Jana Pryde

Jana Pryde
Character Profile
Died 3 April 3136
Affiliation Clan Jade Falcon
Rank Khan
Profession MechWarrior

Jana Pryde was Khan of Clan Jade Falcon from 3129 to 3136. She became Khan after removing Ruel Chistu, and was assisted in her rise to power by Galaxy Commander Beckett Malthus, who arranged for Chistu's displacement.[1] Ironically, Malthus would later turn on her, backing Malvina Hazen's rise to power.

History[edit]

Khanship[edit]

Khan Jana Pryde's rise to power had come at the cost of fostering intense division in the Jade Falcon warrior caste, a mirror of the old Crusader and Warden philosophies that had existed in the Clan Homeworlds prior to the Clan Invasion.[2]

Jana had been leaving the Merchant caste a free hand to run their affairs while this benefited the Clan. The arrival of the Blackout sowed chaos in their business. By mid-October 3132, it became clear than the Blackout wouldn't be easily resolved, and she ordered the Clan's Merchant Factor, Marena, to find a solution. Marena proposed the creation of well-protected JumpShips, loaded with liquid assets, to make deals, loans, and update the kerensky currency's ledgers around the Clans' Occupation Zones. The ships, named VaultShips, became a great success.[3]

In 3135, the Khan sent a force that contained the most radical elements of her warriors in what was called the desant: an invasion of the Republic of the Sphere. This invasion force especially contained those warriors who had come to follow the so-called Mongol Doctrine which was being popularized by Malvina Hazen (although Hazen's interpretation of the Doctrine was actually a corruption of its original form, which had been created by Clan Hell's Horses). Malvina's sibkin Aleksandr Hazen also participated in this invasion, as well as the now-disfavored Beckett Malthus. Officially, the objective of the desant was to take an advanced stronghold, opening Clan Jade Falcon's path to conquer Terra, but in reality Khan Pryde simply wished to get rid of Malvina and Aleksandr Hazen by sending them on a suicide mission.[4] For this reason, the only reinforcements she sent them were the worst of the Falcon touman: dezgra and solahma warriors.[5]

However, Khan Pryde's plan backfired. Despite heavy losses, a defeat on Skye and the death of Aleksandr, the desant was a success, carving out a region of Jade Falcon territory that came to be known as the Falcon's Reach. When the promised Falcon reinforcements did not arrive, the remaining leaders of the desant, Malvina Hazen and Beckett Malthus, returned to Sudeten with the bulk of their remaining forces, whereupon Malvina challenged Jana Pryde to a Trial of Position for the Khanship. This challenge was rejected by Loremaster Julia Buhallin, as was an attempted Trial of Possession. Two attempts on Malvina's life were made by Jana Pryde's supporters, but both failed.[6] In response, Malvina denounced Jana's weakness, and declared herself the rightful Khan of Clan Jade Falcon.[7] Thus a civil war inside Clan Jade Falcon began.[8]

Malvina's forces conquered a number of lightly defended worlds before Jana's supporters brought them to battle on Antares. However, Malvina's forces received aid in the form of Galaxy Commander Manas Amirault of Clan Hell's Horses, who led a splinter faction of that Clan which sought to emulate Malvina's use of the Mongol Doctrine. These two forces united under Malvina, calling themselves the Golden Ordun.[9] With the assistance of Manas Amirault and his Galaxy, Malvina dealt the loyalists a crushing defeat on Antares.[10] Jana Pryde was forced to move all the Falcon touman to Sudeten, but even there, her forces were defeated again. Finally, Jana agreed to have a duel against Malvina for the Khanship, trying to prevent more losses.[11]

Death and Legacy[edit]

Jana Pryde and Malvina fought in their 'Mechs, a Turkina and a Shrike respectively. The fight took place aboard the crippled Falcon WarShip Emerald Talon, almost destroying the ship in the process. After crippling each other's 'Mechs, they proceeded to fight hand-to-hand in the vacuum of space. Malvina managed to open the Khan's suit, exposing her to the vacuum. After receiving Malvina's signature death's kiss, Jana died of asphyxiation.[12]

After taking Jana's place, Malvina ordered the Emerald Talon to fall on Sudeten, destroying the capital, Hammarr, and killing all its inhabitants.[13]

BattleTech[edit]

Jana Pryde piloted a Turkina she named Greenfeather.[14] Her personal DropShip was the Falcon's Egg, of unknown class.

References[edit]

  1. Era Report: 3145, p. 102: "Beckett Malthus"
  2. Era Report: 3145, p. 63: "Clan Jade Falcon"
  3. Tamar Rising, pp. 42–43
  4. Era Report: 3145, p. 101: "Malvina Hazen"
  5. A Rending of Falcons, p. 45
  6. A Rending of Falcons, ch. 9
  7. A Rending of Falcons, p. 114
  8. A Rending of Falcons, p. 208
  9. A Rending of Falcons, p. 165
  10. A Rending of Falcons, p. 196
  11. A Rending of Falcons, p. 262
  12. A Rending of Falcons, p. 291
  13. A Rending of Falcons, p. 306
  14. A Rending of Falcons, ch. 30

Bibliography[edit]