Stephen McKenna

Stephen McKenna (b. November 21st 2744 - ???) was a young Star League Admiral who would go on to become the first Khan of Clan Snow Raven. A gifted pilot and naval tactician, as well as a canny politician who was capable of ruthless action if cornered, McKenna was a distant relative of Admiral James McKenna, Founder and first Director-General of the Terran Hegemony.

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Biography

A distant descendant of the legendary James McKenna, Stephen McKenna's direct familial roots are humble, echoing the beginnings of his great predecessor. Like the great Admiral before him, Stephen possessed the McKenna blasted-back unruly hair, but more importantly, he also inherited the McKenna grasp of naval tactics and strategies that brought his family to prominence long before his time. He was also quite comfortable in political arenas, finding solutions to problems that could be achieved no other way throughout his life as Star League officer, and later, as Khan of one Kerensky's nascent Clans.

Star League Service

Born on the world of Tamar in the Lyran Commonwealth and noted for maintaining a strong work ethic throughout his life, McKenna joined the Star League Defense Force upon reaching majority. He saw action against the Usurper during the Liberation of Terra, commanding the air wing of the SLS Mountbatton Texas class Battleship. McKenna achieved the rank of Colonel by the age of 24, in a ceremony presided over by Commanding General Aleksandr Kerensky himself. As a devoted follower of the Great General, Stephen McKenna was invited to the first meeting of Kerensky and his most trusted commanders on New Earth in February of 2784, the very same meeting in which plans for Operation Exodus were unveiled for the first time. He would cast his vote with the General, leaving with the majority of the Regular Army for the relative unknown of the Deep Periphery later that year, faithfully supporting Kerensky throughout the tumultuous journey.

The Exodus Years

Retaining his command through the massive draw down of military forces that occurred after the settling of the Pentagon Worlds, Stephen McKenna was placed in charge of the Star League in Exile's exploration efforts, charting the stars and worlds of the Kerensky Cluster. He was exploring the surface of what would one day be known as Tamaron when he received news of Aleksandr Kerensky's death. Acutely aware of the political situation, the now-Vice Admiral McKenna pulled his expeditionary forces from the surface and brought them back to the Pentagon, in order to support the claims of General Nicholas Kerensky to leadership of the exiled Star League forces. He would soon find himself combating the forces of Kerensky's rival claimants to the title of Commanding General, while taking charge of the effort to protect and evacuate those who were still loyal to Nicholas during the Second Exodus from the Pentagon Worlds to Strana Mechty.

The Clans: Snow Raven Rising

After the Second Exodus, Nicholas Kerensky began to form the Clans from his group of loyalists and followers. In 2807, he announced his plan, and named several Khans as well, steadily forming each of the 20 Clans over a few short years. Documentation indicates that Stephen McKenna was chosen to be Khan of Clan Snow Raven in 2810. His knowledge of aerospace and naval warfare unquestioned, the ilKhan would recognize his lack of experience in ground combat, selecting General Joyce Merrell of the 183rd Royal Mechanized Infantry Division to be his saKhan. Though their backgrounds were meant to be complimentary, disagreements and miscommunications regarding training held their Clan back. Snow Raven became the last Clan to be combat certified for the eventual campaign to retake the Pentagon Worlds.

Operation Sable Sun

As the years progressed, ilKhan Kerensky kept the nascent Clans focused on the goal of retaking the Pentagon Worlds. Towards this end, a reconnaissance operation was launched. Called Operation: Sable Sun, forces from several Clans were pooled and placed under the temporary command of Khan Absalom Truscott of Clan Star Adder. Amongst the largest contributors to this effort were the Snow Ravens, who would deploy their Black Claw Naval Star for use in this vital mission. Khan McKenna worked closely with Khan Truscott, as well as saKhan Rafe Kardaan of Clan Cloud Cobra, one of McKenna's former SLDF navy colleagues, directing their assets in monitoring traffic and communications on each of the five worlds. The effort of tracking enemy ground transmissions in order to ascertain force locations and dispositions was completed some time in 2820, clearing the way for the campaign ahead.

Operation Klondike

The Snow Ravens were chosen along with four other Clans to assault the Circe as their portion of Operation Klondike. Khan McKenna was named the Senior naval officer in charge of securing the Circe system. In this role, McKenna's first move was to secure space above Circe and in orbit around Circe's primary, with opposition concentrated at two outposts, as well as inside the Circe orbital naval cache. To help him secure these objectives was the single largest of the Clans' naval task forces deployed in Operation Klondike.

Circe: Space Supremacy

Acting on intelligence gathered during Operation Sable Sun, Khan McKenna's WarShips, his family namesake McKenna class Battleship James McKenna, and the Cameron class Admiral Gerda Cameron, moved to secure the zenith jump point upon entering the Circe system. Opposing them were a Congress class frigate and an ancient Quixote class destroyer which was docked at the recharge station, as it had been for the last five years of surveillance. The Congress put up a delaying action, but the Quixote class destroyer managed to escape the system.

After securing the zenith jump point and recharge station, Khan McKenna turned his focus toward Outpost One. Guarded by a [McKenna]] class Battleship and a Sovetskii Soyuz class Battle Cruiser, Khan McKenna sent the Black Lion class Thunderbolt and the Avatar class Korat to engage the enemy. In a battle that favored the Clan forces due to superior training, both enemy ships were destroyed after the Clan vessels jumped within range to deliver their attacks. Before the space station could be secured a Potemkin class Transport Cruiser and three smaller Jumpships separated and fled the star system to be hunted down over the following months during what would come to be known as the Battle of the Pentagon Run. The naval cache was secured by the combined efforts of Cameron, Sovetskii Soyuz, Essex and Whirlwind class vessels converging on the site of the cache, which contained only one third of the vessels once stored there. The rebels were unprepared, with their two sentry vessels, both Vincent class Warships, attempted only to flee and were brought to heel before making their escape.

Circe: Northern Landings

Possessing a flexible force that was only half comprised of BattleMechs, Clan Snow Raven landed alongside Clan Wolverine, their invasion partner for the norther hemisphere of Circe. Moving out from the landing zone at Point Alpha, the Snow Ravens would encounter resistance in the form of nomads of the Sand Confederacy, mostly guerrilla actions and small arms fire that slowly took a toll on the Snow Raven warriors. Reports of the time indicate that the Ravens also worked alongside the Not-Named Clan in joint assaults on some targets, though details regarding this are not officially known. The battles with the Confederacy would wind down after the Snow Ravens took their capital city of Dehra Dun. Khan McKenna would quickly order the use of the preexisting infrastructure coordinate plan the actions of his Clan throughout the rest of the campaign.

Circe: Empire of Hidalgo

After securing a base of operations, the Snow Raven next moved against the Empire of Hildalgo, a theocracy headed by a former SLDF soldier who was mustered out of the military due to concerns over mental instability. His forces would use suicide attacks and human shields in their defense, taking advantage of Raven pragmatism and a desire to take infrastructure intact if possible. The fighting was slow, and eventually losses began to mount due to attrition. Just as ilKhan Kerensky was about to reinforce them with another Clan, an unexpected ally appeared. The Kerensky Dominion was a faction made up of former Star League soldiers who remained true to the ideals of the Star League itself, though they did not recognize Nicholas Kerensky as their leader. For several months, the Kerensky Dominion joined in attacks against the corrupt rebels forces of Hidalgo, capturing the rebel leader, though they were unable to stop him from committing suicide before he could be tried for his crimes.

Bibliography

• Era Digest: Golden Century
• Field Manual: Warden Clans
• Historical: Operation Klondike
• The Star League