Essay: IlClan Jade Falcons

Members of the community have expressed a desire for a well-cited list of Jade Falcons who survived the IlClan Trial. As this will necessarily involve some speculation and inferences, the proper format is an Essay. That policy states, "Typically, a BattleTech Essay should cover its subject matter completely and comprehensively," and every attempt will be made to adhere to that. However, this is an evolving aspect of the BattleTech Universe, with portions of it unclear or even with contradictory sources. Well-cited additions and corrections are certainly welcomed.

“	There are one hundred and twenty-eight Jade Falcon warriors alive here on Terra.	”
	— Galaxy Commander Stephanie Chistu to the surviving Jade Falcon Clan Council, 25 April 3151

Caveat Lector

This essay will concern itself only with those members of Clan Jade Falcon that made the journey to Sol System and their eventual fates. Any who did not take part in the invasion or subsequent Trial should be addressed elsewhere, as per Tamar Rising they are functioning as a distinct group under their own Khan.

Ranks given are the most recent that can be cited. It would be logical to assume that the Jade Falcon touman underwent a radical restructuring after the events of Hour of the Wolf, but that remains pure speculation until more is shown about them in Canon. Likewise, it is logical to infer that a number of Trials of Bloodright would be held, so characters without Bloodnames seem likely to show up with them later, but this has not yet been shown in Canon.

Confirmed Survivors

• Khan Stephanie Chistu. Stephanie Chistu was the only Jade Falcon Galaxy Commander to survive the ilClan Trial.
• saKhan Khalus Pryde
• Loremaster Marv Roshak
• Star Captain Archer Pryde
• Star Captain Karen Roshak
• Star Captain Thoden Sender

Survived the Trial but died later

• Khan Malvina Hazen Official reason: died of her wounds. Actual reason: killed by Cynthy.
• Star Captain Tomaszewski Mattlov challenged Stephanie Chistu for the Khanship and was defeated. In the novel, he was taken away by the medics "still spitting blood." IlClan indicates that she killed him. The latter is the more recent source as well as more explicit, and so we shall assume he is deceased.

Joined after the Trial

• Tara Jade Falcon Countess Tara Campbell was taken as a bondswoman by Alaric Ward, becoming Tara Wolf, but then was adopted into Clan Jade Falcon at Ward's suggestion. IlClan specifically notes that she shared "historical DNA" with Clan Jade Falcon.

Status Unclear

Ground Forces

• Star Captain Ione Anu's fate is unusual: she was made a bondswoman on the third day of the ilClan Trial, the only instance shown in Hour of the Wolf or ilClan of a Jade Falcon Warrior taken as a bondsman by a Wolf Warrior, in this case MechWarrior Elyse, originally from Clan Jade Falcon and then abtakha to Clan Wolf-in-Exile, and also a sibmate and rival of Ione Anu. Star Captain Anu thus may be accounted a Jade Falcon survivor of the ilClan Trial, but whether she remained a bondswoman, was adopted into the reunited Clan Wolf, or was returned to the Jade Falcons is not stated.
• Pharaoh (implied rank of MechWarrior) was still alive at the very end of the battle, when Alaric called for the Jade Falcons to surrender. There is a very brief window of time during which he could have been slain, or (less plausible as he was alongside Marv Roshak) he might have refused to honor the call to stand down. His fate is not discussed in canon.

Naval Forces

“	Of the Jade Falcon fleet, only the Jade Tornado came through the fight relatively unscathed. Five heavily damaged Falcon assault DropShips had survived, and although the Turkina’s Pride and White Aerie remained barely spaceworthy, their remaining weaponry could still threaten ground targets.	”
	— IlClan sourcebook

“	“I bid all of my forces currently on Terra. No assault DropShips or WarShips. This will be fought on the ground—warrior to warrior.” “All forces on-planet then,” Malvina agreed. “I bid my entire Clan, Clan Jade Falcon.”	”
	— Hour of the Wolf Chapter 25

The fate of Clan Jade Falcon's naval forces is a tricky question with no real answers in Canon. All we can do is lay out possibilities. We know that some portion of the Jade Falcon fleet survived everything the Republic of the Sphere fleet could throw at it. It is reasonable to assume that they survived until the start of the IlClan Trial. The vessels were specifically excluded from the Trial, but personnel could and did take part under the rules of the Trial: Star Admiral Haake Sukhanov of the Wolves notably piloted a BattleMech in the Trial.

For comparison: the Turkina's Pride is a Cameron-class battlecruiser. Casualties among the crew were likely high as per the quote above, but the standard crew complement is three hundred thirty-seven. Forty-eight are officers, forty-six are gunners, the rest are likely to be lower-caste. If we arbitrarily assume that one-fourth of the officers are Warrior-caste, and all the gunners (one per weapon) are likewise, that is fifty-eight Clan Warriors. Even if fifty percent were casualties, that would be twenty-nine: over a fifth of the surviving Clan from the Turkina's Pride alone. The Jade Tornado, which came through "relatively unscathed", is a Fredasa-class with nineteen officers and 21 gunners. This could add twenty-five or more Warriors. It is not clear what percentage were actually Warrior-caste, nor do we have a good indication of how many of those survived. All we have are educated guesses.

We are left with several possibilities:

• Stephanie Chistu said "here on Terra". The Naval forces could have been securing other objectives in the system or seeing to repairs, possibly with the aid of the Titan Yards. She might simply not have had those figures to hand, or it could have been an oversight. This would boost the final number above 128 by some amount.
• The surviving Warriors are included in the figure of 128, which leaves the Naval contingent as a potentially significant percentage of the touman.
• Naval Warriors could have participated in the Trial in a ground role: those with piloting skills in AeroSpace fighters, gunners manning Artillery or Combat Vehicles, anyone working to oversee the logistics operations that were so badly damaged, or in another staff position. Someone might have had BattleMech skills, though Haake Sukhanov is repeatedly noted as unusual in cross-training to that extent. This option would leave the Jade Falcon Navy as destitute of warriors as the rest of the Clan.
• Some other possibility, such as the WarShips separating from the Jade Falcons (who are now the ilKhan/First Lord's Honor Guard) and joining the new ilClan/Star League Navy.

All of this is speculation. We do have some leads on a few named characters that might have survived, however.

Naval Crew :
The following characters named in the books are either known, or in one case presumed, to have survived up to the fall of the Republic and the start of the ilClan Trial, along with surviving crew of the DropShips and WarShips mentioned in the quote above.

• Star Admiral Sharizal Binetti was alive for the confrontation between the Jade Falcon and Wolf vessels that ended without shots fired.
• Star Captain Krzysztof Von Jankmon was also alive for that confrontation.
• Judith was the "ready-alert" officer under Star Admiral Binetti. It is not clear if this is a Warrior-caste position or something occupied by a member of the lower castes. Regardless, as we have no indications that significant damage extended to the bridge, she is likely to have survived.

Conclusion

After Hour of the Wolf and IlClan, we are left with only seven named characters who can be confirmed to be members of Clan Jade Falcon under ilKhan Alaric Ward: six Jade Falcon survivors of the ilClan Trial plus Countess Tara Campbell originally from the Northwind Highlanders. Five other named characters are of uncertain status, and the rest are not named.

Bibliography

• Hour of the Wolf (novel)
• IlClan (sourcebook)