Eridani Light Horse
Sarna News
Contents
Unit History
Star League
The origins of the Eridani Light Horse can be traced to 2702 when the 3rd Regimental Combat Team (called an RCT) was formed. The unit consisted of four regiments - two Striker regiments and two Light Horse regiments. In 2749, the Commander of the 3rd RCT was assassinated by the Prince of Rasalhague. The unit immediately mobilized and occupied the major cities on all ten of the worlds in their district. When the Prince sent troops to the city of Eridani on Trondheim, the 3rd RCT repelled them easily. The unit received the nickname when a journalist, sympathetic to the 3rd RCT, reported that the RCT forces had scattered the Prince's forces "like spirited Eridani stallions chasing after fat, clumsy Luthien cows".[1] After the humiliation, the Prince had no choice but to try and execute the assassins.
Following the death of the First Lordthe unit saw extensive action in the Periphery. However, once the unit learned of Stefan Amaris's treachery, the unit decided to act against the usurper. The unit commander realized that direct assault against Amaris would not be possible, so he adopted a policy of raiding some of the weaker worlds near Terra to disrupt the usurper's defenses. The plans worked until the 19th Striker Regiment assaulted Amity. Unbeknownst the the Light Horse, a traitor had relayed information to Amaris and the regiment met three heavy regiments. The Light Horse regiment was completely destroyed in the ensuring battle. The Light Horse was able to avenge the loss of the 19th Striker with a series of vicious battles that eventually resulted in the liberation of Terra herself.
Succession Wars
In the chaos that followed the elimination of Amaris, the Light Horse returned the Rasalhague district awaiting orders from General Kerensky. The unit received the orders to join the other Star League Defense Forces in leaving the Inner Sphere. The unit felt an attachment to the area stronger than its loyalty to Kerensky and decided to remain - only a few lances of the RCT left with the other SLDF units. In fact, the 80th Heavy Cavalry Battalion, once commanded by Kerensky himself, took only thirty minutes to decide to stay.
On the day that Kerensky and the others departed, the members of the unit gathered and observed a moment of silence. They took down the flag of the Star League and lowered the Third Regimental Combat Team's standard to half-mast. Even through the Fourth Succession War, the unit maintained that tradition, requiring that one flag pole at the headquarters remain bare for the future Star League flag and the unit's flag stay at half-mast.
Unit Notes
Unlike other mercenary units, which traditionally have two flag poles at their headquarters flying both the unit flag and the flag of their employer, the Eridani Light Horse have a standing contractual clause that allows them to keep one of the poles bare in memory of the dissolution of the Star League and the other to fly their own unit and regimental colors at half-mast.
Unit Disposition
71st Light Horse Regiment (The White Horse) - Colchester, Kestrel Combat Region, Crucis March - Veteran Experience 21st Striker Regiment (Winston's Moonrakers) - Colchester, Kestrel Combat Region, Crucis March - Veteran Experience 151st Light Horse Regiment (The Black Horse) - Colchester, Kestrel Combat Region, Crucis March - Veteran Experience
References
House Davion Book, pgs. 136, 146 - 1988, FASA Retrieved from "http://www.sarna.net/wiki/Template:InfoBoxMercUnit"
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External Links
Another version of the Eridani Light Horse was written. The information below provides information regarding that version.
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. When Mr. Malcomson found out, he contacted FanPro and an arrangement was made to allow the use of his material in exchange for an official Battletech writing credit. Its canonicity was, in effect, the price for its use.
This work stood as the definitive version of the ELH Unit History from 2001 - 2005, 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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Note that the canonicity of this material has been challenged by some members of the CBT community, though there has been no official word one way or another.
PART ONE (2702 - 3050) http://roycalbeck.livejournal.com/13216.html
PART TWO (3050 - 3065)