Editing Antonius Zalman

{{InfoBoxCharacter
| image               = Antonius Zalman OpKlondike.jpg
| caption             = Antonius Zalman
| name                = Antonius Zalman
| birthdate           = 14 January [[2727]]
| died                = 16 January [[2809]]<ref name=H:OKp121>''Historical: Operation Klondike'', p. 121: "Antonius Zalman"</ref>
| othernames          = 
| affiliation         = [[Star League]];<br/>[[Clan Steel Viper]]
| rank                = [[saKhan]]
| title               =
| position            =
| profession          = 
| parents             = 
| siblings            = 
| spouse              = 
| children            = 
}}
'''Antonius Zalman''' was a soldier and officer of the [[Star League Defense Force]] who fought during the bloody [[Amaris Crisis]].  He went on to become a founder of [[Clan Steel Viper]] as well as their first [[saKhan]].<ref name=FM:WCp134>''Field Manual: Warden Clans'', p. 134: "Founding and Treachery"</ref>

==History==
Described as the epitome of the common man, Antonius Zalman was born into a middle class family on [[Terra]] at the height of the [[Star League]].  An officer in the SLDF reserve with the rank of [[major]], Zalman taught history and literature to school children in São Paulo, Brazil, when the [[Stefan Amaris|Usurper Amaris]] launched his coup.<ref name=H:OKp121/><ref name=FM:WCp134/>

===Hero of the SLDF===
By [[2773]], Zalman's battalion had been reduced to a small resistance cell due to traps set for them by [[Rim Worlds Republic]] troops, but Zalman and his men vowed to keep on fighting the Usurper in any way they possibly could.  When Zalman found out that the immoral Amaris had ordered the use of Star League citizens as human shields to keep SLDF soldiers at bay on the planet [[York (LC)|York]], Zalman decided to rescue the hostages.  Zalman and select members of his cell covertly traveled to York.  After secretly slipping away from the hostages, Zalman and his small band killed everyone at the unguarded command control center and stole the [[BattleMech]]s contained in the facility.  They began to fight a guerrilla campaign against Amaris' [[Republican Guards (Rim Worlds Republic)|Republican Guards]].  By the time SLDF forces reached York, Zalman and his men had already freed many of the hostages and destroyed much of the Republican Guards' supplies.  Without the supplies necessary to fight a protracted battle against the SLDF troops, the Republican Guards surrendered.<ref name=H:OKp121/><ref name=FM:WCp134/><ref name=ICp80>''Invading Clans'', p. 80: "Wolfnet Archive File"</ref>

For his heroism on York, SLDF Commanding General [[Aleksandr Kerensky]] personally decorated Zalman for actions above and beyond the call of duty.  He was attached to Kerensky's HQ from that point onward, at first commanding General Kerensky's bodyguard unit.  He was quickly promoted to the rank of [[Lieutenant General]], commanding the operation to retake South America during the [[Operation liberation|Liberation of Terra]], utilizing his numerous contacts within the resistance to achieve his goals.<ref name=H:OKp121/><ref name=FM:WCp134/><ref name=ICp80/>

===The Exodus and Clan Steel Viper===
{{Quote|'''''Nicholas is the only answer. He may not have the seasoning of age and he has an air about him that makes many people uncomfortable, but he is a division commander. He has something that no one else does—the Kerensky name.'''''

—(Excerpt) '''Lieutenant General Antonius Zalman, Personal Journals, 1 September [[2801]]'''<ref name=H:OKp22>''Historical: Operation Klondike'', p. 22: "The Second Exodus" and "Antonius Zalman, Personal Journals"</ref>}}

Zalman accompanied Aleksandr Kerensky in his [[Operation EXODUS|Exodus]] and later followed Aleksandr's son [[Nicholas Kerensky|Nicholas]] in the [[Second Exodus]] to [[Strana Mechty]].  Regarded as a friend and supporter of both Kerensky generals, when Nicholas founded the [[Clans]] in [[2807]], he nominated Zalman to become the first [[Khan]] of Clan Steel Viper.  The 80-year-old Zalman turned down the honor, citing his advanced age and failing health.  Zalman then asked Nicholas to endorse his lieutenant, [[Ellie Kinnison]] of the [[131st BattleMech Division]], for the position of Khan, to which she was subsequently elected.  Kinnison then stated that she would only serve as Khan if Zalman would accept the position of [[saKhan]] and continue to serve as her mentor.<ref name=H:OKp121/><ref name=FM:WCp134/><ref name=ICp80/><ref name=H:OKp22/>

[[Image:Clan Steel Viper logo.png|right|thumb|200px|Clan Steel Viper, Zalman's legacy.]]

SaKhan Zalman was instrumental in the training of the [[Clan Steel Viper Touman|Viper ''touman'']], as he urged Kinnison to teach the Viper warriors the same values of loyalty and flexibility of thought and action that had kept Zalman alive during his campaign against the Usurper's forces.  Due to his ill health, his offspring were some of the first [[trueborn]] warriors to be decanted in the nascent [[Clans]]' eugenics program, his legacy immortalized within his lifetime.<ref name=H:OKp121/><ref name=FM:WCp134/><ref name=ICp80/><ref name=H:OKp30,31>''Historical: Operation Klondike'', pp. 30–31: "The Fallen"</ref>

==Death and Legacy==
Antonius Zalman served as saKhan of Clan Steel Viper for only two years, but helped prepare his Clan for the violence of [[Operation KLONDIKE]] in [[2821]].  Long before that time, he was killed in a training accident in [[2809]] – though certain sources maintain that the "Trial" he faced was created to reward him with his wish for an honorable death in combat.  Zalman was replaced as saKhan of the Steel Vipers by [[Star Colonel]] [[Steven Breen]].  Due to his genetic legacy, all Steel Viper warriors with the Zalman [[Bloodname]] are his descendants, starting with his granddaughter, [[Shandra Zalman]], who took his place in the operation to retake the [[Pentagon Worlds]]. His most famous descendant is [[Perigard Zalman]], a Khan of the Steel Vipers during the years after [[Operation REVIVAL]].<ref name=H:OKp121/><ref name=FM:WCp134/><ref name=H:OKp30,31/>

==References==
<references />

==Bibliography==
* ''[[Field Manual: Warden Clans]]''
* ''[[Historical: Operation Klondike]]''
* ''[[Invading Clans (sourcebook)|Invading Clans]]''

[[Category: Star League Characters|Zalman, Antonius]]
[[Category:Clan Steel Viper Characters|Zalman, Antonius]]
[[Category:saKhans|Zalman, Antonius]]