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History of Clan Goliath Scorpion

Background

During Operation Klondike, the Goliath Scorpions were assigned to assault the planet Dagda along with the Clans Burrock and Widowmaker. The operations success hinged on taking a heavily fortified defense base on the continent of Riva. Scorpion saKhan Jenna Scott led her infantry Stars and quickly captured the rebel communications center. The facility in Clan control, saKhan Scott ordered the assault to begin.

Things took a turn for the worse when a group of rebels ambushed two Goliath Scorpion 'Mech Stars and destroyed all but one 'Mech. The Scorpion forces, led by Khan Elam, quickly seized the base with minimal losses and executed the rebel commander. The conquest of the planet, however, fell behind when the Fire Mandrill Khans began bickering amongst themselves. ilKhan Nicholas Kerensky subsequently ordered Clans Wolf and Jade Falcon to assist in the conquest.

This set in motion a feud between the Falcons' Carl Icaza and Scorpion saKhan Jenna Scott. The pair had once been lovers on Strana Mechty and gone through training together. Icaza denigrated the Scorpions' combat abilities and claimed that only the Jade Falcons were capable of capturing the assigned target. The Scorpions were forced to watch in silent frustration as the Wolves and Falcons completed the conquest of Dagda.

Elsewhere, on Babylon, the Ice Hellions found a lone warrior wandering the wastelands there. The warrior, identified as Ethan Moreau, a former General in the SLDF, demanded to be taken to see Nicholas Kerensky. Moreau was taken to see the ilKhan. He pleaded for mercy and asked for forgiveness for failing to heed the call for the Second Exodus. Impressed by Moreau's sincerity, Nicholas used the situation as the basis for the rite of forgiveness - surkairede.

Nicholas gave Moreau the chance to join one of the Clans, but the Ice Hellions refused to accept the aging warrior. Scorpion Khan Elam, who had been much impressed by Moreau's plea for forgiveness, petitioned Nicholas to allow the Scorpions accept him as a trainer for the Scorpions new cadets. Nicholas allowed the Scorpions to adopt Moreau into their Clan, but forbade them from using his genes in the breeding program. Moreau eventually became the first Loremaster of Clan Goliath Scorpion and his influence went on to change the nature of the Clan.

The Goliath Scorpions set up base on Dagda and built their first enclave near the rocky shores and coastline. They soon became quite skilled at undersea mining, developing an exoskeleton mining suit. This suit would later be acquired by Clan Wolf and become the basis for the Elemental battle armor.

The Scorpions later stood by the other Clans when the Not-Named Clan broke away from the unity of the Grand Council. Years later, when the WidowMakers and Wolves engaged in their Trial of Absorption, LoreMaster Moreau led a Star of Scorpion Mechs into battle save a trapped Star of Wolf 'Mechs from a superior force of WidowMakers. The battle came to an abrupt end when an artillery barrage killed Scorpion Khan Elam and WidowMaker saKhan Vordermark. The Wolf forces regrouped and destroyed the remaining WidowMaker forces.

Though outraged at the Scorpion interference, Wolf Khan Jerome Winson forgave the Scorpion's interference as Moreau claimed he was merely fulfilling his surkairede obligation to the Wolf Clan. Khan Winson then ceded much of the WidowMaker enclave on Roche to the Scorpions in thanks for their efforts.

Golden Century

It was during the Golden Century that the drug necrosia, derived from the venom of the goliath scorpion, began to be widely used by the warrior caste. It was widely known that the goliath scorpion's venom could induce a dream-state that often gave prophetic visions. Loremaster Moreau had originally wanted the warriors to be stung by the goliath scorpion to receive the full power of the venom, but a high mortality rate severely affected the viability of the warrior's gene pool. As a result, Scorpion scientists devised a ingestible serum that would produce the same results but would not adversely affect the user.

A few years later, Loremaster Moreau gave speech to the Clan Council where he told them of how the Goliath Scorpions would lead the other Clans to glory in the Inner Sphere. To achieve this, he charged each of them with finding Star League-era relics left by the Not-Named Clan that he claimed would insure the Scorpions' dominance. The warriors searched for five years but found nothing. Then, in 2850, the Ice Hellions found the cache the Scorpions had been looking for. The Hellions refused to part with it, prompting a series of Trials that would last for over a year.

Eventually, in 2851, Clan Fire Mandrill tried to take advantage of the situation and launched their own Trial against the tired Scorpion and Hellion forces. The two Clans were enraged by this interference and set aside their animosity to force the Fire Mandrill's off the world. The victory came at a bitter price. Loremaster Moreau was killed in the fighting by a Fire Mandrill warrior.

The Goliath Scorpions and Ice Hellions agreed to an amicable split of the Brian Cache. The Hellions departed with all of the war materiel and the Scorpions retained the Cache's stock of artwork and books.

The Scorpions were amongst the last to field the new OmniMech technology. Embarrassed by his troops poor performance, Loremaster Lan Kirov instituted the Circus Honorae, a series of events similar to the Star League's Martial Olympic by which warriors could improve their skills.

Loremaster Kirov was also instrumental in forming the Seekers. This cadre of warriors was charged with scouring the Clan homeworlds for Star League-era relics. Loremaster Kirov was convinced, like Loremaster Moreau before him, that the key to the Clan's future lie in its past. The Seekers, like knights of old, took with them a small specialized retinue of lower caste personnel to aid him in his search. Over the centuries, the Seekers have uncovered many lost treasures and brought them to the Clan's Temple of the Nine Muses, where all such finds are kept. The Scorpions have also dedicated an entire Galaxy of front-line troops to the defense of the Temple.

The creation of the Seekers almost became the undoing of the Clan. As the years went by, a widening chasm emerge amongst the warrior caste. The size and popularity of the Seeker cause drained many of the Clan's best warriors away from the military. The youngsters, who grew up steeped in the lore and legends of the Star League, cast aside their desire to serve in line units and spent their time traveling as Seekers or visiting the Temple of the Nine Muses. saKhan Jenna Scott forced the issue to a climax by challenging Loremaster Kirov to a Circle of Equals. saKhan Scott beat Kirov with five deft blows in a short-lived battle. She then extracted an oath from all the Seekers to follow Nicholas Kerensky's ideals and the Clan Way. When all present gave their oath, saKhan Scott collapsed and died of her wounds.

Dragoon Compromise

Khan Nadia Winson's call for invasion in 3001 caused an unexpected response from the Clans. Stymied by Wolf Khan Kherlin Ward's Dragoon Compromise, Winson had no choice but to accede to his demands. As another shock, Clan Goliath Scorpion offered to train the Wolf warriors by pitting them against the elite Heartvenom Cluster. A number of young Scorpion warriors went along with the Dragoons when they left for the Inner Sphere.

A few years later, the Wolves captured Star Colonel Vlad Dinour in a Trial of Possession. They gave him the troubled Fourth Wolf Striker Cluster to rebuild using Goliath Scorpion methodology and tactics. Colonel Dinour also provided the Wolves with intelligence gained from the Scorpion warriors who returned to Clan space during the Dragoon's 3009 supply run.

Revival

The arrival of the Outbound Light in 3048 brought the question of invasion to the Grand Council once again. This time, Smoke Jaguar Khan Leo Showers managed to convince the Council that the Inner Sphere was on the verge of discovering the Clan homeworlds. Using this as incentive, Khan Showers forced a vote and the Council elected to invade the Inner Sphere.

The Goliath Scorpions performed well in their Trials, but were beaten in the second round. Rather than throw a tantrum like Clan Ice Hellion, the Scorpions chose to expand their holdings by striking at territories left lightly defended by the invading Clans. The Scorpions earned the ire of the Jaguars by seizing several small enclaves on the world Tranquil.

Unknown to many in the Inner Sphere, a small force of Scorpion warriors traveled with the Steel Vipers to the Inner Sphere. The force, led by saKhan Posavatz, was lost on the world of Tukayyid during the bloody fighting at Devil's Bath. At the same time, Khan Nikolai Djerassi stepped down to implement several ideas that would strengthen the sibkos. The new Khans, Ariel Suvorov and Nelson Elam, each worked in a different manner to build up the Clan's Touman.

Death of a Clan

The destruction of Clan Smoke Jaguar has yielded several dividends for Clan Goliath Scorpion. First, the Clan captured the continent of Abyssmal on Huntress and, at the same time, procured several samples of Proto-Mech technology. The Clan also fielded the Undine battle armor for the first time. Also, trade has increased with Clan Snow Raven as the Scorpions strive to build up their aerospace forces. Time will only tell where the Scorpions future lies.