Remembrance

This is the story of Clan Diamond Wolf as told by Niles Kerensky

In the beginning there was shadow,
And from the shadow we were born;
Descended from Clan Wolf, greatest of the Clans,
First established by Jennifer Ward of the Hunters
Trueborn warrior, great and wise,
She sought her pilots amongst the lower castes
The skill and bravery of young ristar,
The wisdom and experience of veteran solahma
We are Clan Diamond Wolf, wisest among the Clans,
outcast for our beliefs, this is our story.   


Anyone can be a warrior, so was her claim
And we are her legacy, the Diamond Wolf
She recruited from amongst the lower castes,
scientist as well as merchant and solahma,
technician, laborer and bandit alike
Selecting the best and the brightest
Forming a company, an uncarven diamond
Thus we were known as the Diamond Wolf

[...]

Hidden within a captured ship we came,
Bearing Falcon markings, broadcasting stolen codes
Offered no batchall, our foe heedless of imminent peril
The Overlord dropship touched down and opened fire,
Scouring the landing platform of Falcon guards.
Within minutes all resistance was quelled, the outpost ours,
And we claimed as isorla many battlemechs and ships
In the name of great Clan Wolf.


Yet the Keshik was irate, affronted by what they
saw as "stravag tactics" and "cowardly ploys";
Reason and judgement clouded by foolish tradition
believing that victory should only be gained in
They asked "how dare you defile the customs,
By what right to you oppose our authority?" 


"You believe that victory comes only by battle,
The greater the battle, the greater the honor,
but what of the lives and matèriel lost,
what of the thousand hours of training
represented by each pilot? Neg, owkhans
The best victory is the one you need not fight for,
the most certain of victories is won by preparation.
Honor has no place in battle, for the battlefield
is governed by the laws of strategy alone.


Boldly she provoked the council:
"Honor? What do you know about honor?
Even the smallest of birds knows honor
For they feed when they must, defend their nest
When attacked, and they will flee in the face of predators,
Never doing anything unfitting for a small bird.
Hence, is it not a good bird, is it not honorable?"

[...] 

"But what kind of warriors is it you create?
Warriors bred to be target and bait,
Powless because they do not know the way of strategy
Troublemakers because they prefer battle over peace.
You tell them then, "there is honor in death"
And they will gladly go to their doom
But answer me this: What good is a dead warrior
His body cold, his spirit quenched, his task incomplete?"

Pity them, for they have not really understood
It is in the nature of warriors to adapt,
To survive when ones opponent does not
It is folly to throw away ones life for nothing

[...]

she declared the failure of the eugenics system;
The Clans had not succeeded in their quest,
like ignorant alchemists of ages past
working futile magics, more religion than science
Success was ever beyond their grasp. 


"How hollow and empty these Clans have become:
Far too eager for battle, fueled by greed and pride,
And above all fear. Fear of losing honor,
What if there could be victory without battle?
Victory without honor, battle without losses.
Take heed: Not all battles are fought on the battlefield".

"We few, we precious few, for he who sheds
his blood with me today shall be my brother"
Thus spoke the founder, citing a text from ancient Terra.
She said that ours would be a Clan
Of warriors born, not bred: We would recruit
From amongst unspoiled youth and the lesser castes
Trueborn would fight alongside freeborn, the Star League reborn.
Perfect warriors, cloaked in shadow and silence
Deception was to be their weapon, stealth their shield.


And so was born, a Clan outside of Clans
A unit not bound by dreary rules
Guided by wisdom, shunning tradition,
In fulfilment of the great fathers plan
They would return to the inner sphere
Devoted to the resurrection of the Star League
By covert means and clandestine battle.
This Clan Would be known as the Diamond Wolf.