IlClan Trial

IlClan Trial
Conflict details
Part of	Dark Age Era
Start Date	16 April 3151
Planet(s)	Terra
Location(s)	Ottawa, Canada, North America
Result	Clan Wolf becomes ilClan
Attacking Forces
Affiliation	Clan Wolf
Commanding Officer(s)	Khan Alaric Ward; General Chance Vickers
Command(s)	Clan Wolf touman; Clan Wolf-in-Exile touman
Defending Forces
Affiliation	Clan Jade Falcon
Commanding Officer(s)	Khan Malvina Hazen; Galaxy Commander Stephanie Chistu
Command(s)	Clan Jade Falcon touman
Other Forces
Affiliation	Wolf's Dragoons; The Fidelis (as Clan Wolf bondsmen) ex-Republic of the Sphere soldiers (as Clan Wolf bondsmen)
Commanding Officer(s)	General Thomas Brubaker
Command(s)	The entire Wolf's Dragoon Mercenary Unit; Republic Armed Forces (as Clan Wolf bondsmen) Fidelis (as Clan Wolf bondsmen)

The ilClan Trial was the final battle between Clans Wolf and Jade Falcon to determine which Clan would become the ilClan, and whose leader the First Lord of a reborn Star League on Terra. Wolf Khan Alaric Ward displayed diplomatic and strategic acumen through his willingness to incorporate elements of the Wolves-in-Exile, the Wolf's Dragoon's mercenary unit, former Republic personnel, and Paul Moon's Fidelis into his forces; while Falcon Khan Malvina Hazen approached the Trial with her typical brutal and Jade Falcon-supremist strategy.

Origins

A Major Setback

During the last stages of the Battle of Terra, as Devlin Stone was losing his grip on both Terra and the Republic of the Sphere, he would execute Damien Redburn's plan to assassinate both Khans: Operation Nighthawk. However, this plan backfired when both Wolf and Falcon forces destroyed Redburn and his group before they could kill either Khan. The operation's failure would only make matters worse for Stone, as significant Republic forces on world were crushed. To save his people's lives, Stone was forced to surrender to Clan Wolf. Alaric insisted that Stone also contact Malvina Hazen to discuss terms of surrender. Realizing that he had no other choice, Stone agreed. When the Exarch met the two leaders in person, He proposed surrender to both Clans, and to not interfere with their battle. Alaric countered with much more dire terms: that Stone disband the Republic of the Sphere once and for all. Stone resisted and even offered himself to the Wolves to make up for the assassination attempt, but Alaric refused. Realizing he could not negotiate his way out of Alaric's demand, Stone reluctantly agreed. With Stone and his Republic out of the way, Alaric could now focus on his ultimate goal: The rise of the ilClan.

The Battle for Terra

After the end of the battle, Alaric and Malvina discussed the final battle terms before initiating their final Trial: the Trial for ilClanship and the right to be named First Lord of the reborn Star League. Like the Refusal War, both sides bid everything they had to fight each other. To mark the momentous occasion, both Wolf and Jade Falcon warriors participated in their own ceremonial traditions, including ceremonial garb. The two sides agreed to use the plains of Canada, in North America, as their battleground. The Wolf Headquarters was in Ottawa, to the East, and the Falcons' in Winnipeg, to the West. Both sides bid all their forces on land or in the sky, but left the orbital assets and WarShips out of the fight, as with any other force they could bring.

The Trial of the ilClan. First Day

Both Clans began the Trial by launching aerospace sorties before dawn. As the Hunters, the Falcons attacked first, trying to destroy Alaric's headquarters in a bid to kill him. This failed, and the Falcons' aerospace assets suffered heavy losses. The Wolves' air attack was much more successful: they destroyed the Falcons' Watch Command post, killing their commander, Abzug Helmer, temporarily blinding the Falcons.

An hour later, both Clan's ground forces approached and engaged. The Falcons attacked and retreated, attempting to bait the Wolves far from their starting positions to crush them. This ploy failed; Alaric had ordered his forces to not cross Phase Line Charlie, a line of advance midway to Winnipeg. All Falcon attacks were repelled by the Wolves. Also, Alaric's forces launched a minor attack southward: a contingent of 'Mechs and Elementals of Beta Galaxy (Clan Wolf) traveled under the Lake Superior waters, taking a beachhead on Thunder Bay, but didn't advance further, and the Falcons did not stage a counterattack to this landing on the first day.

The Trial. Day Two

The Wolves took advantage of the Thunder Bay beachhead at first hours of day two: Zeta Galaxy (Clan Wolf) Ninth Wolf Assault Cluster and the Seventy-ninth Wolf Battle Cluster traveled across the lake bed, striking the Falcons' repair and munitions facilities, in case of the Ninth, and the Falcons primary supply depot, in the Seventy-Ninth's. They achieved total surprise... or almost: Malvina, expecting such attack against their logistics, though not the force employed on it, had posted all Rho Galaxy (Clan Jade Falcon) to guard the facilities. The underwater approaching allowed the Wolves to deal massive damage before falling under the Falcons' counterattack: they were slaughtered, without any prisoners; only a Trinary of the Ninth, and a Star of the Ninety-Ninths managed to escape through the lake. This attack managed to eliminate most of the Falcons munitions.

The initial Falcons' counterattack was the expected: a frontal assault, using solahma as disposable units. The Falcons' attempts to kill Alaric failed again, in part thanks to his new bondsman, Tara Campbell. That was only the first stage of Malvina's plan. Three Wolf Galaxies advanced in a counter attack after crushing the Falcons, geting into a carefully laid trap. A huge section of the forest caught fire, trapping the three Wolf Galaxies. The hellish region, which was dubbed "The Cauldron" became a deathtrap. Alaric called firefighters from Ottawa, but the Falcons shot down their air units and attacked the fire brigades, forcing the Wolves to protect them. The blaze became too much hot and big to extinguish it, and the firefighters only managed to contain it, and with some difficulty, open a path to those Wolves trapped inside to escape.

The Falcons attacked any Wolf unit which managed to escape the fire, and punished those inside the fire with air and artillery attacks. However, an ad hoc team, led by Star Captain Noran Kerensky managed not only to survive, but to cross the Cauldron and destroy all the Falcons' remaining artillery units, before retreating to their lines. Theta Galaxy (Clan Wolf) Iota Galaxy (Clan Wolf) and Upsilon Galaxy (Clan Wolf) were effectively destroyed, with about a seventy percent of losses.

The Trial. Day Three

On the third day, Alaric brought up all available forces, and he ordered to cut the bondcords of all Republic of the Sphere loyal bondsmen. Meanwhile, the Falcons were suffering the loss of their depot, and most non-Mongol warriors were running low on ammunition.

Despite the supply problems, the Falcons attacked frontally again, intending to crush what they perceived as the weakened Wolves. Once again, Alaric was a priority target, but the Falcons failed in this goal once more. The fighting was very intense, and by 1400 hours, the Wolves were on the brink of defeat, with the Falcons feeling that their strategy had paid off.

At the precipice of defeat, Alaric called Task Force Athena, his last reserves. The Khan had been preparing for the Trial for decades. Months before, knowing he would need more forces to ensure victory, he launched two secret operations: Operation Reunion, tasked to Anastasia Kerensky, which was to convince Clan Wolf-in-Exile to rejoin the Wolves, and Operation Amalgamation, tasked to Star Captain Marotta Kerensky to do the same with the Wolf's Dragoons mercenary unit. Both formed Athena, a unit that was kept hidden not only from the Falcons but also from the majority of Clan Wolf. The Fidelis would also join as part of the deal with Alaric to reconstitute the Jaguars, but they didn't fight, only providing intelligence. Task Force Athena suffered heavy losses while engaging the Jade Falcons forces. When the Dragoons were to crush the Falcons, Alaric ordered them to pull back and retreat. Anastasia would be the one to deal the final blow to Chinggis Khan Malvina Hazen, ending the battle for Terra. Caught between two fires, the Falcons were crushed. Galaxy Commander Stephanie Chistu, after Malvina's falling, took the command of the Falcons and ordered to cease fighting. However, most Mongol Doctrine followers ignored her and the Wolves were forced to kill those who refused to give up arms to a man, nearly annihilating the Falcons.

Aftermath

Both sides suffered heavy losses from the fight. The Wolf's victory can mostly be attributed to Jade Falcon Khan Malvina Hazen's death, which spread disorder through the Falcons. Each side tended to their wounds and worked on rebuilding their toumans.

To symbolize their victory, Alaric ordered a new uniform for Clan Wolf, inspired by the SLDF uniform of old, with both the symbol of the Clan and the Cameron Star emblazoned, symbolizing the rebirth of Starleague. As for the Jade Falcon Clan, many of their warriors ended up still wounded from the battle, taking months to recover. As for their leadership, Malvina Hazen finally met her end, not from the Wolves themselves; but from the stepdaughter she abused from the very start. This would be Malvina's true downfall, as the Jade Falcons used this time to replace her and redeem their honor that was tainted during her rule. As for the Wolf's Dragoons mercenary unit that fought beside Clan Wolf, it was revealed that they were being manipulated by Alaric himself as a weapon to be used however he saw fit. Adding insult to injury, the new ilKhan gave them 30 pieces of silver while reminding them that, while they were of Clan Wolf origin, they turned their backs on the Clans during Operation Revival long ago. Angered by this revelation, the Dragoons had declared a vendetta against Alaric and his wolves for what he had done to them.

The last matters that Alaric tended to were both the resurrection of Clan Smoke Jaguar and filling in the voids of Jade Falcon leadership and their fate. For the former, Alaric Ward visited Paul Moon to keep his word on resurrecting his Clan after his people’s participation on Terra. He also saw an opportunity to prove how the Second Star League were indeed a sham. He would instruct Clan Smoke Jaguar to fulfill the roles of both saKhan and Khan in order to lead the future of the new Smoke Jaguars. After a Trial of Position was held, it was declared that Prohaska Moon, a blood descendant of Paul Moon would take her place as Khan of the re-formed Jaguars. From this point on the re-formed Clan Smoke Jaguar would become a Clan once again.

With the latter, Stephanie Chistu was nominated as the new Khan of the Jade Falcons due to the honor she displayed on the field in defiance of the fallen Khan Malvina Hazen. Another Jade Falcon Warrior challenged her out of the respect for the late Hazen and her Mongol Doctrine. After the Trial of Grievance was settled, Stephanie would be chosen as the new Khan and was given Tara Jade Falcon as a way to help redeem the reputation the Jade Falcons that her predecessor tarnished. Also due to the heavy losses, Clan Jade Falcon suffered from both the battle and with Clan Hell's Horses Operation Stampede in retaliation of their manipulation, it was decided that Clan Jade Falcon would become a bodyguard Clan for the ilKhan to fulfill a similar role of the Royal Black Watch. This was done out of respect and heritage for both Tara Campbell and Jade Falcon founder Elizabeth Hazen's Black Watch origins.

Legacy

Devlin Stone's death would mark the end of the Dark Age Era.

The ilClan Trial would not only change the political aspects of the Clans, but the personal aspects as well. When it came to Alaric Ward, he caused the most significant changes of all. One of the first things that his Trial did is change the landscape of the Clan political doctrine. As where the Crusader philosophy was created as a way to take over the Inner Sphere and dominate Terra, it was often derided as a stereotype of why all Clan warriors hated the Inner Sphere by their inhabitants. However, after many generations had passed, the Invading Clans had matured. Alaric had managed to transform the Crusader philosophy into a more peaceful endeavor, in opposition to Malvina's brutal views of ruling Terra through her Mongol Doctrine. Even when he had the tomb of Aleksandr Kerensky, he grew to understand the reason for why he left the Inner Sphere and why his son, Nicholas created The Clans to return. It was at this moment, he used the Crusader way as a means to defend the Inner Sphere rather than to act as its conqueror as stereotyped by many spheroids as the basic Clanner attitude. Clan Wolf, Clan Jade Falcon, and Clan Smoke Jaguar were the only three Crusader Clans who fulfilled what the Crusader movement was about. For Clan Wolf, they reunited with their Warden brethren into a united Clan Wolf once more. As for the Smoke Jaguars, when it came to their near destruction during the Great Refusal, they became a quasi-Warden Clan, learning from their mistakes of how they had failed the Crusader way, while fighting for the Inner Sphere as a way to redeem themselves as the Fidelis. Lastly, Clan Jade Falcon, a Clan known for their sheer tenacity and honor was tainted from the inside out and turned into a dishonorable Clan that disregarded honor for the sake of brutality and fear under the leadership of Malvina Hazen.

With Clan Wolf as the ilClan, Clan Smoke Jaguar reconstituted as a full Clan once more, and Clan Jade Falcon converted as a bodyguard Clan, it is likely that the three Clans have abandoned their Crusader beliefs and animosity for each other in order to protect Terra and the New Star League as well as begin the healing process between the three Clans.

The ilClan Trial had succeeded in two objectives: completing the Crusader cause and Aleksandr Kerensky's Hidden Hope Doctrine.

Gallery

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  Kerensky's tomb in Unity City.

Bibliography

• Hour of the Wolf
• IlClan