioned articles earned the attention of the Kerenskys, and she is credited with writing the first lines that appear in The Remembrance. Nagasawa believed that the Star League's greatness lay in the value it placed on each individual and its material prosperity; therefore, Nagasawa gave Clan Sea Fox an unparalleled liberal view, which gave great freedoms to freeborns and to the lower castes, especially the merchants, as well as an openness between the castes.
In addition to being the greatest merchants in Clan space, the Sea Foxes were terrific scientists, aiding the Cloud Cobras in developing the Iron Womb technology, helping the Coyotes design the OmniMech, and developing the substance known as HarJel, which became incorporated into Elemental armor and starship hulls. The Sea Foxes sent exploration teams across the Kerensky Cluster and created the Chatterweb, a Clan-wide information network. The Foxes are also sharp bidders and great warriors, being among the first to win the OmniMech from the Coyotes.
Name change
Late in the Golden Century, the Sea Foxes elected Khan Damon Clarke, a conservative-minded warrior, who was expected to undo most of Khan Nagasawa's acts. Fate stepped in, however.
Khan Liam Howell of the Snow Ravens, incensed at his clan's recent defeat by the Sea Foxes, ordered his scientists to create a sea-going predator to wipe out the Sea Fox. Howell placed it in the waters of Strana Mechty, and the Sea Foxes witnessed their totem being hunted to the point of extinction.
Capturing one of these creatures, named Diamond Sharks, Khan Clarke proposed to the Grand Council that his Clan be allowed to change its name as an acknowledgement of the greater predator. When Khan Howell carelessly let slip his responsibility, his saKhan killed him and then led the Grand Council forces in the Trial of Refusal against Clarke's decision. The Sea Foxes triumphed, winning the right to change their name.
After much agonizing, and reviewing the writings of Nagasawa, Khan Clarke decided to allow all the castes to vote on the name change. With the inclusion of the lower castes, the Clan overwhelmingly supported the change from Clan Sea Fox to Clan Diamond Shark.
Political Century and invasion
During the Political Century, the Diamond Sharks tended towards the Warden viewpoint, though the election of Ian Hawker swung them to the Crusader camp just in time for Operation Revival. The Diamond Sharks did not fare well enough to be included in the invasion force, but won a Trial of Refusal naming them as a reserve clan.
The Diamond Sharks were given the opportunity to win the planet Nysterta from the Ghost Bears and participated on Tukayyid, though they were utterly defeated. The only way any Diamond Sharks survived was through the noble sacrifice of its freeborn warriors, whom Khan Hawker despised. The Diamond Sharks lost Nystera soon afterwards and returned to Clan space to protect their holdings.
To rebuild their touman, the trueborn head of the Merchant's Council, Angus Labov, took a leadership role in the Clan, much to the dismay of the Crusaders. His merchants flooded the occupation zones, driving hard bargains for much-needed supplies, even as they pursued profit relentlessly in the Kerensky Cluster. He poured the profits into construction of war machines, and meanwhile moved the best of the Diamond Shark's reservists out of retirement.
Khan Hawker joined with Ice Hellion Khan, Asa Taney, to form a Home Clans Coalition, but this ultimately failed. The Harvest Trials saw the removal of many Diamond Shark Crusaders, and their experiences swung the Clan back to the Warden viewpoint.
When the Inner Sphere invaded Huntress, Khan Hawker attempted to send a relief force to aid the Smoke Jaguars, but a challenge by Khan Vladimir Ward of the Wolves for his genetic legacy stalled him.
Bowing to the Warden sentiments in his Clan, Khan Ian Hawker voted with the Wardens, stayed out of the Great Refusal and stepping down soon afterwards.
The Jihad and Beyond
The Diamond Sharks joined the allied coalition assembled by Devlin Stone to fight against the Word of Blake on the 20th of February, 3076, offering their transport services to the coalition.[1][2] A few months later, the Diamond Sharks challenged Clan Ghost Bear for the right to set up a trading enclave on the former Free Rasalhague Republic world of Tukayyid. The trial took place on the 7th of May, 3076, with the Diamond Sharks the victors.[2][3]
On the 11th of May 3080 Star Admiral Naomi Nagasawa succeeded Barbara Sennet as Khan of the Diamond Sharks, Sennet having stepped down from the position. Two months later, Diamond Shark WarShips would successfully defend Tukayyid from an attack by a Word of Blake flotilla of nuclear weapon-equipped fighters and Pocket WarShips.[4]
In the wake of the Jihad the Diamond Sharks' presence in the Inner Sphere began to steadily increase, with the Sharks' larger WarShips becoming noticeably more active, leading numerous trade missions to the various capital worlds. While the bulk of the Diamond Shark touman continued to remain on the major trade worlds controlled by the Sharks, each trade mission was commonly accompanied by a cluster of troops, although Inner Sphere intelligence agencies were confounded by being unable to find any sign of half of the Diamond Shark units known to exist in 3067.[5]
In the late 3070s or early 3080s the Diamond Sharks also established an enclave on the Lyran Alliance world of Halfway, marking a new level of interaction with the nations of the Inner Sphere for the mercantile Clan. The enclave on Halfway allowed the Sharks to gain influence as far away as Sian as they built and maintained connections with major Inner Sphere corporations.[6]
Clan Diamond Shark changed its name back to Sea Fox in 3100, after the events surrounding their censure by the Grand Council, and their relocation to the Inner Sphere during the Blakist Jihad, which resulted in the development of autonomous trade fleets, known as Khanates, and a new chapter in the history of the Clan began.
Allies and enemies
The Diamond Sharks have mercantile relationships with all Clans, though few real lasting friends or enemies. They are notably one of the few Clans that deals with the Blood Spirits, and they were close enough to the Ghost Bears and Nova Cats to be granted territory when they left Clan space. Historically, the Sharks have had good relations with Clan Wolf, and these continue with Clan Wolf-in-Exile.
The Diamond Sharks harbor a grudge against the Snow Ravens for their role in the death of the Sea Fox, but this mostly takes the form of besting them in mercantile transactions.
During the Trials of Possession for Ghost Bear, Nova Cat, and Smoke Jaguar holdings, the Ghost Bears ceded Tokasha and Paxon to the Sharks, though they withdrew from Tokasha to hold onto Paxon. They also gained Barcella through the friendship of the Nova Cats, as well as Vinton from the late Smoke Jaguars.
Homeworlds
Clan Diamond Shark owns ten worlds in Clan space. Their capital is on Strana Mechty.
- Babylon (24 percent)
- Barcella (47 percent)
- Delios (64 percent)
- Lum (18 percent)
- New Kent (9 percent)
- Paxon (62 percent)
- Priori (52 percent)
- Strato Domingo (65 percent)
- Tathis (50 percent)
- Vinton (100 percent)
References
- ↑ Jihad Hot Spots: Terra, p. 20, "Timeline of the Jihad"
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Jihad: Final Reckoning, p. 55, "The Jihad In Review"
- ↑ Jihad Hot Spots: Terra, p. 21, "Timeline of the Jihad"
- ↑ Jihad: Final Reckoning, p. 61, "The Jihad In Review"
- ↑ Jihad: Final Reckoning, p. 112, "Clan Diamond Shark"
- ↑ Jihad: Final Reckoning, p. 114, "Clan Diamond Shark"
Bibliography
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