Hellion Galaxy (Escorpión Imperio)

Hellion Galaxy
Nickname	The Sand Runners (previous)
Affiliation	Imperio Militar del Escorpión; Clan Goliath Scorpion (former)
Parent Command	Clan Goliath Scorpion touman

History

Clan Goliath Scorpion

Beta Galaxy, Clan Goliath Scorpion's original logo

Beta Galaxy is traditionally the most mobile unit in the Scorpion touman. Most of their component units use light and medium weight equipment. As the most mobile unit available, the units of the Galaxy are found on their DropShips, ready to deploy to any trouble spot.

During and after the Great Refusal, Beta Galaxy served as a testbed for new combined arms techniques that incorporated more extensive aerospace support. These tactics were later sent out to other units of the Clan's touman. Beta also tested the Undine battle armor suit.

The Wars of Reaving

Galaxy Commander Colin Yeh led Beta Naval Star against Clan Snow Raven's naval facilities at Lum in 3069. The Ravens had just beaten off one assault by Clan Star Adder and when Yeh announced a Trial of Possession for the naval yards the exasperated Raven commander bid the entire system's assets. After the yards opened fire they too were considered a fair target. During the three day Trial the Scorpions hunted down every Raven asset shattering the Lum yards. The Ravens asked for hegira and Colin Yeh ordered the yards salvaged and transported to Roche.

In February 3072 saKhan Nelson Elam led Beta in a Trial of Refusal against Clan Fire Mandrill on Shadow over the election of Garret Sainze to ilKhan. During the three-day campaign the saKhan was killed and the Sixth Scorpion Hussars and the Twenty-third Scorpion Cuirassiers were destroyed; although the Scorpion force was victorious.

Beta Galaxy and the remnant of Gamma Galaxy together with the bulk of the Clan's fleet were ordered to Foster in June 3073, after Gamma had earlier been forced to retreat in the face of stiff resistance from Clan Coyote. Arriving in-system they found it empty except for Clan Steel Viper. A Trial of Possession was launched for two of the Viper holdings and the Scorpions granted safcon. The Trials were fought honorably, but the killing of the Vipers' commanding officer by an abtakha warrior of the Twenty-second Uhlans sparked all-out fighting with no quarter given. The Vipers declared the Scorpion warriors dezgra and attacked the Uhlans with overwhelming force crushing them completely. The Third Cuirassiers from Delta Galaxy supported the First Cateran Cluster in the assault on Firebase Nu. The battle ended when the Scorpions called in orbital bombardment against the Viper positions. In the aftermath of this battle the shattered remnant of Gamma Galaxy was merged into Beta Galaxy.

Under the command of saKhan Myers Beta moved to Glory in September 3073 and found their allies Kindraa Mattila-Carrol under heavy attack from Steel Viper forces. A naval battle erupted as Beta attempted to land on the planet that destroyed three of the escorting WarShips. Beta landed near the city of Portage. Fighters from the 3rd Scorpion Cuirassiers bombed the Viper positions allowing the 10th Scorpion Dragoons to sweep in behind the Vipers' 93rd Assault Cluster and crush them against the Mandrill forces. A dispute broke out between the allied Clan forces, but as they were settling their differences in a Trial of Refusal the Vipers counterattacked. The 10th Scorpion Dragoons were caught off guard but managed to rally in defense of the wounded saKhan. Orbital bombardment from the Atropos allowed the Galaxy to pull off planet.

In June 3074 the recently elected saKhan Connor Rood took Beta Galaxy to Waypoint 531 and then on a reconnaissance mission in the Deep Periphery.

In 3081 Beta Galaxy landed on Valencia as the Scorpions fled their Abjuration. The planetary defenders, the Fourth Brigada, surrendered as the first Scorpion Star landed.

Escorpión Imperio

During the Formation of the Imperio, saKhan Rood, former Clan Ice Hellion, was able to find other remnant of his Clan and integrate them into the group. This group would merge with Beta Galaxy and be renamed as "Hellion Galaxy" to honor the heritage of the fallen Clan. To pay homage to Clan Ice Hellion, most warriors with Ice Hellion Bloodnames were put in this Galaxy. Beta Galaxy had long been the lightest Galaxy in the Goliath Scorpion touman, which matched the Hellion preference for light, fast 'Mechs. After Connor Rood succeeded Colin Yeh as Khan, he continued his efforts to search for and forcibly recover former Ice Hellion Clansmen, increasing Beta Galaxy's numbers. Unfortunately, this caused a number of problems; those Hellions who had been surviving outside of Clan space since the destruction of their Clan had in many ways gone feral, and a significant number failed to readjust to Clan society. Discipline in Beta Galaxy began breaking down, and fights broke out between members of Beta Galaxy outside the traditional outlet of a Circle of Equals. Connor Rood's first attempt to influence the integration of the feral Hellion warriors was to rename Beta Galaxy to Hellion Galaxy in 3095, in honor of their fallen Clan; his hopes that this would be enough were dashed when one of the feral Hellion bondsmen recruited shortly before, Star Commander Kliff Wallace, killed saKhan Henrika Suvorov in a fight conducted without a Circle of Equals, prompted by Kliff taking offence at his children being described as freebirths by Henrika. Connor Rood responded by fighting a Trial of Grievance with Kliff, in which Rood killed Kliff in hand-to-hand combat in a matter of minutes.

In December 3095, Galaxy Commander Mull Elam of Chi Galaxy refused election to saKhan, both because he felt more at home in Chi Galaxy, but also because he was convinced that he would suffer the same kind of dishonorable fate Henrika Suvorov had met. Mull's refusal convinced Rood that he needed to do more to reintegrate the former Hellion warriors into Clan culture, and to protect whoever became the new Galaxy Commander of Beta Galaxy. After assembling the entire touman on Valencia, he spoke to them at length, reminding them of their traditions and duty, and challenging his warriors to redirect their pride and their fury into obtaining the highest positions within the touman, and to prove their worth through pain and conquest. To underscore his speech, Rood revealed five brand new Hellion OmniMechs, which would be awarded to five of the warriors who qualified for membership of a new command Trinary for Hellion Galaxy - the Hellion Keshik. The significance of these new 'Mechs wasn't lost on his warriors; the only source of Clantech available to the Hellions was the Imperio's single Hephaestus-type Hughes-class station, which was also their only orbital production facility. Manufacturing the new 'Mechs had delayed the routine disassembly, transit and reconstruction of the station as part of the security measures in place to keep it safe. The impact on the Hellion warriors - both former and feral - was significant, and the competition to earn a spot in the new Keshik was intense. A number of warriors were crippled or killed in the process as they fought ferociously, with many battles not stopping until one of the combatants was dead. Kulchaak Dinour became the new Galaxy Commander of Hellion Galaxy and the new saKhan in January 3096; his four closest companions all won spots in the Keshik, and the four Hellion 'Mechs were won by four former Ice Hellion warriors and a freeborn Castilian warrior.

Dinour quickly set about establishing a rapport with the warriors of Hellion Galaxy, having taken Connor Rood's lesson to heart. Dinour petitioned the Clan Council to allow a modified version of the Hellion Flurry Attack to be accepted as part of the Goliath Scorpion code of zellbrigen, and when his request was denied, he killed Star Colonel Lavender Shaffer of Tau Galaxy in a Trial of Refusal. Despite Lavender being an Elemental of immense build, Dinour killed him in unaugmented combat, although the fight resulted in Dinour spending time in a medically induced coma to recover. When Dinour awoke, he discovered that he'd earned the fierce loyalty of Hellion Galaxy's warriors; they would prove as willing to die for him as he had been for them. Dinour was determined that Hellion Galaxy would be an active combat command, not a ceremonial unit; he ordered all of the Galaxy to deploy to Graystone, a recently colonized world, so that they could engage in training exercises. Hellion Keshik arrived first, and were training in Flurry Attacks when pirate raiders were detected, inbound and intent on attacking the new colony. Dinour led his Keshik on a suborbital hop to intercept the landing pirate forces, only to have the Keshik's warriors execute a sloppy low altitude drop that saw a number of warriors killed, and others injured badly enough that they were swiftly killed. Dinour's leadership led to the surviving Hellion Keshik warriors rebuffing the pirate attack, but left Dinour determined that the poor orbital drop wouldn't be repeated.

For the next five years, Dinour led Hellion Galaxy in a five-year program of constant training, making the Galaxy practice combat drops in every combination of terrain and weather available in the Imperio. His efforts led Hellion Galaxy to become the best Galaxy in the touman, with Hellion Keshik the best-performing unit within the Galaxy. Dinour would continue to lead Hellion Galaxy until 3106, when he was killed in a training accident. His successor, Enrico Kirov, knew that his posting would be short, but kept the Keshik focused, partly in honor of his predecessor. When Connor Rood retired in 3108, Kirov succeeded him.

Kirov was a Seeker, and as Khan, he favored Chi Galaxy over Hellion Galaxy. Kirov renamed Chi Galaxy to Seeker Galaxy, and established the Seeker Keshik to protect the Clan Loremaster, whom Kirov intended to take command of Seeker Galaxy. Kirov's changes led to Hellion Galaxy stagnating for some years, but when the Hanseatic League attacked one of the Escorpión Imperio colony worlds in 3112, the world later known as Holdout. Two Clusters of Hellion Galaxy were sent to rescue the besieged garrison, along with part of Alpha Galaxy and the Scorpion Keshik. After securing the world, saKhan Sakmar Arbuthnot sent a brief communiqué to Kirov informing him that Hellion Galaxy were going to punish the Hansa in retaliation. Sakmar took Hellion Keshik and two Clusters from Hellion Galaxy and attacked the RDF 3 home base on Kampen. Despite being outnumbered, the Hellion Galaxy forces devastated RDF 3; launching their assault via a high-altitude insertion directly into the RDF headquarters, crushing the command staff before going on to inflict heavy damage on the Hansa 'Mech and vehicle regiments. The RDF 3 infantry regiment took so many casualties during the attack that it was almost exterminated.

The Hanseatic Crusade

Hellion Galaxy was an active participant during the Hanseatic Crusade, operating under the command of saKhan Homer Baba.

The first wave, on 3 January 3140, attacked the planet Stettin, quickly and easily crushing the garrison. By 15 January, the planet was under their control. On 28 January, as part of the second wave, they attacked Bruges, which was heavily garrisoned, but still achieved victory: the defense, RDF 8, attacked the 5th Scorpion Cuirassiers Cluster near a chemical processing plant, accidentally shooting at the plant. Seeing the deadly consequences caused by the nerve agent which had been accidentally liberated, the RDF 8 MechWarriors surrendered to aid the population, and Baba accepted their surrender. Bruges, however, became a casualty of the Crusade anyway.

Hellion Galaxy had suffered fewer losses than most of the other invading Galaxies, so it was kept active in the front lines. On 9 July, they were part of the force which invaded Bremen, capital of the Hansa. In the battle around the planetary capital, Freie Hansestead, they faced RDF 4, which ignored them, believing their lighter 'Mechs to be no real threat. Hellion Galaxy proved them wrong when their faster 'Mechs flanked them, annihilating the RDF. When the Scorpions surrounded the Hansa Council of Merchants, the Council blew up the capitol instead of surrendering. Much of the Scorpions' Alpha Galaxy was destroyed in the blast, but the Hellions were spared thanks to being far away. When the Hansa Captain-Marshall Rudolf Schmidt ordered his troops to surrender, RDF 3 ignored his orders and attacked the Hellions and survivors of Tau Galaxy with suicidal fervor, but the Scorpions, enraged by the senseless destruction, finished them off quickly. After pacifying Bremen, Hellion was one of the Galaxies sent to pacify the remaining Hansa worlds.

IlClan Era

While Homer made attempts to change the mindset of Hellion Galaxy's warriors after the Crusade, the war had sated Homer's own bloodlust, and in 3146 he chose to leave the warrior caste. Homer joined the merchant caste, which was reorganizing after the Crusade, numbers swollen by former Hansa merchants. In 3151, saKhan Valentina Tazegül led the Hellion Keshik in a successful Trial in March 3151 against Delta Aimag of the Clan Sea Fox Tiburon Khanate; the Sea Foxes had hoped to win the technical specifications for all of the new 'Mechs produced by the Imperio, but instead they were defeated in the Hamburg system. When Delta Aimag withdrew to Corell in the Chainelane Isles, they found themselves being challenged in turn - by Tazegül again, who had used communication intercepts to learn where the Aimag was retreating too. The Hellion forces won this second Trial as well. In doing so, they securing the contents of the ovKhan's JumpShip and DropShips, specifically crew members and information databases, as isorla.

Officers

Rank	Name	Command
Commanding Officers of Beta Galaxy (Clan Goliath Scorpion)
Galaxy Commander	Colin Yeh	3061 - 3067
Commanding Officers of Beta Galaxy (Escorpión Imperio)
saKhan	Connor Rood	3074 - 3086
Commanding Officers of Hellion Galaxy (Escorpión Imperio)
saKhan	Henrika Suvorov	3095
saKhan	Kulchaak Dinour	3096 - 3106
saKhan	Enrico Kirov	3106 - 3108
saKhan	Sakmar Arbuthnot	3112
saKhan	Homer Baba	3140 - 3146
saKhan	Valentina Tazegül	3151

Tactics

Clan Invasion

Beta Galaxy's units often employ hit and run techniques that sucker enemy units out of formation. Once their enemies are drawn out of place, Beta's units surround them and destroy them in detail.

Dark Age

Hellion Galaxy adapted the use of Hellion Flurry Attacks under the command of Kulchaak Dinour, and became experts in performing combat drops. A modified version of the Flurry pack tactics of Clan Ice Hellion, the former tactic permitted any Star Commander in a light 'Mech to challenge an opposing BattleMech of greater mass to a duel. While normally disadvantageous, the Star's other BattleMechs may fire an opening volley on the Star Commander's opponent before remaining out of the duel. This was a divergence from strict zellbrigen and saKhan Dinour was temporarily placed in a coma after killing an objecting Elemental from Tau Galaxy in a Trial of Refusal. Nevertheless, the tactic served to even the odds when Hellion Galaxy's officers dueled opposing BattleMechs with greater tonnage.

Composition History

Ground Forces

3059-3071

• 1st Cateran Cluster
• 6th Scorpion Hussars
• 22nd Scorpion Uhlans
• 23rd Scorpion Cuirassiers

3072

• 1st Cateran Cluster
• 22nd Scorpion Uhlans

3073

• 1st Cateran Cluster
• 3rd Scorpion Cuirassiers
• 10th Scorpion Dragoons

3086

• 1st Cateran Cluster
• 3rd Scorpion Cuirassiers
• 5th Scorpion Cuirassiers

Naval Assets

3061

• Fire Wheel Battlegroup

3070

• Beta Naval Star

Bibliography

• Field Manual: Updates
• Field Manual: Warden Clans
• Operational Turning Points: Hanseatic Crusade
• Spotlight On: Hellion Keshik
• The Wars of Reaving