House Grandin
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| House Grandin | |
|---|---|
| Family Profile | |
| Title(s) | Baron of Hortense |
| Affiliation | Federated Suns |
Contents
History[edit]
When Jean-Paul Grandin, Baron of Hortense was forced into exile in the wake of a revolution in 2995. The speed with which the Federated Suns government recognized the new democratic rule left no doubt that House Davion had sanctioned the baron's removal. Undeterred, the uprooted Grandin family resettled itself on Vaucluse and began preparing their return to power. Jean-Paul used his connections with the Outback-based Davion Warriors' Cabal to create an armed force of retainers to invade his former landhold once the opportunity presented itself.
Thus the "Noble Order of Saint Louis on Hortense" was born.[1]
Noble Order of Saint Louis on Hortense[edit]
The newly established unit was loaned out to Jean-Paul's fellow Cabalists to provide political muscle. It became customary for the loyalist families who accompanied the Grandins to Vaucluse to serve in it, but the chance of recovering their homeworld was gradually lost. Eventually, the exiled community largely integrated on Vaucluse, and the memory of Grandin's rule on Hortense faded. The Grandins stubbornly continued to serve as part of the "patriotic opposition" but found it more profitable to focus on business ventures in the Crucis March than to lead their private army.
Changes came to the Order in 3062 when the baron's heir, Pierre Grandin the third, returned from Sakhara Military Academy. He was given command of a largely ceremonial guard company and soon plunged into the murky world of corporate contracts. With the beginning of the FedCom Civil War, the market for small, deniable mercenary operators exploded, and Pierre took full advantage. The unit worked for both pro-Katrina and pro-Victor employers whose objective raids in the Outback destroyed critical economic assets, all in the name of "punishing treason" or "denying resources to the enemy".
Pierre soon grew bored with the small-time theater of the Outback and, over objections from his family, relocated the command to the tumultuous Chaos March. At the same time, he began heavy recruiting of AFFC deserters, without any consideration of their loyalties or past behavior. This influx of new personnel diluted the influence of the Grandin loyalists and changed the nature of the command to that of a more conventional mercenary organization called Grandin's Crusaders.
Pierre's succession as nominal Baron of Hortense in May 3065 came without even a perfunctory visit to Vaucluse, though the influx of funds provided by his father's investment funds were used to upgrade the unit's 'Mechs. Conflict over the Crusaders' direction saw the departure of the executive officer, Pierre's cousin Jenna, in February 3066.
Known members of the family[edit]
- Jean-Paul Grandin, Baron in 2995[1]
- Pierre Grandin III, Baron-in-exile from 3065
- Jenna