Silver Hawk Irregulars

Silver Hawk Irregulars logo.png
Silver Hawk Irregulars
Formed ca. 2966[1]

3135 (re-formed)[2][3]

Disbanded 3081[4]
Affiliation Free Worlds League, Silver Hawks Coalition
Parent Command FWLM
Sub-Command(s) Falcons

Gryphons

Drawing from the planetary defense forces of the five member provinces of the Silver Hawks Coalition, the two regiments of the Silver Hawk Irregulars vary wildly in training, equipment, and experience. The Coalition's proximity to the border of the Free Worlds League has ensured that the brigade has seen a great deal of combat, though its performance relies entirely on how well its commanders can get their troops to cooperate with one another.

History[edit]

Formation[edit]

The Silver Hawk Irregulars were formed after the signing of the Concord of Danais in 2966 by the five future provinces of the Silver Hawks Coalition: Kalidasa, Callison, Danais, Amity, and Shiloh. Though their cooperation was based on much earlier mutual defense agreements already in existence between these states, the formation of this joint military force solidified those connections. The Coalition's invocation of the Free Worlds League's Home Defense Act brought the brigade into being, and it drew its initial members from the militaries and militias of these worlds, taking whatever they could provide.[1] This resulted in a rather disparate group of units from each province, as each viewed the combined peacekeeping force with different perspectives and cultural expectations. For example, while the people of Kalidasa and New Hope viewed their tithe to the Irregulars as a solemn responsibility and contributed the best 'Mechs and troops, Shiloh viewed the levies as a chance to be rid of the worst elements of their society, sending convicts, paupers, and other societal rejects with shoddy equipment to do their fighting.[5]

The Coalition staunchly resisted the use of their Irregulars by House Marik during several military operations by invoking the Home Defense Act time after time. This refusal to contribute towards shared efforts earned the brigade very few friends in the larger League, though it still saw a great deal of action thanks to the Coalition's proximity to the Capellan and Lyran borders.[1][5]

Fourth Succession War[edit]

In 3029, Cranston Snord's Irregulars faced the Gryphons regiment on the world of Connaught.[6]

Andurien Secession[edit]

Though the Silver Hawk Irregulars did not face Andurien in combat, their deployment along the Lyran border gave them many opportunities to skirmish with Steiner forces. Raids performed by the Gryphons culminated in two strikes on Cor Caroli and Ailoth in August 3039.

Interim[edit]

The Gryphons were stationed on Kalidasa in 3047, where they defended its Kali Yama factories from a raid by Harlock's Warriors. This defense would ultimately fail, and Federated Commonwealth special forces would leave the planet with multiple Free Worlds designs in hand.[7] The Falcons faced their own setback on Dubhe, where they were struck by the Seventeenth Arcturan Guards in 3049. Though the planet remained in Free Worlds hands, the Falcons were devastated by the larger RCT, emerging from the fighting with barely a battalion's worth of troops.[7]

Operation GUERRERO[edit]

The Falcons were mobilized during Operation GUERRERO, retaking the traditional Silver Hawks world of Callison in 3057. Though the Eleventh Lyran Guards retreated before the Falcon advance, multiple pro-FedCom militia commands held their ground until their eventual defeat.[7] The recapture of the planet did much to improve relations between the brigade and the larger Free Worlds League Military, while General Martha Zuritas's substantial equipment, training, and procedural reforms greatly increased the overall quality of the Silver Hawks.

Jihad[edit]


Dark Age[edit]

Both Silver Hawk Irregulars regiments were destroyed while fighting the Republic of the Sphere during Operation GOLDEN DAWN in 3081. Though the Silver Hawks Coalition refused to sign an official peace with the Republic, the Republic declared that any reformation of the brigade would be treated as an act of war and responded to accordingly.[2]

Reformation and ilClan Era[edit]

The Silver Hawk Irregulars were officially reformed in 3135 by Anson Marik. The Captain-General hoped the historically provincial regiment would fanatically defend traditional Silver Hawks worlds,[8] while its guerrilla actions would inspire the people of the Marik-Stewart Commonwealth to resist an eventual Lyran invasion.[9] Elements of the brigade squared off against the Lyran and Clan Wolf forces of Duke Vedet Brewer, Roderick Frost, and Alaric Wolf on the Battle of Helm (3138), but were soundly defeated after fierce fighting. Their attempt to surrender to the Duke was ignored by Alaric's forces, who refused to acknowledge the surrender as valid and began slaughtering the remaining Irregulars, leaving few survivors. The few Irregulars that managed to flee the planet brought news of the massacre to the rest of the brigade, creating a long-lasting grudge against Clan Wolf in the ranks.[2] Though initially re-founded as just one regiment of troops, the Gryphons, by 3146 the unit had begun to return to its historical size thanks to the efforts of its commanding officer, Colonel Lucas Cameron-Witherspoon.[10] Through his petitioning for resources, the brigade was able to plant seeds for further expansion, christening a new battalion that they anticipated would grow to become a regiment. This battalion was of course nicknamed the Falcons.[2]

Breaking the Truce[edit]

After the formation of the Wolf Empire was declared by Seth Ward, the remnants of the Free Worlds League, now united under Captain-General Jessica Marik, were forced to maintain an uneasy truce along the new border, though many of its member states chafed at the loss of their worlds to the nascent Empire. This all changed on 16 April, 3151, when Count Gavin Stewart led the Silver Hawk Irregulars' Gryphons in an invasion of Stewart, seeking to recapture his ancestral home from the Clan solahma forces stationed there.[10] The Gryphons quickly triumphed over the Clan troops, hunting them down to the last man as Count Stewart reclaimed the world for his House.[11] When Trenton Marik, grandson of Anson Marik, heard of the involvement of the Gryphons in this dangerous and unauthorized aggression against Clan Wolf, he received authorization from now-Captain-General Nikol Marik to cross the border and convince Stewart and the Gryphons to leave the planet to avoid angering the Wolves. Gavin refused, claiming that Stewart had been held for too long by outside forces and that it belonged by right and ancestry to House Stewart. To make matters worse for Trenton, Gavin had made sweeping promises to the Irregulars that he would lead them in reclaiming their lost Silver Hawks Coalition worlds and restore them to their rightful place in the League.[11]

On 18 June, just as Trenton was about to give up and return to the League empty-handed, two Clusters of Clan warriors from the Clan Protectorate arrived in the system and made landfall. They immediately engaged the Stewart and Silver Hawk forces, and Trenton joined Gavin in the world's defense. The two combatants were evenly matched, clashing back and forth until the conflict came to a head on 26 June, outside Stewart's Corean Enterprises factory. Though Gavin was seriously wounded after his BattleMaster was brought down, he had tricked the Clan forces into claiming a stripped facility. Enraged, they retaliated emotionally and without forethought, allowing Trenton, who was now at the head of the Gryphons, to rout them from the planet.[11]

Reclamation Campaign[edit]

Even though Gavin Stewart was now incapacitated, he had confided in Lucas Cameron-Witherspoon before his assault on Stewart that recapturing his ancestral homeworld was merely the first step in a grand campaign to restore the Silver Hawks Coalition to power. Gavin envisioned the reborn Coalition would serve once again as a barrier against outside invasion, this time against the predation of the ilClan. Colonel Cameron-Witherspoon decided that he would continue in the pursuit of this grand dream, targeting Amity as the next world to be reclaimed. News of the Gryphons' success on Stewart had reached the former Coalition worlds of Alkes and New Hope, who were now members of the Covenant Worlds, and they sent support in the form of mercenaries, materiel, and money. Cameron-Witherspoon used this influx to target two nearby worlds of significant importance to the Silver Hawk Irregulars: Amity, one of their former capital worlds, and Helm, the site of the infamous massacre of their fellow soldiers by Clan Wolf forces. In defiance of the orders of the Captain-General to return to Free Worlds League space and abandon Stewart, he split his unit, now known as the Gryphons, into two battalions augmented by additional forces and attacked each world simultaneously.[12]

Amity, like many worlds abandoned by the new ilKhan, had only token solahma forces guarding it and quickly fell to the superior numbers of the Gryphons' Second Battalion. The citizens of the planet, the majority of which were not Clan transplants, welcomed the Irregulars with open arms as the sign of a renewed history of independence. Cameron-Witherspoon led the assault on Helm personally, allowing his troops to wreak vengeance on the Clan Wolf garrison troops stationed there. From 7 August to 13 August, the Gryphons scoured the planet of warriors, killing or executing every last combatant. When the world was secured, a monument to those massacred in 3138 was erected outside the city of Helmdown.[12]

Colonel Cameron-Witherspoon's intelligence raids to the nearby worlds of Uhuru, Concord, and Danais revealed that Clan Wolf had left little to no actual military presence to secure them. Some, such as Concord, were completely ungarrisoned and were quickly liberated and returned to the control of their native populace. With four of the original member worlds now freed from Clan Wolf occupation, whether nominal or actual, talk of restoring the Silver Hawks Coalition began in earnest.[12]

With a few months' pause to rearm and replace losses, the Gryphons pushed onwards, now supported by the Covenant Guards. Bondurant was quickly liberated without much fighting, and Cameron-Witherspoon set his sights on Danais. Unbeknownst to him and his unit, the Clan Protectorate's Beta Strike Cluster was on planet attempting to refit from the damage done to them on Stewart. They tore into the Gryphons' company-sized early party, forcing them to go to ground and wait for the remainder of the battalion. Reinforced by the citizens of Danais and the remainder of their unit, the Gryphons rallied and Beta Strike Cluster was driven off the planet and their commander killed. With Danais now secured, Cameron-Witherspoon targeted Kalidasa.[13]

Stalemate on Kalidasa[edit]

Backed by the support of former Silver Hawk Coalition member states and bolstered by the contributions of Quikscell, Irian Technologies, and StarCorps Industries, Colonel Cameron-Witherspoon led his assault on Kalidasa on 11 December, 3151. Irian Technologies contributed a company of its security forces to the effort, though these troops appeared to have their own objectives once they made planetfall. The Gryphons and the IrTech security company quickly encountered a Trinary of the 101st Wolf Garrison Cluster, who was garrisoning the world's important industrial facilities, and both sides soon became bogged down in the resulting fighting. Cameron-Witherspoon put out a call for aid and reinforcements, but received no immediate answers.[14]

On 11 February, 3152, a fleet of JumpShips arrived in system and their DropShips began a burn towards Kalidasa. Thinking these were the requested reinforcements, the Gryphons and IrTech security forces moved to link up with them. The forces that landed were the Falcons, the Gryphon's sister battalion, accompanied by Covenant Worlds troops. Unfortunately, due to an order to maintain radio silence, the Falcons fired on their erstwhile allies, believing them to be some sort of Clan Wolf trick. Cameron-Witherspoon had to order his unit to power down directly in their line of advance and show his personal 'Mech in order to get them to recognize the truth of their identity. They stated that they hadn't been briefed on another invasion force prior to leaving the Covenant Worlds. This information quickly led to a dispute over who the "true" invasion force was, as the Free Worlds League had yet to explicitly sanction any of the actions the Silver Hawk and Covenant World forces had taken. The Covenant Worlds forces stated their intentions to claim Kalidasa for their side, while Cameron-Witherspoon insisted that the world be liberated to join the renewed Silver Hawk Coalition. As neither side could agree, they refused to officially work together against the Clan Wolf forces and the invasion returned to its previous quagmire.[15]

The stalemate finally reached a conclusion when Clan Sea Fox representatives from the Clan Protectorate managed to broker a truce: Kalidasa would be ceded to the Covenant Worlds and the Silver Hawk Coalition could keep all of its new territory provided there was no further depredation on the Clan Wolf border. Clan Protectorate troops would be left garrisoning the remaining border worlds to ensure that the Free Worlds League associates kept their end of the bargain. While disappointed in these results, the Falcons and Gryphons pledged to defend the now reestablished Silver Hawks Coalition defensive pact.

Officers[edit]

Rank Name Command
Commanding Officers of the Silver Hawks Irregulars
Colonel Michael Cameron-Witherspoon 3025[16]
General Martha Zuritas 3047[5] - 3067
Force Commander, later Colonel Ian Cameron-Witherspoon 3137 – fl. 3139[17][18]
Colonel Lucas Cameron-Witherspoon fl. 3145 – 3152[19][20]

Other Officers[edit]

Tactics[edit]

Tactics vary per unit, but most often boil down to simple, practical methods that are common across the wide variety of military experience and training on display in the Irregulars. While advanced tactics were more common after the reforms of 3047 implemented by General Martha Zuritas, most early engagements relied on lowest common denominator stratagems that emphasized individual initiative.[1][5]

Units[edit]

Color Scheme and Insignia[edit]

While from disparate backgrounds, cultures, and militaries, the Irregulars all use the same insignia: a silver falcon with its wings and claws extended, set upon a dark blue disc. The individual provincial units each retain the specific markings and colors of their home province but display the unit crest on the left torso of their 'Mechs.[5]

Each province maintains the following parade color schemes:

  • Amity Province (Amity, Concord): Gold, with orange highlight panels.[24][25]
  • Callison Province (Callison, Marcus): Half purple, half silver, with purple on the left side.[24][25]
  • Danais Province (Danais, Bondurant): Silver and green, with silver on the top half.[24][25]
  • Kalidasa Province (Kalidasa, New Hope, Alkes): Black with a gold torso, fuselage, or turret.[24][25]
  • Shiloh Province (Shiloh): Quartered tan and orange.[24][25]

References[edit]

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 House Marik: The Free Worlds League, p. 99: "Silver Hawk Irregulars"
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 Empire Alone, p. 86: "Gryphons"
  3. ↑ Field Manual: 3145, p. 108: "Silver Hawk Irregulars/Atrean Dragoons/Protectorate Guards"
  4. ↑ Field Manual: 3085, pp. 16–17: "Operation Golden Dawn"
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 Field Manual: Free Worlds League, p. 88: "Silver Hawks Irregulars: Disorganized Chaos"
  6. ↑ Field Manual: Free Worlds League, p. 89: "Gryphons"
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 Field Manual: Free Worlds League, p. 89: "Falcons"
  8. ↑ Pandora's Gambit, ch. 3
  9. ↑ Fire at Will, ch. 10
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 Empire Alone, p. 28: "Precautionary Measures"
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 11.2 Empire Alone, pp. 36–38: "A Testament of Loyalty"
  12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 12.2 Empire Alone, pp. 38–41: "A New Coalition"
  13. ↑ Empire Alone, pp. 51-52: "Expansion Attempts"
  14. ↑ Empire Alone, pp. 56–57: "The Silver Hawks Linchpin"
  15. ↑ Empire Alone, pp. 66-67: "Competing Campaigns"
  16. ↑ House Marik: The Free Worlds League, p. 108: "'Mech Unit Deployment Table"
  17. ↑ Pandora's Gambit, ch. 3
  18. ↑ To Ride the Chimera
  19. ↑ Field Manual: 3145, p. 116
  20. ↑ Empire Alone, pp. 39–41: "A New Coalition"
  21. ↑ 20 Year Update, p. 57: "Free Worlds League Military"
  22. ↑ Field Manual: Free Worlds League, p. 113: "FWLM Deployment Table - 3059"
  23. ↑ Field Manual: Updates, p. 161: "FWLM Deployment Table - 3067"
  24. ↑ 24.0 24.1 24.2 24.3 24.4 Empire Alone, p. 44: "Threat Assessment: Silver Hawks"
  25. ↑ 25.0 25.1 25.2 25.3 25.4 2nd Silver Hawk Irregulars Camo Specs

Bibliography[edit]

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