Hero Training Institute

Hero Training Institute
Hero Training Institute Logo
Academy Information
Location	Maxwell Payvand Cap Rouge Sorunda Sterling Trinidad
Founding Year	2989
Course Information
BattleMech
Aerospace
Battle armor
DropShip Pilot
Special Operations

The Hero Training Institute is a group of privately run military academies located within the borders of the Free Worlds League.

“	Think you can pilot a 'Mech? So do we!	”
	— Hero Training Institute advertising slogan.

History

Founded in 2989 on the planet Maxwell by black sheep entrepreneur Roncelli "Ronco" Morrall, the Hero Training Institute offers those with no legitimate reason to become a MechWarrior the chance to become such a hero. Notorious both for it exorbitant admission fees and its saturation advertising campaign which has seen its slogan blasted across every element of League popular culture from holovid to matchbook covers, while the quality of the training is exceedingly poor compared to say Allison MechWarrior Institute with only a few dozen hours of actual hands-on experience, HTI offers a real opportunity to those who would otherwise lack the political connections or economic clout to secure a place in one of the League's most esteemed military academies. Graduates of HTI generally have enough knowledge to be able to secure a place in a mercenary unit or a noncom position in a Free Worlds League Military federal of provincial unit. For this reason HTI's tuition rates and waiting lists grew year after year.

As of 3025 the Hero Training Institute boasted three rundown campuses which collectively housed over 1,400 students per year, with no more than a few functional BattleMechs between them and a faculty made up of various Dispossessed and drugged-out MechWarriors along with the occasional charlatan. Though Morrall and his staff leave no stone unturned in their efforts to reduce overheads to enhance the corporation's profit, Morrall's insistence on offering some degree of actual military training is a direct counterpoint to the many fly-by-night MechWarrior academies that exist throughout the Inner Sphere and has ensured the authorities cannot shut down the Hero Training Institutes as a scam.

Decline under Captain-General Thomas Marik

Prospering during the endless warfare of the Succession Wars era, the fortunes of the Hero Training Institute suffered following the ascension of Thomas Marik to the position of Captain-General. Reforming many aspects of the Free Worlds League Military's training apparatus, Thomas and the League Central Coordination and Command set up the Office for Standards in Education (OFSTED) to create a baseline curriculum to ensure minimum training standards for the FWLM, standards and requirements that pointedly excluded HTI. Almost entirely cutting off the possibility of joining the League's federal or even provincial forces resulting in the reduction down to just two campuses, the Hero Training Institutes Clan Invasion era graduates almost always became mercenaries, the allure of which remained strong despite Thomas' encouragement of neo-chivalric ideals. Run by Kenneth Morrall as of 3067, despite the disdain for the HTI's high fees and poor quality equipment held by League government, Morrall's adherence to HTI offering genuine (if limited) military training has staved off any attempt by the authorities to shut them down.

Jihad Revival

The massive upswing in conflict and large scale destruction of existing military infrastructure during the Word of Blake Jihad proved a boon to the Hero Training Institutes. As the Free Worlds League fragmented into separate provinces, where the various provincial academies became increasingly restrictive in enrollments to ensure loyalty to their realm, the privately run HTI's "no questions asked" policy meant any who could afford their outlandish fees were accepted. For this reason independent and non-aligned systems desperate to enhance their planetary militias and unable or unwilling to set up their own schools sent a constant stream of recruits to the Hero Training Institute as the academy expanded from two to six campuses by 3079, often taking advantage of "group discounts" HTI offered to woo them. Even with its trademark high fees, plans to open an additional three campuses foundered due to massive debt incurred by HTI's opening of the other four new Institutes, with expenses ranging from construction costs to bribes to officials to repeal or enact certain laws that facilitated their growth. Republic of the Sphere intelligence assets believed this pause would likely only last a few years due to ever increasing demand for military training in the region.

Dark Ages

The Hero Training Institutes has made great improvements in both curriculum and equipment, coming a long way from advertising on matchbook covers for potential students. Still privately owned and run, the Institute has come under new management in an effort to cultivate a better reputation among training academies. Graduates of HTI who have made their way to the current conflicts have not been forthcoming about their educational background, raising both eyebrows and suspicion among their peers.

Despite its seedy past, the Hero Training Institutes continues to draw students looking for a life of combat. After they are graduated, many students seek combat experience wherever they can find it. Though most HTI graduates go on to seek gainful employment in the ranks of mercenary units, some take their education back to their home space to enroll in other, more reputable schools for proper military and officer training.

By Gray Monday, the various Hero Training Institutes were largely located on worlds that had joined the Rim Commonality which unsuccessfully attempted to combat the incessant corruption practiced by HTI. Many of those unsatisfied with the low-quality HTI's instruction either dropped out to matriculate to a rudimentary militia training center, joined a mercenary unit or bandit group. Following the re-forming of the Free Worlds League, the Hero Training Institutes were forcibly included as an official Free Worlds League Military academy, with the LCCC making plans to replace the school's leadership and a good portion of the faculty with retired FWLM officers, though by 3145 little headway had yet been made in this.

Hero Training Institute Campuses

Maxwell

The corporate headquarters of the Hero Training Institute corporation and oldest of its universities, the Maxwell facility is located outside the city of Romanici on the planet's Kenjac continent. By the conclusion of the Jihad, the Maxwell campus had expanded from BattleMech and aerospace fighter training to encompass all advanced military training including officer, battle armor and DropShip piloting. The equipment was also upgraded to near modern levels, with HTI Maxwell well on the way to becoming a respectable university, with outside observers noting this was perhaps an attempt to head off the recently founded Jeremy Brett Memorial University as well as likely merger of the Tamarind and Abbey Districts.

Payvand

The second oldest Hero Training Institute, the Payvand campus was located at Pejman on the planet's Gooya continent. Despite the funds lavished upon the Maxwell campus, by 3079 the increasingly decrepit Payvand was the poster child for the HTI of old, featuring the same old simulators it had installed as far back as the 3040s.

Cap Rouge

One of the Jihad era HTI, the Cap Rouge, was located on the continent of Sillery and offered training on BattleMechs and aerospace fighters.

Sorunda

One of the Jihad era HTI, the Sorunda facility is baffling choice of location given the planet's majority pacifist Buddhist population. As the League fractured, Sorunda's population feared being left undefended and eventually agreed to allow HTI to build an academy on its world, but did force the corporation to build the campus in the Modesty Grasslands on the continent of Serenity, far from any of planet's population centers to avoid disturbing the general populace. The Sorunda campus offered BattleMech and aerospace fighter training.

Sterling

One of the Jihad era HTI, the Sterling, was located outside the city of Starlight on the continent of Graham, offering training on BattleMechs and aerospace fighters.

Trinidad

As of 3079 the Trinidad campus was both the newest and most unusual. Located in the Arawak Marshlands on Trinidad's Arawak continent, the Trinidad academy was found by a group of native ex-SAFE veterans looking to start the very first private Special Operations training group in the Inner Sphere. Though not listed on the academy's official program list, HTI Trinidad's "logistics studies" course boasts the highest enrollment costs and fees, as well as the best equipment out of all the HTI's. Applicants for this course are heavily screened and can only enroll with prior permission from the dean, with the majority of applicants relying heavily on referrals.

Historical Logos

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  Logo of the Hero Training Institute in the Dark Age

Bibliography

• Field Manual: 3145
• Field Report: FWLM
• Handbook: House Marik
• House Marik (The Free Worlds League)
• MechWarrior: Dark Age Collectable Miniatures Game
• Objectives: Free Worlds League