|
|
The Human Sphere is a BattleTech universe set in 3100. The Jihad has come and gone, leaving in its wake dozens of small realms in a perpetual cycle of raids and small wars. Will you seek money or defend your nation? Or both? You decide.
"Do you know that people are moving to New Zealand just to be thanked?" - Billy Chrystal - 2004 Academy Awards
Clan Smoke Jaguar
History
The razing of the Schuyler shipyards and the general bombardment of Albiero in 3069 by Word of Blake forces left the Albiero Prefecture in organizational ruins. When the Word of Blake moved on to Bjarred, assaulted other regions of the Combine near the Periphery, and Theodore Kurita was assassinated, the entire outer swath of the Combine simply ceased to exist as organized entities. At that, the Combine was still the best off of the Successor States, as their core systems continued to remain loyal, but the loss of Schuyler and Qandahar would have far reaching consequences for the Ricols.
The most visible of those was the return of Clan Smoke Jaguar to their old haunting grounds in 3070. Seeing the main powers of the Inner Sphere blasting each other into the Dark Ages, the Osis’ Pride and Streaking Mist, a Potempkin-class troop cruiser and a Black Lion-class battlecruiser, returned to Turtle Bay to make a new start for the Smoke Jaguars. The last WarShips of the Clan, they were horded carefully, only risked a handful of times since their return.
The taking of Schuyler was one of those times. While the main shipyards had been razed by the Word of Blake, the Jaguars felt there could be enough left to rebuild the yards given time and Clan technology. They were right, and the Schuyler yards have become their primary industrial center, building Scout-class JumpShips, DropShips, fighters, small recon corvettes, and even the larger Fredasa-class destroyers to screen their two “true” WarShips in fights against nearby realms.
Outside the rebuilt capital-city of Edo on Turtle Bay, a truly inspiring edifice glorifying Clan Smoke Jaguar, an OmniMech factory builds enough war machines for them to fight on the ground as well. But unlike the Hell’s Horses or the “tainted” Clans (Wolf, Ghost Bear, and Nova Cat), the Smoke Jaguars do not accept vehicles as a standard part of their organizational structure. In all of the Smoke Jaguar territory, there is not a single combat vehicle factory, and their Solahma units must make due with modified civilian vehicles or whatever vehicles are captured on raids other realms perform on them. As few realms use vehicles on the offensive, they have very few dedicated military vehicles in their touman.
Much like Clan Jade Falcon, the Smoke Jaguars consider themselves to be an “untainted” Clan, and fight like true warriors, not the barbarians of the Inner Sphere or the “tainted” Clans. Over the years of raiding though, the warriors of the Draconis Combine have earned their respect. They may rarely win against the better Jaguar pilots, but they fight and die honorably, as a warrior should. The Jaguars consider the “tainted” Clans on the other hand to be little better than Dark Castes. In some ways worse, since at least the Dark Castes accept their dishonor.
The periodic raids between the Rasalhague Dominion, Nova Cat Confederation, and Clan Smoke Jaguar tend to be bloody and dirty affairs, with no quarter given. A notable departure from the much more “civilized” trials that occur between them and the Draconis Combine warriors.
The Smoke Jaguars are able to build advanced Clan technologies with little trouble, but their numbers are still very small and they rely on the lesser castes, mostly made up of Inner Sphere barbarians in their eyes, to support their war machines. While having, warrior-for-warrior, one of the best qualities of MechWarriors across the board in the Human Sphere, their numbers are low enough that they are of little threat to their neighbors. Comparatively.
However, rumors have long run the back streets of their neighbors that the Jaguars have an “understanding” with the Ricol family. That the Ricols see them as a foil to Nova Cat and Ghost Bear power in the area, and that the Jaguars see the Combine as a source of materials. Such rumors could explain why the raids between those two realms are so “civilized”. But most historians suggest it is because of the similarity of their cultures, not some back street rumors with little credibility.
Military
The Smoke Jaguar navy is commanded by the Black Lion-class Streaking Mist, with the Potemkin-class Osis’s Pride being the next most powerful ship in the fleet. A force of Osis frigates and Fredasa destroyers, as well as numerous armed DropShips and the Schuyler-built Sabutai OmniFighters constantly guards them both.
The Cauldron-Born OmniMech, built on Turtle Bay, is the single most common ’Mech found in the Smoke Jaguar touman. Supporting the ’Mech touman are massed numbers of ProtoMechs. Less materially expensive to build, ProtoMechs have become the primary combat arm of the Smoke Jaguar Clan, only bolstered by OmniMechs when they cannot deal with the opposition alone. Vehicles do not have any official place within the touman, but many Solahma units have converted vehicles to their own uses.
Factories
Edo – Edo BattleMech Plant Alpha – Cauldron-Born OmniMech
– Edo ProtoMech Plant Alpha – Siren, Satyr, Centaur, Hydra, Roc, Gorgon, and Minotaur.
Schuyler – Dharma HyperSpace – Scout-C, Osis recon frigate, Fredasa destroyer
– Galileo Instruments – Achilles-C, Monarch-C, and Behemoth-C.
– Wakazashi Enterprises – Sabutai OmniFighter
Systems
Currently being cataloged