Aleksandr Kerensky

Aleksandr Kerensky - Regent and Protector of the Star League
Aleksandr Sergeyevich Kerensky
Character Profile
Born 16 December 2700[1]
Died 11 June 2801[1][2][3][4]
Affiliation House Kerensky
Rank Commanding General
Title(s) Defender of the First Lord
Profession MechWarrior
Parents Nikolai Kerensky (father)[1]
Anna Kerensky (mother)[1]
Spouse Katyusha Lumilova[1]
Children Nicholas Kerensky[1]
Andery Kerensky[1]

Aleksandr Sergeyevich Kerensky was the Commanding General of the Star League who later liberated Terra from the rule of the Usurper Stefan Amaris. Later, after the collapse of the Star League, he led the vast majority of the survivors of the Star League Defense Force on an Exodus into the Deep Periphery.

History[edit]

Life and career[edit]

Born in 2700, Aleksandr Kerensky studied at Tharkad University, where his achievements eventually earned him a place in the Nagelring, from which he graduated in the class of 2723.[5] He later enlisted in the military of the Star League. His rapid progression through the ranks coupled with his own personal charisma and integrity earned him the respect of his troops and made him famous throughout the Star League.

In 2729, during the War of Davion Succession, he led his first combat command against Kuritan forces on the planet Royal.[6] As of 2730, he was colonel of the 161st Royal Dragoon Regiment.

Eventually, in 2738, he became the highest military officer of the Star League Defense Force after his precursor, Rebecca Fetladral, resigned. Kerensky quickly eliminated inept officers of the SLDF and rewarded those more competent, eliminating corruption and instituting rigorous war games and drills to hone the SLDF's edge. Of this phase of his career it is known that Aleksandr Kerensky himself gave the specifications of the new Atlas BattleMech: "a 'Mech as powerful as possible, as impenetrable as possible, and as ugly and foreboding as conceivable, so that fear itself will be our ally."[7]

In 2751, First Lord Simon Cameron died and his eight-year-old son, Richard Cameron II, became First Lord of the Star League.[8] The five House Lords gathered on Terra and appointed General Aleksandr Kerensky as Commander-in-Chief of the SLDF, and as Regent and Protector of the Star League for the remainder of Richard's childhood.

Amaris coup[edit]

While Aleksandr Kerensky was away commanding SLDF forces deployed in the Periphery suppressing rebellions, revolts, and movements of secession, the Terran Hegemony was usurped by Stefan Amaris of the Rim Worlds Republic. Amaris had masterfully deceived and manipulated Richard Cameron II and had carried out the Amaris coup in 2766. Amaris gained control of the throne and murdered Richard and all remaining Camerons.[8]

Amaris-Kerensky Civil War[edit]

Amaris would try to gain Kerensky's loyalty but ultimately failed. In 2767 the Amaris-Kerensky Civil War began. In response to the usurpation, the SLDF conquered and destroyed Amaris' native Rim Worlds Republic in 2769.[9]

After regrouping and consolidating all available forces, Kerensky launched Operation CHIEFTAIN, a campaign intended to reconquer the entire Terran Hegemony. He divided his forces up into three groups, one to travel through each of the accommodating houses toward the Hegemony.

In the early stages of the campaign, Kerensky's forces reclaimed some of the Hegemony worlds but paid a very high price in lives, military equipment, and resources. As Amaris' forces withdrew to regroup, Kerensky's army advanced further, finally capturing the world closest to Terra.

On 23 January 2777, Operation LIBERATION, the final phase of Operation Terran Hegemony began, and SLDF soldiers staging from eight worlds advanced towards Terra. By November of 2779 the SLDF finally recaptured Humanity's homeworld[9] after an intensive and costly battle that saw more than 100 million killed. After discovering the fate of Richard Cameron and his family, Kerensky ordered the execution of Stefan Amaris and his family.

Liberating Terra also restored Kerensky's wife Katyusha and his sons Nicholas and Andery to him. They had been hiding in Moscow and were previously unknown even to his senior officers.[9]

However, the Hegemony was left devastated, and worst of all, there was no rightful successor for the position of First Lord. With increasing disappointment, he saw that the feuding House Lords were simply unable to choose a new leader of the Star League.

A year later, on 10 October 2780, the Council Lords gathered and stripped Kerensky of his title of "Protector."[10] Ten months later, the Lords still had not chosen a new First Lord, each claiming the title and position for him or herself, and the Council was dissolved by the Lords on 12 August 2781.[11]

Kerensky refused a proposal by General Aaron DeChavilier to overthrow the House Lords.[11] The reasons for his refusal are unknown.

Operation EXODUS[edit]

In late 2783, Kerensky attended the ceremony to commemorate the official completion of the Hilton Head HPG complex, meeting privately with Jerome Blake afterward and confiding to the Minister of Communications his intentions to leave the Inner Sphere. Though angered and confused at this course of action, as a token of his respect and friendship with the general, Blake agreed not to reveal the Exodus plan to the Great Houses. Blake would also request Kerensky to speak to any of his troops who declined to join the Exodus and ask them to support his reconstruction efforts in the Hegemony.[12][13][14][15]

On 14 February 2784, Kerensky summoned more than 200 commanders of the surviving SLDF to a secret meeting on Terra, outlining to them his plan for Operation EXODUS.[16] While the audience wholeheartedly approved of his intentions and many vowed to follow him, a small group disapproved, refusing to abandon the Hegemony and the Inner Sphere. Kerensky responded by instituting a poll in late February of every remaining member of the SLDF and giving them the option to join the mission or stay behind. By mid-March, more than 80% of the SLDF had agreed to Kerensky's proposal.[13][15]

Those who refused had a variety of reasons, but the bulk began to coalesce around the 151st Royal BattleMech Division and its outspoken CO Lauren Hayes. Concerned at leaving Hayes and her sizable SLDF forces without direction and recalling Jerome Blake's pleas for aid, Kerensky brokered a deal whereby Hayes could remain but had to obey Blake and the Ministry of Communications as the last vestige of the Star League.[12][13][14][15]

One of the general's last acts in the Inner Sphere was the final disposition of the Usurper's body, following the suggestion of one of his command staff and donating it to the University of New Samarkand's medical school, a very public and unglamorous end for the foe who had caused him and Star League such grief.[17][18]

On 8 July 2784, General Kerensky sent a single order: "Exodus." Over the next three months, ships gathered at New Samarkand. They departed that system on 5 November 2784. In Operation EXODUS six million men, women, and children followed General Aleksandr Kerensky into the Deep Periphery towards an unknown destination and future.[19] This act effectively completed the collapse of the dying Star League. It was his dream that he and his followers, or most likely their children, would eventually return to rescue a devastated Inner Sphere and reunite it under a new Star League.

Pentagon Worlds[edit]

It is unknown if Aleksandr had any clear destination, and after a year of travel morale suffered greatly, and the crews of a small number of ships rebelled[19] and announced their intention to turn back. With few alternatives, General Kerensky ordered the mutineers executed and issued General Order 137 insisting on the need for discipline but serving to bolster the fleet's flagging morale.[20]

After another year of travel, with discontent again increasing, the massive flotilla of Star League refugees came upon five marginally habitable worlds, the so-called Pentagon Worlds, which they chose to settle on.[21] Upon arrival, Kerensky transmitted a personal message back to the Inner Sphere. This message was called the "Voice of Kerensky." After that, Kerensky and his followers tried to recreate a new Star League in Exile as best as possible. However within a year, cracks were beginning to form along cultural lines and soon the Pentagon Worlds were entering what would be later called the Exodus Civil War, a state of anarchy and widespread devastation eerily similar to the early Succession Wars affecting the Inner Sphere. Increasingly frail after the death of his wife Katyusha in 2796[22] and friend Aaron DeChavilier during what would become known as the DeChavilier Massacre,[23] Kerensky in the midst of putting down more rebellions when he suffered a massive heart attack.[24]

Death[edit]

In 2801, General Aleksandr Kerensky died at the age of 100 years, and as his dying wish left the remnants of the exiled Star League in the hands of his son, Nicholas Kerensky.[citation needed] Kerensky's death was the last nail in the Star League in Exile coffin: his son was not accepted as successor by the majority of SLDF high-ranking officers. Nicholas was forced to launch a Second Exodus to Strana Mechty, to save something of the imminent disaster.[24]

General Kerensky was laid in a specially made glass coffin aboard the McKenna's Pride in a geosynchronous orbit above Katyusha City, Strana Mechty. A Star of troops from each Clan rotates monthly to guard the body. Following the successful capture of Terra in 3151, Kerensky's body was interred on Terra.[25]

BattleMechs[edit]

Kerensky originally piloted a customized Orion BattleMech. Its worn-out shell was left behind on the eve of the Exodus. This same Orion was recovered and refurbished by House Kurita some two centuries later and piloted by Theodore Kurita. It was eventually destroyed at the battle of Marfik during the Fourth Succession War.[26]

Kerensky also briefly piloted an Atlas II in combat during the New Vandenberg Uprising.[27]

Notes[edit]

  • In addition to playing a key role in the design of the Atlas, Kerensky was also responsible for the design of the King Crab.[28]
  • It is also said that Kerensky himself had drawn up the specifications for the Devastator BattleMech, to make up for the flaws of the Titan. He wanted a machine capable of doing tremendous damage at long range.[29]
  • The novel Destiny's Call has other characters referring to Aleksandr Kerensky as "Alek." In Russian, the nickname for Aleksandr is actually "Sascha" or "Sasha," or, much more rarely: "Alik";[30] it has not been commented on if the use of "Alek" as a nickname instead is an intentional plot point or an error. Although it is also likely it is just one of many cases of cultural blending in the future setting.
  • As of 2784, Illya Ivaovitch was his aide.[31]
  • He was the editor of A Primer to Tactics and Strategy: 34th Edition.[32][33]
  • He wrote Applied Concepts of Attack and Defense. during the final years of the Star League.[34]

Quotes[edit]

A 'Mech as powerful as possible, as impenetrable as possible, and as ugly and foreboding as conceivable, so that fear itself will be our ally
  — On the Atlas[35]
Politics is supposed to be the second oldest profession. I have come to realize that it bears a very close semblance to the first.
Return to the Inner Sphere is impossible for us. Our heritage and our convictions are different from those we left behind. The greed of the five Great Houses and the Council Lords is a disease that can only be burned away by the passing of decades, even centuries. And though the fighting may seem to slow, or even cease, it will erupt again as long as there are powerful men to covet one another's wealth. We shall live apart, conserving all the good of the Star League and ridding ourselves of the bad, so that when we return, and return we shall, our shining moral character will be as much our shield as our BattleMechs and fighters.
  — The Hidden Hope Doctrine of General Order 137

[20]

To all citizens of the Inner Sphere do I, Aleksandr Kerensky, send greetings.
Know that I have taken the remnant of the Star League Defense Force which has remained true to its purpose beyond the boundaries of the Inner Sphere, beyond the Periphery. I have done this, neither out of disappointment with those whom we leave behind, nor out of spite or disdain, as some will say. No, we have left the Inner Sphere because we love it too much to see it destroyed. In the wake of the Usurper's coup, and the long, bitter fighting that came with it, I fear that my forces would do incalculable, possibly irreparable, harm to our society. We are sworn to ward the Star League and its subjects, not destroy it.
Thus, we have left the only homes we have ever known to place the destructive capability of this armada beyond the reach of those who would use it, not for defense, but for conquest. Perhaps, with the might of our 'Mechs and ships out of reach, the leaders who now grapple with one another will relinquish their dreams of subjugating their neighbors and learn to live in peace with them.
Perhaps, one day, should mankind step back from the brink of the abyss, we, our children, or our children's children will return, to once more serve and protect and guide the Star League in mankind's quest for the stars.
Farewell.
  — The "Voice of Kerensky," September 9, 2786

Titles and Positions[edit]

Preceded by Commander-in-Chief of the Star League Defense Force
27382801
Succeeded by
Preceded by
None
Regent of the Star League
27512762
Succeeded by
None
Preceded by
None
Protector of the Star League
27512780
Succeeded by
None

Gallery[edit]

References[edit]

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 Historical: Liberation of Terra Volume 1, pp. 58–59: "Aleksandr Kerensky"
  2. Era Digest: Golden Century, p. 8
  3. Operation Klondike, p. 102
  4. The Clans: Warriors of Kerensky, pp. 6, 9
  5. Warriors of Kerensky, p. 6
  6. Era Report: 2750, p. 32
  7. Era Report: 2750, p. 53
  8. 8.0 8.1 Historical: Operation Klondike, p. 12
  9. 9.0 9.1 9.2 Historical: Operation Klondike, p. 13
  10. Historical: Operation Klondike, p. 101
  11. 11.0 11.1 Historical: Operation Klondike, p. 14
  12. 12.0 12.1 Masters and Minions: The StarCorps Dossiers, p. 205: "ComStar - Network Online"
  13. 13.0 13.1 13.2 ComStar, pp. 11–13: "History - Birth of ComStar - Operation Exodus - The First Circuit - Operation Silver Shield"
  14. 14.0 14.1 Field Manual: ComStar, p. 11: "Shadow Games"
  15. 15.0 15.1 15.2 Historical: Liberation of Terra Volume 2, p. 115: "Aftermath - Crisis in the SLDF - Planning for Exile - Disposing of the Usurper"
  16. Historical: Operation Klondike, p. 15
  17. House Davion (The Federated Suns), p. 59: "History - Under the Star League - Dissolution - Amaris's Grave"
  18. Historical: Liberation of Terra Volume 2, p. 115: "Aftermath - Crisis in the SLDF - Planning for Exile - Disposing of the Usurper"
  19. 19.0 19.1 Historical: Operation Klondike, p. 16
  20. 20.0 20.1 Historical: Operation Klondike, p. 17
  21. Historical: Operation Klondike, p. 18
  22. Historical: Operation Klondike, p. 19
  23. Historical: Operation Klondike, pp. 20–21
  24. 24.0 24.1 Historical: Operation Klondike, p. 22
  25. Hour of the Wolf, ch. 40: "Court of the Star League 28 April 3151, 0900 Hours"
  26. Heir to the Dragon
  27. The Star League, p. 81
  28. Technical Readout: 3025, p. 120
  29. McCarron's Armored Cavalry, p. 19
  30. TV Tropes Article on Russian Naming Conventions
  31. Mercenary's Handbook, p. 7
  32. Field Manual: SLDF, p. 11
  33. Historical: Liberation of Terra Volume 1, p. 126
  34. Wolf Clan Sourcebook, p. 14: "Clan Society"
  35. Technical Readout: 3025, p. 122

Bibliography[edit]