Crescent Hawks

Overview

The Crescent Hawks were a small unit loyal to the Lyran Commonwealth, first created by Katrina Steiner as an elite group for covert operations and therefore probably part of the Commonwealth military.

They re-formed as a guerilla force on Pacifica (Chara III) following a Kurita invasion and went on to become an independent unit aligned with House Steiner, working with the famous mercenary unit Kell Hounds.

Based on the permission from the Archon to act independently, and on their cooperation (and eventual merger) with the Kell Hounds, the Crescent Hawks guerilla force can arbitrarily be classed as a mercenary unit. They could also be regarded as an irregular House Unit instead, like the initial Crescent Hawks.

History

Although the original unit was concieved sometime between 3007 (when Katrina Steiner became Archon) and 3028, its history prior to 3028 remains clouded. It is only revealed that Jeremiah Youngblood, a LAM pilot, commanded the unit which included Commando pilot Rex Pearce.

In 3028, cadet Jason Youngblood (son of Jeremiah Youngblood) was in the middle of a BattleMech training exercise at the Pacifica Training School when House Kurita invaded the planet. What should have been a mock combat mission became serious when four Jenners engaged him in earnest, but he realized what was going on in time and escaped the destruction of the Citadel.

Jason went into hiding and later met Rex Pearce, a a member of the Crescent Hawks like Jason's father. Together, Jason and Rex managed to rally more Crescent Hawk members and to form a small guerilla 'Mech unit to resist the Kurita invaders. They eventually found out that the enemy forces were after a Star League cache hidden on the planet, which the Crescent Hawks happened to know about, too. With the help of Dr. Edward Tellhim they beat the invaders to their intended target and gained access. The depot held Jeremiah Youngblood's Phoenix Hawk LAM and a supply of invaluable spare parts. When they contacted Katrina Steiner from within the cache bunker, a heavily armed DropShip was sent and the Kurita attack faltered.

Following this successful venture, Katrina Steiner offered Jason Youngblood the rank of Lieutenant in the LCAF, but he turned it down in order to search for his father who was missing and presumed dead after the attack on the Citadel. For this, he was given full permission, allowing his party to act independently as the Crescent Hawks.

Shortly afterwards they departed from Pacifica for the Kell Hounds base on Lyons, where the Leopard class dropship carrying the Crescent Hawks arrived in the middle of another Kurita attack and was shot down. Only three 'Mechs escaped from the crashlanding.

The Crescent Hawks and Kell Hounds together drove off the attackers eventually, and the Crescent Hawks became part of the Kell Hounds structure for a long time to come, even participating in the Kell Hounds' defense of Luthien against the Clans 24 years later.

Equipment

The exact strength and configuration of the Crescent Hawks depends on a combination of player's choices and randomized events throughout the game. In the first game, the unit is essentially only a single lance of almost exclusively light 'Mechs. The player has the chance to obtain a Chameleon to start with, Rex Pearce has a Commando and at one point in the game an UrbanMech can be stolen. Other than that, the player can only acquire Locusts, Wasps or Stingers through salvaging defeated enemy 'Mechs.

At the beginning of the second game the player gets to choose different, heavier 'Mechs; the opening screen of the game depicts a Griffin, a Shadow Hawk, an Enforcer and a Wasp which may be the canonical unit composition at the beginning of the second game. The player is free to allocate different 'Mechs to the four bays aboard the DropShip to begin with, however, and gets to control a wide range of different vehicles and units over the course of the game as the storyline unfolds, covering around 24 years and culminating in the defense of Luthien from the Clan Invasion in early 3052.

Other Information

• The Crescent Hawks were introduced in the 1988 computer game, Crescent Hawks Inception. A 1989 sequel game, Crescent Hawks Revenge, picks up the story immediately from where the first game ended (set in 3028) and continues up until the Clan Invasion.
• The Kurita attack on Pacifica (the first game's storyline) must have occurred just prior to the Fourth Succession War that was launched on 20. August 3028, which suggests that the following events (the Kurita attack on Lyons at the beginning of the second game) occurred over the course of the war.
• The Crescent Hawks, and Jason Youngblood, are only once mentioned in passing in the novels otherwise.
• Jeremiah Youngblood's Phoenix Hawk LAM features in the background story of the Crescent Hawks Inception and is seen in a picture shown when the player enters the Star Leage Cache. Even though it cannot be used in the game (it is only recovered during the end sequence), this is one of the rare canonical appearances of a LAM in the BattleTech universe.
• Similarly, the Crescent Hawks Inception is the only canon source besides the boardgame rulebook to feature the Chameleon training 'Mech. During his academy training as Jason Youngblood, the player can choose between three training 'Mechs: A Locust, a Wasp and a Chameleon. If the latter is selected for the last training mission (when House Kurita attacks) then the player can take it with him in the escape and can use it as a proper BattleMech throughout the game. It also happens to be the heaviest and strongest 'Mech available in the game.