Clan Star Phoenix
From the failure of a false Crusade you rise up and all hear your cry, the defense of the InnerSphere is your true calling, and so the Star Phoenix is born.
- The Remembrance (Clan Star Phoenix),
Passage 370, Verse 1, Lines 1-6
As you have ordered ilKhan we have completed a summary of our touman. In addition, for our kinsmen’s inspection we have included a brief narrative of our history. For any skeptics; our commitment to the Star League and our military prowess is beyond compare. We look forward to the coming Operation and any other Trails that await us so we may clear up any confusion our opponents may have.
by Loremaster Lamar Kotare
EXCLUSIVE BLOODNAMES
General Bloodnames
Kotare
Malthus
Mechwarriors
Norizuchi
Payne
Wick
Elementals
Mattlov
Montose
Aerospace Pilots
Beyl
Stiles
Thastus
History of the Star Phoenix Clan: From the Ashes
Just Cause
Just after the Smoke Jaguar destruction, using his resources still left on the Clan homeworlds Khan Phelan Kell of Clan Wolf expressed the Star League’s need for defenders from any external threat. In his words “The Crusaders have lied to us all. They have no intention of restoring the Star League. They only dream of conquest. They have perverted the dream of the Great Kerenskys. Now, we must do what is necessary..... for Kerensky's dream,..... for our dream,..... to survive. We must the sacrifice the Clan homeworlds and travel to the InnerSphere to protect the Star League from destruction!" Word spread of Khan Kell’s call for aid spread quietly at first gathering supporters steadily. By the time the news reached Chatterweb and the Grand Council an underground movement had already sprung up. The Grand Council denounced it almost immediately mocking the message as a call for help from the weakling bandit League. Meanwhile leaders of this movement were gathering their flock within their individual Clans. Volunteers came from all over the Clans, although most warriors were freeborn, and from every caste. Three months later many Clans reported that individual stars and trinaries along with scattered numbers of civilians had gone rogue or were missing. Clan Jade Falcon, Ice Hellion, Fire Mandrill, Hell’s Horses, Star Adder and Wolf all dispatched forces to deal with these bandits. Fortunately, fighting between the Wardens and the Crusaders prevented the Clans from sending a massive force to crush our fledgling movement before it began.
Trail by Fire
Forming up just 90 light years outside the Kerensky Cluster a war council of the 14 factions met to discuss their future. They ultimately decided to work together choosing Star Commodore Lauren Thastus to lead them to the InnerSphere were they would decide their fate. Soon after they began their journey to the InnerSphere the group found a number of Ghost Bear Clansman who had been marooned on a planet by Task Force Serpent. The Ghost Bear’s leader, Star Captain Gabriel Hall, fought but lost a Trail of Possession for his forces and they were absorbed into the group. It would be another six months before the group saw combat again this time against Smoke Jaguars. About a cluster of Jaguars had been having continuing problems with their jumpship delaying their return to the homeworlds. Out of touch they were unaware of the fate of their Clan until they received a rude awakening by Gabriel Hall who led his group in a stunning victory over the Jaguars absorbing them. Just two jumps away from the InnerSphere the group was attacked again by Fire Mandrill forces that had been pursuing them all the way from the Clan homeworlds. In a week long brutal battle the group managed to completely destroy the four front-line clusters sent against them. A month later the group jump into the Schwartz star system finally arriving in the Star League.
Birth of the Phoenix
All the bloodnamed warriors met in a kurultai to discuss their fate and several other important questions. Regarding the former Smoke Jaguars they were granted amnesty from the annihilation rules because they had chosen to defend the League and no formal Grand Council vote ever condemned them. As the meeting commenced, Gabriel Hall seized the initiative claiming that the long journey from the homeworlds had forged the group into a single Clan. Lauren Thastus seconded Hall’s claim and nominated him for the position of Khan. Hall tried to refuse this great honor insisting that he was not one of the original members. The bloodnamed would have none of it confirming Hall as Khan overwhelmingly. He then nominated Thastus as the saKhan for this new Clan and she was quickly approved. saKhan Thastus then suggested a name for the new Clan, Star Phoenix. She said that “just as a phoenix rose from the ashes so has the Star League and our new Clanâ€. The name was unanimously accepted and heralded by all Clansman. Arriving just in time for the Founding Ceremonies on New Earth the battered but proud Star Phoenix Clan performed exceptionally in the Trails that followed. The Clan soon seized Jaipur from the Chaos Dragons handing that Clan one of its few defeats. Acting on information brought from the homeworlds and knowledge won from Clan Wolf at the Foundation Trails they found an ancient Star League Resupply Base in the Pleiades Cluster. Since then the Clan has colonized four planets in the star cluster making one of them, Aquila, their new capital world. We next proved our worth during the Star League Martial Olympiad, the first since the fall of the Cameron dynasty. Although we were disappointed finishing only third out of all the nations and the Clans who participated was an adequate showing of our strength. Continuing to gather power we wait until we are called to service again.
Military Practices and Customs
Unit Structure
The Star Phoenix touman is based on standard Clan military practices. Front-line Clusters are arranged into 5 trinaries which include OmniMechs, Aerospace Fighters, and Armored Infantry. Due to the Clan’s unique heritage the Star Phoenix touman includes all different types of organizational schemes. Ranging from Goliath Scorpion’s Mixed Trinaries, to Cloud Cobra’s Fang Clusters, with your average Clan Supernova there are too many schemes to list here. Second-line units consisting of standard BattleMechs, Aerospace Fighters, Armored Vehicles, and conventional infantry are far more predictably organized. Five Warships left the Clan homeworlds with our Clan and one combat jumpship was found in the Pleiades Cluster. They are the Nightlord class Star Blazer, Aegis class Crimson Talon, Volga class Final Journey, Congress class Phoenix’s Forge, York class Celestial Revival, and the Black Lion class Sun Fire which was found. These naval assets make it a formidable Star League Clan but the saKhan considers her forces below strength.
Command Structure
Following standard Clan military doctrine with one key twist, Star Phoenix has divided the military responsibility equally between its Khans. The Khan runs all facets concerning ground combat while the saKhan has been granted the post of aerospace commander. Although the Khan can of course override the saKhan this has not yet occurred and has resulted in a high degree of success. This trust in subordinates has spread throughout the Clan all the way down to the Cluster level and looks to become a permanent policy in the Clan.
Battlefield Practices
Almost any successful battlefield tactic employed by the Clans is practiced by Star Phoenix units leading to certain unpredictability. This diversity lead to some initial disorder in the Clan’s first engagements when we left the homeworlds but by the time of our arrival in the InnerSphere the only confusion was among those who faced Clan Star Phoenix. Also most of the warriors in the Clan have a lack of battlefield experience when it comes to the InnerSphere. So tactics when facing opponents of non-Clan origin are also confusing ranging from conservative to moderate responses from different units. One thing universally accepted among Star Phoenix units is the melodious “Cry of the Phoenix†broadcast over all communication channels marking the beginning of a Clan engagement.
Training
Diversity is also taught in the Star Phoenix’s new sibkos located in the Pleiades Cluster on the new homeworld of Aquila. Few sibkos undertook the long journey from the Kerensky Cluster so most of the trueborn sibkos are very young. New freeborn trainees and trueborns who are being retrained make up most of the Phoenix cadet corps. Sage is the Star Phoenix term for training officer and cadets are referred to as Fledglings.
Uniforms and Insignia
Uniforms & Insignia
Bearing a strong resemblance to Jade Falcon uniforms it seems that the only distinction is the brilliant scarlet and gold colors which make up Star Phoenix’s standard. Also the Clan’s insignia appears to be based upon the Jade Falcon. It is a Star Phoenix flying upwards with a world grasped in it’s talons. This is a representation however of our Clan’s flight from the homeworlds while preserving the traditions of Kerensky.
Decorations
There are two major decorations within the Star Phoenix Clan. One decoration, the Embers of the Phoenix Scepter, is carried by those who traveled from the Kerensky Cluster to create the Star Phoenix. The other is Firebird Medallion presented by the Khan for drastic self-improvement or in other worlds extreme heroism.
Notable Warriors
Khan Gabriel Hall
Never expecting to be where he is today Gabriel has none the less accepted his new environment and excelled in it. Defeated by the Star League’s Task Force Serpent while on his way to the occupation zone and stranded on a barely habitable world he expected to die an honorless death. When what was to become Clan Star Phoenix jumped into the star system and rescued the survivors Hall was shocked to discover their intentions. He challenged them to a Trail of Refusal which was fought unaugmented by the chosen defender Star Commander Keir formerly of the Ghost Bears, an Elemental. Defeated he was forced to accept his new Clan’s mission but he held a not so secret grievousness toward these traitors. It wasn’t until Keir was killed in action defending civilians from Dark Caste rogues did he understand. After that event Gabriel became a fierce patron of his new Clan performing in battle without equal against the Smoke Jaguars and the Fire Mandrills. Elected overwhelmingly as Khan of Clan Star Phoenix upon our arrival in the InnerSphere, Gabriel has done an outstanding job in forming the Clan’s touman into a deadly force.
saKhan Lauren Thastus
An older trueborn warrior who had always expressed Warden views it is a testament to her skill that she survived in the Jade Falcon Clan. Hearing of Khan Kell’s call to arms she quickly gathered a small cadre of loyal followers on her ship, the Aegis class White Talon. A little taken back by being declared the movements leader she none the less performed her job admirably ensuring our Clan’s existence. Despite being considered the front-runner for leadership of the Clan she nominated Gabriel Hall as Khan. Hall returned the favor and nominated her as the Clan’s saKhan. saKhan Thastus has been given the primary responsibility for all aerospace forces while Khan Hall commands the ground forces. The two have complemented each other flawlessly so far.
Star Colonel Diana Pryde
The freebirth daughter of the legendary Aidan Pryde she has so far lived up to all expectations save one. Khan Marthe Pryde took great interest in her career, in fact she forced Raville Pryde to sponsor Diana for the Pryde bloodname which she won. Diana also participated in the Crusader Harvest Wars in which she again distinguished herself. In the battle of Waldroff she was instrumental in the Jade Falcon ultimate victory by defeating Khan Zalman at Deamon Beach. When she received word of Khan Kell’s call to defend the InnerSphere Diana, who had been a Warden like her father, made the difficult decision to become part of the Star Phoenix movement. Winning over more candidates within Jade Falcon Clan, Diana and her followers met up with the group in the InnerSphere. Khan Pryde of the Jade Falcons has not taken this betrayal lightly declaring death to our Clan and Diana. Only the current hostilities between the Wardens and the Crusaders have prevented a Falcon strike force from descending upon the Star Phoenix Clan. She currently commands the 1st Phoenix Grenadiers, with Star Captain Horse, which has been nicknamed “the Phoenix’s Prideâ€.
Star Captain Horse
A Mechwarrior of mythical standards Horse has participated in several large campaigns including Tukayyid, the Refusal War, and Coventry. Earning three different references in the Remembrance he was the only freebirth ever to serve as a warrior in Clan Smoke Jaguar shortly before it’s annihilation. After the battle of Waldroff against Steel Viper he discovered Diana Pryde’s plot to defect to the InnerSphere. Secretly challenging her to a Trail over the issue he lost and was forced to join her on the journey. Many in his old unit and friends tagged along despite Horse’s initial bitterness at this “fools errandâ€. Horse however discovered along the way that he belonged here where his abilities were respected regardless of his birth status. Since then he has enthusiastically embraced the Star League Clans and the new Star Phoenix Clan of which he is the Oathmaster.
