Elizabeth Hazen

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Elizabeth Hazen (b. April 5th 2741 - ???) was the first Khan of Clan Jade Falcon.

Elizabeth Hazen is one of four founders of Clan Jade Falcon, and is the most well-regarded by the clan. She is believed to have been the first to tame a jade falcon, a genetically engineered mix of the peregrine and the gyrfalcon, designed to combat native pests on the Clan colonial worlds. Hazen's jade falcon was named Turkina, and that name became the basis for the elite Turkina Keshik of the Jade Falcon clan.

History

Early Life

Elizabeth Hazen was born on Terra, in Alexandria, Virginia, on the continent of North America. When she came of legal age, she joined the SLDF and entered Mechwarrior training. By age 25 she was an officer who commanded a company in the elite Black Watch, assigned to guard the First Lord himself.

Hazen was not present the day the Usurper struck the Cameron line from continued existence. Visiting her brother Lionel in a hospital as he recovered from an aero fighter crash, the building came under attack by Amaris' troops. After all able-bodies were herded from the building, forced to leave the sick and injured behind (including Lionel), the hospital was bombed before a stunned crowd of onlookers.

In the confusion of the coup, Elizabeth Hazen and many other loyal soldiers of the SLDF slipped away and formed a resistance movement called The Ghosts of the Black Watch that would continue to fight the Usurper for the next 10 years until Kerensky's forces liberated Terra in 2779. She was awarded the Star League Medal of Honor and was inducted into the Order of the Sword, the last person to have either honor bestowed upon them by the soon to be defunct Star League.

Aleksandr Kerensky offered Elizabeth Hazen a role in his command staff, but she declined and tendered her resignation instead. She traveled the Terra alone seeking healing from the emotional scars of the war, finally reaching a monastery located in Hungary of Terra's European continent. There, over the course of a few years, she learned the ancient art of Falconry that would come to be central to her legend within the Clans.

When Kerensky ordered the Exodus from the Inner Sphere, Elizabeth Hazen rejoined the SLDF, taking her open invitation to join the General's Command Staff, though some say at Aaron DeChavilier's personal request. This is the only time Hazen's romantic life is ever hinted at, though it remains speculation how deep their relationship (if any) ran.

Exodus and the Clans

During the Exodus, tensions boiled over in one terrible incident: the Prinz Eugen Mutiny. In August of 2785, nine vessals led by the Texas battleship Prinz Eugen decided to head back to the Inner Sphere. Major Hazen was appointed to bring the ships back into the fold and did so with ruthless efficiency.

The Jade Falcon species was bred on Eden in the early years of the pentagon worlds, to combat a winged predatory reptile that fed on livestock. Elizabeth Hazen tamed one of the first to be hatched and kept it as a pet for many years during this time, naming it Turkina.

When the colony of Eden rioted in 2801 due to colonial hardships as well as factional jealousies, radiating social shock waves throughout the Pentagon Worlds, General Kerensky ordered General DeChavilier and Major Hazen to quell the rebellion. To begin an event that became known as the DeChavilier Massacre, General DeChavilier was killed by an ambush set by Liao insurgents on Eden who were fighting against a nearby Davion enclave of colonists. Much is said in Jade Falcon legend regarding this incident, but what is known is that a numb and nearly defeated Elizabeth Hazen used a sword to kill as many of the insurgents as she could find in revenge for her beloved commander's death.

After Aleksandr Kerensky's death, Hazen accompanied Nicholas Kerensky on his second Exodus to the Kerensky Cluster. When he laid out the Clans, Elizabeth Hazen was chosen to be a founder of Clan Jade Falcon, named for the animal with which she so much identified.

After Operation Klondike, many Jade Falcon warriors were disappointed by Nicholas Kerensky's choice of Clan Wolf for his genetic heritage. They questioned his vision and some even suggested that the Jade Falcons leave the Clans. Khan Hazen let this situation build for nearly a year. When IlKhan Kerensky announced a visit to the Jade Falcons, she and SaKhan Lisa Buhalin decided on drastic action. In what was to be known as The Culling, loyal Jade Falcon warriors on orders from the Khans eliminated all dissenters. The ringleaders were put to death, and less vocal supporters were beaten and exiled to colonies or otherwise severely punished. When Nicholas Kerensky arrived, the Clan may have been smaller than it was before, but the ones who remained were a much more unified and fanatical force.

Legacy

Elizabeth Hazen set the tone for her Clan's ultra-conservative leadership in the coming eras. Clan Jade Falcon warriors brook no rebellion from their lower castes and historically react in violent fashion if pushed.

Bibliography

• Historical: Operation Klondike
• Jade Falcon Sourcebook
• The Clans: Warriors of Kerensky