Golden Ordun

Golden Ordun
Organization Profile
Type Alliance

The Golden Ordun was a short-lived alliance between Clan Jade Falcon and Clan Hell's Horses during the mid-thirty-second century.

History[edit]

Formation[edit]

The Golden Ordun, named after the Golden Horde of medieval Terra, was formed by Malvina Hazen after she became Khan of Clan Jade Falcon following the "Rending" of Clan Jade Falcon in 3135. To compensate for the depleted strength of the Jade Falcon touman after Malvina's bloody rise to power, the Mad Falcon was forced to explore alternative means of securing her strength and that of her Clan.[1]

To do so, Hazen attacked several poorly defended worlds in the Clan Wolf Occupation Zone in order to train her touman and gain new territory for her Clan, a series of operations that was largely successful.[2] Additionally, Hazen sought to gain an alliance with Clan Hell's Horses by demonstrating her "superior" understanding of the Horses' Mongol Doctrine. Her interpretation twisted it from the Horses' conception of it as a tactical doctrine concerning the use of light cavalry assets into a policy of terror tactics and psychological warfare through extreme brutality and ostentatious violence.[3]

Hazen had won the loyalty of the Horses' Fire Horse Galaxy in 3135 after the Galaxy had traveled to Skye, intent on educating her on the proper use of the Mongol Doctrine. Instead, the Fire Horses fell under her sway, pledging their loyalty to her on the 8th of December[4] after Hazen killed Hell's Horses Galaxy Commander and ristar Tristan Fletcher during a Trial of Possession for the Mongol Doctrine[5] - Fletcher was replaced as Galaxy Commander by Manas Amirault, who preferred Hazen's interpretation of the Mongol Doctrine.[6] It was this alliance between Fire Horse Galaxy and Hazen's supporters in Clan Jade Falcon that was initially called the "Golden Ordun", and Hazen led it to overthrow Falcon Khan Jana Pryde in the Rending.[7] After defeating Pryde over Sudeten, Hazen ordered the total destruction of the planetary capital of Hammarr - Manas Amirault, horrified by this wanton violence, attempted to withdraw from the Ordun, but Hazen slew him in a Trial of Possession for Fire Horse Galaxy.[8]

However, Hazen wanted more. In 3140, she ordered a series of Trials of Possession against the Hell's Horses that "accidentally" devastated large areas on the Horses-controlled agricultural worlds of Harvest and Romulus. Faced with the prospect of widespread famine in their territory, and the fear of Malvina's reprisals, the Hell's Horses Khan Gottfried Amirault was forced to accept Hazen's "offer" to join the Golden Ordun,[9] formally allying his Clan with the Jade Falcons on the 15th of January 3140.[10]

With her forces rebuilt, Hazen led the Ordun to attack the Lyran Commonwealth, which had just lost a number of worlds to Clan Wolf after they betrayed their erstwhile Lyran allies in 3140. Hazen (dubbed the "Chinggis Khan" by her supporters in the Hell's Horses)[11] was angered by the Wolves' attack on the Lyran Commonwealth - a realm that Hazen saw as the rightful hunting ground of Clan Jade Falcon - and the Ordun invaded Lyran space in 3142.[12]

The Hell's Horses, however, were never fully committed to the Ordun. While the Fire Horse Galaxy could be said to have genuinely supported Malvina Hazen, most of the Horses' warriors were horrified by the Mad Falcon's atrocities. Hell's Horses' Beta Galaxy, the original founders of the Doctrine, initially fully embraced Malvina's tactics but eventually fell victim to their own strategy. On Timkovichi, in order to destroy the Kell Hounds who were stalling the Ordun's advance through the Commonwealth, Malvina Hazen ordered an orbital bombardment into the main engagement area, destroying the majority of the Kell Hounds as well as most of the Horses' Beta Galaxy.[13] Additionally, Hell's Horses Khan Gottfried Amirault was unenthusiastic about the Ordun, sending only part of his touman to fight with the Falcons, keeping his Clan's losses low during Malvina Hazen's adventures in the Lyran Commonwealth.[14]

Dissolution[edit]

On the 15th of July 3142 the Ordun attacked the Lyran world of Tharkad after learning that Clan Wolf was fighting there. Eager to challenge the Wolves' claim, the Ordun issued a Trial of Possession to Wolf Khan Seth Ward; Ward, however, pointed out that his claim was only over one continent of Tharkad, and that the Ordun would have to challenge the Lyrans for the rest of the planet. The Ordun did so, but were unable to take and hold Tharkad, retreating in disgrace five days later on the 20th of July.[15]

Matters went from bad to worse for the Ordun after the failure at Tharkad. The Rasalhague Dominion absorbed a number of beleaguered and cut-off Lyran worlds, bringing the Dominion into conflict with the Ordun (although the Jade Falcon troops that responded to the Dominion's aggression performed well in battle). Moreover, numerous raids from various enemy factions across Ordun territory depleted Jade Falcon troops and in many cases destroyed or scattered the garrison forces of worlds the Ordun had previously conquered. Fearful of appearing weak, Malvina Hazen began to plan the ill-fated invasion of Hesperus II, but the invasion plans were discovered by the Lyran Commonwealth and leaked to Clan Wolf.[16]

The attempt to take Hesperus II ended in disaster for the Ordun. After initially crushing token Lyran resistance on the planet, the Ordun found themselves counterattacked by Clan Wolf, whose new Khan Alaric Ward had just revealed his genetic mother to be Katherine Steiner-Davion and had thus proclaimed himself the rightful heir to the Archonship of the Lyran Commonwealth. The Wolf offensive turned into a two-month stalemate, among the many casualties of which was the Hell's Horses saKhan Jeronimo Cobb. The stalemate dragged on with no clear winner, to the point where Malvina Hazen was considering the use of nuclear weapons to destroy Hesperus II's production facilities rather than allow them to be claimed by Clan Wolf. This outrage would cause her saKhan, Beckett Malthus, to mutiny and attempt to assassinate the Chinggis Khan - although his attempt failed to claim Hazen's life, it left her in a coma and unable to command the Ordun.[17] This, along with the appearance of Lyran reinforcements, forced the Ordun to abandon Hesperus II on the 23rd of February 3145.[18]

Seeing their chance to escape Hazen's grasp, the Hell's Horses resolved to abandon the Ordun. Horses field commanders pulled their forces away from Hesperus and eventually out of Lyran space entirely, returning to their Clan's Occupation Zone and having completely abandoned their former Jade Falcon allies by the end of 3145.[19] This would spell the end of the alliance between the two Clans, and over the following years the Hell's Horses would become openly hostile to the Jade Falcons, seizing several of their worlds over the course of their Operation NOYAN in 3147.

References[edit]

  1. Era Report: 3145, p. 63
  2. Era Report: 3145, p. 26
  3. Field Manual: 3145, p. 15
  4. Era Report: 3145, p. 23
  5. A Rending of Falcons, p. 28
  6. A Rending of Falcons, p. 159
  7. A Rending of Falcons, p. 166
  8. A Rending of Falcons, p. 308
  9. A Bonfire of Worlds, p. 65
  10. Era Report: 3145, p. 21
  11. A Rending of Falcons, p. 159
  12. Era Report: 3145, p. 148
  13. Field Manual: 3145, p. 157
  14. Field Manual: 3145, p. 154
  15. Field Manual: 3145, p. 148
  16. Era Report: 3145, p. 149
  17. Field Manual: 3145, p. 149
  18. Field Manual: 3145, p. 25
  19. Field Manual: 3145, p. 150

Bibliography[edit]