Stone's Lament


Insignia of Stone's Lament
Stone's Lament
Formed 3072
Affiliation Republic of The Sphere
Parent Command Stone's Brigade


Stone's Lament was the premiere military combat unit of the Republic Armed Forces, originally formed as a force loyal to Devlin Stone himself.

History[edit]

Origin[edit]

Stone's Lament was a military combat unit formed in the fires of Kittery's Resistance group in 3072,[1] and possibly even earlier in 3071.[2] Members of the resistance force which was led by Devlin Stone breaking out of Word of Blake reeducation camp RBMU 105. Survivors of the resistance group, formed Stone's Lament, with Belle Lee as its commander.[3][4]

Stone's Lament pride themselves in having fought in the hardest and bloodiest battles in all wars waged by Devlin Stone.

Of all the hammers Stone swung, they were the biggest.

3074[edit]

In July they landed on Skye and faced the Blakist Third and Eighteenth Divisions.[5]

They were present when the Coalition landed on Hesperus II in 3074. They fought alongside the warriors of Clan Wolf's Delta Galaxy, pinning the Fortieth Shadow Division in place at Maria's Elegy.[6][7]

3075[edit]

Stone's Lament were directly involved in the battle for Ascella in December 3075. Forces from Clan Ghost Bear had already tried to liberate Ascella once and been thwarted by Word of Blake Pocket WarShips, which had destroyed half of the Ghost Bear DropShips as they burned towards the planet. Shortly after this, Devlin Stone and a small diplomatic party negotiated with the Ghost Bears, gaining their support for the coalition; the Ghost Bears in turn sent a party into the Outworlds Alliance to negotiate for support for the coalition from Clan Snow Raven. When the Snow Ravens agreed a second Ghost Bear task force struck at Ascella, this time with support from Snow Raven assets. This second strike hit Ascella at roughly the same time as an allied coalition force led by Stone and which included Stone's Lament. While the Ghost Bears fought a bitter two-week campaign against the Word of Blake Militia over the planetary spaceport and industrial complexes in the face of continued scorched earth tactics, Stone's Lament managed to capture both the planetary HPG compound and capital in just a week.[8][9]

In November the Lament was on Yorii when they came across several former Clan Smoke Jaguar warriors. These warriors were quickly relocated off-world.[10]

3076[edit]

Stone's Lament participated in an invasion of Rochelle. One key contribution was its July deployment of an infantry squad, Captain Jared Travis's Recon Squad Four, to investigate a Blakist installation. The installation turned out to be a tracking center for a Space Defense System, whose power grid the squad overloaded. This allowed the Coalition fleet to land with minimal casualties.[11]

3077[edit]

After the various battles to liberate Chara Major Nancy Smith of Stone's Lament reported that her battalion had at one point been assisted in breaking through the Blakist forces by Hauptmann Cassandra Lightfoot of the Twenty-fifth Arcturan Guards and her company; despite having been dismissed by Major Smith as a Social General in the making with little grasp of tactics, Hauptman Lightfoot evidently used her company with considerable skill to breach the Blakist line and give the Lament a large hole to exploit.[12]

In November the Lament and Stone's Stalwarts landed on Hall. There they were planning to assault when Private Bethany Barratt contacted the Word of Blake commander and persuaded him to surrender.[13]

3078[edit]

In 3078 the Lament was expanded to incorporate a fourth battalion, and Devlin Stone personally promoted Bethany Barratt, then considered something of a hero, to command the battalion. This attracted a degree of criticism from Belle Lee, who apparently displayed a degree of personal dislike for Barratt, something supporters of Barratt portrayed as anything from petty jealousy to the stereotypical disdain MechWarriors held for most infantry personnel. Local press within the Duchy of Oriente presented Barratt's promotion as a reward for her actions during Operation SCOUR, which not only included securing the surrender of Hall with minimal bloodshed but also leading her infantry unit as they prevented an assassination attempt on Stone's life by Manei Domini agents. The popular support for Barratt and her promotion was at least partly influenced by Barratt's personal history, which recorded her as having been born on Loeches but raised on Oriente.[14]

In June the Lament arrived at New Home when the Forty-fifth Shadow Division and Forty-seventh Shadow Division arrived to reinforce the Forty-third Shadow Division. There they successfully held the Shadow Divisions in place until the Aegis-class WarShip Promise could conduct an orbital bombardment. After half the Forty-seventh Shadow Division was destroyed by the orbital fire, the Lament smashed into them. Nine hours later the Blakist forces on New Home were destroyed.[15]

On the 1st of August 3078 during the buildup to the attack on Terra several members of the Lament were interviewed by Nigel Holmgren, with their interview transmitted across the Inner Sphere by INN. The three soldiers interviewed - Sergeant Kennon McDaniels, Bryce Ruggieri and Vijay Jagadamma - had been members of the Lament since Kittery and Scituate; also interviewed briefly was one of the newer members of the unit, General Andrew Redburn.[16]

The Lament was used in the Eastern Task Force on Terra. This group faced some of the most determined Blakist resistance as it assaulted Hilton Head. After a brief fight, they withdrew.[17] Eventually enough resources were diverted to take Hilton Head compound, and the task force moved west, into the North American continent. On 27 August the Lament staged a midnight assault around Little Rock which resulted in the eventual liberation of that city.[18] 19 December the Lament faced the forces that Precentor Martial Cameron St. Jamais had gathered outside Devils Tower. Devlin Stone and St. Jamais fought a duel, and Stone killed the Blakist. After that the remaining defenders began to surrender.[19]

Dark Age[edit]

After the Jihad ended, Stone's Lament fought the CCAF on several worlds. They served as the spearhead of the Republic forces that took Tikonov inflicting heavy losses on Warrior House Imarra and Warrior House Ijori.[20] They faced Warrior House Imarra on Liao[21] and forced the Capellan unit to withdraw. On Styk they inflicted heavy losses to Warrior House Dai Da Chi and Warrior House Tsang Xiao, as well as on Laurel's Legion.[22] In 3085 they were stationed on Terra.[23]

In 3131 they raided Sarna and pinned the Prefectorate Guard in place. They forced the Capellan unit to withdraw.[24]

After the rise of Fortress Republic Stone's Lament focused on training and preparation for operations outside of the Fortress.[25] They were still on Terra in 3145.[26]

Officers[edit]

Rank Name Command
Commanding Officers of Stone's Defenders
General Belle Lee 3072 - 3085[3][27][23]
Brigadier General Hardin McMasters 3085[23]
Exarch Devlin Stone 3111[28]
Brigadier General Andrew Turner 3145-3151[26][29]

Other Unit's Officers[edit]

Tactics[edit]

Unknown.

Composition History[edit]

3073[edit]

Known Members:[31]

3085[edit]

Stone's Lament (Elite/Fanatical)[23]

  • CO: Brigadier General Hardin McMasters

First Lament Air (Wing)/Elite/Fanatical)[23]

First Lament Armor (1 Battalion/Veteran/Fanatical)[23]

  • CO: Major Hilde Gulnes

First Lament Battle Armor (1 Battalion/Elite/Fanatical)[23]

  • CO: Major Drenvar

3111[edit]

Stone's Lament (Elite)[28]

  • CO: Exarch Devlin Stone

3145[edit]

Stone's Lament (Elite/Fanatical)[26]

  • CO: Brigadier Andrew Turner

1st Lament Air Wing (Elite/Fanatical)[26]

1st Lament Armor (1 Battalion/Elite/Fanatical)[26]

1st Lament Battle Armor (1 Battalion/Elite/Fanatical)[26]

Notes[edit]

All members of Stone's Lament have a unit-tattoo on their biceps. Stone's Lament is such a legendary unit, that sometimes fakers show up, presenting such a tattoo and claiming being a former member. If real members of Stone's Lament stumble upon such a faker, they personally remove the fake tattoo via laser surgery – with a laser-pistol.[32]

Game Rules[edit]

3074[edit]

When commanded by Devlin Stone or Belle Lee, the Lament gains the Banking Initiative special ability and a +2 Initiative bonus when either is present on the battlefield. When rolling on Random Assignment Tables, the controlling player may add a +1 bonus when determining lance weight. Furthermore, for every four units played, the controlling player may roll one unit on any House RAT.[4]

References[edit]

  1. Jihad Hot Spots 3072, p. 71: "Kittery Freedom Fighters Advance"
  2. Field Manual: 3085, p. 182: "Stone's Brigade"
  3. 3.0 3.1 Masters and Minions: The StarCorps Dossiers, pp. 227–228: "Devlin Stone/Belle Lee"
  4. 4.0 4.1 Jihad Turning Points: Hesperus II, p. 9: "Stone’s Lament [Mercenary–Coalition] (November 3074–December 3074)"
  5. Total Chaos, p. 54
  6. Jihad Turning Points: Hesperus II, p. 9: "Combatants - Stone's Lament"
  7. Jihad Turning Points: Hesperus II, p. 15: "Tracks - Swords And Heroes"
  8. Jihad Hot Spots: Terra, p. 19: "Timeline of the Jihad"
  9. Jihad: Final Reckoning, p. 55: "The Jihad in Review"
  10. Jihad Hot Spots: Terra, p. 30: "Death Clan Rising"
  11. The Fires of Hell
  12. Field Report: LAAF, p. 3: "Social-Killer"
  13. Jihad Hot Spots: Terra, p. 54: "Hall Surrenders Without a Shot"
  14. Jihad Hot Spots: Terra, p. 79: "Bethany Barratt: Oriente Hero"
  15. Jihad Hot Spots: Terra, pp. 73–74: "Victory at New Home"
  16. Jihad Hot Spots: Terra, pp. 93–94: "Stone's Elite"
  17. Total Chaos, pp. 195–196: "The Campaign: 3068 - Terra"
  18. Total Chaos, p. 203: "Suffrage of Saints"
  19. Total Chaos, pp. 197–198: "The Campaign: 3068 - Moon Maze"
  20. Field Manual: 3085, pp. 182–183: "Stone's Brigade"
  21. Field Manual: 3085, p. 24: "Warrior House Orders - Warrior House Imarra"
  22. Field Manual: 3085, p. 27: "Citizens' Honored - Laurel's Legion"
  23. 23.0 23.1 23.2 23.3 23.4 23.5 23.6 Field Manual: 3085, p. 187: "RAF Deployment Table - 3085"
  24. Technical Readout: 3145 Capellan Confederation, p. 20: "Pixiu Heavy Tank"
  25. Field Manual: 3145, p. 143
  26. 26.0 26.1 26.2 26.3 26.4 26.5 Field Manual: 3145, p. 145: "Republic Armed Forces - Stone's Brigade"
  27. The Inheritance of Duty: "date extrapolated from her daughter-in-laws statement that she led the Lament for seventeen years"
  28. 28.0 28.1 Operational Turning Points: Capellan Crusades, p. 14: "Combatants - Stone's Lament"
  29. Hour of the Wolf, ch. 5
  30. Record Sheets: 3085 Print Edition, p. 15 "Ad-Hoc Command Lance"
  31. Technical Readout: 3075, p. 184: "AS7-D-H Atlas II"
  32. Ghost War, p. 30

Bibliography[edit]