Betrayal of Ideals

Betrayal of Ideals
Product information
Type	Novel (4 parts)
Author	Blaine Lee Pardoe
Pages	231 pages total: 31 (part 1) 54 (part 2) 68 (part 3) 78 (part 4)
Publication information
Publisher	BattleCorps
First published	25 October 2006 - 16 January 2007)
Content
Era	Succession Wars era
Timeline	12 June 2822 - 10 January 2840

Betrayal of Ideals is a serialized novel by Blaine Lee Pardoe published in four parts on BattleCorps. It provides the "true" story behind the demise of Clan Wolverine, making Clan founder Nicholas Kerensky appear in a rather bad light and revealing many aspects of Clan history as revisionistic falsifications (and incidentially explaining inconsistencies in previously published material).

Plot summary

Foundations of Fate

published on 25 October 2006

“

Clan Wolverine. The Not-Named Clan. In the years after their return to the Inner Sphere, Clanners were reluctant to discuss this period of their history. The constant struggle to mix the ways of the past and the ways of Nicholas Kerensky's vision of the future... a vision that seemed to constantly evolve and change. What happened to cause the destruction, the Annihilation, of Khan Sarah McEvedy and Clan Wolverine?

”

Clan Wolverine Khan Sarah McEvedy surveys the construction of the Great Hall of the Clans at the center of Katyusha, on Strana Mechty. She muses on the changes she has seen begin to emerge in the Clansvonce a brotherhood of warriors united under ilKhan Nicholas Kerensky's banner, and now beginning to form secret alliances and making back-room deals. She prides herself in having kept her Clan aloof from any such politicking. With the fall of the Black Brian on Dagda two weeks earlier, she notes that the Khans of the Clans have begun to chafe in the absence of the war they were engineered for—a warrior people without a foe. Though Nicholas has stepped into the role of "great father" once occupied by his father, Aleksandr Kerensky, McEvedy feels that the future has become harder to see since the death of Nicholas' brother Andery Kerensky on Eden during the mopping up against the Levic Ascendancy. She has nagging suspcions that Nicholas may have had something to do with Andery's death.

To replace battlefield losses from Operation KLONDIKE, the re-conquest of the Pentagon Worlds, new warriors have been inducted into each Clan, and McEvedy finds that this new generation lacks the common bonds that knit the original Clans together.

She goes to the temporary command center to join Nicholas for dinner, and notes that the officers' mess this night hosts a number of other Khans: Jason Karrige of Clan Widowmaker, Franklin Osis of Clan Smoke Jaguar, and Joyce Merrell of Clan Snow Raven. McEvedy counts Merrell as a friend, but views Karrige as being unpleasantly extreme in his views. She recalls that relations between the Wolverines and Widowmakers have been strained since an unspecified incident during the Pentagon Civil War.

In the IlKhan's private dining room, McEvedy muses on Nicholas' numerous quirks—any violation of his protocols results in temper tantrums that proceed nearly to the point of requiring a Circle of Equals. Nobody is allowed to sit before he does, and he eats his steaks unseasoned, nearly raw. Conversation may not begin at the table until he finishes his meal and rests his arms on the table. Those close to him have learned his foibles to avoid setting him off.

This night, Nicholas has an agenda: He chastises McEvedy for allowing social mobility between her Clan's castes in the interests of efficiency. Though this has resulted in record productivity from the Wolverine enclaves, it undercuts Nicholas' goal of removing personal ambition by imposing rigidly defined caste roles and eliminating most opportunities for social mobility. McEvedy muses that many of Nicholas' extreme measures imposed during the crisis of the Pentagon Civil War and Second Exodus are now becoming permanent, and serving as the basis for even more extreme social engineering.

Regretting that Andery is no longer around to restrain Nicholas' impulses, McEvedy accedes to his demand that she undo her reforms and deal with any resulting social unrest—harshly, if necessary. However, to satisfy her own sense of honor, she demands to know which other Khans brought her reforms to the ilKhan's attention, so that she may challenge them to a Trial of Grievance. Nicholas denies her request.

After McEvedy departs, Nicholas informs Widowmaker Khan Karrige that he has dealt with the Wolverine situation of which Karrige had complained. However, he criticizes Karrige's use of intrigue by placing a spy in another Clan, a major breach of etiquette by Nicholas' standards. Karrige expresses gratitude for Nicholas' assistance, and takes another tack, characterizing the Wolverines as demonstrating a pattern of violation of Nicholas' regulations that encourages competition among the lower castes, rather than leaving the resolution of all conflcts exclusively to the Warrior caste. Karrige and Osis tell Nicholas they are worried that their own lower castes will demand reforms similar to those enacted by the Wolverines. Nicholas tells them that, should any disputes arise, the Circle of Equals is the proper venue for their resolution. He tells the two disgruntled Khans to step up their Trials against the Wolverines and prove the rightness of their claims on the field of battle. However, given a spate of defeats in the Circle at Wolverine hands, Karrige instead suggests that Nicholas authorize enhanced monitoring of the Wolverines, to better detect further violations of Clan ideology.

Nicholas agrees, though he specifies that such a new intelligence gathering organization will monitor all the Clans for violations of his doctrine, and bring them to his attention for proper resolution in a Circle of Equals.

A month later in the city of Bearcat, Wolverine Star Colonel Franklin Hallis puts a newly made Pulverizer through its paces, noting its superior performance over his previous ride, a cobbled-together FrankenMech (a Shadow Griffin). He takes it into combat against Star Colonel Ferris Ward from Clan Wolf, who has come to challenge for the Wolverines' Bearcat genetics repository and research facilities. Khan McEvedy warns Franklin that a spate of recent challenges have set the stakes to be as economically damaging as possible to the Wolverines, suggesting ulterior motives beyond simple demonstration of combat prowess and inter-Clan bragging rights. Despite the Wolves breaking their bid and calling in their entire pre-cutdown force, Hallis and his lance (including Star Captain Trish in an Exterminator) manages to take them out by setting the tar swamps ablaze and forcing the Wolves to shut down.

Khan McEvedy ponders the aggressive Wolf trial, and worries that this means that Nicholas' Wolves have joined the Widowmakers and Smoke Jaguars in the list of Clans conspiring to weaken her Wolverines. She briefly thinks back to Andery, thinking that he could have done something about his brother. Determning to take the offensive in this growing shadow war, she announces her intent to launch some challenges of her own against the Widowmaker enclave on Dagda, and tasks Hallis with rooting out the spies that have been leaking confidential Wolverine information to outsiders.

On 15 July 2822, a conclave of anti-Wolverine Khans holds a strategy session at the Widowmaker enclave. Widowmaker Khan Karrige chews out Khan Jerome Winson of the Wolves for having lost the latest challenge against the Wolverines. Khan Osis of the Smoke Jaguars argues that the Wolverines have only won by using new technology not available to other Clans. Clan Coyote Khan Kesar Jerricho (Dana Kufahl's replacement, following her recent self-exile) semi-innocently inquires whether the ilKhan has sanctioned this anti-Wolverine working group, much to Karrige's annoyance. The Clan Fire Mandrill Khan suggests something more aggressive, but subtle. Inspired, Karrige says that he has something in mind that will cause the Wolverines to harm themselves and expose themselves as betrayers of the Clans.

The Widowmakers' mole inside the Wolverines is a technician named Karl. As a member of a lower caste he was largely overlooked by the warriors. However, now that Khan McEvedy's tracking method has led back to Karl, Hallis and Trish have been shadowing him, hoping to learn his techniques. After Hallis determines that they have learned as much as possible from observation, they detain Karl and take him to a padded interrogation chamber, where Trish sets to work with relish. After five days of "enhanced interrogation," Hallis reports to McEvedy that Karl was a Widowmaker civilian who retained his old loyalties when absorbed into Clan Wolverine after the 2817 Trial of Possession. He volunteered to become a mole for Khan Karrige, and has been building a network of informers among lower castemen originating from other Clans, showing that a widespread attempt to infiltrate Clan Wolverine is underway. Hallis advocates purging the Wolverines of all inductees from other Clans, purifying the Wolverines and thereby rooting out the infiltrators. Those purged would be consigned to the Bandit Caste. McEvedy concurs, and informs him that she is also stepping up production of the Stag and Mercury II, as well as expanding the Clan's transport assets and accelerating sibko training programs.

Treachery's Stage

published on 18 November 2006

“

In the darkest traditions of the Clans a decision can cost far more than prestige and honor. A decision can cost lives, and sometimes those lives are very dear indeed.

”

Almost a year later, in June 2823, McEvedy reviews intelligence reports regarding the ilKhan's new spy agency—The Watch. Hallis' purge of Watch agents from the Wolverine Clan has been highly effective. Some were reassigned to roles with no access to data, some detained, and some executed. A few have been turned and used to send disinformation. Hallis estimates that the Wolverines will have their own "Watch" network up and running within a few years. However, with a growing list of enemies, McEvedy worries that the Wolverines won't have years left before the mounting series of Combat Trials becomes a full fledged civil war. Clans Wolf, Jade Falcon, Smoke Jaguar, Coyote, Ghost Bear and Widowmaker have all stepped up their attacks on Wolverine holdings, demanding Wolverine resources and technologies. With attempts to obtain cutting-edge Wolverine technology such as a more powerful ER PPC through Trials faring poorly, McEvedy notes that other Clans have started designing their own next-generation BattleMechs, and worries that her efforts to improve her Clan have touched off an arms race and upset the balance of power.

Meanwhile, Widowmaker Khan Jason Karrige meets with Ghost Bear Khan Hans Jorgensson and tries to get him to sign on with his anti-Wolverine coalition. But Jorgensson sees Karrige's concerns about the Wolverines trying to establish dominance over other Clans as a non-issue, and calls him out on his hypocrisy in complaining about Wolverine technological advances while his Widowmakers work on their own. Karrige grudgingly admits that he has no evidence of Wolverine impropriety, but promises that the Watch will deliver it soon. The Widowmaker Khan realizes that he will need more than just arguments and half-truths to enlist more supporters for his coalition against McEvedy.

On 20 July 2823 Trish wins the Ebon bloodname, succeeding the deceased Foster Ebon who recently died in a Trial of Possession on Eden against Clan Smoke Jaguar (who pressed their attack despite grievous losses on both sides). Hallis congratulates Trish on her win, and on her recent work in developing the Wolverine Watch—particularly her idea to patch into other Clans' satellite networks and use them for covert intelligence gathering, while safeguarding the Wolverine sat-net against similar intrusion. He also authorizes her to receive a new Pulverizer off the production lines, this one equipped with enhanced "Gutbuster" ER PPCs.

Two days later, Wolverine Point Commander Cale (Beta Galaxy, 102nd Strike Cluster, Bravo Trinary Striker, Third Star) investigates a Jade Falcon incursion into the Wolverines' Tiki Province on Circe. The Wolverines had secured control over the province by taking it from the Fire Mandrills near the end of the Pentagon Wars, and it now borders the Jade Falcons' Uthar Province and the Ghost Bears' Ta'Kal Province. The Falcons insist that the Wolverine maps are wrong, and that they have come to defend a hidden Brian Cache that lies in the territory. The Wolverines declare the heretofore unknown cache their property and call in to Zypher City for an HPG linkup to Khan McEvedy, preferring to let her make the decision rather than simply ripping into the Falcons. Star Colonel Franklin Hallis arrives four days later to resolve the question of ownership of the cache. He proposes to Falcon Star Colonel Phillip Buhallin that they resove it through a Trial of Possession, implying that the Grand Council would order such a resolution in any event, if the matter were brought before them.

The Trial commences with a Star on each side. The Wolverines claim victory with a well placed ambush followed by a grand melee, throwing the traditionalist Falcons for a loop. Buhallin acknowledges defeat, but says that the Falcon Khan will raise the issue of the cache before the Grand Council, and that the matter is far from over.

The Jade Falcons do bring the issue of the Tiki Cache before the Grand Council (still in temporary quarters as work continues on the massive Great Hall). The Khans sit around a massive table engraved with each of their emblems, not unlike the Knights of the Round Table. IlKhan Kerensky sits next to the Wolf Khan, reinforcing his ties to the Clan that holds his genetic legacy. McEvedy feels tension in the room as the other Khans file in, and muses that Nicholas has taken a tight-knit band of equals and turned them against each other.

Falcon saKhan Lisa Buhallin opens the session with a formal protest that the Wolverine claim to the cache has no basis, and that the Trial of Possession was contrived and unjust. Buhallin notes that the cache contains weapons of mass destruction, which have in the past been carefully controlled by the Grand Council. McEvedy ponders how Buhallin could have this information when the Wolverines have barely begun to catalog the cache's contents. McEvedy responds that the Trial was legitimate, and that the Falcons intentionally created the incident. She questions, if the Falcons knew about the cache when it was on their territory, why they failed to report the WMDs to the Council immediatey? McEvedy proposes that the Council postpone a decision on the cache until its contents can be properly inventoried.

After the session, McEvedy confronts Buhallin and asks her what has caused the Falcons to become so hostile to the Wolverines. Buhallin says that the Wolverines have been spying on the Falcons and other Clans in an effort to become the dominant ilClan. The Falcon saKhan also chastises McEvedy for not thinking of the wider ramifications when she tried to liberalize her civilian caste strictures. She tells McEvedy that the internal unrest sparked by rumors of Wolverine reforms forced the Falcons to put down labor unrest by force. She also expresses resentment that the Wolverines have been keeping their new BattleMech and weapon system designs to themselves, rather than presenting them to the Grand Council.

Star Captain Trish Ebon oversees the cataloging of the Tiki cache. It consists of two large rooms filled with BattleMechs and gear, as well as access tunnels to a number of exit points that had been obscured by forest growth decades earlier. Trish is impressed with the amount of history on display—uniforms from the 82nd Royal Jump Infantry Division, the 29th Royal Dragoon Regiment, and the 331st Royal BattleMech Division. She recalls that Khan McEvedy’s father commanded the 331st, and that the Wolverine touman includes a 331st Battle Cluster. Trish notes that the 'Mechs are in good shape, but the stored munitions have deteriorated, and spilled solid rocket propellant mixed with water leaking into the cache (due to clumsy Jade Falcon excavation attempts) have made recovery operations in the cache dangerous. The real prizes in the cache, in Ebon's opinion, are six nuclear-tipped Killer Whale missiles—specialized ship killers. The missiles have become useless due to age and corrosion, but the warheads were carefully stored and are still active.

In the woods outside, two Widowmaker warriors named Driss and Arvin are hauling a nuclear warhead to a concealed cargo truck, dressed as Wolverine technician caste members. So disguised, they managed to sneak the warhead out under Ebon's nose. As they reset the warhead's detonation code, Driss and Arvin debate the honor of the mission, with Arvin complaining that stealing is more for bandits than warriors, while Driss reminds him that they are serving their Clan, and were promised advancement if successful.

Reviewing Trish Ebon's preliminary assessment of the cache's contents, Khan McEvedy thinks back to her father, the 331st's final commander—Major General James McEvedy. She recalls him as a kind, gentle and caring man, and finds Nicholas a poor father figure by comparison. McEvedy worries about one discrepancy: Ebon's report lists six nuclear warheads, whereas Buhallin claims her search team found seven. She hopes it is just an oversight.

McEvedy reports the wrecked state of the 'Mechs, and says that only the nuclear warheads are worth discussing. Nicholas suggests equitable disposition of the cache contents, to prevent shifting the balance of power, with possession determined by Trials of Possession for the nukes and 'Mech Stars. McEvedy objects, noting that the Wolverines defeated the Falcons for the cache, and that the other Clans have no claim to it. Nicholas takes this as grounds for a Trial of Refusal. The Widowmakers win the right to defend the Council decision, pitting two of their warriors against the Wolverine Khan and saKhan.

The Trial goes against the Wolverines when the two Widowmaker King Crabs team up against Wolverine saKhan Dwight Robertson, forgoing Clan customs again in an attempt to inflict as much damage as possible. They also come close to killing McEvedy. Khan Joyce Merrel of the Snow Ravens visits McEvedy after the fight, informing her of Robertson's death. Merrel expresses relief that the inter-Clan dispute has been resolved, but McEvedy says that it won't end so easily—the Widowmakers won’t rest until the Wolverines are absorbed or crushed. McEvedy tells Joyce that she is considering secession in the hopes of being able to live independently. Merrel responds that the ilKhan won't stand for it, but acknowledges that the Snow Ravens, Goliath Scorpions and Ice Hellions have been entertaining similar thoughts of late.

McEvedy's next visitor is Franklin Hallis, whom she appoints as the new Wolverine saKhan to replace Robertson. She tells him that she is contemplating a secession from the Clans, and expects the others to come after the Wolverines in full force. She asks Hallis to begin to work with the leaders of the castes and begin to concentrate all the civilians in order to facilitate the Clan's wholesale departure from Clan space, as well as visiting the fleet caches and preparing transports.

The Switchback Directive

published on 22 December 2006

“

Khan McEvedy's Trial of Refusal ended in a loss for the Wolverine Khan. Seeing that the way of the Clans is being shattered before her very eyes, McEvedy realizes that it's only a matter of time before Nicholas Kerensky comes for her and her Clan. It's up to her to do what she can to preserve the Wolverines--even if it means crossing the Grand Council. First, though, she needs time: time to prepare, time to act, and time to flee.

”

—

Asunder

published on 16 January 2007

“

Wolverine Khan Sarah McEvedy is dead. Her Clan is on the run. As saKhan Franklin Hallis works to implement her Swichback directive, Nicholas Kerensky is gathering the Clans for a new purpose, a new trial: Annihilation. The Clans have been torn asunder; what happens here will shape the Clans for centuries to come. This is the story of the Wolverines, of fate, and the Founder's hand...

”

The final chapter in Betrayal of Ideas was "Asunder", which described events that took place from 25 October 2823 - 10 January 2840. What was once Clan Wolverine largely fled from Clan space. The story offered tantalizing hints as to the fate of the Wolverines without confirming that they had, in fact, survived.

—

Featured Characters

• Lisa Buhallin
• Trish Ebon
• Franklin Hallis
• Kesar Jerricho
• Hans Jorgensson
• Operator 378-Logistician "Karl" of the technician caste
• Jason Karrige
• Nicholas Kerensky
• Sarah McEvedy
• Joyce Merrell
• Franklin Osis
• Dwight Robertson
• Ferris Ward
• Jerome Winson

Featured BattleTech

BattleMechs

• Black Knight
• Bombardier
• Crab
• Champion
• Exterminator
• Flashman
• Griffin
• Guillotine
• Hermes
• Highlander
• Hussar
• Jenner
• King Crab
• Kintaro
• Mercury
• Mercury II
• Mongoose
• Phoenix Hawk
• Pulverizer
• Shadow Griffin FrankenMech
• Shadow Hawk
• Stag
• Stinger
• Thug
• Wyvern

WarShips

• Cameron
• McKenna (Zughoffer Weir)
• Potemkin (Egg Sac)
• Texas (Bismark)
• Vincent (Badger)
• Whirlwind (Weasel)

Mustang, Hunter's Pride, Michigan, Avalanche, Rough Rider, Black Justice, Buccaneer (cruiser), McKenna's Pride Munich Maverick Saratoga

DropShips

• unspecified DropShip Huron

Other

• Shelby Foote, a "shuttle" of unspecified type (implicitly, a Small Craft)

Features Places

• Arcadia (also Liny, a moon of Arcadia)
• Brim
• Charlie 425 A
• Circe
• Gamma 12901 FQ
• Gamma 1551 AV aka "Barbados"
• Gamma 25098 3W
• Strana Mechty
• Wayside (mentioned)
• Zulu 11981 TZ

Notes

• At one point Sarah McEvedy reminisces in internal monologue about Jason Karrige being "still bitter over that loss in battle", explicitly an incident during the Pentagon Civil War. She had put it behind her while he had taken it personally. Later it is explained that Karrige and McEvedy were friends until Karrige misinterpreted matters during the Pentagon Civil War. The exact nature of the incident/battle is not elaborated upon. In Operation KLONDIKE, Clan Widowmaker was assigned to Dagda and interacted mostly with Clans Goliath Scorpion and Burrock, while Clan Wolverine was on Circe sharing an operational area with Clan Snow Raven. Historical: Operation KLONDIKE repeatedly states that the purging of Wolverine-related records made it difficult to determine their exact actions during KLONDIKE, but it does say that the Wolverines were not considered as reinforcements for the Widowmakers on Dagda (in the siege of the Black Brian). Thus, the incident between Karrige and McEvedy must have stemmed from something that happened between the Widowmakers and Wolverines on Strana Mechty, while the Clans were staging for KLONDIKE.
• Although a Khan of Clan Fire Mandrill features in this story, his or her name is not given in the text, leaving it open if it is Raymond Sainze or Laura Payne.
• The fully canonical dates and events from this story do not match up with the chronology of the "Wolverine Diaries" from Jihad Secrets: The Blake Documents, marking that particular canon rumor document false (altough at the same time it contains so many details that the author was apparently aware of the true story).
• The story was controversial with some BattleTech fans because Pardoe wrote the story of Clan Wolverine's annihilation differently from how it had been presented in the past: The reviled "Not-Named Clan" was revealed to have actually been acting noble and honorable; they were singled out for genocide by Nicholas Kerensky for opposing him, to make an example of the Wolverines and to rally the other Clans behind him.
  It should be noted, though, that then-Line Developer Randall N. Bills had previously written the first two parts of the Founding of the Clans trilogy that already portrayed Nicholas Kerensky as a manipulative sociopath who built a personality cult around himself and was readily prepared to kill or instigate civil war among his people to further his agenda of creating an all-new society; however, Fall from Glory, the first part, would not be published in english until November 2007, long after Betrayal of Ideals, and the second part was only ever published in its German translation and remains unpublished in english.
• Blaine Pardoe has written extensively about the American Civil War, and has been known to frequently insert references to the Civil War into his works. The shuttle Shelby Foote from this story was apparently named for real-world historian Shelby Foote, who rose to prominence with a work on the Americal Civil War and passed away in 2005. Another nod to the Civil War era seems to be the WarShip named General Stuart.
• According to the author in his postscript to the story, the historical forceful disbanding of the order of the Knights Templar served as an inspiration for the story.

External Links

• Author's commentary