Editing Giovanni Mercedes

{{InfoBoxCharacter
| image               = 
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| name                = Giovanni Mercedes
| birthdate           = 
| died                = 
| affiliation         = [[Clan Mongoose]]<br/>[[Clan Smoke Jaguar]]
| rank                = [[Loremaster of Clan Mongoose|Loremaster]]
| title               = 
| position            = 
| profession          = [[Aerospace fighter]] pilot
| parents             = 
| siblings            = 
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| children            = 
}}

'''Giovanni Mercedes''' was the last [[Loremaster]] of [[Clan Mongoose]].  He would live out the rest of his days stifled by the [[Smoke Jaguar]]s after they [[Trial of Absorption|Absorbed]] his [[Clan]] in [[2868]].  At some point he authored a short essay on the life of the Mongoose warriors before their Absorption, which would somehow escape purging by their Jaguar overlords.<ref name=ED:GCp11,12>''Era Digest: Golden Century'', p. 11, 12 - "Life as a Mongoose"</ref><ref name=ED:GCp7,8,9>''Era Digest: Golden Century'', p. 7, 8, 9 - "Warriors above Politicians"</ref>  

==Biography==
If not for a copy of his essay falling into the hands of [[Temuchin Amirault]] and [[Clan Hell's Horses]] some time after the fall of Clan Smoke Jaguar during [[Operation SERPENT]], there would likely be no record of Giovanni Mercedes beyond a name, if even that survived. He was described as a voracious writer who would continue his craft after the Absorption, though his work was usually heavily censored or even destroyed by the Jaguar authorities.<ref name=ED:GCp11,12/>

===Idles of a Loremaster===
In his essay, Loremaster Giovanni Mercedes would go on to talk about what he felt were the true strengths and weaknesses of his former Clan.  He would describe the leadership as conflicted and often at cross-purposes with the needs of the Clan.  Mercedes felt that the officers and leadership had clung on too long, and increasingly were unable to see the real needs of their Clan.  He would cite poor relations and communication between castes - and often within the castes - and associated conflicts that would constantly slow down their progress.  To cover for this lack of cohesion and hide their weakness from the rest of the Clans, the Mongoose Khans always kept [[Clan Mongoose Touman|their ''touman'']] busy launching assaults and major offenses against many of their neighbors, such as [[Clan Blood Spirit]]<ref>''Field Manual: Crusader Clans'', p. 22 - "The Spurning"</ref> and [[Clan Star Adder]].<ref>''Field Manual: Crusader Clans'' p. 112, 113 - "Into the Golden Century"</ref><ref name=ED:GCp7,8,9/>  

Mercedes would also write of why the Mongoose Khans had always used politics so prolifically. Relating that it was sometimes the only way they could get what they needed due to many setbacks ranging from the events of [[Operation Klondike]], to battles with the [[Not-Named Clan]] and the actual fallout from the detonation of atomic weapons so close to their own populations on Circe, Mercedes downplayed the political gambits and intrigues that surrounded Clan Mongoose. But he deeply felt that Mongoose Khans were largely incapable of properly leading the new generations of Mongoose warriors, and instead misused their Clan's true talent until it was too late.<ref name=ED:GCp11,12/><ref name=ED:GCp12>''Era Digest: Golden Century'', p. 12 - "Beginning of the End"</ref>

Loremaster Mercedes would go on to describe the entire [[Trial of Absorption]], pointing out the flaws and strongpoints of the Mongoose effort to repulse the Smoke Jaguars, the battles on each of their worlds and in space, and their final stand at [[Circe]].  There, the Jaguar [[Khan]] [[Theodore Osis]] asked for and would receive the right to use [[Orbital_Bombardment_(CCG_-_Counterstrike)|Orbital Bombardment]] against the Mongoose island stronghold of Fianna, a move that killed many warriors, including Mongoose Khan [[Walter Martindale]].  Only then were the Jaguars finally able to make their landings on the island-fortress.<ref name=ED:GCp7,8,9/><ref name=ED:GCp12/>  

As an [[aerospace fighter]] pilot, whose pride in the Mongoose flying corps comes through often in his essay, Mercedes fought in the final battle of the Absorption at the city of Tara, laying claim to have taken out six '[[Mechs]], as well as some infantry, before being shot down.  And he would describe the final push, a trap where the Jaguars threw themselves against the heavy and assault forces defending the city, only to be flanked by the quick medium 'Mechs of the Mongoose command [[Keshik]] and [[saKhan]] [[Alanah Knox]].  Her attack would deal heavy damage to Jaguar forces that were led by Khan Osis himself.  Of course, Giovanni Mercedes would ultimately acknowledge that the effort was too late.  Soon the Absorption was complete, their lives belonged to the Smoke Jaguars.<ref name=ED:GCp7,8,9/><ref name=ED:GCp12/>

==Legacy==
Of his biological legacy, it would be cast aside by the Smoke Jaguars along with all of the rest of the Mongoose Bloodlines.  But as an [[aerospace fighter]] pilot, there is a good chance that his legacy was saved inadvertently by [[Clan Cloud Cobra]] when they would later launch a long series of [[Trial of Possession|Trials]] to obtain over 70 legacies of the best Aerospace Pilots of the former [[Clan Mongoose]].<ref>''Field Manual:Warden Clans'', p. 21 - "Raised in Revolution"</ref>

Of his historic legacy, his surviving essay on the daily life of his Clan is all that separates him from oblivion.  The finding of an essay seemingly untouched by the hands of the harsh Jaguar masters has resurrected the voice of Giovanni Mercedes, if only as a brief message from the past.


''"While our future is sealed as a Clan and individuals, that of the Clans is not. Our contribution to the Clans as a whole will live on. I can only hope that our story lives on with it."''

--(Excerpt) ''Clan Mongoose, Giovanni Mercedes''<ref name=ED:GCp11,12/>

==References==
<references/>

==Bibliography==
* ''[[Era Digest: Golden Century]]''
* ''[[Field Manual: Crusader Clans]]''
* ''[[Field Manual: Warden Clans]]''


[[Category: Loremasters|Mercedes, Giovanni]]
[[Category: Clan Mongoose Characters|Mercedes, Giovanni]]