Aaryn Feng is a Star Captain in Clan Wolf’s Alpha Galaxy’s 8th Glacial Fang Cluster, Aaryn Feng is as close as one can get with her commanding officer, Ichaerus Ward, whom she married after the Battle of Terra. A freebirth warrior adopted into the Clan, Aaryn Zhao is of the Feng Bloodhouse through filial relations. This allowed her to claim one of the 25 Feng bloodnames when the opportunity arose. Impetuous and prone to speaking her mind, even in occasions where it might not be the best, she stands in stark contrast with her husband. While in the Inner Sphere she would stand taller than most of her peers, in Clan barracks she usually fits in right, even passing for trueborn at times. While such things are more of the past, one could say Aaryn Feng espouses more Warden views than most modern Clan warriors.

Isolated beginnings

Aaryn, born Aaryn Zhao, grew up on an ancient Star League colony in the Deep Periphery, long forgotten by the Inner Sphere, acting as its sole MechWarrior guardian as well as a frontier BattleMech mechanic. Raised on old SLDF training treatises and propaganda holovids depicting the heroism of the elite SLDF Royal Division MechWarriors of old, she’d always yearned for something more than a mundane existence in a failed and barely surviving terraforming colony made up of farmers, constantly beset by genetically modified wildlife and harsh storms. Unbeknownst to her, her wish would come true sooner than she’d expected.

On her 18^th birthday, the colony was invaded by an unfamiliar foe: dropships of the Clans piloting mechs the likes of which Aaryn had never even heard tell. Assuming that the invaders were common pirates, she engaged the Clanners in her ancient, run down Stalker mech. Despite being outnumbered, outskilled, and outgunned, luck and tenacity won Aaryn the day; one of the Clan ‘mechs died under the crushing foot of her Bloodhound, the other finding ruination in a devastating Alpha Strike that destroyed its cockpit. Miraculously, there was one survivor, who Aaryn fatefully spared, and against her better judgment, she returned the stranger to the colony to be nursed back to health by its sole doctor.

This man would come to be known to her as Ichaerus of Clan Wolf, a distinction with which she was unfamilair. Grilling her new prisoner on all the details of Clan life and philosophy, Aaryn began to understand the extent of the existential danger his arrival had put the colony in.

Shortly after Ichaerus’ rescue, however, the colony was waylaid by a small force of Jade Falcons. With Ichaerus’s help, Aaryn was able to defeat the small force, but the colony was left in ruins, along with Aaryn’s machine. In a last ditch effort to save her people, Aaryn devised a plan, in which the surviving colonists were to escape under cover of night to an ancient grounded Conestoga–class Transport JumpShip deep in the desert and try to get it operational, while Aaryn and Ichaerus used the latter’s Warhammer IIC to limp back to the Clan Wolf dropship. She would never know if this plan succeeded or not.

Life amongst the Clans

Aaryn joined Clan Wolf as many did at the time once the two of them reached the Wolf Empire. Using BattleROM and guncam footage from the fight on her homeworld, Ichaerus managed to arrange for her to be interviewed for a warrior position by Wolf recruitment officers. Fighting with her trademark ferocity, she succeeded at completing a Trial of Position to gain the rank of Star Commander. To everyone’s surprise, after extensive genetic testing and record-delving, she was proven to be a distant descendant of the Feng bloodline through her mother.

As such, she was allowed to challenge for the Feng bloodname in a Trial of Bloodright, which she barely survived. This did allow her to join “the inner circle” of Clan Wolf rather than remaining in its “periphery” of garrison clusters and provisional units. She was also allowed a second Trial of Position due to the death of Star Captain Xin Yen during said Trial of Bloodright. Thankfully, she won this one decisively. Ichaerus, for his part, gained the Star Colonel rank, command of the 8th Glacial Fangs Cluster, and barely won his Bloodname just before the Battle of Terra. Periodically, she will tease the Star Colonel about earning a Bloodname before him, which he takes in good jest.

Battle of Terra

Aaryn Feng performed honorable and dutifully during the Battle of Terra as part of Alpha Galaxy, which was a unit often pushed to the front lines more than it should have. The fact both Aaryn Feng and Ichaerus Ward survived is almost miraculous. During the IlClan trial proper, Aaryn Feng supported firefighter units around the Cauldron with the rest of the 8th Glacial Fang. Some of the firefighters considered the Glacial Fangs good luck in that blazing inferno.

After receiving their BloodRibbon, Ichaerus Ward and Aaryn Feng were married by Alaric Ward in a private ceremony. Another warrior from the 8th Glacial Fang gifted the new couple a Ford Mustang which he had acquired before leaving for the Battle of Terra, from merchants on Ford.

In Service of the Empire

During the defense of the Wolf Empire, Aaryn Feng and the 8th Glacial Fang was serving under the two former Khans, Miriam Shaw and Anastasia Kerensky. Most of her combat action would be against the FWLM and the now renegade Wolf’s Dragoons.

During the Gathering of Gienah, Aaryn had to help preside over Trials of Bloodrights for warriors of the Feng bloodhouse, which she had never thought would happen. The sheer number of warriors attempting to get a Star Colonel position led Aaryn to decide not to compete in Trials of Position, prefering to “wait her turn”, which surprised many. Aaryn was injured at the time and did not want people, especially her husband, to know. In response to this, Loremaster Aberdeen Mehta made sure she would be on the short list for any upcoming Trials.

Capellan – Star League War

The 8th Glacial Fang was assigned to Omega Galaxy at the start of the Capellan – Star League War, where the unit struggled in the fight against overwhelming force of the Capellan Confederation Armed Forces. Aaryn Feng would be given the opportunity to challenge again for a Star Colonel position after this, but decided she should remain as part of the 8th Glacial Fang until at least the end of the war.

Personal details

Aaryn, in contrast to Ichaerus, is largely undamaged and unblemished, the contrast between the two a constant reminder of their first fateful meeting. Given her strange rise to status in the Clan and her apparent reluctance to die when she really ought to, she’s known as an uncannily lucky person amongst her peers and enemies alike. She has eschewed any implants, preferring to rely on unenhanced flesh.

Aaryn Feng’s Battlemechs

Aaryn Feng has piloted a number of BattleMechs over the years, starting with a battered old STK-3Fk Stalker named Bloodhound. For most of her career, she piloted a custom Warhammer IIC called Xuanwu. During her Trial of Bloodright, she piloted a standard Hunchback IIC, while for her Trial of Position, she piloted a Commando IIC.