49th Shadow Division

(Redirected from Night of Fire)
49th shadow div.png
Forty-ninth Shadow Division
Disbanded October 3081 (missing)[1]
Nickname
  • Naamah's Nightwalkers[2]
  • Dantalion's Dirge[2]
Affiliation Word of Blake
Parent Command Shadow Divisions

Unit Description[edit]

The Forty-ninth Shadow Division was one of the Word of Blake Shadow Divisions, composed of the hyper-elite, cybernetically enhanced Manei Domini. The unit was known for its actions in the Free Worlds League during the Jihad.

History[edit]

First Appearance[edit]

The Forty-ninth Shadow Division first appeared in combat on Wallis in May 3071, disguised in Marik Commonwealth colors. They successfully set up the Commonwealth to take the blame for the destruction of the Second Regulan Hussars, leaving no survivors. Sometime later, Naamah's Nightwalkers' true name was made known.[2][3]

Night of Fire[edit]

The Division struck Regulus in June of 3072 when unit was identified for the first time. The Forty-ninth razed the capital city after clashing with the First Regulan Hussars. On Naamah's orders, they set fire to the city, as a personal retribution to Kirc Cameron-Jones, the Prince of Regulus. This event would later be described as the "Night of Fire."[4] The fires the Forty-ninth Division set ultimately altered the atmosphere of the planet.[5]

There was heavy speculation that part of the equipment used by the division on Wallis and on Regulus, around two battalions, came from the machines the First Knights of the Inner Sphere lost during their ill-fated attempt to attack Atreus in 3068.[6]

Regulan Attack on Gibson[edit]

After returning to Gibson, Naamah stood down as the Forty-ninth's CO and named her executive officer, Dantalion, as the division's new commander.[2]

In August 3073, a Regulan task force assaulted Gibson in retaliation for the attacks on Regulus. The Forty-ninth Division fought General Tomaso Kinchuhara's Fourth Regulan Hussars and his mercenary task force in the Gibson Federated BattleMechs factory complex. The Shadow Division conducted a combat drop on top of the smaller mercenary commands that made up a third of the task force. They, along with the Fifty-second Shadow Division, mauled the Regulus task force and killed Kinchuhara. Precentor Apollyon ordered the Regulans to surrender. Some of the smaller mercenary units did, forcing the remaining Regulan forces to flee Gibson.[7]

Following the victory, the troops of the Forty-ninth honored their new commander by renaming themselves Dantalion's Dirge.[8]

Irian[edit]

The unit was deployed to the world of Irian in 3074. There it was called in to assist in battling the anti-Blake insurgency on the planet.[2]

Atreus[edit]

The Forty-ninth briefly deployed to Wendigo, Atreus' moon, in 3075. There they destroyed the SAFE 'Mech unit, the Dark Shadows.[9]

Harmony[edit]

On 17 March 3076, a detachment from the Forty-ninth struck at the world of Harmony with multiple nuclear warheads. The primary target was the original "Tiger Hill", the Regulan nuclear weapons factory. However the contents and personnel had already been moved to a secondary facility, and the money set aside for the payment of the now-obliterated mercenary units guarding the facility was returned to the general fund. Additionally, the family estate of House Cherenkov took a direct hit in this attack and may have been an intended target, in apparent continuation of the centuries-old feud with House Rodriguez.[10][11][12][13][14][15]

Late Jihad and Fate[edit]

Elements of the Forty-ninth were active on an abandoned colony world on the border of the Circinus Federation in April 3081. Known only by the designation 129A-14H, the system was one of a number of systems scouted in force by elements from the Principality of Regulus as they closed on Circinus. A scout detachment located the forces from the Forty-ninth, prompting the Regulans to immediately begin bombarding the planet, heedless of friendly fire casualties. The Regulans proceeded to bathe the planet in nuclear fire before leaving the system, bound for Circinus.[16]

During the destruction of Circinus the main strength of the Forty-ninth was attacking Andiron.[17] They redeployed to fight the Regulan troops who were attacking the world, but arrived too late. On 16 September 3081, elements of the retreating Forty-ninth were engaged by forces from the Republic of the Sphere, Gannon's Cannons and a Blake's Wrath special forces team, in the city of the Sacredot on the world of Bryant. The Republican forces were acting on intelligence indicating that the notorious Blakist Precentor Berith was with the forces from the Forty-ninth, intelligence with proved to be false, although an informant with useful information was able to escape from the Blakist forces during the combat.[18]

This was followed on 31 October with an attempted ambush by Republic-affiliated forces at the location known as the Gates of Hades on Devil's Rock. Acting on information provided by the intelligence operative known only as Damocles, the Republican forces believed they were ambushing Berith and the remains of the Forty-ninth; the ambush was actually the result of intelligence planted by Berith, who was determined to kill Damocles. In this, Berith succeeded; having goaded Damocles into a berserk, suicidal rage, three Opacus Venatori BattleMechs combined their fire on the Com Guards agent when he charged, killing him. The Blakist forces then retreated in good order, leaving the remaining Republican forces alive (among them Gannon's Cannons and Cumberland's Missiliers), though losing half their number, Berith escaped.[19][20][21]

The Forty-ninth Shadow Division vanished after the battle on Devil's Rock and was listed as missing in action by the end of the Jihad.[1] Later accounts suggested that the Forty-ninth may have followed Berith into exile on Obeedah and Taussen, to carry on the legacy of the Master and Jerome Blake beyond the Jihad era.[22]

Officers[edit]

Rank Name Command
Commanding Officers of the Forty-ninth Shadow Division
Precentor Naamah 3070 – 3073[2]
Precentor Dantalion 3073[2] – 3078[23]

Tactics[edit]

The unit was known to use fire tactics (such as using inferno rounds) in their weaponry. Since Precentor Dantalion became commanding officer, the Forty-ninth's numerous battle armor units mixed themselves into every Level II formation.[24]

Composition History[edit]

3075[edit]

Forty-ninth Shadow Division (Division/Elite)[24][25]

Note: The exact composition of the unit remained unknown.[2]

Notes[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ↑ a b Jihad: Final Reckoning, p. 126: "Shadow Divisions Status"
  2. ↑ a b c d e f g h Jihad Secrets: The Blake Documents, p. 106: "Forty-ninth Shadow Division"
  3. ↑ Jihad Hot Spots: 3076, p. 16: "Timeline of the Jihad"
  4. ↑ Jihad Hot Spots: 3072, p. 85: "Fallen Idols"
  5. ↑ Masters and Minions: The StarCorps Dossiers, p. 79: "Regulus"
  6. ↑ BattleCorps: INN Solaris Broadcasting Co., 18 August 3072: "What the Knights Left Behind..."
  7. ↑ Jihad Secrets: The Blake Documents, p. 51: "Bloodless Coup"
  8. ↑ Technical Readout: 3075, p. 32: "Tengu Heavy Battle Armor"
  9. ↑ Jihad Turning Points: Atreus, p. 11: "Silencing the Shadows"
  10. ↑ Recognition Guide, Vol. 1: Classics, p. 94: "BattleMaster"
  11. ↑ Jihad Hotspots: 3076, p. 66: "The Hill"
  12. ↑ Field Report: FWLM, p. 3: "From Father to Son"
  13. ↑ Recognition Guide: ilClan, vol. 21, p. 9: "Lieutenant Esteban Rodriguez"
  14. ↑ Jihad Hot Spots: Terra, p. 21: "Timeline of the Jihad"
  15. ↑ Jihad: Final Reckoning, p. 55: "The Jihad in Review"
  16. ↑ Jihad: Final Reckoning, pp. 74–75: "Chaos Undaunted: Wild Weasel"
  17. ↑ Jihad: Final Reckoning, p. 61: "The Jihad in Review"
  18. ↑ Total Chaos, pp. 244–245: "Storm Shadow"
  19. ↑ Jihad: Final Reckoning, pp. 125–126: "Shadow Divisions"
  20. ↑ Total Chaos, pp. 245–246: "Scrap Iron"
  21. ↑ Total Chaos, pp. 246–247: "Gateway to Hell"
  22. ↑ Ghosts of Obeedah, pp. 59–60: "Aegaeon's Truth"
  23. ↑ Total Chaos, pp. 237–239: "Luyten 68-28"
  24. ↑ a b c d Jihad Secrets: The Blake Documents, p. 143: "Rules Annex"
  25. ↑ a b Jihad Turning Points: Atreus, p. 7: "Forty-ninth Shadow Division"

Bibliography[edit]

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