Fox Khanate (Clan Sea Fox)

Fox Khanate
Affiliation Clan Sea Fox
Parent Command Clan Sea Fox touman


History[edit]

The Dark Age[edit]

Centered around the Potemkin-class ArcShip Kraken the Fox Khanate operated in a territorial region that encompassed the border between the Draconis Combine and the Federated Suns. The Fox Khanate was content to sell arms to both the Combine and the Draconis March while each side flailed ineffectually against the other, but after a decade of lucrative trading that began in 3135 saKhan Ya'el Labov found himself in a delicate position.[1] During this time, the Fox Khanate had an ironclad contract with the Combine to provide support and maintenance for Griffin IIC BattleMechs. This close work allowed Luthien Armor Works to reverse engineer the Griffin IIC production methods.[2]

The division of territories amongst the various Sea Fox Khanates was originally envisioned as a means of ensuring that no one market dominated, but the successful incursion into the Federated Suns by the Draconis Combine led to the very real prospect that the Combine might push the Federated Suns completely out of Fox Khanate territory, putting the Combine in the position of holding a monopoly of demand. By 3145 saKhan Labov was having to tread carefully to avoid offending either of the two Great Houses with any changes to trading conditions, and while the opportunity to profit still existed, the danger in exploiting that opportunity remained high.[1]

There was some speculation about what the arrangement reached between First Prince Julian Davion and the Tiburon Khanate following the successful Draconis Combine Mustered Soldiery advance into the Federated Suns would mean for the Fox Khanate. The assigned hunting grounds for the Tiburon Khanate were on the other side of the Inner Sphere, making it unlikely that the three promised worlds would be an advantage to that Khanate, even if Julian remained in a position to grant them access given the Combine advances. It was considered entirely possible that the Tiburon Khanate was in the position of acquiring the three worlds either as bargaining chips to sell on to the Fox Khanate, or even that it was acting under orders from Khan Mori Hawker in embroiling itself in Federated Suns politics.[3]

ilClan Era[edit]

The Fox Khanate was especially active at the dawn of the ilClan Era, as they send a great quantity of supplies to Clan Wolf for the Battle of Terra. Ya'el Labov, seeing the use of Wolf's Dragoons as cannon fodder during the battle, had a great idea to expand his Khanate's business: to replace the obsolete and corrupt MRBC, making deals for respectable mercenary units.

Labov began with the Illician Lancers, a former Star League unit, one of the oldest, largest and most prestigious units, but one which Julian Davion had left, forgotten, on a remote and quiet front for years. Labov's agents obtained an old relic of the Lancers on Terra and he, picking Lancers colonel Luciana Araya Morales, offered her a deal, to make her the Lancers' new commanding general, and she accepted his offer.[4]

The success of the unorthodox contract quickly attracted more mercenary commands, with the Fox Khanate negotiating more deals for the Federated Suns, which needed them for the liberation of New Avalon, Operation Dawn and the Dragon's Tongue, Operation Solar Flare. One of these small commands, Scoleri's Sabres, breached their contract and helped destroy another mercenary unit, the Acadian Rifles. The Foxes voided the Sabres' contract and reimbursed the Federated Suns for the lost money, and soon they made sure the Sabres didn't profit from their betrayal; a ruthless attack by the Foxes annihilated the unit, seizing their equipment as isorla.

However, some mercenaries feared than the Foxes only will punish those units which broke a contract, but the Blue Summer Incident on Warren, in February 3152, when they bankrupted a noble which hadn't paid his contracted unit, the Time Fliers, it endeared the Foxes with honest mercenaries.[5]

Thanks to his initiative, Labov gained great respect from his peers, and his mercenary initiative was expected to be followed soon by the other Khanates.[6]

Another business of the Khanate, at the same time, was during the Pleiades War. Without barely any functional HPG, the Taurians sent a message to the Khanate to negotiate the end of the war to New Avalon. In fact, for the First Prince, it was the first news about the conflict arrived when it had ended. The Taurians asked for a huge sum of money in exchange for their captive Duke Alexander Hasek, big enough to outfit a new 'Mech regiment, and besides, the Fox ovKhan Vewas wanted, in exchange for their mediation, New Syrtis' non-functional HPG. Julian considered both prices excessive, but he accepted both, and also asked the Foxes to keep secret Hasek's embarrassing holos which he sent as captive, which put an end to the conflict.[7]

Officers[edit]

Rank Name Command
Commanding Officers of the Fox Khanate
saKhan Ya'el Labov 3145-present[8]

Notes[edit]

Tactics[edit]

Unknown.

Composition History[edit]

3145[edit]

- In 3145, the Fox Khanate was based around the ArcShip Kraken, with the various Aimags operating from a number of other ships. Alpha, Beta, and Epsilon Aimags were all operating from Merchant Carrack-class transports—the Jormungandr, Cetus, and Tiktaalik, respectively—while Gamma Aimag was based around the Volga-class transport Megalodon and Delta Aimag was based around the Carrack-class transport Taniwha.[9]

References[edit]

  1. 1.0 1.1 Field Manual: 3145, p. 158: "Fox Khanate"
  2. Recognition Guide: ilClan, vol. 14, p. 4
  3. Field Manual: 3145, p. 158: "Tiburon Khanate"
  4. Riptides
  5. Dominions Divided, pp. 54–55
  6. Dominions Divided, pp. 42–43
  7. Dominions Divided, pp. 72–73
  8. 8.0 8.1 8.2 8.3 8.4 8.5 8.6 8.7 Field Manual: 3145, p. 169: "Clan Force Deployments - Clan Sea Fox"
  9. Field Manual: 3145, p. 169: "Fox Khanate"

Bibliography[edit]