Raven Alliance

It has been suggested that this article needs to be updated with additional information from sources (For sources under moratorium, please wait until the moratorium period has ended two months after publication). Please update this article using the following sources: The Wars of Reaving, Handbook: Major Periphery States, The Space Cowboys From Quatre Belle, Jihad: Final Reckoning, Fortress Republic (novel), ilKhan's Eyes Only

Raven Alliance
State Profile
Founding Year	3083[1]
Capital world:	Mackennopolis, Alpheratz
Controlled system(s):	41 (3130)
Official Currency	Raven-Escudo[2]
Official Language(s)	English (official), Japanese, French
Government
Head of State	Khan[3]
Military
Army	Clan Snow Raven touman Alliance Military Corps (AMC)
Military Intelligence	Clan Snow Raven Watch Outworlds Alliance Intelligence

The Raven Alliance represents the union of the Outworlds Alliance and the Machiavellian Clan Snow Raven.

History[edit]

Founding[edit]

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In the late 3060s, Clan Snow Raven would begin to see how little they would gain from staying in the Clan Homeworlds. As a result, they would depart from Clan Space permanently. While traveling to the Inner Sphere they would engage in a Trial of Possession against the Outworlds Alliance for their JumpShip, which they lost against. Despite their loss, the Ravens would gain the respect and friendship of the Outworlds Alliance and work together to create the Corax OmniFighter. While the Outworlds Alliance stayed in isolation during the Jihad Era, the Ravens had to face war on two different fronts from both Inner Sphere and Clan forces. With the former, they would fight against the Draconis Combine in revenge for destroying one of their WarShips and the latter being their hated foes of the Steel Viper Clan as a way to purify the Clan Homeworlds from those who have been deemed "tainted" by the Inner Sphere. After Clan Snow Raven lost their holdings and was abjured from Clan Space during the Wars of Reaving, they would seek refuge with their allies in the Outworlds Alliance. Seeing the similarities and benefits between the two factions, they formed a fruitful relationship that would result in the merging of the Raven Alliance after the Jihad ended.^{[citation needed]}

Republic Era[edit]

The Ravens and the Draconis Combine continued operations against each other, with several worlds trading hands^[4] prior to the turn of the century, when a tentative peace punctuated by only minor raids and skirmishes developed. With it's Inner Sphere neighbours uninterested in invading and the other Clans too far away for conflict to be practical, the Alliance enjoyed several decades of peace. In 3105 the Ravens pushed through a package of reforms that elevated their Khan above the Outworlder's President, effectively seizing control of the Alliance. ^[3] The Ravens remained largely hands off when it came to civilian affairs, even allowing the more troublesome member worlds of the Alliance to secede.^[5]

Dark Age[edit]

In 3135 President Hugo Avellar committed suicide, with his younger son Christián Avellar being selected to replace him.^[6] Also in that year the Alliance began reactivating its fleet, alarming its neighbours. Khan Sterling McKenna's romantic relationship with First Prince Harrison Davion caused many to believe at the time that the Combine would be the target of any Raven aggression. After Harrison's death McKenna entered into a relationship with his son Caleb, maintaining the de-facto alliance. As fighting escalated between the Suns and the Combine over the 3140s the Alliance reinforced its borders with both powers.^[3]

In 3144 Caleb Davion planned an invasion of the Draconis Combine. At his request Khan McKenna pledged to dispatch the Alliance's naval forces to join Operation MANDRAGORA at Palmyra, where AFFS forces were mustering. Alliance forces never arrived: instead, Palmyra was subject to a surprise attack by the DCMS and the Federated Suns task force all but wiped out. ^[7]A month after the disaster, Raven forces seized the Federated Suns worlds of Haynesville, Diboll and Inner End. Days after the Ravens turned on their former allies, the Combine ceded Zalaf, Sinope and Bad News to the Alliance without a fight.^[8] The combination of the sudden realignment in international relations and the Combine's apparent inside knowledge of Davion's plans led many to suspect that a Raven betrayal was the unseen cause of the Palmyra Disaster^[7][9].

In 3145 the Ravens continued operations against the Suns, caputring Kirbyville, Sterlington and Hazelhurst, but surprisingly began raiding the Combine's Kaznejov Prefecture as well.^[8][10][11] The Alliance found occupying their gains from the Draconis Combine and Federated Suns difficult. Faced with insurgencies, work stoppages and protests the touman resorted to massacre, forced relocations and the threat of orbital bombardment.^[12]

ilClan Era[edit]

The Alliance's Khans, as members of the Council of Six, were invited to Terra in the aftermath of the ilClan Trial.^[13] The Ravens affirmed Alaric Ward as ilKhan, subordinating the Alliance to the new Star League.^[14]

Politics[edit]

The Alliance is a parliamentary confederacy with warrior caste stylings.^{[citation needed]}

The President of the Outworlds Alliance and the Khan of Snow Raven were theoretically equals when the Alliance was founded in 3083, but unlike the Rasalhague Dominion, the Raven Alliance is an unequal partnership, with the balance of power tilted towards the Ravens. De facto Clan dominance over the Outworlders was legitimized in 3105, when the Ravens managed to restructure the alliance to raise the Khanship above the Presidency. The average Outworlder is seemingly apathetic to Raven control, with less than 35% of the population bothering to vote on the Alliance's founding and few protesting the increasing subordination of their traditional authorities.^[3]

Military[edit]

The Raven Alliance military is split into two forces. The Clan Snow Raven Touman serves as the main force, while the rebranded Alliance Militia Corps combats piracy, performs what the Clans would consider to be Solahma duty and acts as the nations de-facto reserves. The Alliance's main weakness is numbers, with the Touman and AMC largely unable to expand beyond their present size due to a dearth of willing recruits in a historically pacifist nation.^[15][12] The Touman answers to the Khan, while the AMC is commanded by the President.^[16]

The Raven Alliance maintains the largest WarShip fleet in the Inner Sphere and one of three functioning yards capable of their manufacture or maintenance.^[17] Due to a lack of personnel, however, most of the Alliance's fleet was not reactivated until 3145, and most berths in their shipyards had been mothballed.^[15] Reactivating the navy put the Alliance under considerable strain and deepened it's dependence on AMC troops.^[12]

Economy[edit]

In the aftermath of the Jihad, the Alliance benefited greatly from an influx of Clan resources. The majority of the population was not subject to Clan economic systems, which tend to result in disaster when enforced on Inner Sphere worlds. The influx of Raven JumpShips meant the Alliance enjoyed more docking collars per capita than is typical in the Inner Sphere, enabling greater than average trade volumes.^[18] The Alliance however struggles to integrate its Clan and Outworlder populations. The Alliance essentially has two separate economies within its borders, and due to not participating in the Clan system, most Outworlders lack the currency needed to buy from Raven merchants. The result is that Clan enclaves are shining beacons of modernity while adjacent Outworlder cities often still experience conditions akin to the Third Succession War.^[15]

Manufacturing Centers[edit]

Alliance manufacturers have been slow to expand due to difficulty accessing capital. Decline in military procurement since the end of the Jihad means that many facilities are operating below capacity or have been partially mothballed. Raven manufacturers are in better shape than Outworlder corporations (due in part to the Outworlders unwillingness to force civilians to work as indentured labour), but Outworlder manufacturing dwarfs the Ravens in terms of output.^[15]

Culture & Society[edit]

The Alliance maintains two separate legal systems. Clan law applies in Snow Raven enclaves, while the legal system of the Outworlds Alliance applies outside of them. This sometimes causes confusion when Snow Raven or Outworlder citizens move between zones, as even decades after the nations founding, many are unaware of how the legal systems differ. In the early years of the Alliance illegal immigration between the enclaves and Outworlder settlements was widespread, but it has since been brought under control, with legal avenues of changing one's affiliation available in limited and highly regulated amounts.^[19]

Maps[edit]

• 

  The Raven Alliance in 3130^[20]

References[edit]

Bibliography[edit]