#992
The sheer number of Clans does seem to have been a bit of an issue for the writers of Battletech, perhaps explaining why they ultimately wiped out so many of them during the WAr of Reaving rather than keep juggling so many of them. So this is something of a what-if of if the backstory of the Clans had included a continued winnowing of them over their history, leaving only 11 Clans by the time of Operation Revival - rather than the canonical 17.The Fallen Clans
"The Not-Named" (Clan Wolverine)Condemned for their rebellion against the Founder and alleged war crimes, the Clan is the only one that has been annihilated rather than absorbed by another Clan.
Clan WidowmakerA decade after the fall of the Not-Named, Clan Widowmaker were criticised for massacre of their own merchants, blaming Clan Wolf for 'stirring up' the civilians. The Grand Council disputed this and granted Clan Wolf the right to absorb the Widowmakers, a battle in which the IlKhan himself would die when a shot fired by Cal Jorgensson struck Kerensky's cockpit. Few Widowmaker warriors survived the absorption, although their bloodlines do endure.
Clan MongooseHaving made enemies of almost every other Clan, Clan Mongoose over-extended in 2868 and Clan Star Adder seized many colonies they had recently lost as Clan Mongoose was focused on another feud with Smoke Jaguar. Defeated by both Clans, Khan Walter Martindale turned to politics to try to stave off outside enemies only for the Grand Council to draw a line against such tactics. Clan Smoke Jaguar absorbed the Clan, expunging all the warriors and refusing to use their genetic legacies (although many were won from them by Clan Cloud Cobra).
Clan Fire MandrillOnly shortly after the Mongoose absorption, Kindraa Smythe-Jewel was indicted for dubious bidding practises both against Clan Coyote for omnimech technology and Clan Hells Horses for elemental technology. A limited absorption of the Kindraa was granted, with the Coyotes granted the right. When other Kindraa rallied to the support of Smythe-Jewel, the absorption was widened to the entire Clan and the Coyotes contracted the Hells Horses' forces alongside their own. While formally the Coyotes absorbed the Fire Mandrills, their resources and bloodlines were divided evenly with Clan Hell's Horses.
Clan BurrockIn the early30th century, evidence was discovered to show that Clan Burrock had been engaged in trade and even military cooperation with the Dark Caste almost since their founding. Clan Star Adder, who had uncovered the conspiracy were granted the right to absorb the Burrocks, which led to a three cornered war with Clan Blood Spirit whose hatred of the Burrocks led them to intervene. Ultimately, the impromptu alliance against the Blood Spirits led to many Burrocks accepting absorption and both their warriors and bloodlines were integrated, rather than being purged.
Clan Blood SpiritShattered by their defeat in the Burrock Absorption, the Blood Spirits attempted to consolidate and withdrew from many of their holdings to focus on core territories. While most of their civilians remained loyal a minority feared abandonment and mistakenly thought that the united Burrocks and Star Adders would launch a retributory campaign. When an appeal was made by an Arcadian enclave to Clan Ghost Bears, the Bears quietly launched a trial of possession for first one enclave followed by a succession of others, momentum growing until the shocked Blood Spirits were without the bulk of their Pentagon holdings. Citing a failure to protect their own people, Clan Ghost Bear called for absorption and were granted the right, storming the Blood Spirit of York in one of the most brutal battles of Clan history. The Blood Spirit warriors were almost wiped out and most of their bloodlines lapsed as Clan Ghost Bear predicted that maintaining them would simply transfer the previous Blood Spirit-Burrock feud to themselves and the Star Adders.
Clan Snow RavenIn 2984, Khan Liam Howell swore revenge on Clan Sea Fox for a humiliating defeat. Releasing a diamond shark into the wild, he engineered the near eradication of the sea fox. Startled but inspired, Khan Damon Clarke of Clan Sea Fox proposed to rename his Clan the Diamond Sharks, Outraged, Howell led the opposition but his involvement was uncovered and this drastically weakened opposition, even though Howell himself was almost immediately killed. After defeating Clan Snow Raven in a trial of refusal over the close vote against the name change, Sea Foxes (shortly renamed to Diamond Sharks) crushed the Snow Ravens in a series of battles, bringing them to financial ruin before eventually claiming the right to absorb the broken remains.
Clan Goliath ScorpionNever a particularly strong Clan, the Goliath Scorpions were heavily involved in preparing the Wolf Dragoons for their mission to investigate the Inner Sphere. This inadvertently exposed the Scorpions when Clan Wolf claimed a number of promising warriors, winning trials of possession that gutted the elite Heartvenom Cluster. This wasn't the first time the Wolves had taken advantage of the Scorpions' perceived debt to them from events during Operation Klondike, but it was the last. Clan Nova Cat, struck without warning and seized a number of rich enclaves before citing the Scorpion's disorder (dozens of senior warriors were absent on seeker quests) and use of necrosia as fundamantal weaknesses. The Goliath Scorpion's organized resistance when the Cats moved to absorption ended in weakness but it would be years before the last seekers were accounted for, during which they launched hit and run attacks on the Cats (something that left the Nova Cats surprisingly prepared to deal with the same tactics in the Inner Sphere)
Clan Ice HellionNever a particularly strong Clan, the Ice Hellions were infuriated that they had failed to win a place in Operation Revival and launched a succession of attacks on the other Clans to vent their bile and secure territory while larger Clans were otherwise involved. This backfired dramatically as it was argued that the Hellions had broken with the unity and attempted to undermine the invasion. With the Invading Clans unavailable, Clan Hells Horses won the right to absorb the Hellions in a campaign that was fought as the Invaders travelled to the Inner Sphere.
