TankWarrior
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The TankWarrior is a Clan trueborn phenotype that was developed during the Dark Age by Clan Hell's Horses for optimal performance as part of a combat vehicle crew.[1]
Already known to have engineered the Elemental phenotype during the Golden Century,[2] Clan Hell's Horses would also produce the lesser-known TankWarrior phenotype after the Clan's permanent settling in the Inner Sphere following the Wars of Reaving and the Word of Blake Jihad. The TankWarrior program made use of underperforming Elemental and trueborn MechWarrior bloodlines as genetic material with which to develop the new TankWarrior genome. Some of these bloodlines were drawn from Bloodhouses that had been severely depleted or even outright deactivated during the Wars of Reaving.[3]
Ultimately, the TankWarrior program failed to deliver the genetic edge that the Hell's Horses were hoping for. The first Hell's Horses TankWarrior sibkos, decanted in 3106, would not see their first combat actions until some decades later in a Trial of Possession against Clan Jade Falcon vehicle crews on the planet Waldorff. While the TankWarriors did win the Trial, preventing the loss of a Hell's Horses Trinary to the Jade Falcons, their performance did not meet the expectations of the Horses commanders - especially considering that the Horses' Khan Teresia Cooper was killed in action during the Trial. Cooper's successor, the new Khan Gottfried Amirault, allowed the TankWarrior program to continue, albeit without much enthusiasm. The program would not produce a truly distinct phenotype (comparable to Elementals or trueborn Pilots) even by 3145.[4]
After their lackluster debut performance, Hell's Horses TankWarriors were mostly relegated to second-line units on garrison duty within the Clan Hell's Horses Occupation Zone. Few TankWarriors have since gained a higher rank than Star Captain, acquired a Bloodname or earned a posting in a front-line unit. Such discrimination - especially unusual within the relatively egalitarian Hell's Horses - caused many TankWarriors to band together politically. Such a political coalition looked set to gain a measure of influence within the Hell's Horses Clan Council, as few were selected to participate in the Golden Ordun led by the infamous Jade Falcon Khan Malvina Hazen and thus the TankWarriors' numbers were protected from the casualties of the Ordun's invasion of the Lyran Commonwealth.[5]
In 3146, the Eurus main battle tank entered production. While the OmniVehicle was always intended to be paired with the TankWarrior phenotype from the start, introduction was delayed for decades due to issues with integrating Ferro-Lamellor armor into the OmniVehicle. With its performance being recognized as pivotal in several victories, the tank's combat record has been cited as a notable contributing factor in the slow redemption of the TankWarriors' reputation.[6]
References[edit]
- ↑ Era Report: 3145, p. 60: "Clan Hell's Horses"
- ↑ Field Manual: Crusader Clans, p. 54: "Golden Century"
- ↑ Era Report: 3145, p. 125: "The TankWarrior Experiment"
- ↑ Era Report: 3145, p. 189: "Additional Inner Sphere Clan Affiliation Notes"
- ↑ Era Report: 3145, p. 126: "The TankWarrior Experiment"
- ↑ Recognition Guide: ilClan, vol. 29 p. 8