5th FedCom RCT
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| File:Fccorp5.jpg | |
| 5th FedCom RCT | |
| Formed | 3037 |
| Nickname | The Black Rats |
| Affiliation | Federated Commonwealth |
| Parent Command | Federated Commonwealth Corps |
The Fifth Federated Commonwealth RCT was a military unit of the Federated Commonwealth and, later, the Federated Suns. Contrary to their parent unit's ideal of being the best and brightest, the unit was accident prone, fatalistic, and generally looked down on by other units thanks to their reputation of cowardice and abuse of weapons of mass destruction.
Contents
History
Formation
The unit was officially established in 3037 and almost immediately began to earn its bad luck reputation. While in transit to a training operation on their homeworld of Tsitsang, before the unit had even seen combat, one of the Fifth FedCom's DropShips suffered a catastrophic propulsion failure. The resulting crash killed over a third of the unit's MechWarriors and sent the unit's morale plummeting. As they were still recouping their losses only six weeks later, a marauding Free Worlds League force attacked the planet. The raiders succeeding in inflicting further casualties and absolutely gutting the Fifth's morale before they were eventually beaten back. Murmurings about the unit's perpetual bad fortunes began to spread throughout its ranks after a freak accident completely destroyed one of the unit's repair bays while the unit was attempting to refit 'Mechs damaged during the raid. The resulting fire seriously injured or killed many personnel and led many to believe the unit was cursed.[1][2]
War of 3039
This talk did not affect High Command's decision to send the unit to the Dieron Thrust during the War of 3039. The Fifth was ordered to secure the world of Halstead Station, which High Command saw as an easy victory that would boost the unit's faltering confidence. Though they were fairly confident the unit would redeem itself, the generals hedged their bets on the Fifth's success by assigning the Fighting Urukhai's Roman's Bar Hounds as an additional unit. The invasion was quite routine, as the mercenaries' early landing managed to wipe out all but the most token resistance. The Fifth FedCom merely had to mop up the few pockets of irregular fighters left in the mountains, which they did without much trouble. General Nial Slattery then turned his troops to fortifying the planet against the expected Draconis Combine counterassault.[3]
When the counterattack arrived in August, it was not the expected Dieron Regulars but the First and Seventh Sword of Light regiments, elite and storied Draconis Combine units. The Sword of Light regiments immediately used a two pronged attack to fix and flank the Fifth FedCom, who attributed their initial successes in the defense to skill and not planned enemy concessions. While the First Sword of Light held the Fifth's attention at their fortified defensive line, the Seventh Sword of Light staged a daring orbital insertion directly to the rear of the unsuspecting FedCom unit. The Seventh landed square in the cached AFFS supplies and, bristling with Star League-era BattleMechs and weapons, immediately fell upon the hapless Fifth FedCom. Now surrounded on all sides, the Fifth panicked and broke. An entire battalion, led by Major Donald Trent, flat-out deserted their comrades, taking their DropShips, stealing one of the Fifth's JumpShips, and fleeing to the Free Rasalhague Republic to found a mercenary unit.[2][4] Those who chose to stay fought desperately to survive and managed to hold until an assault by Roman's Bar Hounds broke the encirclement and allowed them to fall back to their remaining DropShips.
The dire circumstances of the Fifth's retreat forced them to abandon a large amount of BattleMechs, supplies, and equipment on Halstead Station. When they returned to their duty station on Tsitsang, they were reissued BattleMechs and assigned new personnel, but these replacements were second rate when compared to what had been used to found the unit. This was the final nail in the coffin for the unit's esprit-du-corps. After a series of horrific disasters, defeats, and setbacks, the perceived insult of receiving what amounted to surplus solidified the unit's perception of themselves as losers and led them to believe that even High Command considered them as such.[1]
At some point between 3050 and 3061 the Fifth FedCom would move from Tsitsang to Chesterton and take up station there. By this point the RCT's loyalties were firmly in the Katherine Steiner-Davion camp.
FedCom Civil War
Jihad
During the Jihad the Fifth FedCom participated in the battle for New Avalon on the side of the Federated Suns, arriving in system on the 10th of December 3072 and using nuclear weapons to break through the Word of Blake naval blockade around the planet. Despite being depleted and mistrusted by the other Federation units, they helped push the Blakists off the planet. Redeployed to other continents in 3074, they kept the Blakists from fully destroying all of New Avalon's defense industries.[5] [6]
After the Jihad ended, survivors of the Fifth FedCom were allowed the chance to join the 12th Vegan Rangers while their unit was stricken from the AFFS roster of commands.
Officers
| Rank | Name | Command | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Commanding Officers of 5th FedCom RCT | |||
| General | Nial Slattery | 3037 - 3039[3] | |
| Hauptmann General | James White | 3047[1] - 3063 | |
| Leftenant General | Annette Leyland | 3063 - 3072[5][7] | |
Tactics
The Fifth FedCom are generalists, with no special skills, though they have a reputation for retreating if possible or, if not possible, fighting with everything at their disposal if pushed into a corner.
Composition History
3040
5th FedCom RCT (Regiment/Green/Reliable)[8]
- CO: General Nial Slattery
- Base: Tsitsang [8]
3050
5th FedCom RCT (Regiment/Green/Reliable) [9]
3054
5th FedCom RCT (Regiment/Green/Reliable) [10]
- CO: Hauptmann General James White [10]
- Note: At this point in time the command was stationed on Tsitsang. [10]
3067
In 3067, the unit consisted of:
- 5th FedCom BattleMech Regiment
- 5th FedCom Armor Brigade
- CO: Leftenant General Klaus von Ludendorf
- 5th FedCom Infantry Brigade
- CO: Leftenant General Dan Luger
Notes
- Like other FedCom RCTs, the Fifth primarily used the FedCom Corps crest, and for its insignia a black rat on a white disk.
- The parade color scheme of the Fifth, is the same as other FedCom Corps units, which is navy blue with gold banding on the arms and legs of 'Mechs. Gold is also used to highlight panels on the upper torsos of 'Mechs and turrets of armor units, resulting in a checkerboard pattern. On many occasions it has been defaced with a yellow stripe painted on the 'Mechs' backs or vehicles turrets by other units who infiltrate the Fifth FedCom's bases.
- The Fifth FedCom is made up of primarily light and medium BattleMechs, usually older models with a handful of more modern ones. On paper, the Fifth FedCom has three battalions, but can field only eighty 'Mechs or so.
Reference
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Field Manual: Federated Suns, p. 93
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Hard Luck Case
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Historical: War of 3039, pp. 36-37, "Halstead Station (April - May)"
- ↑ Historical: War of 3039, p. 83, "Halstead Station (August)"
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Jihad Turning Points: New Avalon, p. 7, "Combatants"
- ↑ Jihad Hot Spots 3072, p. 101
- ↑ Technical Readout: 3058 Upgrade, p. 226
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 Historical: War of 3039, p.136
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 20 Year Update, p. 24
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 10.2 Objective Raids, p. 17