Editing Natasha Kerensky

{{Update Needed|[[Interstellar Players]], [[Hector (short story)]], [[Lethal Heritage]], [[Blood Legacy]], [[Lost Destiny]], [[Field Manual: Warden Clans]], [[Wolf's Dragoons (sourcebook)]], [[The Fourth Succession War Scenarios Volume One]], [[Era Report: 3145]], [[The Day After]], [[Sorenson's Sabres (scenario pack)]]}}
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{{InfoBoxCharacter
| image               = Natasha 3052.jpg
| caption             = Natasha Kerensky
| name                = Natasha Kerensky
| birthdate           = [[2973]]<ref name=ER3052-82/>
| died                = 7 December [[3057]]<ref name="I Am Jade Falcon"/>
| othernames          = The Black Widow<br />The First Lady of Death<br>The Queen of Spades<ref>''Tales of the Black Widow Company'', p. 9 "Captain Natasha Kerensky"</ref>
| affiliation         = [[Clan Wolf]]<br/>[[Wolf's Dragoons]]
| profession          = [[Khan of Clan Wolf|Khan]]
| parents             = 
| siblings            = 
| spouse              = 
| children            = 
}}

'''Natasha Kerensky''' (born [[2973]]<ref name=ER3052-82>''Era Report: 3052'', p. 82, "Natasha Kerensky Profile"</ref> - died December 7th, [[3057]]<ref name="I Am Jade Falcon">''I Am Jade Falcon'', p.{{cn}}</ref>, aged 84 years), also known as The Black Widow, The Queen of Spades, and many other appellations, was a [[trueborn]] [[MechWarrior (pilot)|MechWarrior]] from [[Clan Wolf]]. She can trace some of her ancestry back to a former member of [[Clan Widowmaker]] (a survivor of that Clan's absorption).<ref>''The Clans: Warriors of Kerensky'', p. 14-15</ref> Immensely successful and famous, she was widely regarded as the best and deadliest MechWarrior of the 31st century, with the possible exception of [[Kai Allard-Liao]].

She earned her reputation as leader of the [[Black Widow Company]] but returned to her Clan when the [[Clan Invasion]] began, where she quickly rose to the rank of [[Khan]].

==History==
===Sibko===
The location of Natashas sibko is unknown but it is known that she was sibkin with [[Cyrilla Ward]]<ref name=LDc2>''Lost Destiny'', C. 2</ref>

===Clan Warrior===
The information available about Natasha Kerensky reaches back to [[3000]] when she was a [[Star Captain]] commanding a [[Trinary]] in the elite [[328th Assault (Clan Wolf)|328th Assault Cluster]] of Clan Wolf. In this time the unit achieved notable victories over [[Clan Diamond Shark]] on [[Paxton]] and over [[Clan Jade Falcon]] on [[Eden]]. Both [[Jaime Wolf]] and [[Joshua Wolf]] served under her command, the latter upon her request to replace casualties her command had suffered against the Diamond Sharks. A bond of friendship developed between her and the [[freeborn]] brothers.

Kerensky's career stalled after her promotion to [[Star Colonel]] in [[3003]]. Several high-profile assignments eluded her due to her impatience with politics, and her success on the battlefield curiously led to her unit being eliminated in biddings early on to stiffen the bidding process.

===Wolf's Dragoons===
In [[3004]] she joined [[Wolf's Dragoons]] during their long-term intelligence mission into the [[Inner Sphere]], leaping at the opportunity to see combat duty even though it involved a de-facto demotion to [[Point Commander]], serving under the command of the brothers Wolf. Natasha Kerensky quickly rose through the ranks of Wolf's Dragoons. During the unit's employment with the [[Federated Suns]], she apparently came to the attention of a young [[Hanse Davion]].<ref>''Wolves on the Border'', p. 177</ref> At some point (circumstantial evidence suggests during the employment with the [[Capellan Confederation]] between [[3010]] and [[3014]]) she and Joshua Wolf became lovers.<ref>''The Memory of Pain''</ref>

After 3014 the Dragoons were in the employ of Duke [[Anton Marik]] in the [[Marik Civil War (31st c.)|Marik Civil War]]. One of the first targets of Duke Marik was [[Nova Roma]], where Lieutenant Kerensky and her heavy lance operated in June [[3014]] in conjunction with the [[Bounty Hunter]] and his team. After the Bounty Hunter had inspected a steep ravine and declared it safe to pass, Kerensky's lance entered and fell to a loyalist ambush. Only herself and [[Colin Maclaren]] survived and the Bounty Hunter salvaged their 'Mechs, including Kerensky's ''[[Marauder]]'', which became the Bounty Hunter's iconic 'Mech in his remarkably successful career.<ref>''Wolf's Dragoons'' (sourcebook), p. 124, "The Bounty Hunter"</ref><ref>''BattleTech Dossiers: The Bounty Hunter'', p. 5</ref> (See also Notes below.)

Shortly afterwards, Natasha Kerensky accepted command over a special Dragoon company composed of criminals, misfits and troublemakers. Promoted to Captain, she forged them into an effective fighting unit that saw action on [[Emris IV]], [[Matheran]], [[Calloway VI]], [[Semenyih]], [[Tiber]], [[McKenna (planet)|McKenna]] and [[New Delos]].

===The Black Widow===
In [[3015]], Wolf's Dragoons fell out with their current employer, Duke Anton Marik, who subsequently took Joshua Wolf and 27 other Dragoon personnel hostage and later killed them.

As the Dragoons attacked Duke Marik on [[New Delos]] in a retaliatory strike it fell to Natasha Kerensky's band of malcontents to break through the defensive line of burning forests. In a frenzied all-out attack they razed the stronghold and killed Anton Marik in their fire-blackened 'Mechs. After the final battle on New Delos, Captain Natasha Kerensky emerged as the self-styled "Black Widow" and had command over her own, semi-independent sub-unit of Wolf's Dragoons, the notorious '''[[Black Widow Company]]'''.

From then on, the Black Widows were the Dragoon's most active raiding force, often operating independently from their parent unit. They were also typically spearheading assaults in the thick of any major Dragoon operation. As commander of this unit, the "Black Widow" became a living legend akin to the Bounty Hunter. During this time she usually piloted a jet black ''[[Warhammer]]'' that became as infamous as its pilot, the mere sight of which persuaded many foes to flee rather than face her.<ref name=CS-30>''Camo Specs'', p. 30 "Wolf's Dragoons"</ref>

On 16 December [[3031]] it was announced that Natasha Kerensky had been promoted to Colonel, and her unit was expanded to Battalion size. The Black Widows were the first Dragoon unit to return to combat duty after the devastating losses Wolf's Dragoons had incurred on [[Misery]] and in the subsequent [[Fourth Succession War]]. They went to defend [[Tsinghai]] against Marik forces following a contract signed November 7, [[3031]].

In [[3035]] they were recalled to the Dragoon homeworld of [[Outreach]] to serve as a training cadre for a new generation of Dragoon MechWarriors for the next seven years.

===Return to the Clans===
When the [[Clan invasion]] into the Inner Sphere took place in [[3049]], she left the Dragoons to take her place amongst her fellow Bloodnamed Clan Warriors - notable as being the only member of the Clan in either the Dragoons or its offshoot [[Snord's Irregulars]] to answer the Grand Council's official recall order. Among Wolf's Dragoons, her unit, the Black Widow Battalion, was replaced by the Wolf Spider Battalion.

Upon [[Ulric Kerensky]]'s elevation to [[ilKhan]] of the Clans, she was named Khan of Clan Wolf in his stead.

{{quote|''History has often taught us that the path to victories in the future is not to rush into battle like the [[Clan Smoke Jaguar|Smoke Jaguars]] or the [[Clan Jade Falcon|Jade Falcons]]. Where they rush into battle, charge where angels fear to tread, we know that victory is a matter of stalking one's prey. The hunt, the pursuit, the methodical wearing down of one's foe, that is often the key to victory. Let the Falcons say what they will about Ulric Kerensky. We shall show them how true Warriors achieve victory!''}}
:''-Khan Natasha Kerensky addresses her 352nd Assault Cluster before the Battle of [[Colmar]]''

===Death and Legacy===
Khan Natasha Kerensky, leading the prestigious 13th Wolf Guards, died in December [[3057]] in single 'Mech combat against [[Star Commander]] [[Joanna]] of [[Clan Jade Falcon]] in the [[Great Gash]] on the planet [[Twycross]] while fighting a rearguard action to cover the retreat of her unit. The Jade Falcons left Kerensky's fallen [[BattleMech]] (a ''[[Dire Wolf]]'' called ''Widowmaker'') in its place as a monument to an exceptional person who was widely respected, even by her former enemies.

==Battlemechs==
Natasha Kerensky is chiefly associated with the jet black ''[[Warhammer]]'' that she piloted throughout her career as the Black Widow.

It is not known what 'Mech(s) Natasha Kerensky piloted in her early days as a MechWarrior.

She piloted a ''[[Marauder]]'' on Nova Roma that was famously salvaged by the Bounty Hunter, who used it as his signature 'Mech for a long time.

After returning to the Clans, she claimed a ''[[Timber Wolf]]'' that was the property of [[Vlad Ward]]{{cn}}. By the time of her death in combat on Twycross she piloted a ''Dire Wolf'' with a custom configuration.

==Personal information==
The death of Joshua Wolf, her lover, in 3014 apparently pushed Natasha Kerensky over the edge and turned the already formidable MechWarrior to a cocky, sometimes almost suicidal lifestyle on and off the battlefield for decades to come. Like her entire Black Widow command of criminals and discipline cases she displayed borderline psychotic behavior and could kill at a whim, inside or outside her ''Warhammer''. Violent barfights that could even result in deaths occurred regularly. When [[Fadre Singh]] admitted during questioning following his capture on Misery that he had leaked critical information to the enemy, she simply shot him in the presence of the Dragoon command staff even while Jaime Wolf still raised his hand to hit Singh. She uttered a line, revealed later as a quote of [[Nicholas Kerensky]], "Those who break faith with the Unity shall go down into darkness."  Nicholas had uttered those same words when ordering the Annihilation of [[Clan Wolverine]].

At one point during the Dragoons' employment with the [[Draconis Combine]] just prior to [[3028]], [[Gideon Braver]] confronted Natasha Kerensky with false accusations about having attacked [[Ander's Moon]]. She denied the accusations and a barfight broke out; only the interventions of a [[MIIO]] operative saved Gideon Braver from a very severe beating. ''(Since this event is depicted in the storyline of a [[MechWarrior I|computer game]], the canonicity of this information is disputed.)''

Within Wolf's Dragoons she held the rank of a mere Captain (in command of the Black Widow Company) for a long time, but was highly respected and in fact commanded the authority of a Battalion commander or better; in tactical meetings she was respected as an equal by Regimental Colonels among the Dragoons. When all Regiment and Battalion commanders assembled for the [[seppuku]] ceremony of [[Minobu Tetsuhara]] at the conclusion of the Misery campaign she was present as well<ref name="Wolves on the Border">''Wolves on the Border'', p.{{cn}}</ref>.

She spoke Russian and was known to curse in that language when a combat situation was complex.<ref> ''Tales of the Black Widow Company'', pp. 40-41</ref>

==Quotes==
{{Quote|''Train your young boys well, because otherwise they won't get past this old woman.''|Natasha Kerensky<ref name="H:Wo3039p119">''Historical: War of 3039'', p. 119, "Other Wave Two Actions"</ref>}}

==Titles and Positions==
{{s-start}}
{{s-bef|before=[[Garth Radick]]}}
{{s-title|title=[[Khan of Clan Wolf]]|years=[[3052]] &ndash; [[3058]]}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Vlad Ward]]}}
{{s-bef|before=[[Garth Radick]]}}
{{s-title|title=[[saKhan of Clan Wolf]]|years=[[3051]] &ndash; [[3052]]}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Phelan Ward]]}}
{{s-end}}

==Portrait Gallery==
<gallery>
Image:Natasha.jpg|Natasha Kerensky
Image:Natasha_Kerensky_HKSB.jpg|Natasha ca. 3025
Image:Natasha Kerensky (3).jpg|Natasha Kerensky
Image:Natasha Kerensky (4).jpg|Natasha in 3028
Image:Natasha Kerensky.jpg|Portrait of Natasha
Image:Natasha black widow.jpg|Leader of the [[Black Widow Company]]
Image:Natasha Kerensky CCG.jpg|CCG Portrait of Natasha Kerensky
</gallery>

==Notes==
While there is much fan speculation that Natasha piloted 'Mechs with advanced [[Star League]] technology in her early career with Wolf's Dragoons, there are no canon references to support this.  Her ''Marauder'', captured by the Bounty Hunter in 3014, was upgraded by him following a Periphery mission in 3015 with equipment from a Star League cache uncovered during that mission.<ref>''BattleTech Dossiers: The Bounty Hunter'', p. 6, "Marauder Bounty Hunter 3015"</ref>  Her iconic ''Warhammer'' is a stock WHM-6R, maintained in perfect condition.<ref>''Tales of the Black Widow Company'', p. 8</ref>

== References ==
<references />
==Bibliography==
* ''[[A Time of Ice and Fire]]''
* ''[[BattleTech Dossiers: The Bounty Hunter]]''
* ''[[Camo Specs]]''
* ''[[Era Report: 3052]]''
* ''[[Historical: Brush Wars]]''
* ''[[Historical: War of 3039]]''
* ''[[I Am Jade Falcon]]'' (novel)
* ''[[More Tales of the Black Widow]]''
* ''[[The Memory of Pain]]''
* ''[[Shrapnel]]''
* ''[[Tales of the Black Widow Company]]''
* ''[[The Clans: Warriors of Kerensky]]''
* ''[[The Spider and the Wolf]]''
* ''[[Wolf's Dragoons (sourcebook)]]''
* ''[[Wolves on the Border]]'' (novel)

[[Category:Khans|Kerensky, Natasha]]
[[Category:Mercenary Characters|Kerensky, Natasha]]
[[Category:Clan Wolf Characters|Kerensky, Natasha]]
[[Category:Wolf's Dragoons Characters|Kerensky, Natasha]]