Eridani Light Horse

LEGAL NOTICE: This version of the ELH Unit History was originally part of a scenario pack solicited for publication by then-President of FASA Sam Lewis. Written by Scott Malcomson, the work was never used until Fantasy Productions discovered that it had been leaked to the Internet, where it had become a fan favorite of ELH-related fansites. Without contacting Mr. Malcomson, FanPro then posted the work as the official history of the Eridani Light Horse in the ELH section of ClassicBattletech.com.

This work stood as the definitive version of the ELH Unit History for over a year, and then was updated with a new version by a new author. The author, however, had not known of the existing posted History and was not told by the editor that it existed. As such, the current CBT-site version is missing all of Malcomson's original, canon, material, and is thus incomplete.

CANON NOTICE: This work has been edited by the original author to account for changes in Battletech history that took place between the original 1993 solicitation and the current day. It is, in toto, the complete and full ELH Unit History, and cannot be found anywhere else online at this time. Note also that the current CBT version contains various canonical errors due to having been incompletely researched. These have been corrected herein.

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Unit Description The Eridani Light Horse is dedicated to preserving the ways, traditions, and honor of the Star League Armed Forces. Our lives hold no higher purpose than to remind the Inner Sphere of the power and the glory that once unified us all. Fate willing, we may again enjoy such benevolence.

--- General Armstrong, ELH Combat Training School, Commencement Ceremonies of 3024

Formation of the First Regimental Combat Teams In 2651, First Lord Cameron sent several Star League military regiments on maneuvers just beyond the Rim Worlds Republic. Military analysts observing the maneuvers subsequently filed a report criticizing the five regiments' lack of coordination, interservice rivalry, and general lack of common sense. To avoid the wrath of the First Lord, the military High Command quickly organized some regiments into Regimental Combat Teams.

Designed to promote interregimental cooperation, the RCT's, as they became known, contained four combatant regiments and a single support and transportation element. One officer, usually the most experienced of the four regimental leaders, commanded the RCT and trained his four regiments to work towards a common objective. Unlike most other military formations, the RCTs were permanently assigned to a section of the Star League. There, the units became familiar with their territory and developed a sense of belonging, which was presumed to work to their advantage.

The 3rd Regimental Combat Team Formed in 2702, the 3rd Regimental Combat Team consisted of two Striker Regiments and two Light Horse Regiments. Though its near-Periphery posting gave the unit little opportunity to prove itself in battle, the 3rd RCT trained constantly. The officers became adept at combat diplomacy, as they often had to fend off Kuritan propaganda claiming that they were nothing more than an occupation force.

Meanwhile, Michael Cameron's Edict of 2650 had borne bitter fruit. The Edict required the Houses to drastically reduce their military forces, which caused thousands of Kuritan MechWarriors to become wandering ronin --- masterless samurai who knew no other trade than warfare. With no other means to display their skills, they began contesting each other in duels, giving rise to a popular resurgence of the bushido warrior culture within the Draconis Combine. Many of these ronin became elite Champions, revered across hundreds of Kuritan worlds for their battle prowess and honor.

By 2681, Champions who felt the need for a greater challenge began making a form of political statement against Star League interference in Combine affairs. One by one, they strode up to the edges of Star League bases in their 'Mechs and delivered challenges to those within, daring the SLDF troops to fight "real warriors". At first reluctant, Cameron finally succumbed to political pressure and military pride, giving tacit permission for his soldiers to accept these duels. His worst fears were realized as Combine Champions routinely trounced the best the Star League could muster, often killing their defeated foes.

By the time the 3rd RCT was organized, these duels had been ongoing for nearly twenty years. The unit's posting to the predominantly-Scandinavian Rasalhague Military District of the Draconis Combine made it a choice target --- the populace was constantly in foment and Coordinator Takiro Kurita feared the possibility of insurrections should the SLDF be seen as more powerful than local garrisons. He began to arrange for the brunt of challenges to be directed to Rasalhague, expecting that this would duly cow the populace.

What the Coordinator could not have known was that the 3rd RCT had been deliberately seeded with the lion's share of the most recent Gunslinger Program graduating class. Trained specifically to duel Kuritan ronin, Gunslingers were the very cream of the Star League Defense Forces when it came to one-on-one combat. By the time the practice of dueling ground to a halt in 2751, the 3rd RCT had racked up an impressive 30 wins and 10 draws out of 48 challenges --- a fact which did not endear them to Kuritan patriots. On the other hand, crowds took to the streets on every Rasalhague planet to honor the unit when a victory was scored, chanting freedom slogans in Swedish until dispersed by riot control forces. The Coordinator is believed to have been less than pleased with the results of his ploy.

The greatest Gunslinger ever to hail from the 3rd RCT was Major Kyle Sessions, who piloted a Wyvern-class BattleMech to 17 victories and suffered only one loss before his retirement in 2735.

"Eridani Light Horse": Earning the Spurs Victory often carries a price, however. The rivalry between the unit and local Kuritan officials reached the boiling point in 2749 when terrorists hired by the Prince of Rasalhague assassinated the commander of the 3rd RCT. The blow mobilized all four regiments, which descended upon and occupied the major cities on all ten worlds in their districts. For twenty-three days BattleMechs patrolled the cities, waiting for Draconis forces from Luthien to strike.

When the Prince dispatched troops to the Trondheim city of Eridani, the well-trained units of the 3rd RCT chased them off with little trouble. The RCT received its unit nickname of the "Eridani Light Horse" when a sympathetic journalist reported that the RCT BattleMechs had scattered the Combine units, "like spirited Eridani stallions chasing after fat, clumsy Luthien cows." After this humiliation, the Prince of Rasalhague had no choice but to arrest, try, and execute the assassins after a speedy trial. Due to evidence that might have linked the Draconis Combine directly to the assassination, Coordinator Takiro Kurita declined to publicly back the move of his impetuous underling, but neither did he move to replace the errant Prince. Events were to shortly foreshadow the entire incident, however --- the Star League itself would soon be at risk.

Hidden Wars The crisis with the Prince of Rasalhague quickly paled beside the news of the turmoil resulting from the death of the First Lord. First Lord Simon Cameron was killed by a mining robot in what was apparently a freak accident in February of 2751. With his son Richard a mere child of eight the position of First Lord could not be filled for ten long years --- years in which the scheming House Lords began manuevering to enhance their own powers and positions. Although named Regent and Protector by the High Council, there was little SLDF commander Aleksandr Kerensky could do to stem the political intrigue and ultimate violence.

The newly-christened Eridani Light Horse found themselves, like many other units straddling House borders, caught up in dozens of small undeclared "pirate raids" involving hastily-repainted BattleMechs, professional tactics, and even escort WarShips. The worst of these was an incident involving the 21st Striker Regiment, which refused a peremptory demand from a Kuritan garrison unit to allow Draconis forces the use of the 21st's base fortifications to fend off a Steiner attack. Incensed by the refusal, the Kurita commander called the commander of the 21st a "traitor" and ordered a full assault on the base. Six Draconis heavy tanks were destroyed before the attack was called off.

The Second Reunification War Meanwhile, unrest in the Periphery grew out of control as more and more taxes and tariffs were levied to benefit the Great Houses at the expense of their distant neighbors. Saboteurs began to attack SLDF bases and personnel. By the time Richard Cameron assumed his majority and became First Lord, an undeclared war against the Star League's "occupying forces" was raging throughout the Taurian Concordat and Magistracy of Canopus, and to a lesser extent the Outworlds Alliance.

Cameron's Taxation Edict of 2763, increasing further still the burden on Periphery citizens, was the final straw. Over the next two years Periphery violence skyrocketed, and on January 13, 2765, a terrorist drove a nuclear device into Fort Simpson on the Taurian world of Pinard and detonated it, annihalating the SLDF's 265th Heavy Assault Regiment. Eighteen Taurian worlds immediately seceded from the Star League. General Kerensky attempted to negotiate a stand-down of Taurian forces on New Vandenberg, failing when a misunderstanding between Taurian and SLDF units turned into a major battle. The entire Periphery, with the exception of the Rim Worlds Republic of Stephan Amaris, exploded into full-scale rebellion.

Posted near the strangely quiescent Rim Worlds, the Eridani were immediately mobilized and sent to the opposite end of the Inner Sphere, engaging in their first large-scale combat drop in late 2765 to cover the 16th Mechanized Infantry Division's retreat from Megrez. Throughout the rest of the year, the RCT's regiments acted as screen-and-flank elements for larger units on various worlds, learning through experience how to outmanuever and out-think their opposition.

In December, General Kerensky ordered the withdrawal of all SLDF units from the Periphery to regroup and prepare for a new thrust aimed at New Vandenberg at the start of the new year. The Eridani were considered too light a unit to be useful in what would surely be an assault against prepared fortifications, and so were rotated back to their original post in Rasalhague. Although the nearby Rim Worlds had remained openly and staunchly loyal to the Star League, Kerensky did not trust Amaris in the least, and the Eridani were meant as a hedge against any likely move.

If only he had known.

Against the Usurper On December 27, 2766, First Lord Richard Cameron was shot dead by Stefan Amaris, whose troops proceeded to seize control of the Terran Hegemony, the very heart of the Star League. Still engaged with Taurian forces, Kerensky did not learn of the act until he sent a report of the successful end of the New Vandenberg campaign in May. Amaris responded gloatingly, referring to himself as the new First Lord and threatening Kerensky with destruction if he did not join the madman's cause.

Kerensky responded by unilaterally declaring a truce with all Periphery belligerents in order to reorient his forces against Amaris' Rim Worlds Republic.

While awaiting the return of General Kerensky's forces from the Taurian Concordat, the Eridani prepared for raids against Usurper forces but were denied permission to stage from Combine space. Unknown to the SLDF, most of Coordinator Minoru Kurita's family had been taken hostage by Amaris, and the Combine could not afford to be seen as opposing Amaris. The Light Horse transferred its official base of operations to the Free Worlds League after some initially heated talks with Captain-General Kenyon Marik, and having gotten settled, the unit commenced operations immediately.

Realizing that the Light Horse could not take the Usurper's forces head-on, Colonel Ezra Bradley, commander of the RCT, decided to launch hit-and-run strikes against the weaker worlds surrounding Terra with the hope that these raids would disrupt Amaris's defensive preparations. Previously, the 34th Royal BattleMech Division had disobeyed orders and attempted to retake their homeworld of Epsilon Indi without support, resulting in their annihalation by the system's Space Defense System. Colonel Bradley took this grisly lesson to heart and limited his own attacks on SDS-guarded worlds to probing missions aimed at destroying a few automated defense drones at a time.

The Eridani, like all Regimental Combat Teams, retained their own small WarShip complement and put it to good use, launching dozens of sorties against Amaris supply convoys and SDS drones. The Aegis Heavy Cruiser SLS Pendleton and her escort destroyer, the Lola III-class SLS Archimedes, used imaginative tactics to surprise and overwhelm their targets with regularity. At one point a Republican task force nearly turned the tables by hiding in an asteroid belt and using a convoy as bait for the ELH ships, a ploy which would have worked but for a technician's mistake in breaking radio silence to report on a routine outer hull check. The Eridani vessels were able to disengage and jump outsystem even as masses of Republican fighters converged on them from hiding.

Meanwhile, wherever possible, Eridani units dropped on Amaris-held worlds to carry out raids on depots and transport networks. Three Marine regiments still fighting on Carver V, and smaller units conducting guerilla actions on other worlds, relied heavily for their survival on supplies provided by regular Eridani runs.

Secretly, the Lyran Commonwealth and Federated Suns also assisted the Eridani, providing them with access to SLDF bases and avenues of retreat which allowed the unit to manuever in unexpected and unpredictable ways. Steiner, Marik, and Davion, to one extent or another, all provided supplies, ammunition and critical intelligence reports, although ironically their mistrust of one another prevented them from entering the war against Amaris more directly.

Treachery on Amity Bradley's plan achieved great success until the 19th Striker Regiment dropped on Amity. During a mission to disrupt operations at one of New Earth's many BattleMech factories, the 19th Striker Regiment was ambushed by three heavy Usurper regiments. Evidence points to a Kuritan agent within the 19th Striker's high command tipping Amaris to the raid, possibly a "good-faith" effort on the Coordinator's part to resolve the hostage situation. As well, the Combine held a vendetta against the Light Horse for the loss on Trondheim and for defeating many of their ronin in the Gunslinger duels. No one has ever accused House Kurita of forgetting a slur to their honor.

If such is the case, no Kuritan family members were released to compensate the Coordinator for his efforts --- and the 19th Striker was completely and utterly destroyed, a betrayal the Eridani Light Horse has never forgotten or forgiven.

Though sorely tempted to retaliate, Colonel Bradley continued his hit-and-run tactics until the Light Horse linked up with General Kerensky and his forces. Upon General Kerensky's return from conquering Amaris' own Rim Worlds Republic in 2772, Marik rescinded his permission for SLDF personnel to base from Marik space. The move (apparently to repay an old grudge against Kerensky) forced the surviving Eridani to stop their heretofore successful raiding campaign and rejoin the Regular Army in preparation for the real war to come. Then, and with great glee, the Eridani Light Horse avenged the loss of the 19th Regiment in long and bloody battles climaxing with the liberation of Terra.

Liberation of Terra Emperor Amaris made a strategic blunder in 2774 by ordering a limited withdrawal of his forces to worlds protected by forts or Strategic Defense Systems. Twelve worlds were voluntarily relinquished to General Kerensky, two of which were within a single jump of Terra itself. In addition, the recapture of Carver V was a major morale coup; the three Marine regiments had managed to hold out against all odds with the help of the Eridani's supplies. Slowly but surely, the Usurper was being driven into his hole.

Assaults on Republican holdings and consolidating liberated territory took nearly three years, but preparations for the final assault of Terra itself were complete by late January of 2777. From eight worlds surrounding mankind's home, the returning Army surged like a vengeful wave composed of warships, aerospace fighters, BattleMechs, tanks and infantry---no amount of automated high-tech defenses, no suicidal defense, could keep the enraged SLDF from retaking the Cradle of Humanity back from the man who had defiled everything the Star League stood for.

The fighting continued without quarter, savage and brutal, until the last Republican units surrendered on the orders of Stefan Amaris himself in November of 2779. Always in or near the forefront of battle during the final campaign for North America, the Light Horse performed as a skirmishing and flanking unit on the corps level and witnessed the retaking of the Court of the Star League, although it did not directly participate. Stephan Amaris died two weeks later by firing squad. Kerensky himself gave the order to shoot.

Exodus Ten years of war had come and gone, and with it, most of the Regular Army as well. A staggering 75% loss average crippled the SLDF, ensuring that when the High Council finally dissolved and all-out war erupted between the Great Houses, Kerensky's remaining forces would not be able to stop it. Rather than be swayed to the side of one of the soon-to-be-warring Houses, the aging General prepared his force to leave the Inner Sphere altogether.

While the Council Lords vied for control of the Star League, the Eridani Light Horse returned to the Rasalhague Military District and strove to remain impartial. They waited patiently for General Kerensky to call them into action to restore order to the Star League.

When the call came, however, it summoned them to join the remaining loyal Star League forces and leave the Interior forever. The Eridani could not bring themselves to leave their homeworlds of Rasalhague --- too many felt they would be abandoning not only their friends and homes, but also the Star League itself. Only a few lances of the 3rd RCT decided to leave the Star League. The entire 82nd Heavy Cavalry Battalion, once commanded by General Kerensky himself, needed only half an hour before deciding to stay. Colonel Bradley sent a regretful communiqué to General Kerensky, expressing both the Light Horse's undying loyalty to the Star League and General Kerensky, and its desire to remain and uphold the traditions of the Star League Armed Forces.

On November 5, 2784, the Exodus Fleet jumped out from New Samarkand into the yawning Periphery, not to be seen again for nearly three centuries. That day, the members of the 3rd RCT took down the banner of the Star League and lowered the Eridani unit standard to half-mast. The gesture survives to the modern day as one of the unit's many traditions.

The First Succession War In the hellfire that erupted after Kerensky's exodus, the Light Horse remained aloof. Minoru Kurita, Coordinator of the Draconis Combine, made numerous offers of employment to Colonel Bradley, who rebuffed the overtures, saying. In his words, the Light Horse had no intention of entering into "the petty politics of five petty rulers", and was only interested in waiting for the return of General Kerensky. Only when Minoru threatened to cancel all trade with the unit did he finally get the attention of the Light Horse commander. Long negotiations between the two sides produced a mutual defense and nonaggression pact. The Draconis Combine agreed to tolerate the presence of the Eridani Light Horse in Kurita space as long as the unit defended its worlds and made no move against the Combine.

The Light Horse easily handled the few tentative thrusts by the Lyran Commonwealth against its home worlds. On the other side of the Combine, however, the Kuritists suffered a disastrous campaign against the Federated Suns. In the battle for Kentares IV, Minoru Kurita was killed, and his insanely violent son Jinjiro succeeded him. In 2796, Jinjiro avenged his father's death by massacring some 52 million civilians on Kentares IV.

Evacuation After hearing of the Kentares Massacre, the commanding officers of the Light Horse began preparing to move. Though everyone from the unit commander down to the most inexperienced warrior hated to leave their worlds, most realized that a confrontation with the psychotic Jinjiro was inevitable.

By June of 2798, most of the Eridani Light Horse had launched and were waiting for the dependents of the 8th Recon Battalion and 50th Heavy Cavalry Battalions to leave the planet Sendai. Furious with the units' desertion, the administrator of Sendai captured and held those families hostage, demanding that the entire unit lay down its weapons and turn itself over to him. When the Light Horse failed to meet the disarm deadline, he ordered his troops to execute the two thousand dependents.

Enraged, the 8th and 50th battalions dropped on the planet. The resulting battle lasted for a week and ended after every political official and Combine BattleMech was hunted down and slaughtered. Forces from neighboring worlds in the Rasalhague Military District appeared insystem, but when informed of the administrator's deeds they soon withdrew. The 8th and 50th returned grim and battered. Although the officers of the two units had acted without orders, Colonel Bradley refused their resignations. Today, the 50th Heavy Cavalry (now nicknamed "The Bloody Half Hundred") and the 8th Recon Battalion are tradition-bound to protect the dependents of the Light Horse.

After leaving Sendai, the Eridani Light Horse crossed the Inner Sphere and entered the Free Worlds League. Marik immediately granted them a place to stay until both sides could work out a mercenary contract. Colonel 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 named Bedeque as the new home of the Horsemen, and Colonel Bradley readily agreed.

The Second Succession War The Eridani Light Horse figured prominently in Marik offensives during the next thirty years, primarily spearheading attacks on Lyran-owned worlds. In 2853 alone, the unit captured Irian and Megrez, and even subdued the Circinus Federation for a time. In fact, the Federation's Black Warriors actually welcomed the Horsemen, maintaining their pose as the legitimate local defenders of the planet and suspending their covert raiding operations for the duration.

During the Amaris Uprising, the Warriors had helped recruit and train many of the Independent Regiments that proved key in securing the Periphery. They expected that by helping the Light Horse they would earn positions in the unit and thus recover their lost honor; to this end they allowed the Horsemen access to their Star League training facilities and attempted to maintain a best-behavior operation.

Unfortunately, the truth was eventually discovered. Ever since mutinying against the Free Worlds League over a pay dispute, the Black Warriors had been raiding every Marik world within reach, often as much out of spite as need. The Eridani could not overlook this criminal record and demanded the unit's leadership bind themselves over for arrest and trial. Considering this to amount to betrayal, the Warriors fled out-system and resumed their raids from a dead-system base, eventually returning to Circinus once the Eridani had finally left to conduct other operations.

The ELH also became known for repulsing a Kuritan assault on Danais with a spirited defense. Dieudonne was the target of a major raid in 2860, wherein the ELH inflicted serious casualties on the heavier Lyran 'Mechs and succeeded in damaging the few industries on the planet. Then, aided by a heavy Marik regiment in 2862, the Light Horse took Ilion for the Free Worlds League.

Despite their losses to the Eridani's developing wizardry in the realm of mobile 'Mech tactics, Commonwealth units could not help but respect the unit's insistence on abiding by rules of honorable combat. It became well known that if a unit had to lose a battle, it was best off losing to the Light Horse.

Dissension in the Ranks When the Third Succession War erupted in 2866, Colonel Bronson, commander of the Eridani Light Horse, renegotiated a contract with the Free Worlds League. 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.

Some Light Horse soldiers perceived this newfound affluence to be a threat to their tradition as defenders of Star League principles. They felt that Colonel Bronson was selling out, making the Eridani Light Horse no better than any other band of mercenaries. Major Johnson, commander of the 151st Regiment, became the leader of this internal dissent. However, Bronson ignored the dissidents, as he ignored the old Star League traditions.

In 2869, Major 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 of loyal lances, Colonel Bronson moved his force to a small, but resource-rich world just out-side the borders of the League, where he began to recruit Periphery riffraff into a mercenary force.

Return to Duty Shunning the mercenary life, the Light Horse gradually deteriorated on its Periphery world as its resources ran low. With nothing to trade, the unit had to resort to farming the poor soil to survive. Then, in 2871, a regiment of bandits raided the Eridani supply center. Although the Light Horse drove off the raiders, the bandits carried away or destroyed most of the unit's supplies. It is now believed that these raiders were members of the Black Warriors, exacting vengeance.

Light Horse officers conferred for days to figure out how to stave off impending starvation. Finally, they worked out a compromise to hire out their military services to those retaining the honor and integrity of the Star League. At this time, the Light Horse adopted most of its present traditions to remind the soldiers of its principles. After gaining the approval of his men, Colonel Johnson traveled to the Lyran Commonwealth to negotiate a contract. Steiner agreed to all of Johnson's terms, including the control of a planet for the unit's dependents. Unfortunately, Colonel Johnson died while the Light Horse transferred to its base on New Karlsruh. His successor, Jennifer Dirkson, adopted the rank of Brevet General to show both her authority over the three regiments and her willingness to resign if she ever placed mercenary considerations over Eridani tradition.

From 2872 to 2945, the Eridani Light Horse served the Lyran Commonwealth along the Draconis Combine border. Its fame spread quickly throughout the Inner Sphere, and Kuritist units learned to fear the sign of the trotting brown horse.

In 2900, the 151st Light Horse Regiment dropped onto the Kurita-controlled world of Radalah, expecting to find only a battalion of garrison troops. After quickly seizing the cities of Auptsmon, Tiel, and New Freisburg, the 6th and 8th Recon battalions encountered Kurita's elite 3rd Proserpina Hussars Regiment. The Hussars cut off the two recon battalions from the 50th Heavy Cavalry Battalion, which was encamped in New Freisburg, and laid siege to the city. Too weak to assault the Hussar's position, the two recon battalions conducted hit-and-run attacks on the Kuritists, drawing more and more forces against them. Eventually, the sieging force became so depleted that the 50th Heavy Cavalry was able to storm the Hussars, escape New Freisburg, and retreat to Auptsmon, where Eridani Dropships were waiting to lift the regiment offplanet. For its spirited fighting against the heavier regiment, the 151st Regiment earned its nickname of "The Dark Horse Regiment." !

Tamar Gambit In March of 2915, the ELH's 82nd Heavy Cavalry and 17th Recon Battalions assisted Steiner units in defending Tamar from a concentrated Kurita attack involving fifteen regiments including the elite 2nd Sword of Light. An initial complex psychological ploy seemed to shake up the Steiner troops, leading to the infamous textbook example of how not to assault a position, known as "The Mauling of Richardson's Company". However, the Eridani were not spooked, and stood firm until their employers were able to shake off the spell. Seven months after they landed, the Combine troops were forced back off-planet, leading Archon Tatyana Steiner to concoct a bold new plan for defending the planet.

Guessing correctly that the Kuritans would blame their loss on the Light Horse, Tatyana withdrew the ELH battalions with no attempt to conceal their movement. Sure enough, a second attempt was made to take the planet only to be brushed back by timely reinforcements from nearby worlds. The vaunted mobility of the Eridani, coupled with the relative lack of light Steiner 'Mechs, made the unit a prime reinforcement asset in future attacks. This bait-and-switch tactic continued to be used to great effect long after the ELH left Commonwealth service.

Treason Most Foul Things weren't all wine and roses, however. In 2924 the Commonwealth lost Wing to the Free Worlds League despite the presence of the 50th Heavy Cavalry Battalion --- even the elite "Bloody Half-Hundred" could not prevent the Marik Eagle from advancing. This led Marik to initiate more raids, whose success in turn provoked Steiner to commit its forces to retaliatory raids.

One such retaliation went sour, with dire consequences. Having been anticipated, the 12th Lyran Regulars were severely mauled and many of their MechWarriors captured. One of these was Hauptmann Mikhail Tertren, whose twisted personal sense of "business ethics" caused him to offer his services as a turncoat to House Marik. Released along with the other captives from the 12th in an apparently magnanimous New Year's Eve gesture of interHouse goodwill, Tertren went straight to work contacting Marik agents and passing along vital military data.

Archon Marco Steiner took a personal interest as more and more information piled up to indicate a highly-placed spy was compromising military operations. Through a ruse involving multiple raids, Marco was able to narrow down the suspects to Tertren himself. Tertren realized he had been discovered and managed to flee to Marik space, where he was welcomed as a hero and even given command of the 3rd Marik Militia. In 2952 Lyran operatives noted the increased performance of the 3rd Militia and how its commander appeared to know Commonwealth military tactics by heart. The Eridani's 5th Striker Battalion was chosen to find and kill this wizard of warfare.

Utilizing its skill in dropping from orbit at dangerously steep angles, the 5th managed to land near the city where the 3rd Marik Militia's command post was based. In a pitched battle that pulled in more and more reinforcements from nearby Marik 'Mech units, the Light Horse battalion finally killed the unit's commander, later identified by medical records as having been Tertren himself. The entire Commonwealth High Command breathed a sigh of relief at the news.

Other Marik-border operations included the counterattack to retake Loric from the invading 5th Regulan Hussars and its supporting twelve armor and infantry regiments in 2971. The Eridani's 11th and 17th Recon Battlions, aided by the 12th Star Guards' 2nd Regiment as well as ten line regiments, launched their attack with the two ELH units dropping directly into enemy-held territory to harass and tie up any attempts Marik made to concentrate forces. Meanwhile, the 12th Star Guards assaulted Digger's Pass, trapping the majority of Marik forces in a pocket. After enduring four grueling months of guerilla warfare in mountainous terrain, the Eridani forces managed to force the numerically superior Marik troops from the area and into the open plains where the Lyran conventional units were waiting. The FWL forces retreated offworld shortly thereafter.

Brevet General Dirkson retired in 2926 and was succeeded by Montgomery Wilson, who also took the rank of Brevet General. Every commanding officer of the Eridani Light Horse has since also adopted this rank. Wilson split the unit into battalions, which launched numerous strikes against Kuritist worlds, including Caledonia, Dawn, and Wheel. For two months, the 82nd Heavy Cavalry Battalion occupied St. John, one of the Light Horse's charges during Star League days.

Vacation on New Karlsruh Although very successful, the Light Horse's raids severely depleted the battalions. In 2946, the Commonwealth Military granted the entire unit leave to rest and resupply on New Karlsruh. Brevet General Wilson used this time to recruit more mercenaries and to repair his damaged 'Mechs. Both the 3rd and 7th Striker Battalions of the 21st Regiment had to be almost completely rebuilt. While Wilson and two 'Mech companies were visiting mercenary guild halls looking for talent, Colonel Haviarre of the 71st Regiment was in charge of the Light Horse.

In the same year, word of the Eridani Light Horse's activities reached the ears of Commander Russel Bronson, son of the Light Horse commander deserted in 2869 and leader of the mercenary legion Bronson's Horde. Wishing to wreak revenge on the "Mutineers," Bronson broke off his contract with the Federated Suns and traveled to New Karlsruh.

Bronson's attack took the Eridani Light Horse completely by surprise. With only twelve hours to prepare, Colonel Haviarre ordered the 50th Heavy Cavalry and the 8th Recon Battalions to move the Light Horse families to the mountains. The remaining five battalions quickly fanned out to meet the three incoming regiments. Bronson landed his Dropships under an umbrella of aerospace fighters, but soon, the Eridani fighters mustered and reestablished aerospace superiority. The surprise of Bronson's attack became his downfall as the Light Horse fighters destroyed the straggling Dropship reinforcements and wreaked havoc on the heavy 'Mech forces below. Undaunted, Bronson urged his units on, Searching for the Eridani High Command. Although his assault lances pounded the lighter units, the Light Horse's recon battalions soon outmaneuvered the slow 'Mechs. The 12th Armored Infantry Battalion alone felled two lances of 'Mechs. Commander Bronson himself joined the ranks of th!e Dispossessed when his Cyclops fell under a barrage of missiles from several Chippewa AeroSpace Fighters. Miraculously unscathed, he led his remaining forces offplanet, vowing revenge.

Though it took substantial damage, the Eridani Light Horse gained enormous plunder from Bronson's Horde. By 2949, the unit was fighting for Steiner against the Free Worlds League. The worlds of Oliver, Thera, Alula Australis, and Corcrya all felt the sting of the Light Horse. Eridani battalions raided several military bases deep within the League, including Nathan, Procyon, and Feng Pau. In 2955, Brevet General Kerston succeeded Brevet General Wilson.

Defense of Hesperus II In 2998, House Steiner planned a planetary assault against Kalidassa, a Marik-controlled world with some functioning 'Mech production facilities. Three of the five Steiner regiments on Hesperus II formed the core of the assault group, and the Light Horse's 21st Striker Regiment and 50th and 82nd Heavy Cavalry Battalions replaced them in the garrison. When the Marik forces on Kalidassa recognized their attackers, they informed the High Command that Hesperus II was without its crack defenders. As a result, Marik decided to send a reconnaissance force to determine Commonwealth strength on the planet. League Dropships descended on Hesperus II, deposited nine recon companies at various locations and withdrew. The garrison commander on Hesperus II ordered the 21st Regiment to leave the easily defensible city of Tallowrand to ferret out the enemy scouts; a task better suited to a recon unit. Too slow to deploy efficiently, the striker regiment took heav!y damage from the Marik scouts, which withdrew before the heavy 'Mechs could engage them.

Within weeks, Marik landed four regiments to strengthen his position on the planet. Again the garrison commander ordered the Light Horse units to engage the enemy. However, the Eridani regimental commander disobeyed his orders to march to Marik's landing zone, and stationed his artillery along the mountain passes to Hesperus II's industrial center, where he knew the invaders would be heading. The Light Horse force allowed two reconnaissance companies to cross the mountain range unmolested, and then the bulk of the army, three regiments strong, attempted to pass. Long Tom cannons shelled the force and the area, sealing the pass and splitting the army in two. With no room to maneuver, the League units were sitting ducks for the Eridani 'Mechs and tanks. Timely assistance from Steiner 'Mechs enabled the Light Horse to overwhelm half of the invading force, and the remaining enemy units retreated offplanet.

Contract with Davion The Eridani Light Horse was also successful in the Twelfth Battle for Hesperus II, albeit narrowly so. Kuritan regiments quickly outmanuevered the Steiner defenders, leaving it to the Light Horse's 1st Support Company to hold open a spaceport so that House regiments could land to reinforce the defense.

Light Horse commanders were becoming increasingly irritated with working under Steiner military leaders, many of whom showed amazing incompetence. When contract negotiations with Steiner broke down in 2999, Brevet General Kerston went to House Davion for employment. Both sides struck a settlement in 3000, and the Light Horse left New Karlsruh for Derby in the Crucis March.

Lord Davion split the Light Horse into battalions and companies to carry out diversionary raids on both Kurita and Liao worlds. These units' abilities to strike hard and move quickly often convinced planetary garrisons that a full regiment was attacking the planet. As these raids were perilous, the Light Horse received substantial bonuses. A few of these simulated assaults became real invasions when Eridani forces realized that they could actually conquer the planet themselves.

When Brevet General Kerston stepped down in 3023, Brevet General Armstrong assumed command. One of his first duties was to organize the defense of the planet Hoff, location of the Meistmorn Academy, to repulse a Kurita Attack. Although Wolf's Dragoons, under contract to Kurita, pounded Eridani units in a furious onslaught, the Light Horse played cat-and-mouse with the mercenaries, keeping them off-balance until Davion Reinforcements arrived to flush the Dragoons offplanet. Eridani losses were heavy, and Davion, pleased with the unit's performance, granted the Light Horse time to rebuild its forces.

The Light Horse soldiers spent their vacation on Derby and at the Federated Suns' New Avalon Institute of Science. At the NAIS, they taught combat skills and Star League and Successor State history, while participating in technological research. In 3025, the Eridani Light Horse resumed fighting under the Davion banner against the Draconis Combine.

During this time, Hanse Davion had been watching how the Light Horse operated with keen interest, and began to adapt the idea of the Regimental Combat Team to the Federated Suns military. Unable to muster enough 'Mech regiments to copy the ELH system, he hit upon the idea of substituting well-balanced and highly-trained conventional forces instead. These new military formations tested out well during wargames, and the man known throughout the Inner Sphere as "The Fox" began to consider how to best put this new military option to use...

The Fourth Succession War On August 20, 3028, Prince Hanse Davion stood before the leaders of the other Houses and other mighty personages gathered on Terra for his wedding and toasted his bride with the fateful words:

"I give you the Capellan Confederation."

Operation Rat signaled the opening of hostilities between the newly-born Federated Commonwealth and the Capellan Confederation. The Eridani Light Horse, for its part, staged its 151st Light Horse Regiment ("White Horse") from Demeter to support the 3rd Davion Guards Regimental Combat Team in an assault on Algol. The defenders of Algol were the First Ariana Fusiliers, a unit renowned both for its spirit and bad luck.

The luck of the Fusiliers did not change. First to hit the ground was the White Horse Regiment, a few kilometers west of a key spaceport. The 2nd Battalion of the Fusiliers was caught by surprise and out of position a full ten klicks further west. The 151st then marched on the spaceport, leaving armor units behind in concealed positions along the way.

When the Fusiliers charged, hoping to catch the 151st from behind, they ran headlong into the tanks, which slowed them up conducting a fighting withdrawal towards the spaceport. As the Fusiliers became engaged, the 151st's 'Mechs swept around in a swift circling manuever to strike the Fusiliers in the rear just as they finally fought through to the deserted spaceport tarmac. Five hours later, the personnel of the White Horse were sifting through the wreckage of the 2nd Battalion for salvage.

Meanwhile, the 3rd Davion Guards had close-assaulted the 1st Battalion of the Fusiliers, commanded by Major Tormana Liao of the ruling Capellan family. Despite eliminating the 1st Battalion entirely as a fighting unit, Liao had managed to disappear.

The Fusiliers' 3rd Battalion retreated offplanet after hearing of the fates of its sister formations. Having secured the planet, more Davion forces moved up, including the 71st Light Horse and 21st Striker Regiments of the ELH.

Kawich became the new target for the Light Horse as Operation Rat entered its fourth phase. On January 12, 3029, a patchwork demi-regiment made up of previously-shattered Liao units was tasked with destroying a series of warehouses thought to be largely unguarded. One of these elements, a battalion from the Warrior House Hiritsu, were surprised by armor and infantry elements of the 21st Striker Regiment enroute to their target. The conventional troops skillfully sprang ambush after ambush in a fighting retreat similar to that conducted by the 151st Light Horse on Algol. Having softened up the enemy, Colonel Winston then ordered the 'Mechs of the 21st Striker into action. Using the hills surrounding the road to the warehouses, three battalions encircled and destroyed the entire Hiritsu battalion. Colonel Winston, however, collapsed while in battle and later died at the regimental field hospital. He was the only Eridani casualty.

Elsewhere, the 1st Davion Guards and 3rd Crucis Lancers RCTs made short work of the remaining Capellan resistance on Kawich.

For the remainder of the Fourth Succession War, the Eridani Light Horse served in a reserve role and did not engage any further opponents. For the next ten years, the Light Horse was primarily employed as training cadre, staging live wargames designed to bring Commonwealth units up to the standards of the Federated Suns. This function proved critical in the early formation of the Armed Forces Federated Commonwealth (AFFC).

The War of 3039 Hanse Davion's attempt to subdue the Draconis Combine in 3039 became a disaster for the AFFC as a whole, but few units were as severely mauled for so little reason as the Light Horse.

With Duke James Sandoval commanding, all three Eridani regiments were used to spearhead the thrust into the Benjamin District. Fellanin II and Sadalbari fell readily, and when the second wave was launched, the 151st Light Horse and 21st Striker kept up the pressure with an attempt to finalize the encirclement of the Galtor Thumb by linking with a secondary thrust in the Galedon region. The 71st Light Horse was left to secure Fellanin II against counterattack prior to the kickoff of the expected third-wave assaults.

But Theodore Kurita surprised the Davion "Fox" by counterattacking in far greater strength and with much greater speed than anticipated. Having been informed that the region was secure, and having been ordered to prepare to advance, the Eridani's 71st was in the process of embarking when the Combine regiments burst from pirate points around Fellanin II. Unable to maintain air superiority, the 71st could not use its DropShips to evacuate or retreat from the starport. The Combine refused to give the mercenaries quarter and massed overwhelming force to annihalate the regiment even as it attempted to retreat to open ground where its mobility might have come into play. There were no survivors.

Rebuilding the 71st took most of the reserves the ELH had been hoarding. Hanse Davion returned the unit to training status to help speed the process of recovery, and even accorded the unit a limited run of brand-new Victor-class BattleMechs by way of tacitly apologizing for the poor intelligence which had led to the regiment's destruction. Given free rein, the Light Horse eventually began launching raids against House Kurita, both to give its new members combat experience and also as a means of letting the Dragon know that the Horse had been savaged but not killed. By 3050 the unit had been rotated to the formerly-Liao worlds of Saiph, Tall Trees and Menkalinan, where they remained in a garrison role. During this time, Colonel Adriana Winston took command.

The Clan Invasion When Clans Jade Falcon, Ghost Bear, Smoke Jaguar and Wolf attacked the Inner Sphere in 3050, the effect was complete surprise. Disorganized, strategically outflanked and unsure of the trustworthiness of their neighbors, the initial reaction of the Houses assaulted was to send reserves to the front line in hopes of shoring up resistance. Yet many key units were left on the Marik, Liao and Davion borders to guard against the possibility of an opportunistic attack.

The Light Horse, which had been taking advantage of the long, sullen peace to refit its units with the best equipment it could afford, was retained on the Liao/Marik border as the mainstay reserve. It was not until late 3050, when relations between the Inner Sphere realms became cordial enough to allow a further transfer of forces to the Clan lines, that the ELH was pushed forward towards the fray. At first, the unit was employed in a reserve mode on Sudeten, but as Clan lines began to expand it was felt that opportunities were available to conduct strategic raiding in order to disrupt Jade Falcon advances. As a result, the ELH was broken down to battalions and spread along the Falcon/Steiner border to conduct free-range raiding.

"Operation Thunderbolt" In part, this delay was also a matter of clever deception: the Eridani publically affected an attitude of shock and dismay over discovering that the Clans were actually the descendants of Aleksandr Kerensky's long-lost Star League Defense Forces. Claiming a need to "come to grips" with the news, the ELH actually launched an in-depth intelligence operation to infiltrate Clan-occupied zones and collect information on the invaders. Although revolted to the core by the Clans' dismissal of Star League codes of honor and personal conduct, the ELH remained focused on the mission at hand.

Operation Thunderbolt made the discovery that Clan intelligence and security was almost entirely reliant on brute force, lie-detector technology, and threats of reprisal. Thinking intel work to be "dishonorable", the Clans formed an organization called "The Watch" and relegated troublemakers and other ne'er-do-wells to its ranks. Without support, organization, or any kind of actual intel experience, the Watch enacted haphazard operations and performed them in a uniformly poor fashion. It was child's play to insert operatives in and out of routine supply convoys, particularly in the Jade Falcon area of operations. The Wolves, having learned a few things from Wolf's Dragoons, performed somewhat better, but continued to suffer from lack of actual field experience.

For the first two years of the invasion, the data gathered by Thunderbolt provided much of the bulk of initial data on Clan ideals, operating procedures, and technology. It was not until after the Clans had actually halted their advance when in November of 3051 Colonel Jaime Wolf of the mercenary unit Wolf's Dragoons revealed the origin of his organization as well as that of the Clans themselves. Front-line units did not begin receiving Dragoon-supplied data until 3052, being almost entirely reliant up to that point on the Eridani intel.

Orkney 3052 also saw the end of the Eridani "mourning period". The unit was ordered to concentrate all three regiments on Orkney to provide a strategic garrison, and was expected to be reinforced within the month by fresh armor and infantry support regiments, some of which had recently trained in anti-Clan warfare.

Luck ran out for the Light Horse on November 17, 3051, when JumpShips carrying the Jade Falcons' First Falcon Striker Cluster arrived insystem. The Falcons immediately declared their batchall, Star Colonel Rard Hoyt committing his entire force with the stated intent of eradicating the Eridani to the last man. In his view, and that of his entire command staff, the 3rd Regimental Combat Team of the Star League Defense Forces had lost any right to call themselves that when they refused to follow Aleksandr Kerensky on his Exodus. Brevet General Adriana Winston replied curtly on behalf of the ELH that her organization continued to take pride in obeying the Star League laws, military codes, and proper uniforms so beloved of Kerensky in his day --- none of which was being displayed by any Clan forces.

As the Falcons burned their way insystem under maximum thrust, trading accusations of treason against the Star League with Wilson --- who seemed to find the whole thing as amusing as it was serious --- the Steel Vipers showed up with their 104th Assault Cluster. Its commander, Star Colonel Fen Zalman, immediately protested the Falcon attack and demanded a Trial of Possession for Orkney. Hoyt snapped back that the batchall had already taken place and that he had committed his entire force.

Zalman smiled, nodded, and stated that he was bidding his entire force for the Trial of Possession batchall. And since this just happened to be the same bid already made against the Light Horse, was it not reasonable for both parties to attack the mercenaries, and finish with each other when that little chore was complete? That way, whoever acquitted themselves best in the initial battle would be better prepared for the second, quiaff? Hoyt grudgingly accepted the offer and slowed his unit's advance to allow Zalman to catch up.

Faced with 140 OmniMechs, half of which were Heavy or Assault class, plus 60 supporting AeroSpace fighters, General Winston would normally have taken to the hills and staged guerilla warfare on a grand scale until the promised reinforcements arrived.

Unfortunately, this was not possible. Orkney's single starport was situated on a low causeway which jutted into the ocean for a kilometer before surging up into a solid basalt extrusion which made it highly stable --- perfect for a starport.

Unless, of course, you had the poor luck to be at the starport when hurricane season came rolling in, which on Orkney was never entirely predictable to begin with. During these periods, storm surge kept the causeway flooded nearly a hundred feet deep. Strong riptides were capable of dragging a 'Mech off the causeway and down to unsurvivable depths. Only during low tide and the odd calm moment was it possible to dash a small unit at a time across that dangerous stretch.

The Light Horse had, on arrival, followed its standard operating procedures and pushed out a defensive perimeter of two regiments away from the starport while holding the third in reserve. Having been reassured by the AFFS liaison officer that hurricane season wasn't for three more months yet, the Eridani now found themselves divided, with the 71st Light Horse and 21st Striker Regiments trapped on the far side of the causeway. DropShip operations were not an option until the storm passed.

The 71st and 21st fell to digging entrenched positions with a will. If they fled into the interior, the Clans would be able to swarm the starport and overrun the 151st Light Horse Regiment --- and the RCT's DropShips --- given any break in the storm. Working in mud and slashing rain, every 'Mech and free hand was soon covered in thick mud. It was slow going until, in a daring move, a dozen civilian hovertrucks darted through the crashing waves to deliver dedicated engineering equipment. As it was, the last embankments were completed just as the Clan DropShips hit Orkney's upper atmosphere. Hoyt and Zelman landed outside the range of the storm, some fifty kilometers to the north of the entrenched Eridani positions. The high winds made a closer landing impossible, and also prevented the use of fighters. Nonetheless, the two clusters formed side by side and marched directly towards the waiting Light Horse regiments.

The ensuing battle lasted six hours. Despite a tenacious and bitter defense, the Eridani 'Mechs were outmassed and unable to outmanuever their opponents. Long Tom and Sniper artillery based at the starport laid down a wall of fire in the path of the OmniMechs, destroying or crippling several, but still the mass of walking death kept on its relentless approach. Light 'Mechs kept down in their trenches until an OmniMech got to point-blank range, and then would stand and concentrate fire in a desperate attempt to destroy the enemy before being destroyed themselves. Medium 'Mechs tried to support their smaller brethren, waiting for them to pick a target and then joining in from somewhat longer range. Tanks took whatever shot they could get, scurrying behind mud and 'Mech alike for cover. And then a miracle: the storm's rage seemed to abate somewhat. A backwash tidal surge cleared the beach, and the 151st, waiting for such an opportunity, charged across the causeway to fall like a wave upon the Clansmen, firing and kicking and punching like crazed barroom brawlers to save their sister regiments. Several Wasps ganged up on a Fire Moth at one point, bodily heaving it off a cliff into the ocean below. Unable to maintain their drive, the Clan OmniMechs fell back to regroup.

As if on cue, the sun broke through a bank of clouds, signaling the end to the imprisoning storm.

Brevet General Winston called Star Colonel Zalman and announced her intention to withdraw from Orkney, if she would be allowed to collect and care for the wounded first. Hoyt broke into the conversation and protested vehemently, but Zalman politely accepted Winston's offer. After all, he was there to fight the Falcons, and it made no sense to waste his forces on a retreating enemy. Without Zalman's support, Hoyt could not afford to attack the Eridani and risk further losses which the Vipers could exploit later. He chose to steam in silence for a while and lick his wounds.

Casualties had been heavy on both sides, although the Light Horse took the brunt of the punishment. Most of the damage was material, however, and could be replaced --- as though their luck had changed for the better, most of the pilots and armor crew were wounded rather than dead. The 21st Striker Regiment had lost half its 'Mechs and vehicles; the 71st Light Horse Regiment had been virtually annihalated in those terms.

But 60% of personnel were alive and would pull through with reasonable medical treatment. The Light Horse would need time to rebuild and refit, but they would come back as strong as ever.

And then Hoyt's OmniMechs surged in again, firing on everything in sight --- tanks, 'Mechs, medical tents. AeroSpace fighters streaked above, dropping bombs seemingly at random. A MASH truck exploded in a ball of flame, its patients incinerated in an instant.

Almost at the same time, Zalman's fighters screamed in over the horizon, peeling off in twos and threes to attack the attackers. Medical techs tried valiantly to move their charges out of harm's way, only to be vaporized by a particle projection bolt or laser. Clan OmniMechs marked with metallic snakes attacked Hoyt from behind, forcing him to turn most of his energy on his fellow Clansman. But the damage had been done; the field hospitals were a charnel house. A lone jeep moved raggedly across the blasted landscape, the last Eridani vehicle on this side of the causeway. Nothing else stirred save by the last storm-ridden gusts of wind.

Within the hour the Eridani Light Horse lifted off of Orkney. Never in their long history had they endured such losses, and never so senselessly. The entire 71st Light Horse was gone with the exception of Sergeant Roy Calbeck, commander of a Pegasus scout tank platoon.

Calbeck's platoon had been one of the few left on the beachhead when the attack came, and had tried to save a hospital area with a mobile defense. Despite destroying three light Falcon OmniMechs, the small group of tanks had been unable to stop or even slow down the onslaught. Upon arrival at Tomans Calbeck was given an honorary promotion to Major in the 71st, pending a new assignment, and granted indefinite leave to sort himself out. He was last seen entering a bar near the starport. The 151st Light Horse endured minimal losses, but the 21st Striker lost the 1st Armored Infantry and 3rd Striker Battalions, knocking it down to half strength. The entire unit was rotated to Zurich, near the Marik border, to recuperate.

The tragic loss of the 71st was magnified when an erroneous report in 3052 claimed the regiment had been destroyed in combat on Kikuyu, under circumstances identical to its actual destruction in 3039. The culprit was poor editorial work; two different reports on the Light Horse had been fused into a single article entirely by mistake. Colonel Dwayne Bronson, commanding the bandit-mercenary unit Bronson's Horde, reportedly broke open a case of champagne at the news to celebrate and said, "third time's the charm!". His group had originally been founded by the same Colonel Bronson who had left the Light Horse at the outset of the Third Succession War, and as his forebear had sworn vengeance, so too did he. When the truth became evident, that no such battle had taken place and the 71st remained in rebuild mode on Zurich, Bronson exploded into a violent rage.

Bloodright The Light Horse had not yet seen the last of Clan treachery, however. In late 3053, several Steel Viper and Nova Cat MechWarriors went on a murder rampage through the Inner Sphere, seeking out members of the Hallis family in order to exterminate their bloodline in an act of pure selective genocide. Apparently a distant ancestor of the Hallises had, centuries ago, joined in a rebellion against Clan authority. Once the rebellion was put down, Nicholas Kerensky --- the founder of the Clan social system --- had declared that anyone who could prove they had completely destroyed the genetic legacy of anyone related to the rebels would be granted a Bloodname.

It was this prize that had led the Vipers and Cats to claim a Trial of Bloodright against the Hallis family, to turn from skilled soldiers into bloodthirsty assassins in quest of a surname.

Of three known people with a known genetype matching the long-dead Wolverine Clansman, one was a member of the Eridani Light Horse: Lieutenant Andrew Hallis. When his sister Kristin and brother Leonard were killed, with clear evidence identifying the murderers, Andrew went to his commanding officer and a trap was laid.

Although the attack was foiled by the slimmest of margins, the surviving Clansmen managed to escape offworld and evade two pursuit lances of AeroSpace fighters, complaining loudly over the radio about "Inner Sphere barbarism" all the way back to their JumpShip. The commanders of the 8th Recon and 50th Heavy Cavalry Battalions, in their traditional duties as protectors of Eridani dependents and their families, have sworn that they will leave no survivors of any future engagement with Clans Steel Viper or Nova Cat.

Truce Period In January of 3054, having refitted and reorganized its surviving units, the ELH was posted to Kikuyu and Mogyorod, the extreme left flank of the Inner Sphere line. The Eridani immediately began striking up and down the Falcon lines, executing missions both daring and calculated to the nth degree. A favorite tactic was to draw off a small unit into a pursuit, call their commander up on the radio, and inform him or her in the most stentorian tones that they were in violation of various Star League laws and should consider themselves under arrest as prisoners of the Star League Defense Forces. More often than not, this would cause the Clan commander to enter into a righteous froth and spur his pursuit --- right into a prepared ambush. Well over two dozen Falcon Stars were accounted for in this fashion before higher levels of Falcon command were able to rein in their headstrong troops.

These raids had a specific purpose: salvaged and seized Clan materiel was used to hasten the reactivation of the 71st Light Horse Regiment. Her sister units, the 151st and 21st Regiments, transferred cadres of highly-experienced officers and NCOs to pass their experience on to the 71st's newly-recruited greenhorns. By February 3055, less than three years after Orkney, the battle flag of the "White Horse Regiment" was once again advanced.

And so the Eridani were ready when on 30 January 3058, Clan Jade Falcon surged into the Lyran Alliance and drove through to Coventry. The Coventry Expeditionary Force, assigned the mission of pushing the Falcons off the planet, included the 71st, which found itself under siege in the city of Liertnerton. After weeks of relentless combat, despite being critically low on supplies and personnel, the regiment refused to crack. Wave after wave struck the unit and other CEF units defending the city, but despite heavy losses the White Horse held its ground and denied Liertnerton to the Falcons.

Rebirth of the Star League On October 3, 3058, the leaders of every Inner Sphere power assembled on the world of Tharkad to formally discuss how best to carry the war to the Clans. During that meeting, Precentor Martial Anastasius Focht proposed that the leaders form a united front to face the Clans by creating a unified political body and a coalition military force. The assembled leaders agreed and took the historic step of drafting a new Star League Constitution. Sun-Tzu Liao, Chancellor of the Capellan Confederation, was appointed to the ceremonial post of First Lord. The Star League Defense Forces were reinstituted, incorporating military organizations from throughout the Inner Sphere. The Eridani Light Horse naturally became a core element of this new fighting force and began training with its assigned sister units on Defiance.

Task Force Serpent The new SLDF was tasked with "Operation Bulldog", a grand strategy which targeted the elimination of Clan Smoke Jaguar. It was felt that such a blow would force the other Clans to consider the possibility that they might likewise be eradicated as a fighting force if they continued to attack the Inner Sphere. Most of Bulldog's operations were split into several waves aimed at retaking captured worlds belonging to the Draconis Combine. To finish off the Jaguars entirely, however, their homeworld of Huntress had to be captured and held. This daunting task was assigned to Task Force Serpent, ten elite regiments whose core was formed by the Eridani Light Horse. Proud to once again be defenders of the Star League, the Horsemen set to their task with a will.

It was March of 3060. The Jaguar garrison commander for Huntress, Russou Howell, had only a pair of Provisional Galaxies at his disposal, as a direct attack on their home was the last thing the Jaguars could conceive of. Yet he did not flinch from battle when TF Serpent arrived in system. In harrowing clashes across the planet, both sides wreaked enormous damage upon another. Howell, pressed for reinforcements, unleashed a deadly new war machine called ProtoMechs. These miniature 'Mechs were piloted by washed-out aerospace pilots using new enhanced imaging systems. The EI system, coupled with improved armor and weaponry, allowed the ProtoMech pilots to wreak considerable damage on the Serpent forces before they were destroyed. Nonetheless, after most of a week of almost non-stop combat, TF Serpent finally crushed the last of the Jaguar garrison forces.

Task Force Serpent's respite from battle was swept away when the remnants of the Smoke Jaguar Inner Sphere forces returned to Huntress for repairs and refitting. Shocked at finding their homeworld in the hands of Inner Sphere troops, the Jaguars launched a brutal counterattack led by Galaxy Commander Hang Mehta. With two Galaxies of troops, the Jaguars hammered mercilessly against the elite but battered Serpent troops. Several days into the battle, ilKhan Lincoln Osis and his bodyguard unit arrived on Huntress to coordinate the counterattack. Both sides sustained massive casualties, with many pilots dead and hundreds of mechs lain strewn across the battlefields.

The Jaguars launched one final counterattack with their remaining forces. The battle was almost lost for the Inner Sphere if not for the skill and valor of the Eridani Light Horse. The ELH troops held the line, but at a tremendous cost: their leader, General Adriana Winston, was killed in the final moments of the battle. Winston's death, ironically, marked the turning point for the campaign. First Prince Victor Steiner-Davion, leading another task group to Huntress, arrived in-system just before the final battle began. The fresh troops he led quickly hunted down and eliminated all Jaguar resistance within a few days. Unfortunately for the Inner Sphere, ilKhan Lincoln Osis was able to escape with a handful of warriors to Strana Mechty.

Nearly 60% of the Light Horse was destroyed in the fighting on Huntress, counting General Winston among the slain; yet were victorious in destroying the Jaguars as a Clan.

Victory and Renewal 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 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 had not only reached normal operational strength, but had also inaugurated the 19th Cavalry Regiment as a welcome replacement for the long-mourned 19th Striker. The Light Horse's new commander, Lieutenant General Edwin Amis, accepted an invitation by Coordinator Theodore Kurita to take command of the renovated Star League base on Dieron in the Draconis Combine.

War to the Knife In 3062, the 151st Light Horse and 19th Cavalry were deployed to Milos, a world in the St. Ives Compact which had fallen to a 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, and soon enough the Second MAC was driven off with heavy losses. Unfortunately, during the battle 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 naive 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 71st 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 original 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 50th 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 71st and 151st switching places, the 21st is charged with guarding Light Horse headquarters on Dieron and --- more importantly --- protecting the unit's dependents.

19th Cavalry Regiment Stationed on Dieron alongside the 21st Striker Regiment, the 19th Cavalry has been expanded to three full combined-arms battalions.

Typical Mission Work Though the Eridani Light Horse is adept at fighting large battles, they are wizards when it comes to raiding. Their quick strikes have spawned many imitators. What distinguishes the Light Horse from all others is the skill and coordination of each Eridani soldier. From the time of planetfall a typical objective mission lasts approximately four hours, and roughly follows this sequence. AeroSpace fighters attack enemy aerodromes, while Recon lances drop onto the planet. Recon lances gather data and strike at comm centers, crippling the enemy's ability to respond. AeroSpace fighters establish aerospace superiority before Command and Strike lances drop. Units strike at objective(s).

DropShips transport support units (artillery, tanks, infantry) to prearranged recall points. DropShips lift off to stand by in near-orbit. Lances break off attacks after allotted time has elapsed, and head for recall points. Departing lances strike at any military target that presents itself enroute. Support units cover returning lances. Dropships land, take aboard all personnel, and then lift off.

Unit Traditions The most tradition-bound mercenary unit in the Inner Sphere, the Eridani Light Horse has many memorials and rituals that serve as a constant reminder of its illustrious history and rigid honor. Some outsiders have commented that Eridani observances seem almost religious.

For example, the 50th Heavy Cavalry and 8th Recon Battalion are sworn to protect all the civilian members of the Eridani Light Horse in memory of their families' executions on Sendai. Whether escorting civilian transports or garrisoning their settlement, only the 50th and 8th Battalion members are involved in the safety of Eridani dependents.

Wherever they are encamped, all military units in the Successor States set up two flagpoles: one for their unit banner and one for their employer or House leader. Unlike other units, however, the Light Horse has never flown the flag of its employer. One flagpole has until recently remained bare, while the banner of the Light Horse flies at perpetual half-mast. Nowadays, the formerly naked flagpole once again flies the banner of the Star League. Originally, the Eridani standard was just a prancing horse upon a sun-yellow disc. The black border was added as a symbol of mourning for the exodus of General Kerensky.

The Light Horse remembers the loss of the 19th Striker Regiment on Amity through some curious traditions. Whenever the four regimental commanders meet with the Eridani commander, a place is set at the conference table for the commander of the 19th. In addition, during social functions, the host always says a prayer for the members of the lost regiment. Retiring soldiers who serve the the Light Horse with distinction become official members of the 19th Striker. They receive lapel pins with the 19th's symbol, a rearing bronco, in honor of their services and devotion to the Eridani Light Horse.

Every Light Horse member celebrates the anniversaries of great victories and special birthdays, and mourns the anniversary of lost battles and tragic deaths. Of all the days of mourning, the most solemn occurs on the date of General Kerensky's Exodus. All nonessential functions are shut down as everyone gathers in the central park. There an honor guard unfurls an ancient Star League standard, pulls down the newer one, and runs up the old. The base commander then reads Colonel Bradley's communiqué informing General Kerensky of the 3rd Regimental Combat Team's decision to stay in the Inner Sphere rather than join the Exodus. As the honor guard lowers the Star League standard, the military band plays the Star League anthem softly and slowly.

Eridani Crests Each 'Mech in the Eridani Light Horse wears the prancing brown horse on the front of it's chest. On the right shoulder is a regimental patch, such as the blue moon of the 21st, the black horse of the 151st, or the white horse of the 71st. Beneath it is the battalion symbol, like the 50th Heavy Cav's large, blood-red "50" or the 17th Recon Battalion's Screaming Eagle head. The company mumbers or patch is located below the battalion symbol.

Some unusual unit patches are the plague-infested rat for the 3rd Striker Battalion, the bloody knife of the 3rd Recon Company, the unicorn patch of the 11th Recon Company, and the rather risque anatomical patch of the 1st Support Company. All personnel wear their Eridani, regimental, battalion, and company patches, and some even have lance or platoon symbols.

There is also a rumor that shortly after the Battle of Orkney, the sole survivor of the 71st Light Horse Regiment --- a member of the 11th Recon Company --- mysteriously disappeared into thin air while attempting to drink himself to death. Further amusing stories suggest that this lone trooper has returned to serve as a high-ranking Eridani officer, having physically transformed into an anthropomorphic unicorn similar to that which appears on the 11th Recon patch. Intelligence operatives are reminded that fanciful tales, while entertaining, have no place in a military datapak.