Emporia Military Academy
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| Emporia Military Academy | |
|---|---|
 Logo as Ritza Academy, pre-October 3150 | |
| Academy Information | |
| Previous Name(s) | Ritza Academy |
| Location | Emporia |
| Course Information | |
| MechWarrior[1] | |
| Infantry/Armor[1] | |
Located on the planet of Emporia, the Emporia Military Academy was a small Federated Suns military academy. Prior to October 3150, it was known as the Ritza Academy.
Contents
Ritza Academy[edit]
Overview[edit]
The Ritza Academy was a small military academy on Emporia. By April 3150, it had about 550 to 700 cadets, split between two tracks: MechWarrior and infantry/armor. The MechWarrior track was taught largely by retired MechWarriors granted noble titles in exchange for employment.[1] Graduates would often become part of Emporia's local forces.[2]
Admissions were largely dependent on the noble houses of Emporia. There were four routes to admission. The Blooded, the traditional students of Ritza, were members of Emporia's noble families, allowed in by blood.[3][2] The Sponsored, a later addition - only one class had graduated by April 3150[2] - were non-nobles, orphans taken in by one of the noble houses of Emporia.[4] Their numbers rapidly expanded, quickly outnumbering the Blooded cadets.[5] Third, exclusively for the infantry track, were the Patroned. Qualified applicants who could not afford tuition could earn the patronage of a noble house. Finally, it was possible to apply to Ritza as a non-noble, qualify, and afford the expensive tuition independently.[6] Some tensions existed between social classes, with some Blooded referring to Patroned as "peasants" and Sponsored as "strays".[6]
Training and instructional facilities in the campus, located in Liegeden, were somewhat limited. By 3150, the academy had six BattleMech simulators, enough only for three-on-three training battles; the lack of full lance training caused some problems. A fourth pair was intended to arrive in April.[7] A 'Mech bay held eight training 'Mechs, along with training ammunition.[8] The academy also had a vehicle bay. Infantry cadets were allowed to modify the school's combat vehicles, resulting in custom variants of the Vedette and Fox.[9]
The school's logo was a red-sashed gold shield with paired antlers, all on a blue background.[10]
Invasion and Destruction[edit]
In the late hours of 5 April 3150, the Seventh Ghost Regiment, a renegade Draconis Combine unit, seized the New Exeter Spaceport. Many of the planet's nobles, including several Ritza Academy professors, were quickly captured. The cadets of Ritza Academy, under the de facto command of Cadet Nadine Roux, became the core of Emporia's resistance. In the early hours of 8 April, Nadine led a raid on the spaceport, freeing several key prisoners and damaging Seventh CO Takeji Yoshizawa's own lance.[11]
Planetary resistance grew from there, with the elite nobles now able to help fight. Yoshizawa, watching the Seventh struggle to hold Emporia and enraged by cadets daring to strike his forces, launched a cruise missile at the Ritza Academy on 15 April.[12] Dame Emma Meier sacrificed her life to push the missile slightly off target with her 'Mech, limiting casualties, but the campus was largely destroyed.[13] The survivors relocated to the Vengalil estate,[14] and cadets continued to fight until the Seventh Ghost broke and withdrew on 18 April, its desertion revealed to its soldiers.[15]
Emporia Military Academy[edit]
On 21 October 3150, in front of an audience of the less than one hundred remaining cadets, Count Mason Ritza announced the formation of the Emporia Military Academy, taking the place of the destroyed Ritza Academy. The new academy was in most respects a continuation of the Ritza Academy, set up to keep the cadets and location of the former academy while being run by a set of Ritza's staff: John Cole, Marie Clements, Vale Auger, and Mateo Gabrielli. It was to be funded by House Ritza and the Federated Suns.[16]
A memorial was constructed to honor those who died resisting the 3150 invasion. Initially located at the Vogel estate, where the new academy was temporarily run, it was to be moved to the permanent Emporia Military Academy campus after rebuilding.[16]
References[edit]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Iron Dawn, ch. 7
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Iron Dawn, ch. 5
- ↑ Crimson Night, ch. 1
- ↑ Iron Dawn, ch. 14: Zachary Vogel ties sponsorship to sheltering orphans; ch. 24: Henry Cobb distinguishes Patroned from Sponsored
- ↑ Iron Dawn, ch. 10
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 Iron Dawn, ch. 24
- ↑ Iron Dawn, ch. 3
- ↑ Iron Dawn, ch. 9
- ↑ Iron Dawn, ch. 25
- ↑ Iron Dawn, ch. 29
- ↑ Iron Dawn
- ↑ Ghost Hour, ch. 15
- ↑ Ghost Hour, chs. 17–20
- ↑ Crimson Night, ch. 3
- ↑ Crimson Night, ch. 37
- ↑ 16.0 16.1 Crimson Night, ch. 39
Bibliography[edit]
- Crimson Night (novel)
- Ghost Hour (novel)
- Iron Dawn (novel)