1st Marik Protectors

(Redirected from First Marik Protectors)


Insignia of the 1st Marik Protectors
First Marik Protectors
Formed 3079[1]
Nickname Kendall Hammers
Affiliation Independent
Parent Command Marik Protectors


History[edit]

The Marik forces that defended Kendall[2] from II Legio[3] weren't supposed to be on the planet; the Tenth Marik Militia had been ordered to deploy to the Rim Commonality to subdue the restless worlds there, but news of the Hegemony invasion of various Free Worlds League systems led to a coup within the Militia, as Force Commander Yoshio Kawamura deposed the Militia's Commanding Officer and brought them to Kendall. After the Hegemony forces withdrew, many of the survivors of the Tenth attempted to return to their homeworlds, but a solid core of people loyal to Kawamura's ideals remained, and the remnants of the Militia became the First Marik Protectors, a quasi-mercenary command dedicated to protecting independent former League worlds.[2]

The First Marik Protectors went on to hire themselves out at low rates, allowing these independent systems to have protection they would otherwise lack. They retained the insignia of their former unit, and modified their name to reflect their new baseworld.[1] Kendall continued to maintain strong relations with the Protectors, with the Kali Yama - Alphard Trading Corporation and Brooks Inc. factories on Kendall signing long-term support agreements with the Protectors.[4] The Protectors also adopted an award for valor based around the Kendali Bloodstone, a form of garnet unique to Kendall.[5]

On the 11th of November 3077, Kendall was one of four Free Worlds League worlds to be attacked by the Marian Hegemony; various Legions from the Marian Hegemony Armed Forces struck at Kendall along with Lahti, Landfall and San Nicolas. The FWLM forces on Kendall resorted to desperate tactics against the Marians, using tactical nuclear devices against the II Legio forces to devastating effect; the Legio was largely destroyed, the survivors retreating back to Landfall, but at the cost of thousands of casualties.[6] The desperate defense of Kendall saw two cities hit with nuclear devices, while acres of fertile land were poisoned by radioactive fallout; five thousand people were killed in the initial blast, with twice that number wounded and a hundred thousand left homeless. Kendall's status as the primary breadbasket for the local sector was called into question, with other worlds such as San Nicolas that depended on food exports from Kendall left facing a grim future.[7]

On the 11th of November 3077, Lahti was one of four Free Worlds League worlds to be attacked by the Marian Hegemony.[6] Lahti continued to be harassed by forces from the Marian Hegemony, and finally the planetary government grew so sick of the raids by IV Legio that they hired the Protectors to launch a punitive strike against IV Legio's home base on Trondheimal. Colonel Kawamura accepted the contract, although he was unwilling to provoke the Hegemony. He attempted to fulfil the contract by subcontracting the work to Havoc, Inc.. Havoc, Inc. made a less than stellar impression when they arrived on Lahti; disreputable to begin with, the mercenaries made a drunken arrival on Lahti that prompted Colonel Kawamura to call off the raid. One of Kawamura's officers, Lieutenant Fiona san Marcos, convinced Kawamura to launch the raid as a false-flag operation, using a company of Protector forces painted in Havoc, Inc. colors and deployed using Havoc, Inc. transport assets. San Marcos led the raid personally, inflicting damage on IV Legio and deliberately leaving evidence pointing towards Lahti.[8]

Kawamura had deployed the Marik Protectors in anticipation of the inevitable IV Legio counterattack, and IV Legio arrived as anticipated, crashing into the Protector forces. Initially, IV Legio was able to tear through the Protector lines using Ravager battle armor, until Captain Doris Calhoun dropped a company of Kopis-equipped infantry onto the IV Legio battle armor and broke them. Kawamura's heavy armor successfully ambushed the IV Legio 'Mechs, pushing the Marian forces into the open for the Protectors' artillery forces to bombard; an attempt by the IV Legio aerospace fighter forces to relieve the pressure on the 'Mech forces was countered with fire from Partisan anti-aircraft tanks. The commanding officer of IV Legio, Prefect Alberich Winograd, realized that his forces were in a trap, and led them in an orderly retreat back to their transport vessels; Colonel Kawamura, impressed with the Marian troops' discipline under fire, parlayed briefly with Winograd. During that parlay, the two established a degree of mutual respect for each other, as well as a détente between the Hegemony and Lahti. Encounters between IV Legio and the Protectors after the battle on Lahti were marked by relatively little bloodshed and an almost cordial or ceremonial attitude between the two commands.[8]

Left independent in the wake of the dissolution of the Free Worlds League on 28 January 3079, Sackville was soon under pressure from external forces. While the Principality of Regulus destroyed the heart of the Circinus Federation with nuclear fire, survivors from the numerous pirates in the region plagued nearby worlds, and Sackville was one of their targets. One particular band, known as Lincoln's Rotting Corpse, raided Sackville so frequently in 3082 that the government was left desperately calling for help while betting houses on the planet took bets on when the raiders would arrive again. The nearby Duchy of Tamarind declined to assist Sackville, feeling that the world had nothing to offer the Duchy; however, help came from an unexpected source, when Colonel Kawamura led a combined-arms force from the First Marik Protectors to hunt the pirates. Accurately predicting a strike against the warehouses in the city of Tighfield, Kawamura established and executed a hugely successful ambush. Kawamura's tactics were so successful that many of the pirates were killed, the Protectors captured a Mule-class pirate DropShip, leading the other pirate DropShips to abandon those on the ground, and as the surviving pirates went to ground a grateful planetary government declared Kawamura an honorary citizen and paid the Protectors a hefty enough bonus for them to expand their ranks with a new company of hovertanks..[9]

In 3083 the Eighth Regulan Hussars attacked Kendall; Prince Titus Cameron-Jones had grown frustrated with the First Marik Protectors' efforts to rebuff his activities on Lengkong, and Commander Gleeson was under orders to punish the Protectors. The Regulans severely underestimated the depth of the defensive preparations that had been made on Kendall since the Marian attacks, however; concealed bunkers, artillery missiles and waves of conventional fighters brutalized the Hussars for two days before Gleeson ordered a withdrawal, without ever getting near the Protectors' facilities at Lakeland, despite the presence of just two companies of Protector troops on Kendall at the time.[10]

In 3085 they were based on Kendall.[11]

In 3087 the Protectors engaged the Green Ghosts on Stotzing with the support of the Stotzing Militia, while defending and old digging site.[12] After raiding the archeological site the Green Ghosts began their retreat to their DropShip. The Marik forces were bound and determined to not allow them to successfully escape. Near the Green Ghost landing zone the forces came together for their final clash.[13]

Increasing pressure on Kendall by circa 3145 forced the unit to move to Kearny.[14] Despite having a single 'Mech battalion, the unit maintains a brigade of armor and a brigade of infantry. This allows the First to focus on the defensive tactics often needed by independent systems.[15]

Officers[edit]

Rank Name Time Period in Command
Commanding Officers of the 1st Marik Protectors
Force Commander Yoshio Kawamura At least from 3077 to 3085[8][11]
Colonel Neva Blackwell 3145[14]

Other Unit Officers[edit]

Tactics[edit]

The First specialized in defensive tactics.[15]

Composition History[edit]

3085[edit]

First Marik Protectors (Battalion/Veteran/Reliable)[11]

  • CO: Force Commander Yoshio Kawamura

First Marik Aerospace Wing (Regular/Fanatical)[11]

First Marik Armor Brigade (Veteran/Fanatical)[11]

First Marik Infantry Brigade (Regular/Reliable)[11]

3145[edit]

First Marik Protectors (Regular/Reliable)[14]

  • CO: Colonel Neva Blackwell

First Marik Aerospace Wing (Veteran/Reliable)[14]

First Marik Heavy Armor (Regular/Reliable)[14]

First Marik Infantry Brigade (Veteran/Questionable)[14]

References[edit]

  1. 1.0 1.1 Field Manual: 3085, p. 90
  2. 2.0 2.1 Spotlight On: First Marik Protectors, p. 2: "Unit History and Description"
  3. Spotlight On: First Marik Protectors, p. 5: "Michael Moorcraft"
  4. Spotlight On: First Marik Protectors, p. 3: "Equipment and Tactics"
  5. Spotlight On: First Marik Protectors, p. 4: "Uniforms and Customs"
  6. 6.0 6.1 Jihad: Final Reckoning, p. 58: "The Jihad in Review"
  7. Jihad Hot Spots: Terra, pp. 55–56: "Hegemony Arrives"
  8. 8.0 8.1 8.2 8.3 8.4 Spotlight On: First Marik Protectors, p. 3: "Unit History and Description"
  9. Spotlight On: First Marik Protectors, pp. 2–3: "Unit History and Description"
  10. Spotlight On: First Marik Protectors, p. 3: "Unit History and Description"
  11. 11.0 11.1 11.2 11.3 11.4 11.5 Field Manual: 3085, p. 93: "Independent Commands"
  12. Dig, Defend, or Die, p. 2
  13. Dig, Defend, or Die, p. 5: "Get to the Dropper"
  14. 14.0 14.1 14.2 14.3 14.4 14.5 Field Manual: 3145, p. 117: "Free Worlds League Military - Independent Commands"
  15. 15.0 15.1 Field Manual: 3145, p. 114

Bibliography[edit]