Once thought stagnant and inflexible, the Clans have shown the Inner Sphere that they are capable of learning and advancing just as well as us. With the Great Refusal in effect, the Clans finally realized the potential missed by not developing their once overwhelmingly superior military technology. Taking a page from the Inner Sphere, the Clans have introduced new battle armor, mounted new weapons, and built acceptance for the once-experimental ProtoMechs as effective tools of war.
One can see a distinct divergence in design philosophy for new designs depending on each Clan’s size and location in space. Isolated Clans restricted to a single world or two—such as the Blood Spirits in the Homeworlds or the Wolves-in-Exile and the Nova Cats outside of the Occupation Zones—tend to favor cheap, easily produced designs that they can mass-produce with their limited resources, or lower-quality technology they can distribute or acquire from sympathetic factions (such as the Draconis Combine in the case of the Nova Cats, or the Snow Ravens and Diamond Sharks with the Blood Spirits). These same Clans have also begun to rely on more traditional, less costly, or formerly shunned arms such as conventional vehicles or the relatively new ProtoMechs.
The other Clans, however, have not followed the same frugal practices. Previously, most second-line BattleMechs were refitted from the original Star League designs or designs that ap-peared right before the introduction of the OmniMech; now these archaic and inferior designs are surging forward to frontlines, re-energized by the recognition that the carnage spreading across known space makes them a valued part of a Touman.
Unfortunately, our intelligence assets have not been able to determine what is occurring in the Clan Homeworlds in recent years. While operatives have been able to flesh out and detail military technology that appeared in the Homeworlds before the Blakist white-out as well as technologies that appeared in Inner Sphere space, recent developments remain unknown. Even with snippets taken from Clan communications, all we can determine is that whatever is happening may be as bad or worse than what the Inner Sphere is experiencing. If that is imaginable.
That may be a blessing in disguise for the Inner Sphere. If the Crusader Homeworld Clans did not have such distractions around them, they may have felt the time was ripe for a new invasion, one that could just as easily brush aside our currently disorganized defenses. As it is, Clans such as the Ice Hellions and the Hell’s Horses have appeared en masse, fortunately cut-ting into other invading Clans’ territories rather than the Houses. Only the Snow Ravens and Ghost Bears have made their presence felt within the Successor States’ space, with the purpose of pursuing personal vendettas and goals rather than making any sort of real push toward Terra.
But it may be just a matter of time before that nightmare scenario becomes a reality.
—Mirza Peter Abdulsattah
115
aerie pa(l)
Although Clan Snow Raven has developed numer-ous zero-g and space variants of battle armor suits since first employing them in the Golden Century, none of these designs had been built expressly for space-borne opera-tions, either in free-flight or aboard larger vessels. In the 3060s, as the Clan began to expand out of its homeworld holdings and into the Deep Periphery, the Ravens gained access to new resources and areas of expertise from lead-ing scientists in the Outworlds Alliance, which progressed to the development of wholly new battle suits.
Although Raven scientists have pursued numerous avenues of investigation, only the lightweight Aerie has entered widespread use. Built with Clan technology and drawing on marine combat experience by both Snow Raven troops and their Alliance counterparts, the suit masses just under 400 kg and is extremely swift and agile, as comfort-able in free-flight between orbiting vessels as it is on the ground. Its 35 kilograms of advanced armor composites provide some protection against the hazards of space and small-arms fire, though this protection is minimal com-pared to that available on more combat-dedicated battle suits. The suit’s exoskeleton boosts the wearer’s strength, enhancing their load-shifting abilities and melee combat capabilities, but the lightweight design does not hamper freedom of movement. As such, it is ideal for close-quarters fighting aboard spacecraft (as when making or defending against boarding operations).
The Aerie has no integral weapons, but its armored gloves allow the user to wield standard weapons like a regular infantryman. Raven armored infantry equipped with the Aerie generally wield laser systems, avoiding the recoil that might otherwise plague null-g operations, but troopers also employ ballistic and missile weapons when necessary.
Initially, Aeries were deployed with the Raven’s Alpha Galaxy. Reports that the suit was in service with the Alliance proved false at the time, but as of 3075 nearly all dedicated Alliance military vessels have their marines outfitted with the Aerie. The move is more precautionary in nature since the Alliance has seen very little pirate activity, and any Word of Blake attacks have been through suicide moves and not traditional boarding actions.
The most common use of the Aerie now by the Ravens is as a high-grade salvage suit. By removing the extended-life support adaptation and installing a dedicated salvage arm in the right forearm, the Aerie becomes a powerful tool for Raven technicians to utilize in repair operations.
Originally a quick-fix modification after the initial loss of the Swift Wing Naval Assault Star, Chief Technician Rourke managed to convince the Clan Council to allocate resources to produce several new Aeries of this variant. The fact that the Ravens did so during a period when resources were ex-tremely tight shows how persuasive Rourke was.
The Chief Technician proved to be prescient as well.
Shortly after the new upgrades started, the Lum yards were destroyed, the Ravens lost several resource facilities in the homeworlds, and two more naval Stars suffered tre-mendous damage. Cut off from the Clan homeworlds and piling into an overstretched Alliance, the Clan suddenly found themselves in dire need of repair and salvage fa-cilities. After years of political stalling and multiple acts of sabotage, the Clan will finally see some dedicated facilities orbiting Ramora (by 3077) and Quatre Belle (reportedly by 3081). Until then, however, the Clan’s naval might is more a paper tiger, as most of the Clan’s vessels have been tem-porarily transformed into orbiting barracks, transports, or
mobile salvage units. Despite recovering one of the three destroyed “Galedon Plague ships,” the Clan refuses to press the battered Storm Crow into service as a mobile fleet re-pair base until the scientists have scrubbed every rivet and wire of possible plague virus.
A typical Raven Salvage Binary consists of a large-bay DropShip such as a Mule (or in at least two instances, Behemoths), several small craft to serve as makeshift tugs and transports, two Points of aerospace fighters for Combat Air Patrol, and at least a Star of Aeries—usually a mix of standard and salvage variants. Intel reports count at least twenty of these Salvage Binaries in service to the Clan and at least two unverified reports indicate the Alliance is form-ing their own salvage teams—though their purpose has yet to be determined.
notable troopers
star captain Jonas: Overlooked for a Bloodname due to his age, Raven Star Captain Jonas is the current leader of the sal-vage team responsible for not only locating the Storm Crow in an unnamed system in Combine space but also cleaning and repairing it. After working closely with the scientist and technician castes for nearly a year on developing proper bio-hazard and salvage procedures, Jonas is confident his Binary and attendant crew will be able to get the critically damaged WarShip functional. The reclamation of the Sovetskii-Soyuz has taken on incredible importance to the battered Snow Ravens as a symbol of the Clan’s inner strength and desire to survive. Jonas has taken this passion to rebuild the Storm Crow to new heights, rivaling the dedication most Ghost Bears put into their Great Work.
Jonas requires all of his Aerie troopers to carry at least one combat weapon at all times. Because the sal-vage operation is deep within Combine territory, the Star Captain refuses to be caught unaware by anyone.
The order has hampered operations somewhat; the ex-pected return of the Storm Crow to Ramora has been pushed back to 3076.
117
aerie pa(l)
type: Aerie PA(L)
manufacturer: CSR Battle Armor Facility Alpha primary factory: Ramora
tech base: Clan
chassis type: Humanoid Weight class: PA(L)/Exoskeleton maximum Weight: 400 kg battle Value:
5* (Standard) 5* (Salvage)
swarm/leg attack/mechanized/ap: N/N/N/Y
notes: Aeries include stealth abilities that increase the to-hit modifier against Aerie units by +1 at short and medium range, and +2 at long. Beagle Active Probes and their Clan equivalents cannot locate hidden Aerie units.
Though Aeries lack integral weapons, they may use standard infantry weapons. Attacks by an Aerie Point are resolved as a conventional direct fire attack, with ranges and damage as appropriate to the infantry weapons being used.
equipment slots mass
Chassis: PA(L) Class Humanoid w/HarJel 130 kg Motive System:
Ground MP: 2 25 kg
Jump MP: 3 75 kg
Manipulators:
Left Arm: Armored Glove 0 kg
Right Arm: Armored Glove† 0 kg
Armor: Standard Stealth 4 35 kg
Armor Value: 1 + 1 (Trooper)
slots
Weapons and equipment location (capacity) mass Space Operations Adaptation Body 1 100 kg
Extended Life Support Body 1 25‡
*Dependant on what AP weapons it’s armed with.
†Salvage Manipulator Arm on the Salvage Aerie.
‡On the Standard Aerie only.
afreet
Looking to rebuild the battered Ice Hellion morale, Khan Montose charged her scientists with producing new designs of all types as both a symbolic and military gesture to her Clan.
Following in the footsteps of the new generation of battle armor that appeared over the previous decade, the various design teams began creating several rather mission-optimized designs. One was a reconnaissance design with superior ground speed and VTOL capability that lacked any integral weapons or defensive measures, while another encompassed impressive anti-infantry ca-pabilities but looked to be pointless with the Ice Hellions apparently intent on remaining in the Clan homeworlds.
Khan Montose combined the two projects and teams in an effort to create a design that, in her words, “Embodies the beliefs and traits of our totem.” The two staffs deliber-ated and debdeliber-ated, and in some instances the test pilots engaged in a Circle of Equals when an agreement could not be reached. Finally, just as the deadline was about to pass, the two teams debuted the Afreet to Khan Montose, and the design impressed her during its demonstrations.
Like the typical Ice Hellion battle doctrine, the Afreet emphasizes raw speed over everything else. Not only does it have full jump capacity, but a relatively recent acquisition of jump booster technology allowed the Afreet to become the fastest home-clan-designed suit (short of the much-maligned Sylph suit). Taking advantage of its speed, the
improved sensors give the suit the ability to perform low-key reconnaissance when commanders deem BattleMechs insufficiently stealthy. Taken from the alternate suit’s anti-infantry capability, a light recoilless rifle and a pair of vibro-claw adaptations have an impressive psychological impact against conventional infantry forces while increasing the suit’s effectiveness against BattleMechs when performing swarm or leg attacks.
For years the Ice Hellions guarded their battlesuit with zeal, going to great length to prevent any from falling into the hands of other Clans. Though rumors of Afreet points being used during the Jade Falcon attacks on various Lyran systems persisted, it was not until a point of Afreet-clad Elementals arrived with the Falcon delegation on Arc-Royal that non-Hellion Afreet use was confirmed. Its use by the Falcons against Inner Sphere forces proved it was a potent suit against conventional forces, as the few innovative Elementals in the Falcon forces were seen loading their re-coilless rifles with different kinds of ordnance, ranging from anti-vehicle to incendiary to even flares, depending on the mission.
Since then, both the Jade Falcons and the Hell’s Horses have captured large quantities of Afreet suits during the fighting in the Occupation Zones, enough to make them a common sight in the two Clans’ forces in the Inner Sphere.
In addition to fielding the original configuration, both Clans modify their suits extensively to match their needs and equipment availability, but so far only the Jade Falcons have been shown to now produce the design, though the Hell’s Horses may be doing so back in Clan Space.
notable troopers
point commander Jeremiah icaza: Sent along with the small delegation to Arc-Royal and later on to Tharkad to as-sist in liberating the planet from the Word of Blake’s grasp, Point Commander Icaza and his unit have used their Afreet suits in ways nobody, not even the designers, expected.
While on nighttime patrols looking for Blakist ambushes, Icaza has used flash rounds to temporarily blind enemies before rushing in with his vibro-claws, or for heavier oppo-nents, used a Narc round before calling in heavy missile fire from supporting units. While questioned by Lyran liaisons on his rather un-Clanlike actions, Icaza has claimed that the Blakists do not deserve zellbrigen or any other sort of honorable combat, allowing him to use many of the dirty tricks once used on his comrades by Inner Sphere forces during the initial Clan Invasion. It is these innovative acts that have made many Inner Sphere observers take notice of the Afreet Battlesuit and look toward duplicating it for their own use.
point commander duncan: Duncan was inducted into the ranks of the Jade Falcon Touman during Khan Marthe Pryde’s drive to Coventry in the late 3050s. While having an impressive record early in his career, Duncan failed to secure a Bloodname several times since, and his career had spiraled downward until he was reassigned to a second-line unit at the start at the Jihad. Duncan seemed incsecond-lined to sink into memories of the “good times,” like the brutal Coventry campaign where he won a successful Trial of Possession for the then-newly debuted Jade Falcon ver-sion of the Afreet suit. However, Duncan fought and won a trial for a spot on the “Trial Run” of Jade Falcon forces being sent to fight alongside Devlin Stone’s Coalition forces retak-ing Coventry, believretak-ing it a good omen for him to return to where his career started.
Unfortunately, Point Commander Duncan died from the devastating wounds inflicted when his point engaged in hand-to-hand combat with a squad of Djinn-equipped Manei Domini. Appearing out of nowhere (as it was previ-ously determined no Domini units were present in-system), the Domini attempted to assassinate the Jade Falcon com-mander. Though the Domini unit was able to withdraw, Duncan was credited in holding off the unit, allowing the Falcon commander to avoid this “headhunter” attack.
119
afreet
type: Afreet
manufacturer: Hector MechWorks Facility Beta, Olivetti Weapons primary factory: Hector (Ice Hellions), Sudeten (Jade Falcons) tech base: Clan
chassis type: Humanoid Weight class: Medium maximum Weight: 1,000 kg battle Value:
43 (Standard)
63 (Jade Falcon Variant) 32 (Hell’s Horses Variant)
swarm/leg attack/mechanized/ap: Yes/Yes/Yes/Yes notes: None.
equipment slots mass
Chassis: 250 kg
Motive System:
Ground MP: 1 0 kg
Jump MP: 4 2 275 kg
Manipulators:
Right Arm: Battle Vibro-Claw 50 kg
Left Arm: Battle Vibro-Claw 50 kg
Standard and HH
Armor: Standard 125 kg
Jade Falcon
Armor: Fire-Resistant 5 150 kg
Armor Value: 5 + 1 (Trooper)
slots
Weapons and equipment location (capacity) mass Standard
Improved Sensors Body 1 45 kg
Light Recoilless Rifle (40 shots) RA 3 195 kg
Jump Booster Body 2 125 kg
Jade Falcon Variant
AP Gauss (40 shots) RA 3 225 kg
Jump Booster Body 2 125 kg
Hell’s Horses Variant
SRM 3 (OS) Body 2 60 kg
Bear Hunter AC (40 shots) RA 3 180 kg
Jump Booster Body 2 125 kg