BRIEF HISTORY
In 3007, Captain Wayne Waco of the soon-to-be disbanded 1st Tau Ceti Rangers resigned his commission from House Liao and recruited 15 down-and-out Mechwarriors to form a mercenary company called the Waco Rangers. Oddly enough Liao was their first employer, and the Rangers were soon on the front line, attempting to stem a Davion advance.
SWORN ENEMIES
While on New Aragon in 3008, there, Waco Rangers were strung out on picket duty for McCormack's Fusiliers, awaiting the assault of Wolf's Dragoons. However, Wolf's attack was unexpectedly quick, and the Dragoons trapped Captain Waco's only son, Lieutenant John Waco, in the El Diablo Pass. No one is sure what happened next, but some observers later reported that no fewer than four Battlemechs surrounded John Waco's Stinger and systematically tore it apart. Young Waco ejected, but the Dragoon 'Mechs pursued him, and one crushed the Mechwarrior under its foot.
Although those reports were never verified after the Liao forces retreated off New Aragon, Wayne Waco and his men swore a Death Oath to show no mercy to any member of Wolf's Dragoons and to refuse to work for an employer that employs that unit. To this day, every recruit of the Waco rangers must take this oath, and all Ranger contracts specifically state that their contract is null and void if their employer also hires Wolf's Dragoons. Some years later, the story of this Death Oath reached Colonel Maims Wolf commander of the Dragoons. While denying any outfight cruelly to Wayne Waco's son. Wolf reportedly said, "Fine, fine, another merc to test. I just hope we eventually meet up with the Waco Grangers, or Rangers, or whoever they are."
During the next four years, the Waco Rangers grew rapidly and became known as a unit of misfits. Mechwarriors who left their old units could find a new start in the Rangers with few questions asked; all they needed was some degree of skill and a Battlemech, regardless of its condition. Waco's Tech staff soon developed a reputation as miracle workers for restoring the unit's dilapidated Mechs. If a Dispossessed Mechwarrior was talented enough, Waco would give the mercenary one of the unit's spare 'Mechs.
By 3010, the Waco Rangers were one of the most reliable mercenary units in the service of House Liao. As such it was constantly jumping into one trouble spot to another. Notable among these skirmishes was the defense the planet Thomas against House Davion's 42nd Avalon Hussars regiment in 3011. The Avalon Hussars assaulted the planet en masse, making them easy prey for Waco's hit and-run tactics. By the time Liao reinforcements arrived, forcing the Davion regiment to retreat off-planet, Waco's Techs had recovered nearly 30 enemy Battlemechs. Soon the unit was battalion sized, and Captain Waco gave himself promotion to major. After replacing battle losses, the Rangers still had acquired enough Battlemechs to add two companies to their unit. Within a year, the Waco Rangers had two full Battalions.
FROM LIAO TO KURITA
By mid-3011, Lieutenant Colonel Waco discovered that Maximilian Liao had hired the hated Wolf's Dragoons. Angered by this breach of contract, the Waco Rangers raided Liao's supply bases on Korion and departed Capellan space. Liao was outraged, feeling justified in hiring any mercenary unit he wished According to the contract, however, Liao was supposed to have given the Rangers advance notice of his intention to hire Wolf's Dragoons so that they could leave Liao's employ officially Thus, the Waco Rangers gained a large amount of spare parts, and Liao was left cursing the peculiarities of mercenaries.
As its fame spread throughout the Successor States, the Waco Rangers attracted more and more Mechwarriors to the Unit. As most of its numbers either had no family or were outcasts, the Rangers developed into one big family. As a result they did not mind that some of their pay went toward repairing or rebuilding old Mech. It was still in the family.
In 3014, after extensive training and refurbishment, the Rangers negotiated a contract with the Draconis Combine. For its first mission, Kurita ordered the Unit to raid the planet Sara, which was defended by the 3rd Ceti Hussars. As soon as the raiders jumped insystem, their air lances diverted the defending fighters away from the descending Dropships. However three Davion fighters did delay Noble's Battalion's Overlord Class Dropship, and Kellers Company landed without the support of the assault battalion. As a result, the Hussars battered the company until the Unions arrived, bringing five companies to Keller's aid. The Ceti Hussars fell back to higher ground, tar any from the Rangers' drop zone.
After securing the landing area, the Rangers began a search-and-destroy campaign, which culminated in a Davion retreat into the dense forests of Mara. However, upon hearing reports of Davion reinforcements arriving in the system, Colonel Waco ordered a withdrawal. The Rangers were able to carry On all their disabled Mechs and six assorted vehicles of the Ceti Hussars, in addition to tons of supplies and spare parts.
By 3018, the Waco Rangers were nearly at regimental strength. Kurita employed the unit mostly in objective raids and offensive campaigns. Instead Of splintering the unit into companies to several planets at once, Colonel Waco insisted on keeping his unit together few planets could repel Waco's regiment, and the Rangers always managed to escape before enemy reinforcements could arrive.
BRUSH WITH THE WIDOW
In February of 3021, Colonel Waco and his men landed on New Wessex, a Kurita forward base and staging area, for a few months' rest and repair. While enjoying thin vacation, Waco heard that Wolf's Dragoons' Black Widow Company (now hirelings of House Steiner) had infiltrated the forest called Harlow Wood on the planet, from where they were harassing an entire regiment of Kurita regulars. As the Rangers were dispersed all over the world the Colonel assembled only a company of available, uninjured, and sober Mechwarriors. He immediately led the company in a two-day march to the command post of the 20th Draconis Regiment.
When Waco and his men arrived, the regimental commander, Brigadier Jinjo Yamashiga, had split his regiment into lances, which were conducting a massive sweep of the entire woods to find the Black Widow's base camp. Unfortunately, the Widows were decimating the lances. By the time Colonel Waco arrived. 18 out of the 27 Kurita lances had been battered although the Brigadier forbade the Rangers from participating in the battle. Waco studied topographical maps to find the Widow's most probable
Dropship rendezvous point, and then led his 'Mechs to that area. His hunch was correct but came too late. Waco's company could only trade long-range fire with the Black Widow's Dropships as the latter lifted off. Cheated of his revenge, Colonel Waco sent a scathing report of the Brigadier's incompetence to the Draconis Combine High Command. Brigadier Yamashiga committed suicide one month later.
THE STEINER YEARS
In 3023, House Kurita informed Colonel Waco of its intention to hire Wolf's Dragoons. Accordingly, Colonel Waco let his contract with the Combine expire and signed up with House Steiner, the Successor State recently vacated by Wolf's Dragoons. While conducting objective raids for the Lyran Commonwealth, Colonel Waco tried to discover the location of the Dragoons, but had no success. Then, in mid-3024, his scouts reported that a battalion of Wolf's Dragoons was stationed on the planet Hyperion. Waco immediately decided to organize an assault on the planet.
The Rangers' initial drop and advance went well, and Noble's Assault Battalion seized Ahsiz, the planet's capital, with no opposition. After an unsuccessful search for the Dragoons, Kelly's and Keller's Battalions also entered Ahsiz. However, Wolf's Dragoons soon appeared, and with no fewer than two regiments; the Rangers had stumbled upon one of Wolf's main staging areas. Against these superior numbers, Waco was forced to order a withdrawal, as the Rangers embarked on their Dropships, however. Colonel Waco joined Yuri's Special Operations Company to defend the unit against the advancing Dragoons. The resulting firefight destroyed over half of Yuri's Company, but also cost the Dragoons ten 'Mechs. Colonel Waco's laser-scarred Battlemaster was the last to board a Dropship, as it was occupied with blasting a Banshee into tin foil. Waco still intends to have it out with the Dragoons as soon as possible.
Operating as a deep-penetration unit, the Waco Rangers have given House Kurita many headaches. The Draconis Combine has been forced to detach both the 4th Benjamin Regulars and the 7th Sword of Light Regiment from the front lines to protect supply bases deep inside Kurita territory. The Rangers' fame is spreading, but it will never be a glamour unit such as Wolf's Dragoons. In some Mechwarrior circles, it is known as "The Waco Junkers", a name that has caused many broken jaws in planetside bars.
On 21 April 3058, the Waco Rangers were decimated when they ignored a task-force battle plan and the warning of a recon unit assigned to guide them and walked into a Clan ambush on Coventry. Colonel Wayne Waco continues to dispute this account of events, even though virtually no other military leader questions its accuracy. Nearly all agree that the disaster stemmed from Waco’s fierce hatred of Wolf’s Dragoons.
After the Dragoons revealed their Clan origins, Colonel Waco tried to form an alliance of mercenary units against the Dragoons. The failure of that venture seemed to increase his hatred of them, which culminated in Waco’s disregard for the battle plan on Coventry simply because the Dragoons had come up with it.
After the battle for Coventry, Colonel Waco brought charges against the Dragoons and the recon unit, and also against House Steiner for ‘conspiring to destroy my unit by placing it under the command of a hostile force.” However, the Mercenary Review and Bonding Commission found no basis for Waco’s charges. Calling the Commission “nothing more than Dragoon lapdogs,” Waco vowed to rebuild his unit.
Waco has so far managed to recruit a few mercenary units that share his hostility toward the Dragoons, but he has been unable to assemble more than a company’s worth of MechWarriors. Because so few Waco Ranger units survived the debacle on Coventry, the new unit’s Dragoons Rating reflects only the loss on that planet.
The unit uses the traditional Ranger dun color scheme with rust-red accents. The unit insignia is a five-pointed red and blue star, emblazoned with a white “W” and set over a red field. The insignia is painted on the upper right torsos of the unit’s BattleMechs.
UNIT DESCRIPTION
The Waco Rangers is structured for optimum results while conducting deep-penetration raids, for missions such as picket duty or reconnaissance. Certain 'Mechs are temporarily reassigned to form special lances.
Noble's Battalion is the Rangers' main striking unit. It usually attacks in a V-formation, with Noble's Company in the front and Henry's and Romy's Companies behind and on either side. Kelly's Battalion is the secondary assault force and handles most of the unit's mop-up operations. Occasionally, Colonel Waco uses the battalion as his primary strike force so that no one in the battalion can grumble about always getting the dirty jobs. Presently, Kelly's Battalion is the regiment's weakest unit, as its losses in the Battle of Hyperion have yet to be replaced. Keller's Battalion contains the least experienced Mechwarriors in the Rangers. Considered the regiments reserve force, it supports the drive of either battalion.
The Technical Support Group has a long tradition of creating Battlemechs from piles of debris. Although most 'Mechs in the Rangers are not gleaming pieces of machinery, almost all operate with optimum efficiency. Like most mercenary units, their lack sufficient scare parts, and thus cannot field all their 'Mechs. As a result, many of the Rangers' raids center around capturing equipment rather than attacking enemies. It is not unusual for a Tech to weep with joy upon discovering a case of XP32M circuit boards in an enemy supply cache.
The Waco Rangers' standard is made up of an outlined five-pointed star. The inner star is red and blue and is divided by a white band and centered with a white W.
When he first organized the Rangers, Colonel Waco created a new rank, Mechwarrior Sergeant. This Mechwarrior acts as the lance's second-in-command, and assumes command when the lance commander is injured or unavailable. Thus, the loss of its commander in battle will not totally demoralize a lance.
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