Jade Falcon Guards (Clan Jade Falcon)

(Redirected from Falcon Guards)
This article is about the military unit. For the novel, see Falcon Guard (novel).
CJF Falcon Guards.png
Jade Falcon Guards Cluster
Formed 2823
Nickname Pryde's Pride (since 3052)
Affiliation Clan Jade Falcon
Parent Command Gamma Galaxy

History[edit]

Formed in the immediate aftermath of the Culling, the Falcon Guards were one of the oldest and most respected units in the Clan Jade Falcon touman.[1] Until 3050, command of the Falcon Guards was seen as a prerequisite for Khanship and freeborns were not allowed in the unit's ranks.[2]

Operation REVIVAL[edit]

Early gains[edit]

The Falcon Guards were one of the premier units in the Jade Falcon touman at the beginning of the Clan invasion of the Inner Sphere. In the first three waves of Operation REVIVAL, they captured five worlds. They destroyed four enemy regiments, including the Twelfth Donegal Guards while nearly capturing Victor Steiner-Davion on Trell I,[3] destroying the Seventeenth Skye Rangers on Barcelona, the Second Grave Walkers on Toland, and the Twelfth Star Guards second regiment on Apollo.[4] Those foes they captured and the civilians they administered were surprised at the level of mercy they showed.[2] Their commander, Star Colonel Adler Malthus, was well regarded as an exemplary Jade Falcon warrior.[5]

Twycross and rebuilding[edit]

Main article: Battle of Twycross

In 3050, the Guards were single-handedly destroyed at the battle of the Great Gash on Twycross by Kai Allard-Liao. The magnitude of the defeat was so great that the Guards were disgraced. Khan Crichell wanted to wipe the unit from the rolls, but his saKhan intervened, arguing that doing so would be a waste of the long and storied history of the unit.[2] Joanna was mentioned as the only survivor of the Guards.[6]

After Twycross, the Falcon Guards were slowly rebuilt and command was given to Star Colonel Aidan Pryde, the Khans viewing it appropriate to give a dezgra Cluster to a disgraced Star Colonel. Unlike the unit that landed on Twycross, the new Falcon Guards were filled with freeborns, troublemakers, solahma, and other dezgra troops.[2]

Tukayyid[edit]

The Falcon Guards regained a great deal of their prestige under Pryde's command on Tukayyid. During that battle, Trinaries Alpha, Beta, and Gamma served as the main attack force. Trinary Delta served as Scouts, while Trinary Echo was stretched along the whole line of battle to serve as flank cover. They held off the advancing Com Guards, allowing many Falcon warriors who would otherwise have been killed or captured to escape. Following Tukayyid, the Falcon Guards were nicknamed "Pryde's Pride." In fact the Falcon Guards were the only Jade Falcon unit to achieve any success during the battle, though Aidan Pryde was killed covering the retreat of his troops.[2]

Aftermath[edit]

Being considered a prestige unit only elite warriors were assigned to the Falcon Guards. After the heavy losses on Tukayyid most remaining elite and veteran warriors were freeborns. In later years, mainly warriors fresh from the sibkos were assigned to the Falcon Guards.[citation needed]

Refusal War[edit]

During the Refusal War the Jade Falcon Guards faced the Thirteenth Wolf Guards on Twycross. There a warrior, Star Commander Joanna, from the Guards killed Natasha Kerensky.[7][8] The Falcon Guards fought the Wolf Guards to a standstill.[9][10][11]

Hegira War[edit]

The Falcon Guards also fought against the Steel Vipers in 3061. The Steel Viper Warrior caste has a strong distaste for freeborns even by the standards of Clan trueborns in general, and tried to wipe out the Falcon Guards, with their heavy contingent of freeborn warriors. However, the Falcon Guards proved to be a tough opponent, even for the elite Triasch Keshik.[12] Though they were outmatched, the freeborn Diana Pryde managed to destroy the 'Mech of Khan Perigard Zalman. Upon seeing this, the rest of the Steel Vipers fled. For this action, Diana Pryde was promoted to the rank of Star Captain.[citation needed]

Operation AUDACITY[edit]

In 3064 a Trinary of the Falcon Guards was stationed on Twycross as an honor guard. Archer Christifori knew that defeating this unit on this planet would enrage a host of other Jade Falcon units enough to leave their positions and hunt him down, thus taking pressure off the Lyran Alliance. He attacked that Trinary, which accidentally broke zellbrigen. Several Clusters, including the rest of the Falcon Guards, attacked Christifori's combat group, but were defeated as reinforcements arrived. Star Captain Diana Pryde was among the few survivors.

Several months later, Diana Pryde was promoted to Star Colonel and commander of the Falcon Guards, which were scheduled for rebuild.[13]

Jihad and destruction[edit]

The Falcon Guards were destroyed in March 3072 during Operation ICE STORM, the Clan Ice Hellion invasion of the Jade Falcon Occupation Zone. Acting as a part of a combined Jade Falcon and Clan Hell's Horses force mustered to battle the surviving elements of the Clan Ice Hellion touman which had retreated to the Waystation in the Dark Nebula, the Falcon Guards were serving alongside the Jade Falcon Delta Galaxy and several Stars of aerospace fighters and assault DropShips and the Hell's Horses Theta Galaxy.[14]

Opposing the Jade Falcon and Hell's Horses forces were the remnants of the Ice Hellion Beta Galaxy along with two WarShips, the Fredasa-class corvette CIH Whelp and the badly-damaged Lola III-class destroyer CIH Cold Hunter all under the overall command of the Hellion's saKhan, Connor Rood. The Cold Hunter was in no condition to fight, and surrendered before the Falcon forces reached firing distance; the Potemkin-class cruiser CIH Coterie arrived at the nadir jump point shortly after the allied Falcon and Horses launched their assault, leaving it too far away to assist. That left the Whelp and the minimal fighter presence to defend Beta Galaxy, and the Whelp did her best to disrupt the attack, gutting a part of the incoming wave of enemy forces before being savaged by assault DropShips.[14]

The Whelp was responsible for the destruction of the Falcon Guards when she destroyed both DropShips transporting the Guards. One of the two Falcon Guards DropShips, the CJF Falcon Xi, managed to reorient itself as it began breaking apart, and launched a final volley against the underbelly of the Whelp. While the Falcon Xi was destroyed, that last parting shot penetrated the Whelp's armor, venting a substantial portion of the ship into space. A Star of Jade Falcon fighters took advantage of this, launching an attack that destroyed the Whelp's bridge.[14][15]

It is unknown if Diana Pryde, the Guards' commander, was aboard the DropShips, but she survived her unit's destruction, later dying in the Fritz Donner bombing on Arc-Royal in 3073 when assisted to a summit to fight the Word of Blake Jihad.

Dark Age[edit]

The Falcon Guards weren't reconstituited as a unit until the year 3150 in the Dark Age, as part of the Falcon's Gamma Galaxy, probably as part of the Falcon's growing to the campaign of Terra. A year later, they received their baptism of fire in the battle for Geneva, Terra's capital. The urban fight took a heavy toll on the unit. The Guards didn't appear to be fanatical followers of Malvina Hazen's Mongol Doctrine.[16]

In Mexico, the guard saved Malvina's life against the Old Guard Regiment, winning themselves a great reputation, but, like all Falcon units, suffered heavy losses in the campaign, and were all but destroyed in the final trial against the Wolves, though its leader, Star Colonel Marv Roshak, survived. It is unknown if the Guards were recomposed after the trial.[17]

Officers[edit]

Rank Name Command
Commanding Officers of the Jade Falcon Guards
Star Colonel Adam Calbot First Commander[18][19]
Star Colonel Cynthia Helmer [18][19]
Star Colonel Mar Helmer [18]
Star Colonel Adler Malthus 3050[20][18][19]
Star Colonel Aidan Pryde 3052[21]
Star Colonel Ravill Pryde 3053[21]
Star Colonel Diana Pryde 3064
Star Colonel Marv Roshak 3150

Tactics[edit]

Unknown.

Composition History[edit]

3050[edit]

Twelve 'Mech Stars, six Elemental Stars. Supported by the Aegis-class Jade Talon, Overlord-sized Raptor and Starbird.[22]

  • Jade Falcon Guards Cluster
    • Cluster Command Star
    • Trinary Alpha
    • Trinary Bravo
    • Trinary Charlie
    • Trinary Delta
    • Trinary Echo
      • (1 OmniMech/Elemental Nova, 2 Elemental Stars)

3052[edit]

  • Jade Falcon Guards Cluster[23]
    • Cluster Command Star
    • Trinary Alpha
    • Trinary Bravo
    • Trinary Charlie
    • Trinary Delta
    • Trinary Echo
      • (1 OmniMech/Elemental Nova, 2 Elemental Stars)

3059[edit]

3067[edit]

Jade Falcon Guards (Veteran/Fanatical)[24]

Note: At this point in time the unit was stationed on Sudeten with an operational readiness of 45 percent.[24]

References[edit]

  1. ↑ Era Report: 3052, p. 46
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 Era Report: 3052, p. 48
  3. ↑ Jade Falcon Sourcebook, p. 26: "Trell I"
  4. ↑ The Battle for Twycross, p. 7
  5. ↑ The Battle for Twycross, p. 12
  6. ↑ Operation Audacity, p. 10
  7. ↑ Bred for War, p. 290
  8. ↑ Era Report: 3062, p. 133
  9. ↑ Era Report: 3062, pp. 93, 132
  10. ↑ The Falcon and the Wolf, p. 30
  11. ↑ Technical Readout: 3050 Upgrade, p. 144
  12. ↑ Era Report: 3062, p. 24
  13. ↑ Technical Readout: 3050 Upgrade, p. 126
  14. ↑ 14.0 14.1 14.2 The Wars of Reaving, p. 85: "Icy Fire"
  15. ↑ Jihad Secrets: The Blake Documents, p. 30: March 3072 - At Dark Nebula the Whelp is destroyed by Combined Horses/Falcon Aerospace forces.
  16. ↑ Hour of the Wolf, pp. 119–120
  17. ↑ Hour of the Wolf, p. 348
  18. ↑ 18.0 18.1 18.2 18.3 Jade Falcon Sourcebook, p. 56
  19. ↑ 19.0 19.1 19.2 Field Manual, Crusader Clans, p. 100
  20. ↑ The Battle for Twycross, p. 7
  21. ↑ 21.0 21.1 Era Report: 3062, pp. 92, 160
  22. ↑ The Battle for Twycross, pp. 18–19
  23. ↑ Battle of Tukayyid Supplemental, p. 21: "Strategic Battles: Robyn's Crossing"
  24. ↑ 24.0 24.1 Field Manual: Updates, pp. 72–73

Bibliography[edit]

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