Crescent Hawks

Overview

Frequently referred to as "Katrina Steiner's personal lance", the initial Crescent Hawks were a small unit loyal to the Lyran Commonwealth, created by Katrina Steiner as an elite group for covert operations and therefore presumably part of the Commonwealth military.

In 3028 they re-formed as a guerrilla force on Chara III (Pacifica) following a Kurita invasion, and went on to become an independent unit aligned with House Steiner, working with the famous Kell Hounds.

Based on the permission from the Archon to act independently, and on their cooperation (and eventual merger) with the Kell Hounds, the Crescent Hawks can arbitrarily be classed as a mercenary unit.

History

Although the original unit was conceived sometime between 3007 (when Katrina Steiner became Archon) and 3028, its history prior to 3028 remains clouded. What is known is that the unit was commanded by Jeremiah Youngblood, who piloted a Phoenix Hawk LAM, and included Commando pilot Rex Pearce. By 3028 the Crescent Hawks were apparently inactive, or possibly disbanded.

Cadet Jason Youngblood (son of Jeremiah Youngblood) was in the middle of a BattleMech training exercise at the Pacifica Training School when House Kurita invaded the planet in 3028. What should have been a mock combat mission became serious when four Jenners engaged him in earnest, but he realized what was going on in time and escaped the destruction of the Citadel.

Jason went into hiding and later met Rex Pearce, a member of the Crescent Hawks like Jason's father Jeremiah. Together, Jason and Rex managed to rally more Crescent Hawk members and to form a small guerrilla 'Mech unit to resist the Kurita invaders. They eventually found out that the enemy forces were after a Star League cache hidden on the planet, which the Crescent Hawks happened to know about, too; Jeremiah Youngblood had found its exact location just before the invasion. With the help of Dr. Edward Tellhim they beat the invaders to their intended target and gained access. The depot held Jeremiah Youngblood's Phoenix Hawk LAM and a supply of invaluable spare parts. The Kurita invasion faltered when a heavily armed DropShip arrived, called in from within the depot.

Following this successful venture, Katrina Steiner offered Jason Youngblood the rank of Lieutenant in the LCAF, but he turned it down in order to search for his father who was missing and presumed dead after the attack on the Citadel. For this, he was given full permission, allowing his party to act independently as the Crescent Hawks. At this point the unit comprised of Jason Youngblood, Rex Pearce, Kurt Graham and Victor Stewart.

Shortly afterward they departed from Pacifica for the Kell Hounds base on Lyons, where the Leopard class DropShip carrying the Crescent Hawks arrived in April 3029 in the middle of another Kurita attack. It was shot down and crash landed, killing the pilot (and fourth Crescent Hawks MechWarrior), Captain Victor Stewart. The surviving Crescent Hawks and Kell Hounds together drove off the attackers eventually, and a grateful Morgan Kell then helped the Crescent Hawks with Operation Liberty, a daring raid against the Kurita prefecture capitol of Dieron to rescue Jason's abducted father. Further, Kell Hound Tech Rick Anderson was permitted to become a full member of the Crescent Hawks.

Operation Liberty was a success, and upon returning in June 3029 Jason Youngblood, barely 20 years of age, was promoted to Captain by Katrina Steiner. She proclaimed: "In gratitude, I give you permission to make my Lance your own. The Crescent Hawks are yours to command, Captain Youngblood." and Morgan Kell immediately added the offer to sign them up as "an independent unit of the Kell Hounds, free to pursue your own contracts, but under my command when I need you".

The Crescent Hawks thus became a free, semi-independent mercenary unit within the Kell Hounds under Jason Youngblood's command and achieved considerable fame. In February 3030, Kurt Graham left the unit to start his own mercenary unit. In the War of 3039, Hanse Davion employed the Crescent Hawks in many attempts to reclaim planets from House Kurita. Rex Pearce retired after the war, but his daughter Jen Pearce later joined the Crescent Hawks.

In November 3051 the Crescent Hawks, by then already a Company in size, were recalled to Arc-Royal to receive training on new 'Mechs upgraded with rediscovered technology. However, after a very short time in training they were called into action with the Kell Hounds to participate in the defense of Luthien together with Wolf's Dragoons against the Clans.

In December 3051, the Kell Hounds JumpShip used a Pirate Jump Point in the Clan-held system of Kaesong on its way to Luthien. While recharging their jump drive they received a distress message from the Blazing Aces, whose presence on the planet had been detected by second-line Clan units. The Crescent Hawks detached to their aid in a Union-class DropShip, but arrived too late to save the Aces, or the life of Gideon Braver. They resumed their journey and arrived at Luthien in January 3052, where they participated in the successful defense.

Equipment

The exact strength and configuration of the Crescent Hawks depends on a combination of player's choices and randomized events throughout the game. In the first game (Crescent Hawks Inception), the unit is essentially only a single lance of almost exclusively light 'Mechs. The player has the chance to obtain a Chameleon to start with, Rex Pearce has a Commando and at one point in the game an UrbanMech can be stolen. Other than that, the player can only acquire Locusts, Wasps or Stingers through salvaging defeated enemy 'Mechs. The Jenner is also present in the game database and might theoretically be available for salvage as well. Alledgedly, the Commodore 64 version of the game also included the Javelin and Spider as enemy 'Mechs which could (very rarely) be captured and used by the player's unit.

At the beginning of the second game (Crescent Hawks Revenge) the player gets to choose among different, heavier 'Mechs. The opening screen of the game depicts a Griffin, a Shadow Hawk, an Enforcer and a Wasp which may be the canonical unit composition at the beginning of the second game, although a Shadow Hawk is not actually available for selection. The player is free to allocate different 'Mechs to the four bays aboard the DropShip to begin with, and gets to control a wide range of different vehicles and units over the course of the game as the storyline unfolds, covering some 24 years and culminating in the defense of Luthien against the Clan Invasion in early 3052.

The Crescent Hawks lost their Leopard class 'Mech carrier DropShip over Lyons in 3029. In-game graphics depict a Leopard CV class vessel with the Crescent Hawks unit insignia, bearing the number 114, under attack from Kurita fighters but this is presumably an error and meant to be the same (regular) Leopard that is later shown crash landed. Alternatively, it could be assumed that the Crescent Hawks did possess a Leopard CV which was also lost at Lyons.

After the battle on Lyons in April 3029 the Crescent Hawks apparently had no DropShips of their own anymore, and traveled aboard Kell Hounds ships.

Other Information

• The Crescent Hawks were introduced in the 1988 computer game, Crescent Hawks Inception. A 1990 sequel game, Crescent Hawks Revenge, picks up the story a short time after first game ended (set in 3028), long enough for them to acquire some new mechs and crew members, and continues up until the Clan Invasion.

• The first game does not provide dates for its storyline, but conjectural information from the second game indicates that the Kurita attack on Pacifica must have occurred just prior to the Fourth Succession War that was launched on 20. August 3028. The storyline of the sequel game begins in October 3028, and refers to the "recent" Kurita attack on Pacifica for the events from the first game. Jeremiah Youngblood had been captured "six months ago" when he was rescued on Dieron; assuming that he was rescued in April 3029 this indictates that his capture in the initial attack against Pacifica took place in October or possibly September 3028 which in turn means the storyline of the first game was only meant to cover 1 or 2 months.

• Jeremiah Youngblood's Phoenix Hawk LAM features in the background story of the Crescent Hawks Inception and is seen in a picture shown when the player enters the Star Leage Cache. Even though it cannot be used in the game (it is only recovered during the end sequence), this is one of the rare canonical appearances of a LAM in the BattleTech universe.

• Similarly, the Crescent Hawks Inception is the only canon source besides the boardgame rulebook to feature the Chameleon training 'Mech. During his academy training as Jason Youngblood, the player can choose between three training 'Mechs: A Locust, a Wasp and a Chameleon. If the latter is selected for the last training mission (when House Kurita attacks) then the player can take it with him in the escape and can use it as a proper BattleMech throughout the game. It also happens to be the heaviest and strongest 'Mech available in the game.

• The Crescent Hawks, and Jason Youngblood, are only once mentioned in passing in the novels otherwise.