Tomas Banacek

Thomas Banacek
Character Profile
Affiliation Clan Star Adder
Profession Khan

Tomas Banacek was a warrior and Khan of Clan Star Adder during the Golden Century. His term as Khan would be marked by war with various rival Clans, but would also see the downfall of the Adders' most hated enemy, Clan Mongoose.[1]

History[edit]

No details have yet emerged regarding the life of Tomas Banacek prior to being elevated to the position of Khan in 2863.[2]

Scourges of War[edit]

One day after the election of Tomas Banacek to the office of Khan of the Star Adders, Clan Mongoose struck a crushing blow in their war against the Adders. Deploying a horde of units stocked with the new OmniMech, they would quickly take several Star Adder colonies. Sensing an opportunity to make easy gains on a distracted and weakened foe, Clan Coyote would launch their own attacks soon after the Mongoose assault.[2]

Khan Banacek rallied his forces as best he could, but with little success against two Clans fielding large amounts of OmniMechs. Half of their colonies were lost to the attackers before the Adders could again hold the line. But if there was to be a bright side to these events, something that a Clan like the Star Adders could use, it was to be found amid the battlefield salvage. Several OmniMechs were recovered and quickly reverse engineered. Three years later, and after what amounted to a titanic modernization program that also saw the commissioning of the Mu Provisional Galaxy,[3] the Star Adders would field three Galaxies of OmniMechs. They were quite well prepared for the job ahead of them.[2]

Star Adder Triumphs[edit]

Five years after the crushing defeats at the hands of their enemies, Clan Star Adder struck back with a vengeance. Singling out Clan Mongoose for attack, the Star Adders hit them with their three new OmniMech equipped Galaxies. The Adders launched their assault just as the Mongooses hit the Smoke Jaguar colony of Atreus over a previous dispute.[1] Concentrating on their former colony worlds, the Adders would soon take back most of their losses from 2863.[2]

In order to stop the bleeding of his Clan and buy time to shore up defenses, Khan Walter Martindale of the Mongooses took his case to the Grand Council. Claiming that the Smoke Jaguars had started the wasteful conflict, he backed up his call for censure with quotations of the writings and speeches of Nicholas and Aleksandr Kerensky. The Grand Council's response to this political maneuvering was immediate and entirely against the Mongooses, who were often referred to as "the Weasels"[4] so notorious had they become for political chicanery. Khan Theodore Osis of the Smoke Jaguars called Martindale's use of the Great Kerensky's words to back a political ploy designed to hide his Clan's weakness an act of Treason against the Grand Council. He would call for and be granted the right for Clan Smoke Jaguar to Absorb Clan Mongoose, to the outrage of the Star Adder Khans.[1][2][5]

The New Enemy[edit]

Khan Theodore Osis of the Jaguars knew of the Star Adder assault on Clan Mongoose prior to demanding an Absorption.[1] The attacks had just ended when the Absorption began in 2868.[2] This would not stop Khan Osis from later demanding that Khan Banacek and the Adders face punishment for depriving his Clan of their "full measure of victory",[6] claims that would ultimately fail in the Grand Council. Still, the damage was done and the two Clans would nurse a smoldering grudge for many more years.[7]

Legacy[edit]

With the demise of Clan Mongoose and the restoration of most of the Star Adder colonies to their control, Tomas Banacek's legacy and place in Adder history would be very secure. He still had to deal with threats and accusations from Khan Theodore Osis for years to come, but in his writings he seemed relatively unconcerned about Smoke Jaguar saber rattling and bravado.

With a few ill-considered words, the Khan of Clan Mongoose consigned his Clan to death. And though I now live with Theodore Osis waiting for a chance to slay me with honor, we have reclaimed nearly all we have lost. That is all I ever wanted. The Mongoose is gone, and our new enemies will not prevail over us. Seyla. So shall it be.

--(Excerpt) From the Journals of Khan Tomas Banacek[7]

Hailing from a Bloodname House that supplies strong warriors to all branches of the Clan Star Adder touman,[8] Khan Banacek would guide his Clan out of the era of the Mongoose wars, and back to the business of exploration and exploitation of their growing colonies as the Golden Century wore on.[2]

References[edit]

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Era Digest: Golden Century, pp. 7–8: "Warriors above Politicians"
  2. 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 Field Manual: Crusader Clans, pp. 112–113: "Into the Golden Century"
  3. Field Manual: Crusader Clans, p. 128: "Mu Provisional Galaxy"
  4. Era Digest: Golden Century, p. 12: "Life as a Mongoose"
  5. The Clans: Warriors of Kerensky, p. 92: "Clan Star Adder, History"
  6. Field Manual: Crusader Clans, p. 113: "Into the Golden Century"
  7. 7.0 7.1 Field Manual: Crusader Clans, p. 112: "A Lesson in Politics"
  8. Field Manual: Crusader Clans, p. 110: "Clan Star Adder Exclusive Bloodnames"

Bibliography[edit]