Jade Falcon Incursion (Jihad)

The Jade Falcon Incursion of 30683071 was a three-year assault upon the Lyran Alliance by Clan Jade Falcon beginning on 7 October 3068 and continuing until April 3071. Taking advantage of several crises besetting the Alliance, the Falcons seized a number of Lyran worlds before the advent of Clan Ice Hellion's invasion forced them to end operations against House Steiner.

Background[edit]

In the fifteen years between the Battle of Tukayyid and the fall of the Second Star League Clan Jade Falcon struck at the Lyran Alliance twice, in 3058 and 30643065. The first incursion ended in the famous Battle of Coventry and saw no territorial changes; the second, launched while the Alliance was torn apart by civil war, ended in a limited Falcon victory.

The dissolution of the Second Star League in 3067 immediately threw the Lyran Alliance into a new existential crisis. With Archon Peter Steiner-Davion trapped on Tharkad by the Word of Blake's blockade and incommunicado with the rest of his realm, Blakists attacks elsewhere in the Alliance, and a border war raging with the Free Worlds League, the Lyran border with the Jade Falcon Occupation Zone appeared an inviting target for another Falcon assault.

Campaign History[edit]

The Jade Falcons' first strike was made against Graus on 7 October 3068. Eschewing any batchall—an unusual move for the tradition-minded Falcons—the invasion force tore into the 23rd Arcturan Guards.[1] Three weeks later, according to a LAAF press release by Adam Steiner, Clan Wolf-in-Exile forces were contesting Falcon control of Graus and the local forces in the Arc-Royal Theater were sufficient to contain the Clan invaders. Believing that the Falcons' primary concern was Clan Wolf, the LAAF focused its efforts upon the concurrent wars with the Blakists and Free Worlds League.[2]

At some point after October 3068 the Falcons secured their hold on Graus, and between 8–21 January 3069 seized Black Earth, Blackjack, Blue Hole, and Roadside; with these victories the salients the LAAF had carved into the Falcon OZ during the last incursion were reclaimed.[3] At Black Earth the Blue Star Irregulars were forced to retreat and suffered the destruction of their WarShip Kerensky's Blues.[4]

The LAAF mounted a counterattack upon Baker 3 soon after, hoping to force the Falcons to shift to a defensive stance, but the Thorin Freedom Theater Militia and mercenary Knights of St. Cameron were instead mauled by two frontline Clusters and forced to retreat.[5]

The Jade Falcons' slow but steady territorial gains continued throughout the rest of 3069 and into 3070. Between 10–14 June Mkuranga and Pasig fell; in July Deia was attacked and conquered by 15 August.[6] By 2 February 3070, Bountiful Harvest and Kandersteg were also under attack, as the Falcons began driving upon Arc-Royal itself. However, their advance was stalled at Zanderij; invading the world in mid-June 3070, the Falcons were finally driven off by 12 August by a combined Lyran-Wolf (in Exile) force.[7] [8] The Falcons next struck at Great X on 13 January 3071 but swiftly became bogged down trying to reduce the fortified world. On 8 February Morges was attacked, and by mid-April the Falcons were still fighting Lyran forces on half a dozen worlds.[9] [10]

End of the Falcon Incursion[edit]

At this point the Jade Falcon invasion took an unexpected turn. Having received reports that Clan Ice Hellion was poised to strike from the Periphery against their occupation zone, the Falcons were forced to curtail their attacks upon the Lyran Alliance. Further attacks on Great X and Zanderji were repulsed,[11] and by early 3072 the Falcons seemed more preoccupied with repelling the Ice Hellion invaders than with carving out more territory from the Alliance.

In the end, the Falcons managed to claim ten worlds from the Lyran Alliance.[12]

Reference[edit]

  1. Blake Ascending, p. 105: "Cry Havoc"
  2. Blake Ascending, p. 189: "LAAF rallies after stunning Clan assault on Graus"
  3. Jihad: Final Reckoning, p. 46
  4. Blake Ascending, pp. 209–211: "Falling Stars"
  5. Blake Ascending, p. 205: "Avengers Fall Back"
  6. Jihad: Final Reckoning, p. 47
  7. Blake Ascending, p. 250: "Falcons assault Kandersteg, Bountiful Harvest"
  8. Jihad: Final Reckoning, p. 48
  9. Jihad: Final Reckoning, p. 49
  10. Jihad Hot Spots: 3072, p. 37: "Falcon envoys on Arc-Royal?"
  11. Jihad Hot Spots: 3072, p. 48: "Falcons return to Great X, Zanderji"
  12. Jihad: Final Reckoning, pp. 42–43, 62–63: "Inner Sphere Maps, October 3067 and March 3081"

Bibliography[edit]