History of Clan Cloud Cobra

This article details the history of Clan Cloud Cobra. For more information, see Clan Cloud Cobra.

Early Years

Captain Windham Khatib was one of the few survivors of the 335th BattleMech Division, which had been destroyed in the Amaris Civil War. The horrors of that war, particularly the death of his grandmother Pope Lanai Madonn, inspired Captain Khatib to seek a new beginning for humanity. However, after the Exodus Fleet's arrival at the Pentagon Worlds, ancient rivalries and discontent caused fighting to break out, and Aleksandr Kerensky suffered a heart attack. His son Nicholas gathered his father's loyal disciples, Captain Khatib among them, and led them on the Second Exodus to Strana Mechty, where the Clans would be forged.

Though Windham Khatib was Clan Cloud Cobra's first Khan, Vice Admiral Rafe Kardaan was chosen as his saKhan in order to help make up for Khatib's martial weaknesses. Together with thirty-eight other men and women, the Clan trained extensively, and during Operation Klondike was assigned to capture the world of Babylon alongside Clan Coyote, Clan Ice Hellion and Clan Sea Fox.

Operation Klondike

SABLE SUN

Working under the direction of Khan of Clan Star Adder Absalom Truscott, ships from every Clan worked to gather intelligence about the Pentagon worlds. Most of the ships, however, came from the Cloud Cobras and Clan Snow Raven. A small boarding party of Cloud Cobras was inserted aboard the naval cache at Babylon, which would aid greatly in capturing it later.

The Pentagon Run

Prior to and during the beginning of the main ground operations that characterize Operation Klondike, saKhan Kardaan led forces in pursuit of the rebel spacefarers who lived aboard JumpShips and sometimes WarShips and space stations above the Pentagon Worlds. As overall commander of naval operations in the Babylon system, he helped to ensure that the space above the world was secured before touching down on the planet. This task would see him chasing rebels through multiple star systems while commanding a force drawn from across the Clans. Khan Khatib would be on his own during the opening months of the grand reconquest.

Solath Landing

Four Clans were selected to land on Babylon. Their target was the continent of Solath, around the vicinity of the city-state of Camlaan. Each of the four Clans had their own thoughts about the main goals of their mission. The Cobra focus was to be on saving the survivors of the Pentagon Civil War from themselves and bringing them into the fold of the Clan Way. Reality after the drop was quite different. As Clan Coyote and Clan Sea Fox advanced on Camlaan directly, Cloud Cobra aerospace fighter Stars spotted reinforcements moving in from nearly every direction. Most pressing were rebel forces advancing rapidly toward their drop zone. Khan Khatib had his ground forces stay back and guard their DropShips, while help soon arrived in the form of Clan Ice Hellion and Khan Stephan Cage, flanking the rebels as the Cobra aerospace assets strafed the enemy ranks. Losses were sustained to the Cobras, but these would pale in comparison to the final cost of the campaign.

Clan Coyote Khan Dana Kufahl's abandonment of Clan Sea Fox to face Camlaan and its many reinforcements alone caused the other Clans to avoid the prospect of working alongside them. After this incident, the Sea Foxes struck off on their own, recovering from the loss of their Khan. By contrast, the Cobras and Ice Hellions saw the wisdom of continuing to support each other for the duration of the campaign.

New Drineshane

To the east and south they turned, easily seizing Hope, a settlement on the eastern shore that once was a hub of space and sea trade. Using this as a base of operations, the two Clans spread out, advancing on settlements large and small. They would take a settlement called New Drineshane after a nighttime attack, driving off or destroying the defenders in short order. The next day, saKhan Kardaan (who had arrived back on-planet by this point) led his aerospace fighter Stars on reconnaissance duty, while the bulk of Clan Ice Hellion also set off for the same reason. Four Stars of Cobra BattleMechs commanded by Khan Khatib remained when suddenly over a regiment of enemy 'Mechs led by three rebel commanders poured up from the sewers to beset the garrison force. Within minutes, a fighter Star was on the scene with more coming soon after, strafing the sea of targets underneath them. In a little under an hour, the Ice Hellions raced in to help sweep the attackers aside, driving them off to eventually be destroyed, but only after several more hours of fighting. Less than half the Cobra 'Mechs remained functional, and several fighters were lost. The Clan survived, but at dear cost.

Disaster Relief

After the last settlements of Solath were taken under the Clan banner, the two Clans would cross the straits of Shoshi'i, taking the islands that dotted the straits between Solath and the continent of Corsen. As their operation progressed, the unpredictable happened: a massive volcanic eruption wreaked havoc across the region. Earthquakes and tsunamis leveled villages and left thousands dead and homeless. Khan Khatib stepped forward and rallied his troops, not to fight but to aid the stricken people, providing medicine and food as well as assisting them at finding new shelter and rebuilding. Khan Cage of the Ice Hellions would assist when and where he could while commanding attacks that were still taking place in areas away from the shores on the southern continent.

Corsen

The city of Gralen occupied a key area along the straits dividing the continents. It would fall after six days of aerial assault by saKhan Kardaan and his forces, clearing the way to move inland. Kardaan would work closely with Khan Cage, planning every step of the fighting carefully, preserving both of their Clans' forces. The proto-state called The Oppenreich was perched high in the mountains of Corsen. Its lands were easily defensible, and the natives knew well how to use the lands around them to their advantage. Executing a carefully woven plan that involved half of saKhan Kardaan's fighter pilots being used as ground spotters for surgical airstrikes in concert with jump capable elements of the Ice Hellion forces, the Clans would come to victory after many more weeks of methodical but costly fighting. Operation Klondike was soon over, though unrest would crop up from time to time for years yet to come.

Aftermath

Well over half of the Cloud Cobras' forces were lost during the course of the campaign, setting the Clan back militarily. Efforts to put down further dissent that cropped up after the Pentagon Campaign would serve to further weaken their numbers. Khan Khatib would step down from his position to heed a higher calling, wandering about Clan space in search of way to heal the spirit of all Clans. His efforts would lead to the founding of what would later become known as the Josian Cloister.

The Golden Century

Soon after the Annihilation of the Not-Named Clan, the Cloud Cobras would face their own internal rebellions against what their new society was becoming. Of all the Clans who faced similar situations, the Cloud Cobra internal strife was held with the highest degree of secrecy. Reports are scarce, but in one instance involving Alpha Galaxy Rafe Kardaan, newly elected to the position of Khan, was forced to execute 70% of the warriors involved following trials to determine their guilt. Only the most steadfast Cloud Cobra warrior who acted in harmony with the Clan Way survived these quiet purges of dissension in the ranks. Those left behind after the purge were a stronger and more unified group, strong enough to guard their Clan through these early years of strife and into the new era.

With Khan Kardaan leading them, Clan Cloud Cobra's scientific community flourished, excelling in the fields of genetic manipulation and laser technology. Khan Kardaan was also instrumental in what became known as "the Way", encouraging everyone he talked with to profess and practice their own faith. This made the other Khans uneasy, while at the same time Clan Coyote became enticed by Cloud Cobra scientific achievements. They attempted to take these by force, and though the Cloud Cobras were still weakened from the Pentagon campaign, their faith combined with their aerospace forces defeated the Coyotes. This would serve as the starting point in the two Clans' animosity towards each other.

Early in the Golden Century, the Cloud Cobras would move to make a mutually beneficial trade of resources with Clan Mongoose. The Cloud Cobras offered up two large shipments of their newly developed Chippewa IIC aerospace fighters in exchange for land on the Pentagon World of Circe. However a mechanical JumpShip failure caused the second shipment to be delayed by one day, which the Mongooses used to cancel the carefully worded deal. While the Mongooses kept the first shipment they returned the second on order of the Grand Council, which had ruled that the Mongooses had the right to cancel the deal. That did not stop them from returning the second shipment to the Cloud Cobras as a mass of disassembled components. Though many would call for a Trial of Grievance over this issue, Khan Kardaan urged restraint, letting the matter go with the Grand Council ruling. His motivation is not known, but the following events perhaps cast a bit more light on this situation.

After the Mongooses' eventual Absorption by Clan Smoke Jaguar in 2868, Jaguar Khan Theodore Osis would cast aside the genetic legacies of all Clan Mongoose warriors, wishing their lines to fade away with the memory of their Clan. The Mongooses had fought as well as they could, especially their aerospace forces, piloting as they were the many Chippewa IICs that they had gained earlier in the Golden Century from the Cloud Cobras. Khan Josef Mannix of the Cobras boldly took this opportunity to launch a long series of Trials of Possession against the Smoke Jaguars, targeting the Mongoose aerospace pilot bloodlines. The Cloud Cobras would win 72 legacies spread over 11 Bloodname Houses, and quickly activated them for immediate use in the Clan Cloud Cobra eugenics program.

Clan Cloud Cobra would continue to advance, fielding several Trinaries of OmniMechs by 2868 and birthing their first Elementals several years later. The Clan's size nearly tripled under Khan Mannix, especially after the sibkos of former Mongoose legacies came to maturation as Cloud Cobra warriors. Towards the end of the Golden Century, the Cloud Cobras were tasked along with Clan Burrock to hunt down members of the Dark Caste, whose attacks had grown more frequent. Keen to slay any who did not embrace the Way, the Cloud Cobras eagerly took part in the task force and destroyed dozens of Dark Caste bands. Burrock Khan Tabari Danforth declared their task a success and the Dark Caste exterminated, though it would be discovered later this was a lie.

It was also during this time that the Cloud Cobras and Coyotes became true mortal enemies. In 2934 Khan Corian Tchernovkov of the Coyotes and ilKhan of all the Clans perished in a training accident. Khan Tobias Khatib of the Cloud Cobras was elected to take her place in 2935, a beneficial arrangement for both the Cloud Cobras and their allies Clan Snow Raven. However, within the decade the Snow Ravens began to mistrust Khan Khatib, whom they believed was advancing the interests of his own Clan above their own. By 2948 the Snow Ravens 'uncovered' and presented evidence that Khatib had been complicit in the death of Tchernovkov. For his crimes Khan Khatib was executed, but in an effort to sate their desire for revenge the Coyotes conducted a punitive war against the Cloud Cobras for the next fifteen years. This conflict saw heavy casualties as zellbrigen was frequently discarded, and while the Cobras took heavier losses in men and matériel they made territorial gains on Homer and Brim. Events finally came to an end when the Coyote saKhan challenged his own Khan to a Trial to end the Pyrrhic conflict and killed him, though the hatred between the two Clans would continue long afterward.

Then in 2965, the exploration vessel Thoth discovered the Tanite Worlds, located just fifty light-years from the Pentagon Cluster and inhabited by the descendants of long-lost Star League colonists. After opening trade relations with the Tanites, Khan Tharan Kor-Dakar would heed the calling of the Way and forcibly absorbed them into the Clan, reaching an agreement with Clan Burrock to jointly administer the worlds in exchange for resource access.

The Political Century

By the end of the thirtieth century, the Golden Century gave way to the Political Century and the Great Debate over whether to invade the Inner Sphere and rebuild the Star League. As Clan Cloud Cobra continued to follow the Way, the century also saw the rise of the Great Cloisters. These Cloisters, started as informal conclaves among warriors sharing similar beliefs and faiths, eventually formalized and took sides between the Wardens and Crusaders. Heated discussion took place within Clan Cloud Cobra as each Cloister argued for or against invasion. Only two issues could be agreed upon by both sides: sending Wolf's Dragoons to gather intelligence on the Inner Sphere and acknowledging the fact that the Clan lacked the necessary resources to conduct any potential invasion.

The appearance of Outbound Light in 3048 finally brought the debate to a head. Interpretation of the Way was hotly debated in the Clan Council, with Khan Din Steiner arguing against and saKhan Leighton Khatib arguing for invasion. In the end, saKhan Khatib prevailed, and the true Way made itself known to the Khan. At the Grand Council the Cloud Cobra Khans voted in favor of attacking the Inner Sphere. However, Khan Steiner would not allow the Clan to take part in the proceeding invasion, resulting in a flurry of furious challenges to his leadership. The issue was only resolved when saKhan Khatib counterchallenged each challenger, allowing cooler heads to prevail. Eventually the Clan would come to understand that Khan Steiner had acted in accordance with the Way by refusing to take part in the invasion.

Clan Invasion and Aftermath

As the Clans' invasion of the Inner Sphere progressed and news of victory returned to the Homeworlds, those Cloisters belonging to the Warden faction diminished, but with the death of ilKhan Leo Showers and the defeat of the invasion force in the Battle of Tukayyid it became clear to Clan Cloud Cobra that the invasion had been against the Way. The Clans had been too arrogant, too ignorant, to think they could take the Inner Sphere by force, and the resulting cracks in Clan civilization further proved this. The destruction of Clan Smoke Jaguar, the Refusal War between Clan Wolf and Clan Jade Falcon and the following schism between Clan Wolf and Clan Wolf-in-Exile, and most especially the Burrock Absorption, just proved to the Cloud Cobras how misguided the Clans had been all along.

Rather than attempt to reach beyond their means as the other Home Clans did in the resulting chaos that was the Wars of Possession, Clan Cloud Cobra focused instead on easy pickings. They took command of the Smoke Jaguar enclave on Homer, countering an attempt by Clan Steel Viper to claim the same territory by calling on the aid of the Snow Ravens. The Clan was also able to secure Clan Nova Cat's enclave on Brim, with help from Clan Star Adder, in a relatively peaceful manner following initial bloodshed; unfortunately it did not take long before the Coyotes stole it away. And in the wake of the Burrock Absorption, the Star Adders agreed to uphold the Burrocks' previous contract regarding the Tanite worlds, though at a cost of increased resource rights.

The Babylon Diet

In the renewed spirit of bringing the faithless back onto the path of the Way, the Cobras held a diet on Babylon in 3065, inviting members from many prominent religions from across Clan space, as well as the Inner Sphere. The inclusion of the Inner Sphere created an uproar among the warriors of Clans Coyote, Steel Viper, Ice Hellion and Fire Mandrill, with many joining Coyote Loremaster Clarissa Jerricho in a multi-Clan task force to disrupt the Diet. However, in a spirited defense of their own soil, the Cobras struck down the invading force with the assistance of Clan Diamond Shark. Due to this brilliant defense, the diet was a success and, quite surprisingly, resulted in an alliance with the Blood Spirits. The fact that the Spirits are mortal enemies of the Adders, the Cobras' principal ally, did not go unnoticed.

After the first Diet on Babylon, Khan Steiner gained many allies in the Grand Council by bringing a motion of censure against the Coyotes for their attack. When the Steel Viper Khans voted against the measure, it was not unnoticed that many Steel Viper warriors had taken part in the attack and the Cloud Cobras launched a punitive strike against their enclave on Homer. The campaign was finally resolved with the intervention of their allies the Star Adders, and together the two Clans succeeded in evicting the Steel Vipers from Homer, leaving them in sole control of the planet. The Cobras held another Diet in 3067, this time with vastly more support from other Clans than previous.

Wars of Reaving

After the Cobras successfully punished the Steel Vipers for interrupting the Babylon Diet, the Vipers offered an alliance to the Cobras (along with their allies Star Adders) to form a political power base with them as the leaders. Seeing this opportunity to gain more power, throughout the Clan Homeworlds, the Cobras agreed, forming the Snake Alliance and attack the Spheroid Clans and other sworn enemies of each Clan. When the Wars of Reaving broke out across Clan Space, they decided to align with many of the Homeworld Clans who did not take part of Operation Revival. They would be tasked with Clans Goliath Scorpion and Fire Mandrill to take part in destroying (or damaging) Blood Chapels and genetic legacies in the Homeworlds that were considered "tainted" throughout the mid-3070s. They would end their alliance with the Steel Vipers in 3075 after the Vipers' Reavings were turned against them by the Star Adders. The Cobras would participate in annihilating their former allies and gain their Bloodnames in the process along with the remaining Home Clans. With the Crusader-Warden divide considered tainted, the Cloud Cobras would abandon their Warden beliefs for the Bastion philosophy. Many Cloisters followed suit embracing the Bastion way, while only the Josian and Ka'an Cloisters embraced the more, brutal Aggressor path. During the bloody aftermath of the Reavings, the Cobras would have a hand in Abjuring the Goliath Scorpions after evidence was found of the Clan mixing Eridani Light Horse genes into their breeding program.

Bibliography

• Era Digest: Golden Century
• Field Manual: Warden Clans
• Historical: Operation Klondike