Great Refusal
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Overview
On 12 April, 3060, a month after the fall of Huntress, Victor Steiner-Davion led elements of the reborn SLDF into the Strana Mechty system. Granted safe passage, Prince Victor's forces landed near the Hall of Khans. A delegation consisting of Prince Victor, Precentor Martial Anastasius Focht and other SLDF officers met with ilKhan Lincoln Osis to call a Trial of Refusal against the invasion of the Inner Sphere. While ilKhan Osis agreed to the proposal, the Ghost Bear Khans claimed that the Trial was exclusively against the Crusader philosophy and their invasion. Naming the Bears a Warden Clan, they refused to take part in the Trial. The other Warden Clans followed suit, and the Crusader Clans, including the last of the Smoke Jaguars, were left to fight the trial on their own. Clan Nova Cat took the side of the Inner Sphere on behalf of the newly recreated SLDF.
The Great Refusal began on 23 April, 3060. Modeled after the Battle of Tukayyid, the Trial was fought as a series of mini-engagements between the SLDF and Crusader Clans. While the Jade Falcons and Star Adders won, the other Crusader Clans failed to achieve victory, and ilKhan Osis himself was slain by Prince Victor. [1] Thus, by the terms of the Trial the Clan Invasion ended. The new Star League was able to create an embassy on Strana Mechty. Prince Victor addressed the Grand Council following the trial, but his hopeful speech fell on deaf ears.
| “ | "The invasion has ended, but not so our contact and our futures. There are countless individuals in the Inner Sphere who have learned to hate you, but we do not intend to prosecute a war against you--at least, not as the Star League. As the Star League, we invite you back to the Inner Sphere, to allow your people and ours to become acquainted. We have things to offer you, as you have to offer us. Beneath this umbrella of peace there are many new possibilities. We invite you to explore them." -Prince Victor Steiner-Davion in the Hall of Khans[2] | ” |
Khan Vladimir Ward pointed out that his Clan has abstained from the vote and fought the SLDF forces to a draw; thus Clan Wolf was not bound by the result, though he did agree to honor the Truce of Tukayyid until it expired in 3067. Victor responded by declaring that any future Clan adventurism would result in "swift and devastating retribution" from the SLDF.[3]
Great Refusal Results[4]
- Clan Wolf's Golden Keshik (Draw) vs. St. Ives Compact's 1st St. Ives Lancers (Draw)
- Jade Falcon's Turkina Keshik (Win) vs. ComStar's Invader Galaxy (Lose)
- Blood Spirit's Blood Guard Keshik (Lose) vs. Draconis Combine's 1st Genyosha (Win)
- Clan Star Adder's Adder Command Keshik (Win) vs. Free Worlds League's 1st Free Worlds Guards (Lose)
- Clan Ice Hellion's 7th Attack Cluster (Lose) vs. Star League Defense Force's Nova Cat Keshik (Win)
- Clan Fire Mandrill's Kindraa Command Trinary (Lose) vs. Capellan Confederation's Red Lancers (Win)
- Clan Hell's Horses' Alpha Keshik (Clan Hell's Horses) (Lose) vs. Free Rasalhague Republic's 3rd Drakøns (Win)
- Clan Smoke Jaguar's Command Trinary (Lose) vs. Federated Commonwealth's 10th Lyran Guards (Win)
Legacy
In the long term, the Great Refusal instigated the decline of the Crusader-Warden divide that had dominated Clan politics for almost a century. In its place arose a new split between the Invading Clans that had entrenched themselves within the Inner Sphere and the Home Clans who found themselves denied access to the rich resources being tapped wherein. Some of the latter began scheming on how they could seize their portion of the Inner Sphere, while others now felt that the Clans needed purification from Spheroid corruption.[5]
Upon hearing news of the Second Star League's collapse in late 3067, several Clans believed that the Great Refusal had thus been rendered null and void.[6] Though the motion to repudiate the Great Refusal was deferred at the time, the issue arose once more in February 3071. This time the Refusal remained in place, as the Star Adders responded to the election of Fire Mandrill Garret Sainze as ilKhan by leading their power bloc in voting to uphold it, while other Clans abstained.[7]
During a subsequent Grand Council on December 1st, 3071, Steel Viper Khan Brett Andrews brought the motion forward once more, claiming that if the Great Refusal was upheld this final time, it would no longer be an issue. By a majority vote (13 'ayes', 10 'noes', and 3 abstentions), the Great Refusal was finally overturned.[8] But instead of a new invasion of the Inner Sphere, the newly-elected ilKhan Andrews brought about the Wars of Reaving that devastated the Home Clans and led to a severance of all ties with those Clans established in the Inner Sphere.
References
- ↑ The Clans: Warriors of Kerensky, pp. 24-25, "The Great Refusal"
- ↑ ''The Clans: Warriors of Kerensky, p. 26, "End Of An Era"
- ↑ ''The Clans: Warriors of Kerensky, p. 26, "End Of An Era"
- ↑ Twilight of the Clans, p. 13, "Great Refusal outcomes"
- ↑ The Wars of Reaving, p. 13, "Seeds of Destruction"
- ↑ The Wars of Reaving, p. 31, "Cracks in the Foundation"
- ↑ The Wars of Reaving, p. 63, "Machinations and Manipulations"
- ↑ The Wars of Reaving, p. 76-77, "The Reaving of the Blood"