Zeta Galaxy (Clan Ice Hellion)

Zeta Galaxy (Clan Ice Hellion).jpg
Zeta Galaxy
Formed Before 2959
Disbanded 3072 (destroyed)
Nickname Guardians of the Lair
Affiliation Clan Ice Hellion
Parent Command Clan Ice Hellion touman


Brief Description[edit]

Zeta Galaxy was a Clan Ice Hellion garrison formation charged with protecting facilities on Hector.[1]

History[edit]

Formed prior to 2959, Zeta Galaxy earned its reputation and nickname by protecting military and civilian facilities on the Ice Hellion homeworld, a fact which lessens the blow when aging warriors are assigned to the unit. Zeta fields a significant force of Snow Fox ’Mechs.[2]

In 3070 the Galaxy move to Nouveaux Paris, arriving in September. Here it began preparations for the Hellion assault on the Inner Sphere, along with Alpha Galaxy, Beta Galaxy, and Delta Galaxy. By October all the forces were in place for the operation to commence.[3]

The Galaxy along with Beta formed the Hellion secondary force under saKhan Conner Rood tasked with securing the Periphery border. The force captured Anywhere, Somerset, Erewhon, Bone Norman, and Lackhove.[4]

In September 3071 Zeta attacked Wotan and in October captured Götterdämmerung and Here.[5] Wotan was being defended by the Eighth Falcon Regulars and the Seventy-eighth Garrison Cluster, and were other Ice Hellion forces had failed to defeat them due to the Falcon's unorthodox tactics. The Ice Hellions needed a quick win due to a severe shortfall of supplies after the capture of a major Ice Hellion supply convoy in the Deep Periphery. The Ice Hellion Watch had identified that the forces of the Seventy-eighth Garrison Cluster were operating through the city of Borealtown, although the Watch believed that the Seventy-eighth was actually based somewhere outside the city, and using the city as a cover to mask their movements. When the Watch provided Galaxy Commander Philippe Lienet with this information, Lienet responded by having Borealtown razed by aerospace fighters.[6] Lienet's actions on Wotan were one of the key factors in the Jade Falcons declaring the Ice Hellions to be dezgra and leading a ferocious counterassault that ultimately destroyed most of the Ice Hellion touman in the Inner Sphere.[7]

In November elements of the Galaxy pulled off Apollo. Elements of the Galaxy on Here were destroyed by Clan Hell's Horses in December 3071. The Third Hector Cavaliers on Götterdämmerung managed to retreat[5] to the Dark Nebula,[8] to join saKhan Rood. He had two Clusters left to him, the Ninetieth Striker Irregulars from Beta and the Cavaliers. It appears that the Cavaliers were rolled into the ranks of Beta at this point and Zeta Galaxy was no more. When a combined Jade Falcon and Hell's Horses task force moved against the system the remaining Hellion naval assets were swept aside. SaKhan Rood accepted hegira and the last remnants of the Galaxy retreated from the Inner Sphere in April 3072.[9][10]

Officers[edit]

Rank Name Command
Commanding Officers of the Zeta Galaxy
Galaxy Commander Curtis 3059[11]
Galaxy Commander Philippe Lienet 3067 at least 3071[12][7]

Tactics[edit]

With its equipment either out-of-date or dilapidated by Clan standards, Zeta employs hit-and-run and harassment tactics in order to survive.

Composition History[edit]

3059-3067[edit]

Zeta Galaxy[11][12]

References[edit]

  1. Field Manual: Crusader Clans, p. 88: "Zeta Galaxy"
  2. Technical Readout: 3060, p. 134
  3. The Wars of Reaving, pp. 55–56
  4. The Wars of Reaving, pp. 69–70
  5. 5.0 5.1 Jihad Secrets: The Blake Documents, p. 29
  6. Operation ICE STORM Part Two: Winds of Spring, pp. 13–20
  7. 7.0 7.1 Operation ICE STORM Part Two: Winds of Spring, p. 25
  8. The Wars of Reaving, p. 84
  9. Jihad Secrets: The Blake Documents, p. 30
  10. The Wars of Reaving, p. 85
  11. 11.0 11.1 Field Manual: Crusader Clans, p. 87: "Zeta Galaxy"
  12. 12.0 12.1 Field Manual: Updates, p. 72: "Crusader Clans TO&E: Clan Ice Hellion"

Bibliography[edit]