![[SMOKE JAGUAR LOGO]](/comstar/gif/csj.gif)
My Clans might learn much from this beast. Like us, it came from Nature, but has been improved by human hands. And now the great cat born on Terra thrives on a world so many light-years away from the planet of its birth that the human mind shudders to contemplate it...as we must. As we will...
The smoke jaguar fights like a true warrior. No deceit, no subterfuge - a single, brutal assault, both open and deadly. A powerful spring from above, a slash of its huge claws across its victim's throat, and its prey lies dead before it. So should all of us fight our enemies - openly, but with overwhelming force. Thus we may win true glory by defeating the foe in honorable combat. Truly, this great cat is a finer warrior than any human being I have ever seen on the field of battle...!
Members of Clan Smoke Jaguar take fierce pride in their namesake, which the Clans' revered founder, Nicholas Kerensky, chose for them. They believe that Nicholas modeled all of Clan society on the smoke jaguar, and point proudly to the above entry from one of his many journals in which he extols the beast's virtues. Modern-day Smoke Jaguars often quote from this journal entry, which they revere above all literature save for the Clans' epic poem, The Remembrance.
Khan Osis of Clan Smoke Jaguar rejoiced in having beaten the Wolves, and also in having won the honor to be the first to set foot on Tukayyid. He believed that ComStar's ComGuards would be easy pickings because ComStar had only shown the Clans its pacifist side. That Jaguars' target cities also promised the Clan great glory in the winning of them, as both lay in terrain heavily favoring the defender; Dinju Heights nestled in the Dinju Mountains, and Port Racice lay near the treacherous Racice River Delta. Refusing to listen to the ilKhan's warnings about the dangers of scarce supplies, the Jaguar Khans landed woefully unprepared for the battlefield siege they were soon to face. Instead, the Jaguar Khans placed their faith in the ability of their Galaxies to overwhelm all opposition with two swift, brutal strikes.
Khan Osis led Alpha Galaxy, including the elite Sixth Jaguar Dragoons and the Jaguar Grenadiers, into the Dinju Mountains. Meanwhile, saKhan Weaver and the Mistweavers Galaxy landed in the marshes of the Racice River Delta. Both Khans expected easy victory; neither was to have it.
The Dinju campaign began well for the Clan; the Sixth Jaguar Dragoons cut through the ComGuards' green Fiftieth Division and easily secured Alpha Galaxy's drop site. When the Dragoons and the Jaguar Grenadiers began their march on Dinju Heights, they encountered only modest resistance from remnants of the Fiftieth, whose light raids did little damage. The Clan warriors advanced toward the seemingly undefended Dinju Pass, confident of swiftly capturing the city that lay beyond. Unknown to the Jaguars, they were marching straight toward the heavier elements of the ComGuards' 299th Division, hidden in the pass.
Only the un-Clanlike caution of Star Colonel Brandon Howell saved the Jaguar Grenadiers from annihilation. Believing the undefended pass too good to be true, Howell sent two Stars of the Grenadiers forward in a ploy to force any hidden ComGuards out into the open. He then ordered the rest of his OmniMechs to hug the walls of the pass while moving forward at flank speed. Though the Grenadiers took heavy losses when the 299th sprung the trap, elements of th unit broke through ComGuard forces to confront the 323rd Division on the doorstep of Dinju Heights.
Not to be outdone by one of his own Star Colonels, Khan Osis attempted to lead his Sixth Jaguar Dragoons on a similar charge through the pass. Unfortunately for the Dragoons, the remaining 'Mechs of the 299th and 323rd Divisions were swarming all over the floor and the far end of the pass. The Dragoons took heavy casualties, and a ComGuard MechWarrior picked off Khan Osis with a well-placed laser shot against Osis's Summoner.
In the meantime, saKhan Weaver and the Mistweavers' OmniMechs bogged down close to their landing zone. The initial drop went well; the pools and marshes of the Racice Delta gave the Smoke Jaguar 'Mechs and Elementals a soft landing, inflicting fewer casualties than usual for such a maneuver. The Jaguars discovered, however, that wading through the swamps forced them to move at a painfully slow pace. ComGuard 'Mechs concealed in the delta's deep pools and sluggish river channels repeatedly ambushed the Jaguars, negating the Clans' weapon-range advantage and their 'Mechs' superior heat-sink technology. Ongoing artillery barrages herded the Clan 'Mechs ever deeper into the delta, where still more ComGuard 'Mechs waited in ambush. Near the end of the third day's march toward Port Racice, the 'Mechs of the ComGuards' 207th Division surrounded the Galaxy's Command Star and launched a coordinated attack against its units. Khan Sarah Weaver died in the fighting when her Warhawk's fusion engine went critical.
With the leaderless Clan Smoke Jaguars facing the fresh troops of the ComGuards' Second Army, ilKhan Ulric Kerensky ordered the Jaguars to retreat from Tukayyid. The dispirited warriors of the Mistweavers Galaxy obediently retreated towards their drop zone, but several of Alpha Galaxy's units refused. The Sixth Jaguar Dragoons viewed ilKhan Kerensky's orders as a Wolf Clan snub intended to erase the honor they had gained through the sacrifice of the Jaguar Grenadiers and the loss of Khan Osis. Proud and defiant, they continued their advance down the Dinju Pass, accompanied by several warriors from Alpha Galaxy's surviving Clusters. The sheer numerical superiority of the ComGuards' forces in the pass, however, eventually overwhelmed them.
Unable to fight their way back through the pass to aid their floundering companions, the few remaining warriors of the Jaguar Grenadiers launched a death-or-glory attack on Dinju Heights. The assault had no chance of succeeding, but forced the ComGuards' Eighty-second and 322nd Divisions to pull back into the city. With the ComGuards' retreat, a few of the Grenadiers managed to escape back to their drop zone.
Remember Franklin Osis,
Father of his Clan.
Three strengths he gave us:
The jaguar's spring that brings the enemy down,
The jaguar's claws that rend the enemy's heart,
The jaguar's taste for the enemy's hot blood.
Five are our foundation,
One above the rest.
Four are the stepping stones,
The fifth the pinnacle.
The laborer, the technician, the scientist, the merchant,
These are the stepping stones
To the warriors' place.
As the insect feeds the bird,
As the bird feeds the wolf,
As the wolf feeds the smoke jaguar,
So all give life to the warrior
Who sheds his blood for their glory.
In our dark days of wandering,
He gave us Hidden Hope;
Our sacred duty calls us to return.
As our Father told us,
And his father before him,
Ours is the redemption of the Universe;
Ours is the paradise of Terra;
Ours is the war of liberation.
Remember Leo Showers,
Great Khan of Khans.
He showed us the way to destiny
And gave his life to achieve it.
Mourn for our ilKhan, o warriors!
Cry curses to the heavens!
The have silenced the voice of the Crusaders;
Let them be ash beneath our feet.
Make your hearts as proud as his,
Make your blood as fierce,
Make your blows as deadly to our enemies.
Fifteen years, fellow warriors. Fifteen years
We are to suffer in shame and silence,
Listening to the crowing and laughter
Of our enemies, who think us defeated.
But remember, warriors, we are the Clans.
What fails to kill us only makes us stronger.
And when future sibkos learn of us,
They will know the sixteenth year
As the Stacalkas-Nomen: The year
The punishment of our enemies began.
Clan Smoke Jaguar Secondary Command
CO: saKhan Brandon Howell
Beta Galaxy (The MistWeavers)
CO: Galaxy Commander Mikhail Ward
1st Jaguar Guards (The Whitewatch)
Star Colonel Terrance Stiles
362nd Assault Cluster (The Silver Jaguars)
Star Colonel Emilie Wimmer
Alpha, Bravo, and Charlie Command Stars (5 OmniMechs each)
267th Battle Cluster (The Devil's Mist)
Star Colonel Diane Perez
2nd Jaguar Guards (The Striking Cats)
Star Colonel Jefferson DesCastris
Delta Galaxy (The Cloud Rangers)
CO: Galaxy Commander Hang Mehta
3rd Jaguar Cavaliers (The Stormriders)
Star Colonel Paul Moon
19th Striker Cluster (The Razor's Edge)
Star Colonel Thilla Showers
Epsilon Galaxy (The Teeth of Justice)
CO: Galaxy COmmander Jin Mehta
4th Jaguar Dragoons
Star Colonel Aaron Showers
7th Jaguar Dragoons (The Leaping Jaguar)
Star Colonel Sidney Nevversan
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#include
<stddiscl.h>
Will Day < wd