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'''The Watch''' is the intelligence agency of the [[Clans]]. Founded by [[Nicholas Kerensky]] to spy on [[Clan Wolverine]], the Watch originally answered to the [[ilKhan]] only. Later, and especially after the [[Clan invasion|failed invasion]] of the [[Inner Sphere]], the Clans began to understand the value of an intelligence service, so every Clan got an arm of the Watch. Still, since the Clans perceive spying as un-Clanlike, the Watch is considered weak even in comparison to [[SAFE]].
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{{Update Needed|[[Wars of Reaving]][[Shattered Fortress]]}}
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[[File:Clan Watch Insignia.jpg|right|thumb|Clan Watch Insignia]]
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'''The Watch''' is the intelligence agency of the [[Clans]]. Its most recent iteration is directly descended from Intelser and was loosely organized at the start of the [[Clan Invasion]] on the order of ilKhan [[Leo Showers]].  Though nominally the intelligence service for all of the Clans and headed by the [[Loremaster of the Clans]], each individual Clan runs their own independent branch headed by their respective [[Loremaster]].<ref name=AGCO81>''A Guide to Covert Ops'', p. 81</ref>
  
Only members of the Warrior, Scientist, and the Technician Caste serve as the Watch operatives. Many warriors serving in the Watch are considered old and useless by the Clan standard, whose only other choice would be serving in a [[Solahma]] unit. This circumstances actually help the efficiency of the Watch because of the additional experience of the warriors though.
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==History==
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A version of the Watch was first founded by [[Nicholas Kerensky]] to spy on [[Clan Wolverine]] and originally answered to the [[ilKhan]] only.<ref name=BOI-I>''Betrayal of Ideals'', "Book I: Foundations of Fate"</ref>
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The progenitor of the modern Clan Watch, Intelser, was formed in [[2980]] by order of the [[Grand Council]] as a means of gathering intelligence on the state of the [[Inner Sphere]]. Intelser however could only produce a fragmented and confusing picture of the Inner Sphere, composed as it was of washed-out warriors and lower-caste members whose intelligence-gathering efforts amounted to probing missions of the [[Periphery]]. What information they could provide sparked even more debate between the [[Crusader Clans|Crusaders]], who demanded an immediate invasion of the Inner Sphere, and the [[Warden]]s, who argued more information was needed.  The resulting [[Dragoon Compromise]] of [[3000]] was arguably the most successful intelligence gathering operation ever undertaken by the Clans, although the apparent desertion of [[Wolf's Dragoons]] many years later would again deprive the Clans of much-needed intelligence.<ref name=AGCO81/>
  
The command of the Watch arms of all Clans are their respective [[Loremaster]]s, except for the Clan Fire Mandrill, where the command is shared with the [[ilChi]], and the Clan [[Nova Cat]] where the [[Oathmaster]] [[Minoru Kurita II (Novacat)|Minoru Novacat]] is the current head of the Watch.
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When the Clan Invasion began, the Watch was formed by order of ilKhan Showers as a blanket service for all of the Invading Clans, each one maintaining their own semi-independent branch, primarily as a counter to the activities of Inner Sphere operatives infiltrating their [[Occupation Zone]]s; at the same time the Home Clans formed their own branches in anticipation of future operations.  However, centuries of ritualized warfare had caused the Clans to regard covert operations as not only dishonorable but unnecessary given their clear martial supremacy.  Thus the Watch was ill-trained, underfunded, and ill-equipped, staffed largely by merchants, technicians and the proverbial "bottom of the barrel" from the warrior caste.  The infiltration of opposing factions was practically non-existent, intelligence-gathering operations usually little more than eavesdropping on local newsvids prior to an attack, and even what data was gathered could not be properly analyzed given the Watch's insufficient capabilities.  The resulting intelligence failures, numerous and spectacular as they were, would only heighten the Clans' disdain for such cloak-and-dagger methods.<ref name=AGCO81/>
  
The current ([[3057]]) head of the All-Clan Watch is [[Kael Pershaw]] of [[Clan Jade Falcon]]<ref>''I Am Jade Falcon'', pp.??{{cn}}</ref> since he is also the Loremaster of the Clans.
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While some Clans, most notably the Wolves and Jade Falcons, took steps to upgrade their intelligence-gathering capabilities, the Watch as a whole would remain ineffective during the invasion and the years following the [[Truce of Tukayyid]].  The organization's greatest success came following the election of [[Kael Pershaw]] of [[Clan Jade Falcon]] to the position of Loremaster of the Clans, when in [[3054]] the Watch succeeded in a campaign of misinformation directed at [[ComStar]]'s [[ROM]], causing them to mistake the location and allegiance of many Clan units.<ref name=FMCC98>''Field Manual: Warden Clans'', p. 98</ref> Never formally abolished, the Watch and its component branches would diverge from their original mission until finally the invasion was ended in [[3060]] with the [[Great Refusal]].  Lacking any central authority, each Watch branch began to develop in different directions based on the needs and history of their parent Clan.  Those with first-hand experience of the enemy's deceptions and subterfuges during the invasion attempted to adapt as quickly as possible to better match their Inner Sphere counterparts, while the Home Clans' programs remained woefully underdeveloped, stuck as they were in their ways and with little to worry about save other Clans.<ref name=AGCO81/>
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By [[3067]], although no individual Clan Watch was a match for any of the Inner Sphere intelligence agencies, overall their capabilities had improved and many had achieved a measure of parity in certain areas.<ref name=AGCO81/>
  
[[File:Clan Watch Insignia.jpg|right]]
 
 
==Clan Watch Commands==
 
==Clan Watch Commands==
 
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The following lists the situation of all of the Clan Watchs as of 3067.<ref name=AGCO81/>
 
===Clan Blood Spirit===
 
===Clan Blood Spirit===
* Loremaster Bayle Campbell
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* Loremaster [[Bayle Campbell]]
  
The isolationist Spirits have a defensive oriented watch. The normal work was the analysis of the Chatterweb and information from their allied ilChis. The recent activities lead to a more offensive course and a closer cooperation with the Fire Mandrill's agents.
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The isolationist Spirits traditionally had a defensive-oriented Watch, content to gather information on other Clans through analysis of the [[Chatterweb]] or through their [[ilChi]]s to the Fire Mandrills and Snow Ravens. In recent years however the Blood Spirits' thawing relations with the Cloud Cobras and Fire Mandrills has resulted in a more offensive course, including a closer cooperation with the Fire Mandrill's agents.<ref name=AGCO82>''A Guide to Covert Operations'', p. 82</ref>
  
 
===Clan Cloud Cobra===
 
===Clan Cloud Cobra===
* Loremaster Eleni Riaz
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* Loremaster [[Eleni Riaz]]
  
The Cloud Cobras use the normal resources for information gathering, like Trials and the Chatterweb. The Cloisters give them an opportunity to infiltrate other Clans with minimal work. It is believed that agents are operating in the near Periphery and surrounding Clan space.
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While seemingly relegated to the normal intelligence gathering techniques associated with monitoring the Chatterweb and the occasional [[Trials]] due to their spiritual bearing, in truth the Cloud Cobras have a perfect avenue of infiltrating other Clans through their [[Cloister]]s. As these organizations extend beyond their own borders, so-called "religious agents" as able to disguise themselves as other followers of The Way and slip into other Clans. In addition contacts between the Cloud Cobras and the [[Tanite Worlds]] provide their Watch additional intelligence on the Periphery surrounding Clan space.<ref name=AGCO82/>
  
 
===Clan Coyote===
 
===Clan Coyote===
* Loremaster Clarissa Jericho
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* Loremaster [[Clarissa Jericho]]
  
The task of the branch is to gather information from the Chatterweb and from diamond sharks merchants combined with a few field operations on the ground.
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As is typical of other Home Clans, the Coyotes' Watch is staffed almost exclusively by failed warriors, given training considered sub-par even at Clan standards and assigned whatever shoddy equipment is left over.  The extent of their intelligence-gathering operations amount to hearsay from Coyote merchants, monitoring the Chatterweb and buying information from Diamond Shark merchants.  Actual Coyote covert operations amount to nothing more than specialized infantry actions.<ref name=AGCO82/>
  
 
===Clan Diamond Shark===
 
===Clan Diamond Shark===
* Loremaster Semi Kalasa
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* Loremaster [[Semi Kalasa]]
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As the founders and administrators of the Chatterweb, the Diamond Sharks have put this cross-media network to good use as a means of gathering up-to-the-minute intelligence.  Rather than failed warriors their Watch is also dominated by merchants, a fact which as proven useful as these traders use their contacts among the lower castes to monitor events taking place not only among other Clans but parts of the Inner Sphere as well.  Thus while their abilities in espionage are lacking, in the fields of intelligence gathering and analysis the Sharks are a match for some Inner Sphere agencies.<ref name=AGCO82/>
  
* The Sharks role as merchants for the clans and as founder of the Chatterweb give them a dominant role in the clan-wide intelligence play. Heavily influenced by the merchant caste, the orientations are quite different. In many operations economic goals are the primary mission. In many cases the Watch is a match for IS agencies.
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The [[Wars of Reaving]] supplement is framed as a single large intelligence report to the [[Council of Six Clans]]. The book mentions the use of deep-cover penetration agents and signals intelligence (including some of the few remaining [[Bug-Eye]] warships) as part of their efforts to stay current on news in the Clan homeworlds.
  
===Clan Fire Mandrlll===
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===Clan Fire Mandrill===
* Loremaster Drew Tanaga and ilChi Jas Keller
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* Loremaster [[Drew Tanaga]] and ilChi [[Jas Keller]]
  
* Every Kindraa has its own watch branch. This makes it difficult to cooperate within the clan as a whole. The cooperation with the Spirits give them something like a central command and the Spirits a greater access to the world outside their own clan.
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True to their nature the Fire Mandrill Watch is fractured along [[Kindraa]] lines, and what intelligence agents they have among the other Clans - captured Mandrill warriors being their typical uncooperative selves - report what they hear to their Kindraa only. Efforts by the Khan to centralize his Clan's Watch have failed despite direct orders, and not a single operation has been successfully carried out. Since the Fire Mandrill's alliance with the Blood Spirits, however, attempts have been made to reform their Watch.  In a rare spirit of inter-Clan cooperation the Blood Spirts have become overall administrators for the crippled program, providing a reliable central command in exchange for greater access to the larger Clan society.<ref name=AGCO82/>
  
 
===Clan Ghost Bear===
 
===Clan Ghost Bear===
* Loremaster Laune Tseng
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* Loremaster [[Laurie Tseng]]
  
* The Watch received an improvement through rasalhaghian operatives. The former Tyr resistance movement is now part of the watch and gives it a superior edge about the other invasion clans.  
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The Ghost Bear's policy of wining the hearts and minds of their Rasalhaguian populace, including a degree of semi-autonomy within the [[Ghost Bear Dominion]], has greatly improved their Watch from ineffective to a potential threat. This has stemmed from a large number of native Rasalhaguians joining the Bear Watch, of which many are experienced resistors with a rich tradition of rebellion and guerrilla actions.  The result is a dramatic improvement in all areas of covert operations.<ref name=AGCO82/>
  
===Clan Goliath Scorplon===
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===Clan Goliath Scorpion===
* Loremaster Kyrie Ben-Shimon
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* Loremaster [[Kyrie Ben-Shimon]]
  
* In the past limited to discovering lost Star League artifacts, the branch is now more offensively orientated. The seeker movement gives them the cover needed for missions in other Clan territories. Rumors suggest a close cooperation with Clan Snow Raven and Blood Spirit.
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In years prior the Scorpion Watch was almost completely limited to paramilitary scout missions, directed mostly in search of lost [[Star League]] artifacts, although from a certain point of view their most stunning intelligence-gathering success was the participation of some Scorpion units in the (in)famous Wolf's Dragoons.  Recently however their Watch has taken a more overt approach, relying on their nomadic [[Clan Goliath Scorpion#Seekers|Seekers]] to gather information from all corners of known space. They have also formed a limited partnership with the Snow Raven Watch to facilitate this effort, and are rumored to be contact with the Blood Spirits.<ref name=AGCO83>''A Guide to Covert Ops'', p. 83</ref>
  
 
===Clan Hell's Horses===
 
===Clan Hell's Horses===
* Loremaster Temuchin Amirault  
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* Loremaster [[Temuchin Amirault]]
  
The invasion of the Ghost Bear Dominion had shown that the Horses were adapt to the use of elite commando-squads. This commando teams make preparations for the invading force through information gathering and sabotage.
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Though evidently possessing an inadequate Watch no better than that of any other Home Clan, in truth the Horses' organization are surprisingly adept at active operations.  This was revealed during their failed invasion of Ghost Bear space in [[3063]], where squads of elite commandos managed to covertly infiltrate Bear worlds on specialized drop shuttles and carried out a series of strikes to disable key parts of the early warning grids. Unfortunately the Horses' intelligence gathering and analysis skills are quite wanting, a fact exacerbated during the invasion by their reliance on intelligence provided by Clan Wolf, which had goaded them into attacking the Ghost Bears for their own purposes.<ref name=AGCO83/>
  
 
===Clan Ice Hellion===
 
===Clan Ice Hellion===
* Loremaster Jonas Cage
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* Loremaster [[Jonas Cage]]
  
* The Hellions use reactivated dropships equipped with sensor to improve their operation. The improvements still need to show. Most operatives hail from the technician caste.
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The Hellion Watch is plagued not only by typical Home Clan disdain for covert operations, but their own impatience and an over-reliance on technology.  This manifested itself with the Clan took the extraordinary step of reactivating several outdated [[DropShip]]s and fitting them with advanced sensors and communications gear for intelligence gathering. The crews of these vessels are almost exclusively from the technician caste however, while their defense is provided for by washed-up [[Elemental]]s.<ref name=AGCO83/>
  
 
===Clan Jade Falcon===
 
===Clan Jade Falcon===
 
* Loremaster Kael Pershaw
 
* Loremaster Kael Pershaw
  
* In [[3060]], Loremaster [[Kael Pershaw]] was head of their Watch. In [[3064]], [[Khan]] [[Marthe Pryde]] used the Jade Falcon Watch to steal information about [[Jump Point|pirate jump points]] of Lyran systems. This knowledge was used in the assault on [[Melissia]]. Although the Jade Falcon Watch is among the best of the Clans - due to a progressive Khan and the genius of Kael Pershaw - their distaste for covert operations leaves the Watch with mostly intelligence gathering and analysis work through conventional sources and scouting. Currently, lots of monitoring activity of the Jade Falcon Scientist Caste hints to some kind of an internal conflict.
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In [[3060]], Loremaster [[Kael Pershaw]] was head of their Watch. In [[3064]], [[Khan]] [[Marthe Pryde]] used the Jade Falcon Watch to steal information about [[Jump Point|pirate jump points]] of Lyran systems. This knowledge was used in the assault on [[Melissia]]. Although the Jade Falcon Watch is among the best of the Clans - due to a progressive Khan and the genius of Kael Pershaw - their distaste for covert operations leaves the Watch with mostly intelligence gathering and analysis work through conventional sources and specialized scouting units drawn from second-line troops. The Falcon Watch also acts as a secret police observing the lower castes; Currently, lots of monitoring activity of the Jade Falcon scientists hints to some kind of an internal conflict.<ref name=AGCO83/>
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===Clan Nova Cat===
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* [[Oathmaster]] [[Minoru Nova Cat]]
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Devastated in the attacks which resulted from their relocation to the [[Draconis Combine]] in 3060, the Nova Cat Watch has been in a state of repair and reorganization.  Through their new Oathmaster the Nova Cats have received a boost in intelligence operations which, given Minoru's spiritual bent, is most likely a result of the Watch's cooperation with the [[Order of the Five Pillars]].<ref name=AGCO83/> In [[3056]] the Nova Cat Watch sent two lances of ''dezgra'' warriors to [[Parma]] posing as mercenaries. This was a training mission.<ref>''Hot Spots'', p. 37</ref>
  
 
===Clan Snow Raven===
 
===Clan Snow Raven===
* Loremaster Klaus Harper
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* Loremaster [[Klaus Harper]]
  
* The domination in the naval field gives the Ravens an unique insight view in the strength, political orientation and future developments of other clans. The Machiavellian maneuvering in politics make them a special opponent. The Snow Raven's internal rivalry sometimes prevents their own success.
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Their domination in the naval field gives the Ravens an unique insight view in the strength, political orientation and future developments of other Clans. This has come largely through renting out their naval assets as the Raven Watch maintains few field operatives.  The Machiavellian maneuvering which goes on in Snow Raven politics makes their operatives adept at negotiations and blackmail, although as a result of internal rivalries a propensity to turn these special skills on each other sometimes prevents their own success.<ref name=AGCO83/>
  
 
===Clan Star Adder===
 
===Clan Star Adder===
* Loremaster Dagmar Lahiri
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* Loremaster [[Dagmar Lahiri]]
  
* The absorption of Clan Burrock gave the Star Adders a deeper look inside the workings of the dark caste. As a result the anti-bandit missions are more successful and more effective. The personal of the watch contains more former Burrock warriors than original Star Adders at the moment. The watch is on pare with the branches of other Homeclans.
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The absorption of [[Clan Burrock]] not only increased the size and resources of the Star Adder Watch but also gave them a deeper look inside the workings of the [[Dark Caste]]. As a result their anti-bandit missions are more successful and more effective, while at the same time their program is disproportionally staffed by Burrocks to the point of outnumbering "native" Star Adders.  In operations outside bandit hunts however the Star Adder program is no better than any other Home Clan's.<ref name=AGCO83/>
  
 
===Clan Steel Viper===
 
===Clan Steel Viper===
* Loremaster Artrhur Stoklas
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* Loremaster [[Artrhur Stoklas]]
  
* The Steel Vipers are traditionalist in every way and as a result put little resources in intelligence operations. The Vipers were forced to restructure their watch after their touman was surprised by the Jade Falcon-counterattack, which lead to all loses of IS territories to the Jade Falcons.  
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The Steel Vipers are traditionalist in every way and as a result put little resources in intelligence operations, despite participating in the invasion and experiencing first-hand Inner Sphere covert warfare. This refusal to adopt "barbarian ways" lasted long enough for the Steel Vipers to be ejected from the Inner Sphere in a Jade Falcon surprise attack, whereupon Khan [[Perigard Zalman]] ordered a restructuring and strengthening of all aspects of his Clan, including the Watch. Despite this however the Viper Watch remains little better than other Home Clan programs, its field agents [[solahma]] or [[abtakha]] warriors supported by similarly ill-equipped and ill-trained technicians.<ref name=AGCO83/>
Khan Perigard Zalman's efforts to improve the work of the watch has had little influence until now. The normal agents are washed out or solhama warrior with little support through technicians.  
 
  
 
===Clan Wolf===
 
===Clan Wolf===
* Loremaster Katya Kerensky
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* Loremaster [[Katya Kerensky]]
  
* It was Clan Wolf which used the Watch right from the start, it was Clan Wolf which suggested sending [[Wolf's Dragoons]] to the Inner Sphere to report to the Watch. It surprises not that Clan Wolf has got a strong Watch arm, second only to Clan Wolf-in-Exile. Hardened by years in the occupation zone, the Wolf Watch is experienced in information gathering, analysis and commando-style operations. Clan Wolf Watch especially tries to infiltrate the Clan Jade Falcon and the [[Lyran Alliance Armed Forces]] for military intelligence gathering. During the [[Jade Falcon Incursion]] of [[3064]] Khan [[Phelan Kell]] of [[Clan Wolf-in-Exile]] recognized a Clan Wolf Watch agent and sent through him a message to [[Vlad Ward]]. The current head of the Wolf Clan Watch is Loremaster Katya Kerensky.
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As the only Clan to actually respect its intelligence community, it comes as no surprise that the Wolves have one of the strongest Watch programs of any Clan. Hardened by years in the Inner Sphere, the Wolf Watch is experienced in information gathering and analysis by technicians and strategists of its analysis branch, and commando-style operations carried out by specialized teams of warriors in the active operations branch. The majority of its activity is focused on observing the [[Lyran Alliance]] and Jade Falcons, with the rest directed to keeping an eye on the Ghost Bears and their own Rasalhagian populace.<ref name=AGCO83/> During the [[Jade Falcon Incursion (3064)|Jade Falcon Incursion]] of [[3064]] Khan [[Phelan Kell]] of [[Clan Wolf-in-Exile]] recognized a Clan Wolf Watch agent and sent through him a message to [[Vlad Ward]].
  
===Clan Wolf (In Exlle)===
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===Clan Wolf (In Exile)===
* Loremaster Daphne Vickers
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* Loremaster [[Daphne Vickers]]
  
* During the Jade Falcon incursion of [[3064]] their Watch cooperated with the Lyran [[LIC]] and [[ComStar]]'s [[ROM]] to deliver the best possible intelligence to the defenders of the [[Lyran Alliance]]. Since Khan [[Phelan Kell]] brought a sizable part of the already very able [[Clan Wolf]] watch to [[Arc-Royal]] and used his family contacts to augment it further, the Exile Wolf Watch is considered the strongest Watch agency and is schooled not only in intelligence gathering, but also counter-intelligence work and even commando missions. Loremaster Daphne Vickers is the head of Clan Wolf-in-Exile Watch.
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During the Jade Falcon incursion of 3064 their Watch cooperated with the Lyran [[LIC]] and [[ComStar]]'s [[ROM]] to deliver the best possible intelligence to the defenders of the [[Lyran Alliance]]. Since Khan [[Phelan Kell]] brought a sizable part of the already very able [[Clan Wolf]] watch to [[Arc-Royal]] and used his family contacts to augment it further, the Exile Wolf Watch is considered the strongest Watch agency and is schooled not only in infiltration, intelligence gathering, and analysis but also counter-intelligence work and even commando missions, though Clan honor forbids assassination and espionage. The Watch is also rumored to be in partnership with [[Wolfnet]] and [[Heimdall (organization)|Heimdall]].<ref name=AGCO83/>
 
 
===Clan Nova Cat===
 
* Oathmaster Minoru Nova Cat
 
 
 
* Through their new Oathmaster the Nova Cats received a boost in intelligence operations after their relocation to the Inner Sphere. The order of the five pillars support and assist the Clan watch secretly. This is a sign of future cooperation with the Draconis Combine.
 
  
 
===Clan Smoke Jaguar===
 
===Clan Smoke Jaguar===
* Their Watch was fully aware of the growing [[Warship]]-programs of the [[Successor States]] and the re-fitted Warships of [[ComStar]]. But for unknown reasons, the warrior caste simply discarded this information, so they were caught offhanded in [[3060]] when major [[Inner Sphere]] warship-forces showed up during [[Operation Bulldog]] and [[Operation Serpent]].
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* Their Watch was fully aware of the growing [[WarShip]]-construction programs of the [[Successor States]] and the re-fitted WarShips of [[ComStar]],<ref>''Sword and Fire'', p. 176</ref> but for unknown reasons the warrior caste simply discarded this information and were caught off guard in [[3060]] when major [[Inner Sphere]] naval forces showed up during [[Operation BULLDOG]] and [[Operation SERPENT]].
* In addition, the Watch of the Jaguars seemed completely oblivious to the reformation of the [[Star League Defense Force]], despite the fact that the proceedings on [[Tharkad]] were all but open to the public.
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* In addition, the Watch of the Jaguars seemed completely oblivious to the reformation of the [[Star League Defense Force]], despite the fact that the proceedings on [[Tharkad]] were all but open to the public. The Clans as a whole seemed oblivious to the massive troop movements in the build up to Operation Bulldog.
 
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* The Smoke Jaguars also used clandestine forces, such as the [[Jaguar's Swords]] Cluster, but it is unclear if these were attached to the Watch.
===Alternative roots===
 
Created on the decision of the Grand Council to spy on the Successor State, the former Intelser (founded 2980) is the predecessing organization to all Clan watches. For the Warden Clans it was a way to delay the Invasion with the reason the enemy would be unknown (strength,technology and so on) and a task force (Wolf Dragoons) should be send to them undercover , with the mission for information gathering (see also Dragoon Compromise).
 
The task force now known as Wolfs Dragoons defected to the Inner Sphere with their own goal to protect it against their former brothers.
 
The next decades the intelligence machine stood still and was reactivated during the Invasion as response to anti-clan activities on conquered worlds by insurgent forces (financed by Successor States).
 
 
 
The Watch as it exists today formed during the Clan 'nvasion as a response to anti-Clan activities by Inner Sphere intelligence agencies. Though once more conceived as a blanket service for all invading Clans, each Clan was responsible for maintaining its own semi-
 
independent Operation and even the non-invading Clans formed their own programs in anticipation of possible action against Inner Sphere forces. Lacking both resources and a suitable model from which to proceed, the Clan Waten blundered through its early years, focusing the bulk of its efforts on weeding out enemy agents infiltrating the Occupation Zones. Regarded as a necessary evil—with the stress on evil-the Clans staffed these agencies with the dregs of their warrior caste, supported by merchants and technicians. Infiltration of opposing factions was negligible and the gathering of data was largely limited to eavesdropping on local newsvids before launching an attack. Lacking sufficient analysis capabilities, the Clans simply did not know how to put the scant information they gathered to use. resulting in numerous intelligence failures that only heightened the Clans' scorn for such Operations. Though some Clans, notably the Wolves and the Jade Falcons, took steps to Upgrade their intelligence apparatus, the Clan Watch branches remained sub-par throughout much of the ComStar truce.
 
When the invasion was ended in 3060, the Watch miraculously endured, though now fragmented between the surviving Clans and lacking any central authority. The invasion and the aftermath of its failure spurred some Clans to modify their own Watch programs, gradually bridging the gap between their inexperienced Operations and those of their Inner Sphere counterparts. Though their current rate of improvement is still quite limited and irregulär, with some branches developing better in select areas than others, the overail effectiveness of the Clan Watch appears sufficient for most military Operations.
 
 
 
THE CLAN WATCH BRANCHES
 
The Clan Watch, loosely organized on the order of the ilKhan during the Start of the Clan Invasioa diverged after the Tukayyid truce and in subsequent years. Never abolished but now lacking the centralized authority of a war leader, the Organization has fractured along Clan lines and each separate branch has already developed unique characteristics under the leadership of its Claa
 
Nonetheless, the obvious division between the Watch programs of the Invading Clans versus those of Home Clans is striking. Exposed to more of the turmoil and cloak-and-dagger of Inner Sphere politics and rival agencies, the Invading Clans have been forced to adapt at breakneck pace lest they be shattered like the Jaguars. The Home Clans, still stuck in the pre-lnvasion ways with little to worry about save the threat of neighboring Clans, remain woefully underdeveloped in areas of intelligence analysis and covert Operations.
 
While it remains true that none of the Clan Watch programs measures up to any Inner Sphere organizations, some do come dose in specific areas and all remain dangerous to the overconfident operative.
 
The designator for someone within the Watch is a simple black ring laid behind the daggerstar.
 
 
 
  
 
==References==
 
==References==
Line 116: Line 107:
 
*''[[A Guide to Covert Ops]]''
 
*''[[A Guide to Covert Ops]]''
 
*''[[Betrayal of Ideals]]'' BattleCorps story
 
*''[[Betrayal of Ideals]]'' BattleCorps story
 +
*''[[Field Manual: Crusader Clans]]''
 +
*''[[Hot Spots]]''
 
*''[[I Am Jade Falcon]]'' (novel)
 
*''[[I Am Jade Falcon]]'' (novel)
 
*''[[Operation Audacity]]'' (novel)
 
*''[[Operation Audacity]]'' (novel)

Revision as of 20:30, 15 September 2020

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Clan Watch Insignia

The Watch is the intelligence agency of the Clans. Its most recent iteration is directly descended from Intelser and was loosely organized at the start of the Clan Invasion on the order of ilKhan Leo Showers. Though nominally the intelligence service for all of the Clans and headed by the Loremaster of the Clans, each individual Clan runs their own independent branch headed by their respective Loremaster.[1]

History

A version of the Watch was first founded by Nicholas Kerensky to spy on Clan Wolverine and originally answered to the ilKhan only.[2] The progenitor of the modern Clan Watch, Intelser, was formed in 2980 by order of the Grand Council as a means of gathering intelligence on the state of the Inner Sphere. Intelser however could only produce a fragmented and confusing picture of the Inner Sphere, composed as it was of washed-out warriors and lower-caste members whose intelligence-gathering efforts amounted to probing missions of the Periphery. What information they could provide sparked even more debate between the Crusaders, who demanded an immediate invasion of the Inner Sphere, and the Wardens, who argued more information was needed. The resulting Dragoon Compromise of 3000 was arguably the most successful intelligence gathering operation ever undertaken by the Clans, although the apparent desertion of Wolf's Dragoons many years later would again deprive the Clans of much-needed intelligence.[1]

When the Clan Invasion began, the Watch was formed by order of ilKhan Showers as a blanket service for all of the Invading Clans, each one maintaining their own semi-independent branch, primarily as a counter to the activities of Inner Sphere operatives infiltrating their Occupation Zones; at the same time the Home Clans formed their own branches in anticipation of future operations. However, centuries of ritualized warfare had caused the Clans to regard covert operations as not only dishonorable but unnecessary given their clear martial supremacy. Thus the Watch was ill-trained, underfunded, and ill-equipped, staffed largely by merchants, technicians and the proverbial "bottom of the barrel" from the warrior caste. The infiltration of opposing factions was practically non-existent, intelligence-gathering operations usually little more than eavesdropping on local newsvids prior to an attack, and even what data was gathered could not be properly analyzed given the Watch's insufficient capabilities. The resulting intelligence failures, numerous and spectacular as they were, would only heighten the Clans' disdain for such cloak-and-dagger methods.[1]

While some Clans, most notably the Wolves and Jade Falcons, took steps to upgrade their intelligence-gathering capabilities, the Watch as a whole would remain ineffective during the invasion and the years following the Truce of Tukayyid. The organization's greatest success came following the election of Kael Pershaw of Clan Jade Falcon to the position of Loremaster of the Clans, when in 3054 the Watch succeeded in a campaign of misinformation directed at ComStar's ROM, causing them to mistake the location and allegiance of many Clan units.[3] Never formally abolished, the Watch and its component branches would diverge from their original mission until finally the invasion was ended in 3060 with the Great Refusal. Lacking any central authority, each Watch branch began to develop in different directions based on the needs and history of their parent Clan. Those with first-hand experience of the enemy's deceptions and subterfuges during the invasion attempted to adapt as quickly as possible to better match their Inner Sphere counterparts, while the Home Clans' programs remained woefully underdeveloped, stuck as they were in their ways and with little to worry about save other Clans.[1]

By 3067, although no individual Clan Watch was a match for any of the Inner Sphere intelligence agencies, overall their capabilities had improved and many had achieved a measure of parity in certain areas.[1]

Clan Watch Commands

The following lists the situation of all of the Clan Watchs as of 3067.[1]

Clan Blood Spirit

The isolationist Spirits traditionally had a defensive-oriented Watch, content to gather information on other Clans through analysis of the Chatterweb or through their ilChis to the Fire Mandrills and Snow Ravens. In recent years however the Blood Spirits' thawing relations with the Cloud Cobras and Fire Mandrills has resulted in a more offensive course, including a closer cooperation with the Fire Mandrill's agents.[4]

Clan Cloud Cobra

While seemingly relegated to the normal intelligence gathering techniques associated with monitoring the Chatterweb and the occasional Trials due to their spiritual bearing, in truth the Cloud Cobras have a perfect avenue of infiltrating other Clans through their Cloisters. As these organizations extend beyond their own borders, so-called "religious agents" as able to disguise themselves as other followers of The Way and slip into other Clans. In addition contacts between the Cloud Cobras and the Tanite Worlds provide their Watch additional intelligence on the Periphery surrounding Clan space.[4]

Clan Coyote

As is typical of other Home Clans, the Coyotes' Watch is staffed almost exclusively by failed warriors, given training considered sub-par even at Clan standards and assigned whatever shoddy equipment is left over. The extent of their intelligence-gathering operations amount to hearsay from Coyote merchants, monitoring the Chatterweb and buying information from Diamond Shark merchants. Actual Coyote covert operations amount to nothing more than specialized infantry actions.[4]

Clan Diamond Shark

As the founders and administrators of the Chatterweb, the Diamond Sharks have put this cross-media network to good use as a means of gathering up-to-the-minute intelligence. Rather than failed warriors their Watch is also dominated by merchants, a fact which as proven useful as these traders use their contacts among the lower castes to monitor events taking place not only among other Clans but parts of the Inner Sphere as well. Thus while their abilities in espionage are lacking, in the fields of intelligence gathering and analysis the Sharks are a match for some Inner Sphere agencies.[4]

The Wars of Reaving supplement is framed as a single large intelligence report to the Council of Six Clans. The book mentions the use of deep-cover penetration agents and signals intelligence (including some of the few remaining Bug-Eye warships) as part of their efforts to stay current on news in the Clan homeworlds.

Clan Fire Mandrill

True to their nature the Fire Mandrill Watch is fractured along Kindraa lines, and what intelligence agents they have among the other Clans - captured Mandrill warriors being their typical uncooperative selves - report what they hear to their Kindraa only. Efforts by the Khan to centralize his Clan's Watch have failed despite direct orders, and not a single operation has been successfully carried out. Since the Fire Mandrill's alliance with the Blood Spirits, however, attempts have been made to reform their Watch. In a rare spirit of inter-Clan cooperation the Blood Spirts have become overall administrators for the crippled program, providing a reliable central command in exchange for greater access to the larger Clan society.[4]

Clan Ghost Bear

The Ghost Bear's policy of wining the hearts and minds of their Rasalhaguian populace, including a degree of semi-autonomy within the Ghost Bear Dominion, has greatly improved their Watch from ineffective to a potential threat. This has stemmed from a large number of native Rasalhaguians joining the Bear Watch, of which many are experienced resistors with a rich tradition of rebellion and guerrilla actions. The result is a dramatic improvement in all areas of covert operations.[4]

Clan Goliath Scorpion

In years prior the Scorpion Watch was almost completely limited to paramilitary scout missions, directed mostly in search of lost Star League artifacts, although from a certain point of view their most stunning intelligence-gathering success was the participation of some Scorpion units in the (in)famous Wolf's Dragoons. Recently however their Watch has taken a more overt approach, relying on their nomadic Seekers to gather information from all corners of known space. They have also formed a limited partnership with the Snow Raven Watch to facilitate this effort, and are rumored to be contact with the Blood Spirits.[5]

Clan Hell's Horses

Though evidently possessing an inadequate Watch no better than that of any other Home Clan, in truth the Horses' organization are surprisingly adept at active operations. This was revealed during their failed invasion of Ghost Bear space in 3063, where squads of elite commandos managed to covertly infiltrate Bear worlds on specialized drop shuttles and carried out a series of strikes to disable key parts of the early warning grids. Unfortunately the Horses' intelligence gathering and analysis skills are quite wanting, a fact exacerbated during the invasion by their reliance on intelligence provided by Clan Wolf, which had goaded them into attacking the Ghost Bears for their own purposes.[5]

Clan Ice Hellion

The Hellion Watch is plagued not only by typical Home Clan disdain for covert operations, but their own impatience and an over-reliance on technology. This manifested itself with the Clan took the extraordinary step of reactivating several outdated DropShips and fitting them with advanced sensors and communications gear for intelligence gathering. The crews of these vessels are almost exclusively from the technician caste however, while their defense is provided for by washed-up Elementals.[5]

Clan Jade Falcon

  • Loremaster Kael Pershaw

In 3060, Loremaster Kael Pershaw was head of their Watch. In 3064, Khan Marthe Pryde used the Jade Falcon Watch to steal information about pirate jump points of Lyran systems. This knowledge was used in the assault on Melissia. Although the Jade Falcon Watch is among the best of the Clans - due to a progressive Khan and the genius of Kael Pershaw - their distaste for covert operations leaves the Watch with mostly intelligence gathering and analysis work through conventional sources and specialized scouting units drawn from second-line troops. The Falcon Watch also acts as a secret police observing the lower castes; Currently, lots of monitoring activity of the Jade Falcon scientists hints to some kind of an internal conflict.[5]

Clan Nova Cat

Devastated in the attacks which resulted from their relocation to the Draconis Combine in 3060, the Nova Cat Watch has been in a state of repair and reorganization. Through their new Oathmaster the Nova Cats have received a boost in intelligence operations which, given Minoru's spiritual bent, is most likely a result of the Watch's cooperation with the Order of the Five Pillars.[5] In 3056 the Nova Cat Watch sent two lances of dezgra warriors to Parma posing as mercenaries. This was a training mission.[6]

Clan Snow Raven

Their domination in the naval field gives the Ravens an unique insight view in the strength, political orientation and future developments of other Clans. This has come largely through renting out their naval assets as the Raven Watch maintains few field operatives. The Machiavellian maneuvering which goes on in Snow Raven politics makes their operatives adept at negotiations and blackmail, although as a result of internal rivalries a propensity to turn these special skills on each other sometimes prevents their own success.[5]

Clan Star Adder

The absorption of Clan Burrock not only increased the size and resources of the Star Adder Watch but also gave them a deeper look inside the workings of the Dark Caste. As a result their anti-bandit missions are more successful and more effective, while at the same time their program is disproportionally staffed by Burrocks to the point of outnumbering "native" Star Adders. In operations outside bandit hunts however the Star Adder program is no better than any other Home Clan's.[5]

Clan Steel Viper

The Steel Vipers are traditionalist in every way and as a result put little resources in intelligence operations, despite participating in the invasion and experiencing first-hand Inner Sphere covert warfare. This refusal to adopt "barbarian ways" lasted long enough for the Steel Vipers to be ejected from the Inner Sphere in a Jade Falcon surprise attack, whereupon Khan Perigard Zalman ordered a restructuring and strengthening of all aspects of his Clan, including the Watch. Despite this however the Viper Watch remains little better than other Home Clan programs, its field agents solahma or abtakha warriors supported by similarly ill-equipped and ill-trained technicians.[5]

Clan Wolf

As the only Clan to actually respect its intelligence community, it comes as no surprise that the Wolves have one of the strongest Watch programs of any Clan. Hardened by years in the Inner Sphere, the Wolf Watch is experienced in information gathering and analysis by technicians and strategists of its analysis branch, and commando-style operations carried out by specialized teams of warriors in the active operations branch. The majority of its activity is focused on observing the Lyran Alliance and Jade Falcons, with the rest directed to keeping an eye on the Ghost Bears and their own Rasalhagian populace.[5] During the Jade Falcon Incursion of 3064 Khan Phelan Kell of Clan Wolf-in-Exile recognized a Clan Wolf Watch agent and sent through him a message to Vlad Ward.

Clan Wolf (In Exile)

During the Jade Falcon incursion of 3064 their Watch cooperated with the Lyran LIC and ComStar's ROM to deliver the best possible intelligence to the defenders of the Lyran Alliance. Since Khan Phelan Kell brought a sizable part of the already very able Clan Wolf watch to Arc-Royal and used his family contacts to augment it further, the Exile Wolf Watch is considered the strongest Watch agency and is schooled not only in infiltration, intelligence gathering, and analysis but also counter-intelligence work and even commando missions, though Clan honor forbids assassination and espionage. The Watch is also rumored to be in partnership with Wolfnet and Heimdall.[5]

Clan Smoke Jaguar

  • Their Watch was fully aware of the growing WarShip-construction programs of the Successor States and the re-fitted WarShips of ComStar,[7] but for unknown reasons the warrior caste simply discarded this information and were caught off guard in 3060 when major Inner Sphere naval forces showed up during Operation BULLDOG and Operation SERPENT.
  • In addition, the Watch of the Jaguars seemed completely oblivious to the reformation of the Star League Defense Force, despite the fact that the proceedings on Tharkad were all but open to the public. The Clans as a whole seemed oblivious to the massive troop movements in the build up to Operation Bulldog.
  • The Smoke Jaguars also used clandestine forces, such as the Jaguar's Swords Cluster, but it is unclear if these were attached to the Watch.

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 A Guide to Covert Ops, p. 81
  2. Betrayal of Ideals, "Book I: Foundations of Fate"
  3. Field Manual: Warden Clans, p. 98
  4. 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 4.5 A Guide to Covert Operations, p. 82
  5. 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 5.5 5.6 5.7 5.8 5.9 A Guide to Covert Ops, p. 83
  6. Hot Spots, p. 37
  7. Sword and Fire, p. 176

Bibliography