Wayne Rogers
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Wayne Rogers | |
|---|---|
| Personal | |
| Affiliation | Waco Rangers |
| Career | |
| Rank | Colonel |
| Profession | MechWarrior |
Colonel Wayne Rogers was a member of the Waco Rangers since at least 3025,[1] and had risen to command the mercenary unit by 3058.[2][3][4]
Contents
History[edit]
Wayne Rogers had brown eyes and extremely thick glasses to help with his poor vision, but was known to still need to squint to make out details while wearing them. Rogers was also known to dress casually even while on duty and was considered to be tall, bald, and florid-faced.[5]
Everyone told Rogers he could never be a MechWarrior because of his extremely poor vision; however, he was able to overcome this problem by modifying a neurohelmet and how it treated external sensor readings, which allowed him to actually see better than anyone while in his 'Mech. This struggle meant that Rogers was extremely proud of his status as a professional MechWarrior.[1] By 3025, Rogers was a Waco Rangers lieutenant in command of Rogers' Scout Lance, Preston's Medium Company, Second Battalion (Kelly's Support Battalion).[1]
Promotion to Colonel[edit]
Sometime before 3049, Rogers had been promoted to colonel and commanded the entire Waco Rangers, taking over from the then semi-retired unit founder, Colonel Wayne Waco. Rogers' authority within the regiment was not however absolute, with Rogers being dissatisfied that his officers still checked his orders with Wayne Waco before obeying.[2] Despite these qualms, Rogers was fully committed to the traditions of the Waco Rangers, including its Death Oath and hatred of the Wolf's Dragoons. Under Rogers, this rivalry expressed itself by the Rangers having an overwhelming urge to outperform and show they were better than the Dragoons, to the point it became near suicidal.[3][6] Some[7] considered this hatred to have even become arrogance, resulting in Rogers apparently believing his unit to equals to the famed Wolf's Dragoons (overstating the experience and skills of his unit, event though the Waco Rangers were undeniably competent).
Battle of Coventry[edit]
This arrogance found its consequence on Coventry in 3058, where Rogers led the Waco Rangers' contribution to the Coventry Expeditionary Force which fought against Clan Jade Falcon during the Battle of Coventry.
From the start of the campaign Rogers was fighting with his fellow commanders, including Dragoons Colonel Shelly Brubaker, the Eridani Light Horse Brevet General Ariana Winston, and the Tenth Skye Rangers Hauptmann Caradoc Trevena. This included arguments over the initial landing on Coventry, with Rogers' desire to do a combat drop overruled by his fellow commanders, who had doubts about the Rangers' ability to make such a drop successfully. In his rage at being snubbed, however, the Rangers were able to make a highly successfully conventional landing on 10 April 3058, about 150 kilometers southwest of the town of Lietnerton.[4][8]
His arrogance and distrust ultimately resulted in Rogers ignoring warnings from his allies, including Caradoc Trevena's recon company, during an attempt to flank the Jade Falcon forces via the Dales Highlands on Coventry on 21 April 3058. The Rangers blundered into a Jade Falcon ambush and, refusing to retreat out of fear of looking bad to Wolf's Dragoons, suffered heavy casualties, including the destruction of Rogers' own 'Mech.[8][9] When his 'Mech went down the advance turned into a rout, and it would be Wolf's Dragoons who provided the covering fire for the unit's remnants.[8]
Rogers survived this battle, despite having been initially thought dead. On being seen again by Caradoc Trevena, who was still furious at Rogers' poor command decisions and the damage they had caused, he was knocked out with a single punch.[10]
BattleMech[edit]
Rogers was known to have initially piloted an Ostscout BattleMech nicknamed Four Eyes with an excellent sensor package when he was a Lieutenant leading the scout lance around 3025.[1]
By 3058, however, he was piloting a customized BLR-3M BattleMaster nicknamed Dragoon Buster.[11][8][12]
References[edit]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Mercenary's Handbook, pp. 87–88
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Combat Manual: Mercenaries, p. 69
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Operational Turning Points: Falcon Incursion, p. 11
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 The Battle of Coventry, p. 33
- ↑ Malicious Intent, ch. 30
- ↑ The Battle of Coventry, p. 41
- ↑ Tales from the Cracked Canopy: Blind Arrogance
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 8.3 Operational Turning Points: Falcon Incursion, p. 27
- ↑ Malicious Intent, ch. 32
- ↑ Malicious Intent, ch. 42
- ↑ Operational Turning Points: Falcon Incursion, pp. 3
- ↑ Operational Turning Points: Falcon Incursion, p. 31