Karl Bourjon


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Karl Bourjon
Character Profile
Born 3006[1]
Died 3052
Affiliation Clan Ghost Bear
Rank Khan
Profession MechWarrior



Karl Bourjon was a former Khan of Clan Ghost Bear who led the Clan in the first half of Operation REVIVAL.

Early Life[edit]

Born from the Clan eugenics program in 3006, Karl won notice for his skills as a MechWarrior when he defeated the three opponents arrayed against him in his Trial of Position to test out of his sibko. While he was initially assigned to lesser-known clusters, he quickly advanced through the touman to achieve a position within the Ghost Bear's prestigious Alpha Galaxy.

Later, Karl became one of the few Ghost Bears to successfully complete the Clawing ritual. His continued success then earned him the Bloodname Bourjon and promotions to Star Colonel.

Clan Invasion[edit]

During Clan Wolf's Trial of Refusal against the impending Operation REVIVAL, the Khan and saKhan of Clan Ghost Bear were killed. The warriors of the Ghost Bears took the words of Wolf Khan Ulric Kerensky to heart, that new situations required new thinking, and quickly selected Karl Bourjon as their new Khan. Until this point, Ghost Bear was traditionally led by the Bloodhouses of Tseng and Jorgensson. His first challenge was in the preparations for the upcoming invasion of the Inner Sphere. Though he had been skilled enough to earn the Ghost Bears the second most desired attack corridor, he did not grasp the need for the logistical preparation of the invasion. Thus, Clan Ghost Bear brought little in the way of supplies with them into the Inner Sphere, following Khan Bourjon's wish to not burden homeworld holdings.[2]

The lack of supplies would quickly cause problems for the Ghost Bears, specifically Khan Bourjon. After previously conquered worlds overthrew the small garrisons left by the Ghost Bears, their invasion plans quickly fell behind their initial estimates. Not long after, the Clan experienced the loss of an entire Cluster due to an accident over Damian and the death of saKhan Theresa DelVillar on Last Frontier. This left the entire Clan demoralized and unsure of their next steps.

At the gathering to elect a new saKhan, the Ghost Bears would select Aletha Kabrinski for the position. She quickly lived up to her aggressive nature and called for the dismissal of Karl Bourjon as Khan for his failure to plan adequately for the invasion, a call that his fellow warriors agreed with unanimously. Karl did call for a Trial of Refusal against losing his position, one fought augmented as Bourjon was older and more slightly built than the MechWarrior-bred turned Aerospace pilot Bjorn Jorgensson. His tactics using jungle terrain failed, and he displayed little skill in the loss to Jorgensson's Kirghiz fighter. He was defeated by now-Khan Bjorn Jorgensson who prepared to reinvigorate the Invasion.[3][4]

Faced with returning to the homeworlds or staying with the invasion forces, Karl took a lesser rank to stay at the forefront of the fighting. He was assigned to the 7th Bear Guards which was assigned to various worlds within the Ghost Bear occupation zone, but saw no fighting until the Battle of Tukayyid.

Tukayyid[edit]

As part of the 7th Bear Guards, Karl would participate in Beta Galaxy's advance on the city of Luk as part of the Battle of Tukayyid. When the unit was ordered to support the advance into Spanac, the Twelfth Division of the Com Guards caught the Ghost Bears in an ambush by setting the Holth Forest on fire. This nullified the technological advantage of the Clan OmniMechs and drove them into prepared areas, where the Com Guards were able to destroy the 7th Bear Guards utterly. Karl Bourjon's personal prowess as a MechWarrior was displayed in the battle, and he became the last man to fall in the fighting.

References[edit]

  1. Era Report: 3052, p. 87, "Karl Bourjon profile"
  2. Field Manual: Warden Clans, p. 80
  3. Field Manual: Warden Clans, p. 81
  4. Era Report: 3052, p. 88, "Aletha Kabrinski profile"

Bibliography[edit]