Clan Snow Raven
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Clan Snow Raven is a minor political faction from the renowned science fiction board game (wargame) Battletech; it is a member of the Clans, a warrior-based society bent on conquest. Founded by Stephen McKenna (a distant relative of the famous James McKenna who hailed from the Terran Hegemony), the Snow Ravens are a complicated Clan that have taken a unique path due to several catastrophes in their early history. Famed for their heavy use of naval assets as well as their conniving and efficient nature, the Snow Raven Clan, despite being mistrusted and misunderstood by other Clans has nonetheless risen to power as one of the more powerful Clans in the past decade.
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[edit] Snow Raven Totem
Nicolas Kerensky decreed that the remaining 800 warriors loyal to him be divided into twenty 'clans.' Each clan, consisting of forty warriors would emulate a beast endemic to the Kerensky Cluster. In his wisdom, the warriors under Stephen McKenna were designated to embody the attributes of the snow raven, a snow-white bird common to the harsh tundra flats of Strana Mechty. Snow ravens are known to never waste anything, picking the bones of a carcass clean and then eating the bones as well. Snow ravens were also documented to co-operate with other animals, such as the introduced Terran wolf or the ghost bear, often sharing a kill. Like many other Clans, the Snow Ravens have followed their totem to a fault, often to the extent of ridicule. Indeed, Snow Ravens of all castes are often known to be conniving, cold, and more humorously, extremely garrulous to the point of being more verbose than even those of the Ice Hellion Clan; moreover, Snow Ravens are unable to keep secrets of great purport. Also, members of Clan Snow Raven are colloquially referred to as 'the Unkindness,' the word used for a gathering of greater corvids.
[edit] The Birth of Clan Snow Raven
For the past several centuries, it has been more famine than feast for the Snow Ravens. Very early in their history the Snow Ravens were struck down by fate. During Operation Klondike, the struggle to reclaim the Pentagon Worlds, the Snow Ravens lost almost half their ground units to enemy forces, and although in the end, the Ravens were victorious, the Raven touman, particularly its 'Mech forces, were severely diminished. Khan McKenna sought ways to increase the strength of his touman, and found his answer in the many caches of Star League equipment stored in various places in the Pentagon Worlds. At the time, other Clans were scrambling madly for equipment out of caches as well, thus it was impractical for an already weak Clan face other, stronger Clans in this matter. Khan Stephen McKenna, a naval commander during the Amaris Crisis and during the Exodus, suggested that the Clan's warriors stage trials of possession for Warships, which were less sought after--- other Clans sought after mechs, Warships ran against the warrior ethos of the nascent Clans. Before the other Clans could react, the Snow Ravens fielded a considerable naval force as well as gaining a stranglehold on almost all naval shipyards in Clan Space.
[edit] Aftermath of Operation Klondike
This did not prevent the Ravens from still requiring an adequate ground force and they soon found themselves in conflict over the possession of a cache with the Wolverine Clan on the planet Circe. The Wolverines and the Snow Ravens bore much enmity towards each other since Operation Klondike: the Wolverine saKhan, Franklin Hallis was attracted to Raven saKhan, Joyce Merrill, however Merrill did not requite Hallis' affections and the Wolverines had moved to destroy Raven interests ever since. This cache of mechs once belonged to the unit that the Wolverine Khan, Sarah McEvedy was once a part of, however the actual cache resided in Raven territory. Thus the matter was brought before the Clan Council to be resolved. However, when the Ravens were awarded the rights to the cache, the Wolverine Clan, (who recently become very discontented with Clan Society) declared their independence from the Clans. The Snow Ravens, already aware the Wolverines were massing on their borders moved to attack, however, the Wolverines fought like demons and the Snow Ravens were beaten back to their capital, Dehra Dun, and finally repulsed there as well. Then the Wolverines emptied the city of all civilians and detonated a low-level nuclear warhead, destroying the primary genetic repository. This resulted in a Trial of Annihilation declared against Clan Wolverine, by Clans Wolf and Widowmaker. Even with the Raven's greatest foe, Wolverine Clan (now known as the Not-Named Clan) completely destroyed, the Ravens were once again mortally wounded, and Clan Mongoose began to quietly ask for a Raven absorption. The Ravens were not deterred by this, first they moved their capital to the planet of Lum and tried to rebuild their shattered Clan once again.
[edit] The Golden Century
On Lum, the Ravens gained many of the attributes they are renowned for today: superb political manipulators (that the Ravens could get what their Clan needed with minimal conflict), also, this caused the Ravens to be politically divided as well, with bloodlines banding together to form 'families'. This conflict, unlike that constant infighting that plagues the Fire Mandrill Clan, has only made the Snow Ravens stronger. In addition to this, the Ravens were also efficient users of raw materials (Snow Ravens, both Clan and totem are known to never waste anything) and breeding a naval phenotype, unique among the Clans, to staff Raven Warship fleets. The Raven Clan moved silently through Clan society, quietly rebuilding themselves.
In the 2850's, the Ravens came across an inhospitable world, aptly named Hellgate that was rich with natural resources. When the Ravens moved to colonize this world, the Steel Vipers staged a trial of possession for the planet's agrodomes, and although the Ravens fought hard, without food, the Clan was forced to relinquish control to the Vipers within several years. The Vipers continued to prey upon the Ravens and they never forgave the Steel Viper Clan, perpetuating a feud with lasts to this day. Raven activities were fairly quiet for more than a century until a Raven Khan revealed Clan Cloud Cobra ilKhan Tobias Khatib's complicity in the murder of the previous ilKhan. The Ravens found themselves in the forefront of Clan society again, when Khan Liam Howell revealed that it was he who had instructed Snow Raven scientists to introduce a genetically-recumbent great white shark into the oceans of Strana Mechty. Khan Howell despised the Clan Sea Fox for thwarting his attempts to gain territory on the world of Priori, and subsequently unleashed these 'diamond sharks' for the expressed purpose of wiping out the Sea Fox totem animal. The Raven saKhan, Niamh Sukhanov, furious at his superior's stupidity, declared a trial of grievance, killing Khan Howells and then assuming the seat of Khanship. Nonetheless, the Sea Foxes were furious, and their anger only abated when the Snow Raven Khan envoked the rite of surkireide. Interestingly enough, the Sea Foxes chose to change their name to Clan Diamond Shark and it has been so ever since. Another major event in Raven history was a deal brokered by the Clan Blood Spirit, in which the Spirits bartered several of their Warships away for a galaxy of second-line Raven 'Mechs. The Snow Ravens and Blood Spirits have been low-level allies ever since.
[edit] The Political Century and Operation Revival
In stark contrast to the peace that the so-called 'Golden Century' granted, the following era, the 'Political Century' would be racked with turmoil. The requisite three generations that Kerensky had mandated for the Clans to finally return to the Inner Sphere had long since past and many in Clan society called for change. Nacent ideological rifts began to grow, eventually coalescing into the Crusader philosophy which wanted to return violently to the Inner Sphere and reinstate the Star League and the Warden philosophy whose adherents felt the Clans still were not ready to return. Seeing these false ideologies for what they were, Clan Snow Raven wisely chose to follow neither path. They chose the best of both worlds: the Crusaders' drive, and the Wardens' patience, and have done so to great effect. Moreover, the Snow Ravens - as a politically 'neutral' Clan - could contract their services to either a Crusader or Warden Clan with minimal difficulty. This would prove to be a prudent choice when, fifty years later, the calls for invasion were answered.
For half a century the Ravens were quiet until the Outbound Light brought about the call for invasion of the Inner Sphere. Clan Coyote, who had lost much territory in the last few decades, sought to bring glory and prestige to their Clan by attacking the Snow Ravens. While the Coyotes wielded considerable forces, the Ravens fought with equal force and both sides were bloodied bad enough that neither Clan was strong enough to participate in the trials determining a slot in the invasion force. This worked out in the Raven's favor anyway, for Khan Lynn McKenna was able to negotiate a contract with the Jade Falcons that loaned out two stars of Warships in exchange for resources from the Inner Sphere, and most importantly, the world of Hellgate (which the Falcons had recently taken from the Vipers). This arrangement allowed the Ravens to regain their strength lost through the failed Coyote attack, as well as thumb their nose at the Vipers. This arrangement with the Falcons did not last for long, for they and the Crusader Wolves initiated the Harvest Trials in 3058, wherein two entire clusters were taken by the Jade Falcons. Relations with that Clan have since cooled, although relations are normalizing even after the 'McKenna Bloodhouse Incident' when the Jade Falcon Clan meddled with Snow Raven bloodhouse affiars.
[edit] The Great Refusal
One of the greatest feats of the Snow Ravens in recent years has been the completion of the largest Warship ever constructed, the Leviathan. The Ghost Bears, the Snow Ravens' longtime (and only true) ally requested the assistance in building a Warship so powerful that it could handle an entire naval star by itself, and miraculously, the Ravens delivered. However, the project failed to be completed in time for the Bear's move to the Inner Sphere, but the Leviathan served as valuable cargo vessel, ferrying millions of Clan civilians to their new home. When the Ghost Bears finally left, they gifted the world of Bearclaw to the Ravens in thanks, although the Hell's Horses Clan landed just as the Bears were leaving and so far the Ravens have failed to oust them fully. The Snow Ravens have gained territory elsewhere as well, in the wake of Smoke Jaguar Annihilation the Ravens gained much of the planet of Circe, as well as a portion of Homer (although they were eventually forced off that world by superior numbers of Steel Vipers). The Snow Ravens also assisted in the withdrawal of Nova Cat forces, which allowed the Ravens to obtain the Abjured Clan's territory with minimal conflict.
[edit] Territory Wars
Post-3060, the Ravens began to see the limitations of their recent gains, and decided to send an expeditiary force to the Inner Sphere. While scouting the Near-Periphery, the Snow Raven force stumbled upon an Outworlds Alliance jumpship and staged a trial of possession for it, offering a Titan class Dropship as collateral. Surprisingly, the Snow Ravens were beaten by the Alliance pilots, and were greatly impressed, offering their hand in friendship, eventually formalized into a make-shift alliance that has allowed Snow Raven vessels to use Outworlds recharge stations in exchange for refurbishing an old Star League-era naval base at Quatre Belle. The Snow Ravens also helped the Alliance develop its own omnifighter, the Corax, named in honor of the Ravens.
[edit] Treachery at Kanzaka
The Inner Sphere seemed like a very hospitable place for the Snow Ravens until the Draconis Combine blew up a Snow Raven vessel attempting to recharge at one of their stations (which the Ravens won the right to by trial). The lost vessel was none other than the White Cloud, which once won the 2736 Martial Olympiad. The Ravens took several pirate worlds, Rezak's Hole and Farstar, which they used for harassing Kuritan interests to the best of their ability.
[edit] The Assault on Lum
However, true revenge had to wait, for the Raven's homeworld of Lum was being assaulted. The Steel Viper Clan, ejected from the Inner Sphere by the Jade Falcons, sought to take revenge on their most hated foe, the Snow Ravens and in typical Viper fashion went for the throat. Several frontline galaxies were deployed on Lum, and for a time it seemed the Vipers would be victorious, but eventually the Snow Ravens turned the tide of battle and drove the Vipers off planet. The final battle involved naval elements, including the loss of the Viper vessel, the Pit Viper, and although several Raven vessels were damaged, none were destroyed.
[edit] The Jihad and Beyond
With the Viper threat diminished, the Ravens could now concentrate on the Draconis Combine. Meanwhile, the Jihad waged by the Word of Blake was savaging the Inner Sphere, and it was the perfect time to exact revenge upon the weakened Kuritan forces. So far, the Ravens have hit the worlds of Enif, Tabayama, and Galedon, destroying a Kuritan Kyushu class vessel in the latter engagement. Post-Jihad, the Snow Ravens are known to merge with the Outworlds Alliance government, forming the Raven Alliance, although exact information surrounding this remains unknown.
