Steel Wolves

The Steel Wolves were a splinter faction of Clan Wolf operating within the Republic of the Sphere's territory as pirates in the time leading up to and immediately following the Republic's partial collapse. During that same time period, the Steel Wolves split up into several smaller factions following their leader, Anastasia Kerensky's decision to refound them into a mercenary unit called the Wolf Hunters.

History

Early History

Before Kerensky's assumption of the leadership of the Steel Wolves, their leader was a Clan Wolf trueborn by the name of Kal Radick. Radick had formed the Wolves out of warriors from both the Arc-Royal and "Crusader" factions of the Clan, with the professed intention of reclaiming Terra for the Clans. However, Radick for the most part merely conducted raids on backwater Republic worlds for the goal of gaining more war material for the expected drive on Terra. Radick also cultivated personal loyalty to himself, in an effort to cement his grip on the command of the Steel Wolves.

Kerensky's Takeover

However, Radick's authority would be shattered by the arrival of Anastasia Kerensky. A trueborn from Arc-Royal, she joined the Steel Wolves following a battle against them in which she took part as "Tassa Kay", a freelance MechWarrior. With the Wolves, she served (some disgruntledly) under Radick, up until his announcement of a raid against the planet of Small World. Sensing an opportunity, she decried his failings as a leader and visionary, and challenged him to a Trial of Possession for the command of the Steel Wolves. Kerensky won easily, and immediately switched the intended target from Small World to the manufacturing and provincial capital of Northwind.

The Northwind Campaign

Kerensky started her invasion of Northwind with an attack on an isolated part of the planet which happened to be the home of a large number of oil rigs. With the Wolves, she attacked one of them and took it over as her base of operations; the DropShips she brought landing underwater. From her secure base, she launched a full attack on the capital of Tara, against the rival leader Countess Tara Campbell.

The Steel Wolves, early in the campaign, avoided any large confrontations with the defending Northwind Highlanders, instead sending their units through a single mountain pass around the defenders to try and take the capital. However, their plan was discovered, and, at the "Battle of Red Ledge Pass", the Highlanders destroyed a portion of Kerensky's tank forces. Kerensky, fuming over her defeat, retreated with the Wolves back to her HQ on the oil rig.

The Highlanders, now on the offensive, began a campaign to try and find the Steel Wolves' base before Kerensky could launch a second offensive against them. Eventually, after weeks of searching, one of their patrols got a tip-off that a Clan fighter plane was seen flying out into the ocean towards the oil rig that Kerensky was on. Once tthey learned that their base was compromised, Kerensky and the Wolves fled in their DropShips and began to fly towards Tara once more. Once there, they proceeded to fight a bloody battle in which their total victory was only stopped by the blowing up of their symbolic prize, the ancestral castle of Tara Campbell, and the subsequent burial of many of the Steel Wolf combat units. The Wolves fled once more, this time to try and attack Terra.

Assault on Terra/Aftermath

The Steel Wolves attacked Terra from a remote landing zone in what was Russia. Fighting was fierce, but the Steel Wolves were outclassed and forced to retreat; this time with less available war material than after the Northwind retreat. Fighting the Steel Wolves on Terra was Tara Campbell, with the unexpected third-party antagonist of the ex-Paladin Ezekiel Crow.

Following the attack on Terra, the Steel Wolves retreated to lick their wounds and rebuild the unit. Still under the iron leadership of Anastasia Kerensky, the Wolves took the unexpected step of siding with the resurgent Northwind Highlanders on the planet of Skye during the Clan Jade Falcon invasion of the region. Although the Wolves fought well, both units were shattered.

Dissolution

In the aftermath of the failed Skye defense, Kerensky took the highly unorthodox move of trying to spin off the Steel Wolves into an elite mercenary unit to be known as the Wolf Hunters. This move was met with great hostility, as those who disagreed with the percieved destruction of the Clan way of life deserted the new unit in droves to form a "loyalist" faction under the command of one of the Steel Wolves' high-ranking officers.