Battletech's "The Voice of Kerensky" speech
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- Опубліковано 29 вер 2024
- "After the SLDF Exodus Fleet reached the five Pentagon Worlds, General Aleksandr Kerensky sent a message back to the Inner Sphere on September 9th 2786:
The message was not transmitted as an HPG pulse, but by normal broadband microwave radio. Traveling at mere light speed, the message would take approximately 1,000 years to reach the outer limits of the Inner Sphere (approximately 3800), and over 1,500 years before it would reach Terra itself. No matter if this time frame was an indication of the elder Kerensky's intention for when his exiles would return, the Clans society created by his son Nicholas would return approximately 260 years after the message was sent, and well before anyone in the Inner Sphere could ever hope to hear it.
Ironically, this message of peace was later received and heard by Task Force Serpent, as it was on its way to conquer Huntress, the homeworld of Clan Smoke Jaguar and destroy this particularly aggressive Clan. " -- Sarna.Net
Produced and performed by George Ledoux and Voices In My Head® Productions
Artwork by B.B.Wolfe aka Laura Shaw
This is just epic. I am impressed. Thank you, Mr. Ledoux!
There is a certain irony in the fact that Kerensky speaks about the hope that because of him and his armada leaving, the leaders of the largest powers stop trying to conquer their neighbours and learn to work together - when his children, the Clans, return with the intent on '' saving '' the Inner Sphere, which ultimately has the powers that be in the Inner Sphere band together and learn to work together to stave off the new threat.
Sorta. Many of the clans misinterpreted Kerensky's words after 265 years. Many of the Inner Sphere houses also really didn't take part in engagements against the clans after getting their shit stomped. The Battle of Tukayyid was about 90-95% Comstar, while the IS houses fiddlefucked around as they always did.
@@THEGRUMPTRUCK I do seem to recall that Operation Bulldog and Operation Serpent, the eradication of Clan Smoke Jaguar, was compromised largely of forces from the SLDF of the Second Star League, of which I know Word of Blake wasn't a part of, and it's questionable just how much the still comparatively green Com Guard composed it. There was also the Great Refusal, of which Comstar only fought against the Jade Falcon Clan.
I find it more ironic that, he pretty clearly talks about returning AFTER the Inner Sphere has rebuilt the Star League, but one of the big arguments for invading was that the Federated Commonwealth was a sign they were headed towards that direction and the clans needed to strike now...
@@SwordlordRoy What was the big deal if the Federated Commonwealth reunified the Inner Sphere under their rule? Were the Clans afraid that they'd become something that was contrary to the beliefs of the original Star League?
@@ryanmacdonald8936 The Clans believed that they were the Star League, that a Star League built without their "Superior" culture as it’s center was an unthinkable abomination that needed to be destroyed at all costs. This really comes from the difference between the Father and the Son, even if most of clan written history that would prove it probably reads like a bar code now. The Warden Clans seem closer to Aleksandr Kerensky's ideal, that the SLDF remnant was to Guard the Inner Sphere from External Threats until such time as the Inner Sphere got their shit together and reformed the Star League, then they could reveal themselves and offer to become the SLDF proper again. The Crusader clans are more on the boat with Nikolas "Kim Jong" Kerensky, who was a tin pot dictator with daddy issues and delusions of godhood, having a temper tantrum that his daddy wasn't the First Lord of the Star League.
Kerensky: An Optimist to the end
He does an impeccablee job of capturing just how nuts kerensky was when he made this. Kerensky had a lot of power and we understand he feels as though he wanted to do the right thing but damn, its almost eerie.
He spent fourteen years to save the Inner Sphere, to save the great houses, to save everyone. All they did was turn their backs on him, strip him of rank, and seize all of the same assets he used to wage war on one another. Kerensky was done. He was done with it all. I understand why he left.
This was made by Alexandr Kerensky not Nicholas his son.
Could you call this nuts though? This was the only sensible action he could take.
He doesn’t sound nuts, just…broken, he fought most of his life for a dream of a United humanity, a United houses, a United universe, just shattered. Star league died when Amaris pulled the trigger, much in the same way the Republic did when the first knife pierced Caesar, as it showed any official with enough Machiavellian capacity and resources could overthrow the state. He fought for mankind’s hope for a future unshackled by the terror of unending mass conflict… only to see the houses decide that they were curious, and open up the same old box Pandora did millennia ago. I have respect for the man, he had the ability to keep going, through all this, all of the civil war, and actually try and leave the galaxy in a better place, instead of just deciding to surrender, or worse, try draining Cerebrospinal fluid using a standard issue sidearm.
As Shadowwolf77 said it appears the original poster either didn't know Nicholas was Alexander's sociopathic son or had the two mixed up. Clearly Alexander was a desperate old soldier tired of bloodshed & haunted by his many demons one being failing to properly mentor the last Cameron into a capable compassionate leader.
So Kerensky's idea was for the clans to become wardens
Well the Star League Defense Force, he had no plans for the SLDF-in-Exile to go Clanner.
The Clans were his son Nicholas’s idea.
The basis for the Clans and Wardens ideologies came from something Aleksandr said later which became known as the Hidden Hope Doctrine" which states *Return to the Inner Sphere is impossible for us. Our heritage and our convictions are different from those we left behind. The greed of the five Great Houses and the Council Lords is a disease that can only be burned away by the passing of decades, even centuries. And though the fighting may seem to slow, or even cease, it will erupt again as long as there are powerful men to covet one another's wealth. We shall live apart, conserving all the good of the Star League and ridding ourselves of the bad, so that when we return - and return we shall - our shining moral character will be as much our shield as our BattleMechs and fighters*
Begun, the Clan Wars have
And thus Comstar became the warden of the fragile balance of power throughout the inner-sphere. Sad that most Kerensky's descendants became shitty clanners with all honor but no brains. Nothing is more embarrassing than being beaten by space AT&T in their own game
eeeh Comstars are hardly wardens of balance when they instigate conflict between the houses themselves to consolidate their own power, and even actually hold the sphere back technology-wise to hoard it for themselves. They are douchebags of the highest degree just like the houses, its just that they are more conceited about it.
Hell they saw the clan invasion as an opportunity for themselves and even helped the clan by slipping them intel up until they learned their own seat of power was the ultimate clan target. Its only once their own ass was lit on fire that they finally sided against the invasion. Hate the clans all you want, I'm firmly on the side that the phone company is WAY worse morally speaking.
a man the world did not want... but a man the world needed... one of compassion, reason, and humility... the man all men should stive to be like...
A beautiful reading of one of the most Deus Ex movements in Battletech. But they are good words.
The General was a great and honorable man with no taste for power, only to protect the Star League. He was a patriot, his religion was his state and House Cameron. Under the banner of the Star League, he'd spent more than a decade following orders to bring the Periphery, particularly the Taurians, back under the rule of the League, then longer fighting the Usurper's forces. Many of the men and women whom he led had fought for a quarter century, or had known nothing but those wars, and were losing their humanity. Kerensky knew he could keep the Star League together, by using the SLDF to subjugate the Great Houses of the Sphere. The peace could be made only at gun point and then kept under the boot of SLDF battlemechs with the promise of orbital bombardment if that didn't work. And his troops would have followed those orders. Imagine Kentares writ large, or the WOB jihad but five or even ten times worse. So, Kerensky gathered up his people, the ones he knew would burn orphans and turn their arms on the old and sick if gave the word, and took his loose cannons out of the equation before they got loose. He knew that the League was done. So he made the decision to let the Great Houses try to save what they could. And if they were going to fight it out, he'd take the elite of the SLDF and it's best toys with him, just in case.
But the General couldn't live for ever. His younger, smarter, saner son died retaking the Pentagon Worlds. And with no Cameron to turn to, and only one Kerensky, the people turned to the Kerensky they had. A man who's philosophy combined the worst parts of Plato and Mao.
And they say, that Nicolai Kerensky was behind death of his brother Andrei, as he was too dangerous for elder brother. A former puppet with clan Wolverine could ruin his day in one way or another.
Ironic that his descendants would return to the Inner Sphere as the very thing he sought to free the Inner Sphere of. If he would know what had happened to his people after his son Nicholas took over, I bet he'd be very disappointed in them.
Not all. The warden factions stayed true to his dream. They only fought during the invasion to keep the crusaders in check.
Debatable. Some Warden clans still fought against the inner sphere during the invasion, like Ghost Bear, and Wolf. (edit, had to double-check Sarna (battletech wiki), since the site's got more information than what I have physically on hand.)
@@cakeboss4194 Despite what my Ghost Bear-loving friend claims, all evidence I've got seems to indicate that the Ghost Bears were Crusader until the new Khan (appointed after Tukayyid) shat himself when the Second Star League Defense Force, fresh from annihilating Smoke Jaguar, showed up on Strana Mechty and said "Ok, now we play by your rules."
@@SwordlordRoy Ghost Bear were originally of the Crusader-mindset. But on the eve of the Great Refusal, the clan declared themselves Wardens
@@cakeboss4194 Ghost bear was crusader at the time of the invasion, and clan wolf was strong-armed into getting involved by the crusaders under pretense than the chosen clan of Nicholas Kerensky HAD to participate no matter what (thought in truth this was an attempt to shame clan wolf).
Imagine this hitting on Terras radios, as the current IlClan hears it, all over the world, and somebody reflects on the history of the throne made of the skulls of everyone who ever died in the last 1500 years.
The shame.
The absolute shame.
that moment already came with Operation Bulldog.
tbh the IllClan era is stupid "We, Clanwolf are to protect humanity. So gib us terra!"
I think it was a Smoke Jaguar who said that Terra and the Star League are poison, and the effort it takes to claim so much territory will ultimately be the undoing of any empire.
Except for Clan Plot Armor.
Your range and voice acting is remarkable.
Aleksandr Kerensky was truly a great man worthy of honor and respect. His son Nicholas, on the other hand, was a Tinpot Dictator with Daddy Issues and Delusions of Godhood...
Don't forget Nicholas grew up under the Amaris occupation. He did years of service in the Upserper's's version of the Hitler youth.
@@jamesricker3997 And Amaris grew up in a nation occupied by an oppressive foreign power that had a might makes right attitude toward the periphery. A tragic backstory doesn't excuse the actions of a power-hungry madman, it only makes it understandable about how they went mad.
@@jamesricker3997 you forgot one more point - Nicolai's brain was damaged because of the disease, that killed Katusha Kerensky, his mother and Alexander's wife.
Makes me want to get in my SLDF Highlander and blast off for the stars. Great work! Take care and stay safe
The SLDF enterprise followed our leader into the abyss. One day we hope to return
It's rather interesting that the departure of the Star League Defense Force did little to nothing to dissuade or even hinder the Successor States from fighting 4 Succession Wars across roughly 3 centuries, as expected or hoped by General Kerensky.
I'm not sure what that says human nature, probably something about Humanities nature as stubborn and ambitious creatures and that no one has the same mindset and thoughts on what is best.
He knew the war was coming. What he hoped to do was prevent it from completely destroying humanity.
Fantastic!!!
I may HATE the Clans, but I understand the role they play in BattleTech history. Sweet, nicely done, Mr. Ledoux.
Me leaving 40k for battletech
It is interesting how the events kinda mirror in a way.
Aleksander Kerensky obviously would have been deeply ashamed of the actions taken by the "Crusader" Clans, as they did the exact opposite of what he intended by taking the SLDF away from the Inner Sphere. but I think he would have supported, maybe even been proud of, the "Warden" Clans. www.sarna.net/wiki/Warden_Clans
Great work as always, George!
He might have reprimanded the Wardens a bit for their methods. The Crusaders he would definitely disown, as they were exactly what he feared SLDF would end up doing if they stayed: making a mess of the place for no good reason.
I can defiantly see where the warden philosophy for the clans originated from, but i am left with a question. If this was the great Kerenskys wish for his forces, and what his son tried to follow with despite sowing the seeds of the first clan ideals, how did it become so perverse as to go from Wards/Shepards of the innersphere, to conquerors no better than the waring factions they claimed to of left for the purpose of not contributing to the problem.
My mind races with the possibilities of what the Battletech universe would of ended up like if the clans had returned just as Papa Kerensky had wished they had....
This message was meant for the Inner Sphere, not the Clans, and its possible they never even heard it. Instead, a lot the Clan's political doctrine was based on General Order 137 or 'The Hidden Hope Doctrine.' It can be read here: www.sarna.net/wiki/Hidden_Hope_Doctrine
In this speech, Kerensky says that they will one day return to the Inner Sphere. However, it is ambiguous as to in what fashion they would return to the Inner Sphere. This ambiguity gave rise to the Warden and Crusader factions within the Clans. Wardens believed the message to be an ideal that was to inspire the Clans to greatness and not a literal command. The Crusaders, however, took the order literally and believed that Kerensky had always meant for the Clans to return to the Inner Sphere and resurrect the Star League after defeating the Great Houses.
Actually it wasn’t Aleksandr Kerensky who came up with the Clan ways. It was his son, Nicholas Kerensky.
It is just like what happens with religion & politics: The basic ideas may be peace, love, brotherhood, & freedom for one & all; but at some point some knucklehead gets enough influence and/or authority & twists it to suit whatever interests or purposes he & his followers may have at the moment.
Technically, that is anything humans can influence.
PhantomMauler360 I sort of look at it like this, the clans come to conquer and once they conquer they are dumb enough to think they can control the inner sphere to end the fighting, so in a sense it does fit his vision.
i still hear your voice regularly at least a few times a week, and what a voice it is :-)
Long Live Living Legends
And then the Clan Wars begun. And this makes clans even cooler.
I'm still confused why this man, touted as the ultimate tactical, strategic and logistical genius, didn't realize that the RIGHT thing to do (if not necessarily the honourable and moral one) would be to stick around and beat the Great Houses back into line.
He didn't even have to seize the Cameron throne or whatever, he could have just put a little plastic chair at the foot of the dais for himself... you know, Steward of Gondor style.
o7
wow, that was great .
So glad you liked it, thanks!
Wow, just wow! Really George, this one is one of your best even if it was only 2 minutes long.
I can understand why he did what he did. In the end you can only control your own actions... no one else's. He did what he did out of love of duty and his people.
it didn't work , lol
awesome job, love your voice acting for anything related to battletech. its .......amazing *Duncan Fisher nod*
Well done sir.
There should be a confusion due to that, this is probably not the voice of Kerensky.
I have renamed the video in an attempt to avoid confusion with actual, Russian history.
Amazing work.
Seyla to the Great Father !!!
Magnificently done.
I wonder if the clans did knew about that.Would they still attack?
Dirty Clanners!!!!!
Yet when he comes back as the Clans he basically destroys the IS....soooo, uuummm, contradictory much?
He didn’t intend for his descendants to become the Clans; that was his son Nicholas’s idea. If you look up his “Hope Doctrine”, you will see how he Clans may have misinterpreted his words. And as stated at the beginning, this was him addressing the people of the Inner Sphere and he had this broadcasted using old technology that the Star League barely used. The transmission would’ve taken at least 800 years to reach the Inner Sphere. At that point, had the Clans not shown up, the Successor States would’ve bombed each other to the point where their technology couldn’t even fight one another.
The hell are you talking about. He took the SLDF out of the inner sphere and had not formed the clans. Nicolas did that. Get your story straight.
Here's the thing, After he sent the "Voice of Kerensky" back to the Inner Sphere, he later made a speech to his followers: *Return to the Inner Sphere is impossible for us. Our heritage and our convictions are different from those we left behind. The greed of the five Great Houses and the Council Lords is a disease that can only be burned away by the passing of decades, even centuries. And though the fighting may seem to slow, or even cease, it will erupt again as long as there are powerful men to covet one another's wealth. We shall live apart, conserving all the good of the Star League and ridding ourselves of the bad, so that when we return - and return we shall - our shining moral character will be as much our shield as our BattleMechs and fighters*
This speech was interpreted differently among the SLDF remnant. So believed Kerensky meant when the clans return, they should protect the Great houses (Warden ideology). Others thought Kerensky meant for the clan to go back and conquer the Inner Sphere (Crusader ideology)