Gordon's Armored Cavalry

History

Formed from smaller company sized units in the 3020s and stationed in the Taurian Concordat at the border to the Capellan Confederation. The Concordat moved them to various systems along the border to the Federated Suns. The Cavalry have critise the formation of the Trinity Alliance, because their troublesome past with the Confederation. Protector Shraplen assigned them for offensive duties against the Calderon Protectorate.

In an effort to bolster their weakening front line forces during the early 3020s, House Liao began exercising a little-known clause in many of their mercenary contracts to strip away salvage rights. All of the affected mercenaries grumbled about it, though the larger units found it tolerable enough as their pay was high enough to eat such a loss. The smaller, company-sized commands, for whom such salvage was a unit’s life blood, however, could not. All attempts at a compromise failed, so several bitter units banded together under the leadership of then-Captain Nicholas Gordon, creating Gordon’s Armored Cavalry. Immediately defecting to the Taurian Concordat, the now-sizeable Cavalry found quick employment and was stationed on the border of their former employer. Despite constant petitions from the Cavalry to perform punitive raids into Confederation space, the Concordat moved them to various systems bordering the Federated Suns and known pirate holdings. Though disappointed, the Armored Cavalry remained a loyal mercenary regiment, following all orders. The formation of the Trinity Alliance changed that. One of the many outspoken critics of the negotiations when Sun-Tzu started bringing in Taurian soldiers in 3060, the unit was prepared to go rogue if ordered to head across the border. Their contract came up for renewal shortly after, and Colonel Gordon announced that his command would refuse to even come to the table unless their contract explicitly stated that under no circumstances were they to be sent to fight for the Capellan Confederation. Protector Shraplen was reportedly furious when he heard the news, but relented, as his military needed the veteran unit. Instead of fighting Sun-Tzu’s wars, the TDF reassigned the Armored Cavalry to offensive duties against the Calderon Protectorate, to probe their former comrade-in-arms for any weaknesses. The insignia for Gordon’s Armored Cavalry is a knight riding atop of a Galleon light tank. The unit uses a dust brown and white paint scheme.

Longstanding employees of the Taurian Concordat with a decades-old hatred of the Capellan Confederation, Gordon’s Armored Cavalry lodged numerous protests with the TDF High Command since the formation of the Trinity Alliance, warding off any suggestion of possible relocation to Confederation space. The formation of the [[Calderon Protectorate]] alleviated these tensions somewhat by giving the Taurian Protector a new threat to worry about, and thus the GAC was tasked with probing the newborn Protectorate for weaknesses. Still dissatisfied, however, the mercenary command dominated by the Gordon family made numerous rumblings in 3068 about not renewing their contract until a team of “Special Liaisons” from the Concordat’s Word of Blake allies arrived in 3069 to assist the reinforced mercenary regiment. Distributed among the various subunits, the message to Colonel Gordon was clear: behave or face the consequences. With fighting breaking out between the Concordant and the Calderon Protectorate, the Cavalry quickly found itself at the bottom of the Concordat’s priority list for supplies and ammunition. Despite valiantly defending against Protectorate raiders, the Taurian quartermasters constantly ignored their requests for re-supply or offensive operations, preferring to leave such efforts to more reliable troops after the poor showing of other mercenaries like the Black Angus Boys. Instead, the only support the Cavalry received came from its Blakist keepers, with their liaisons quietly filtering intelligence on a series of large, lightly guarded supply depots on the FedSuns world of Lothair, reportedly protected only by the Vanguard Legion, a mercenary force battered by the FedCom Civil War. Though worried about Taurian reprisals, Colonel Nicholas Gordon felt his supply situation was worse, and after consulting his executive officers he decided to load the Cavalry up for a FedSuns raid in mid-3070. Initially landing unopposed, the GAC fanned out to pin down the Legion forces, but they found local BattleMech-augmented militia as their only opposition (the Legion having been recently relocated to face the Capellan counterassault on New Syrtis). The militia, however, proved extremely resourceful. Entrenching themselves in a large forest, they set much of the woodlands ablaze, creating thick, black clouds of smoke that prevented Gordon’s air support from being able to spot the defending BattleMechs and thus slowing down the Cavalry. With a portion of his force devoted to plundering the depots, Colonel Gordon led a BattleMech charge into the forest fire to keep the outnumbered militia occupied. The heavy smoke and area familiarity favored the militia, however, and the close-in combat was fierce. After the loss of a company on both sides, the two forces disengaged. Still outnumbered three to one, the militia withdrew under the smoky cover and vanished into the countryside, leaving Lothair to Colonel Gordon and his Cavalry. Though his simple objective raid transformed into a successful planetary assault for the Taurian mercenaries, Colonel Gordon was ordered to abandon the system as soon as the news reached the Protector, the TDF citing a lack of regular troops to garrison the world while simultaneously defending their hostile borders. Angered at losing its conquest, the Cavalry loaded up the hard-won supplies and returned to Amber Grove.

In September of 3071, the Cavalry launched another unsanctioned raid into FedSuns space, this time against the undefended Brusset system. Likely drawing on intelligence from their Blakist liaisons once more, the mercenaries made landfall on a sparsely populated continent and remained there quietly for several weeks before any FedSuns reconnaissance arrived to check it out. Less than a month later, an enraged Grover Shraplen reportedly ordered the Cavalry to once again abandon their conquest under threat of immediate contract termination. Though Gordon complied, these recent rogue actions have left the mercenaries on very shaky ground with their employers.

Officers

The oldest of five siblings and the father of eight kids, Colonel Nicholas Gordon tries to run the Cavalry like he does his own family; with a lot of love, time, and effort. Though publicly citing historical issues about fighting for the Capellan Confederation, he is privately concerned about unneeded casualties in all of House Liao’s recent fighting. The last thing he wants is one or more of his family members being sent home in a coffin, as Gordon’s Armored Cavalry is one of the few regiments with full-arms support that has a single family in all command officer slots.

Tactics

As a lighter unit the Cavalry prefers quick, mobile battles, thhey uses their air assets for ground support to divide the fire of the enemy.

According to the FedSuns recon reports, the Cavalry found a hidden Star League cache dating back to the Reunification War on Brusset and was plundering it to outfit and upgrade as many of their machines as possible. This report explains the recent surge of new and refurbished equipment Colonel Gordon has been able to field despite a poor relationship with TDF quartermasters. Only the desperate need for veteran soldiers, with two fronts now at war, has prevented the Concordant from immediately labeling the unit as rogue. The Cavalry has since remained in place on Amber Grove, this time with their JumpShips commandeered to prevent any more straying.

Dragoon Ratings

3067

Dragoon Rating: D

Composition

3067

Gordon’s Armored Cavalry(1 Regiment/Veteran/Questionable)

• CO: Colonel Nicholas Gordon
• XO: Major Serina Gordon

Gordon’s Air Cav(1 Wing/Green/Reliable)

• CO: Major Dominick Gordon
• XO: Captain Larry Gordon

Gordon’s Groundhogs(1 Company/Veteran/Questionable)

• CO: Captain Grant Gordon
• XO: Lieutenant Miguel Ramirez

- The unit posses 2 hover tank lances and 1 attack VTOLs.

Gordon’s PBI(1 Battalion/Regular/Reliable)

• CO: Major Samantha Gordon
• XO: Captain Margaret Bethany

- The infantry is either motorized or jump-pack equipped. They uses support machine guns or portable flamers.

Bibliography

• Mercenaries Supplemental II
• Mercenaries Supplemental Update