Editing Perigard Zalman

{{otheruses|the character|the WarShip in his name|Perigard Zalman (Individual Leviathan-class WarShip)}}

{{InfoBoxCharacter
| image               = Perigard_Zalman,_3062.jpg
| caption             = Perigard Zalman
| name                = Perigard Zalman
| birthdate           = [[3019]]
| died                = 12 October [[3065]]<ref>''The Wars of Reaving'', p. 22: "Crashing Home"</ref>
| othernames          = 
| affiliation         = [[Clan Steel Viper]]
| rank                = [[Khan of Clan Steel Viper|Khan]]
| title               = 
| position            = 
| profession          = [[MechWarrior (pilot)|MechWarrior]]
| parents             = 
| siblings            = 
| spouse              = 
| children            = 
}}
'''Perigard Zalman''' was a [[MechWarrior (pilot)|MechWarrior]] of [[Clan Steel Viper]] who would go on to become their [[Khan]] after the Clans' loss to the [[Com Guards]] on [[Tukayyid]].  His reign saw the Steel Vipers ejected from the [[Inner Sphere]] by [[Clan Jade Falcon]] after a failed attempt to supplant them in their [[Occupation Zone]].  He would go on to die in battle with [[Clan Snow Raven]] over [[Lum]] in the [[Clan Homeworlds]].<ref name=FM:WCp137>''Field Manual: Warden Clans'', p. 137: "Pulling the Falcon's Feathers" and "Shattered Dreams"</ref><ref name=FM:WCp142>''Field Manual: Warden Clans'', p. 142: "Perigard Zalman"</ref><ref name=ER:3052p92>''Era Report: 3052'', p. 92: "Perigard Zalman"</ref><ref name=ER:3062p98,99>''Era Report: 3062'', pp. 98–99: "Perigard Zalman"</ref>

==History==
Described as very tall and rather thin for a Clan MechWarrior, with dark eyes and a chiseled face, Perigard Zalman was said to be homely by traditional standards.  A [[Crusader Clans|Crusader]] in a Clan that was historically counted amongst the Wardens, Zalman seemed to herald a new breed of Steel Viper warriors who as often as not held similar political beliefs to his own.  Likewise, Zalman was known to believe strongly in the Clan eugenics program, as well as Steel Viper practices of greatly limiting any use of [[freeborn]] warriors in [[Clan Steel Viper Touman|their ''touman'']], relenting on this stance only in the latter years of his life.  Known to be calculating and careful in action, his abilities as a warrior and leader had earned for him the respect and leadership of the Steel Vipers, yet he was also said to be something of an emotional paradox.  He was noted to be a more conservative and confident leader than his predecessor, yet he was also noted to be indecisive without a strong supporter to back him.<ref name=FM:WCp142/><ref name=ER:3052p92/><ref name=ER:3062p98,99/>

===Early Career===
A gifted MechWarrior and tactician, Zalman became the master of his [[Bloodname]] House early on during his career.  He would achieve success in this role with the aid of a ''[[sibkin]]'' who had tested into the scientist caste, arranging the pairing of several high profile legacies to revitalize the line.<ref name=FM:WCp142/><ref name=ER:3062p98,99/>

Zalman was also said to have been a rival of [[Natalie Breen]] for command of the [[1st Viper Guards (Clan Steel Viper)|1st Viper Guards]], until Breen was able to best the younger warrior in a [[Trial of Position]].  The dynamic rivalry between the two would continue until Breen ascended to the post of Khan.<ref name=ER:3052p92/>

===''Outbound Light'' and Operation Revival===
[[Image:Svalpha.png|left|thumb|135px|Clan Steel Viper Alpha Galaxy.]]
Zalman held command of the Steel Viper's [[Alpha Galaxy (Clan Steel Viper)|Alpha Galaxy]] prior to being elected to the post of [[saKhan]] in [[3045]], in the wake of Breen's ascension to the khanship of Clan Steel Viper. Perigard Zalman was said to enforce her policies, and to have fought many Trials that Khan Breen felt were issued by lesser challengers.  His Crusader politics did much to balance the [[Warden Clans|Warden]] point of view of his Khan, and the two reportedly worked well together, seeming to harness the energy of their earlier rivalry, while bringing stable leadership to their Clan.  Both he and Khan Breen would vote in the affirmative for the invasion of the Inner Sphere after the ''[[Outbound Light]]'' incident of [[3048]].  Though the Steel Vipers performed spectacularly in the early goings of the Trials to determine which Clans would have the right to invade, subpar performances in the latter half stunted their final results, leaving them in the reserve position as the fifth Clan involved with [[Operation Revival]].  Both khans fought a wave of challenges from many of their angry warriors, but none succeeded in besting either of them.<ref name=FM:WCp137/><ref name=FM:WCp142/><ref name=ER:3052p92/><ref name=ER:3062p98,99/><ref name=ER:3052p58,59>''Era Report: 3052'', pp. 58–59: "Clan Steel Viper"</ref>

Following [[ilKhan]] [[Leo Showers|Leo Showers']] death over [[Radstadt]] in October [[3050]], Zalman pointed out to the assembled Khans that the invasion effort would be in danger of faltering unless they elected a replacement. Since this would require the participation of all Bloodnamed warriors from each Clan, the invasion was halted for a year while the assorted Khans and Bloodnamed warriors journeyed to and from [[Strana Mechty]].<ref>''Wolf Clan Sourcebook'', p. 41</ref>

Knowing that the Steel Vipers would eventually be called upon to join the [[Invader Clans|Invading Clans]], Zalman's previous preparations and leadership were rewarded when newly elected ilKhan [[Ulric Kerensky]] activated his Clan and paired them with Clan Jade Falcon. SaKhan Zalman led many of the attacks that quickly seized several worlds from the [[Federated Commonwealth]] and Falcons alike. Among these, the Vipers took [[Twycross]] (which had been previously lost by the Jade Falcons), [[Blair Atholl]], [[Benfled]], [[Montmarault]], and part of [[Orkney (LC)|Orkney]] in a joint action with Clan Jade Falcon during the fifth wave of Operation Revival.  Alpha Galaxy later captured [[Jabuka]], a planet that represented the furthest point into the Inner Sphere yet reached by a Clan of Kerensky.<ref name=FM:WCp137/><ref name=ER:3052p92/><ref name=ER:3062p98,99/><ref name=ER:3052p58,59/>

====Battle of Tukayyid====
[[File:Tukayyid_planet.jpg|right|175px|thumb|The fateful planet Tukayyid.]]
In May of [[3052]], the Steel Vipers went into the [[Battle of Tukayyid (3052)|Battle of Tukayyid]] bidding confidently to gain an earlier landing and more honor, with ''saKhan'' Zalman in command of the Viper's [[Gamma Galaxy (Clan Steel Viper)|Gamma Galaxy]]. To the Viper warriors' frustration, the ensuing struggle would turn against them at the region called the Devil's Bath, a horrific combination of geysers, boiling mud and narrow paths walled in by massive granite columns which negated the Clan's advantages while playing to the [[Com Guards]]' strengths.<ref name=T-79>''Tukayyid'', pp. 79–88: "Campaign: Clan Steel Viper"</ref><ref name=IC-86>''Invading Clans'', pp. 86–87: "Clan Steel Viper - Fifth Wave: The Snake Strikes - Tukayyid"</ref>

With ''Khan'' Breen provoked into advancing into the treacherous Bath after [[Precentor]] [[Beeshor Yekel]] of the [[6th Division (ComStar)|Sixth Division]] insulted her honor, Zalman and the rest of the Viper inflicted heavy losses upon the Sixth and [[78th Division (ComStar)|Seventy-Eighth Divisions]] as they pushed them through the mud fields. Realizing both Galaxies were now dangerously low on ammunition, Zalman ordered Gamma Galaxy's [[57th Striker (Clan Steel Viper)|57th Striker Cluster]] to divide the Com Guard units and pin down the Sixth Division, sacrificing the Fifty-Seventh to allow the Breen-led [[Alpha Galaxy (Clan Steel Viper)|Alpha]] to annihilate the hated Com Guard Division.<ref name=T-79/><ref name=IC-86/>

Even with destroying the 78th Division shortly after, once they reached the far end of the Bath the virtually unarmed Alpha and Gamma Galaxies found themselves confronted by fresh and superior numbers of ComStar troops. As the Com Guards breached the Viper lines in several places, Zalman was forced to request aid from the reserve [[Zeta Galaxy (Clan Steel Viper)|Zeta Galaxy]] to prevent his force from collapsing. Galled to watch the "freebirth" troops of Zeta succeed where his own warriors failed, as the Com Guard forces began to push the Vipers back, a wounded Zalman convinced ''Khan'' Breen to order a general withdrawal back to the landing zone.<ref name=FM:WCp137/><ref name=ER:3052p58,59/><ref name=T-79/><ref name=T-87>''Tukayyid'', pp. 87–88: "Campaign: Clan Steel Viper - Halting the Vipers [23]"</ref><ref name=IC-86/>

After Tukayyid, Breen led an investigation into the history of a Com Guard soldier who bore genetic similarities to a [[Clan Wolverine]] warrior. She determined that the soldier wasn't a fugitive of the Not-Named Clan, but a relative who shared a common ancestor. With Zalman's blessing, she sent elements of the [[Alpha Galaxy (Clan Steel Viper)|Alpha Galaxy]] to destroy this person's family to insure the tainted bloodline would end.<ref>''Bloodright'', p. 6</ref>

===Khan of the Steel Vipers===
[[File:Perigard_Zalman,_3052.jpg|left|thumb|Perigard Zalman, 3052.]]
Natalie Breen's withdrawal was seen as disgraceful to many in and outside the Clan, but it left the Steel Vipers in a good position afterward.  Most of their ''touman'' was still intact, having emerged from Tukayyid with the least amount of damage out of all of the Clans present.  Khan Zalman was able to make gains at the Jade Falcon's expense in the coming years.  At times, Zalman was forced to deal with incidents that reminded the Vipers of their loss at Tukayyid and the attendant shame, such as when he presided over the banishment of [[Dawn Moffat|Dawn]] to the Inner Sphere for her failures in a raid on the world of [[Cumbres]], but would later welcome her back into the fold after her redemption.<ref name=SL>''Star Lord'', chs. 3, 5, Epilogue</ref>

In another incident, Zalman's saKhan, [[Christopher Ahmed]], became politically entangled when he tried to play units of Clan Wolf and the Jade Falcons against each other during the [[Refusal War]], in an attempt to benefit the [[Warden]] political faction through his machinations.  The unexpected deaths of both Ulric and Khan [[Natasha Kerensky]] put an end to this notion, and the Jade Falcons' gains at the end of the struggle caused more consternation amongst the Viper warriors.  SaKhan Ahmed's failure was punished by the Steel Viper [[Clan Council]], who found him guilty of Treason for having acted without sanction of his superior.  He was slain by Khan Zalman's champion, Star Colonel [[Brett Andrews]] during his [[Trial of Refusal]], who succeeded Ahmed in his post soon after.  The political fallout of this would virtually paralyze the ''touman'' for long enough to completely disrupt any chance that the Steel Vipers had of taking advantage of this situation with its Clan neighbors in the Inner Sphere, and was regarded by Zalman himself as his greatest failure.<ref name=FM:WCp137/><ref name=ER:3062p98,99/><ref name=ER:3062p63>''Era Report: 3062'', p. 63: "Clan Steel Viper"</ref>

The Steel Vipers would make steady gains against the Jade Falcons throughout the 3050s, having taken six more worlds by [[3055]], and more after that. Though the Vipers would never hold nearly as many worlds as the original Invader Clan in their shared [[Occupation Zone]], the resources gained during this time would strengthen the Clan beyond what it could have ever known had they not won a place in Operation Revival.  The Steel Vipers would put little of this into their Inner Sphere holdings, opting to send most of their newfound resources into strengthening their position in the [[Clan Homeworlds]].  This strategy was sound enough from a Clan position, but seemed to go against the idea of coexisting with the people of the Inner Sphere while trying to work with them toward the establishment of a new [[Star League]] as laid out in the vision of [[Sanra Mercer]] and by which the Steel Vipers had long been guided.  Coupling their sometimes conflicted leadership with this lack of focus on securing their gains, the Steel Vipers were unable to truly exploit the volatile political and martial troubles of their neighbors, something that would haunt them in the coming years.<ref name=FM:WCp137/><ref name=ER:3062p98,99/><ref name=ER:3062p63/>

===The Great Refusal===
In [[3059]] the reborn [[Second Star League|Star League]] launched an all-out assault upon [[Clan Smoke Jaguar]] and a year later mounted an invasion of [[Huntress]] itself. When ilKhan [[Lincoln Osis]] solicited aid from the other Clans in repelling the invaders, Zalman was among those Khans who spoke out against this motion. In his opinion, the Jaguars as an Invading Clan should've had the resources to protect themselves without outside assistance, and aiding them would only delay the Crusader Clans' planned resumption of the invasion.<ref>''Shadows of War'', ch. 1</ref>

In May of [[3060]], [[Task Force Serpent]] had finished with destroying Clan Smoke Jaguar on Huntress and proceeded to issue a challenge to the [[Grand Council]] on [[Strana Mechty]] itself.  The challenge issued by the newly formed [[Second Star League]] was delivered by [[Victor Steiner-Davion]], and came in the form of a Trial of Refusal against the invasion of the Inner Sphere. The Steel Viper Khans opted to stay out of the ensuing vote along with the rest of the Warden Clans, but the Clan defeat that resulted pleased few in the Steel Vipers, who felt it as a strong blow to their destiny as foretold by Sanra Mercer. Territorial expansion in the subsequent [[Wars of Possession]] after the departure of [[Clan Ghost Bear]] and the newly [[Trial of Abjuration|Abjured]] [[Clan Nova Cat]] did alleviate this discontent somewhat.<ref name=ER:3062p63/><ref>''Prince of Havoc'', chs. 3–15</ref>

===Challenging the Jade Falcons===

{{Quote|'''''The Jade Falcon policy of not only accepting freeborns into their ranks, but of actually allowing one to compete for a bloodname '''[''sic'']''' is one of the most wasteful policies to be found in any Clan.'''''|Khan '''Perigard Zalman''' to the Grand Council, 3060.<ref name=FR>''Falcon Rising'', chs. 8–20</ref>}}

During all this time, Natalie Breen had continued to serve the Steel Vipers and Khan Zalman as an advisor.  Khan Zalman would especially seek her consultation regarding the Jade Falcons, though saKhan Andrews vocally protested this situation, often remarking that the former Khan had outlived her usefulness and should be shunned.  Under Breen's advice, Khan Zalman increasingly challenged the Jade Falcons in the Grand Council regarding their stance toward [[freeborn]] warriors serving in their ''touman''.  Zalman was a staunch believer in the supremacy of [[trueborn]] warriors and the Clans' eugenics program, and made it no secret that he despised the idea of any Clan that would honor a freeborn over a trueborn for any reason.  His remarks regarding this state of affairs in the Grand Council (urged by former Khan Breen, and supported by saKhan Andrews) inflamed the Jade Falcon Khan [[Marthe Pryde]] into challenging him to a duel to be fought by champions.<ref name=FR/>

{{Quote|'''''It is not surprising, Khan Marthe, that you cannot see the deterioration of your own Clan's genetic strains. Further, it is possible you do not see the harm you do your own Clan by elevation of freebirths to power within the Clan or your willingness to deny a trueborn a bloodname '''[''sic'']''' so that a freeborn might win it. And it is clear that in your own Clan mythology you have obscured the fact that the greatest of your own heroes was himself an aberration, an abomination, who was indeed something of a sham hero in his—'''''|'''Perigard Zalman''' to the Grand Council, before being cut off by the challenge of an enraged Khan Marthe Pryde.'''<ref name=FR/>}}

After losing their Trial when Steel Viper champion [[Star Colonel]] [[Ivan Sinclair]] of the [[94th Battle (Clan Steel Viper)|94th Battle Cluster]] was narrowly defeated by Jade Falcon [[Star Captain]] [[Horse Jade Falcon|Horse]], Breen - often called Khan Breen by her former saKhan who was now her Khan - would advise Zalman that the time had come for the Steel Vipers to seize the Jade Falcon's Occupation Zone.<ref name=FR/>

{{Quote|'''''Natalie Breen would die if she were sent away. Hers is one of the best military minds I have known. I use it the way I use any valuable tool, the way I use anyone who can help me achieve my goals—the way, in fact, I use you, Brett Andrews. You are the fire I need to make the Steel Vipers more powerful.'''''|Khan '''Perigard Zalman''' to saKhan Andrews, 3060.<ref>''Falcon Rising'', ch. 28</ref>}}

Heeding Natalie Breen's advice to strike while the Jade Falcons were still reeling from the recent turn of events on Strana Mechty, the Vipers launched a sudden attack after traveling back to the Inner Sphere from the Kerensky Cluster in early [[3061]].  The initial waves were led by saKhan Andrews and achieved great success in the Falcon's coreward holdings, seizing nearly a dozen worlds in a very short time.  But after several weeks, the Falcons were able to begin reversing this with their battle-hardened ''touman''.  On the world of [[Waldorff]], the Steel Vipers made their stand against the gathering Jade Falcons.  Khan Zalman would find and challenge the object of much of his pro-[[trueborn]] rhetoric, Jade Falcon freeborn [[Star Commander]] [[Diana Pryde]] who had managed to win a [[Bloodname]].  The two engaged in a duel at the area called Daemon Beach, a duel that Zalman was not destined to win.  His ''[[Battle Cobra]]'' was finally disabled by the freeborn, which also shattered the last bit of resolve left in the Steel Vipers on-planet.  After accepting the Falcon offer of ''[[hegira]]'', the Vipers departed the Inner Sphere forever.<ref>''Falcon Rising'', chs. 32–38, Epilogue</ref><ref>''Era Report: 3062'', p. 98: "Brett Andrews"</ref><ref name=FM:Up48>''Field Manual: Updates'', p. 48: "Clan Jade Falcon"</ref><ref>''The Wars of Reaving'', p. 12: "Armed Politics"</ref>

===Return to the Homeworlds and Death===
Bitter from this reversal of fortunes, Perigard Zalman often spoke out about the "taint" that he felt had infected the Invading Clans, though he was also said to have changed the Steel Viper's official stance on freeborn warriors by allowing selected individuals to join the Clan Steel Viper ''touman''.  He would also face several challenges to his continued leadership before reaching [[New Kent]], but he defeated these.  Using the vast stores of resources plundered from the Inner Sphere, the Steel Vipers set about proving their dominance amongst the [[Home Clans]].  Fending off attacks from [[Clan Snow Raven]] that saw the Steel Vipers lose their enclave on [[Homer]] (after negotiating a graceful exit from the world with [[Clan Cloud Cobra]], with [[Clan Star Adder]] serving as mediator), Khan Zalman prepared his Clan to strike a great blow against their enemies.  In [[3065]], this was done when the Steel Vipers launched an attack on [[Lum]], where they seized a landholding with which to threaten the Snow Ravens' control of the world after entering the fight without having been granted ''[[safcon]]''.  The Snow Ravens countered by blockading the system, cutting off the Steel Vipers from resupply, and launching an assault that would slowly drive the Vipers from the world.  Without ''hegira'' to protect them, Khan Zalman's [[DropShip]] was destroyed by the guns of the [[Avalanche (Individual Sovetskii Soyuz-class WarShip)|CSR ''Avalanche'']].<ref name=FM:Up48/><ref name=WoRp21>''The Wars of Reaving'', p. 21: ''Rising Viper''</ref>

{{quote|'''''Glory removes all pain. A glorious death is the stairway to the [[Remembrance]].'''''|Khan [[Perigard Zalman]], Clan Steel Viper, 3059}}

==Legacy==
Remembered for being a gifted MechWarrior and Master of the Zalman [[Bloodhouse]], Perigard Zalman's greater legacy is a mixed one.  After him, the Crusader mindset would slowly come to dominate his Clan, though they were by that point effectively removed from the rolls of the Invader Clans. In later years, the Steel Viper loss and ejection from the Inner Sphere at the hands of the Jade Falcons would become cited as one of the harbingers of Inner Sphere taint in the [[Clan Homeworlds]], a point of view that Khan Zalman himself had helped to create.  Zalman's words were recorded by Steel Viper [[Loremaster]] [[Arthur Stoklas]], and his ideas carried to great extremes by his successor, Brett Andrews, who went on to make aggressive use of this concept as a tool during his ambitious rise to power.<ref name=WoRp21/><ref>''The Wars of Reaving'', pp. 181–182: "Brett Andrews"</ref>

During the late 3060s, a colossal ''[[Leviathan (WarShip class)|Leviathan]]''-class [[WarShip]] was produced by the Steel Vipers for purposes of dominating the Clan Homeworlds through increased naval strength.  Called the ''[[Perigard Zalman (Individual Leviathan-class WarShip)|CSV Perigard Zalman]]'', it first saw battle against [[Clan Diamond Shark]] over Strana Mechty in [[3070]].  This vessel was the pinnacle of Clan Steel Viper's naval power during its time, and was used to assert Steel Viper dominance over the Clan Homeworlds well into the [[Wars of Reaving]].<ref>''The Wars of Reaving'', p. 51: "Closing the Net"</ref>

==BattleMechs==
Perigard Zalman was noted to have piloted a ''[[Battle Cobra]]'' [[OmniMech]] as of 3061.<ref>''Falcon Rising'', chs. 36–37</ref>

==References==
<references/>

==Bibliography==
{{div col|colwidth=25em}}
* ''[[Bloodright (scenario pack)|Bloodright]]''
* ''[[Era Report: 3052]]''
* ''[[Era Report: 3062]]''
* ''[[Falcon Rising]]'' (novel)
* ''[[Field Manual: Updates]]''
* ''[[Field Manual: Warden Clans]]''
* ''[[Invading Clans]]''
* ''[[Prince of Havoc]]'' (novel)
* ''[[Shadows of War]]'' (novel)
* ''[[Star Lord (novel)|Star Lord]]'' (novel)
* ''[[Tukayyid (scenario pack)|Tukayyid]]''
* ''[[The Wars of Reaving]]''
* ''[[Wolf Clan Sourcebook]]''
{{div col end}}

[[Category:Clan Steel Viper Characters|Zalman, Perigard]]
[[Category:saKhans|Zalman, Perigard]]
[[Category:Khans|Zalman, Perigard]]