Eridani Light Horse

The Eridani Light Horse is a ficticious mercenary group in the science fiction universe of Battletech. They're featured in the games Mechwarrior 3 and Mechawarrior 3: Pirate's Moon.

SECURITY CLASSIFICATION: Eyes Only

DATE: 1 November 3067

MEMORANDUM FOR: Precentor Martial Cameron St. Jamais

FROM: Adept VI-Rho Angelis Woodbine

SUBJECT: Eridani Light Horse

Per your request, this memorandum provides a comprehensive history of the Eridani Light Horse, from their origins in the First Star League, to their centuries as elite mercenaries during the Succession Wars, to their central role in the resurrected SLDF and the defeat of the Clans.

This memorandum is a compilation of several intercepted sources, including:

> A 3062 report on Light Horse history from Colonel Scott Hinesick, Kommondant of the Focht War College of Tukayyid, to Victor Steiner-Davion, Precentor Martial of the Com Guard;

> A 3063 report on the Circinus Federation from Colonel Dana Ambrose, Director of Analysis for the Magistracy of Canopus's Intelligence Ministry, to Emma Centrella, Magestrix of the Magistracy of Canopus, including notes that I added from our Terran archives regarding the Light Horse's relatively unknown Periphery dealings;

> A 3067 update on the status of the SLDF from Colonel Andrew Redburn, Commander of the SLDF's First Royal BattleMech Regiment, to Prince Hohiro Kurita, Commanding General of the SLDF.

The common thread that runs throughout these sources is the resilience of the Light Horse's ideals, integrity, and sense of purpose. Most military commands as old as the Light Horse have achieved their success through cunning and adaptability. However, it is Light Horse's indomitable will and strong identity that has enabled this command to survive centuries of warfare.

Based on the information within this memorandum, recent reports from our ROM agents on Dieron, and prior technical analyses, I propose that the support of the Eridani Light Horse after the completion of the Third Transfer will be invaluable for our future operations on the rim. I anticipate that this noble unit will share our interests in re-establishing a new age truly worthy of their Star League heritage. Indeed, given their reputation and fame, an endorsement from the Light Horse will undoubtedly attract others to our cause.

History
In 2651, five regiments of the Star League Defense Force were sent to conduct "war games" just beyond the Rim Worlds Republic. Their deplorable combat results, stemming from their lack of coordination and morale, led the military High Command to create a new type of unit. Later known as a Regimental Combat Team (RCT), this new formation contained four combatant regiments and a single support and transportation unit. Commanded by a senior officer, this unit was designed to promote interregimental cooperation, which would allow it to deploy and react in battle with the speed and agility of a single regiment but the strength of four combat regiments. Additionally, unlike most SLDF units, the RCTs were permanently assigned to a district of the Star League. With this last order, the SLDF High Command hoped the units would become familiar with their territory and act as ambassadors to the local populace.

The Horsemen
Consisting of two Striker regiments and two Light Horse regiments, the Third Regimental Combat Team formed in 2702 and was stationed near the Periphery in the Rasalhague Military District of the Draconis Combine. Though no opportunity for battle arose in their early years, the Third RCT trained constantly. Additionally, because the local Rasalhague population accused them of being nothing but an occupation force, the Third's officers became adept at combat diplomacy.

This all exploded in 2749, when terrorists, hired by the Prince of Rasalhague, assassinated the commander of the Third RCT. This mobilized the entire unit, which descended on and occupied the major cities on all ten worlds in their district. For almost a month, the RCT lay waiting for Draconis Combine forces to respond. Eventually, the Prince, tired of waiting for troops from Luthien, dispatched his own troops to the city of Eridani on the world of Trondheim. Having extensively trained for decades, the Third routed the Combine forces. The RCT received its unit nickname of the "Eridani Light Horse" when a sympathetic journalist reported that RCT 'Mechs has scattered the Combine 'Mechs "like spirited Eridani stallions chasing after fat, clumsy Luthien cows." After this humiliation, the Prince had no choice but to arrest and execute the assassins.

The bitter memories of their troubles with the Prince of Rasalhague quickly faded when news reached the Horsemen of the First Lord's death. Throughout the next fifteen years, the Light Horse participated in numerous actions, both official and unofficial, against Periphery forces. After the New Vandenburg Campaign in 2766, the Light Horse finally rotated back to its station in the Rasalhague Military District.

Not three months passed before word reached them of Stefan Amaris' treachery and the fall of the Star League into the Usurper's hand. Realizing the Light Horse could not take on Amaris' entire force, Ezra Bradley, command of the RCT, chose instead to launch lightning hit-and-run attacks against the weaker worlds of the Terran Hegemony. Knowing that General Kerensky would already be mobilizing his forces to retake the Hegemony, Commander Bradley hoped that the RCT's raids would disrupt the Rim Worlds' forces' defensive preparations. Unfortunately, Minoru Kurita, Coordinator of the Draconis Combine, was unwilling to choose sides and forced the Third RCT to leave Combine space.

However, they found refuge on Marik, Steiner, and Davion worlds. Though each government remained officially neutral, they allowed the Light Horse regiments to use their facilities while secretly funneling them intelligence reports, ammunition, and other supplies. The Light Horse battle acumen, combined with the support of the three Great Houses, allowed the Light Horse to succeed in their assaults on Amaris.

After an initial confrontation with the Free Worlds League, the League allowed the Nineteenth Striker Regiment of the Light Horse to use its bases. In March of 2771, the Nineteenth Striker Regiment dropped onto the planet of Amity, with the goal of destroying a major stockpile of arms and armor. Unknown to the Nineteenth, a traitor had infiltrated its regimental command and tipped off Amaris' forces. Instead of the standard border garrison they expected, three heavy regiments struck the Nineteenth as they made planet fall; they were destroyed to a man.

Though sorely tempted to retaliate, Commander Bradley continued his tactics until 2772, when the Light Horse gathered on the Marik/Liao border with SLDF forces of Task Force Confederation as part of the Hegemony campaign that began on 14 July 2772. It was during the long campaign to retake Terra that the Light Horse finally avenged the death of their regiment.

Into Chaos
Following the liberation of Terra, as the Council Lords began to vie for control of the Star League, the Eridani Light Horse returned to their posting in the Rasalhague Military District and patiently awaited General Kerensky's call to restore order.

But when the call to Exodus came, almost the entire unit chose to remain, their sense of belonging to the area they defended proving stronger than their loyalty to Kerensky. Commander Bradley sent a regretful communiqué to General Kerensky, expressing the Light Horse's desire to remain and uphold the traditions of the Star League. On the day Kerensky departed the Inner Sphere, the members of the Light Horse assembled and observed a moment of silence. They took down the Star League flag and lowered the standard of the Third RCT to half-mast - a ceremony that would become a tradition.

Though the Light Horse wished to remain aloof from the brewing maelstrom, Coordinator Minoru Kurita threatened to cancel all trade with the unit if a defensive pact was not achieved. After weeks of negotiation, the Light Horse and the Combine signed a mutual defense and nonaggression pact that allowed the Combine to tolerate the Light Horse, provided they defended their worlds from outside aggression.

As the First Succession War erupted and Lyran forces probed Kurita defenses, the Light Horse easily kept their part of the contract. However, the massacre of fifty million civilians on Kentares IV by the psychotic Coordinate Jinjiro Kurita was more than the Light Horse could condone.

By June 2798, all of the Light Horse has lifted off the planet Sendai, except for the dependents of the Eight Recon and Fiftieth Heavy Cavalry Battalions. Furious with their desertion, the administrator of the planet captured and held those families hostage, demanding that the unit lay down its weapons and turn itself over to him. When the Light Horse refused, he executed all two thousand dependents.

Enraged, the Eighth and Fiftieth Battalions dropped onto the planet to annihilate the local Combine forces. After a week of grim slaughter, the Eridani Light Horse departed for the Free Worlds League.

The Eagle And The Horse
Marik immediately granted the unit safe passage and began working on a mercenary contract. Commander Bradley pledged his unit to the Free Worlds League in exchange for a secure world for the unit's families, a steady supply source, and a modest fee. Marik quickly signed the contract, and the world of Bedeque became the permanent residence for the Light Horse dependents.

When the Second Succession War began, the Light Horse figured prominently in Marik offenses, participating in attacks on such Lyran worlds as Ilion and Dieudonne.

Needing a strategic advantage over the heavier Lyran forces, the Light Horse recognized that a base of operations in the Periphery would help the mercenaries bypass the many assault regiments stationed on Lyran border worlds. Dusting off old Star League maps, the Light Horse decided on Circinus as a staging point and occupied the planet in 2853. Apparently, most of the Black Warriors, the Periphery bandits that called Circinus home, were off-world conducting bandit raids when the invasion occurred and decided not to return to Circinus until after the Light Horse left almost a decade later.

[This history is only partially complete. From old Light Horse communiqués in our archives, we know that the Black Warriors actually welcomed the Eridani Light Horse onto Circinus as a fellow, former Star League unit. Keeping their past bandit activities a secret, the Warriors joined the Light Horse during their raids on several interior Lyran worlds and granted the Light Horse access to their old Star League training facilities. By helping the Light Horse, the Warriors hope to earn positions in the unit.

Eventually, the Light Horse commanders learned the truth behind the bandit raids the Warriors had conducted in the decades since the fall of the Star League. Being tradition-bound mercenaries that relied on their top-notch reputation to land contracts, the Light Horse had little choice but to abandon the Black Warriors towards the end of the Second Succession War in 2862, much as the Star League Defense Force had abandoned the Warriors on Circinus almost a century earlier. Deeply wounded by this second betrayal, the Black Warriors returned to their bandit lifestyle armed with an intimate knowledge of new Lyran targets and superior Light Horse tactics. The Light Horse has never revealed their past association with the Black Warriors. -AW]

After subduing Circinus, the Light Horse's strategy of using the Periphery world to outflank the Lyran front proved a wild success, and the unit gained much favor with the Eagle when, in 2853, they captured the planets of Irian and Megres.

When the Inner Sphere plunged into the Third Succession War in 2866, the new commander of the Light Horse renegotiated their contract. Pleased with the unit's performance, the League Parliament considerably sweetened the Light Horse's original contract, giving them titles and free access to League supply centers.

However, this newfound affluence began to threaten the internal stability of the Horsemen, as many soldiers believed they were selling out, making the Eridani Light Horse no better than any other band of mercenaries. Colonel Johnson, commander of the 151st Light Horse Regiment, became the leader of this internal dissent. However, Commander Bronson ignored the growing discord like he ignored the old Star League traditions.

Colonel Johnson led the 151st out of the Free Worlds League to the Periphery, and the majority of the other two regiments followed him. Left with only his family, a few loyal officers, and a couple loyal lances, Commander Bronson moved his force to a small but resource-rich world just outside League borders and began to recruit Periphery riffraff into a mercenary force.

Days Of Desolation
The Light Horse languished in the Periphery, slowly deteriorating as their supplies and morale ran low. For a time, they took up farming in an effort to support themselves and their dependents. All that changed, however, when bandits struck the Light Horse's supply center in June of 2871. They quickly rallied, driving the raiders off, but not before the few remaining supplies had been destroyed or carried off.

[Almost certainly seeking vengeance against the Light Horse, the Black Warriors were the likely forces behind these raids. -AW]

A quick meeting of officers turned into a days-long debate on how to hold off starvation and disbandment. In the heated arguments that followed, many plans were born and discarded before they reached a compromise. Realizing they had no choice but to return to the mercenary life, they vowed they would at least work only for those Houses that attempted to retain the honor and integrity of their beloved Star League. In an effort to reinforce this decision, the Light Horse adopted many of the traditions it still holds, with the hope that the ideals of the Star League would become embedded into every Horseman.

The Light Horse moved quickly, sending Colonel Johnson to negotiate a contract with the Lyran Commonwealth. By January of 2782, the Light Horse held a lucrative contract that included the control of a world for their dependents. The Light Horse began to transfer to the world of New Karlsruh, but tragedy struck as the Dropship carrying Colonel Johnson suffered a hull breach that killed him and seven other Horsemen. His successor, Jennifer Dirkson, formally adopted the rank of brevet general to demonstrate her authority over all three regiments, as well as her willingness to resign if she ever placed mercenary consideration over Eridani traditions.

The Horse In Blue
Beginning in mid-2872, the Light Horse served the Lyran Commonwealth with distinction, quickly amassing a string of military victories that spread their fame far and wide. In particular, members of the Draconis Combine Mustered Soldiery learned to fear the insignia of the prancing brown horse.

In early March of 2900, the 151st Light Horse Regiment dropped onto the world of Radalah, in the Draconis Combine. Expecting to encounter only a battalion of garrison troops, the unit found itself cut in half and the Fiftieth Heavy Cavalry Battalion under siege by the elite Third Proserpina Hussars. After a week of constant stab-and-feint attacks, the other two battalions of the 151st sapped the strength of the Hussars enough to allow the Fiftieth to launch a breakout attack, and all three battalions quickly lifted offplanet. For its spirited fighting against the heavier regiment, the 151st earned its nickname of "The Dark Horse Regiment".

For the next fifty years, the Light Horse probed, raided, and caused havoc all along the Combine border. In 2926 Brevet General Dirkson retired and was succeeded by Montgomery Wilson, who also took the rank of brevet general. Wilson split the Light Horse into battalions and spread them along the Combine border, to facilitate raids and expand their scope of operation. Launching numerous strikes, the Light Horse hit dozens of worlds in as many years, including Caledonia, Dawn, Wheel, and St. John. During this time, the Light Horse was also instrumental in the defense of Tamar, the capital of the Tamar Pact, when, in March of 2915, House Kurita sent three 'Mech regiments to capture the important planet.

By 2946, the Commonwealth Military High Command realized that the Light Horse had depleted not only their supply reserves and men but also their morale after decades of continuous fighting. The High Command granted the entire Light Horse leave to rest and resupply on New Karlsruh. Brevet General Wilson used the time to good effect, resting his weary warriors while recruiting men and rebuilding badly damaged units. Wilson, along with several companies of Horsemen, also left New Karlsruh in late 2946 to look for additional talent in mercenary guild halls on several different planets.

At this time, word of their activities reached Commander Russel Bronson, son of the Light Horse commander who deserted in 2869 and leader of the mercenary unit called Bronson's Horde. Having been raised to hate the Light Horse, he launched a hasty attack in November of 2946. Caught by surprise, the Light Horse still rallied and drove the Horde off-planet.

Although they took substantial damage in the fighting, they salvaged enormous quantities of materials from Bronson's Horde, which allowed them to rebuild quickly. By 2949, they were back on the warpath, sweeping League units before them as they raided such worlds as Oliver, Thera, Alula Australis, Corcyra, Nathan, Procyon, and Feng Pau.

During this time, the LCAF honored the Light Horse by choosing the Fifth Striker Battalion of the Twenty-first Striker Regiment to launch a "head-hunter" mission against the commander of the Third Marik Militia. The Militia commander had achieved a tactical miracle by capturing the world of Cavanaugh II in 2952. In a highly dangerous but successful combat drop near the Militia's command base, the Fifth engaged the Militia in a pitched battle, resulting in the Third's defeat and their commander's death. Only later was it revealed that the commander was Mikhail Tetren, a Commonwealth traitor who had eluded the LCAF for more than a decade.

The Final Straw
The year 2971 saw the beginning of the end of the Light Horse contract with the Commonwealth, though the situation would not come to a head for several more decades. In April of that year, forces from the Free Worlds League attacked and seized the planet of Loric. That loss put other distant worlds such as Poulsbo, Denebola V, Teukros, and Bobruisk at risk from League forces. Unwilling to shift forces away from the Combine border to retake Loric, the Lyran High Command contracted several battalions from the Twelfth Star Guards and the Eridani Light Horse to conduct a guerrilla campaign they hoped would force League units off the planet. The plan was ultimately successful, but not before the Light Horse battalions had taken heavy casualties, and resentment that their supplies had not been delivered as quickly as promised was sparked.

In 2998, this spark grew to a small blaze on the planet of Hesperus II. The LCAF High Command became convinced that no raids against Hesperus II would be forthcoming and used most of the units stationed there to launch a raid against the League world of Kalidassa. However, the Free Worlds League learned that Hesperus II was defended by only the Twenty-First Striker Regiment and the Fiftieth and Eighty-Second Heavy Cavalry Battalions. They quickly sent several regiments to take the world. Incompetence on the part of the defending garrison commander forced the Light Horse commanders to disobey several direct orders to stem the tide of the invasion and force the attackers offplanet.

In 2999, the Light Horse again successfully defended Hesperus II despite ignorant Lyran commanders. Unwilling to subject themselves to continued military incompetence, Brevet General Kerston approached House Davion for employment. In 3000, the Light Horse signed a contract and moved to the world of Derby in the Crucis March of the Federated Suns.

The Horse And Sun
The High Command of the Armed Forces of the Federated Suns split all three regiments down to battalions and companies for objective raids. As DCMS soldiers had learned to fear and respect them, the prancing horse was placed all along the Davion/Kurita border, and raiding began. The main objective of these raids was to convince the DCMS that full regiments were attacking. In this way, the Horsemen deceived the DCMS High Command into believing that the Davion border was well-defended. Many of these raids were so successful that the Horsemen actually captured the planet they were raiding.

However, this did not stop House Kurita from sending Wolf's Dragoons against the planet Hoff in 3023. Brevet General Kerston had just relinquished command to Brevet General Armstrong when the attack occurred. The Dragoons' objective was to capture and extract New Avalon Institute of Science personnel and the prototype experiments they were conducting at the recently reopened Friden Aerospace Park. Holding off the furious assault, the Light Horse played cat-and-mouse, keeping the Dragoons off balance until reinforcements arrived to drive them offplanet. Although the research facility was captured during the initial assault, the Horsemen prevented the scientists and prototypes from falling into the attacker's hands.

House Davion gave the Light Horse R&R and time to rebuild from its heavy losses. Impressed by their spectacular performance, Prince Davion also invited select members of the Light Horse to teach combat skills and Star League history at the NAIS.

After two years, the Light Horse once again took the banner of House Davion against the Draconis Combine.

The Fourth Succession War
Surprisingly, when the Fourth Succession War exploded in the Inner Sphere, the three elite regiments of the Eridani Light Horse played only minor roles. Only the Twenty-First Striker and Seventy-First Light Horse entered combat. When Prince Hanse Davion struck the planet Algol during the first wave of the Capellan Confederation invasion, only the Seventy-First Light Horse accompanied the Third Davion Guards onto the planet. Davion held the other two regiments at the jump point in case he needed to rapidly deploy them to another system. As it turned out, the forces that dropped onto Algol were more than enough. The Seventy-First Light Horse and the Third Davion Guards decimated the First and Second Battalions of the First Ariana Fusiliers. Quickly realizing the world was lost, the Third Battalion lifted offplanet.

Davion then pulled all three regiments back to counter any attacks. Only one Capellan counterattack ever materialized; the Capellan Confederation Armed Forces were simply swept aside by the might of House Davion. And even the counterattack was a carefully laid trap, orchestrated by a spy inside the Liao High Command. The Twenty-First Striker Regiment was on Kawich when a motley collection of companies, all survivors from Capellan regiments lost during the first waves of the Davion invasion, were ordered to destroy supply warehouses on the world. Fully prepared for their attack, the Twenty-First quickly surrounded and destroyed every Liao 'Mech onplanet.

Years Of Quiet
The years following the Fourth Succession War were quiet. So much devastation had occurred that all the Houses were shocked into nonaggression. Several years would pass before significant military action was against seen in the Inner Sphere.

During this time, the Light Horse taught more often than fought. The Federated Suns had begun to integrate with the Lyran Commonwealth. The Lyran units' lack of military prowess had become the stuff of legends, and Prince Davion sent the Light Horse to House Steiner to conduct extensive war games with numerous Commonwealth units and aid in the integration of the two militaries.

When the Federated Commonwealth attempted to bring Draconis Combine to its knees in 3039, it proved devastating to the Light Horse. Under the command of Duke James Sandoval, the 151st, Seventy-First, and Twenty-First regiments drove into the Benjamin District, hitting the planets Fellanin II and Sadalbari. In the second wave of the invasion, the 151st and Twenty-First regiments continued their push into Combine space, attempting to hook up with the Galedon Thrust and isolate the Galtor thumb. The Seventy-First remained on Fellanin II to finish securing the world and prepare for the third wave. As the second wave began, Theodore Kurita struck into the teeth of the advancing armies, using command circuits - consisting of strings of JumpShips along a jump route - to ferry his troops rapidly across the border. One of the first worlds attacked and retaken was Fellanin II. Most of the Seventy-First Light Horse Regiment was readying for transport to the third wave when Kurita forces fell on them. The Seventy-First was virtually wiped out, and the FedCom was cowed into giving up its war.

The Light Horse returned to teaching as they began rebuilding the Seventy-First, punctuated by infrequent raids against House Kurita. It would take a full decade before the Seventy-First entered the rolls of the FedCom mercenaries again.

The Clans
In 3049, the Clans fell like a hammer blow against the worlds of the Inner Sphere, conquering planet after planet. In the first year of the invasion, the Light Horse was kept in the Sarna March to defend against possible Liao aggression. When Wolf's Dragoons finally revealed that the Clans were actually the descendants of Aleksandr Kerensky and the SLDF, the Horsemen were horrified. For nearly three centuries, the Light Horse had kept alive the honor and traditions of the Star League, with the secret hope that one day the SLDF units that had left would return and a glorious new Star League would be born. What they saw in the Clan revolted them to the core. Brevet General Ariana Winston requested and was granted the right not to face the invaders for at least one year, with the hope that her people would come to grips with the death of their dreams.

By late 3052, Winston informed the FedCom High Command that the Light Horse would gladly face the Clans. Relieved that the Horsemen had solved their internal problems, they quickly deployed the Light Horse to garrison worlds in the Kikuyu Command area of the Tamar March. This put them in a position to repulse any incursions by Clan Jade Falcon. Their resolve to fight the Clans was quickly put to the test when in July of 3053, two full Jade Falcon Clusters landed on the world of Kikuyu, which was garrisoned by the Seventy-First Light Horse Regiment. The ensuing battle proved that even the Light Horse could be outmatched. The remaining Falcon forces, having decimated the Seventy-First, lifted offworld in victory.

The Light Horse began the painful process of once again rebuilding their destroyed sister regiment; the Seventy-First would not be formally reactivated until 3055. Subsequent Falcon raids told a different story, however. Convinced by the Seventy-First's destruction that the Light Horse did not deserve their reputation as elite mercenaries, many Falcon commanders raided the Horsemen's garrisons, only to find themselves repulsed at every turn.

This tenacity in the face of superior Clan technology once again prevailed in 3058. On 30 January 3058, Clan Jade Falcon crossed into the Lyran Alliance through the Coreward Periphery border and drove all the way to the world of Coventry. The Seventy-First Light Horse was included in the Coventry Expeditionary Force, whose goal it was to push the Falcons off the planet. Several weeks of bitter fighting found the Seventy-First under siege in the city of Liertnerton. Short on replacement parts, ammunition, armor patches, and combat-capable troops, the Seventy-First, along with other members of the CEF, nevertheless threw back attack after attack. The defenders suffered heavy casualties, but the Falcons never took Liertnerton.

The Star League
In 3058, Brevet General Ariana Winston attended the Whitting Conference on Tharkad, where the leaders of all the Great Houses had gathered to attempt the impossible: resurrect the Star League. An incredulous Winston traveled back to her command and announced that the Star League had been reborn and the Light Horse was being asked to join the new Star League Defense Force. As one of the first acts of the Star League, the Houses had decided to eliminate the Clan threat once and for all. The Horsemen were to become part of Task Force Serpent.

The Light Horse used a semi-command circuit of JumpShips, set up by the FedCom, to ferry them to the world of Defiance, where they began training for the historic campaign. Units from every House joined them and sought to mold themselves into a cohesive unit. On 1 May 3059, Task Force Serpent began its thousand-light-year journey to Huntress.

In thirty days of combat, in March 3060, the Light Horse saw almost as much loss of life as in the past three hundred years. The Smoke Jaguars fought with the feral intensity of the doomed, but the prize at the end was worth the loss and the tears and the pain. The Horsemen gave Prince Victor the victory he needed to force the Clans into accepting a Trial of Refusal against the invasion. Without the destruction of the Jaguars' home world, the Clans might not have accepted the challenge. They did, they lost, and the new Star League was given a chance to become what it once was. That the Light Horse was instrumental in this was the completion of a dream that every Horseman has had down through the years. The fact that Brevet General Ariana Winston also lost her life brings only quiet pride. She did her duty.

Renewal
Flush with victory, the Light Horse returned to the Inner Sphere. Reduced to less than half their strength, the Horsemen expected a long, hard road ahead of them. Instead, they found themselves inundated with recruits from across the Inner Sphere. With the re-formation of the Star League, the unbelievable success of Task Force Serpent, and the end of the Clan invasion, thousands of young men and women wanted to join the new Star League Defense Force. By late 3061, the Light Horse - including the newly created Nineteenth Cavalry Regiment - had reached operational strength, although the influx of new recruits resulted in a severe drop in combat expertise. The Light Horse's new commander, Lieutenant General Edwin Amis, accepted the invitation by Coordinator Theodore Kurita to take command of the renovated Star League base on Dieron in the Draconis Combine. It is believed that Amis chose this course of action to demonstrate that the Light Horse can put aside differences with House Kurita to ensure the survival of the Star League.

War To The Knife
In 3062, the 151st Light Horse and Nineteenth Heavy Cavalry regiments were deployed to Milos, a world of the St. Ives Compact that had fallen to the Capellan onslaught. The orders of newly elected First Lord Theodore Kurita were simple - act as a peacekeeping force and put a brake on Capellan aggression against a fellow Star League member.

Just making planetfall proved far more difficult than anyone could have imagined.

Before the Light Horse flotilla could deploy their DropShips for the run in-system, they were forced to withdraw to Kittery by the Elias Jung, a Capellan WarShip. Slipping back to Milos once the belligerent cruiser had departed, the peacekeepers finally arrived on station, only to be welcomed by terrorist attacks and Capellan-sponsored antipathy; the Light Horse found themselves virtually besieged by the very people they had come to protect. Sniping attacks, raids by local guerilla cells and public demonstrations against the "invaders" wore on the spirits of the Light Horse, but failed to blunt their skill.

After weeks of this nerve-wracking experience the Second Regiment of McCarron's Armored Cavalry finally attacked the Light Horse. The ELH troops were almost relieved to finally face a conventional enemy they could fight. The Second MAC was driven off after the Light Horse inflicted heavy damage on the Capellan unit. However, the Light Horse could hardly claim victory that day, for in the confusion saboteurs infiltrated the perimeter and planted explosives in several of the unit's grounded dropships.

Meanwhile, First Lord Kurita and SLDF Commanding General Victor Steiner-Davion were coming under increasing pressure from other council members to withdraw Star League troops from the region. ComStar WarShips were dispatched to cover the Light Horse's withdrawal.

The Light Horse Brigade Today
The renovated SLDF fortress on Dieron has become home for the Light Horse. Named Fort Winston after their heroic commander, the base also houses the unit's dependents. Residents of the neighboring city of Aldinga were initially suspicious of these ex-mercenary troops who had "invaded" their world, and the soldiers of the ELH were likewise wary of the Combine exhibiting past behaviors. Familiarity has done much to break down these barriers however. The Huntress campaign portrayed the Light Horse as skillful and honorable warriors, all the more so because they fought against the reviled Clan Smoke Jaguar.

Rebuilding from Huntress and the frustrating campaign on Milos soaked up an ever-diminishing supply of recruits. With major conflicts in so many Star League member states throughout the 3060s, the SLDF had a hard time attracting suitable candidates. The Light Horse Brigade is well equipped by any standard, but the unit still suffers from the loss of its heavy artillery in the Huntress campaign. On the other hand, one third of the Brigade's infantry now fields battle armor designs drawn from across the Inner Sphere.

The Light Horse has always survived, and with the rebirth of the long-lost Star League, there is an even greater mission. They are not so completely naïve to believe that the only threat to the Star League is the Clans. After all, the original Star League fell from within. Honor demands that history not be allowed to repeat itself.

Command And Transport Division
The Command and Transport Division is stationed on Dieron. After his run-in with Capellan WarShips at Milos, Edwin Amis requested that the Brigade be provided with permanent WarShip support. Losses suffered by Inner Sphere fleets in several recent conflicts have made the various member states unwilling to provide one of their own ships for the task, however. ComStar proposed created a revolutionary new design to match the SLDF's requirements, but recent budgetary cuts have suspended such development. As a stopgap measure, the Transport Division has replaced several older vessels with three Overlord A-3's and two Nekohono'o assault DropShips.

The Pathfinders, a Special Forces company added after Operation Serpent, proved their worth in counter-terrorist operations on Milos. After that campaign they were fully equipped with Gray Death light battle armor and have become extremely adept at reconnaissance and infiltration.

71st Light Horse Regiment The Seventy-First Light Horse has taken up station as the SLDF garrison on Huntress, relieving the 151st Light Horse of that duty. Some Clans have shown nothing but antagonism towards these so-called Spheroids, but the ELH enjoys unusually cordial relations with Clan Goliath Scorpion - the Clansmen seem fascinated by a living relic of the first Star League.

151st Light Horse Regiment The 151st Light Horse will take up station on Dieron once it completes the long journey from the Clan homeworlds. The Fiftieth Heavy Cavalry Battalion (the Bloody Half-Hundred) is especially eager to return home and assume its role as guardians of the Light Horse dependents, despite reassurances that they have come to no harm at the hands of House Kurita.

21st Striker Regiment With the Seventy-First and the 151st Light Horse switching places on Huntress, the Twenty-first is charged with guarding the Light Horse headquarters on Dieron and - more importantly - protecting the unit's dependents. This unit is currently under the command of Colonel Paul Calvin.

19th Cavalry Regiment The Nineteenth is stationed on Dieron alongside the Twenty-First Striker Regiment and has been expanded to three full combined-arms battalions.