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History of
Clan Goliath Scorpion
During
Operation Klondike, the Goliath Scorpions were assigned to assault the planet
Dagda along with the Clans Burrock and Widowmaker. The operations success hinged
on taking a heavily fortified defense base on the continent of Riva. Scorpion
saKhan Jenna Scott led her infantry Stars and quickly captured the rebel
communications center. The facility in Clan control, saKhan Scott ordered the
assault to begin.
Things
took a turn for the worse when a group of rebels ambushed two Goliath Scorpion
'Mech Stars and destroyed all but one 'Mech. The Scorpion forces, led by Khan
Elam, quickly seized the base with minimal losses and executed the rebel
commander. The conquest of the planet, however, fell behind when the Fire
Mandrill Khans began bickering amongst themselves. ilKhan Nicholas Kerensky
subsequently ordered Clans Wolf and Jade Falcon to assist in the conquest.
This
set in motion a feud between the Falcons' Carl Icaza and Scorpion saKhan Jenna
Scott. The pair had once been lovers on Strana Mechty and gone through training
together. Icaza denigrated the Scorpions' combat abilities and claimed that only
the Jade Falcons were capable of capturing the assigned target. The Scorpions
were forced to watch in silent frustration as the Wolves and Falcons completed
the conquest of Dagda.
Elsewhere,
on Babylon, the Ice Hellions found a lone warrior wandering the wastelands
there. The warrior, identified as Ethan Moreau, a former General in the SLDF,
demanded to be taken to see Nicholas Kerensky. Moreau was taken to see the
ilKhan. He pleaded for mercy and asked for forgiveness for failing to heed the
call for the Second Exodus. Impressed by Moreau's sincerity, Nicholas used the
situation as the basis for the rite of forgiveness - surkairede.
Nicholas
gave Moreau the chance to join one of the Clans, but the Ice Hellions refused to
accept the aging warrior. Scorpion Khan Elam, who had been much impressed by
Moreau's plea for forgiveness, petitioned Nicholas to allow the Scorpions accept
him as a trainer for the Scorpions new cadets. Nicholas allowed the Scorpions to
adopt Moreau into their Clan, but forbade them from using his genes in the
breeding program. Moreau eventually became the first Loremaster of Clan Goliath
Scorpion and his influence went on to change the nature of the Clan.
The
Goliath Scorpions set up base on Dagda and built their first enclave near the
rocky shores and coastline. They soon became quite skilled at undersea mining,
developing an exoskeleton mining suit. This suit would later be acquired by Clan
Wolf and become the basis for the Elemental battle armor.
The
Scorpions later stood by the other Clans when the Not-Named Clan broke away from
the unity of the Grand Council. Years later, when the WidowMakers and Wolves
engaged in their Trial of Absorption, LoreMaster Moreau led a Star of Scorpion
Mechs into battle save a trapped Star of Wolf 'Mechs from a superior force of
WidowMakers. The battle came to an abrupt end when an artillery barrage killed
Scorpion Khan Elam and WidowMaker saKhan Vordermark. The Wolf forces regrouped
and destroyed the remaining WidowMaker forces.
Though
outraged at the Scorpion interference, Wolf Khan Jerome Winson forgave the
Scorpion's interference as Moreau claimed he was merely fulfilling his
surkairede obligation to the Wolf Clan. Khan Winson then ceded much of the
WidowMaker enclave on Roche to the Scorpions in thanks for their efforts.
It
was during the Golden Century that the drug necrosia, derived from the venom of
the goliath scorpion, began to be widely used by the warrior caste. It was
widely known that the goliath scorpion's venom could induce a dream-state that
often gave prophetic visions. Loremaster Moreau had originally wanted the
warriors to be stung by the goliath scorpion to receive the full power of the
venom, but a high mortality rate severely affected the viability of the
warrior's gene pool. As a result, Scorpion scientists devised a ingestible serum
that would produce the same results but would not adversely affect the user.
A
few years later, Loremaster Moreau gave speech to the Clan Council where he told
them of how the Goliath Scorpions would lead the other Clans to glory in the
Inner Sphere. To achieve this, he charged each of them with finding Star
League-era relics left by the Not-Named Clan that he claimed would insure the
Scorpions' dominance. The warriors searched for five years but found nothing.
Then, in 2850, the Ice Hellions found the cache the Scorpions had been looking
for. The Hellions refused to part with it, prompting a series of Trials that
would last for over a year.
Eventually,
in 2851, Clan Fire Mandrill tried to take advantage of the situation and
launched their own Trial against the tired Scorpion and Hellion forces. The two
Clans were enraged by this interference and set aside their animosity to force
the Fire Mandrill's off the world. The victory came at a bitter price.
Loremaster Moreau was killed in the fighting by a Fire Mandrill warrior.
The
Goliath Scorpions and Ice Hellions agreed to an amicable split of the Brian
Cache. The Hellions departed with all of the war materiel and the Scorpions
retained the Cache's stock of artwork and books.
The
Scorpions were amongst the last to field the new OmniMech technology.
Embarrassed by his troops poor performance, Loremaster Lan Kirov instituted the
Circus Honorae, a series of events similar to the Star League's Martial Olympic
by which warriors could improve their skills.
Loremaster
Kirov was also instrumental in forming the Seekers. This cadre of warriors was
charged with scouring the Clan homeworlds for Star League-era relics. Loremaster
Kirov was convinced, like Loremaster Moreau before him, that the key to the
Clan's future lie in its past. The Seekers, like knights of old, took with them
a small specialized retinue of lower caste personnel to aid him in his search.
Over the centuries, the Seekers have uncovered many lost treasures and brought
them to the Clan's Temple of the Nine Muses, where all such finds are kept. The
Scorpions have also dedicated an entire Galaxy of front-line troops to the
defense of the Temple.
The
creation of the Seekers almost became the undoing of the Clan. As the years went
by, a widening chasm emerge amongst the warrior caste. The size and popularity
of the Seeker cause drained many of the Clan's best warriors away from the
military. The youngsters, who grew up steeped in the lore and legends of the
Star League, cast aside their desire to serve in line units and spent their time
traveling as Seekers or visiting the Temple of the Nine Muses. saKhan Jenna
Scott forced the issue to a climax by challenging Loremaster Kirov to a Circle
of Equals. saKhan Scott beat Kirov with five deft blows in a short-lived battle.
She then extracted an oath from all the Seekers to follow Nicholas Kerensky's
ideals and the Clan Way. When all present gave their oath, saKhan Scott
collapsed and died of her wounds.
Khan
Nadia Winson's call for invasion in 3001 caused an unexpected response from the
Clans. Stymied by Wolf Khan Kherlin Ward's Dragoon Compromise, Winson had no
choice but to accede to his demands. As another shock, Clan Goliath Scorpion
offered to train the Wolf warriors by pitting them against the elite Heartvenom
Cluster. A number of young Scorpion warriors went along with the Dragoons when
they left for the Inner Sphere.
A
few years later, the Wolves captured Star Colonel Vlad Dinour in a Trial of
Possession. They gave him the troubled Fourth Wolf Striker Cluster to rebuild
using Goliath Scorpion methodology and tactics. Colonel Dinour also provided the
Wolves with intelligence gained from the Scorpion warriors who returned to Clan
space during the Dragoon's 3009 supply run.
The
arrival of the Outbound Light in 3048 brought the question of invasion to the
Grand Council once again. This time, Smoke Jaguar Khan Leo Showers managed to
convince the Council that the Inner Sphere was on the verge of discovering the
Clan homeworlds. Using this as incentive, Khan Showers forced a vote and the
Council elected to invade the Inner Sphere.
The
Goliath Scorpions performed well in their Trials, but were beaten in the second
round. Rather than throw a tantrum like Clan Ice Hellion, the Scorpions chose to
expand their holdings by striking at territories left lightly defended by the
invading Clans. The Scorpions earned the ire of the Jaguars by seizing several
small enclaves on the world Tranquil.
Unknown
to many in the Inner Sphere, a small force of Scorpion warriors traveled with
the Steel Vipers to the Inner Sphere. The force, led by saKhan Posavatz, was
lost on the world of Tukayyid during the bloody fighting at Devil's Bath. At the
same time, Khan Nikolai Djerassi stepped down to implement several ideas that
would strengthen the sibkos. The new Khans, Ariel Suvorov and Nelson Elam, each
worked in a different manner to build up the Clan's Touman.
The
destruction of Clan Smoke Jaguar has yielded several dividends for Clan Goliath
Scorpion. First, the Clan captured the continent of Abyssmal on Huntress and, at
the same time, procured several samples of Proto-Mech technology. The Clan also
fielded the Undine battle armor for the first time. Also, trade has increased
with Clan Snow Raven as the Scorpions strive to build up their aerospace forces.
Time will only tell where the Scorpions future lies.