Eridani Light Horse

Table of Contents
Unit History Formation of the First Regimental Combat Teams The Eridani Light Horse Against the Usurper The First Succession War Evacuation Dissension in the Ranks Return to Duty Vacation on New Karlsruh Defense of Hesperus II Contract with Davion Years of Quiet The Clans The New Star League Renewal	Unit Information Unit Description Contract Requirements Typical Mission Work Unit Traditions

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.

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The Eridani Light Horse

Formed in 2702, the 3rd Regimental Combat Team, which consisted of two Striker Regiments and two Light Horse Regiments, established residence near the Periphery in the Rasalhague Military District. Though it had no 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 local accusations that they were nothing more than an occupation force.

In 2681, the cutbacks of the House militaries ordered by Michael Cameron's Edict of 2650 began to bear bitter fruit. Hundreds of Kuritan MechWarriors had become ronin, masterless samurai who knew no other trade than warfare. They began contesting each other in duels of honor --- duels that eventually began to produce Champions, around whom a whole new dueling cult arose to rival that of Solaris VII. Many of these Champions became legends both on and off the dueling circuits, and the cockier ones began striding up to the edges of Star League bases and delivering challenges to those within. The 3rd RCT acquitted itself well in these duels, winning 30 out of 48 challenges given them by the time the practice ground to a halt in 2751.

This incredible record was likely due to the unit's heavy involvement in the SLDF's Gunslinger program. 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.

This bitterness reached the boiling point in 2749, when terrorists, hired by the Prince of Rasalhague, assassinated the Commander of the 3rd RCT. The blow mobilized the entire 3rd RCT, which descended and occupied the major cities on all ten worlds in their districts. For 23 days 'Battlemechs patrolled the cities, waiting for Draconian 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 'Battlemechs, "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.

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Against the Usurper

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. Throughout the next 15 years, the Light Horse participated in many of the declared and undeclared wars that broke out in the Periphery. In 2766, after the New Vandenberg Campaign, the Light Horse was rotated off the front lines and back to their station in the Rasalhague Military District.

Less than six months later on December 27, First Lord Richard Cameron was shot dead by Stefan Amaris. While awaiting the return of General Kerensky's forces from the Periphery, the Eridani Light Horse prepared for raids against Usurper forces, but was denied permission to stage from Combine space. Most of Coordinator Minoru Kurita's family had been taken hostage by Amaris, and the Combine could not afford to be seen as supporting the returning Kerensky or any other SLDF force. The Light Horse transferred its 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 immediatel 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. He hoped that these raids would disrupt Amaris's defensive preparations.

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, whose climax was the invasion and 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; three Marine regiments had been holding out there since Amaris' coup eight years prior. The Light Horse, which ran supplies to the beleaguered troops during this period, received a healthy share of the credit for the success of the Marines' guerrilla campaign.

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 at 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.

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 were vying for control of the Star League, the Eridani Light Horse returned to the Rasalhague Military District, striving to remain impartial. They waited patiently for General Kerensky to call them into action to restore order to the Star League.

When approached by the General's emissaries, however, 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; it only took the 80th Heavy Cavalry Battalion, which Kerensky himself had once commanded, half an hour to decide to remain. In the end, only a few scattered lances decided to leave with the Exodus.

When the call came, however, it summoned them to join the remaining loyal Star League forces and to leave the Interior forever. Ironically, the Light Horse felt such a sense of belonging to the area they defended that it proved to be stronger than their loyalty to General Kerensky. 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 and 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.

And 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 survived to the modern day as one of the unit's many traditions.

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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. 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 50 million civilians on Kentares IV.

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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 Battlemechs was hunted down and slaughtered. Forces from Rasalhague appeared in the system, 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 (nicknamed "The Bloody Half Hundred" because of Sendai) and the 8th Recon Battalion are tradition-bound to protect the dependants 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.

The Eridani Light Horse figured prominently in Marik offensives during the Second Succession War. Besides spearheading attacks against Lyran-owned worlds, such as Ilion and Dieudonne, they also repulsed a Kurita attack against the planet Danais.

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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 dissidence, 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.

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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.

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 dependants. 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."

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.

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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 the 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.

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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 heavy 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.

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Contract with Davion

The Eridani Light Horse was also successful in the Twelfth Battle for Hesperus II. Nevertheless, 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.

Duke 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.

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YEARS OF QUIET

When the Federated Commonwealth attempted to bring the Draconis Combine to its knees in 3039, it proved devastating to the Light Horse. Under the command of Duke James Sandoval, the 151st, Seventy-first, and Twenty-first regiments drove into the Benjamin District, hitting the planets Fellanin II and Sadalbari. In the second wave of the invasion, the 151st and Twenty-first regiments continued their push into Combine space, attempting to hook up with the Galedon Thrust and iso­late the Galtor thumb. The Seventy-first remained on Fellanin II to finish securing the world and prepare for the third wave. As the second wave began, Theodore Kurita struck into the teeth of the advancing armies, using command circuits—consisting of strings of JumpShips along a jump route—to ferry his troops rapidly across the border. One of the first worlds attacked and retaken was Fellanin II. Most of the Seventy-first Light Horse Regiment was readying for transport to the third wave when Kurita forces fell on them. The Seventy-first was virtually wiped out, and the FedCom was cowed into giving up its war.

The Light Horse returned to teaching as they began rebuild­ing the Seventy-first, punctuated by infrequent raids against House Kurita. It would take a full decade before the Seventy-First entered the rolls of the FedCom mercenaries again.

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THE CLANS

The Light Horse began the painful process of once again rebuilding their destroyed sister regiment; the Seventy-first would not be formally reactivated until 3055. Subsequent Falcon raids told a different story, however. Convinced by the Seventy-first’s destruction that the Light Horse did not deserve their reputation as elite mercenaries, many Falcon commanders raided the Horsemen’s garrisons, only to find themselves repulsed at every turn.

This tenacity in the face of superior Clan technology once again prevailed in 3058. On 30 January 3058, Clan Jade Falcon crossed into the Lyran Alliance through the Coreward Periphery border and drove all the way to the world of Coventry. The Seventy-first Light Horse was included in the Coventry Expeditionary Force, whose goal it was to push the Falcons off the planet. Several weeks of bitter fighting found the Seventy­first under siege in the city of Liertnerton. Short on replace­ment parts, ammunition, armor patches, and combat-capable troops, the Seventy-first, along with the other members of the CEF, nevertheless threw back attack after attack. The defenders suffered heavy casualties, but the Falcons never took Liertnerton.

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THE STAR LEAGUE

In thirty days of combat, in March 3060, the Light Horse saw almost as much loss of life as in the past three hundred years. The Smoke Jaguars fought with the feral intensity of the doomed, but the prize at the end was worth the loss and the tears and the pain. The Horsemen gave Prince Victor the victo­ry he needed to force the Clans into accepting a Trial of Refusal against the invasion. Without the destruction of the Jaguars’ home world, the Clans might not have accepted the challenge. They did, they lost, and the new Star League was given a chance to become what it once was. That the Light Horse was instrumental in this was the completion of a dream that every Horseman has had down through the years. The fact that Brevet General Ariana Winston also lost her life brings only quiet pride. She did her duty.

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RENEWAL

Even more shocking for the Light Horse was their deployment in late 3061 to the worlds of the St. Ives Compact, in an attempt to stop the predations of the Capellan Confederation. The bitter fighting on all sides has many Horsemen wondering whether the SLDF should be involved in this conflict at all.

However, 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.

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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.

To that end, we work only with those we admire, those that manage to keep alive the old ways. The Lyran Commonwealth and the Federated Suns are two such peoples.

As we admire some, there are those we despise. Our hatred for the Draconis Combine is simple and requires little explanation. They plumbed the depths of depravity when they murdered our families to bring us to our knees. We will never grant them mercy or expect it. -General Armstrong at the ELH Combat Training School Commencement Ceremonies, 3024

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Contract Requirements

The Eridani Light Horse's only weakness is its inadequate number of Techs. Therefore, Light Horse leaders always insist that the employer furnish the unit with support personnel to repair and maintain its 'Mechs. Also, they demand the right to negotiate supply contracts with local commerce companies. This allows them to bypass their employer's military bureaucracy, which might neglect the needs of mercenaries in favor of house units.

Like many other mercenary units, the Light Horse requests a place to settle its dependents. This is a vital contract point, as these mercenaries firmly believe in keeping a sense of community. They also refuse to commit any act that would violate the near-forgotten Ares Conventions. Thus, they will never attack civilians, inflict undue harm on innocent peoples, or execute prisoners.

Perhaps their only unusual contract point is that the employer must allow Eridani support personnel into his research facilities. Although this has irritated some employers, it does ensure that Light Horse 'Mechs will be in the best possible shape to fight for their employer. Only the wily Hanse Davion has had the audacity to turn this contract point around. He demanded that if he was to permit mercenaries into his New Avalon Institute of Science, then the best of them must teach there. With a laugh, General Armstrong accepted his condition.

The Eridani Light Horse is well satisfied with its relations with the Federated Suns. Prince Davion exceeded most of the Light Horse's specifications - he even sells 'Mechs to the unit at cost. General Armstrong respects the Prince, and so he plans to remain in the Federated Suns for a long, long time.

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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, such as Winfields's Brigade of the Lyran Commonwealth. What distinguishes the Light Horse from all others is the skill and coordination of each Eridani soldier. A typical objective lasts approximately four hours, and roughly follows this sequence.

• 1)Aerospace fighters attack enemy aerodromes, while recon lances drop onto the planet.
  2)Recon lances gather information while striking at communication centers, crippling the enemy's ability to respond.
  3)Aerospace fighters establish aerospace superiority, then command and strike lances drop to the planet.
  4)Units strike at objective(s). Dropships transport support units (artillery, tanks, and infantry) to prearranged recall points, and then leave for a near-orbit.
  5)Command, strike, and recon lances break off attacks after allotted time has elapsed, and head for recall points, striking at any military target that presents itself.
  6)Support units cover the approach of the returning lances. Dropships land, take aboard all personnel, and then lift off.
  

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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 remains bare, while the banner of the Light Horse flies at perpetual half-mast. 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 three 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 and runs it up the usually bare flag pole. The base commander then reads Colonel Bradley's communiqué informing General Kerensky of the 3rd Regimental Combat Team's decision to stay. As the honor guard lowers the Star League standard, the military band plays the Star League anthem softly and slowly.

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