Rasmussen Elite
| Rasmussen Elite | |
|---|---|
| State Profile | |
| Controlled system(s): | 0 |
| Government | |
| Head of State | Gustav Kran[1] |
| Military | |
The Rasmussen Elite was one of the Pentagon Powers, a collection of warlord states living in the ruins of the Star League in Exile. The Elite occupied a portion of Circe's northern habitable zone.[2]
History
The Rasmussen Elite were a strange mix of warriors from the Lyran Commonwealth, Draconis Combine and Terran Hegemony. The Elite described themselves as a "thugocracy". They offered the peasantry in their territory protection from other warlords, but in return the Elite's warriors would take and do whatever they wanted. Warriors would settle amongst themselves with duels, frequently to the death.[2] This dueling culture prompted Nicholas Kerensky to dub the Elite the Clans "Shadow Brothers", a warrior society corrupted by instead of improved by its pursuit of a martial ideal.[3]
Clan Wolverine was assigned to conquer the Elite. Initially the campaign was bloody, with the Wolverines taking several losses. The dueling culture of the Elite had produced warriors of similar ability to that of the clans, making them a serious danger in one on one or small unit clashes. However, the Elite struggled to coordinate with each other and were often let down by their equipment. Once this was realized, the Wolverines began using their superior coordination against them, and the Elite were quickly reduced to a minor irritant. Furious at the Wolverines treating them as irrelevant, the Elite massed for a final battle. Against the Wolverines cooperative tactics, the Elite's attack was defeated in a mere 16 minutes, with only five Elite warriors surviving to be taken prisoner.[2]
The Elite's most prominent legacy was that they demonstrated to the Wolverines the folly of fighting of individuals instead of as a unit, a lesson which alienated them from the more honorable form of combat the other clans would eventually be instructed to adopt. After Clan Wolverine was Annihilated and the Clan Snow Raven capital of Dehra Dun was destroyed by a nuclear weapon, most records of the Elite were lost other than an account penned by Kurt Mankell.