Alpha Clan

Formed by the Bloomer Family, the Alpha Clan has always been something of a favorite to Malkeris. Likely this is due to the Bloomers close ties to him during his rise to power. 
Realizing the need to successfully purge the Guardians Malkeris placed all his bets with the Alpha Clan, turning his back on the other Clans.
By the time the Alpha Clan began its invasion of Roommenor, it was the only Dragoon Clan still fully intact.
== Vertansion Empire ==
When tensions between humanity and Vertansions began to rise, the Bloomer family was among the first families that Malkeris and Evangelion contacted to support.
Working alongside Malkeris, Evangelion, and other chosen families, the Bloomers contributed heavily to the revolt against the Vertansions. Throughout the revolution, the Bloomers grew somewhat close to Malkeris and gained a large following among the human population.
== Clan History ==
After Malkeris injects the Bloomer family and their supporters with the TXH chemical, they settle into the Southern Reach and were given the designation of Alpha. The family and their supporters built Founder's Mesa, and like other chosen families they worshipped Malkeris like a god.
As decades turned to centuries the Alpha Clan still remained fiercely loyal to Malkeris, even though their religiosity slowly waned.
=== 520 AF - Extortion of the Xi Clan ===
Due to their involvement in multiple conflicts on the continent, the Alpha Clan was desperate for resources. As a means to an end, they approached the Xi Clan. Although the Xi Clan was one of the smaller clans, they excelled in agriculture and infrastructure, managing to have a large surplus of a diverse amount of resources.
Alpha Clan demanded a share of this surplus, but the Xi Clan refused. The Alpha Clan then managed to publicly execute a Xi warlord while demanding half of their total supply. Fearful, Xi leadership agreed to the terms.
=== 523 AF - Tension with Zeta Clan grows ===
Unbeknownst to the Alpha Clan, the Xi Clan eventually turned to the Zeta Clan for assistance. When an Alpha company arrived in the city of Lamar to retrieve their share of resources, they were surprised when two Zeta battalions surrounded them.
Although the Zeta leaders did not want to shed any blood, the Alpha company became aggressive and a small skirmish ensued.
Leaders of Alpha, Zeta, and Xi would later meet to discuss the incident. Alpha leadership was infuriated, threatening both XI and Zeta with war. Zeta did not back down. With the lack of resources needed to fight a full scale war against two clans, the Alphas backed down and withdrew from their extortion of the Xi Clan.
=== 673 AF - Coalition against the Theta Clan ===
As the Theta Clan continued to grow and carve out considerable territory on the Northern Continent, they slowly gained Malkeris' favor. The Alpha Clan also began to see them as a serious threat. Despite their past differences, the Alpha Clan managed to convince the Zeta Clan and others that the Thetas were going to be a problem.
The Alphas then led this new coalition to war against the unsuspecting Theta Clan. Although the Thetas fought fiercely, they were eventually defeated and their empire was destroyed. While saddened by Theta’s defeat, this downfall renewed Malkeris’ interest in the Alpha Clan.
At the war's conclusion, the Alpha Clan was liberal in claiming large chunks of the conquered territory. This subtle act of aggression renewed tension with the Zeta Clan.
=== 785-796 AF - Dragoon Civil War ===
With tensions Spurred by decades of religious tension and corporate sponsorship, the remaining Dragoon clans on the continent (Alpha, Beta, Zeta, and Epsilon) knew war was bound to break out.
Led by Charles Bloomer II, the Alpha Clan was a favorite early on in the war. They managed to take large portions of territory from all three of their counterparts, attacking hard and fast. This success wouldn't last forever, as the more territory they took the thinner their forces were spread. Still, the Alphas were successful in pushing the Epsilon Clan to surrender.
The tide of the war would inevitably shift. Due to their losses in the Western Reach and the deeds of Zeta's Warlord Gregory Adolphus, the Zeta Clan was able to push back the Alpha Clan and force them to surrender. The Beta Clan, faced with the reality of fighting the Zeta Clan one on one, also withdrew.
The war would solidify the foundation for Alpha's seething hatred for the Zeta Clan.
=== 857 AF - Hanning Campaign ===
Using the expansion of the Zeta Clan's fishing fleet as an excuse, Chieftain David Bloomer orders an offensive into Zeta territory, hoping to catch their border defenses by surprise and seizing the city of Hanning as a bargaining chip. 
The Alpha operation is initially successful and they push to the gates of Hanning within a matter of days. However they are unprepared for the city's level of resilience, a protracted siege developing as the Alpha Clan force lacks the firepower to breech Hanning's walls. Angered by this, the Chieftain commits reinforcements to the siege, these new troops equipped with artillery and demolition devices. He orders that if the city can not be taken that it should be razed to the ground.
Sending forth the esteemed Lion Battalion, the Zeta Clan is able to break the Alpha siege and even secures a good number of prisoners. Pressured by their families, David begrudgingly agrees to acquiesce more territory to Zeta in exchange for a release of the captives. While many Dragoons of noble lineage appreciate his actions this sentiment is not widely shared, with some even whispering that David is weak.
Unknown to the majority of the Alpha Clan, the Zeta Clan threatened a counter attack in the form of a full scale invasion into Alpha Territory. Not ready for such a conflict, Alpha Clan leadership agreed to a peace treaty that coincided with the Invasion Clock: The treaty would end the day the invasion of Roommenor began. While the Zetas humbly returned home, Bloomer and Alpha Clan leadership kept the treaty as quiet as possible.
=== 858 AF - Operation Diomedes ===
Struggling with accusations of weakness, Chieftain Bloomer sees a prime opportunity to revitalize his image with reports of the Beta Clan crumbling under the weight of its own infighting. Committed to the Alpha belief that Beta are little more than witches and heretics, David proclaims that they must be purged to protect the very nature of Dragoons. This leads to the Alpha Clan leadership drawing up what comes to be known as Operation Diomedes, a campaign of shock and awe to smash Beta into extinction. While there are a few detractors, mostly among the religious minority, majority of the Clan jumps at the cause.
The operation is launched without incident and Alpha Clan battalions swarm into lingering Beta cities and temples. Though the Beta Clan defenders fight fanatically they simply can do little beside delay their inevitable demise. Orders are quickly dispatched to all Alpha field commanders that no trace of the Beta religion should be left: shrines, mausoleums, and clergy put to the torch. Mass executions and other atrocities are rampant as the Alpha Clan Dragoons see their deeds as part of a holy cause to liberate their species from a tainted limb.
Within a week any organized semblance of the Beta Clan is destroyed and David Bloomer declares Operation Diomedes a complete success.
=== 863 AF - The Shah Campaign ===
Eager to stockpile resources for the approaching invasion, the Alpha Clan turns to the Shah Province as an easy target for strip mining. While the initial incursion is successful the Alphas soon find themselves facing a resistant population which quickly escalates into a full blown guerrilla war. The conflict would go on for nearly two decades.
=== 864 AF - Operation Achilles ===
As criticism and casualties arose from the Shah Campaign the Alpha Clan was fraught to find a quick moral victory that could reaffirm confidence in their control. Hearing rumors of the Zeta Clan making its own plans to commit an invasion into Roommenor, the Alpha Clan quickly laid the ground work for what would be called Operation Achilles. 
The objective of Achilles was to hit the Zeta Clan so hard and fast they would not be able to offer proper resistance or scuttle their navy. While the operation was a success it saw horrific devastation, majority of which was targeted at Zeta’s cultural and intellectual centers, an act perpetrated by the Alpha Clan to eradicate Zeta’s legacy.
While Achilles was a success, a sizable portion of the Zeta high command is able to flee to the island of Haiphe which had long served as a Zeta airbase. The Alpha Clan decides the best way to deal with the Zeta remnants is with an aggressive bombing campaign and pounding the island to dust. Dubbed Operation Myrmidon, it begins roughly one month after the official defeat of the Zeta Clan.
Poor intelligence on the Alpha Clan’s part fails to identify the flak defenses, as well as the new SAM systems installed after Zeta forces fled to Haiphe. The inaugural operation is destructive but too costly on the part of the attackers and Alpha Clan headquarters decides to relegate their operations to night raids. However the beleaguered Zeta defenders have since imported pilots from across their prior territory all in a desperate gamble to shame the Alpha Clan enough to get them to leave the island alone.
Operation Myrmidon drags on for nearly three months with mounting losses on the Alpha Clan side. However there are no subsequent reinforcements or relief troops for the exhausted and besieged Zeta forces and eventually they are forced to surrender.
Although Operation Achilles and Myrmidon were successful, the Alphas were not able to completely eradicate the Zeta bloodline or spirit. With Zeta survivors and supporters scattering across the continent, the Alpha Clan tasked several battalions to pursue and hunt down these survivors in an attempt to stop any insurgencies before they began. Alpha Dragoons in these battalions would sarcastically call this move "Operation Fumigation," condescendingly referring to their adversaries as pests.
=== 879 AF - Invasion of Roommenor ===
Category:Faction
Category:Dragoon
Category:Clan