Jade Falcon School of Conflict on Blackjack

Jade Falcon School of Conflict on Blackjack
Academy Information
Previous Name(s) Blackjack School of Conflict
Location Blackjack
Founding Year Jihad Era
Course Information


Blackjack School of Conflict
Blackjack School of Conflict Logo
Blackjack School of Conflict Logo
Academy Information
Location Blackjack
Founding Year Succession War era
Course Information
MechWarrior


Located on the planet of Blackjack, the Blackjack School of Conflict was the only privately run military academy in the Lyran Commonwealth until its destruction during the Clan Invasion, finally reopened by Clan Jade Falcon during the Jihad as the Jade Falcon School of Conflict on Blackjack.

Officers[edit]

Rank Name Command
Commanding Officers of Blackjack School of Conflict
Kommandant Katrina Bigelow 3025[1]
Kommandant Dean Bristow 3050[2]

History[edit]

The Blackjack School of Conflict was the only privately run military academy in the Lyran Commonwealth, and was known for producing graduates with a flair for corruption, despite being excellent warriors otherwise. Founded by tutors who'd failed the entrance exams at other academies, Blackjack School of Conflict prided itself on being open to any student who could afford the entrance fees, making it the option of choice of those lacking the political or social connections to enter other more prestigious academies. The school also differed in other ways, supposedly offering "unofficial" courses on the shadier side of real military life, with Blackjack graduates supposedly more likely to survive their military careers and retire with healthy (and questionably acquired) nest eggs than those of the Nagelring. The LCAF made no effort to clean up the school, or even force it run Katrina Steiner's mandated course on Military Ethics, for the simple reason that for all its shady dealings, the Blackjack school produced excellent soldiers.[3]

The Blackjack School of Conflict's final class was held in August 3050 when the world was attacked during Clan Jade Falcon's fourth invasion wave. The inexperienced and outgunned Blackjack Training Battalion impressed the Jade Falcon's Second Falcon Jaegers with their bravery and honorable combat. While the battalion suffered an 80% casualty rate, the impressed Falcons took a number of cadets as bondsmen and allowed the remainder to evacuate. But earning the Jade Falcons respect also earned the Steel Vipers scorn, the Vipers razing the school completely after their successful post–Battle of Tukayyid Trial of Possession for the planet.[4][2]

With control of Blackjack then traded back and forth between the Falcons and the Lyran Alliance, it wasn't until the Falcons recapture of the world in the lead-up to the Jihad and being cut off from their Clan Homeworld training facilities on Ironhold that consideration was given to rebuilding the school. While located on the same site as the Blackjack School of Conflict, the Jade Falcon School of Conflict on Blackjack has a much more Clanlike appearance and training focus, with trueborn sibkos raised in the Clan style while freeborns may try out for the school upon turning thirteen. One notable departure is a militia school, a shorter program for training troops to garrison the minor and unimportant Inner Sphere holdings of the Falcons as the Jihad stretches touman to breaking point. The first class of this rebuilt school was scheduled to graduate in 3077.[5]

The first trueborn sibko graduated from the Jade Falcon School of Conflict on Blackjack in 3079. This was a particularly impressive achievement since many of the Falcon's genetic repositories were damaged during the Jihad by local uprisings.[6] The Jade Falcon School of Conflict on Blackjack trained trueborn and freeborn warriors as well as providing police training to certain individuals. The two main courses of study were focused on MechWarriors and police.[7]

References[edit]

  1. House Steiner (The Lyran Commonwealth), p. 124
  2. 2.0 2.1 Double Down
  3. House Steiner (The Lyran Commonwealth), pp. 126, 128
  4. Jade Falcon Sourcebook, p. 41
  5. Masters and Minions: The StarCorps Dossiers, p. 134
  6. Field Report: Clans, p. 5
  7. Objectives: Clans, p. 15

Bibliography[edit]