History of Clan Star Adder

Beginnings

Clan Star Adder was founded by General Absalom Truscott, a longtime friend of Nicholas Kerensky. Truscott was one of Kerensky's first choices to be a Clan Khan. His exemplary record prior to the Second Exodus and command of the 146th Royal BattleMech Division (formerly commanded by Nicholas Kerensky) were ample reason for his elevation to the rank of Khan. Khan Truscott selected a former noncom, Devon Lefabre, to act as saKhan. Together, the pair began to build into the new Clan Star Adder a sense of military tradition and esprit de corps. Teamwork became the hallmark of the Clan.

In the early 2800's, while Nicholas Kerensky began to plan to retake the Pentagon worlds, Khan Truscott sent a group of JumpShips and WarShips to gather intelligence about the warring worlds. The information they brought back enabled Truscott to plan Operation Klondike. The plan was quickly approved by the Grand Council and all twenty Clans began the necessary preparations. The Star Adders drilled relentlessly for their part. This training ultimately saved the Clan from destruction.

During the assault on Arcadia, the Star Adders found themselves isolated on the Aeschel Plateau. Surrounded by a superior force of Arcadian defenders, the Star Adders ultimately defeated the Arcadian forces. But the cost was high, Khan Absalom Truscott and twenty percent of the Star Adder force were killed in the fighting. SaKhan Lefabre quickly took over as Khan and led the survivors to victory over the remaining Arcadian forces.

After the fighting for Arcadia was over, the Star Adders began the slow process of rebuilding and consolidating their new holdings. The Adders began incorporating former Arcadian troops into their ranks to quickly rebuild their Clusters. Despite occassional flareups of resentment, the Star Adder Khans were determined to maintain a strong sense of Clan unity. This unity and respect for the Clan way made them amongst the first to call for a Trial of Annihilation against the Not-Named Clan. When Nicholas Kerensky was killed during the battle between Wolves and Widowmakers, the Adder Khans again voted for Absorption as an example to show others the folly of defying the Clan way.

Golden Century

As time passed, Khan Lefabre followed through on one of Absalom Truscott's requests: expand into several nearby star systems. The Star Adders quickly colonized worlds in four systems and, in 2837, moved their capital from Arcadia to the planet Sheridan. The slow but constant expanion brought the Clan many enemies, including Clan Mongoose.

Clan Mongoose, long a critic of the Star Adders, launched a number of unprovoked attacks against several Adder holdings. The Adders were able to repel the initial attacks but at great losses. A Clan Mongoose massacre of the Adder colony on the planet Marshall enraged the Adders. The Addder Khans led the Quasar Keshik on a retributive raid, destroyed the Mongoose Cluster to the last man and claimed the Mongoose world of Tokasha for their own.

Things were relatively quiet for the next twenty years. Clan Mongoose, however, still nursed a grudge against the Star Adders. In 2863, they launched a massive new campaign, this time using OmniMechs. The Adders were caught completely by surprise and colony after colony fell to the Mongoose. The Adders weakened situation became worse as Clan Coyote also began raiding the Star Adders. In a matter of months, the Star Adders lost nearly half their holdings but managed to salvage several OmniMechs, from which they developed their own versions.

Three years later, the Star Adders retaliated against Clan Mongoose. The Adder forces now included three full Galaxies of OmniMechs. At very nearly the same time, the Smoke Jaguars brought a dispute against Clan Mongoose to the Grand Council. The Mongoose Khan tried to talk his way out of the situation, but the Clan rejected his arguments. Khan Theodore Osis of Clan Smoke Jaguar then demanded a Trial of Absorption against Clan Mongoose, which the Council granted.

The Smoke Jaguars launched their own offensive just as the Star Adder assault ended. The Jaguars quickly defeated the Mongoose Clusters and Absorbed the Clan. Theodore Osis, however, claimed that the Adders had tainted the Jaguars victory by battling Clan Mongoose before the Jaguars launched their Trial of Absorption. The Grand Council rejected the dubious argument, but the incident started a long simmering feud between the two Clans.

Soon after, Clan Star Adder began to prosper as never before. The Khans negotiated a deal with Clan Burrock that allowed the Adders use of Burrock transports in exchange for resource rights on any world they discovered. The new Adder colonies quickly started producing large quantities of raw materials needed for many aspects of Clan life, including vital ores and gases needed for space travel. As sole owners to those resources, both the Star Adders and Burrocks quickly became extremely wealthy.

Dragoon Compromise

Even as the other Clans debated amongst themselves about returning to the Inner Sphere, the Star Adders soon resolved themselves to the Crusader camp. Many Adder warriors believed that they must first unite all the Clans before invading, but the temptation to return was overwhelming to some.

Adder saKhan Carson Graves tried to convince several high ranking Clan Coyote warriors to bring false charges against their Clan in the Grand Council, with the end result being the Absorption of the Coyotes by the Star Adders. The Coyote Khans learned of the plan, however, and declared a Trial of Annihilation against the Coyote conspirators, completely wiping out their Bloodlines.

The Star Adder senior Khan at that time, Eamon Phousath, challenged Graves to a Trial of Grievance and bested him. He then stripped Graves of his ranks and status, and then sent Graves and his genetic legacy to the Coyotes as surkairede. The Coyotes quickly executed Graves and destroyed his legacy. They also wanted to destroy the entire Graves Bloodheritage, but Phousath refused to let them. This incident led to more open fighting between the Clans.

A few years later, the Crusaders brought up the call for invading the Inner Sphere. Many Clan Khans agreed with the Crusaders, but the skillful compromise negotiated by Wolf Khan Kherlin Ward forestalled the invasion. Ward's suggestion to send a freeborn force into the Inner Sphere under the guise as mercenaries in order to gather intelligence struck a chord with the Adder Khans. They agreed that more information was needed before proceeding. Khan Gerrick N'Buta offered the Wolves materiel and personnel for the operation, but Khan Ward politely refused the offer.

While the newly formed Wolf's Dragoons proceeded with their mission, the Star Adders began running a series of simulations to determine how best to handle the barbarians of the Inner Sphere. The information provided by the Dragoons over the next twenty years helped refined the simulations. The Adder Khans, however, soon became concerned about the force level needed to conquer their lost homeworlds. Years of mock battles had shown that caution was required in any invasion plan the Clans prepared. While the average Inner Sphere mechwarrior was no match for his Clan counterpart, the sheer number of Inner Sphere 'Mech regiments was cause for concern.

In 3048, Smoke Jaguar Khan Leo Showers presented evidence that Inner Sphere was well on the road to recovery and could someday pose a threat to the existence of the Clans, the Adder Khans sided with their longtime enemies in the call for invasion. The Star Adders were eliminated in the early bidding, however. Their many mock battles showed that the Inner Sphere could be a far more formidable foe than expected and the Khan's bidding reflected that. Although disappointed by the loss of their place in the invasion force, the Adder Khans soon launched a series of raids against the Diamond Sharks, ordering more after that Clan's heavy losses at Tukayyid.

Recent Events

In late 3058, Khan N'Buta discovered a conspiracy that linked the bandit caste to the Clan Burrock leadership. For the last century, the Burrocks appeared to have been aiding and equipping the bandit caste. Worse, the senior Burrock Khan was actively hiding all the evidence leading back to her Clan. Khan N'Buta brought this incriminating evidence before the Grand Council and demanded a Trial of Absorption against the Burrocks. Despite a bitter protest from Clan Blood Spirit, the Grand Council granted Khan N'Buta's request.

Khan N'Buta gathered his forces and launched an all-out assault against the Burrocks. Much of the fighting centered on the Burrock homeworld of Albion. The Burrocks committed four Galaxies against three Adder Galaxies. The Burrocks fought well, but their force soon crumbled under the weight of the Adder assault force. Khan N'Buta's plan to eliminate the key conspirators as quickly as possible succeeded. The senior surviving Burrock officer offered to do battle with Khan N'Buta to prevent the Trial of Absorption from turning into a Trial of Annihilation. Before the battle could take place, Clan Blood Spirit launched a massive three Galaxy assault on Albion.

The Star Adders quickly joined forces with the surviving Burrock forces. The combined force battle the Blood Spirit Galaxies for five days before the two surviving Spirit Clusters retreated. Similar battles took place on other disputed worlds. The cost was heavy for all three Clans involved in the fighting. The Burrocks lost four Galaxies, the Star Adders three Galaxies and the Blood Spirit lost all but eight Clusters of the seven Galaxies it had committed to the battle.

Although the Star Adders suffered heavy losses, the Absorption of many Burrock warriors into their ranks has quickly helped to replenish their touman. Khans N'Buta and Paik restructed the touman into four frontline and seven secondline Galaxies to handle their newly expanded holdings. Even so, they are stretched thin. The Adders are also committed to upholding a Burrock agreement to Clan Cloud Cobra to provide a secondline Galaxy to the defense of the planet Tanite. In exchange, the Cobras agreed to give the Adders one-third of Tanite's natural resources output and access to the new heavy laser technology.

The recent defeat of the Smoke Jaguars in the Inner Sphere and on Huntress has cemented the Star Adder's position in the Clan heirarchy. Even the Harvest Wars, instigated by the Wolves and Jade Falcons, have done little to weaken the Clan's strength.

Death of a Clan

With the defeat of the Smoke Jaguars in the Inner Sphere and on Huntress, the Clans found themselves with the unprecedented prospect of an Inner Sphere invasion of Strana Mechty. The Star League Defense Force soon challenged the Clans to a Trial of Refusal over the invasion. If the Inner Sphere won, the invasion was over and the invading Clans would retain the worlds they had conquered. If the Clans won, the invasion would resume. The Warden Clans refused to participate in the Trial, leaving the eight Crusader Clans to face the SLDF. As the Smoke Jaguars had only two Binaries of troops left, it was decided that each Crusader Clan would only commit two Binaries to the battle.

The Star Adders were tasked with holding a region of swamp from the First Free World Guards. Khan N'Buta lured the Guards into a trap and quickly rolled up the Guards flank. The Guards capitulated within thirty minutes.

Khan N'Buta declared a celebration to be held in honor of the Clan's first victory over the Inner Sphere barbarians. He was certain that soon more Star Adder Clusters would soon be winning more victories once the invasion resumed.

The Clan was stunned when word came that only the Jade Falcons achieved a victory against the SLDF. The SLDF companies had won five of the eight battles. The SLDF had won the Trial of Refusal. The invasion was over.

Bloodnames

This is a list of the exclusive Bloodnames in use by the Star Adders.
A list of the non-exclusive Bloodnames will be listed when it becomes available.

Front-Line Unit Summary

Although their conservative bidding kept them out of the invasion, the Star Adders recent Absorption of Clan Burrock proves their strength. Even the interference of the Blood Spirits during the Trial did little to affect the outcome. Before the Trial, the Star Adders possessed five frontline and five provisional Galaxies. Now the Clan fields four frontline and seven provisional Galaxies.

Prior to the Trial, the Star Adder touman was known for its preference of assault and heavy class 'mechs. This lack of specialized recon mechs has given the Clan trouble over the years but that has now changed. Clan Burrock long preferred lighter and faster 'mechs. Like the Ice Hellions, the Burrocks developed a series of hit and run tactics that served them well during their history. Many of the Clusters now incorporate the smaller, lighter mechs preferred by the Burrock. This added recon capability, added with the emergence of Elementals to the touman, has vastly increased the flexibility of the Star Adder Galaxies.

The Star Adders are the only other Clan (besides the Hell's Horses) to actively integrate conventional forces into their touman. All seven of the Star Adder provisional garrison Galaxies have two to three "Scale" Clusters which provide additional support. These Clusters field three Trinaries of armor and two Trinaries of conventional infantry.

The Clan military is organized by a strict system of units. The following is a breakdown by level of the Clan military from the smallest organizational unit to the largest unit.

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