Volume XXIII: Standing Together

3067: The Year of Darkness. It was the year the FedCom Civil War finally drew to a close. The year the gathered leaders of the new Star League admitted to themselves that their noble experiment had failed. It was the year the Word of Blake, like a jilted lover, unleashed a hell arguably more horrendous than any seen during the days of Stefan Amaris.

History teaches that the Jihad began with simultaneous assaults on Tharkad, Luthien, New Avalon, and Outreach, with other major worlds and capitals falling a short time later. Whether by nuclear strike, orbital bombardment, or under waves of stampeding BattleMechs, the Blakists’ so-called holy war doused the worlds of the Inner Sphere with the blood of millions.

For the people of the seven-star alliance that was all that remained of the Free Rasalhague Republic, the Jihad was not truly felt, however, until 3068, when the Word of Blake hit Tukayyid. Though the strike was meant as much to shatter the remaining ComStar forces stationed there as it was to throw off another potential power that could act against the Blakists, the strike drove home the fact that the fanatics were a force that endangered all nations—great and small. Amazingly, among the captured population of the Ghost Bear Dominion, the strike on Rasalhague prompted outrage and a plea to the Clan leadership to somehow safeguard their free brethren.

There is, of course, a lot of speculation these days as to what finally led to the Bears’ entering into the Jihad in force, much of it based on the disjointed news of that era, which was still plagued by the mass manipulation of the HPGs initiated by the Blakists soon after their first strikes. Many historians thus point to their move to absorb the remnants of the Free Rasalhague Republic (FRR) by 3070. But that really can’t be considered jumping into the greater conflict, as I see it. The absorption of the Republic’s remnants, to the Bears and their own subjects—“conquered people” ceased to apply sometime around 3060, when the Bears and these people became neighbors—seemed a natural next step after reclaiming Rasalhague itself. Of course, it took close to a full year of negotiations for the Republic’s remnant worlds to accept their own absorption, though, without Ragnar Magnusson, it’s likely such a thing would never have occurred at all. Then it took another year to hash out what was to become of the surviving forces of the Kungsarme under Ghost Bear rule. This, of course, was partially solved by Trials, and partially by the new Dominion government. But protecting the remaining Free Rasalhaguians from the Word of Blake was a pretext, an incidental fringe benefit, rather than a cause. The Bear leadership, I think, didn’t really comprehend the threat of the zealots until the scouring of Tamar. Even then, of course, it took the Bears three years to get moving. . . . —Dr. Anne Oskar, The Fallen Rise: A Tale of Rasalhague, ComStar Press, 3120

Indeed, the Bears and the new civilian population seemed completely uninterested in taking steps against the Word of Blake until later in the war, and with good reason. The absorption of the leftover FRR worlds required delicate political maneuvering, and the question of absorbing an Inner Sphere military force proved a thorny issue to tackle. The FRR armed forces numbered some five BattleMech regiments—four, after Tukayyid—and the proud Rasalhaguian warriors weren’t likely to surrender their only source of national pride. Eventually, the Bears relented, after a fashion, by allowing the KungsArmé troops to fight Trials for Position for a place in their warrior class. This at once boosted the Ghost Bear Dominion’s armed forces and assured the Clan’s continued exclusive control over its entire defense force. By further giving the Rasalhaguians full rights to rule over their own civilian affairs—so long as they acknowledged Ghost Bear supremacy—the absorption created years of political confusion.

The arrival of the Bears’ historic enemy, Clan Hell’s Horses, created another problem. Despite calls for normalization after the fall of Khan Malavai Fletcher—architect of a brief and foolhardy invasion of Dominion space in the early 3060s—rank-and-file troops on both sides continued to cling to the old grudge. However, when the Horses cut into the Wolf Clan territory instead of the Bears, it became clear that their new Khan, James Cobb, stood by his pledge to end the feud. Though clashes still occurred, the ferocity of the old Bear/Horses clashes was gone; the Clan forces met on the field of battle as equals—if not truly friends.

Then, in the mid-3070s, the Bears emerged from their hibernation. With the rear lines secure, and their new “separate-but-equal” government installed and running, the Clan jumped into the Jihad with both feet, true to their history. Pledging their arms to the defense of the Combine, they secured Hohiro Kurita’s permission to jump through Combine space, assisting Combine and coalition forces in the liberation of key worlds, their blood spilling with that of their former enemies to beat back the zealots on Luthien, Pesht, and Dieron.

Wait and see. All or none. Caution before overwhelming action. In the Jihad, as never before, the Bears proved their fierce dedication to the ideals of their Clan by fighting with a fervor never before seen among their kind. With every bombed city they witnessed, every mass grave uncovered, every hospital filled with the dead and dying civilians exposed to nerve agents and nuclear radiation, the Bears seemed to grow only more furious. A Trial of Annihilation was declared on the Word of Blake, and Bear troops bulled their way into every entrenched position the zealots claimed in the Combine, expecting and giving no quarter. Bear troops took no prisoners and only invoked Clan honor when facing enemy mercenaries—a curious departure from the Clan’s anti-mercenary bent. The fighting cost them dearly, however. Within the first three years, the Clan WarShip fleet, once again, was devastated, while two whole Galaxies of front-line troops were simply gone. By 3081, half the Clan Touman was dead; a quarter of the remainder was swearing fealty to Devlin Stone. Meanwhile, the strain of maintaining homeland defense and fighting a war of annihilation against a fanatical enemy had caused cracks in the Dominion government, forcing another reform that further integrated civilian and military leadership. . . . —Dr. Anne Oskar, The Fallen Rise: A Tale of Rasalhague, ComStar Press, 3120

What Bears returned home from the final victory returned to a Dominion in distress, their forces battered, and an uncertain future lay ahead. Random suicide bombings using weapons of mass destruction had hit every nation and lent a bittersweet taste to the final peace. Though, in the Dominion, the lines had held, the government was still shaky and the military was a shadow of its former self. Yet, through that crucible, the Rasalhaguian/Ghost Bear relationship was forever changed. Within the Dominion, Spheroid natives and invading Clansmen could look upon valiant heroes like the First Rasalhague Bears and the First Ghost Tyr Clusters with equal pride, recounting the glorious last stand of integrated Battle Clusters that placed trueborn Ghost Bear MechWarriors shoulder to shoulder with warriors raised from the captured Rasalhaguian and Combine planets. Freeborn, trueborn, Spheroid or Clan—all had proven their willingness to combat evil together. War had fused the Dominion together more solidly than any negotiations ever could, infusing civilians and warriors alike with a sense of purpose.

The Ghost Bear Dominion had entered into a new era.

“The road ahead is filled with an evil that can only be cleansed with the fires of Annihilation. The road behind us is littered with the bodies of our fallen, given to that cause. As you fight today, know that each of us who dies this day will have spent our lives in the name of honor, in the name of Kerensky, in the names of Sandra Tseng and Hans Jorgensson! But above all this, know that we shall forever purge these nameless monsters in the name of that which is above what makes us trueborn or freeborn, Clan or Sphere. Follow me—for Rasalhague!” —saKhan Ragnar Magnusson, to his troops at the Battle of Dieron, 3077

In our next installment, we’ll complete our tour of the Dominion with a look at the people of this dichotomous realm today. Won’t you join us as we continue our tour of the stars? I’m Bertram Habeas.