Elation spread throughout the Clan Thunder Cat home world as the launching of the Blake-Class Warship approached. Technicians worked hard to redesign existing clan warships in hope of strengthening the fleet. Clan merchants boasted of the new wealth discovered on seemingly desolate planets. Clan Thunder Cat thoroughly enjoyed this guilded period. However this period was short lived, as an insidious plan to destroy the clan from within was being spawned.
During the year of 3075, civil unrest hampered the rebuilding of Clan Wolf. The clan was divided into two factions, the Crusaders and the Wardens. The Warden faction desired to protect Terra from invasion and act as a guardian. On the other hand, the Crusaders wanted to capture Terra and do it as quickly as possible. The two factions bickered for months and skirmishes erupted throughout the clan. To make matters more complex, accusations that Clan Jade Falcon was involved in the split surfaced. Many believed Clan Jade Falcon was motivated to create a new clan in it’s own image, Clan Jade Wolf. This move would strengthen Clan Jade Falcon while in the process also destroy Clan Wolf. Khan Ulric Kerensky enlisted the help of Clan Thunder Cat to help subdue the Crusaders and preserve Clan Wolf. The Thunder Cat Khans ardently obliged their Warden brothers by sending the entire Alpha Galaxy. With the combined force of the two Warden Clans, the Crusader faction was obliterated instantly by tremendous firepower. Few Crusader units managed to escape capture and hid themselves throughout Clan Wolf territory. Clan Jade Falcon’s dreams of a new Clan Jade Wolf were quickly crushed. The split within the clan caused much chaos throughout the occupational zone. With both Natasha and Ulric Kerensky dead, Khan Phalen Kell lead the Warden faction of the clan to a safe haven.
Relieved in knowing that Clan Wolf was preserved, Khan Eng returned to his daily job of overseeing the growth of his clan. Duty for khans was not as glamorous as the general public thought. Khan Alex Eng spent many hours settling disputes between powerful merchants who requested his impartial ear. Trying to please all castes in society was an overwhelming task. However, he believed that if all were happy, society as a whole would succeed with more ethical cohesiveness. His endless hours of work were soon to be undermined.
One of the most distinct features of Clan Thunder Cat was the existence of houses. Created in 3068, virtually all soldiers of the touman belonged to a house. Houses consisted of Sibko children born from the same bloodnamed ancestry. The most prominent of these houses, the House of Eng and the House of St. Cin, were large in number because of their connection of genetic lineage to the founding fathers of the clan. Khan Eng and St. Cin created the concept of houses in hopes evoking positive responses. The houses were created to push each other towards excellence on the battlefield. Only competitive rivalries were accepted. Members of these entities boasted of the number of enemies defeated. For a good amount of time, the concept worked. Clan loses were minimized due to excess determination in battle. New mech designs were conceived in order to maximize the efficiency of weapons systems. Nevertheless, the success was short-lived.
Problems began when two houses, the House of Caldwell and the House of Serpa, provoked small skirmishes over insignificant disagreements. The House of Caldwell accused the House of Serpa of exaggerating the number of victories their house accomplished. The Caldwells held disdain for the more successful Serpas. Soon Trials of Grievances became all out wars. Many other houses followed suite as uncontrollable rages slowly destroyed the fabric of Clan Thunder Cat. Houses began to side with each other for more advantageous strength through alliances. The Houses of Eng, St. Cin, Draeger, and Benech, also known as the Great Houses, quickly attempted to subdue all the combatants in order to ease the tension and pacify the strained relations between the houses. Three months passed before Khan Eng and St. Cin settled all disputes. With much guilt upon himself, Khan Eng also decreed that all houses were to be abolished.
During the civil unrest of 3078, many houses began to conjure up plans for rebellion in case the Thunder Cat Khans didn’t settle in their favor. Upset and frustrated by the situation of the Crusader faction of the Clans, the decisions made in favor of opposing houses only precipitate their anger. For the first time in history, these houses questioned the Thunder Cat Khans’ motives. Were they the fair and just sovereigns most believed they were? Or were they despotic leaders yearning for tyrannical rule? A growing number began to believe the later. Clan Jade Falcon recognized a window of opportunity during the clan’s trying times. Disguised as nomadic mercenaries, Jade Falcon agents infiltrated Clan Thunder Cat society. Spreading propaganda and preaching the glorious ways of the Crusaders, the Jade Falcons inserted more influence. Former members of houses started to listen with thoughts of frustration and anger at their khans. Compelled to believe their khans were attempting to eradicate them, the disgruntled soldiers were easily deceived, while quickly adopting Crusaders ideas as their own. Unbeknownst to the Thunder Cat Khans, these soldiers were subversively brainwashed by Clan Jade Falcon. As a result, a new Crusader faction was established in the Warden Clan. A master plot was introduced to the new Crusaders by the Jade Falcon agents. The Crusader Thunder Cats accepted the plan and put it into motion. It called for a covert operation with three stages. The first stage involved the stockpiling of munitions for an offensive. The Crusader faction stole arms from weapon depots across the occupational zone. Second, they organized themselves into fighting units of their own. Unsure of their prospects against the dominant remainder of the clan’s forces, the preparations were slow to materialized. The Jade Falcon agents removed all doubt when they promised military support from fellow mercenaries. These mercenaries were actually remnants of Clan Jade Falcon’s touman. On the eve of the attack, Nova Commander Haas Witiker gather his forces. Witiker was one of the first to embrace the “nomadic mercenaries” and their ideas of Terra.
The next morning of August 19, 3081, was to be a bloody one. Without provocation, the Crusaders, two clusters strong, attacked the capital city of Kayless. The garrison stationed there, 10th Battle Group Omega, was completely stunned. No intruder alerts were sounded and enemy activity was at very minimal. An attack upon Kayless was the last thing they expected. Dispatched to guard the city, Battle Group Omega rushed into battle. Outnumbered by a two to one ratio, reinforcements came from the suburbs of Kayless. After a few moments, the Thunder Cats realized who they were fighting, their own clansmen! SaKhan St. Cin immediately sent in 4th Battle Group Delta into the fray. That ordered also signaled the Jade Falcon forces to join the battle. The Crusader Thunder Cats rejoiced as the Jade Falcons made their way to the outskirts of Kayless; all the while believing them to be mercenaries. At the battle’s climax, the Thunder Cats poured star upon star of units into the area. Within hours, the Crusaders were defeated, as well as the mercenaries. The Crusader forces lost forty percent of their equipment as well as twenty percent of their warriors. After the apprehension of the nomadic mercenaries, Clan Thunder Cat began to pursue the fleeing rebels. Access to jumpships allowed the pursuit to continue in the dark vastness of space. Disabling the rebel dropships in orbit around the planet Vega, the Thunder Cats forced the dissidents to drop onto the planet. Cornered by a massive force lead by Khan Alex Eng, the dissidents ultimately became trapped after jettisoning their weapons and ammunition in hopes of a swift escape. Khan Eng expressed his disgust to all who listened. He promised the dissidents that their names and lives would be wiped from clan history forever. A moment before he gave the order to annihilate the Crusaders, he received a priority message of urgent cause. SaKhan Sean St. Cin reported the results of an intense interrogation performed on the mercenaries. The Thunder Cat touman pinned their Crusader counterparts at the sea and waited until further orders were given. Khan Eng hastily arrived at the nearest base on Vega. Upon arrival, saKhan St. Cin revealed the nature of his urgency concerning the mercenaries. Khan Eng shook his head in disbelief as he heard the truth about the Jade Falcon agents and their touman. “Damn those treacherous fiends! How dare they!”, said the Thunder Cat Khan. It was also divulged that Clan Jade Falcon used outlawed mind-control devices to manipulate the unsuspecting warriors. Khan Eng ordered Star Colonel Roger Harris of the 302nd Assault Cluster to apprehend the dissidents without harming them. An emergency session of the Kurultai was called to decide what was to be with the Crusaders. Many of them did not realize their actions until the mind control device was obliterated.
Toumaster Juan Garcia declared the Kurultai’s decision. All remaining soldiers who participated in the rebellion against the clan would be demoted one rank. Their bloodnames would be allowed to keep their bloodnames on one condition. Zealous loyalty would have to be committed to the clan in order for their bloodnames to survive. The mechwarriors were relieved and thankful for the lax punishment they received. It was quite a generous offer by the Kurultai considering the offenses. In a general letter representing all the former Crusader mechwarriors, an apology was made to Khan Eng. In response, Khan Eng said, “As head of Clan Thunder Cat, we forgive you all but will never forget. The remembrances will be filled with accounts of your betrayal against your own clan. Let this be a lesson so that it may never happen again!” The mechwarriors swore allegiance to the clan once again. The tribulating time was now at an end.....
Forgive, but never forget! Remember what has happened here on
this day.
It is a day of betrayal, and will live on in infamy.
-Loremaster Galuszka on the aftermath of battle.
Copyright © 1997 Mek Tek Productions
