OBT Forum

Article by Geraldine Lefebre, Inner Sphere Press, June 7, 3175

It has been over a century since Khan Istal Devalis announced his Clans departure from the Inner Sphere and Clan Homeworlds.  Over a century since the Nova Cats and a handful of their Cloud Cobra kin boarded their ships and left for parts unknown.  Their fate remains a mystery, with only a few tantalizing clues to be found.

What is known is that several convoys departed the Inner Sphere and Homeworlds 106 years ago today after Khan Devalis’ final address to the Star League.  Most chillingly his speech predicted the soon to erupt War of the Chosen, which some interpret as evidence of the Nova Cats psychic powers while others claim it to mean they had inside knowledge of the war to come. Regardless, the Nova Cats decided that their only means of survival was to leave known space.  Perhaps forever, though Devalis seemed to imply that his descendants would one day return if the League continued to thrive.  One cannot help but compare this to Aleksandr Kerensky’s own exodus centuries earlier and wonder.

Fairly regular sightings of the Nova Cat exodus occurred for the next three months, until the fleet finally passed beyond the remnants of the Rim Worlds Republic.  Rumours persist that at least a portion of the fleet stopped briefly in the Chanlaine Islands before continuing on their way.

A small group of Nova Cats remained behind, feeling it their duty to fight the coming darkness.  These brave warriors eventually joined the behind the line efforts of Atrius Deleportas and the survivors joined the Silver Lynx Clan upon its formation.  But they knew nothing of the destination of the Nova Cats, purposefully shielding their kinsmen by not allowing themselves to know where they were going.

A handful of expeditions have tried in vain to locate the missing Clan over the years, beginning with the Snow Ravens in 3088, but as of yet none have been successful.

A Star Adder exploration crew discovered an abandoned jumpship with Nova Cat markings in 3145.  The vessel had apparently suffered several meteorite impacts which ruptured the helium tanks and shredded the solar sail.  The vessel was stripped of useful components and abandoned in the unmarked system the Adders later discovered it in.

And let us not forget the mystery ship sightings of the last 25 years.  Like the Minnesota Tribe and White Ghosts before them, the Nova Cats have become a boogeyman and catch all explanation for anything unexplained in the spinward regions.