performance but others berated him, saying that in capturing and using the enemy’s artillery, he
was becoming too much like the same enemy. These voices were the loudest, and instead of
receiving praise for his actions, he was demoted to Mechwarrior and put on probation. To
make matters worse for Devon, his Star was taken away from him and he was moved down to a
lighter mech, a Mist Lynx. These were hard lessons learned, but he still believed he was doing
the best for his Clan in using the tactics he chose.
It wasn’t long before his successes came on a more favorable light. As the years wore on, the
Nova Cat Khans began realizing that the true place for them and their Clan was protecting the
Inner Sphere, not destroying it. When secret talks began with the Draconis Combine, talks also
began with Devon.
He was summoned to the Khan’s flagship near the Combine border. There his actions on
Sawyer were once again brought up. The Khan’s believed that Devon’s use of the more flexible
Inner Sphere tactics were suitable for the occasion and showed that he had room to grow
beyond the mindset imposed by three hundred years of isolation. They also believed that he was
punished unjustly and instead should have been praised.
To show this, they began the arrangements to get him a slot in the next Bloodname slot. The slot
that turned up was the Carns name, the same name as saKhan Lucien Carns. He was
sponsored for the name and the Trial of Bloodright was held on the planet Hyner. There Devon
soundly defeated his opponent in his newly acquired Warhawk, in his preferred “C”
configuration. After receiving his Bloodname, he was promoted to Star Captain.
He was then stationed on Hyner as part of the garrison. After a short while on the garrison, the
Inner Sphere’s Operation Bulldog rolled through. At the conclusion of the operation, Clan
Smoke Jaguar was destroyed and both Nova Cat Khans were dead. New Khans were elected
and the Clan began to integrate into their new society, the Draconis Combine.
The forces that Devon once killed were now his allies. As the Clan continued to join the
Combine, the Khans came up with a plan to help prepare their Clan more fully for life in the
Inner Sphere. They would start by sending one Mechwarrior out in the Inner Sphere to join a
mercenary team. That warrior would fight with them, learn from them, and if necessary, die with
them. After a time, more troops would be sent to the mercenary team to bolster its strength and
train the young Clan members in Inner Sphere tactics. Also, sufficient supplies of ammo and
armaments would be sent along with an Invader class Jumpship, a valuable prize, for use by the
mercenary team that hired the warrior.
As soon as this concept was thought up, the perfect warrior was obvious. Devon was sent to
the small mercenary group “Strider’s Strikers”. This team was a small force and he immediately
set about creating a name for himself within the group. Soon the others came to accept him as a
member.
His social skills are less than some of the other more charismatic team members. However they
know they can rely on him for his devastatingly accurate long range fire. Throughout the many
battles he fought alongside the Strikers, he slowly improved his combat effectiveness and learned
many lessons from his teammates, especially from the grizzled mercenary leader, Mike Strider
himself.
The team finally met its match when a large strike force of Word of Blake Mechs was sent to
remove the Strikers from their base planet. After taking heavy losses the Strikers finally got a
rest. During this time they packed up as much of their equipment on their two Dropships and
headed to their Jumpship. En route, enemy fighters harassed them, but the mercenary’s fighters
held them at bay and they were able to jump. The team has been jumping from system to
system, trying to outrun the dogged pursuit by the Word of Blake forces, but they will have to
stop for resupply soon.
Only time will tell what is in store for Devon Carns and the Strider’s Strikers.
