Arabella Bradford

Arabella Bradford
Character Profile
Affiliation ComStar
Rank Precentor

Arabella Bradford was a Precentor within ComStar ROM.

History[edit]

During the Outbound Light mission, the Merchant-class JumpShip Outbound Light, a ComStar Explorer Corps vessel (alternatively described as a ROM exploration vessel[1]), was under the command of ROM Precentor Arabella Bradford.[2][3] Together with the ships under the command of Precentor Vincent Dupont,[3][4] the Outbound Light departed from Bone-Norman in June 3046 on a standard three-year exploratory survey carrying two DropShips, the Union-class Knox and the Buccaneer-class Golden Hind. It was manned by a crew of 46 across all ships, plus a standard seven-person Explorer Corps survey team. After a relatively uneventful voyage, the Outbound Light jumped on 27 September 3048 into what was believed to be an unknown G7V star system. Instead, they stumbled upon the Clan Smoke Jaguar capital of Huntress.[4][5][3] On Smoke Jaguar Khan Leo Showers' orders, the Explorer Corps vessels were engaged and impounded by OmniFighters from the Smoke Jaguar Comitatus-class vessel High Guard before they could attempt escape. The crews were detained and subjected to interrogation (including the use of mind-control drugs) for several days, revealing considerable information about the current state of the Inner Sphere's political scene and the apparent goals of the major powers. Somehow, this ship accomplished the objective of Explorer Corps, found Kerensky's army, but in any other way, the results of this expedition were catastrophic: the information extracted from the ship and its crew was of high importance for the Clans, and by presenting this information to the Grand Council, the Jaguars managed to convince the other Clans of the threat of an imminent attack from the Inner Sphere forces (totally unreal, of course), thus precipitating the beginning of Operation REVIVAL—the Clan invasion of the Inner Sphere.[4][5]

The fate of the crew of the Outbound Light and its DropShips is unknown. Initial ComStar reports from the early days of the Clan invasion indicated that the crew and ships had been returned to ComStar, supplying vital intel on the Clan way of life, though with their memories and databanks of the route taken to Huntress wiped,[2] but such reports turned out to be false.[4] Only the seven member survey team was returned to ComStar; the other members of the expedition were not returned and no information about them has become available. The members of the survey team all exhibited heavy psychological scarring after their time with the Smoke Jaguars.[3]

According to Explorer Corps doctrine at that time, the crew did not file a predetermined route along which it would travel,[6] allowing the crew the freedom to change their route should any promising leads develop. While this allowed them to stumble upon Huntress, it also made it virtually impossible for ComStar to discover the route the Outbound Light took and thereby locate the Clan Homeworlds.[4]

References[edit]

  1. Jade Falcon Sourcebook, p. 19: "The Go Vote"
  2. 2.0 2.1 Jade Falcon Sourcebook, p. 5: "ComStar Classified Report Sanctum Level Clearance BLP-613-DTC"
  3. 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 The Clans: Warriors of Kerensky, p. 17
  4. 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 Explorer Corps, p. 9: "Overview - The Clan Wars - Outbound Light"
  5. 5.0 5.1 Wolf Clan Sourcebook, p. 25: "History of the Clans - Golden Century - Crusader's Call - Invasion"
  6. ComStar, p. 65

Bibliography[edit]