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Timeline History of Blackthornes Dragoons
To begin, the following information has been ascertained over the course of several months’ research. Documentation taken from the Star Lord-class ship in the Dragoon’s possession until its decommission in 3002 indicate that it was the Torannchless, a military transport ship in service with the 17th Army of the Star League Defence Force. The identity was then verified from records of transit through both Free World League and Lyran Commonwealth space. Furthermore, a request was made with Comstar to view SLDF dispatch orders, particularly those of the 17th Army during their station in the Periphery. The battle tactics, command history, and post-SLDF records were used to narrow the field from which regiment this group developed. This trail of records provide solid proof enough to establish the following conclusion: This unit is indeed the surviving remnant of the 38th Dragoon Regiment, an abandoned heavy assault group believed to have been marooned and later lost within the Magistracy of Canopus Sector of the Periphery. Recordings, journals, and combat logs have been used to formulate this approximation of the timeline of events that transpired from the Fall of the Star League to current day.
-Marcus “Aranzor” Nolan, Librarian of Blackthornes Dragoons.
Part 1
ORIGINS
(Founding- 2766)
SLDF Designation and Periphery Uprising
The 38th Dragoon Regiment was originally listed with the LXXII Corps of the 17th Army, stationed across the Magistracy of Canopus region in the Deep Periphery. The relatively peaceful region allowed the 17th Army to become lax in its vigilance. As the uprising reared its head, the 17th was caught completely by surprise, many of its corps suffering heavy losses in the initial exchanges, while other groups were left stranded on distant worlds, far from the rest of the army. The 38th Dragoon Regiment was one such group.
Recently arriving on the planet Techne's Revenge to begin its rotation garrisoning the planet, the regiment was almost immediately grounded due to terrorist attacks on its transport fleet, using the relaxed attitude toward security and the confusion of settling in to the new locale to blindside them at their weakest point. While still able to fend any real challenges to the garrison itself, there was no longer any way for the regiment to logistically escape the planet without either leaving valuable equipment or munitions behind. Rather than take this risk, the group made its first fateful decision to remain on the planet and quell the local uprising before worrying about how to rejoin the rest of the 17th Army.
In the years that the fighting continued, the regiment would eventually be whittled down to little more than a battalion in combat-ready strength, much of its loss coming from either suicide attacks or the unit's own cannibalization of older, inferior mechs to outfit a more recent or better operating chassis. More significantly, the heavy losses of the regiment's transportation fleet, dropships and jumpships alike, would continue to plague the unit, both during the conflict and beyond.
(Year 2766-2784)
The Amaris Civil War, and After
The Periphery Uprising had been won, but enormous losses guaranteed at the very least that the regiment would be downgraded and absorbed, perhaps even disbanded altogether. Even after the official end to the uprising, the unit was more or less stranded on Techne's Revenge, missing the entirety of the Amaris Civil War because of extensive damage to its transport fleet, namely the destruction of 70% of its dropships and 3 of its 4 jumpships, with the remaining ship, the Torannchless, heavily crippled from an attempt on its Kearny-Fuchida drive that left it functional but on the verge of meltdown after even a single use.
Despite being stranded, then ordered by the 17th Army command to defend the garrison at Techne's Revenge while the rest of the Army moved on, the decision was made in 2782 to tempt fate and make the long voyage back into Inner Sphere space and to the regrouping SLDF. The voyage was slow, requiring prolonged time between jumps because of the condition of the ship's K-F drive. It took almost a full 7 months alone to reach the edge of FWL space. The jumpship was only just leaving the Augustine system they heard word that Operation Exodus had been initiated days prior. Once again the former regiment was left stranded.
After the news of the Exodus reached the group, there was much debate over what to do with the unit. In the end, the decision was made to avoid siding with any House, and instead seek out a place to lay low and fix their badly damaged transport and dropships. If they were going to attempt to catch up with Kerensky's forces, they would need to make sure the ship would not come apart simply from the voyage through known space, let alone beyond the edge of the Inner Sphere.
The single jumpship found its way into a binary system along the edge of FWL space, to the planet known as Alhena. Multiple debris fields provided excellent cover to hide the ship, but it became clear at this time that the ship would never be able to catch the fleet in its current condition. For the time being, the K-F drive was disabled and the ship left to drift in one of the debris fields so as to hide the whereabouts of the group. Word had reached them that all Houses were enlisting the remaining SLDF forces, willingly or not, in a mad grab for power. Despondent, but resolute in keeping the group together, the remaining forces settled on the nearby planet.
(Year 2786)
Reborn Blackthornes
Once the group had settled in to an old outpost on the planet, the acting commander of the outfit, Lt. Colonel Quentin Ericson sat down with the rest of the higher ranking officers to take stock of their situation and determine how to best direct the tattered regiment. All of the staff agreed that siding with any of the House was out of the question, given their abandonment of the SLDF in its time of need, as well as the sudden arms race that they had created after the event of the Exodus. With this in mind, the newly formed command staff would have to make several changes to its own structure, in order to survive for a duration apart from any other support.
Contracts with the local colonists were the first step. These ensured the use of the outpost, as well as the silence of the colonists themselves in return for protection from bandit or Lyran raids. The Dragoons had already been told that there was little FWL support because of the relatively low priority of the planet. The fighting force of the group was reorganized into a small strike force: 11 battlemechs, 5 tanks, 2 APCs, 2 Dropships. Only the necessary combat personnel were set aside to fill the needs of this small group, with the rest being sent to form the basis of a new workforce both in the outpost as well as the surrounding area. Support personnel were also divided up in the same manner. Only the naval crew was spared this fate, numbering so few that prior to landing they had had to borrow and train others from the support crew in order to properly maintain the ship. The naval crew did take a few of its members with deep space training to begin work on a long term project to put the mothballed jumpship in working order, in case an escape was ever needed. The rest became the flight crews for the two remaining dropships.
The newly formed workforce's first task was to transform the outpost into a fully operational and defendable Castle Brian. Much of the weaponry would be parts taken from their own cannibalized mechs that had been unable to make the trip. The dragoons would also begin work on their own farms in order keep them from being entirely dependent on the colonists. These would be worked by the regiment's dependents, many of whom were not unused to such work, as they had been sustaining the regiment during its two decades of fighting in return for protection from the Periphery Uprising. The weather and terrain on the planet, however, was far harsher than any they had worked before. Only the Blackthornes bush, a variant of a blackberry plant, seemed both able to withstand the winters as well as thrive with in the tough soil. Soon it would become the outfit's chief product, with the farmers finding as many uses for it as possible in order to maximize trade. The trade goods were often escorted by a mech to show off the Dragoon's power in the region, as well as serve as a recruitment tool for the regiment. Hearing the Dragoon name, but with no knowledge of their origins, traders would soon refer to them as the Blackthornes Dragoons.
Considered little more than a joke at first by the command staff, the new name was eventually adopted, given how far the name was spreading and the desire to keep their origin a secret from the Successor Houses, who by now had begun what would later be called the 1st Succession War. Under the new Blackthornes Dragoons banner, the strike force would become a welcome and much needed force for the system, defending against raiders and scouting parties alike. At times even FWL forces would call upon them to fulfill roles as mercenaries, though the Blackthornes were always ones to avoid being used in a major conflict, cautious that they might be recognized by their former SLDF counterparts.
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Part 1.5
(Year 2984-2988)
Star League Discovery
Early in the year 2984, an exploration into one of the myriad of ice caverns a few miles away from the main fort yielded an astonishing find. The seemingly honeycombed layout of the caverns turned out to have been early excavation for a secondary base. Unlike the main defense post, however, this one had not been cleaned out. Some 20+ varied craft had been entombed within the caverns. Further investigation revealed that this had been intended to be the first of three state-of-the-art air bases, but had been abandoned because of the internal climate change. The earth that formed the base of the cave was far more soluble than was believed, and heat from the engines and caused melting that turned the ground into something between quicksand and quick-dry cement. Despite the relative few casualties over the catastrophic incident, the craft already in the base were written off as a lost cause.
Rather than alert the entire unit to the discovery of such machines, the Major Benjamin Kearn chose instead to have the techs work on the recovery of the machines under guise of scavenging for parts. Many of the vehicles were indeed no longer usable, but in time they were able to assemble 10 fighters, in addition to the 2 they had long held from their ancient voyage. The list of fighters were 4 Sparrowhawks, 2 Rapiers, 1 Hellcat II, 2 Ironsides and 2 Gothas and a Hammerhead. The reason for the varied list was due to the Major's orders, specifically stating to spend time only on securing enough parts to field 2 units and their appropriate spare parts. The only exceptions to this were the Hammerhead and the Hellcat II, which were relics from the protection detail meant for one of the dropships. The Sparrowhawk parts proved so numerous, however, that the techs were able to double the suggested number with ease.
While there is no direct evidence on the matter, there is considerable suggestion in the records of significant discord or rivalry between the Major Kearn and the Hearth Guard leader, Captain Thomas Carson. It is likely for this reason, and perhaps foreseeing the actions to come, that Major Kearn did not report the success of these actions, let alone the initial findings, until well after the summer of 2985. Captain Carson, furious over the actions of the Major, attempted to lobby with the Blackthornes Dragoons' Chairman, Colonel William Morris, to take over the project himself. This course failed largely in part because of his previous actions in trimming personnel to only needed mechs, and an attempt to use his position as leader of the combat team to usurp Major Kearn’s authority. He further doomed his own position by transferring many of his talented but undesired pilots to Major Kearn, who had been more than happy to take them in, promoting them into officer positions where able. It would be from this band of displaced warriors that Major Kearn would indeed create his own first flight crew. In the end, Captain Carson was forced to accept their positions, at least during their training regimen. The Major’s executive officer, Lieutenant Mark Amsel, was promoted to Captain and given control of this new unit, dubbed the Ruthless Rooks.
(Year 2986-2988)
Formation of Psycho Spiders
The decision to assign the Rooks away from the Battlemech company was the first sign of a fallout out occurring between the Captain Carson and Colonel Morris during this time, either from this issue or something related. This is evidenced by the fact that the Colonel originally was in complete support of the Captain Carson attempt for control to begin, but at the end not only agreed to the proposal by the Major Kearn for regimen and usage, but further had intended to deploy the fighters to the dropship fleet after their initial training instead of direct support with Hearth Guard. The decision to begin the process of creating a second, albeit smaller company further bit into Captain Carson's control within the Dragoons.
The man chosen to lead this new group was the recently promoted Captain Anthony Flick. A victim of a rare spider bite that had left him near-death for several weeks, he attributed his new style of inter-lance combat and tactics to the creature that had nearly taken his life. His lance, dubbed the "Psycho Spiders," would be trained to make strike and raiding missions that Hearth Guard could never have attempted before. The transition was set to take place over a series of training exercises that would be completed in mid-2987 with the intention of bulking up the unit to two full lances by that time.
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Part 2
HUNTED: ALHENA'S END
Year 2987
The Deep Raid of 2987
In 2987 a massive fleet from the Lyran Commonwealth made its presence known to the Free Worlds League with the sacking of Ling, destroying the crucial mech facilities and stealing vital information. This attack became a wide swept hit-and-run raiding campaign within FWL's borders, plaguing all planets in the vicinity with numerous raids, some with intended targets while others were meant merely as decoys. The Hearth Guard had only recently returned from their latest garrison request on nearby Callison when news of the attack arrived. With the threat of redeployment running high, all training exercises were reorganized, including those of the Psycho Spiders, around preparing for defense of any of the nearby systems should their assistance be called upon.
As luck, or to some, lack thereof, would have it, the group would not have to wait long or travel far. In the middle of the second week of restructured exercises and under Captain Carson's own eyes, three dropships had begun to make their landing on the planet. Assembling his already deployed troops and recommitting them to the front line, the captain managed to surprise the Lyran raiding party, hitting them as the exited the ships and even destroying one of the dropships. What was once meant to be a show of overwhelming firepower to raid and escape quickly turned into a slug fest with both sides losing much in the process. In the end, the Dragoons had had to expend heavy aerial ordinance to create enough space for the Hearth Guard to make a retreat. Captain Carson was one among many that did not make the return trip. In the following two weeks of fighting the Dragoons maintained the edge in kills, but outnumbers and outgunned, had been pressed back to fighting just outside their fortress. Hearth Guard’s strength now numbered just nine mechs, while the Psycho Spiders had faired relatively better, having only to cannibalize one of its number in order to provide spare parts for the other three mechs.
Betrayal
Amidst a lull of the conflict, word came down that reinforcements from the FWLM were being deployed to their area. Assured that they would be relieved and even rewarded for their efforts, the Blackthornes Dragoons kept on their resistance. This bout continued well beyond the intended landing date, but once the landing was underway, the Hearth Guard were again sent out to defend the landing zone for the incoming forces. This ended up being a bad decision. The forces sent were none other than the 5th Regulan Hussars. This group had a strong hatred toward the Duchy of Oriente, who the Blackthornes had been attempting to gain new contracts with for some time, foregoing offers from several Regulan worlds. For this reason, or perhaps something lost to the moment, the Hussars began to fire on both the attacking Lyrans and Blackthornes alike, completely surprising the latter, and sending both into full retreat. Only a last-minute strafing run by the Blackthornes Dragoons aerospace forces created enough space for the group to make their getaway. Enraged or embarrassed by their mistake, the 5th Regulan Hussars immediately declared the Blackthornes as traitors for striking back against them, and announced that if they did not surrender within 24 hours, they would be hunted down and their base bombarded to rubble.
In this dark hour, the question of surrender was raised for debate many times but each time ultimately rejected by the remaining command staff. The very act of the attack meant that the 5th had put so much of their focus on the Blackthornes that they'd failed to prevent the Lyran raiders' escape and would have to take steps to save themselves from recrimination, either by making the Blackthornes appear incompetent or even possibly in league with the invaders despite their service record. Finally, the decision was reached to attempt the impossible. They would attempt to surprise the Hussars and make a run for open space, putting into play the trump card the Blackthornes had sealed away, never truly intending to use again.
Ambush
In a daring run during the twilight hours of the morning, Psycho Spiders and aerospace forces alike struck out against the 5th Regulan Hussars. Alternating between decoy and raiding tactics, the Blackthornes managed to throw the Hussars into confusion first as their depots were bombarded by laser fire from above by the aerospace group, then by Psycho Spiders as they leapt into the midst of the group attempting to form ranks. While their lighter mechs could do little damage against their more-heavily armored opponents, the act itself completed the confusion the destruction from the depots had caused. As the Psycho Spiders attempted to make their escape, the right leg of one of the resulting in the pilot’s choice to self-destruct in order to buy still more time.
The rest of the outfit not in the fight made ready to make its departure, working hard to sever all ties and records with its dependents on the planet so that they could not be held hostage after the Blackthornes had made its departure. All remaining mechs and equipment were gathered into the Overlord and Union dropships Dullahan II and Casúr Cogadh. The two Leopard dropships, the Gae Bolga and CV Variant Cait Sith, would land at a small airport close to the enemy’s base and remain there for as long as possible to provide all surviving members of the strike team an escape while the 5th Hussars tried to figure out what would come next.
The Long Gauntlet
The unexpected strike and detonation of the 5th Hussars’ largest ammo depots left the unit completely in disarray. Convinced that the strike had only been a prelude for an imminent assault, all scouting troops were set to watching over any and all routes for an attack that would never come. By the time word had reached the 5th of Blackthornes deception, any attempt to keep the last elements of their force from reaching space had been lost.
Once more tactically embarrassed by the Blackthornes, the 5th’s commander ordered their remaining aerial support to follow the group, while ground forces stages a takeover of the abandoned base to claim for their own in order to salvage some face in light of the situation. Over the next several hours, the two Leopard-class dropships were constantly and aggressively hounded as they made their way toward the rendezvous point. While able to hold the air before, the aerospace pilots’ inexperience in space showed all too well. By the time the convoy reached its destination, only 2 of the 6 fighters remained, reducing the Rooks total force to half its original strength.
Despite the losses, the Hussars never pressed their advantage. While hardly unscathed, they maintained numerical superiority yet there are no records of any push made to cut the Blackthornes off. It is entirely possible the commander intended to run them to ground, or use them to track where the larger Union and Overlord ships had fled, but this too is never made clear. What is clear is that the final hours of the chase quickly dissolved into utter chaos as the ships neared a debris field. Known to few, the debris field was actually a marker for a pirate jump point that occasionally opened up in the area. It was also the exact place that the now-forgotten Lyran Strike force had been holding out, waiting for a pickup from one of the main fleet’s jumpships. In a gesture of either brilliance or desperation, the two Leopard Dropships put themselves right into the middle of this nest, braving the firepower from both sides, in order to draw the Hussars back into conflict with the more numerous and better armed Lyrans. The tactic took its toll, damaging both ships heavily, but it succeeded in turning a chase into a melee. Amid this three-way fight, a jumpship did push its way into the field, but not via jump.
The ancient Blackthornes' Star Lord-class ship, the Torannchless, now fully armed and manned with the power of a Union and Overlord in addition to its two fixed Confederate Dropships would make itself known, quickly carving out a space about itself as well as securing the final routes for the last of its small fleet to dock. Unfortunately, the Cait Sith proved too far gone, the crew barely managing to escape before the ship began to tear itself apart. The Gae Bolga had also suffered significant damage, but with the assistance of the last of the Rooks, it was able to safely dock with the jumpship as the fighting slowed to its end. The Lyrans had realized the unlikelihood of any ship making it to them in time, and had begun its surrender to the Hussars. Against all odds, the jumpship managed to avoid any new critical damage during the assault and recover, making its first jump in more than two hundred years.
Fallout and New Home
Though the jumpship would eventually be given safe passage to Oriente space, this would only be granted after signing a contract with Duke Halas that would essentially bind them to his family for the next half-century. Accusations of treason and aiding and abetting were dropped by the Hussars and by extension the Regulan administration, with the Hussars’ commander being forced to offer an apology and resignation in order to avoid data of the unit’s aggressive strikes being made public. Eventually even the Lyran prisoners were returned to their homeland once the main force had returned to its own borders, their mission successful but extremely costly. Despite its losses, the Hussars hold that no Blackthorne was ever captured amid battle.
The final cost for the Blackthornes would be 9 mechs, 8 fighters, and 1 dropship. Of those still serviceable, only 8 of the remaining mechs were ready for redeployment. Of the fighters, 2 were eventually sold off to pay for repair costs and debts currently against unit. The Gae Bolga avoided being fixed to the jumpship for its damage, but would spend the next two years being refitted and repairs before it could participate in missions once more. Worse still was the damage to the command staff of the Blackthornes. While Colonel Morris had been off planet at the time, and Major Kearn had survived the ordeal, Captain Carson’s death, along with the deaths of 2 of his Lieutenants, left the Hearth Guard relatively leaderless. Captain Amsel was listed as MIA, having never been recovered from the debris field conflict, and his Rooks by now were virtually nonexistent. Under Regulan provisions for vacating the treason charges, Blackthornes Dragoons were forced to turn over all business and military holdings that had remained on Alhena to be split among the Regulan garrison that took over watch and to the local government so that they could build up their militia. Duke Halas in turn offered a station on Salur to use as their headquarters for the duration of their contract.
The aging jumpship captain, Capt. Paul Kershaw, would soon after step down from his command due to his failing health. Colonel Morris would also retire shortly after the incident to become a consultant with Oriente Weapon Works on Emris IV, leaving Major Kearn in charge of overseeing the rebuilding of what was left of the decimated force. Despite his ability to overcome the incident, save his people, and secure a new home for their future, Major Kearn would never be able to reconcile with the losses that the Blackthornes Dragoons had suffered on his watch. After having filled the ranks for Hearth Guard back to a full company and the newly named Widowmakers (though the command lance would continue using the Psycho Spider designation) to near equal in strength, the major committed suicide. A note was later found on his person, professing the enormity of his sorrow for being unable to stop the spiral of events that saw so many of his friends and family give their lives. His death would renew turmoil for a short time, but ultimately he was deemed as a hero among the newly reformed corps, and was buried within the small memorial on Alhena along with those very friends he had held in such regard.
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Part 3
(Year 2990-3014)
Privateer Years - The Periphery
Rebuilding and Expansion
Though cleared of all charges against them and now given a new safe haven from which to operate, the Blackthornes Dragoons were still left on the brink of disbandment. Denied their other businesses to fall back on, as well as limited to the operations provided to them by Oriene, the unit could barely afford to put its forces into the field, let alone build up from them. To answer this, several tough decisions had to be made for the unit to ensure its survival.
First, the Dragoons once again reached out to the Oriente Military for assistance with supplies and equipment, agreeing to purchase several surplus depots despite the older and outdated equipment provided. This proved a boon to the unit in both morale and technical prowess, as several teams would often compete against one another to design new and unique modifications to these chassis.
Next, to expand on its available pilot base, requirements for enrollment to the unit were relaxed. This last change was met with much controversy, leading to the decision to create an intermediary training unit. The 3rd Dragoon Battalion, or sometimes simply called the "Thorns," were designed to be a group with a strong reserve, but also modular so that potential pilots could enter and leave the unit with as little adaptation as needed.
Finally, new emphasis was placed on disabling the mech rather than bringing it down. This was especially true for heavier mechs, of which the Dragoons were in dire need. The opportunity to fulfill this need would soon be met, as the Duchy of Oriente placed its first task to its new subordinates: Root out the various pirate bands plaguing shipping along the Periphery.
Periphery Operations
Limited to only a single company of each battalion initially, the Dragoons were forced to focus on smaller prey at first, dividing the units further into lances and dropping them off in key locations. Each of these lances would be responsible for its own support, though at times assisted by planetary forces, in tracking down and discovering either caches or potential raid targets that pirates might hold interest.
Due to the splintering of forces, it became difficult to keep track of the various clashes these groups would endure. It is known however that their numbers continued to grow, both in personnel as well as available lances and thus mechs. For a short time tanks and other craft were also included to fill out numbers, but these rarely lasted for long either because of the Dragoons' proclivity for mechs over all other forms of mechanized combat.
Heart Guard, Fire Eyes, Kearny Ravagers, and Rusted Jesters were just a few of the various pirate bands that the group helped to remove. The Heart Guard and Kearny Ravagers in particular proved quite a problem to lock down because of their strong ties to their homelands on Ceará and Kearny, respectively. Rather than waste further valuable resources to eradicate these groups, the Dragoons instead offered captured pilots from each side a place within the unit, eventually absorbing both groups into the fold. With this latest reinforcement, the Dragoons were now at last up to their promised strength, numbering at seventy-plus mechs alone.
The Cap Rouge Uprising in 3010 became a signature moment for the unit, who demonstrated their prowess with their newly combined forces by systematically dismantling the cadets and military that had attempted to stage a coup from the Hero Training Institute on Sillery, despite a lack of air support. For their efforts in this task, the planet awarded the Dragoons a sizeable bonus, to which Oriente would only further add by having the unit move their main operations to its new permanent settlement of Emris IV, a planet vital to FWL mech and armament productions.
Exploration and Discovery
Though little could ever match the findings on Alhena, there were a few interesting discoveries made during this time.
During their trek to root out various pirate hideouts, the Blackthornes Dragoons jumpship entered into three systems thought to have been abandoned. Only the first, Ceará, met with heavy resistance by the Heart Guard. Though well-supplied, the group was handicapped by a lack of capable pilots as well as technicians with the knowledge to properly service the array of equipment they held, instead fielding only the few models that fell into the two groups' purviews. After several successful raids on the planet, the Blackthornes would return a few of their captured pilots with the offer to provide for the group in its entirety rather than face criminal charges or worse.
Another abandoned world, Cranston, was investigated for a possible SLDF cache, only to find much of it already raided long ago. There were still some engines and modification service equipment that proved salvageable, however, which the Dragoons tasked its burgeoning technician force with the removal and transportation back home to be studied further.
Lastly, a derelict Fortress-class dropship was found floating in a debris field in the Mangor system. Two of its engines destroyed and a rupture along the hull, the ship was taken with the intention to either salvage for parts or turn into a testing site for zero-g maintenance. Once back home, however, many of these faults were found to be easily repaired and the ship was eventually green-lit for service under the name Dhíoghail An Titim.
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Part 4
(Year 3014-3015)
Schism: Marik Civil War
Duty vs. Rebellion
News of the outburst and subsequent call for rebellion by Anton Marik initially had little impact on Blackthornes Dragoons. Though indebted to the Duchy of Oriente for their assistance and continued support, the growing turmoil provided the Dragoons with even more work as a glut of new bandits appeared out of the woodwork, attempting to take advantage of the situation at hand. Though neither side would claim any of these small raiding parties on planets of either camps, it was becoming clear that the systems along the Periphery were suffering the most. Still celebrating the official completion of the regiment's restoration, Colonel Omar McGowan gained even greater accolades when he succeeded in appealing to the Duchy instead to agree to send them on a goodwill mission throughout the beleaguered region, removing this new plague while keeping his own troops out of the brewing Civil War.
The new contract was well received by the majority of the Dragoons, as the memory of fighting against former allies on Alhena was still all too fresh in their minds. The decision was similarly respected by both sides, as neither had the resources or the time available to spend patrolling these smaller systems when there were far greater battles on the horizon. His legacy intact, Colonel McGowan would step down from office, promoting Hearth Guard's commander, Major Aeron Sley, to Colonel in his stead.
Unlike previous engagements, most of these bandit forces lacked either the fundamental support or strategic understanding to endure more than a battle or two with a coordinated team. Within a few short months, the outpouring of assaults by these haphazard forces had slowed to a trickle, surprising even the Dragoons with a relative quiet despite the chaos falling on coreward worlds.
Rising Tensions
Though the early months had been eventful and hectic, this new outpour of banditry dried up almost as quickly as it had begun. Patrols between systems became more and more routine with less and less to report, leading the Dragoons with plenty of idle time. Idle time that many started to think could be better spent elsewhere.
The two most recent groups to be absorbed by the Dragoons, Kearny's Ravagers and the Heart Guard, became polarizing factions amid this relatively peaceful time. Kearny's Ravagers had originally grown up from the dissatisfaction found across their homeland, and strongly sided with Anton, the younger brother leading the rebellion. The Heart Guard of Ceara, however, were staunch nationalists and supporters of Janos. Promotions and even missions soon became heated affairs as each side saw the other as attempting to grasp greater influence and prestige.
Of particular controversy was the promotion of the Ravager's former leader, Benjamin Alexandros, to both Major and command of the Hearth Guard. Major Alexandros's tactics and aggression were already well known and had won him many battles previously, but the inward promotions became unsettlingly one-sided toward either former Ravagers or those that supported their cause. Ceara's Heart Guard, in turn, began to gravitate to the Widomaker's Battalion, and the rift between the two was growing quite obvious.
Faced with little recourse, Colonel Sley would order the majority of both battalions back to Emris IV, leaving only a combined company under the leadership of Captain Clevin. By November 3014, daily deliberations had begun between the two groups, with Colonel Sley acting as final authority.
A Fateful Decision
Over the course of a month, little was gained in the deliberations between those siding with Anton and those still supporting Janos. The war was only growing worse for Anton's rebellion despite the inclusion of the mysterious Wolf's Dragoons. The precarious nature of the ordeal, however, only furthered Major Alexandros's resolution that committing the Blackthornes Dragoons could not only turn the tide back in Anton's favor, but also grant him access to new systems through BTD's recent goodwill ventures.
One incident that none could have foreseen would put any chance of the Blackthornes ever joining Anton out of reach, however. It began with sacking of the new supply camp being set up on Aspropirgos. The remaining company, under command of Captain Clevin, had landed on the planet with the intention to resupply before continuing their patrols, unaware the camp had already been infiltrated by planetary forces. The government of Aspropirgos had hoped to capture as much equipment as possible to defend themselves once they declared the planet a free state, hoping to return to the Magistracy of Canopus. Captain Clevin's ship had arrived on planet first with only his command lance believing he had only to finalize the agreement before requesting the remaining ships to land. As soon as the bay doors began to open, however, multiple RPGs were launched into the opening in a surprise assault as troops rushed the dropship. To their dismay, three of the four mechwarriors had survived and were already strapped into their mechs, albeit with the intent to showcase them rather than fight. Captain Clevin got off the order to waive off the rest of the incoming ships before he and his remaining lancemates turned on their attackers. The resulting fight would last a full day before all three mechs were brought down with no survivors. A parting shot from First Lieutenant Jiggetts made sure that there would be little equipment recovered for the government as well.
Honing his anger over the loss of his friend, and knowing that many of the corps felt much the same as well as embarrassment for being surprised in this manner, Colonel Sley called a final meeting between the two factions where he would lay this latest loss at both their feet, pointing out that it was their bickering and refusal to focus on the mission at hand that had forced them to weaken their forces so much in the region that someone would actually dare to raid them for once. The Heart Guard, along with many of those that had sided with Kearny's Ravagers, agreed they felt ashamed over the loss and placed the ruling with Colonel Sley. With only Major Alexandros and his closest supporters remaining, disaster appeared to be averted until a communique was received with the sudden and horrifying revelation that the Major had left the planet with his forces in tow, making their way toward the former base on Salur before moving on to join Anton's Rebellion.
Though he had withheld his emotions until that point, Colonel Sley's rage finally revealed itself as he announced that they would only enter this 'Marik Civil War' long enough to remove Kearny's Ravagers from it, and then deal with Aspropirgos directly for their duplicity. On January 22, 3015 Blackthornes Dragoons entered into the system they had briefly called home. Though initially outraged by the turn of events, Duke Halas allowed the Blackthornes to deal with the situation themselves, as he could not afford to send anyone in time to prevent the forces from joining the Rebellion otherwise.
Battle on Salur
The secession of Major Alexandros's forces, while not a majority of the Blackthornes Dragoons overall corps, was a significant blow to not only its reputation, but also its talent pool. The new Kearny's Ravagers constituted nearly two companies' worth of mechs and associated personnel. Though Colonel Sley had placed enough forces on guard of the Dragoon's largest and Hearth Guard-signature ship, the Dullahan II, Major Alexandros had instead targeted the two most recent acquisitions of Dragoons which had yet to be assigned to any battalion. The loss of the recommisioned Dhíoghail An Titim and the newly-purchased Dún Scáith dropships added further potency to this new outfit. Supplied with a jumpship in league with Anton's forces, the group had managed to flee the system before any resistance could be mounted.
Though the show of force and quick escape had been intended to throw the Dragoons into disarray, it instead only galvanized them. Colonel Sley's anger was pushed beyond any attempt for peace. Likewise, those who had remained now were completely sided with the Heart Guard's original position, if for no other reason than vowing to not be the traitors to the FWL that they'd once been accused before. Both the Dullahan II and Liath Macha dropships were quickly prepped and set out to connect with an Oriente-provided jumpship to catch up.
While en route to the jumpship, searches of the Hearth Guards' officer quarters revealed unusually high communications with the previous facilities on Salur. The provided base on Salur still held a large amount of equipment that had been left behind either to be brought over eventually to the new base on Emris IV or returned to the Duchy of Oriente once room was found available in the appropriate depots. With this information, it became clear that the new Ravagers were planning to raid Salur while still posing as Dragoons in order to gather up enough supplies to start a new front, or at least to provide a respite for the retreating rebellion. Colonel Sley would order the jumpship to make its way for Salur as soon as both ships were successfully docked.
Appearing via Salur's nadir jump point would catch the rebel jumpship by surprise, forcing it to vacate the area immediately or risk capture. With the escape route now cut off, the Ravagers were left on a hostile world with their only options to either surrender or entrench themselves and hold out. Convinced of his unit's superiority in skill and boasting the fire power of 2 Long Toms, Major Alexandros's decision on the latter was quick and without hesitation. He further bolstered his position by commandeering the control of the old base's remaining defenses. Despite its size, even the Dullahan II could not match the combine firepower of both dropships, which Colonel Sley realized Major Alexandros had planned all along as a trump card. Their artillery would savage any forces on the ground, while the remaining armaments could be used to threaten any other ship from daring to enter its airspace. In contrast, though Colonel Sley's forces easily out numbered Major Alexandros's by nearly three to one, the Ravagers' mechs out-tonned the average of the combined Widowmakers and remaining Hearth Guard. Even if their forces could overwhelm his position, it seemed all too certain that such a victory would break the back of the Blackthornes Dragoons as well.
Rather than attack the stronghold head-on, Colonel Sley would turn to Widowmaker commander Major Dexter Eason for a solution. His plan proved to be one worthy of the battalion's creator. Colonel Sley would advance with the majority of the assembled forces using the same tactics that Major Alexander was known to use. Seeing the strategy at hand, Major Alexander easily corralled the forces into the middle of the field with continuous firepower of the Long Toms to either side, content to match is heavier forces against the lighter contingent. Pushing forth from their base to increase their barrage fire and join the fight, his mechs were every bit the aggressive wall of firepower he'd worked so hard to assemble.
Until the Long Toms went silent.
In a horrible miscalculation, Major Alexander had allowed a company of scout mechs to break from the field of battle early on in order to keep the rest bottled in. It was this company, led by Major Eason himself, which used their speed and jump-jet capabilities to circumvent the geography, dropping in on the supposedly protected dropships who were still concentrating their firepower on the main formation. Immediately jamming communications to prevent the spoiling the surprise, the fight outside each ship was short as either only held a skeleton crew at the time. Major Alexander's first report of the conflict at their back would come just as the Long Toms came alive once more, this time dropping their shells right into the middle of his vaunted 'impenetrable' line.
The fight would end within minutes thereafter, as the line was first smashed by coordinated artillery, then overrun by the faster mechs of the main assault before any could even attempt to mount a reprisal. What should have been the mutual destruction of both sides now left Widowmaker once again with relatively few losses while gutting the ranks of the Hearth Guard. Guncam videos from both the mechs involved and views of the dropships were sent to Oriented to prove their sincerity on both their position within the FWL as well as their will to solve the issue on their own.
A second video was also sent to the government of Aspropirgos, along with the following message, "Expect us soon." It has been rumored this alone kept the planet from ever formally declaring its independency. The death of Anton Marik a few months later would signal the end of this conflict, eliminating any further of such chances. As a prize for their victory, the Dún Scáith was renamed to Orban's Gift and assigned permanently to the Widowmakers for use as a command post.
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Part 5: Compiling.....
Edited by Aranzor, 04 March 2016 - 10:29 AM.
