Clan Fire Mandrill

The destruction of Clan Fire Mandrill came as a surprise to nobody. Their own fractious nature combined with the efforts of some Clans during the Wars of Reaving all but guaranteed it by late 3070. The lower caste population was already being whisked away starting in 3069 by the Wolverine Union, with various sub-sects of the leading Kindraas warriors also taking part in this exodus under false pretense. Two warships, the CFM Rage and CFM FIretender made the trip to the Union territory as well, carrying large numbers of warriors, albeit with very limited equipment. Given 3 planets to settle by the Republic (as with all new members of the Union), the Fire Mandrills were not sure what the future would hold for them.

Clan Fire Mandrill’s History in the Union

Resettling and early issues

The Fire Mandrills resettled on the 3 worlds given to them, creating small enclaves based around their Kindraas. The distrust between the fractured sub-factions was a concern to The Wolverines at first, and The Burrocks warned the Republic that this would cause the Fire Mandrill to not pull their weight. With a crippled military already, the Kindraas quickly started challenging each other to Trials of Possession over scraps and spare parts, further weakening them. The Iron Womb networks built for the Fire Mandrills also became central to their fights, as each Kindraa tried capturing as much “new blood”. The fact they did not have the support network to allow for the training of a new vatgrown population did not even come into the consideration of the Kindraa leaders. By 3081, the 3 Mandrill worlds could only be described as in a state of civil war, with no end in sight.

The Prime Minister Cometh

The Wolverines were okay with the Mandrills playing out their fantasies, but the Republic was not ready to see their investment go up in flame. Sending 6 full regiments of BattleMechs, the Republic landed on each Mandrill controlled world in 3082. While poorly trained by Clan standard, those soldiers were better equipped and organized than anything the Mandrill could throw at them. Forcing all the Kindraas together at a negotiating table, Brigadier-General Conrad Amaris announced he would be taking control of the Clan provisionally as Prime Minister.

A junior member of the Amaris family, Conrad was not yet affected by the Kerensky’s Curse when he took office, also having the Mandrills vote on a new Khan and saKhan. Kindraa Newton was given full authority and control over the Mandrill’s Watch, having been one of the rare bloodhouse to have willingly supported the Prime Minister. So began the reorganization of the Fire Mandrills.

One of the first edicts of the Prime Minister’s Office was to limit all forms of Trials to the bare minimum and requiring an official from the PMO to stand watch over it. This was followed with the “liberalization” of the Clan’s economy and civilian infrastructure. No longer would any of the lower castes be directly reporting to a Kindraa, with them now reporting to the Prime Minister’s Office. The PMO established several new ministries and departments to better organize the Clan.

Acceptance of the new status quo

While hardliners in the Kindraas challenged Conrad Amaris, the military might he also brought to the table prevented open revolts. The new departments controlled by the PMO made the general population of the Clan extremely favorable to Conrad Amaris, who made sure Khan Feyd Kline looked like he oversaw more important decisions. Over the course of 5 years, the Fire Mandrills went from almost destroying each other to a semi-successful member state of the Union. Conrad Amaris’s health declined in that period, Kerensky’s Curse hitting him later in life than others but still causing massive physical decline.

Kindraa Beyl-Grant hardliners took this as an opportunity to oust the Prime Minister, issuing a Trial against him, but Kindraa Sainze’s leader replied by mobilizing his own forces in support of the Republican military. The situation was defused without anybody losing their lives, with all damage done being charged to the Beyl-Grant’s.

Future generation

Conrad Amaris died of the Curse in 3104. While the original plan was for the Republican forces to pull off the Mandrills’ worlds after his passing, Khan Feyd Kline requested a new member of House Amaris be dispatched to take his place. A junior member of the family, Stacey Amaris, was sent to take over the position and train as a military commander. Stacey was not as popular as Conrad had been, but she kept the existing programs going while also mediating issues between the Kindraa leaders.

In 3113, Feyd Kline passed away in his sleep. He was replaced by Cornell Sainze, who started further integration of the Clan leadership and Prime Minister’s Office. A few of the ministries had their leadership replaced with bloodnamed warriors who swore allegiance to the PMO above their own Kindraa. Stacey Amaris’s health started declining around that time, but Fire Mandrill scientists began working on alleviating remedies for the Kerensky’s Curse.

Modern generation

With Stacey Amaris’s death in 3142, she was replaced by Carolyne Amaris’s younger brother, Olivander Amaris. Olivander had trained for that position from his Quinceanera and took the position with pride. His close association with Khan Renee Smythe allowed him to prepare the Mandrills for the upcoming strikes against the Inner Sphere. Taking the position in 3143, Renee Smythe planned wargames with Foxtrot Whitfield to improve the combat readiness of her troops, while also coordinating training with the Kindraa Amaris’s regiments. Integration of bioroid weaponry in the Fire Mandrill was slow, but specialized commands have been created to allow their usage.

By 3153, Olivander Amaris and Renee Smythe had bid successfully to take part in the attacks against the Raven Alliance, trying to probe their defenses and establish a beachhead on the far-end of the Inner Sphere for the Union.

Culture

The original “fractious and infighting prone” of Clan Fire Mandrill were drilled out of it quickly by the Amaris regime. While the concept of Kindraa remains, they are now very much just Galaxies with another name. Kindraas are expected to get resources and troops from any potential source and not focus singly on their bloodhouses and allegiances.

The “general population” of the Clan is now shared between the Kindraas rather than living in enclaves controlled by a single Kindraa. While the trueborn warriors are viewed as the peak of the Clan, freeborn are more accepted than in other Clans with the incorporation of the Amaris Prime Ministry. Vatgrowns, on the other hand, are generally regarded as completely disposable, but have been drafted in significant amounts to reinforce the Clan’s “ground pounders”, a shared infantry pool for all the Kindraas.

The Mandrill’s economy has become more efficient with the centralization of many of the roles under the Prime Minister and his council. The Merchant Caste is generally viewed as the second most important caste, against typical Clan organization, with the Scientist Caste being almost as important.

The imposed limits on Trials setup by the Prime Minister’s office does lead to situations being resolved more diplomatically amongst the Kindraas. The requirements to have a member of the Prime Minister’s office to officiate over trials also led to a sharp decline in Trials of Grievance, While a few hardliners are trying to remove the PMO from power, the leaders of the various Kindraas are quite satisfied with their work.

Clan Fire Mandrill’s Military

During their exodus from Clan space, the Mandrills brought 2 warships, but those were almost empty of ‘mechs, aerospace fighters and other assets. With the Kindraas originally fighting over whatever they could gather, even more of these resources were sacrificed before the establishment of the Prime Minister’s Office.

With the imposition of drastic measures to limit Trials and infighting, the PMO also began plans to re-equip the Kindraas. New factories were built on each of the Mandrill’s controlled world, producing simple IIC designs. Once well established, limited production of omnimechs began, allowing the Fire Mandrills to trade with the other exiled Clans. A single warship berth was built around Far-Away’s moon, with low-gee mining on the moon providing for the necessary materials. Recently, a few new designs, like the UranGaru omnimech and Silverback battlemech, have started walking out of Fire Mandrill facilities to reinforce their touman.

Six regiments of Republican troops form Kindraa Amaris, which is the largest military formation in the Clan. Kindraa Amaris has its own resources and equipment provided by the Republic, not the Fire Mandrill, including an Amaris-class Battleship.

Current National Data

Fire Mandrill Demographics
Affiliation: Exiled Clan
Population (Clan Space): 1.4 billion (3153) (counting vatgrown)
Population growth rate: 11.3 percent
Self-Sufficiency Index: 86 percent and dropping (food shortages)

Leaders:
Khan:  Renee Smythe
Prime minister: Olivander Amaris
saKhan: Jebediah Payne
Loremaster: Kenneth Newton

Military:
Clusters: 26 (5 Kindraa) + 6 standard regiments (Kindraa Amaris)
WarShips: 5 (2 Essex Block III,CFM Firehold, 1 more Vincent C, CFM Rage)

Controlled worlds:

Far-Away

Close-By

Over-There

Currency: Republican Dinar