Joyce Merrell

Joyce Merrell
Personal
Died	19 November 2822
Affiliation	Clan Snow Raven
Profile
Profession	saKhan

Joyce Merrell (born 27?? - died 19th of November 2822 according to falsified official Clan history, in truth was still alive and healthy as of January 2825) was a Star League General who would go on to become the first saKhan and co-founder of Clan Snow Raven.

Biography

A General holding command of the 183rd Royal Mechanized Infantry Division at the time of Nicholas Kerensky's Second Exodus to Strana Mechty, her skills were such that the ilKhan would pair her with Vice Admiral-turned-Khan Stephen McKenna when Clan Snow Raven was formed in 2810. Her specialty in ground forces was to help make up for McKenna's lack of experience commanding such forces, though in practice neither would work well together during the first several years. Miscommunication and disagreements over training and doctrine would stymie their early efforts. The Snow Ravens were the last Clan to be certified ready for combat prior to Operation Klondike, though they would be honed to a flexible and ready force by the time of the actual operation.

Operation Klondike

In 2821, the invasion of the Pentagon Worlds became reality. SaKhan Merrell's Clan was selected for the drop onto Circe's northern hemisphere alongside Clan Wolverine. Though her ground forces totaled only four Stars, she would do the best she could given the difficult struggles the Ravens faced at the initial battles of Dehra Dun, and later versus the corrupt Empire of Hidalgo and against the Kerensky Dominion during what would come to be known as the Battle of Bitter Tears. She was able to coordinate her BattleMech forces well with the highly trained Aerospace Fighter pilots that the Snow Ravens would become known for.

False Information

The following information is—in part or wholly—fabricated misinformation that was made official Clan history in the aftermath of the Wolverine Annihilation.

The Battle for Constan's Ridge

Near the close of the Operation Klondike campaign on Circe, Clans Snow Raven and Wolverine were faced with only the Isle of the Eagles, an island city-state that was populated by many former citizens of the Federated Suns. The two Clans coordinated their attacks, sharing information about various targets.

An instance of what the Ravens have called treachery occurred at one point, an incident with roots in the past. According to some sources, Joyce Merrell rebuffed romantic advances from Clan Wolverine's saKhan, Franklin Hallis at an unspecified point, likely during the Second Exodus. As the two Clans cornered the rebel forces, saKhan Merrell and her remaining 'Mech forces came under attack from a battalion sized force, one that was indicated to be of company strength by Wolverine intelligence. She and nine other Snow Raven MechWarriors would perish on Constan's Ridge, though the Clans were victorious over the rebel forces in the final accounting. Khan McKenna promptly accused the Wolverine saKhan of a deliberate attempt to harm the Snow Ravens, citing his personal animosity towards saKhan Merrell. The ensuing feud would simmer until a year later in 2823, when it escalated into the Wolverine Treachery, resulting in the devastation of the Snow Raven capital and primary genetic repository, as well as the downfall of the Not-Named Clan soon after.

Legacy

Joyce Merrell's appointment to saKhan of Clan Raven was meant to help her Clan and Khan McKenna by balancing their backgrounds. They would iron out their differences, but it would take some time for their forces to adjust under them. Operation Klondike was a success, but a Pyrrhic victory for the Snow Ravens at best, who were left devastated by the death of their warriors and their saKhan, bitterly holding the Wolverines responsible for the loss of lives.

True History

see also: Betrayal of Ideals

Joyce Merrell was a friend and confidant of Clan Wolverine Khan Sarah McEvedy. When a coalition of less successful and envious Clans began scheming against the successful Wolverines in 2822 she was one of McEvedy's few supporters, and for a time was even on the fence on wether or not to follow the Wolverines in breaking free from unstable ilKhan Nicholas Kerensky's rule.

After the find of the Brian Cache in the Wolverine-held Tiki Province on Circe by Clan Jade Falcon heated up the situation, Merrell remained passive until she learned that Clan Wolverine had allegedly detonated a nuclear device in the city of Great Hope during their fighting retreat from Clan space. This caused outrage among the other Clans, and the reluctant Snow Ravens—under orders from the ilKhan, who has decreed a Trial of Annihilation against the Wolverines—deploy a nuclear bomb too that however goes astray and happens to detonate right above the Snow Raven captial of Dehra Dun.

Clan Snow Raven would pursue the Wolverines as part of the ilKhan's Grand Fleet, and take part in the genocidal battle at Barbados that effectively wiped out Clan Wolverine. There, the assembled Khans learned of the treachery of Clan Widowmaker Khan Jason Karrige who had caused the Great Hope nuclear explosion and framed the Wolverines. The ilKhan decreed a massive cover-up of the entire affair, and had history altered and whitewashed to blame Clan Wolverine solely for what went down.

In a brief exchange on 28 January 2825 at the reconstruction site of Dehra Dun, Merrell expresses her feelings of guilt and discomfort, and that the cover-up does nothing to ease that. Nicholas Kerensky amicably declares that "there is no lie if we all believe it" and announces that he will have historical records altered after Merrell's death, to make it appear as if she had died in the Pentagon Civil Wars.

Notes

• Some discrepancy exists regarding the date of Joyce Merrell's death, placing it well after the 2823 date given in Historical: Operation Klondike and Field Manual: Warden Clans. This was explained in the novel Betrayal of Ideals as part of the cover-up following the Wolverine Annihilation.
• There is no evidence that the later Clan Wolverine saKhan Franklin Hallis really had an unrequited crush on Joyce Merrell, as the forged history claims.

Bibliography

• Betrayal of Ideals
• Field Manual: Warden Clans
• Historical: Operation Klondike