Raina Montose

{{{caption}}}
Raina Montose
Character Profile
Born 3035
Died 3072[1]
Affiliation Clan Ice Hellion
Rank Khan
Profession MechWarrior


Raina Montose was a thirty-first century Clan trueborn MechWarrior, officer, and last Khan of Clan Ice Hellion from the mid-3060s to the early 3070s.

History[edit]

Early life and career[edit]

In her early career, Raina was the Bloodnamed commanding officer of Alpha Galaxy's 40th Hellion Lancers. During her stay of command, she deployed her force as a rapid advance and assault unit, specialized in carrying Elemental Battle Armor into battle some roles as to deploy them as Command Headhunters. Khan Asa Taney deployed her Cluster in flanking actions to disrupt enemies' formations in battle.[2]

During her time in service of Alpha Galaxy, Khan Taney's leadership took the entire Clan into decline. His ill-tempered manner and lack of foresight when conducting Trials ended in disaster for the Clan. Eventually the warriors of her Clan could not be led by Taney any longer and conducted number of Trial of Grievance against Khan Taney. Taney had killed four warriors, including saKhan Sellen Cage. However, Raina challenged the ill-tempered Khan and defeated him, shooting down his fighter. The Ice Hellions' Clan Council removed Asa Taney from the rank of Khan. Raina won support when time came to vote for new Khan, making her Khan of the Ice Hellions in 3065.[3]

Khan of the Ice Hellions[edit]

After taking the Khanship from Taney, she chose Conner Rood from Beta Galaxy to become her saKhan. She then undertook the task of undoing the damage done for past couple of decades. With her leadership, she helped reinforce garrison commanders' confidence leading them to successfully defend Clan enclaves from being taken.

Despite her Clan's weaknesses and lack of strength, she moved to strengthen her frontline Galaxies with vehicle-oriented Flurry Clusters. She gave weekly state of the Clan addresses to try bolster her Clan's spirits.[4] Among other programs in which she was directly involved, Raina authorized the creation of the Afreet battle armor.[5]

Invasion of Jade Falcon OZ[edit]

Over the years since taking the title of Khan, her Clan's confidence improved. Raina planned a more ambitious scheme to strengthen her Clan, at the expense of others. In 3071, she moved all her Clan's frontline forces to the Inner Sphere to invade Clan Jade Falcon's Occupation Zone. In a gamble, she threw her Clan's entire touman into this invasion. She divided the touman into two task forces, the first commanded by herself, the second commanded by saKhan Rood. In June 3071, her task force composed of Alpha Galaxy, Delta Galaxy and Zeta Prime Galaxy was tasked with the capture of a large swath of the Jade Falcons' industrial worlds.

For the first six months of the campaign, she and her Task Force succeeded in seizing and holding a large swath of worlds. However, by December 3071 the tide had turned on them, as the Jade Falcons, now backed by the Hell's Horses, began their counterassaults. They inflicted heavy damage to Raina Montose's forces and made them lose ground. She and her Galaxy were forced to retreat a number of times until withdrawing to Vantaa, where she made her Clan's final stand in March 3072. In the course of the Battle for Vantaa, she received word of saKhan Rood accepting hegira at the Dark Nebula. She was furious and refused a similar offer by the Falcon–Hell's Horses forces on Vantaa. She died in battle with her Alpha and Zeta Prime Galaxies, but not before inflicting significant damage against the opposing forces and the planet's life support systems.[6][7]

Legacy[edit]

Khan Montose's failed invasion left the Ice Hellion touman sundered.

Notes[edit]

Khan Montose's invasion left her Clan's holdings vulnerable to conquest. This possibly led to the Ice Hellions' final destruction, which occurred after the Inner Sphere's communication with the Clans was cut off.

References[edit]

  1. The Wars of Reaving, p. 188: "Raina Montose Profile"
  2. Field Manual: Crusader Clans, p. 85: Alpha Galaxy / 40th Hellion Lancers - First noted appearance of Raina Montose as Cluster Commander
  3. Field Manual: Updates, p. 46: Clan Ice Hellion - Events leading to her challenging and defeating Asa Taney in battle
  4. Field Manual: Updates, p. 46: Raina attempts to strengthen her Clan and is able to bolster its confidence in itself
  5. Technical Readout: 3075, pp. 118–119
  6. Jihad Secrets: The Blake Documents, pp. 28–30: Operation: Ice Storm - Raina Montose's crusade to carve Ice Hellion OZ from Jade Falcon territory and the reports of her demise
  7. Masters and Minions: The StarCorps Dossiers, pp. 126, 139: Preening and Posturing & Forcible Relocation - Vantaa made inhabitable due to Ice Hellions' last battle. Montose's death confirmed

Bibliography[edit]