Chance Vickers

Chance Vickers
Character Profile
Born 3111
Affiliation Clan Wolf
Rank saKhan
Profession MechWarrior


Chance Vickers was a trueborn warrior of Clan Wolf who would rise to become saKhan after the IlClan Trial.

History[edit]

Early Life and Career[edit]

Chance was decanted in 3111, the product of a Ward genefather and a Vickers genemother.[1] Chance was in the same sibko as Alaric.[2] At the age of 10, Alaric disobeyed an assignment to develop an invasion plan for Ryde in the Republic of the Sphere and instead worked on one for Terra.[2] The instructor chastised Alaric, but Chance was intrigued and helped Alaric refine his invasion plan by pointing out its flaws.[2]

Chance successfully completed her Trial of Position sometime prior to 3137. By 3137, she had risen to the rank of Star Colonel and was in command of the 37th Wolf Striker Cluster.[2] When she learned that Alaric had been taken as a bondsman by Anastasia Kerensky of the Wolf Hunters, Chance intended to recapture him for Clan Wolf. Because her plan had not been approved by the Clan Wolf leadership, she secretly organized her forces, and went as far as pulling a gun on her commanding officer to keep her plan from being uncovered.[2] However, before Chance could embark on her unauthorized rescue mission, she learned that Alaric had voluntarily returned to Clan Wolf.[2]

She won the Vickers Bloodname in 3143.[1] Khan Alaric Ward then named Chance Vickers as his aide-de-camp.[1]

Battle of Terra[edit]

By January 10, 3151, Alaric Ward had promoted Chance Vickers to the new rank of "Wolf General" and made her his the second-in-command for Operation Nostos, the invasion of Terra, making her senior to saKhan Garner Kerensky.[3]

On 10 January the entire Wolf invasion force made landfall in central Australia, with 09:17 TST becoming known as "W-Hour, T-Day". Ordering his Wolves to begin deployment, Alaric was instead informed by Chance Vickers that none would move until he had become the first Wolf to set foot on Terran soil as a conqueror. The Khan did so, and the Wolves began fanning out to secure the Australian cities of Perth, Melbourne and Sydney.[4]

On T-Day Chance Vickers took Epsilon Galaxy and Gamma Galaxies against Melbourne. The Third Principes Guards and First Melbourne Militia, the former with previous experience fighting the Wolves and the latter utilizing knowledge of their home city, managed to hold out for two days before the city fell. Vickers then led Epsilon north to support Garner Kerensky's forces in Sydney.[5]

After securing Vietnam, Alaric split his forces into two groups. Chance Vickers led one force into Cambodia and Thailand while Alaric and Garner Kerensky made for Redoubt Hong Kong. Chance Vickers led her force west from Vietnam on January 16. Little resistance was encountered in Cambodia, although one act of poisoning led Alaric to order the Wolves to live off their own supplies until local foodstuffs were cleared, slowing the Wolf advance somewhat. The next day the Wolves entered Thailand, where the Thai Tigers struck Epsilon Galaxy with hit-and-run strikes using inferno missiles. This kind of fighting cost the Wolves heavily as they advanced along the coast, until Chance arranged for the Tigers to be caught in a hammer-and-anvil trap using herself as a decoy for Alaric.[6]

Pushing onward into India, Vickers led her troops against Redoubt Bangalore on January 14. Fortified equally in all directions, Bangalore's defenders included the First Gurkha Rifle Regiment and it was primarily their efforts, along with constant air strikes by RAF fighters, that dealt Gamma Galaxy a bloody nose in their initial attack on the city and stalled the Wolves for four days. Vickers finally secured the city on January 18, after a massive aerial battle that neutralized the local RAF aerospace force and allowed the Wolves to breach the defenses, although the Gurkhas escaped.[7]

Pushing into Georgia on February 2, Chance Vickers and her forces initially ran into light resistance from local militia. While Vickers suspected the Republic was setting a trap, a lack of aerial recon (due to fears of Wolf-Falcon clashes) enabled a RAF force entrenched in the mountains to ambush her warriors. Rumors that Devlin Stone was present in the nearby RAF command bunker spurred the Wolves into grinding forward, and the fighting bogged down into stalemate before Republic operatives severely damaged the Wolves' supply depots. Vickers ordered her warriors to retreat on February 5 and moved against Turkey and Greece instead, and while Republic media greatly exaggerated the scope of its victory, the indisputable fact that RAF troops had defeated Clan warriors in open combat gave a morale boost Stone's soldiers around the world.[8]

Hoping to capitalize upon this victory, Stone ordered Operation Four Horsemen to commence on February 9. Smashing through the two Wolf solahma Clusters left to defend the area, Task Force Four Horsemen moved through the Caucasus down to the Persian Gulf a day later, cutting the Wolf army in Greece from its supply lines and comrades. Ordered to proceed to Redoubt Bangalore - and thereby slow or halt the Wolves' advance by sitting on their logistics tail - the Task Force was ambushed in the Kirthar Mountains in Pakistan by Ramiel Bekker and his Tactical Response Cluster. Specifically targeting the RAF's superheavy BattleMechs, Bekker's warriors eventually destroyed the Task Force and claimed several of the superheavies and bondsmen. Following this, Bekker took his TRC to join Vickers in Greece.[9]

[Remainder of the Battle of Terra]

IlClan Trial and Aftermath[edit]


After the ilClan Trial ended, Chance accompanied the new ilKhan Alaric to a hospital to visit the aging former-Exarch, Devlin Stone. There, she would learn from Stone how he manipulated the events leading to the Battle of Terra and ilClan Trial, taking credit for both events. She was shocked to learn the news that he knew who caused the Blackout as a secret and how his "return" was a ruse to manipulate people. Sickened by the rest of Stone's banter and insults, Vickers grabbed a pillow and suffocated the former Republic leader to death.[10]

SaKhan of IlClan Wolf[edit]

On April 27, 3151, the Wolf Clan Council gathered to address two matters: whether to allow Clan Wolf in Exile to rejoin Clan Wolf and electing a permanent saKhan to replace Garner Kerensky who was killed during the Battle of Terra.[11] The Council voted to allow the Exiles to return home. Three candidates were put forward to become the Wolf saKhan: Anastasia Kerensky, the former saKhan, Galaxy Commander Miriam Shaw, the former Khan of Clan Wolf-in-Exile, and Chance Vickers, who had been acting saKhan during the ilClan Trial.[11] Kerensky, the candidate with the strongest support, unexpectedly withdrew from consideration and endorsed Vickers. The Council elected Vickers as saKhan in a landslide with over 90% of the vote.[11] The Council noted that under the terms of the ilClan doctrine, Vickers did not have a right to automatically succeed to the ilKhanship, rather ilKhan Alaric Ward had the right to designate his successor.[11]

Personality and Traits[edit]

At a young age, Chance was known for being quiet and reserved. She was very methodical as a strategist.[1]

BattleMechs[edit]

During the Battle of Terra Chance Vickers initially piloted a Savage Wolf, which was destroyed by Republic forces masquerading as Jade Falcons during Operation Nighthawk.[12][13]. She then piloted a Blood Reaper, which was destroyed fighting Knight-Errant Crystal Livingston Synd.[13]

Titles and Position[edit]

Preceded by saKhan of Clan Wolf
3151 – Present
Succeeded by
incumbent

References[edit]

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 IlClan, p. 11: "Chance Vickers"
  2. 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 IlClan, p. 11: "Life's Work"
  3. IlClan, p. 18: "Operation Nostos"
  4. Hour of the Wolf, ch. 4 (PDF version)
  5. IlClan, pp. 23, 25: "Melbourne"
  6. IlClan, pp. 27–28
  7. IlClan, pp. 28–29: "India and Redoubt Bangalore"
  8. IlClan, pp. 38, 40
  9. IlClan, pp. 41–42
  10. Hour of the Wolf, p. 591
  11. 11.0 11.1 11.2 11.3 IlClan, pp. 114‒115: "Reuniting the Pack"
  12. IlClan, p. 59: "Operation Nighthawk: The Beginning Of The End"
  13. 13.0 13.1 IlClan, p. 65: "Operation Nighthawk: The Aftermath"

Bibliography[edit]