View source for Dragoon Compromise

The '''Dragoon Compromise''' was a response proposed by [[Clan Wolf]] in reaction to the growing agitation by certain elements of [[Clan]] society to invade the [[Inner Sphere]].<ref name=WCSp24,25>''Wolf Clan Sourcebook'', pp. 24–25: "Dragoon Compromise"</ref><ref name=TC:WoKp17>''The Clans: Warriors of Kerensky'', p. 17: "The Compromise"</ref>

== History: The Great Debate ==
After the [[Operation Exodus|Exodus]] and subsequent founding of the Clans, the words of [[Aleksandr Kerensky|Aleksandr]] and [[Nicholas Kerensky]] began to take on religious significance to those who had followed them into exile.  Of primary importance was Aleksandr Kerensky's [[Hidden Hope Doctrine]], which set forth the goals of the [[Star League-in-Exile]].  Of no less importance were the words of his son, [[Nicholas Kerensky]], passages that promised his faithful followers that after three generations, the Clans would be able to return to the Inner Sphere to reestablish the Star League, guiding mankind out of darkness and civil war.<ref name=TC:WoKp16>''The Clans: Warriors of Kerensky'', p. 16: "The Drive to War"</ref><ref name=FM:CCp25>''Field Manual: Crusader Clans'', p. 25: "The Call to Invade"</ref>

These words would only gain more reverence as time went by.  Since the middle decades of the [[thirtieth century]], a debate about the import of the words of the Great Founders began to gain traction among the warriors of the Clans and the lower castes.  Starting as a fringe movement but gaining popularity with time, a faction calling itself the [[Crusader Clans|Crusaders]] began demanding that the Clans make preparations to conquer the Inner Sphere and fulfill what they felt were the dreams of the Great Kerenskys.<ref name=WCSp24,25/><ref name=TC:WoKp17/>

A faction that took a different interpretation of these same writings also began to form.  Calling themselves [[Warden]]s, these warriors felt that the Great Kerenskys never meant for their words to be taken quite so literally.   They felt that a role of protection and guidance of the wayward people of the former Star League was what the Founders desired of the Clans.  When pressed to define what they were to protect the Inner Sphere from, the Wardens were unable to come up with an answer that was satisfactory to the Crusaders.  But they still held to their premise that conquest of the peoples of the former Star League was not what the Kerenskys had intended.<ref name=WCSp24,25/><ref name=TC:WoKp17/><ref name=TC:WoKp16/>

This debate would rage on for many years, manifesting in several different incidents amongst the Clans.  Clan Coyote's [[Blood Scandal]] was an extreme example of the divisiveness of this debate,<ref>''Field Manual: Warden Clans'', pp. 42–43: "The Blood Scandal"</ref> as were the feuds between [[Clan Wolf]] and Clans [[Clan Jade Falcon|Jade Falcon]] and [[Smoke Jaguar]].<ref name=WCSp24,25/>  Throughout the Clans, events such as these would help to define the period that came to be known as the [[Political Century]].

== The Debate Heats Up ==
In [[3000]], the debate between the Wardens and Crusaders advanced to the next level.  [[Clan Ghost Bear]] Khan [[Nadia Winson]], formerly of Clan Wolf, took the debate to the [[Grand Council]], demanding a vote of approval to begin preparations to invade the [[Inner Sphere]] in order to fulfill the Crusader interpretation of the words of the Great Kerenskys.<ref name=TC:WoKp17/>

Clan Wolf [[Khan]] [[Kerlin Ward]] argued that the Clans were about to take a leap into an unknown situation with little reliable intelligence at the urging of the leading Crusader Clans [[Smoke Jaguar]], [[Clan Jade Falcon|Jade Falcon]], and Clan [[Ghost Bear]].<ref name=FM:CCp25/>  He proposed that the Clans send a unit comprised of mostly [[freeborn]] warriors to the Inner Sphere disguised as mercenaries. Over several years, the unit would tour the Inner Sphere by hiring themselves to each of the [[Great House]]s in a circuit, gathering intelligence by fighting with and against each one in turn.  This plan was approved by the Grand Council, with Clan Wolf placed in charge of gathering the unit, despite complaints from several Crusader Clan Khans, particularly [[Yvonne Hazen]] of the Jade Falcons.<ref name=TC:WoKp17/><ref>''Jade Falcon Sourcebook'', p. 18: "The Compromise"</ref><ref>''Mercenary's Handbook 3055'', p. 25</ref> [[Clan Smoke Jaguar]] also protested, going so far as to engage in a [[Trial of Refusal]]. The Jaguars were defeated, souring relations between them and Clan Wolf.<ref>''Invading Clans'', p. 52</ref>  After a process that took well over a year, the new unit was finally formed.  Led by freeborn warriors [[Jaime Wolf|Jaime]] and [[Joshua Wolf]], several [[trueborn]] warriors such as ''[[ristar]]'' [[Natasha Kerensky]] also signed up for this important task.<ref name=WCSp24,25/>  In a deal brokered between the Khan and his new unit commanders, if successful, Clan Wolf would create the new [[Bloodname]] Wolf in honor of their hardships and achievements while conducting their mission.<ref name=BLc7>''Blood Legacy'', ch. 7</ref>

[[Image:Wdragoons.gif|right|thumb|200px|Emblem of Wolf's Dragoons]]

== The Forging of Wolf's Dragoons ==
[[Clan Goliath Scorpion]] [[saKhan]] [[Ren Posavatz]] would offer a ''[[batchall]]'' to the Wolves, asking for the right to help train the [[Wolf's Dragoons|new unit]].  [[Clan Star Adder]] Khan [[Gerrik N'Buta]], who also recognized the prudence of such a mission would offer the expertise and manpower of his Clan as well, though this was politely declined.<ref>''Field Manual: Crusader Clans'', p. 113: "Change in the Wind"</ref>  Khan Ward, who was not overly surprised by the Goliath Scorpion offer, accepted the ''batchall'' and training soon began.  The newly formed Wolf's Dragoons were tested over more than two years against the Scorpion [[Star Colonel]] [[Vlad Dinour]] and his elite [[1st Cateran (Clan Goliath Scorpion)|Heartvenom Cluster]], learning pre-[[Operation EXODUS|Exodus]] tactics in order to blend in easier with Inner Sphere fighting styles.  Though several Crusader Clans protested the techniques being taught the Dragoons, Star Colonel [[Kari Baba]] defended the training program, citing the Star League's use of such tactics. Once this training was complete in [[3004]], the Dragoons were approved to travel to their destination, joined by a few volunteers from the Goliath Scorpions, who would return to their [[Clan]] after the Dragoons' first resupply run back to the [[Clan Homeworlds]] in [[3009]].<ref>''Field Manual: Warden Clans'', p. 106: "Seeking the Past"</ref>

== Impact and Legacy ==
Though the Dragoons would perform their primary task at an outstanding level of efficient diligence, the focus of their mission was altered significantly during their resupply run in [[3019]], after the death of Joshua Wolf during the [[Marik Civil War (31st c.)|Marik Civil War]].  Khan Ward realized that an invasion was highly likely, though still distant time-wise.  In a maverick move against the increasingly antagonistic Crusaders, he would order Wolf's Dragoons to secretly begin preparing the armies of the Great Houses for the coming invasion, swearing them to follow the orders of no other Khan except for him.<ref name=BLc7 />

By the time of [[Operation REVIVAL]] in [[3050]], the Inner Sphere was still surprised by the [[Clan]] juggernaut, regardless of the clandestine preparations.  After the death of [[ilKhan]] [[Leo Showers]], the Dragoons would invite all major Inner Sphere leaders to their base on [[Outreach]], disclosing their own origins, and offering technologies to help bring the rest of the Inner Sphere closer to parity with the tech levels of the Clan invaders.  The leaders of the Great Houses learned what it would take to defeat the Clans on the battlefield, led by the Dragoons who would also take the fight to their former brethren. In time, the Inner Sphere would be on the road to reaching and even surpassing the Clans in technology, though the struggle would still be far from over.<ref>''Blood Legacy'', ch. 1</ref><ref>''Era Report: 3052'', p. 40: "Wolf's Dragoons"</ref>

Centuries later, Wolf's Dragoons fought alongside [[Clan Wolf-in-Exile]] and [[Clan Wolf]] during the [[ilClan Trial]] against Clan Jade Falcon, but when they were to crush the Falcons, Alaric Ward ordered the Dragoons to retreat and leave the Wolves to finish off the Falcons. They had to comply, but suffered terrible losses in the process. After the Trial was over, General [[Thomas Brubaker]] asked the new ilKhan why he wanted them to retreat. Ward's response was that the battle was for true Wolf warriors instead of mercenaries. IlKhan Ward did acknowledge that the Dragoons were of Clan origin, but he also wished to punish them for their role in the Dragoon Compromise long ago. He added insult to injury refusing to accept them into Clan Wolf and paying them for ''their services'' with thirty silver coins, the payment for traitors.<ref>''Hour of the Wolf'', p. 359</ref>

==References==
<references/>

==Bibliography==
{{div col|colwidth=25em}}
* ''[[Blood Legacy]]''
* ''[[The Clans: Warriors of Kerensky]]''
* ''[[Era Report: 3052]]''
* ''[[Field Manual: Crusader Clans]]''
* ''[[Field Manual: Warden Clans]]''
* ''[[Invading Clans (sourcebook)|Invading Clans]]''
* ''[[Jade Falcon Sourcebook]]''
* ''[[Mercenary's Handbook 3055]]''
* ''[[Wolf Clan Sourcebook]]''
{{div col end}}

[[Category:Political Events]]