Editing John Fletcher

{{InfoBoxCharacter
| image               = John Fletcher OpKlondike.jpg
| caption             = John Fletcher
| name                = 
| birthdate           = 31 August [[2744]]<ref name=H:OKp109>''Historical: Operation Klondike'', p. 109: "John Fletcher Profile"</ref>
| died                = 
| othernames          = 
| affiliation         = [[Clan Hell's Horses]], [[Star League]] (pre-Exodus)
| rank                = [[Khan of Clan Hell's Horses|Khan]], [[Lieutenant General]] (pre-Exodus)
| title               = 
| position            = 
| profession          =
| parents             = 
| siblings            = 
| spouse              = 
| children            = 
}}

'''John Fletcher''' was a [[Star League Defense Force]] officer, infantryman, and later the first and founding [[Khan]] of [[Clan Hell's Horses]].

==Personality==
Fletcher was considered every man's soldier, a natural leader who was known to lead from the front when he became a commanding officer.<ref>''Field Manual: Crusader Clans'', p. 53: Long Trail - Traits of character noted</ref><ref>''Historical: Operation Klondike'', p. 109: John Fletcher profile - Character's personality noted in newer publication</ref>

==Character History==
===Star League Career===
[[Major General]] John Fletcher was an [[SLDF]] [[infantry]] officer who rose up through the ranks to become commanding officer of the League's [[LVI Corps (Star League)|LVI Corps]], [[19th Army (Star League)|19th Army's]] [[35th Infantry Division]].  He led his command into the [[Periphery]] with [[General]] [[Aleksandr Kerensky]]'s expedition to put down the second Periphery uprising.

Through the fires of the Liberation of [[Terra]], his unit survived to see the Star League's homeworld liberated in [[2779]]. Fletcher's 35th Division remained intact enough to prevent it from being disbanded.

However, it became clear that the [[Terran Hegemony]] was unsalvageable, with fires of war between League states becoming apparent.  Fletcher answered General Kerensky's call for [[Operation EXODUS]], to save his men and himself from the terrible war that would come.

After making a year-long journey to the [[Pentagon Cluster]], the now [[Star League-in-Exile]] disbanded his Division. He was then placed in charge of training troops for the [[Eden]] militia force.

In May [[2801]], Fletcher was part of troops who were sent to the rebellious city-state of Cathay. He was part of the SLDF force sent to put down the rebellion that killed [[General]] [[Aaron DeChavilier]]. The battle Fletcher and rest of the troops fought against citizens of Cathay, became what was known as [[DeChavilier Massacre]]. In the "cleanup action", Fletcher witness the desperate acts the SLDF forces had to invoke to overcome fanatical citizens fighting off the policing action.<ref>''Historical: Operation Klondike'', p. 21: The DeChavilier Massacre/John Fletcher's Personal Journal entry - Fletcher writes of fighting in Cathay city and his fellow troops' response</ref> During the outbreak of violence caused by the Cathay uprising, Fletcher banded together with other supporters of Kerensky to the infighting in the League's new Homeworlds. Though seen as futile, he proved to many including Kerensky's son Nicholas, of his devotion to the General's dream.<ref>''Field Manual: Crusader Clans'', p. 53: The Long Trail - additional notes of Fletcher's exploits before the second Exodus</ref>

When Aleksandr Kerensky died, Fletcher advocated that the General's son Nicholas should be in command of the SLDF. However, due to Fletcher's status as an infantry officer, he was not well regarded among his fellow officers. When [[Nicholas Kerensky |Nicholas]] was gathering veterans and officers for his [[Second Exodus]], he valued Fletcher's opinions that were ignored by others and convinced Fletcher to join him.<ref>''Historical: Operation Klondike'', p. 109: John Fletcher - General's League years and SLiE years</ref>

===Second Exodus and formation of Hell's Horses===
On [[Strana Mechty]], Fletcher was chosen by Nicholas to lead a select number of warriors that would form his new [[Clan]] warrior caste. Fletcher was teamed with former BattleMech Battalion commander [[Patricia Cobb]] to become the founding Khans of Clan Hell's Horses. He would implement training principles of [[Combined Arms|Combined Arms]] into his cadre of troops. They used, among other personnel, former crew members from a number of decommissioned [[WarShip]]s. Many of the BattleMech oriented Clans scoffed at Fletcher's Combined Arms strategy, claiming that it was inferior.<ref>''Field Manual: Crusader Clans'', p. 53: Long Trail - Noting references of Fletcher recruiting ex–WarShip crew members to fill in supporting/auxiliary forces</ref>

By [[2818]], Khan Fletcher waited patiently along with his fellow Khans for reports from [[Operation SABLE SUN]]. He was among the Khans who, from the decades of warfare fighting with the SLDF, knew the un-Clanlike intelligence mission was necessary before they could retake the worlds of the Pentagon Cluster.<ref>''Historical: Operation Klondike'', p. 40: Alone in the Dark/Khan John Fletcher's personal journal entry - Khan Fletcher comments the Op: Saber Sun was a necessary thing to do, even though others were too impatient to see it that way</ref>

During the formation of his Clan, Khan Fletcher and Cobb conducted a serious reshuffling of Bloodnamed Warriors and "support" troops in their Clan's [[Cluster]] to meet ilKhan Kerensky's limitation of 40 warriors per Clan for the invasion. Playing by the letter of their orders, the Horses' Bloodnamed warriors were restricted to Pilots, Vehicle Commanders and Squad leaders, as well as MechWarriors. Limiting the number of MechWarriors, Fletcher managed to rearrange his force so he would have a larger support force than other Clans participating in the future expedition to Pentagon.<ref>''Historical: Operation Klondike'', p. 89: Eden/Clan Hell's Horses Cluster - Fletcher and his Clan reorganize their invasion force to increase its size beyond Kerensky's original force limitations</ref>

===Operation KLONDIKE: Eden Campaign===
====Early days of the campaign====
On 20 March [[2821]], Khan Fletcher and the rest of the Clans' leaders assembled one last time where they discussed the final details of [[Operation KLONDIKE]] in Nicholas' capital city of [[Katyusha City|Katyusha]]. Khan Fletcher's Clan was assigned to the invasion of [[Eden]] along with Clans [[Clan Jade Falcon|Jade Falcon]], [[Clan Smoke Jaguar|Smoke Jaguar]], and [[Clan Wolf|Wolf]].

Upon their arrival on Eden, the [[ilKhan]] placed his Clan in reserve for the campaign. As weeks passed, and hearing of the early victories of the other Clans, Khan Fletcher petitioned Kerensky to send his force into active duty instead of providing security in the rear area.

The ilKhan assigned him the mission to take over the city-states of the Purgatory Peninsula, with only half of his force allotted to take the proto-state lands.<ref>''Historical: Operation Klondike'', p. 91: The Peninsula Campaign: The Horse Canters - Fletcher's Clans early days of campaign and his advocating the ilKhan let them play a more active role</ref>

====Invasion of the Purgatory Peninsula====
In the campaign, his Clan received bad intelligence regarding the state of the cities of the Peninsula. Where it was believed the mix of [[House Steiner|Lyran]] and [[House Marik|Marik]] populations had typically warred among themselves. Clan Intelligence did not realize the people of the Purgatory would unite against a common foe.

Advance elements of his force began to spring a series of traps and well planned ambushes in razed lands of Minotaur Shatters. Fletcher seeing what was happening, recalled his advance scouts. Being a veteran of guerrilla warfare that played out on Terra against Rim Worlds Republican troops, he began seeking a weakness in the enemy's strategy.<ref>''Field Manual: Crusader Clans'', p. 53: The Pentagon Campaign - Details of Fletcher's wisdom of figuring out how to root out the Purgatory guerrilla forces</ref> He then dispatched probes that reported back precisely where Purgatory's forces were staging from. Fletcher then had his troops move in and attack the Purgatory troops head-on, where his Clan's superior abilities would prevail. Fletcher used his own 'Mech forces as a lure for traps, where his armor and infantry assets would ambush Purgatory troopers foolish enough to take the bait.

In the two weeks of fighting, Fletcher's Horses had destroyed the bulk of the Purgatory's 'Mech forces. He moved to take Purgatory's isolated cities, where he had his people jam transmissions between these three cities to prevent them coordinating their counterattack against him and his troops. After the campaign against Allah and Dante, his forces fought a bloody street-to-street battle in Vesta. Khan Fletcher surprised the captive population by announcing that he was to initiate martial trials to select the best of the Purgatory's population to become part of his infantry and vehicle crews.  By doing this, he easily assimilated the population and brought his Cluster's force to full strength in relatively short order for the next leg of the campaign to take rest of Eden.<ref>''Historical: Operation Klondike'', pp. 91–92: The Peninsula Campaign: The Horse Canters - Peninsula campaign of Clan Hell's Horses</ref> Vesta would later be known as Hades, capital city of the Hell's Horses Clan.<ref>''Field Manual: Periphery'', p. 54: Some details from older sourcebook that were not included in ''Historical: Operation Klondike''</ref>

====Battle for Novy Moscva====
On August 14th, the Horses along with other Clan forces were transported to the Noruff continent where they began the final leg of their campaign for Eden.  They launched their invasion into the proto-state [[Levic Ascendancy]], governed by SLDF officers who refuted Nicholas' leadership of the League-In-Exile.

The Levic Ascendancy's armed forces, the [[Ascendancy Martial Foundation]], put up a hearty fight for territory. Fletcher's troops struggled along with the rest of the Clans to garrison a settlement they had taken outside the Ascendancy's capital of Novy Moscva in October.

The IlKhan, officially leading the invasion of the city, moved half of the Clans to conduct a four pronged attack. Among actions taken by Fletcher's troops, they ensured safe removal of demolition charges on one of the bridges into the city, Cameron Most, for the Smoke Jaguar force.  Khan's vehicles and infantry supported various Clan forces in their attacks, such as the Wolves' attack against the [[Eden Military Academy]].  He led his men in clearing a section of city, clearing the way for ilKhan Kerensky to move his command post to his father's old Command Bunker.

It was not until November that the main body of the Ascendancy's forces were shattered after its leader was killed.<ref>''Historical: Operation Klondike'', pp. 93–95: The Grand Campaign - Last parts of the Eden campaign</ref>

===Legacy===
{{quote|''From the fires of Eden came John Fletcher,''<br />
''a true warrior, leader of men, not of machines.''<br />
''His wisdom became that of a new Clan''<br />
''that challenged even the mightiest of 'Mechs.''|The Remembrance (Clan Hell's Horses), Passage 13, Verse 1, Lines 1-4}}

The fighting on Eden had proven that Fletcher's battle tactics of using infantry and conventional forces was valuable and had a place among the ''[[touman]]s'' of the Clans. Fletcher's leadership during the campaign in Purgatory allowed for the Clan to recover its strength in the years after the Pentagon campaign, allowing it to colonize and prosper in the initial open years of the Golden Century.<ref>''Field Manual: Crusader Clans'', p. 54: The Pentagon Campaign - Fletcher's leadership and handling of the campaign paved way for initial prosperity of the Hell's Horses</ref>

==References==
<references/>

==Bibliography==
* ''[[Field Manual: Crusader Clans]]''
* ''[[Field Manual: Periphery]]''
* ''[[Historical: Operation Klondike]]''


[[Category:Star League Characters|Fletcher, John]]
[[Category:Khans|Fletcher, John]]
[[Category:Clan Hell's Horses Characters|Fletcher, John]]