McKenna's Pride

McKenna's Pride
Vessel Profile
TypeWarShip
ClassMcKenna

Equipped as a specialized command ship, the SLS McKenna's Pride led the SLDF Commanding General's squadron, one of three line squadrons within the SLDF First Fleet during the Star League era, and was the only one of the six such specialized vessels to survive the Amaris Civil War.[1] It was the flagship of Aleksandr Kerensky,[2][3] and the lead ship in Operation EXODUS.[4]

History[edit]

Star League Era[edit]

The McKenna's Pride was present at Kerensky's final assault on Terra.[5] After the Amaris Civil War ended, medics aboard the McKenna's Pride treated Jerome Blake. Aleksandr Kerensky met Blake at this time and they became friendly.[6] The ship also housed the remains of Stefan Amaris before his body was donated to a medical school.[7]

Exodus and Founding of the Clans[edit]

During the Prinz Eugen Rebellion, the McKenna's Pride led the task force that ran down the rebel ships. During Operation KLONDIKE, the ship served as Nicholas Kerensky's flagship.[8]

Following the founding of the Clans, the vessel was kept in orbit around Strana Mechty, updated to Clan specifications,[9] and maintained by all of the Clans, serving as Aleksandr Kerensky's tomb.[10] Every year it would do a flyby of Strana Mechty's capital city on Founding Day (August 24).[8]

In 2823, the McKenna's Pride was the place of a meeting between the Wolverine Khan Sarah McEvedy and Nicholas Kerensky, in which the first attempted to prevent her Clan's imminent Absorption, without success.[11] The same year, during the Trial of Annihilation against Clan Wolverine, saKhan Franklin Hallis commandeered the McKenna's Pride and performed an orbital bombardment on opposing Clan forces, freeing trapped Wolverine forces from their enclave. He then proceeded to bombard the Clan Halls belonging to Widowmaker, Smoke Jaguar, Ghost Bear, Snow Raven, and Jade Falcon, as well as the Grand Council Hall itself. After the Wolverine forces were safely offworld, Hallis abandoned the McKenna's Pride and returned to the SLS Michigan.[12]

Wars of Reaving[edit]

In the early months of 3075, due to the heavy damage suffered by the Hall of Khans, the Grand Council moved to the McKenna's Pride while the building was rebuilt. It was there onboard the Pride that the "Bloody ilKhan" Brett Andrews was killed. And right after, the WarShip was reactivated in 3075 during the Wars of Reaving, partaking in a multi-Clan action to annihilate Clan Steel Viper at the head of the fleet attacking New Kent in December. On 22 December its batteries opened up on the city of New Kent City from orbit, eradicating the last Clan Steel Viper holding and concluding that Clan's annihilation.

The ship had barely returned to Strana Mechty when it was attacked. A secret Clan Wolf unit, led by Elemental Garmen Kerensky, boarded it. They were part of a unit which infiltrated the ship five years later and stole the Great Father's body, as a part of Operation SPATHA II, a bigger Clan Wolf Operation DAMOCLES II, but the destruction of their DropShip on the ground had delayed them.[13] With assistance from members of the Dark Caste, they had been preparing their next assault, SPATHA II for years. The boarders managed to easily take the key points of the ship, but their original plan of stealing Aleksandr Kerensky's coffin and escaping was compromised after they were discovered.[14] Garmen was forced to change the plan, and steal the Pride as a result. After a long pursuit of other WarShips, aerospace fighters and DropShips, they managed to jump out of the system.[15] In June of 3077, the Pride was reunited with Clan Wolf Khan Vlad Ward on a system in the Periphery. After thanking SPATHA II's surviving members, he personally took the Pride and its deceased passenger to the M-2343 system within the Dark Nebula, where he hid it around a giant gas moon in a backwater system.[16] There, it laid undiscovered, until 19 July 3147, when Clan Wolf SaKhan Garner Kerensky led an expedition to recover it. The ship was intact, except for Strana Mechty's battle damage. The Wolves repaired and crewed it before taking it to the Wolf Empire's territory, to lead the final assault of his Clan on Terra.[17]

Dark Age[edit]

The Pride was left alone for seven decades, except for some occasional visits to make sure it remained operational. Vlad Ward had hidden the Pride's existence so nobody would know about it, except for Katherine Steiner-Davion, but even she ignored its location. After his death in battle, Vlad took the secret to the grave. Luckily, he had planned this, and hidden a recorded message for his bloodline's descendants. In 3135, when his son Alaric Ward went to Terra to assist at the funeral of his "father", Victor Steiner-Davion, he finally received it.[18] After sending a secret mission to recover the Pride in 3147 (Operation ICON), Alaric turned it into his personal command ship, leading the Wolf assault on Terra.[19]

ilClan Era[edit]

The ship led the assault on Terra, barely suffering any damage. It would see battle with both the Republic of the Sphere and Clan Jade Falcon. On March 2, Alaric Ward positioned it above Geneva, Terra's capital, which the Jade Falcons had planned destroy by orbital bombardment. By placing it between the Falcon vessels and the city, the McKenna's Pride forced the Falcons to hold fire.[20] The WarShip survived the campaign and was used to bring Kerensky’s tomb home to Terra where his body was laid to rest. Aleksandr's body was offloaded and buried in Unity City, beside the graves of the Cameron family.[21]

The Pride was in orbit above Terra the 23 May, and its presence there greatly surprised the Clan Hell's Horses leadership when they arrived.[22]

References[edit]

  1. Historical: Liberation of Terra Volume 1, p. 46: "First Fleet"
  2. ComStar, p. 8
  3. Historical: Liberation of Terra Volume 1, pp. 23, 59
  4. Wolf Clan Sourcebook, p. 8
  5. Historical: Liberation of Terra Volume 2, p. 67
  6. Historical: Liberation of Terra Volume 2, p. 24
  7. Historical: Liberation of Terra Volume 2, pp. 109, 115
  8. 8.0 8.1 The Clans: Warriors of Kerensky, p. 50
  9. In this posting on the BattleTech forum, replying to the observation "a 2750 McKenna as the shrine above Strana Mechty? I SO prefer the 3057 McKenna look" with "It was an oversight, should have been the 3057 style. To reconcile this it could be speculated that the image of the McKenna's Pride predates the novel's timeframe
  10. Betrayal of Ideals, Book II: Treachery's Stage
  11. Betrayal of Ideals, p. 117
  12. Betrayal of Ideals, Book III: The Switchback Directive
  13. Icons of War, p. 33
  14. Icons of War, p. 115
  15. Icons of War, p. 171
  16. Icons of War, p. 184
  17. Icons of War, p. 186
  18. Children of Kerensky, pp. 36–37
  19. Children of Kerensky, pp. 171–172
  20. Hour of the Wolf, p. 145
  21. Hour of the Wolf, p. 344
  22. Elements of Treason: Honor ch. 21

Bibliography[edit]