Blood Eagle

The Blood Eagle (BE) are one of the Four Great Tribes. They are a team in Tribes: Ascend, where they are in contest with the Diamond Sword. This tribe's members are nicknamed "butchers" or "buzzards." The first is a reference to the BE's ferocity in battle and their unwillingness to accept surrender.

Lore
The Blood Eagle claim descent from an Order of Imperial Knights sent to conquer the tribes long ago. They maintain a formal military hierarchy marked by byzantine politics. Rumors say they maintain contact, perhaps even trade, with the Empire. BE technology is the most advanced of any tribe. In combat, the BE are unmatched for sheer ferocity. They use the flayed bodies of fallen enemies as banners, follow a scorched earth strategy, and never accept or offer surrender. Despite their brutality, they follow a rigorous code of honor and are the most courteous of hosts during a parley. They never break their sworn word. Never. BE forces are precisely organized into Pennants, which are in turn broken down into divisions called Talons. Talons are divided into Squads. Most units use colorful titles, for example, the Second Pennant, Third Talon, is known within the BE as "the Eviscerator Talon of the Wolfslayer Pennant."

History
In 3450 after the Children of Phoenix declared themselves a tribe the Emperor sent the Imperial Knight Order of the Blood Eagle to subdue the frontier of known space. The BE attacked the tribals in a ferocious and masterfully orchestrated onslaught that resulted in a ‘Splintering’ of the Children into numerous self-sustaining tribes. Fighting lasted for decades and soon the BE began to experience shortages of parts for their massive HERCs.

Cut off from the primary Imperial traffic lanes for years and having little established industrial capacity to speak of, the BE begin to think of themselves as an autonomous entity outside of the jurisdiction and support of the Throne. Finding Hercs and quantum weaponry too difficult to maintain without a heavy industrial base, they began looking at the lighter powered armor favored by the tribes as a possible alternative. By 3483 and after extensive testing the BE began using armor similar to the style used by the Children of Phoenix.

In 3500 after a string of embarrassing defeats and furious with delays in supply shipments and reinforcement requests, the Order of the Blood Eagle officially broke ties with the Empire and declared itself an 'Independent and self sufficient Tribe.' At this time, the intensity of the conflict with the Children of Phoenix faded, but warfare was still a constant part of tribal life. For the next several hundred years the Blood Eagle continued fighting against the growing number of Tribes. In 3610 during a conflict between the Starwolf on Ganges III, an ecocidal weapon was detonated, resulting in heavy casualties on both sides and reducing the planet to a lifeless husk. Each side denied using the weapon, and enmity between these two tribes deepened radically.

In 3769 the Blood Eagle launched an expansive military campaign designed to propel them into the supreme position of power within the Wilderzone. The BE initiated a stunning series of offensives, doubling their world count. No other tribe escaped unscathed. When Imperial raiding parties pillaged Phoenix resupply convoys bound for the front many tribes began to accuse the Blood Eagle of siding with the Empire once again.

In 3844 a twelve year war over the leadership of the tribe came to an end when Illya Ajax Konovalev defeated Tesh Komarosu, cousin of Gregory and Knight-Exemplar, and slaughtered the entire leadership of the Order of the Black Star. By 3880 Konovalev resigned his post as Grand Master Paramount and appointed his daughter, Helena to the role of Great Eagle. This was the most peaceful transition of power in the history of the Tribe. In 3895 Konovalev died in his sleep, the first and only Grand Master of the Blood Eagle Order to so pass. His daughter agreed to ferry his remains to Outermost, where he was born. She died there in a tragic dropship crash, leaving her only son Alexandre as the nine-year-old heir to the Konovalev line. Helena’s son went into hiding leaving the Tribe to bicker once again over the leadership of the Order.

In 3903 Alexandre returned with a Starwolf princess in tow and claimed his right of succession. Within five months of returning to Bira Marduk, the world that hosted the royal court at that time, he had subdued all his major opposition. A year later in 3904 he was officially recognized as the twelfth Grand Master Paramount of the Blood Eagle. In an effort to reconcile age-old differences with the Starwolf, he married Freya Cloudchaser, daughter of a Starwolf chieftain, the day after he took his oath as Great Eagle. Later that same year Freya gave birth to twins, Alyxandra, and Geoffrey. Their second son Ulysses was born the following year.

In 3924 Geoffrey Konovalev died at the age of 20. The relationship between Alexandre and Freya decayed to the point where she left Outermost to rejoin her pack and was never to be seen at court again. The Great Eagle orders Ulysses to take the Marathon Pennant in pursuit of her. Ulysses reluctantly agreed to force her to return to the Blood Eagle. Most of the Marathon Pennant died in battle with the Starwolf. Ulysses Konovalev was not found among the survivors. An inconsolable Alexandre Konovalev furiously vowed to destroy the Starwolf once and for all. In 3928 the Blood Eagle began an offensive to avenge the death of Ulysses.

Two years later in 3930 the Blood Eagle prevailed and the Ourubis Pack, nearly 80,000 strong, was wiped out. The Starwolf charged the BE with use of ecocidal weapons, outlawed for centuries, and called for all tribes to aid them in destroying the BE once and for all. Though the BE vehemently deny the charge, many Starwolf swear an Oath of Vengeance upon the BE, declaring all-out war upon them.

After five years of conflict, the two Tribes declared a cease-fire in 3935. In 3938 however the Starwolf violated the cease-fire with two full packs and attacked Blood Eagle holdings on Deus Sanguinus in a massive, surprise frontal assault. The following year Talon-Prime Fury reconstituted the Wolfslayer Pennant as a symbol of vengeance against the Starwolf and took up the mantle of Pennant-Prime in command of it’s forces. The Wolfslayers reportedly ignored the authority of the Great Eagle and answered solely to Fury. Initial victories over the Starwolf Old Ymir Pack showed the new Wolfslayers to be even more ruthless than the old Pennant, and Fury proved she was a brilliant strategist. She immediately gained the support of the Starkweather and Eun-Alba bloodlines.

In 3940 (Tribes 1) Fury claimed the title of Sirdar-Prime and began massing troops on Charybdis. She began to subtly call for the ouster of the Great Eagle with some vocal support throughout the Bloodlines. Starwolf Packs went on the offensive and struck far afield. Fury gathered what strength she could to face down the Starwolf Packs, though some suspected her true intent was to push towards Outermost and claim the leadership of the Blood Eagle by force. Hearing these rumors, Great Eagle Konovalev demanded that Fury come to Outermost herself to explain her actions. Her response to him was less than cordial.

In 3941 the BioDerm Hordes attacked tribal space beginning with the Starwolf world of Ymir. Fury attempted a surprise assault on the Starwolf Muster on that world and was routed by BioDerm forces already present there. Barely escaping with her, Fury journeyed to Outermost and revealed her true identity as Alyxandra Konovalev, the supposedly long dead daughter of the Great Eagle. She also presented her brother Ulysses and reported on the fall of Ymir. The Great Eagle made a mad attempt to kill them himself, claiming they were imposters sent to assassinate him but died in the attempt. Fury convinces the rest of the BE to forestall the decision about an heir until after the BioDerm conflict has been resolved. She then traveled to Bella Omega to enlist the support of the other Great Tribes.

On Bella Omega in 3942 the Pact was formed (Tribes 2). The Administrative Council took shape and appointed Assault-Commanders from among the Blood Eagle and Diamond Sword. Fury was chosen as the first Battle-General of Pact forces. In 3947 the Blood Eagle and Starwolf troops fought along side one another for the first time in history to liberate Charybdis from the Hordes. By 3950 Fury had retaken Nirel-Malak Lattice and moved her forces to the Cardinal Gate at the trailing end of the McCrae Lattice in preparation for an assault on Bira Marduk (End of Tribes 2).

Armor
The Blood Eagle's armor is mostly crimson with underlying greys, blacks and copper. Their armor is worn from continuous engagements. The knee pads have talons to represent their tribe. The helmet has a very angular look to it with metal that juts out. The Tribe's melee weapon is a three pronged claw. This claw is holstered on the left side of the warriors armor and is used by the left hand.