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Atrean Dragoons

Brigade Insignia of the Atrean Dragoons
Atrean Dragoons
Formed 2200s[1]
Affiliation Free Worlds League
Parent Command Free Worlds League Military


The Atrean Dragoons were the provincial armed forces of the Marik Commonwealth before being incorporated into the Free Worlds League Military.[1]

History[edit]

Early Years[edit]

The regiments of the Atrean Dragoons were originally a part of the armed forces of the Marik Commonwealth, with the brigade being founded during the early days of the Free Worlds League. The Atrean Dragoons would continue to serve as the provincial forces of the Marik Commonwealth until the League had expanded to the point that the forces of the Free Worlds Guards were insufficient to garrison the League's borders; when that point was reached, the League Parliament applied pressure to the Marik Commonwealth to loan a portion of the Dragoons to the League to for the purposes of federal defense.[1]

Age of War[edit]

The relationship between the Atrean Dragoons and the Free Worlds League Military was formalized in 2528, when Captain-General Albert Marik made the loan permanent in response to the eruption of the Second Andurien War between the Free Worlds League and the Capellan Confederation. Albert Marik attached a single stipulation to the formal transfer; the Dragoons were required to honor their roots in the Marik Commonwealth by continuing the tradition of recruiting graduates from the military academies on Atreus.[1]

The Star League[edit]

While the Atrean Dragoons remained federal troops the brigade was loyal to the office of the Captain-General, allowing whichever member of House Marik was holding the office at the time to employ the Dragoons for his or her own purposes. These purposes - officially all undertaken in the interest of federal security, but often either of a federal or personal nature - included those that might have caused other federal units to hesitate, and with the increased tension between the Free Worlds League and the Star League following the Marik Civil War Captain-General Ewan Marik wasn't above using the Dragoons as a martial extension of his belligerent and antagonistic policies towards the Lyran Commonwealth. Ewan Marik's son, Captain-General Kenyon Marik, continued to use the Atrean Dragoons to make life difficult for Star League Defense Force garrisons in the Free Worlds League.[1]

During the Star League era the Dragoons continued to recruit the best graduates from military academies on Atreus and to receive the best military hardware in quantities greater than most other federal troop brigades. The Dragoons brigade officially diminished in size during the early years of the Star League[1] - at the recommendation of the Dormuth Council the newly formed Fifteenth Atrean Dragoons regiment was disbanded following the issue of the Council Edict of 2650 by the Star League Council, although the regiment was actually quietly absorbed into the provincial forces of the Duchy of Andurien[2] and funding for a planned Sixteenth Atrean Dragoons was diverted into recruiting additional provincial forces.[1]

Despite the restrictions of the Council Edict of 2650 Ewan Marik had the Eleventh Atrean Dragoons reconstituted during his reign, rebuilding the regiment under the command of former mercenary officer (and irregular forces advisor to the Dormuth Council, Erin Chu) while the Fourteenth Atrean Dragoons was founded in the late 2730s. Throughout the Star League era the Atrean Dragoons remained a formation that combined great personal loyalty to the Captain-General with high standards of discipline and strict adherence to traditions. The pressure of this environment dissuaded many new recruits from remaining in the Dragoons, and the average tour length within the Dragoons was just five years; however, the longer someone remained in the Dragoons, the more loyal they were likely to be and the higher their morale at being a part of the brigade.[1]

When the Star League began to collapse and Kenyon Marik began preparing for an invasion of the Terran Hegemony at least one officer within the Dragoons - Venla Sahin, commanding officer of the Third Atrean Dragoons - was placed in command of regiments outside the Dragoons in addition to her own command in anticipation of an active combat role. General Sahin was given operational command over the Seventh Marik Militia and the Fifth Atrean Dragoons in addition to the Third, and in 2787 secured Borden quickly for the Free Worlds League before attacking New Dallas, one of the staunchest and most patriotic Hegemony worlds.[3]

Sahin's campaign to secure New Dallas was disastrous for the world; initial landings by the Seventh Marik Militia were repulsed by ferocious, well-equipped and fanatical local militia forces.[4] Sahin authorized the use of nuclear weapons against the defenders and population centers, breaking the will of the population to resist other than small groups of diehards within the militia.[5] Sahin's forces then stripped New Dallas of anything of worth and moved on; the surviving population, broken by the bombardment and decades of war and occupation, abandoned New Dallas before the beginning of the Second Succession War.[6]

Officers[edit]

Rank Name Command
Commanding Officers of the Atrean Dragoons
General Julian Langsdorf 3050 - 3059[7][8]

Other Officers[edit]

Tactics[edit]

Different per unit.

Units of the Atrean Dragoons[edit]

Notes[edit]

Colors and Unit Insignia[edit]

The colors of the Atrean Dragoons are described as green and light grey livery.[10]

References[edit]

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 Field Report 2765: FWLM, p. 9: "Atrean Dragoons"
  2. Field Report 2765: FWLM, p. 4: "Circumventing Directive 30"
  3. Historical Turning Points: New Dallas, p. 7: "Venla Sahin"
  4. Historical Turning Points: New Dallas, p. 12: "Songs of Freedom"
  5. Historical Turning Points: New Dallas, p. 13: "Beginning of the End"
  6. Historical Turning Points: New Dallas, p. 14: "Ranger Justice"
  7. 7.0 7.1 20 Year Update, p. 56: "Free Worlds League Military"
  8. 8.0 8.1 Field Manual: Free Worlds League, p. 111: "Free Worlds League Military"
  9. Field Manual: 3085, p. 167
  10. Historical Turning Points: New Dallas, p. 1: "Parting Gifts"

Bibliography[edit]