Editing Dawn Moffat

{{otheruses|Dawn Moffat, known throughout most of her career as simply 'Dawn'|other uses|Dawn (disambiguation)}}
{{InfoBoxCharacter
| image               = Dawn.jpg
| caption             = Dawn Moffat
| name                = Dawn Moffat
| birthdate           = [[3033]]
| died                = [[3075]] (presumed)
| othernames          = 
| affiliation         = [[Clan Steel Viper]]
| rank                = 
| title               = 
| position            = 
| profession          = [[MechWarrior (pilot)|MechWarrior]]
| parents             = 
| siblings            = 
| spouse              = 
| children            = 
}}
'''Dawn Moffat''', simply named '''Dawn''' throughout most of her early career before attaining the [[Moffat (Bloodname)|'Moffat' bloodname]], was a [[MechWarrior (pilot)|MechWarrior]] and officer of [[Clan Steel Viper]].  She would rise to prominence after banishment to the [[Inner Sphere]] in the years after the [[Battle of Tukayyid (3052)|Battle of Tukayyid]].<ref name=ER:3062p99>''Era Report: 3062'', p. 99: "Dawn Moffat"</ref>

==History==
Born during the decades leading up to [[Operation Revival]], Dawn likely tested out into the warrior caste on the heels of the Steel Vipers' involvement with the invasion of the [[Inner Sphere]].  She was known to possess strong but quiet [[Warden Clans|Warden]] political leanings that at times caused tension with her peers, who often subscribed to the [[Crusader Clans|Crusader]] philosophy.<ref name=ER:3062p99/>

===Operation Revival===
As part of [[Alpha Galaxy (Clan Steel Viper)|Alpha Galaxy]]'s [[4th Viper Guards (Clan Steel Viper)|Fourth Viper Guards]], Dawn saw action on a limited number of occasions, her [[Binary]] often having been bid away prior to battle by her commanding officer, [[Star Colonel]] [[Brett Andrews]].  Frustrated by this, and feeling underutilized, young [[Star Captain]] Dawn was eager to prove herself in the battle against the [[Com Guards]] on the world of [[Tukayyid]] in May of [[3052]].  But instead of glory, Dawn and her fellow warriors met only defeat and withdrawal after the Com Guard ambush at Devil's Bath.  Being the lone survivor of her Binary, Dawn felt shame at having survived the ordeal.<ref name=ER:3062p99/><ref name=ER:3052p58,59>''Era Report: 3052'', pp. 58–59: "Clan Steel Viper"</ref>

===Steel Viper Politics After Tukayyid===
Blame that her commanders deflected fell onto warriors like Dawn, Wardens who were viewed as soft for their stance regarding the Clan Invasion.  Having few chances at action during the years after Tukayyid because of this stigma, Star Captain Dawn was excited when her [[Trinary]] was selected for a raid on the [[Federated Commonwealth]] world of [[Cumbres]] in [[3057]].<ref name=ER:3062p99/><ref name=ER:3052p58,59/><ref name=ER:3062p63>''Era Report: 3062'', p. 63: "Clan Steel Viper"</ref><ref name=SL>''Star Lord'', chs. 3, 5</ref>

{{Quote|'''''Hail and tremble at my ''batchall'', for you stand against the Fourth Viper Guards and your destiny awaits you. Twenty-fourth Lyran Guards, this is Star Captain Dawn of the Steel Viper Clan, upholders of the true heritage of the mighty Kerenskys, keepers of the honor of the Clans. With what forces do you defend?'''''

--'''Star Captain Dawn's ''[[batchall]]'' at the raid on Cumbres.'''<ref>''Star Lord'', ch. 3</ref>}}

Things did not go as planned when an unexpected force equipped with noticeably advanced '[[Mech]] technology was encountered on the surface, in addition to the presence of an expected [[24th Lyran Guards]] company.  After surviving a fierce crossfire, Dawn escaped alongside two others, after having ordered a withdrawal back to their [[DropShips]].  This time, she had been commander of the operation as the ranking member of the raiding force.<ref name=ER:3062p99/><ref name=SL/>
[[File:Brett Andrews1.jpg|left|thumb|115px|Brett Andrews sought to eliminate Wardens like Dawn from the Steel Vipers.]]
Dawn was charged with incompetence and conduct unbecoming of a warrior, charges that she knew were false but felt somewhat powerless to refute in light of her life's events.  She was to be tried before a Steel Viper [[Clan Council]] held on [[Jabuka]].  Dawn was unaware that her commanding officer, Brett Andrews, had spoken with and secured agreement to a verdict of guilty with many of the Steel Viper Bloodnamed warriors beforehand.  Andrews felt that Dawn and other Wardens like her were a weakness to the Clan and had led to the Steel Vipers' defeats at Tukayyid and since.  He sought to shift the Viper political balance toward the Crusader philosophy, while simultaneously deflecting blame away from himself as the overall commander of his [[Cluster]] during many of these failures.<ref name=SL/><ref>''Field Manual: Warden Clans'', p. 142: "saKhan Brett Andrews"</ref>

During the Trial of Judgement, Dawn felt no need to make excuses on her behalf, because she was a Clan warrior.  Represented by Star Colonel [[Ivan Sinclair]] - who in spite of being a Crusader-minded Steel Viper genuinely argued in her defense against the Inquisitor, Star Colonel [[James Andrews]] - Dawn submitted her [[codex]] to the council and accepted judgement.  Accused of bidding woefully under the strength required to take the objective, claims of an unidentified unit interfering were dismissed, and judgement fell against Dawn.  Demanding a [[Trial of Refusal]] against the judgment to be carried out immediately, Dawn faced nine-to-one odds that were narrowed down to three-to-one, after bidding among the [[Bloodnamed]] warriors had commenced. Dawn's opposition was chosen by the Inquisitor, an [[Elemental]] Star Captain [[Stern Chapman]] and MechWarrior Star Captain [[Mitch Thibaudeau]].  The duel was fought to the best of Dawn's ability, but she could not defeat Chapman, who was an experienced master of hand-to-hand combat.  In the end, Dawn lay bleeding and beaten on the council chamber floor, and was soon banished to the Inner Sphere to serve the rest of her lifetime in exile.<ref name=ER:3062p99/><ref name=ER:3062p63/><ref name=SL/>

===Galatea and a New Life===
Managing to make her way through the stars of the Inner Sphere to the world of [[Galatea]] in the Federated Commonwealth, Dawn became associated with a stable of MechWarriors called [[Mordoc's Minutemen Stables|Mordoc's Minutemen]], who fought in the small-scale warrior games for which the world was known.  The stable owner, [[Edel Mordoc]], approached Dawn, who initially rejected the offer on the grounds that it offended her sensibility regarding mercenaries.  Not wishing to be like the money-soldiers spoken of in tales about [[Stefan Amaris]] and his lackeys, Dawn angrily rebuked Mordoc, who made a counteroffer to assist her by providing everyday needs and living arrangements, but never an exchange of currency.  Both parties were pleased with the arrangement.<ref>''Star Lord'', ch. 11</ref>

{{Quote|'''''I accept, but I will have nothing to do with money. You will never offer me coin in return for fighting in your... stable. Do so, and I will leave. But not before we settle the matter in a [[Circle of Equals]].'''''

--'''Dawn to her new patron/employer on Galatea.'''}}

Comfortable that her new role would take her the closest that she could get to being a [[Clan]] MechWarrior, Dawn won the first duel in which she fought, piloting a ''[[Shadow Hawk]]'' to victory over her opponent.  During the course of the match, Dawn had noticed that some form of electronic jamming - similar to that experienced during her fight against ComStar guerrilla forces on Tukayyid - was employed by the enemy in an attempt to gain unfair advantage in their fight.  Dawn was furious at the prospect of cheating, and killed the opposing pilot by stomping the cockpit of his ''[[Griffin]]''.  After the fight was over, Mordoc told Dawn that the opposing stable, [[Carmody's Cavaliers Stables|Carmody's Cavaliers]], would take grave exception and attempt to kill her in revenge for the death.  This was an idea that Dawn was somewhat familiar with due to her Clan upbringing, though she noted that the Spheroid view of honor was very different from her own.<ref>''Star Lord'', ch. 13</ref>

===Duncan's Demons and an Old Threat Returns===
Later that evening, Dawn was assailed by several ruffians associated with the Cavaliers.  While handily fighting them off in the streets of Galaport, she met the acquaintance of [[Hermann Bovos]], who assisted her in the fight, but against her will.  After the brawl, Dawn also met [[Duncan Kalma]] and [[Knight of the Inner Sphere]] [[Rod Trane]], in addition to FedCom [[Hauptmann]] [[Garth Hawkes]].  Kalma and Trane were from the [[Free Worlds League]], and had been on-world investigating the trail of a unit that was using the color schemes of the [[Knights of the Inner Sphere]] to raid several worlds in recent months.  Posing as mercenaries (while recruiting others to fill out their "company"), they gave Dawn much of the information that they had gained - including information that the unidentified unit which had been responsible for interfering with her raid on Cumbres was recruiting from mercenaries on Galatea.  After several more matches against angered Cavaliers, and an offhanded suggestion courtesy of the arena master, Dawn would rename the unit '''Duncan's Demons''' in honor of their tenacity for the hunt.<ref>''Star Lord'', chs. 15, 18–19</ref>
[[File:Rim Worlds Republic logo.png|Right|thumb|200px|A terrible menace returns from the past.]]
A Free Worlds nobleman named Count [[Sessa Lottimer]] invited Duncan's Demons to meet him on the world of [[Kyeinnisan]].  After a deteriorating situation that saw most of their weapons seized, the Demons were captured by armed agents while at a casino to which they had been invited.  Narrowly escaping with the help of sympathetic local citizens, Dawn and the rest of the Demons were able to catch a glimpse of something not seen in hundreds of years: Soldiers wearing the colors and markings of the [[Rim Worlds Republic]].  Quickly figuring out that their host was not innocent, the Demons confronted Count Lottimer about the situation.  The Count attempted to persuade the mercenaries by promising them a place in a new empire that would be ruled by MechWarriors.  Further investigation revealed that this new empire to be would actually be the Rim Worlds Republic reborn, and that it was in fact controlled by a descendant of the Usurper, known as [[Stefan Amaris VII]], a minor Periphery despot who had made great strides to become a force in a short amount of time.  This small polity of mercenaries and privateers had been staging raids designed to throw the Inner Sphere into chaos, in order to prepare the way to take control of a reborn [[Star League]].<ref>''Star Lord'', chs. 20–26</ref>

Facing this threat together, the Demons chose to go to what all signs pointed to as the heart of the matter, [[New St. Andrews]].  Once in-system, Dawn and her compatriots moved under pretense of being mercenaries sent from their forward hiring base in the Free Worlds League.  Many different bands of mercenaries and pirates had assembled from all across the [[anti-spinward]] [[Periphery]], making this task easier.  Dawn helped to prepare a ramshackle collection of older 'Mechs for the Demons' use, including an ''[[Orion]]'' for her own purposes.  She felt confident in this choice stemming from its use by the Great Father, [[Aleksandr Kerensky]], in the final battle to retake Unity City from the Usurper Amaris.  Once on the ground on New St. Andrews, Dawn was the first of the Demons to down an enemy when she destroyed a Rim Worlds Republic ''[[Archer]]'' while covering for the rest of the company near their initial landing zone.<ref name=ER:3062p99/><ref>''Star Lord'', chs. 29–31</ref>

In a battle that was joined by the Knights of the Inner Sphere, Duncan's Demons spearheaded the assault to break this upstart threat to the stability of the Inner Sphere.  At a key point in the battle, Dawn detached from the rest, seeking to find Amaris by herself.  Duncan Kalma and Rod Trane followed her, both having a good idea of what Dawn had planned.  After an engagement with several [[Light 'Mech]]s belonging to the [[Black Warriors]], Dawn again made a mad dash for her target, vocally demanding over the radio her right to take Amaris herself.  Under a hail of [[SRM]] and laser fire, Dawn's ''Orion'' exploded.  Soon after, the battle wound down enough for the surviving members of Duncan's Demons to investigate on the ground, where they found the Rim Worlds soldiers had been busy destroying records of their doings.  Dawn, meanwhile, entered Amaris' command compound under stealth.  She located her prey just as a subordinate was about to turn on him, saving his life only to execute him herself in an impromptu duel.  Before she could do this, Amaris tempted Dawn by offering her power second only to his own, an offer she ultimately denied.  After a heartfelt farewell to her comrades Duncan and Trane, Dawn parted ways, taking with her little more than a gruesome trophy of her exploits.<ref name=ER:3062p99/><ref>''Star Lord'', chs. 32–34</ref>

{{Quote|'''''Behold! This is the man I killed, spawn of the greatest enemy humanity has ever known.'''''

--'''Dawn, presenting her trophy to the [[Steel Viper]] Clan Council.'''}}

Dawn returned to Jabuka on August 30th, of [[3057]], and intruded upon a Clan Council that had gathered there to discuss strategy regarding the recent removal of [[Ulric Kerensky]] from the office of [[ilKhan]].  There amongst the shocked Bloodnamed warriors - none more astonished than [[Khan]] [[Perigard Zalman]] - she presented the severed head of the descendant of Amaris the Usurper.  Though her arrival was not welcomed by the assembled warriors - indeed, many were openly skeptical of her offering - her prize would eventually restore her honor and her position as a proud warrior of Clan Steel Viper.<ref name=ER:3062p99/><ref>''Star Lord'', epilogue</ref>
[[File:Svbeta.png|left|thumb|145px|Beta Galaxy, Viper Fusiliers.]]

===Steel Viper Warrior and Fate===
Dawn's homecoming was not easy.  Returning to a spot in the [[Viper_Fusiliers_(Clan_Steel_Viper)|Viper Fusiliers]] of [[Beta_Galaxy_(Clan_Steel_Viper)|Beta Galaxy]], she would face many duels and trials revolving around her time spent in the Inner Sphere.  She survived these and prospered, holding the rank of Star Captain.  In [[3062]], Dawn fought for and won the [[Bloodname]] of [[Moffat (Bloodname)|Moffat]], expunging much of her past.  She took part in the battles against [[Clan Snow Raven]] on [[Homer]] in the [[Kerensky Cluster]], gaining fame for her role in the Ravens' expulsion from that world.<ref name=ER:3062p99/>

Dawn Moffat's ultimate fate is not known, though she was not likely to have survived the [[Wars of Reaving]], which would consume so many of the [[Home Clans]], and fully annihilate hers.

==BattleMechs==
Throughout the events of the novel ''[[Star Lord (novel)|Star Lord]]'', Dawn piloted a variety of '[[Mech]]s, but mainly a ''[[Shadow Hawk]]'' that was said to be minimally upgraded by Inner Sphere standards, and an ''[[Orion]]'' on New St. Andrews with no mentioned upgrades.<ref name=SL/><ref>''Star Lord'', ch. 29</ref>

She later was noted to pilot a ''[[Crossbow_(OmniMech)|Crossbow]]'' [[OmniMech]].<ref name=TRO3058U>''Technical Readout: 3058 Upgrade'', pp. 182–183</ref>

==References==
<references/>

==Bibliography==
* ''[[Era Report: 3052]]''
* ''[[Era Report: 3062]]''
* ''[[Field Manual: Warden Clans]]''
* ''[[Star Lord (novel)|Star Lord]]'' (novel)
* ''[[Technical Readout: 3058 Upgrade]]''


[[Category:Clan Steel Viper Characters|Moffat, Dawn]]
[[Category:Galatea Games Characters|Dawn]]