Minnesota Tribe - Unit History
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Information
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& 331st
BattleMech Division.
E-Mail for that site can be sent to Christopher
T. Merkel.
The following are collected accounts from ComStar and the Draconis Combine, tapes and official histories from the Clans, and folklore from the Periphery which give information about the Minnesota Tribe.
Combined summary, ComStar
Primus Toyama seemed to hold the Inner Sphere firmly in his grasp when a threat to his dreams suddenly appeared from beyond the Periphery. The attack of the Minnesota tribe on the Combine worlds of Svelvika and Trondheim in 2825 shook ComStar as much as the Draconis Combine. Proceedings of the First Circuit indicate that Toyama believed the attack was the vanguard of Kerensky's return with the Star League Army, a belief supported by reports that this unknown military unit possessed brand-new BattleMechs and used combat tactics similar to those of the SLDF. If the self-exiled Star League troops had returned, it would spell an end to the prophesy of Blake and the future of ComStar.
The First Circuit responded by dispatching a dozen diplomatic envoy vessels to the Periphery area surrounding the Combine. These ships were charged with the mission of establishing and opening diplomatic relations with the mysterious Minnesota Tribe. For four months the JumpShips scoured the stars searching for some trace of the unit. They were able to follow the trail of the mysterious attackers into the deep Periphery toward the Federated Suns, but then all trace seemed to disappear near Valentina. Subsequent investigations by ROM failed to uncover further information on the attackers.
Who Were Those Masked Men?
From a summary report to the First Circuit by ROM Precentor Emilio Travis,
Minnesota Tribe Investigations, Archive File 222-802, ComStar Archives
Of great interest was the MechWarrior's uniform. The coolant suit was an enhanced version of an SLDF prototype that had yet to reach production when Kerensky's Exodus jumped from the Inner Sphere. Naturally, our agent sabotaged the suit so that its design would not fall into Combine hands. Though the warrior carried no personal effects, his suit displayed two interesting patches. One was the outline of the former North American state of Minnesota, with the numbers "331" faintly stitched on it. Our archives indicate that the number and the symbol are similar to those used by the SLDF's 331st Royal BattleMech Division (The North American Division) that left the Inner Sphere with General Kerensky. The resemblance is strong but the symbols are not identical, indicating that the patch was new rather than an old one reworked.
The second patch was also revealing. It depicted a Terran Wolverine, white in color, with bloodied fangs. Our searches have revealed no correlation or connection to the designation of any known military unit meaning that it is new or reorganized unit.
We conclude that this unit is indeed a surviving element of Kerensky's Exodus. Though we cannot substantiate this with physical evidence, the above items recovered point to a strong connection with the Exodus fleet. It can also be assumed that this unit has an existing technological and manufacturing base. Unfortunately, it has been impossible to determine either the current location or the destination of these raiders.
Psychic Revelations?
Excerpt from I Want To Believe, by Piper Anderson
Tharkad Press, June 3056
The majority of investigations cite the fact that Sims could not possibly known the existence of the Clans in 2969, and so extrapolate that she must have possessed some sort of supernatural insight. Many so-called researchers, however fail to note that the Clans were founded in the early 2800's--- some 150 years before Sims's visions began. In fact, a number of people have suggested that covert contact between the Clans and the Inner Sphere---similar to modern contact between the Successor States and Wolf's Dragoons---allowed limited knowledge of the Clans' existence to pass into the Inner Sphere long before the invasion. Though no conclusive evidence of such contact exists, early intelligence on the fate of Kerensky's fleet seems well within the realm of possibility.
Another, more colorful theory about Sims's visions centers around the so-called Not Named Clan---Clan Wolverine. One of the twenty original clans, Clan Wolverine advocated certain unClanlike principles, such as free choice and democracy, which put them out of step with Nicholas Kerensky's vision. The tension those ideas caused between Wolverine and the other Clans erupted into a direct confrontation in 2823, shortly after the ruling Grand Council denied the Clan Wolverine's claim to a Brian Cache. When Wolverine failed in its attempt to overturn the council decision in a Trial of Refusal, Wolverine Khan Sarah McEvedy denounced Nicholas Kerensky as a power-hungry madman, which prompted Kerensky to call for a Trial of Grievance against McEvedy. Before the Grand Council could vote on the matter, however, Clan Wolverine declared its independence from the Clans and underscored their disdain for Kerensky by destroying one of the Clans' eugenics laboratories with a tactical nuclear weapon. In response, the Clans set out to annihilate the renegade Wolverines.
Though many respected historians believe that no Wolverines survived the Clan death sentence, rumors persist of some escaping from Clan space. Some individuals suggest that Wolverine survivors may have fled deeper into the Periphery or possibly came back to the Inner Sphere (which would provide a satisfactory explanation of the Minnesota Tribe incident in 2825). According to conspiracy theorists, these survivors then infiltrated ComStar and set in machinations to trigger hostilities between their two primary foes---the Great Houses of the Inner Sphere and their fellow Clans---in the hope that their enemies would destroy one another. One theory that suggests Sims, among others, was a descendant whose "visions" were actually a calculated attempt to formant hostilities between the Great Houses and the Clans. Other variations on this theory suggest that Clan Wolverine somehow subverted a faction within ComStar, which in turn manipulated Sims or simply orchestrated an elaborate campaign of disinformation to create and spread the story of the "visions."
While many people may find conspiracy theories more plausible that the existence of psychic powers to explain Sims's visions, no real evidence exists to support either explanation.
The Dragon's Investigations
Excerpt from the Official Findings on the Minnesota Tribe
Sho-sa Tetsumo Hohiro, Lead Investigator
August 2825, DCMS Publishing
What intrigued Jinjiro most in the reports of this unknown unit were that their impeccably maintained 'Mechs were freshly painted in Regular Army colors. It was Zabu who first noticed that the regimental patch was an outline of Minnesota, a geo-political domain in the North American region of Terra. What Jinjiro also learned from reports was that the regiment was apparently escorting a fleet of cargo, commercial, and liner JumpShips. This fleet, with their escorts, apparently had some definite destination and was using uninhabited star systems to reach it at a steady pace.
The mystery group, by now known as the Minnesota Tribe, next attacked Trondheim. Because it was a prefecture capital, the 20th Rasalhague Regulars were stationed there. The ensuring battle was striking for the way the mystery 'Mechs dealt with the Kurita 'Mechs in strict Regular Army formations and tactics. Once again, the mystery group refused all attempts at communication, to the point that pilots of destroyed Tribe 'Mechs killed themselves to avoid capture. The mystery fleet then jumped from the system, apparently headed for some uninhabited star system near Trondheim.
By now, the Kuritans believed that the Minnesota Tribe had to be a Regular Army unit, though they were not listed in any Regular Army order of battle. The possibility that the Minnesota Tribe might be an advance scout group raised the specter of the return of a very angry General Kerensky or his successor.
This made Jinjiro decidedly nervous. With much trepidation, he ordered the Rasalhague and Pesht districts to the highest state of alert. He also moved troops within these districts forward to the Periphery borders.
Meanwhile, the Minnesota Tribe struck Jarett, again taking what they needed before moving on. This time the Tribe thwarted efforts to stop them when a large group of their AeroSpace Fighters intercepted and kept two battalions of Kurita 'Mechs out of the battle.
While House Kurita's attention was turned toward the Minnesota Tribe, the Lyran Commonwealth military took the Combine completely by surprise with a lighting raid on the Draconis Combine. What prompted the raid was the Combine's earlier capture of the Commonwealth freighter named the Chahar Profit. A grain ship destined for the starving population of the Steiner world of Chandler, the ship made a mis-jump that put it above Darius and under the guns of Kurita fighters.
To win back the freighter and to rescue its crew, Archon Marcus of the Lyran Commonwealth brought together the remaining members of the famed Stealth 'Mech regiment. With all of house Kurita's attention diverted toward the Periphery, the Stealth rescue mission worked like a charm, much to the embarrassment of the DCMS.
The Minnesota Tribe made one last attack against an inhabited Kurita world. About a week after the Steiner forces succeeded in rescuing the Chahar Profit, the Minnesota Tribe regiment hit the Kurita world of Richmond with a vengeance. Though it was inconceivable that the tribe could have known about the large prison and slave camps on the planet, their 'Mechs went straight for them. After easily overpowering the guards, they were soon freeing the many thousands of prisoners. Several DropShips then landed in the midst of the prison complexes to load up and transport all the freed prisoners off-world before the Kurita 'Mechs could arrive on the scene. Though no one realized it for quite awhile, the liberation of the prisoners and Unproductive on Richmond was the last time the Minnesota Tribe was seen in the Inner Sphere.
Both the Minnesota Tribe and the debacle of the Chahar Profit rescue took a heavy toll on the Kuritans' ability to control the thinking of their people. Though the government did its best to suppress accounts of the Minnesota Tribe, stories did spread, particularly through the lower classes. Like a vision of avenging angles, the Tribe had swept down to free political prisoners and members of the lower class. The fact that everyone believed they were a Regular Army unit only added to their aura of offering divine assistance to the righteous and the poor.
These stories soon combined with accounts of the Commonwealth's rescue of the Chahar Profit. Like a slow virus, the dogma that the Draconis Combine was destined to rule the Inner Sphere began to show signs of erosion from within.