THE REFUSAL WAR

In the years following the Truce of Tukayyid, tensions continued to grow within the Clans. The so-called Crusaders increased their calls for a repudiation of the truce and a resumption of the Inner Sphere invasion, while the Warden faction continued to cousel cooperation with the Inner Sphere powers. This conflict set Clan against Clan, and warrior against warrior within each Clan. The emergence of new generations of MechWarriors within the Clans fueled these tensions further. Most of these new warriors had come of age during the invasion of the Inner Sphere and had dreamed of winning glory in the battle for Terra. The truce had dashed those visions, however, and left these young warriors frustrated and bitter. Understandably, many became ardent supporters of the Crusaders' call for a renewed invasion. Such sentiments were strongest among the Wolf Clan's young members, because the Clan's low casualties on Tukayyid left few Bloodnames open to these new warriors and virtually denied them any opportunity to win glory or advancement. As a result, a number of Wolf "supremists" emerged. These warriors remained fiercely loyal to their Clan, but desplayed barely contained hostility toward the Wolf Clan's Warden Khans.

Crusaders within the Wolf Clan carefully noted these growing sentiments, recognizing in them an opportunity to wrest control of the Clan from its Warden leaders and force the ilKhan to resume the invasion of the Inner Sphere. On June 10, 3057, these elements made their move. The Wolves' Crusader Loremaster, Dalk Carns, formally accused ilKhan Ulric Kerensky of high treason. The charges stemmed from an internal investigation instigated by the leader of the young Wolf supremists, Star Captain Vlad. According to the charges, ilKhan Ulric had colluded with ComStar leaders to engineer the defeat of the Clan forces on Tukayyid. That defeat led to the Truce of Tukayyid, which in turn would allow the Inner Sphere to rebuild their military forces and erect defenses before the invasion resumed.

Additionally, the ilKhan's accusers claimed that Ulric had elevated a known Inner Sphere agent - his bondsman and later ally, Phelan Ward - to the position of saKhan of the Wolf Clan. They claimed that Phelan had provided the ilKhan with inside information about Inner Sphere defenses that led to the Wolves' successes during the invasion. In return, the ilKhan had given Phelan a chance for a Bloodname and supported him in his bid to become a khan.

When the Wolf Clan Council met a month later to hear the charges, ilKhan Ulric denounced the accusations as groundless. He had been accused of collusion with ComStar before, he explained, and the Clan Grand Council had exonerated him. As for the charge regarding Khan Phelan, the ilKhan noted that Phelan had been taken as a bondsman in battle, just as many of those gathered in the council had been. Furthermore, Phelan had won his Bloodname in combat trials according to Clan tradition and his elevation to the position of saKhan had been approved by the Grand Council. The ilKhan seemed on the verge of convincing the Clan Council to drop the charges against him when Loremaster Carns challenged Ulric to answer a third charge - that he had willingly entered into a conspiracy to destroy a Clan's genetic heritage.

This surprise accusation sent a murmur of disbelief through the gathering. The destruction of genetic materials was the single most horrific crime that a Clan or Clansman could commit. Only once before in the Clans' history had such an accusation been raised, leading to the annihilation of an entire Clan. The ilKhan remained speechless for a moment, and Khan Phelan immediately demanded that the Loremaster explain himself or face a Trial of Refusal. Seeing that his bombshell would snatch victory from what had seemed certain defeat, the Loremaster cleared his throat and answered.

"Because of the Truce, we will have three generations of warriors who know nothing of warfare beyond exercises and the occasional raid. When the Truce ends, our command structure will be full of untested, untried, and inexperienced warriors. They will lead our young into combat and, as Ulric intends, they will die. They will perish, and the way of the Clans with them."

IlKhan Ulric's next action stunned his supporters, opponents, and the entire council. He directed the Loremaster to forward the charge to the Grand Council of all the Clans, and agreed to answer it at a formal hearing in one month. In hindsight, it is apparent that Ulric took this action for two reasons. First, transferring the proceedings to the Grand Council ensured that the charges would not split the Wolf Clan. Second, the transfer would gain him valuable time. Knowing that the charge would go to the Grand Council anyway, where his Crusader enemies held sway, the ilKhan used the intervening month to form his own plans and set them in motion. Answering the Charges

On August 8, 3057, the Grand Council held session on the planet Tamar to hear charges of genocide against ilKhan Ulric Kerensky. All the gathered Khans knew the charges, and most had already decided on their verdict.

Khan Elias Crichell of Clan Jade Falcon claimed the right of prosecution. The most powerful of the ardent Crusader Clans, the Jade Falcons had established sufficient control on the worlds they occupied to let them shore up their forces in preparation for a swift drive toward Terra once the Truce of Tukayyid collapsed. While the other Clans contended with Inner Sphere raids and planetary rebellions, the Falcons quietly stockpiled munitions and equipment on the planet Quarell in preparation for renewed war. The Falcon Khans believed their warriors could slice through the troubled Federated Commonwealth and take Terra in less than a year, ensuring that Clan Jade Falcon would become the ilClan. To achieve all this, the Jade Falcon Khans needed to ensure that Ulric Kerensky would be found guilty and the Truce of Tukayyid repudiated.

In pursuit of this goal, Khan Crichell painted a damning - though inaccurate - portrait of a vast, sinister conspiracy between Ulric, Precentor Martial Anastasius Focht of ComStar, and the two Wolf Clan Khans to re-establish a tainted version of the Star League with Victor Steiner-Davion of the Federated Commonwealth as its First Lord. He claimed that the Clans, including the young Crusaders who made up much of Clan Wolf, had been betrayed by Ulric, who intended to destroy them and the entire Clan way of life. Several Council members believed Crichell's wild speculations, and Khan Phelan Ward's attempt to refute them proved fruitless. Nineteen Khans declared Ulric guilty of treason; fifteen declared him innocent. The Council stripped him of his rank of ilKhan, demoting him to the rank of Star Colonel. In response, Ulric demanded a Trial of Refusal against Clan Jade Falcon.

The Falcons had anticipated any response but this. They had won a vital political victory and assumed that Ulric would not contest the verdict. The Falcons were posed to resume the invasion of the Inner Sphere, and the last thing they wanted was to squander warriors and BattleMechs on inter-Clan strife. Their initial reluctance to fight, however, evaporated at Ulric's insinuation that the Falcons wished to avoid a trial because they feared that they would lose. At this, the Falcons angrily agreed to face the Wolves in the bitter conflict that came to be known as the Refusal War. The Great Crusade

After the Grand Council adjourned, Ulric Kerensky retreated to his command center on Tamar along with Wolf Khans Natasha Kerensky and Phelan Ward. Though they had lost one battle, they had a Trial of Refusal to win. As they planned their strategies for defeating the Jade Falcons, Ulric revealed his own scheme to use the Trial as a means of crippling the Crusaders' power, while ensuring the long-term survival of the Wardens whom he considered the best and truest members of the Wolf Clan.

From the moment the charge of treason was brought against him, Ulric had known that the Crusaders among the Clans would find him guilty and repudiate the Truce of Tukayyid. The only way left to safeguard the Inner Sphere from a Crusader-led Clan onslaught was to break the Crusaders' power by forcing their strongest Clan to squander its fighting strength in inter-Clan warfare. At best, the Jade Falcons could only win a pyrrhic victory in the Refusal War; the swath of destruction cut through their ranks by Clan Wolf would cost them all hope of spearheading a renewed invasion of the Inner Sphere. The other Crusader Clans, beset by rebellions on occupied worlds and lacking the Falcons' military acumen, could do the Inner Sphere less harm. By virtually destroying the Jade Falcons and the Wolf Clan Crusaders, Ulric hoped to tear out the heart of the Crusader faction and protect the Inner Sphere, as he believed the Clans had been created to do.

To ensure Clan Wolf's long-term survival, Ulric ordered saKhan Phelan to lead the bulk of the Clan's Warden faction, along with Clan Wolf's genetic legacy and a third of its equipment, to a safe haven in the Inner Sphere. If the Trial of Refusal ended up destroying the rest of Clan Wolf along with Clan Jade Falcon, Khan Phelan was to rebuild the Wolf Clan and keep its glorious heritage alive. Though he preferred to fight alongside the two leaders he so deeply respected, Khan Phelan accepted his role. His forces would take part in a few early battles, then strike out toward the relative safety of the Kell Hounds' stronghold on Arc-Royal. Ulric also made one last, secret plan to ensure that his Clan would outlive him. To Star Captain Vlad, leader of the Wolf Supremists and a brilliant warrior, Ulric would entrust the welfare of any Wolf Crusaders who survived the Refusal War. Should Phelan be killed and his forces destroyed along with what they carried, Vlad was to rebuild Clan Wolf so that it could once again take its place among the children of Kerensky.

For their own parts, Natasha and Ulric planned a two-pronged assault on the Jade Falcons that would force them to split their strength. Ulric intended to bleed the Jade Falcons of troops and materiel on world after world, weakeninig them so that his final assault on the Falcon stronghold of Wotan would have the best possible chance of success. Ulric meant to kill the Jade Falcon Khans on Wotan and destroy enough Falcon warriors to effectively prevent the Clans from resuming the Inner Sphere invasion.

Their plans laid, the Wolf and Jade Falcon Clans prepared for the first battle of the war that would decide their ultimate fates.

COLMAR

The fleeing fighters left the BattleMechs of the 12th Falcon Regulars Cluster with no fighter cover when they appeared on the ridge line to the south. As the Falcons descended the steep slope to enter their weapons' firing range, they bunched up, presenting easy targets for the 352nd.

When the dust cleared, the 12th Falcon Regulars were no more. A scant 10 percent of the 12th's personnel survived, among them only six aerospace fighters. By comparison, the 352nd suffered only 17 percent casualties. Unfortunately, the Falcons managed to destroy half of the 352nd's aerospace fighters and Elementals and two-thirds of the Cluster's 'Mechs. The Wolves took no bondsmen from the survivors but did lay claim to all battlefield salvage. The fighting had been fierce and many of the 352nd's 'Mechs would never see battle again, but at long last the Wolf pups had cut their teeth.

After the battle, the remaining members of the 352nd formed up with the Wolf Spiders and marched on Doren, the capital of Colmar. There, Khan Natasha Kerensky's Elementals opened the planet's armories and armed the population. She declared the Colmar system free of the Jade Falcons and told the gathering crowds that she would take their grievances to the Jade Falcon Khan personally.

SUDETEN

The Falcons had beefed up their garrison on the planet to slow the Wolf advance, and so Khan Phelan's forces would be outnumbered almost two to one on the killing fields of the grassy world.

Khan Phelan compensated for his disadvantage by splitting his forces into two separate units. His lighter, faster 'Mechs laid an ambush for the Falcon defenders along the graccy, tree-covered hills of Sudeten's western plains, on the continent of Dargoth. The remaining Wolf 'Mechs headed toward the port city of Webster to harass the garrison forces stationed there and buy time for the trap to be set. Once those units were 100 kilometers outside of the city, Khan Phelan called in aerospace fighter support from his DropShips. Most of the fighting took place around the Webster magna-rail station, just outside the city limits.

After engaging the Falcon garrison at Webster, Khan Phelan ordered his attack force to retreat to the Dargoth Plains. Under the cover of Wolf aerospace fighters, Khan Phelan's 'Mechs continued to fire on the pursuing Falcon defenders and destroyed many of the Falcons' heavy and assault 'Mechs before they reached the plains. When the surviving Falcon units crested the first hills on Dargoth's grassy plains, they saw what appeared to be a disorganized army desperately trying to escape to their DropShips some fifteen miles away.

When suddenly, the hidden Wolf 'Mechs emerged from their hiding places on the tree-covered hills and the Falcons found themselves surrounded by enemy 'Mechs. Waves of Wolf aerospace fighters dropped their remaining bombs on the trapped Falcons. Battered by the bombing runs, the Falcon 'Mechs made easy targets for the fresh Wolf BattleMechs.

In the end, Khan Phelan's forces scored an impressive victory over the Falcons. Khan Phelan Ward and his forces killed or captured some 100 Falcon 'Mechs, nearly all that had been on the planet. Eighty-five percent of the Falcon MechWarriors and pilots were killed, the remainder injured. Meanwhile, the Wolves lost only 35 units.

After returning to the Wolf fleet, Khan Phelan attempted to persuade Khan Natasha to include his forces in further battles, using his victory to bolster his arguments. Despite his protests, Khan Natasha remained adamant that Khan Phelan follow Ulric's original plan and lead Delta Galaxy into the Inner Sphere. On October 5, 3057, Khan Phelan's JumpShip Werewolf left Clan space with a very special cargo - the complete genetic heritage and future of the Wolf Clan.

ZOETERMEER

Ulric chose his first target well. A week before the beginning of the Trial of Refusal, he had discovered that the Falcons were converting one of Zoetermeer's orbital chemical engineering facilities into a small factory for DropShip parts. An orbital repair facility so close to the truce line would allow the Falcons to attack deep inside the Inner Sphere without being hamstrung by a long wait for replacement DropShip parts from the Clan home worlds. The Falcons' 10th Provisional Garrison, assigned to defend the factory against Inner Sphere raiding parties, had stationed the bulk of its forces near the Nalon Spaceport in the seaside city of Salyn. A single Star of 'Mechs and two aerospace Stars remained to defend the orbital facility. Ulric planned a strategy that would allow him to destroy both the facility and the 10th Garrison Cluster.

Before opening the bidding for the Zoetermeer assault, Ulric ordered Star Commodore Radick to issue a batchall to the forces defending the orbital facility once the Wolf forces bid to attack the planet itself were engaged in battle. With the bulk of the Falcon forces fighting the Wolves, the troops defending the orbital facility would be left without reinforcements, and would prove easy pickings for Radick's warriors.

The Wolves had won the day, but at a staggering cost. The 11th Regulars had lost more than 40 percent of their 'Mechs, the 21st Battle Cluster had suffered 32 percent casualties, and the 4th Striker Cluster had lost 39 percent of its troops. The technicians would need at least two weeks of constant work to bring the units back to an acceptable 70 percent readiness level. Star Colonel Ulric Kerensky's victory on the southern continent had proved less costly; the 2nd Wolf Cavaliers sustained only 15 percent equipment losses and 3 percent casualties.

The assault on the orbital facility was another Wolf victory. Star Commodore Radick's batchall took the 10th's commander completely by surprise. He had not included the facility in the original bidding because he had believed that the 10th itself was the Wolves' sole target. This oversight cost the Falcon commander his chance to reinforce the facility, and Radick's forces swiftly overwhelmed the three defending Falcon Stars.

BAKER 3

The Wolf 341st Assault Cluster landed 60 miles south of the Falcon command center, at the edge of Lowa, Baker 3's southern continent. With the purple Ylrebmik Ocean at their backs, the Wolves split up. Half of the force made its way into Lowa's dense forcest to seek out and destroy Jade Falcon patrols. Meanwhile, the remaining Wolf 'Mechs entered the hotspring fed waters of the Baker River and began a slow march along its bottom. With the super-heated water of the river masking the 'Mechs' heat signatures, Khan Natasha hoped to outflank the Falcons and surprise them.

The battle on Baker 3 proved yet another stunning success for the Wolf Clan. In the end, the Wolf forces suffered only 21 percent losses, while the Jade Falcons suffered 98 percent losses. Unfortunately for the Wolves, the Mechwarriors of every lost Wolf BattleMech were killed.

For the Falcons, the battle seemed lost almost from the start. Star Colonel Buhallin sent numerous patrols from the Falcon's 305th Assault Cluster to destroy the Wolf 'Mechs in Lowa's forest, but none had any discernible success against the Wolves, who employed hit-and-run tactics to great effect. The forest's dense vegetation severely limited the Falcons' ability to target the Wolves, and eventually the 'Mechs of the 305th - armed almost exclusively with ballistic weapons - found themselves low on ammunition. In growing frustration, Buhallin sent aerospace fighters after the Wolf 'Mechs, as well as more Falcon BattleMechs, until his forces were streteched across the continent and his command center woefully underdefended.

At that point, the second Wolf force emerged from points along the Baker River and struck at the Falcon command center and the undefended flank of the 305th. Fifty Falcon OmniMechs and twenty-seven fighters were destroyed by the Wolves that day. Only two Points of Falcon Elementals managed to make it back to their landing zone for extraction.

DEVIN

Still, several of her Clusters had not seen action yet and remained anxious to join the fray. The battle on Devin would provide ample opportunities for fighting - and dying. The Falcons had garrisoned the planet with the 2nd Falcon Jaegers and 1st Striker Cluster, both battle-tested, veteran units. Even the weather seemed to challenge MechWarriors. Severe electrical storms and high winds ravaged the desert planet, conditions that would render sensors almost useless. Shortly after the Wolf JumpShips entered the Devin system, a malfunctioning sail array delayed the attack force for three days, an omen that seemed to bode ill for the Wolves.

The Wolves won the battle at Devin but lost 47 percent of their 'Mechs and equipment and 22 percent of their personnel.

EVCILER

The southern polar continent of Messian was in the middle of its twilight months, and saKhan Chisty used the half-light and wintry landscape to his forces' advantage. In preparation for the battle, Chistu ordered his troops to paint all their 'Mechs and Elemental armor a dirty blue-white that the Wolves would find almost impossible to see. To avoid ammunition-resupply problems, Chistu ordered all units configured to use energy weapons, supplemented only by long-range and short-range missiles. Finally, he ordered the Falcon forces to dig trenches and 'Mech pits in which to ensnare the advancing enemy. This time, saKhan Chistu was taking no chances.

Clan Wolf's forces dropped onto Evciler's southern continent in the light of a ghostly dawn. The shadowed terrain played tricks on the warriors' eyes, and the southern pole's intense magnetic field rendered most of their BattleMechs' electronic equipment useless. Not even their holographic infrared displays could help the Wolf MechWarriors much in finding their prey; the constant eruptions of volcanoes and geysers through the snow and ice confused infrared sensors. Against such odds, the Wolves could only hope that fortune would favor them.

The Jade Falcons' ambush at Semore Chasm took the Wolves by surprise. The hidden Falcon 'Mechs opened fire on the baddly rattled Wolves from all sides, costing them several 'Mechs. Victory eluded the Falcons, however; the shallow pits in which they had hiddened weakened the ice on which they stood. The heat of weapons fire melted the ice and snow, weakening it further until it cracked and sent several Falcon 'Mechs into the river below. The Falcons' sudden confusion gave the Wolf forces time to rally and mount a counterattack. Several Wolf MechWarriors began to fire at the ice near the pits, sending even more Jade Falcon BattleMechs and Elementals plunging into the icy river. The Star of Falcon 'Mechs still on its feet retreated southgward, pursued by the surviving 'Mechs of the 1st Wolf Cavalry.

The battle ended after another twenty minutes of heated fighting. Two Stars of Jade Falcon BattleMechs and four Points of Elementals littered the frozen landscape. The Wolves had lost eight 'Mechs in the ambush, but only the Jade Falcons' misfortune had kept the cost from rising higher. None of the Jade Falcon units that fell through the ice re-emerged from the river, prompting one Wolf MechWarrior to comment that some fates are worse than death.

TWYCROSS

However, Chistu refused to fall victim to her scheme. In a show of disdain for the aging Wolf Khan, he assigned the Fifth Talon, Sixth Provisional Garrison, and the 18th Falcon Regulars - all inexperienced garrison units - to Twycross. Chistu wante to do more than insult Natasha; he wanted to humiliate his opponent, and so he added the Falcon Guards to the list of troops. Their mere presence would show Khan Kerensky the seething contempt he held for her, and the shame of their predecessors' defeat might spur the Falcon Guards on to great success.

The battle on Twycross began on the Plain of Curtains, where fierce winds swept the shifting red sands and forced the Falcon and Wolf 'Mechs into close combat. The Wolves set up in a diamond formation, at the edge of the plain in front of the Great Gash. The 341st Assault Cluster stood in the front of the formation, the 3rd Battle Clyster and the 352nd Assault Cluster formed the sides, and Khan Natasha's 13th Wolf Guards formed the rear.

When the Falcon 6th Provision Garrison Cluster struck at the Wolves, the 341st quickly fell back, as instructed. That maneuver drew the pursuing 6th Provo into the diamond, and the 3rd Battle Cluster and the 352nd opened fire on the enemy's flanks, decimating the surprised Falcons. The Falcon's 5th Talon and the 18th Regulars approached more cautiously, however. As those units engaged the 341st, the Falcon Guards advanced to reinforce the attack. Heavy fighting ensued, and both sides took extensive casualties. Then the 341st broke off from the battle and passed into the Great Gash, quickly followed by the 3rd Battle Cluster and the 352nd. Meanwhile, the 13th Wolf Guards slowly retreated until they stood at the mouth of the Gash.

Khan Natasha had hoped to draw the Falcons into the Gash. She stationed the 11th Battle Cluster along the sides of the Gash and planned to ambush the Falcon 'Mechs as they marched into the valley. The Falcons did not fall for the bait, however. At that point, Khan Natasha ordered the Wolf units to evacuate Twycross, and she remained behind to challenge the Falcon commanders to individual combat.

And so on December 7, 3057, Khan Natasha Kerensky of the Wolf Clan, the infamous Black Widow, died amid the blood-red sands of Twycross.

WOTAN

An hour after the vanguard of the Wolf Clan Battle Group reached the Wotan system, the remnants of Khan Natasha Kerensky's units joined them. The combined strength of both groups gave Star Colonel Ulric Kerensky a little more than a Galxy of frontline 'Mechs with aerospace and Elemental support.

The Falcons fielded approximately the same number of units. These forces had taken fortified positions in Wotan's capital city, Borealtown, where they awaited the Wolf attackers.

The Battle for Borealtown proved one of the costliest engagements of the Refusal War for both the Wolf Clan and the Jade Falcon Clan. Although the sides were roughly even in terms of numbers, the Falcon defenders consisted of fresh, frontline troops, as opposed to the second-line and garrison units that had engaged the Wolves in most of the earlier fighting. Additionally, the Falcons had created numerous fortifications both outside and in the city of Borealtown itself. These proud Falcon MechWarriors were eager to avenge the humiliating losses the Wolves had inflicted on the Jade Falcon Clan in the earlier battles of the war. Additionally, the Falcon commanders were determined to defend the headquarters of the Jade Falcon Occupation Zone.

However, the battle-weary units of the Wolf attack force were highly motivated as well. Many sensed that the very future of their Clan might hinge on this battle, and they fought accordingly.

In the end the Falcons held Borealtown, but neither side could truly claim victory. Both had suffered upwards of 80 percent casualties in he fierce urban combat, and many units that fought there would never recover.

Despite these devastating losses, the most important skirmish of the battle occurred on a much smaller scale. For even as the battle raged, Star Colonel Ulric Kerensky led a lone Star of Wolf OmniMechs into the heart of the city in search of Vandervahn Chistu, saKhan of Clan Jade Falcon.

As Wolf OmniFighters streaked out of their DropShips toward the city of Borealtown, the city seemed to come to life. Beams of ruby, emerald, and sapphire light stabbed into the sky, and soon the sound of explosions rocked the night. Within minutes small spots of bright orange flame appeared in the darkened city streets, mariking the spots where the fighters' bombs had struck. In the rolling hills outside the darkened city, waves of Wolf DropShips landed and unleashed their cargo of 'Mechs.

Within minutes Wolf OmniMechs had reached the city and began to slug it out with the Falcon 'Mechs that hid behind the empty buildings and darted through the narrow avenues. In the middle of the chaos, a Star of Wolf 'Mechs circled one of their own and made their way into Borealtown.

The group of 'Mechs met little resistance as they made their way to the heart of the city. The area was built on the highest point in the city and provided a spectacular view of the once thriving metropolis, but the MechWarriors did not notice. Then they reached a ring of buildings and encountered a lone Jade Falcon Executioner. They had found their prey.

After performing the batchall with Ulric Kerensky, Chistu had prepared his ambush. First, he separated two Stars of OmniMechs from the Clusters he had stationed on Borealtown. Then, Falcon techs reconfigured the 'Mechs for use as missile batteries. The 'Mechs took positions in a plaza three blocks behind the Magistracy area where the two MechWarriors planned to duel. As soon as Ulric and the Wolf 'Mechs appeared, Chistu fed the hidden Falcon Stars telemetry on Ulric's position. Before the Wolves recognized Chistu's treachery, the hidden Falcon 'Mechs sent flights of LRM missiles at Ulric's Gargoyle, destroying the 'Mech and the adjacent Wolf 'Mechs. Then Chistu finished off the remaining Wolf 'Mechs.

MORGES

Furious at being forced to fight "a gang of dirty freebirths," Star Colonel Angeline Mattlov bid all the forces at her disposal: five front-line Clusters, five garrison Clusters, and even a solahma unit.

On the 13th  of December 3057, the Jade Falcons dropped onto Morges, into the teeth of Khan Phelan's fortified and entrenched combined-arms forces. The frozen landscape of Icegrief Pass became the first of many battlegrounds in a conflict that would decide the fate of Clans Wolf and Jade Falcon.

The Kell Hounds pounded the Falcons at Icegrief Pass, thanks to a concerted effort by the mercenaries that cost the Falcons the entire 4th Talon Cluster. During the savage fighting, several Falcon Mechwarriors ejected from their 'Mechs, only to be caught in a barrage of laser fire from their Inner Sphere opponents. Once again, the Hounds showed the Jade Falcons the folly of underestimating the MechWarriors of the Inner Sphere.

Broken Hope, Morges. After their defeat at Icegrief Pass, the Jade Falcons fought all the harder against their Wolf Clan enemies. After several long days of conflict, the concerted effort of the 4th Falcon Velites, the 89th Striker cluster, and the Peregrine Eyrie Cluster drove the Wolves' 279th and 16th Battle Clusters from their positions at Carson Rift. Intent on obliterating the Wolf forces, the Falcons had configured their 'Mechs to use ballistic instead of energy weapons for maximum destructive effect; this decision gave the Wolf forces one chance to turn the tables.

The beleaguered Wolf 'Mechs slowly pulled back through the raging blizzard to their second-line defensive positions. As they did so, they forced the Falcons to expend as much ammunition as possible so that they would have to resupply from their landing base at Broken Hope. When the Kell Hounds intercepted Star Colonel Angeline Mattlov's order to form a resupply convoy between Broken Hope and Carson Rift, Khan Phelan and his 4th Wolf Guards swung into action. They raced to take Broken Hope and cut off the Falcons' resupply line, thereby leaving the Falcon units easy targets for the rest of the Wolf Clan forces. Only a single garrison Cluster from Peregrine Galaxy stood in their way.

The Wolf assault on Broken Hope caught the Jade Falcon defenders by surprise. Although they fought well, the second-line Falcon garrison troops proved no match for the Wolf attackers. As soon as the garrison commander realized this, he called Star Colonel Mattlov for reinforcements.

The Star Colonel dispatched the Falcon Velites and 4th Striker Clusters to relieve the garrison then ordered the rest of her troops to pull back from their current positions at Carson Rift and regroup at the Bay of Broken Hope, six kilometers away from the supply depot. Realizing that her forces would soon be outgunned, Angeline Mattlov had chosen to make her last stand on the shore of the icy bay. Mattlov knew the Wolves might drive the Falcons from Morges, but she was determined to make them pay a very high price for any victory.

Ten days of fighting in the frozen wastes of Australarctica had taken a heavy toll on both the Jade Falcons and the Wolves. Two Galaxies of Falcons had dropped onto the planet - five front-line Clusters and four garrison Clusters. Now only three front-line Clusters and two of the Falcons' garrison Clusters remained operational. Additionally, severe ammunition shortages had reduced the effectiveness of all Falcon combat units and left two of the Falcon Clusters operating at half their capability, but the fighting had significantly weakened the Wolf forces, also. Six Stars of 'Mechs had been destroyed or rendered inoperational, and three Elemental points had perished as well. The Kell Hounds had lost five BattleMech lances.

Despite their losses, both sides remained fully capable of destroying one another, and neither side could afford to pull out of the battle. The Falcon forces represented that Clan's only intact units remaining - and the Jade Falcons' only hope for destroying the Wolves on the battlefield. For the Wolves, the stakes were even higher. Khan Phelan's forces carried the genetic legacy of the Wolf Clan, and so a defeat could spell the permanent end of the Clan.

Both commanders realized that the fighting would leave one of the forces destroyed, and quite possibly both. For a brief period, an uneasy calm fell over the battlefield, as if both commanders were reluctant to resume the battle. Then the roar of aerospace fighters broke the stillness.

As the MechWarriors of Clan Wolf watched from their protected positions in the hills. Wolf aerospace fighters swarmed through the frigid air. Using missiles, lasers, and PPCs, the fighters unleashed a hellish rain of death down onto the Falcon foces. Flight after flight of Falcon aerospace fighters scrambled from their DropShips to defend the Falcon 'Mechs, but almost immediately they ran into waves of Kell Hound fighters. Within minutes, a tangled mass of fighters filled the skies over Broken Hope, twisting and turning amid the anrgy, stabbing beams of PPCs and lasers and the burning dots of tracers. As the Falcon fighters tried in vain to destroy the mercenary fighters, the Wolf aerospace wings continued their strafing runs, streaking over the Falcon command center then disappearing into the jagged hills, then returning to inflict further damage on their targets. Soon large clouds of steam, smoke, flame, and shrapnel filled the air, creating a black fog that obscured the Falcon positions. Open commlink channels crackled with the terse commands of aerospace pilots and the cries of wounded and dying MechWarriors.

When the last Falcon aerospace fighter fell from the sky, the Wolf fighters ceased their onslaught and Khan Phelan led the 'Mechs of the Wolves and Kell Hounds toward the Falcon positions. There they found a scene of overwhelming devastation. The twisted forms of blackened 'Mechs littered the ground, and small fires seemed to burn everywhere, attracting small groups of Falcon MechWarriors huddling against the cold.

It was ended. The Jade Falcons, who had come to Morges to destroy the Wolves, had themselves been destroyed. The brutal campaign called the Refusal War was over, and the Wolf Clan had triumphed.

Sources:
Map - Clan Wolf
Text - ROM-ComStar