Cohors Morituri

Cohors Morituri logo.png
Cohors Morituri
Formed Early 3000s
Nickname Cohort of the Dead
Affiliation Marian Hegemony
Parent Command Marian Hegemony Armed Forces

The Cohors Morituri or Cohort of the Dead is a penal unit of the Marian Hegemony, comprising convicted men and women: murderers, rapists and political prisoners. A posting to the Cohort is seen as a death sentence with little chance of a pardon, though some have been granted posthumously.[1]

History[edit]

Upon joining the Cohort, each member's forehead is branded with the state insignia, indicating that they are now the Hegemony's property. Non-officers are little better than slaves with no legal rights, confined to "barracks" and constantly guarded. Despite this, the morale of the unit is macabrely stable, they even have a burgeoning sense of pride as they survive near-suicide missions just to spite the Hegemony leadership.[1]

The Cohort is assigned the Auxilia Ripariensis, these act as a military police force to ensure order and keep the Cohort in line.[1]

The unit remained in Hegemony Space during the invasion of the Circinus Federation of 3066 and was on hand to repel a battalion of Black Warriors that attacked Alphard and the Marian Capital. The Cohors Morituri destroyed them utterly in three engagements and recovered a small number of surviving enemy MechWarriors who were subsequently interrogated and confirmed that the Circinus Federation was receiving material assistance from the Word of Blake.[2]

Towards the end of the Jihad, the Cohors Morituri was redeployed to the world of Valerius, a world which had been spared the battles many other worlds saw during the Circinian invasion of the Hegemony and the following Marian counterattack.[3] Only colonized in 3064,[4] Valerius was free of the uprisings and insurrection that plagued the conquered worlds of the Illyrian and Lothian districts, making the posting a respite for the condemned warriors of the cohors. The cohors continued to be regarded as an unreliable command, as it was acknowledged that the successes the cohors achieved against the Circinians were largely due to the suicidal lack of self-preservation many in the unit demonstrated as they sought death on the battlefield as a release from the punishment of service amidst the Morituri.[3]

The Cohort was rotated off Valerius at the end of the Jihad and transferred to Marius' Tears and Horatius in anti-pirate operations. In their first engagement, one of their Union-class DropShips was shot down with the loss of the company of 'Mechs on board, although later encounters were more successful.[5]

Officers[edit]

Rank Name Command
Commanding Officers of the Cohors Morituri
Legatus Winston Sorfleet 3063 - 3085[1][6][7]
Legatus Robert Willard 3145[8]
Rank Name Command
Commanding Officers of the Auxilia Ripariensis
Principes William Benjamin 3064 - 3085[1]
Legatus Trace Cranston 3067[6]
Legatus Alboin Kadlec 3085[7]

Tactics[edit]

The unit has no special tactic abilities.[1]

Composition History[edit]

3064-3085[edit]

Cohors Morituri (Cohort/Regular/Questionable)[1]

  • Comprising 18 aging BattleMechs and a few tanks in 3064.

Auxilia Ripariensis (Maniple/Veteran/Reliable)[1]

References[edit]

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 1.8 Field Manual: Periphery, p. 83
  2. ↑ Field Manual: Updates, p. 195
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Field Report: Periphery, p. 15: "Marian Hegemony"
  4. ↑ Field Manual: Updates, p. 194
  5. ↑ Field Manual: 3085, p. 144
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 Field Manual: Updates, p. 202: "Marian Hegemony Armed Forces Deployment Table - 3067"
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 Field Manual: 3085, p. 150: "Marian Hegemony Deployment Table - 3085"
  8. ↑ Field Manual: 3145, p. 202

Bibliography[edit]

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