Dorian Howe
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Dorian Howe | |
|---|---|
| Personal | |
| Born | 3032[1] |
| Affiliation | Clan Snow Raven |
| Career | |
| Rank | Star Colonel[2] |
Dorian Howe was a Bloodnamed warrior and the commanding officer of the Sixth Raven Battle Cluster of Clan Snow Raven's Alpha Galaxy as of 3061.[2]
History[edit]
Dorian made his ascent through the ranks of the Snow Raven military during his Clan's battles to claim the former Clan Smoke Jaguar and Clan Nova Cat territory on Homer. As the Star Colonel in command of the Sixth Raven Battle Cluster, he became a respected member of both his Clan and the Howe Bloodhouse—although the failure of a joint Howe-Magnus sibko made his relationship with Galaxy Commander Thorsten Magnus tenuous at best. His preferred tactic of baiting opponents into a fight worked in battle against Clan Steel Viper but against Galaxy Commander Magnus it only served to weaken the Sixth Battle Cluster's supply lines and forced repeated Trials of Possession to keep Dorian's OmniMechs in fighting shape.[1] By 3061, Dorian and the Sixth Battle Cluster were still stationed on Homer.[3] By July 3067, Dorian retained command of the Sixth Battle Cluster and was stationed on Farstar.[4]
Antallos[edit]
While the Sixth Battle Cluster continued to serve as Clan Snow Raven's best ground-based combat unit following the Clan's departure from the Clan Homeworlds, Dorian worried that his warriors' overwhelming success in battle against dishonorable pirates was causing his men to lose their edge.[1] As part of an effort to cement the bonds between Clan Snow Raven and the Outworlds Alliance, Dorian served as the senior officer in charge of a Snow Raven task force sent to cleanse the world of Antallos of the pirate bands that occupied it in late 3067.[5] Problems arose when—after the successful elimination of the pirates' aerospace forces—the anti-aerospace defenses surrounding the city of Port Krin proved more than capable of grounding the Sixth Battle Cluster's own aerospace assets.[6] Matters worsened on 5 November when a force comprised of Vance Rezak's Band of the Damned and a Word of Blake Light of Mankind Level III attacked Dorian's primary airfield, leading to severe casualties for both sides. Many of the Raven pilots perished before they could make it to their machines and a third of the 'Mechs and Elementals stationed at the airfield were eliminated, although the majority of the attacking combat vehicles and half of the pirate and Blakist 'Mechs were lost as well.[7]
After a period of recovery, the Sixth Battle Cluster launched an assault on the headquarters of The Dark, a band of former Smoke Jaguar warriors-turned-Dark Caste pirates. It was Dorian's intent to defeat the former Clansmen's OmniMechs and take their supplies in order to aid in the Ravens' recovery from the attack on their airfield. When The Dark requested honorable combat and the possibility of being taken as bondsmen, Dorian quickly retorted that the Ravens had no use for the Dark Caste and his warriors ignored all of the pirates' efforts to fight with zellbrigen. Ultimately, The Dark were entirely wiped out, but the former Clansmen destroyed their material stockpiles and claimed a number of Sixth Battle Cluster machines before they fell.[8] By 17 November, all of the pirate bands residing on the outskirts of Port Krin had been eliminated by the Snow Raven forces, allowing the Sixth Battle and Ninth Striker Clusters to begin the final assault against the heavily-defended city.[9]
While Port Krin's defenses were formidable and the pirates' prepared traps dealt moderate damage to the advancing Raven troops, the warriors under Dorian's command did not allow their advance to slow until the city was under their control. Only the arrival of Word of Blake OmniFighters and the detonation of several small-scale nuclear devices proved enough to enable the escape of the Blakists' hidden DropShips, preventing the Antallos campaign from becoming a complete victory. At the close of the battle, the survivors of the Light of Mankind ground forces and Vance Rezak were determined to have escaped off-world, but the Raven forces had succeeded in destroying numerous pirate groups and stymied the Word of Blake's operations in the Periphery.[9][5]
References[edit]
- ↑ a b c Historical Turning Points: Antallos, p. 7: "Commanders"
- ↑ a b Field Manual: Warden Clans, p. 128: "Alpha Galaxy: Swift Wing Galaxy"
- ↑ Field Manual: Warden Clans, p. 165: "Warden Clans Deployment Table - 3061"
- ↑ Field Manual: Updates, p. 79: "Warden Clans Deployment Table - 3067"
- ↑ a b Historical Turning Points: Antallos, p. 5: "The Cleansing of Antallos"
- ↑ Historical Turning Points: Antallos, p. 12: "Death from Above"
- ↑ Historical Turning Points: Antallos, pp. 13–14: "What's Wrong with this Picture?"
- ↑ Historical Turning Points: Antallos, p. 15: "Turn Out the Dark"
- ↑ a b Historical Turning Points: Antallos, pp. 18–19: "Showdown"