Sarah McEvedy

Sarah McEvedy
Sarah McEvedy
Character Profile
Affiliation Clan Wolverine
Rank Khan
Parents James McEvedy (father)


Sarah McEvedy was the first Khan of Clan Wolverine. After Clan Wolverine was supposedly destroyed in a Trial of Annihilation, it is widely believed McEvedy led the Wolverine survivors to the Inner Sphere to rebuild a new society based on the principles and traditions of the Star League.

Appearance

Sarah McEvedy is described in January 2801 as being tall, with short brown hair, pale clear skin, a small mouth and flashing eyes by Andery Kerensky, who regarded her as one of the most striking women he had ever seen.[1]

History

Sarah McEvedy was the daughter of SLDF Lieutenant General James McEvedy, the last Commanding Officer of the 331st Royal BattleMech Division, though he was not previously known to have any dependents.[2][3] Little else is known of her biography, as her personal record among the Clans was expunged along with all mentions of Clan Wolverine and its members. What is known from Star League records is that McEvedy was a highly courageous MechWarrior and well-respected command-level officer within the 331st. She was a firm believer in the morals and principles of the Star League, especially democracy and free thinking, and was a loyal follower of SLDF Commanding General Aleksandr Kerensky and his strong code of honor.[citation needed]

On February 14, 2784, General Kerensky announced his plan for an Exodus to depart the Inner Sphere[4], calling upon all loyal Star League citizens and SLDF troops to join him in order to continue the legacy of the Star League. Sarah McEvedy, her family and the entire 331st eagerly answered Kerensky's summons and departed for New Samarkand to meet up with Kerensky.[citation needed] On November 5, 2784, Kerensky led his followers into exile.[5]

Clan Wolverine

In 2786, the Star League exiles found their new home, the so-called Pentagon Worlds, and began to start their new lives. McEvedy and her family, along with the entire V Corps (including the 331st), colonized Circe.[citation needed]

By 2801, unsolvable differences and discontent among the exiles led to the Exodus Civil War. Nicholas Kerensky, son of Aleksandr, called for a Second Exodus to escape the violence and build yet another society, one that combined socialism with the ideals of the Star League. Nicholas' rhetorical speeches, along with his own and his father's reputation, convinced McEvedy and much of the 331st to join Nicholas.[citation needed]

On 31 December 2801, the first clash between two SLDF Divisions to occur during the Pentagon Civil War occurred in Banlan Woods, a region on the Purgatory Peninsula of Eden near the city of Vesta. Among the forces loyal to Nicholas Kerensky involved in the battle was Major Andery Kerensky and the forces directly commanded by him. At the time, Sarah McEvedy was a part of the forces attacking the Kerensky loyalists. Out of ammunition and suffering from extensive repairs and a lack of maintenance time, the Exterminator BattleMech piloted by Andery was nearly destroyed by an opposing Highlander BattleMech. Andery was saved at the last moment by a badly damaged Excalibur BattleMech from the opposing forces that intervened directly, killing the pilot of the Highlander. As the Highlander was the command 'Mech of the opposing forces, this caused the vanguard of the opposing forces to fall into disarray, giving the loyalists time to disengage, and for the orbiting Aegis-class heavy cruiser SLS Minotaur to cover the retreat of the loyalist forces with an orbital bombardment. Andery subsequently learned that the pilot of the Excalibur who had turned against her commanding officer and in so doing, saved his life and that of his command was, in fact, the then-Captain Sarah McEvedy.[1]

McEvedy befriended Nicholas and his younger brother, Andery.[6] This, along with her own reputation, gave McEvedy enough political clout to be elected as the first Khan of Clan Wolverine when Nicholas announced the founding of the Clans in 2807.[7][8] McEvedy's loyal soldiers from the 331st, that accompanied her to Strana Mechty, became part of the Clan Wolverine touman.[citation needed]

On 13 August 2809, Sarah McEvedy faced Khan of Clan Steel Viper Ellie Kinnison in the first Trial of Grievance after Kinnison called McEvedy a liar in front of the Clan Council.[9]

In 2821, the Clans commenced Operation KLONDIKE, the invasion and takeover of the Pentagon Worlds. Clan Wolverine was part of the invasion force that retook Circe. They faced the Rasmussen Elite, where McEvedy engaged them in a manner contrary to what would become the standard Clan Rules of Engagement.[10]

The surviving members of V Corps that remained on Circe joined the Wolverine touman.[citation needed] On Eden, McEvedy's friend Andery Kerensky was killed in action under suspicious circumstances; McEvedy was rumored to have blamed Andery's brother Nicholas.[2][11]

Khan McEvedy encouraged the members of her Clan to cooperate with each other instead of remaining separate as other Clans practiced. She emphasized developing a strong economic and agricultural base, as well as researching and manufacturing superior military equipment (one such result was the ER PPC), along with superior training for her warriors. As a result, Clan Wolverine became one of the strongest Clans, thus earning the Wolverines much jealousy from other clans.[citation needed]

Khan McEvedy oversaw research and development of new BattleMech designs for the Wolverines, including the Mercury II, Stag, Stag II, and Pulverizer, as well as advanced (at the time) prototypes of the ER PPC.[12]

Downfall

Clan historical records were falsified, purged and otherwise tampered with regarding the subsequent events, though it seems this forged history is accepted as accurate by the Clans. Clan Wolverine was wiped out and became the "Not-Named-Clan," and their history was rewritten to paint them in a bad light.[citation needed][13]

Official history

Their, and Sarah McEvedy's, accepted (but false) history is as follows:

By 2823, jealousy had earned the Wolverines fear and hatred from their rivals, particularly Clan Widowmaker. Khan Cal Jorgensson of the Widowmakers approached ilKhan Kerensky and asked him to keep a close eye on Clan Wolverine, particularly the actions of Khan McEvedy, who by that time was notorious in the Grand Council for her vehement opposition against the ilKhan's dictatorial actions. McEvedy was noted for either completely ignoring or publicly criticizing any order from the ilKhan or Grand Council that she believed violated the ideals of the Star League. As Kerensky became more and more suspicious of McEvedy, he ordered the formation of an intelligence agency that answered only to himself: the Watch.[citation needed]

On 28 August 2823, the ilKhan ordered that a Wolverine Brian Cache on Circe that contained equipment formerly belonging to the 331st RBD be shared with one of Clan Wolverine's rivals, Clan Snow Raven. Khan McEvedy strenuously objected to this order as she was strongly opposed to the socialist principles that Nicholas endorsed, starting a heated political debate that lasted until September 30th, when the Grand Council finally decided to resolve the issue by taking a vote. When the final tally was counted, Clan Wolverine had lost; McEvedy protested once again. The Council once again ignored McEvedy's protest, whereupon she called for a Trial of Refusal. On October 7th, Clan Wolverine fought in the Trial and lost. The following day, all hell broke loose.[citation needed]


True history

Sarah McEvedy was in fact friends with Snow Raven Khan Joyce Merrell. Her progressive and successful Clan was seen as a rival by a group of others centered around Clan Widowmaker Khan Jason Karrige, a former friend of McEvedy who harbored an unspecified personal grudge after what McEvedy had considered a misunderstanding. This group felt empowered by ilKhan Nicholas Kerensky's disapproval of the Wolverine's cavalier attitude towards the tenets of his model society while Karrige deliberately fanned the flames from behind the scenes and incited a clandestine intelligence war.

The Brian Cache that contained equipment of the 331st, as well as several nuclear warheads, was claimed by Clan Jade Falcon despite being in Wolverine territory, apparently without legal basis and more because of an ongoing scheme to provoke the Wolverines into trials where their opponents sought to inflict maximum material damage on them instead of merely winning the trial. Because of the nuclear weapons the matter was brought before the Grand Council despite the Wolverines having prevailed in a trial against the Jade Falcons. Unhappy with the ruling, McEvedy fought a Trial of Refusal together with her saKhan Dwight Robertson that the Wolverines lost; in this trial the Widowmaker opponents (fighting for the Grand Council) ganged up first on Robertson and then on McEvedy in an apparent attempt to kill them, killing Robertson and wounding McEvedy.

Realizing how her Clan was being whittled down with the apparent consent of the ilKhan, McEvedy and her confidant and newly appointed saKhan Franklin Hallis implemented Operation Switchback—the mass exodus of Clan Wolverine from Clan space and back to the Inner Sphere.

In a Grand Council session on 10 October 2823, ilKhan Kerensky refused to accept Hallis as the new Wolverine saKhan on grounds of rules he made up on the spot, and ordered him to leave. The overall atmosphere deteriorated further anti-Wolverine when McEvedy called the Grand Council out on their bias and double standards. Clan Wolverine then began the clandestine acquisition of mothballed JumpShips and WarShips under Hallis while McEvedy continued to reason with the ilKhan, if only playing for time.

During the later evacuation of Clan Wolverine under fire from other Clans, Khan Sarah McEvedy was seemingly killed aboard the grounded DropShip Huron when unknown perpetrators detonated a nuclear device in the city and framed the Wolverines for the act (masterminded by Jason Karrige personally). This prompted Clan Snow Raven to deploy a nuclear weapon in turn, which however misfired and accidentally detonated over their own capital city of Dehra Dun—another atrocity that would later be falsely blamed on Clan Wolverine.

Unbeknownst to Clan Wolverine, Sarah McEvedy had survived the nuclear explosion, albeit heavily wounded. Crippled and helpless, she was kept as a prisoner aboard ilKhan Nicholas Kerensky's flagship Rough Rider as the Clans' Grand Fleet pursued the fleeing Wolverine fleet. Ultimately, most of Clan Wolverine was caught and slaughtered in the Barbados system in 2824. After the conclusion of the genocide, the machinations of Widowmaker Khan Jason Karrige were uncovered (including his part in the nuclear escalation) and Franklin Hallis was allowed to kill Karrige before being effectively executed himself.

Kerensky buried Hallis himself, and marked the grave with "Khan Franklin Hallis," thus acknowledging him as the final Khan of Clan Wolverine. A second grave marker for Sarah McEvedy was set up on undisturbed earth. While giving a personal, private eulogy on Clan Wolverine's potential promise that was doomed by their defiance, Nicholas overhears Sarah McEvedy accuse Nicholas of genocide and how their growls would haunt him. It is unclear if it was merely Nicholas' thoughts or if McEvedy was secretly present.

Later, when the surviving Wolverine remnant under Trish Ebon found the site, a heavily scarred and hobbled woman whom Ebon disbelievingly identified as a surviving Wolverine warrior appeared and hugged her. It is possible (but unconfirmed) that this was Sarah McEvedy, left to die by Nicholas Kerensky on the world where her Clan had been annihilated.[14]

Trial of Annihilation

McEvedy immediately departed Strana Mechty and returned to Circe, where saKhan Hallis was overseeing preparations for a Third Exodus, in which Clan Wolverine would return to the Inner Sphere. On October 11, the Grand Council made the fateful decision of declaring a Trial of Annihilation against Clan Wolverine after the Wolverines had destroyed a Snow Raven genetic repository with a tactical nuclear weapon. Clan Wolf won the right to destroy the Wolverines; a month later, the Wolves declared victory after killing Hallis and eliminating all Wolverine holdings and personnel in Clan space.[citation needed]

On January 22, 2824, the Loremaster from Clan Wolf came before the Grand Council to present Clan Wolf's final report on the results of the Trial of Annihilation. The report stated the following facts:

  • 1. All Wolverine front-line warriors encountered were annihilated, including saKhan Franklin Hallis.
  • 2. Most of the Wolverine second-line troops and civilian castes were unaccounted for.
  • 3. Most of the known Wolverine supply caches had been hastily ransacked, presumably by the Wolverines themselves, especially the Brian Cache full of 331st equipment that the ilKhan had ordered be shared with the Snow Ravens.
  • 4. Most disturbingly, Khan Sarah McEvedy was missing; whereabouts unknown.[15]

The Council concluded that these discrepancies were due to bad recordkeeping, but suspected that McEvedy had managed to escape along with much of Clan Wolverine, most likely to the Inner Sphere. To this day, Sarah McEvedy's fate remains unknown.[citation needed]


References

  1. 1.0 1.1 Fall From Glory, part 3, ch. 29 & epilogue
  2. 2.0 2.1 Historical: Operation Klondike, p. 115
  3. Jihad Secrets: The Blake Documents, p. 119
  4. Historical: Operation Klondike, p. 15
  5. Historical: Operation Klondike, p. 16
  6. Visions of Rebirth, Chapter 14
  7. Historical: Operation Klondike, p. 103
  8. Visions of Rebirth, ch. 20
  9. Visions of Rebirth, ch. 27
  10. Historical: Operation Klondike, p. 75
  11. Jihad Secrets: The Blake Documents, p. 122
  12. Jihad Secrets: The Blake Documents, pp. 148–150
  13. Historical: Operation Klondike, p. 73: "Lies, Damn Lies and Cover-Ups"
  14. Betrayal of Ideals
  15. Jihad Secrets: The Blake Documents, p. 120

Bibliography