Eric Amirault
Sarna News
Eric Amirault (born 28?? - ????) was a Khan of Clan Hell's Horses during the Golden Century. He would be remembered for his role in bringing about modern Elemental Infantry, as well as arranging the demise of Clan Fire Mandrill's Kindraa Smythe-Jewel in a joint venture with Clan Coyote and with help from Kindraa Payne.[1]
Contents
Biography
Like so many other Clan warriors, little to no information has come to light regarding the life of Eric Amirault prior to his becoming a Khan of his Clan. His actions display a strong and far-seeing leader of hot temperament, but with a sense of fairness and justice.
Saga of the Elemental
When Clan Wolf unveiled their new infantry power armor to dramatic effect against the Nova Cats in 2868, the Khan of Clan Hells Horses knew that his Touman would have to have it in order to remain the premier combined-arms force in the Clan sphere. Khan Amirault would immediately issue a challenge for this armor. He and his scientists also had bargaining chips of their own: Years of research culminating in what was essentially a "super soldier", built from the genetics up to be larger, stronger and capable of amazing battlefield feats due to an increased resistance to pain and all-around heartier physique. The Horse Khan already knew about, and the Wolf Khan Alexis Ward would also instantly recognize the significance of a combination of both advances. Both would be eager to gain in this matter.[2]
The world of Tiber in the Kerensky Cluster would be selected to host three contests between the two Clans, a world on which they each held enclaves. Both Clans offered a share of their own materials as prize. The winner of each contest would get one-third of the offered material of the losing Clan, ensuring decent odds for each Clan to secure at least a portion of the proffered booty. The Wolf Clan would win the first two of these Trials, but Khan Amirault would lead elements of the Horse's Eleventh and Twelfth 'Mechanized Cavalry clusters to victory in the third trial.[2]
Khan Amirault would be hailed as a hero in spite of losing two of the three Trials. The losses mattered little compared to what they had gained. The modern Elemental was soon born. The Hell's Horses would put their scientists and technicians to immediate work, with mass production of the suits a far easier matter than waiting for sibkos to mature. Within a few years of this, the Hell's Horses would wield the greatest infantry forces in the Clan worlds.[2]
Smythe-Jewel Strikes Again
Trouble would find the Horses two years later in 2870. In what would seem a well-coordinated action, especially when innate divisiveness is taken into account, Clan Fire Mandrill Kindraas Payne and Smythe-Jewel attacked Clan Horses. Kindraa Smythe-Jewel had won the right to bid for both Kindraas in their joint attempt to gain the secrets to the new Elemental. Indications that Kindraa Payne's force was to be a large unit of elite troops were greatly exaggerated. The Kindraa Payne unit was crushed and forced to withdraw. The Smythe-Jewel force that was expected to be a smaller, second-line unit handily beat the Horse defenders, winning both genetic materials and the Battle Armor technology.[3]
Wild Horses and Rabid Coyotes
Khan Eric Amirault was no fool, and knew right away that his Clan had been deceived by Kindraa Smythe-Jewel. The angry Horse Khan would call for the Annihilation of Kindraa Smythe-Jewel in the Grand Council on the grounds of their dishonorable tactics, but it would be to no avail. As he prepared his Beta Galaxy for a strike against the Kindraa, he was stopped in his tracks by a pre-emptive batchall from Clan Coyote Khan Manfred Hollifield. But the Coyotes Khan did not come with the purpose of attacking the Horses - the two would find out quickly how much their respective Clans had in common concerning the Smythe-Jewels. Soon they would reach an agreement about how to best punish the treacherous Kindraa.[1]
Over the next two years, the Hell's Horses and Coyotes would move the pieces of their plan into position, under the cover of a rumored war brewing between the two Clans. In 2870, ilKhan Zenos Danforth died, once more vacating the high office as the Trials for the OmniMech that he had been elected to oversee also slowed down. With Kindraa Smythe-Jewel slipping back to a more complacent stance, the time had come for revenge.[1]
In 2872, forces of both angry Clans appeared above the world of Foster, the residence of the Smythe-Jewels. Officially, this was a Clan Hell's Horses attack, and the Coyotes forces were there in what would become known as "contract bidding" capacity. The Coyote's 100th Assault Cluster under the command of saKhan Katarina Steele along with several smaller support forces were part of the three clusters bid for the attack, with the other half of forces being Hell's Horses. Realizing the Kindraa Payne also resided on Foster, a broad-channel batchall was issued so as to clarify the intent of the attackers to punish the treacherous Smythe-Jewels.[4] Waves of Aerospace Fighters from Kindraa Smythe-Jewel along wwith their few naval assets greeted the attackers. But Khan Amirault had included two full Trinaries of fighters from his own 666th Mechanized Assault Cluster.[5] The Attackers would make landfall soon, almost entirely intact. The battle would rage for the next 26 hours, with Horse Armor hitting the Smythe-Jewel flanks while the Coyote Assault Cluster along with a combination Hrose/Coyote unit smashed the center of the enemy lines. Star Colonel William Smythe would lead a last desperate assault against the 666th, killing its commander, but falling itself against the combined Coyote/Horse unit. The Smythe-Jewel remnants attempted to flee, but between Horse Elementals swarming their 'Mechs and the arrival of forces from Kindraa Payne sent to ensure the death of their treacherous cousins (ostensibly to "guard their borders"), Star Captain Tomas Jewel would also go down, signifying the final resistance.[1][6][7][8]
Aftermath
With the battle over, the Hell's Horses would take most of the salvage as [[isorla]], procuring the OmniMech design in the process. They would take half of the genetic legacies as well, leaving the other half for the Coyotes as per their agreement. The Coyotes would take most of the bondsmen and most of the remaining genetic legacies, as well as the Smythe-Jewel compound. Any unclaimed legacies were allowed to be claimed by other Kindraa, along with a portion of the Smythe-Jewel holdings, which went to Kindraa Payne.[1][6]
Legacy
The first use of contract bidding between Clan Hell's Horses and Clan Coyote to destroy the Smythe-Jewels without the need for costly trials against each other for the rights to attack. It would one day lead to other instances of inter-Clan cooperation.
As a major player in the development of the Elemental, Khan Eric Amirault's place in history is quite well secured, as was his genetic line afterward. Hailing from a Bloodname House that is known for its MechWarriors, the Amirault line would consistently breed outstanding officers for Clan Hell's Horses through the centuries.[9]
References
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