Operation RESTORED HOPE

This article is about the operation. For the short story, see Operation RESTORED HOPE (short story).
Operation RENEWED HOPE redirects here.
Part of Arano Restoration (aftermath)
Start Date 18 July 3026
End Date circa 3027
Location Aurigan Reach periphery area
Planet Gaucin, Highwater, Mantharaka, Tarragona, Tiverton, and possibly others
Result See text
Territorial
changes
none
Factions
Aurigan Coalition various free agents
Commanders and leaders
Karen Andris various
Forces involved
Aurigan Coalition Military including Aurigan Royal Guard and Rampart Company; over a dozen mercenary units various free agents

Operation RESTORED HOPE, alternatively sometimes referred to as Operation RENEWED HOPE, was a military campaign by the restored Aurigan Coalition to repossess BattleMechs from various warbands, mercenaries and free agents.

Background[edit]

In the aftermath of the Arano Restoration campaign that reclaimed rule over the Aurigan Coalition from the rebellious Aurigan Directorate in what amounted to a civil war, High Lady Kamea Arano found that many troops who had fought for the Directorate had fled with their BattleMechs when the Directorate crumbled. Considering these 'Mechs the rightful property of the Aurigan Coalition, and in desperate need of the military power they represented, Kamea Arano reactivated the "Hero of Panzyr", retired lieutenant Karen Andris, for the Aurigan Coalition Military and tasked her with tracking down and repossessing the 'Mechs.[1] Simultaneously, Operation RESTORED HOPE aimed to track down and destroy remnants of the Aurigan Directorate or House Espinosa and neutralize them, as they were seen to be a real or potential future threat to the reformed Aurigan Coalition. There was naturally a large overlap between these two missions.

To this end, Andris would command elements of the Aurigan Royal Guard and work with numerous frontier mercenary units including the Antian Lanciarii,[1] Irukjandi Company,[1] Black Caravel,[2] and others (altogether "more than a dozen").[3]

On the sidelines, Andris was also tasked with forming a secret, then unnamed special operations group (the future Rampart Company) and identify candidates for this force.[3] In this sense, Operation RESTORED HOPE was also the formative operation of the as-yet unnamed Rampart Company.

The campaign[edit]

Details on the campaign are sketchy. What is known is that Andris and her forces (Arano Royal Guard, Antian Lanciarii, Irukjandi Company) faced the Rimward Veterans Militia just as the RVM was evacuating their base on the frontier world of Highwater on 21 October 3026. When the RVM under Caleb Huang refused to surrender their 'Mechs, they were vanquished in the field and six of their escape transports were apprehended while a seventh was shot down; confirmed deaths among the RVM include Caleb "Sailfin" Huang and one MechWarrior "Arbalest".[1]

Other data points known about Operation RESTORED HOPE include:

  • By 31 October 3026 they had "broken the spine of Forever Vigilant and routed Ibex Rampant". A battle on Tiverton was mentioned in the context where whole fortresses were "put to the torch" and "their people rounded up and arrested".[1] From the context it remains unclear if this refers to the fight against Forever Vigilant, or Ibex Rampant, or perhaps both.
  • Farida Lamb, a future member of Rampart Company, partook in Operation RESTORED HOPE missions on Mantharaka, Highwater, and Tarragona, as well as in "a final drop on Gaucin" where she killed the leader of Ibex Rampant, thus securing the Awesome he piloted as salvage. The action on Gaucin was said to have marked a "decisive end to Operation RESTORED HOPE".[4]

End of the campaign[edit]

It is unclear when Operation RESTORED HOPE ran out, and given the diffuse nature of the mission, may be impossible to pin down exactly; however, Canopian intelligence considered the operation concluded as of ca. 3027.[5]

Altogether, Operation RESTORED HOPE reclaimed six 'Mechs intact, and over forty in salvage condition.[3] It is unclear what damage the Arano forces incurred over the course of the fighting, making it impossible to determine whether or not Operation RESTORED HOPE can be regarded as successful in its prime objective.

Five splinter groups sympathizing with the overthrown Directorate were destroyed, while Canopian intelligence obtained evidence that remnants of a sixth, the Rimward Veterans Militia, were actually allowed to escape though that group, too, was reportedly eliminated.[3]

It was said that Rampart Company, although being formed over the course of the operation, received its name only after the operation's conclusion and that Karen Andris was only properly installed as its commander at that time.[3]

References[edit]

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 Operation RESTORED HOPE (short story), in House Arano (The Aurigan Coalition), pp. 5-9
  2. House Arano (The Aurigan Coalition), p. 43, Genevieve Nassar profile
  3. 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 House Arano (The Aurigan Coalition), p. 38, Karen Andris profile
  4. House Arano (The Aurigan Coalition), p. 48, Farida Lamb profile
  5. House Arano (The Aurigan Coalition), p. 38, Karen Andris profile, states that Rampart Company received its name when Operation RENEWED HOPE [sic] concluded (putting the date at an unspecified point in the document's past). The preface of this document is dated 3026, and within the document it is stated (on p. 36) that active surveilance of Rampart Company by the CAC was authorized on 12 December 3026; the latest date cited in the book is 3028 (on p. 57, scenario "Fire and Steel" intro is attributed to a 3028 publication).

Bibliography[edit]