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[Black Omega]

     The Usurper has been defeated.  After 12 years of fighting, clawing and scratching their way back through the Terran Hegemony, the Star League Defense Force has prevailed.
     The cost is unimaginable.  Before the Periphery Uprising, the SLDF boasted 125 battlemech divisions, 325 infantry divisions, 304 independent regiments and 2243 warships.  After the carnage of seventy percent losses, the shadow of the SLDF stands at 40 battlemech divisions, 95 infantry divisions, 117 independent regiments and 414 warships.  The Hegemony worlds are shattered.  The people devastated.  And the Great House Leaders in the Star League Council appear to not care less.
     General Alexander Kerensky and the SLDF begin the rebuilding process on their own, but the council has other ideas.  As each council member wants to be the new First Lord, they continue to plot amongst themselves to get rid of the SLDF.  Or worse, recruit them to their sides.  In a council meeting on October 10, 2780, General Kerensky is removed from his position of "Lord Protector of the Realm."  Thankfully, he is still allowed to remain commander of the SLDF.  On August 12, 2781, unable to choose a new First Lord, the house leaders vote to permanently dissolve the council.  The Star League is dead.
     During this time, General Aaron DeChevilier (Kerensky's closest friend and second-in-command), jokes in frustration that the SLDF "should find some world out there somewhere and let them wipe themselves out."  Kerensky seizes on the idea as the solution for which he is searching.  In a February 14, 2784, meeting of all top level command staff, Kerensky informs them of his decision and they start preparations for the largest "single coordinated military operation ever conceived--all behind a wall of secrecy."  On July 8, 2784, the fateful one word order is issued:  "EXODUS."

     Thus begins their journey....Into Darkness.

[Black Omega]

     Into Darkness is a Cincinnati Battletech campaign that chronicles the birth of the clans from the Exodus through Operation Klondike and [maybe] beyond.  The player characters are members of the Star League Defense Force or their families that accompanied General Kerensky on the Exodus.  Each player may create up to two characters, primarily mechwarriors, but aerospace fighter pilots and vehicle crews are acceptable.  If the player has an existing character in the Apocalypse Rising campaign, that character may continue [bearing in mind the effects of age].  Character creation will follow the format laid down in Apocalypse Rising with minor tweaks to be found in the thread "In the beginning."
     Characters will begin campaign scenarios with their "Trials of Position" on the world of Stranna Mechty in 2807.  So with that in mind, characters who are choosing specific mechs, etc to pilot and paying for that privilege with xp at startup must choose units available prior to 2807 [not including units that were created in the Inner Sphere between 2784 and 2807 (examples of which include Flashman-7K, Wasp-1L, Zeus-5S and Valkyrie-QA)].  The list can be found in the MUL using the "production era" filters of "Age of War" and Star League."  If using Solaris Skunk Works, simply sort by the production "year" column on the "select mech" page.  As noted in "In the Beginning" there is an additional xp cost for choosing heavy and assault class vehicles.  For aerospace fighters and vehicles, I will treat the tonnage categories the same as battlemechs.

[Black Omega]

Their journey through deep space begins to take its toll.  Some are still motivated, intent on following General Kerensky to hell if need be.  Others are already fed up with the month’s long trip, ache to return home.  This climaxes on August 19, 2785, when 9 ships, led by the Texas class battleship Prinz Eugen, mutiny and declare their intention to return to the Inner Sphere.  General Kerensky orders a strike force to board and capture the Prinz Eugen.  In command of the strike force was Major Elizabeth Hazen.  Formerly of the Royal Black Watch Regiment, Maj. Hazen escaped their destruction at Unity City and spent the entire Amaris occupation of Earth as a resistance leader.  Also included in the strike force were members of the 741st Royal Striker Regiment, Echo Company—the only unit to escape Earth after the coupe.  The rest of the rebels surrendered following the capture of the Prinz Eugen and all conspirators above the rank of captain were executed.  The crisis temporarily averted, the fleet sailed on.

Finally, the rag-tag fugitive fleet [] reached a series of planets in close proximity to each other.  The five worlds, dubbed “The Pentagon,” were immediately set for colonization.  Unfortunately, General Kerensky and his staff did not foresee the cultural issues of letting the army and civilians colonize as THEY wished.

The building of a new civilization continued.  To aid the process, General Kerensky ordered the demobilization of ¾ of the two million strong Star League Defense Force.  Many retired on their own and the rest were tested to keep only the best in the active military.  Excess equipment was mothballed and stored in what came to be called “Brian Caches.”

As the colonies thrived, the people continued segregating themselves into the cultures of the Inner Sphere from whence they came.  This, and former members of the military chafing at their new civilian lives, was bound to cause trouble.  Riots finally broke out in November, 2800, on Eden as a group of Capallan nationals declared their independence from the Star League and raided a local Brian Cache for military equipment to back up their claims.  General Kerensky was forced to act.  Kerensky ordered his best friend and second-in-command, General DeChavilier to lead a regiment of troops to Eden to put down the rebellion.  They walked straight into a trap.  General DeChavilier was gunned down after ejecting from his mech.  The SLDF in vengeful fury won the day but at a terrible cost.  General Kerensky then ordered martial law imposed and had troops surround the rebellious Capallan settlement.  Ultimately 20,000 were killed in what was called the DeChavilier Massacre.  Instead of ending the rebellion, the flames grew higher.

The final straw fell on 11 June, 2801, when General Kerensky passed away.  Without Kerensky to lead, guide, and look up to, like a nuclear reactor that loses its control rods, the Pentagon worlds go critical.  Even the SLDF was not immune.  Several generals vied to take Kerensky’s place, but this led to fracturing the SLDF and fighting with itself.  Only one had any chance to unify the SLDF, General Kerensky’s son, Major General Nicholas Kerensky.  Nicholas, however, refused to fight.  He led those loyal to him on a second exodus to the one colony world untouched by the fighting--Stranna Mechty.

There, Nicholas built his new society while the Pentagon burned with the same flames that engulfed the Inner Sphere.  He trained, tested and divided his 800 most loyal warriors into 20 groups which he called “The Clans.”  Each were named for an animal brought from Earth or found in the Pentagon worlds that exhibited martial traits similar to what Nicholas envisioned in his new society.

There are no records as to how Nicholas divided his forces.  Some individuals were recruited, others drafted.  Some were fought over.  The latter included the remnants of the 741st Strikers, Echo Co.  Clan Kahns, Elizabeth Hazen, of the Jade Falcons, and Sarah McEvedy, of the Wolverines, both wanted these warriors for their clans.  Hazen commanded them boarding the Prinz Eugen and during the DeChavilier Massacre.  McEvedy, commander of the 331st North American Division, grew up being told of their exploits by her father, former 331st commander, General James McEvedy.  Eventually, Nicholas Kerensky intervened, and those members of Echo Co. who left with the second exodus were assigned to Clan Wolverine.  All that is left for the Clans before their grand mission of retaking the Pentagon worlds is determining the warrior’s ranks by live fire “Trials of Position………”