Editing Great Refusal

{{Update Needed|[[Spotlight On: Manyfold Paths]]}}

{{InfoBoxConflict
| conflict = Great Refusal
| partof = 
| image = 
| caption = 
| date = 23 April 3060
| enddate = 
| place = Clan Homeworlds
| planet = Strana Mechty
| result = '''Inner Sphere Victory'''<br/>Repudiation of [[Clan Invasion]], though some [[Invader Clans]] maintained only the [[Truce of Tukayyid]] held;<br/>Relocation and integration of multiple Clans into the Inner Sphere;<br/>Factioning of [[Home Clans]], increased division of Invader versus Home Clans
| territory = 
| faction1 = [[Second_Star_League_Defense_Force|Second SLDF]]<br/>
| faction2 = [[Crusader Clans]]<br/>
| faction3 = 
| commander1 = Commanding General [[Victor Steiner-Davion]]<br/>
| commander2 = ilKhan [[Lincoln Osis]]<br/>
| commander3 = 
| forces1 = 
| forces2 = 
| forces3 = 
| environment = 
| conditions = 
}}

The '''Great Refusal''' was a [[Trial of Refusal]] in which the reborn [[Second Star League|Star League]] ended the [[Clans|Clan]] [[Clan Invasion|Invasion]]. Fought on 23 April, [[3060]], various contingents from the [[Inner Sphere]] powers faced warriors from the [[Crusader Clans]] in a series of mini-engagements on [[Strana Mechty]]. The [[Second Star League Defense Force]] won the majority of these battles, thus ending the invasion in accordance with Clan law.

==Overview==
On 12 April, [[3060]], a month after the fall of [[Huntress]], [[Victor Steiner-Davion]] led elements of the reborn [[Star League Defense Force#Second Star League Defense Force|SLDF]] into the [[Strana Mechty]] system. Granted safe passage, Prince Victor's forces landed near the [[Hall of Khans]]. A delegation consisting of Prince Victor, [[Precentor Martial of ComStar|Precentor Martial]] [[Anastasius Focht]] and other SLDF officers met with ilKhan [[Lincoln Osis]] to call a [[Trial of Refusal]] against the invasion of the Inner Sphere. While ilKhan Osis agreed to the proposal, the [[Clan Ghost Bear|Ghost Bear]] Khans claimed that the Trial was exclusively against the [[Crusader Clans|Crusader]] philosophy and their invasion. Naming the Bears a [[Warden]] Clan, they refused to take part in the Trial. The other Warden Clans followed suit, and the Crusader Clans, including the last of the [[Clan Smoke Jaguar|Smoke Jaguars]], were left to fight the trial on their own. [[Clan Nova Cat]] took the side of the Inner Sphere on behalf of the newly recreated SLDF. 

The Great Refusal began on 23 April, 3060. Modeled after the [[Battle of Tukayyid (3052)|Battle of Tukayyid]], the Trial was fought as a series of mini-engagements between the SLDF and Crusader Clans. A [[Binary]] of Clan forces (all that was left to ilKhan Osis and the Jaguars), faced a [[Company]] from the assorted Star League members.

==Battles and Results== 
Eight engagements were fought between SLDF and Clan forces. The final result was five victories for the SLDF, two victories for the Clans, and one draw.<ref>''Twilight of the Clans'', p. 13, "Great Refusal outcomes"</ref><ref>''The Clans: Warriors of Kerensky'', p. 25, "The Great Refusal"</ref>

===Clan Blood Spirit versus the Draconis Combine===
The [[Clan Blood Spirit|Blood Spirit's]] [[Blood Guard Keshik (Clan Blood Spirit)|Blood Guard Keshik]] battled the [[Draconis Combine|Draconis Combine's]] [[1st Genyosha]] in the Coldrill Valley. The brutal fight ended shortly after Combine troops knocked out the 'Mech of Khan [[Karianna Schmitt]].

Result: SLDF win

===Clan Fire Mandrill versus the Capellan Confederation===
The differences in philosophy and politics that divided [[Clan Fire Mandrill|Clan Fire Mandrill's]] [[Kindraa]] severely hampered that Clan's [[Kindraa Command Trinary (Clan Fire Mandrill)|Kindraa Command Trinary]] when it faced the [[Capellan Confederation|Capellan Confederation's]] [[Red Lancers]] in the wooded valleys of the Sciace District. This lack of cohesion allowed the Lancers to divide the Mandrill forces and defeat them with minimal losses.

Result: SLDF win

===Clan Hell's Horses versus the Free Rasalhague Republic===
Fighting on the rolling hills of the Breyan District, the [[Clan Hell's Horses|Hell's Horses]] [[Alpha Keshik (Clan Hell's Horses)|Alpha Keshik]] initially drove back the [[Free Rasalhague Republic|Free Rasalhague Republic's]] [[3rd Drakøns]]. This setback only spurred the Rasalhagians to redouble their efforts, and despite another assault from the Horses they gained possession of the ridge that was their objective.

Result: SLDF win

===Clan Ice Hellion versus Clan Nova Cat===
In the only battle to involve aerospace fighters, the [[Clan Ice Hellion|Ice Hellion's]] [[7th Attack (Clan Ice Hellion)|7th Attack Cluster]] fought with [[Clan Nova Cat|Clan Nova Cat's]] [[Nova Cat Keshik|Keshik]] over the Duergar Plains. Despite slaying both Nova Cat Khans, their blind hatred of their opponents resulted in the Hellions making several mistakes that led to their ultimate defeat. One of them was to send two 'Mechs to attack and kill [[Trent (Character)|Trent]]. Both Khans and Trent were the only Nova Cat casualties.

Result: SLDF win

===Clan Jade Falcon versus ComStar===
At Zhaloba Mountain the [[Clan Jade Falcon|Jade Falcon's]] [[Turkina Keshik (Clan Jade Falcon)|Turkina Keshik]] selected the best possible defensive position, and then used it to batter the approaching [[Com Guards|Com Guard]] force. Despite fighting skillfully, [[ComStar|ComStar's]] [[Invader Galaxy]] was forced to accept ''[[hegira]]'' from their opponents.

Result: Clan win

===Clan Star Adder versus the Free Worlds League===
Using Elementals and light 'Mechs as bait, [[Clan Star Adder|Clan Star Adder's]] [[Adder Command Keshik (Clan Star Adder)|Command Keshik]] lured the [[1st Free Worlds Guards]] deep into the Perium Swamp, then sprung their trap. Barely a third of the [[Free Worlds League]] troops escaped, and the SLDF was forced to accept defeat.

Result: Clan win

===Clan Wolf versus the St Ives Compact===
Viewing [[Clan Wolf]] as the greatest threat, Prince Victor assigned the [[St. Ives Compact|St. Ives Compact's]] [[1st St. Ives Lancers]] under [[Kai Allard-Liao]] to face the [[Golden Keshik (Clan Wolf)|Golden Keshik]]. The two forces proved to be evenly matched: the Lancers' durability and marksmanship were countered by the Wolves' mobility and fury. While Kai forced Khan Vladimir Ward to abandon his 'Mech, neither side could gain the advantage over the another.

Result: Draw

===Clan Smoke Jaguar versus the Federated Commonwealth===
The final battle was staged in the aptly-named Bloody Basin of the arid Lechenka District. Against the [[Clan Smoke Jaguar|Smoke Jaguar's]] [[Command Trinary (Clan Smoke Jaguar)|Command Trinary]] Prince Victor led a mixed force from the personally loyal [[10th Lyran Guards]] and [[Federated Commonwealth|Federated Commonwealth's]] [[1st Kathil Uhlans]]. The Jaguars abandoned the rules of ''[[zellbrigen]]'', thus freeing their opponents to do the same, and the Jaguars were cut to pieces by long-range fire. Prince Victor faced ilKhan Osis personally, where Osis revealed to him that these Jaguar warriors were all that remained of [[Clan Smoke Jaguar Touman|his Clan's ''touman'']]. Broken and desiring an honorable death, Osis attacked Victor and forced the Prince to behead him with a ''katana''.<ref>''Prince of Havoc'', p. ???</ref> His death would be considered the point at which the Clan Invasion finally ended.

Result: SLDF win

==Aftermath==
While the [[Clan Jade Falcon|Jade Falcons]] and [[Clan Star Adder|Star Adders]] won, the other Crusader Clans failed to achieve victory, and ilKhan Osis himself was slain by Prince Victor. <ref>''The Clans: Warriors of Kerensky'', pp. 24-25, "The Great Refusal"</ref> Thus, by the terms of the Trial the [[Clan Invasion]] ended. The new Star League was able to create an embassy on Strana Mechty. Prince Victor addressed the [[Grand Council]] following the trial, but his hopeful speech fell on deaf ears.

{{quote|''"The invasion has ended, but not so our contact and our futures. There are countless individuals in the Inner Sphere who have learned to hate you, but we do not intend to prosecute a war against you--at least, not as the Star League. As the Star League, we invite you back to the Inner Sphere, to allow your people and ours to become acquainted. We have things to offer you, as you have to offer us. Beneath this umbrella of peace there are many new possibilities. We invite you to explore them." -Prince Victor Steiner-Davion in the Hall of Khans''<ref name=TCWOKp26>''The Clans: Warriors of Kerensky'', p. 26: "End of an Era"</ref>}}

Khan [[Vladimir Ward]] pointed out that his Clan had abstained from the vote and fought the SLDF forces to a draw; thus [[Clan Wolf]] was not bound by the result, though he did agree to honor the [[Truce of Tukayyid]] until it expired in [[3067]]. Victor responded by declaring that any future Clan adventurism would result in "swift and devastating retribution" from the SLDF.<ref name=TCWOKp26 />

==Legacy==
In the long term, the Great Refusal instigated the decline of the Crusader-Warden divide that had dominated Clan politics for almost a century. In its place arose a new split between the [[Invading Clans]] that had entrenched themselves within the [[Inner Sphere]] and the [[Home Clans]] who found themselves denied access to the rich resources being tapped therein. Some of the latter began scheming on how they could seize their portion of the Inner Sphere, while others now felt that the Clans needed purification from Spheroid corruption.<ref>''The Wars of Reaving'', p. 13, "Seeds of Destruction"</ref>

Upon hearing news of the [[Star League#Second Star League|Second Star League's]] collapse in late 3067, several Clans believed that the Great Refusal had thus been rendered null and void.<ref>''The Wars of Reaving'', p. 31, "Cracks in the Foundation"</ref> Though the motion to repudiate the Great Refusal was deferred at the time, the issue arose once more in February [[3071]]. This time the Refusal remained in place, as the Star Adders responded to the election of [[Clan Fire Mandrill|Fire Mandrill]] [[Garret Sainze]] as ilKhan by leading their [[Snake Alliance|power bloc]] in voting to uphold it, while other Clans abstained.<ref>''The Wars of Reaving'', p. 63, "Machinations and Manipulations"</ref>

During a subsequent [[Grand Council]] on December 1st, 3071, [[Clan Steel Viper|Steel Viper]] Khan [[Brett Andrews]] brought the motion forward once more, claiming that if the Great Refusal was upheld this final time, it would no longer be an issue. By a majority vote (13 'ayes', 10 'noes', and 3 abstentions), the Great Refusal was finally overturned.<ref>''The Wars of Reaving'', p. 76-77, "The Reaving of the Blood"</ref> But instead of a new invasion of the Inner Sphere, the newly-elected ilKhan Andrews brought about the [[Wars of Reaving]] that devastated the Home Clans and led to a severance of all ties with those Clans established in the Inner Sphere.

==References==
<references />

==Bibliography==
* ''[[The Clans: Warriors of Kerensky]]''
* ''[[Prince of Havoc]]''
* ''[[Twilight of the Clans]]''
* ''[[The Wars of Reaving]]''

[[Category:Clan Trials]]