9th Division (Word of Blake)

History

Pre-Jihad

The "Blinding Light" is among the more elusive pre-Jihad Blake Divisions, with only scattered reports placing it as the Terra garrison on the North American continent. The unit's composition was not clearly known. The unit's personnel were comprised of ComStar defectors, which allowed the unit to reach it's full strength by 3067.

Jihad

After the outbreak of war, the unit's size increased with the addition of more Level III units.

Units Spreading Out & Scattered Reports

The 9th Division was one of the Word of Blake's primary 'shell game' units during the Jihad, using less than full units in order to appear to be in more places of action. During the Battle of Luthien, the unit (led by Precentor Alice Phuong) arrived on Luthien in January 3068 with only two Level III units, though they were reinforced by two ROM Level IIs (both destroyed by the end of 3068). The Ninth would receive additional reinforcements thru March 3071, by which time there were four Level IIIs. Precentor William Nikoli replaced the recalled Phuong in February 3072.

The Ninth was confirmed to be the leading assault force (ostensibly against the Black Dragon Society) on Luthien in January 3069, while contemporary intelligence placed the Measure of Trust III-Beta and newly-formed Call to the Faithful III-Delta on Demeter from the start of hostilities through October 3069, reportedly at the request of Vicore Industries. The Luthien presence may have been so reported as a propaganda exercise by possible ROM units present on that world (theorized to have been the Circle of the Holy II). Known Blakist propaganda had the Ninth on Terra in March 3068 (during Case White) and additional reports came in of Ninth units on Royalston and Atlas in 3069 and on Beid in 3070.

Battle for Luthien

In July 3069, a 9th Division salvage team dispatched to the ruins of LAW City's Tokyo Island area was destroyed during a six-hour back-and-forth battle by 1st Genyosha elements fighting the Black Dragon's mercenary Sathen's Snipers, Kokuryu-kai faction of the Second Sword of Light and the 40th Dieron Regulars.

The 9th Division captured and then enlisted the Sathen's Snipers and in May 3071 received reinforcements in the form of the 42nd Shadow Division (which provided support and security assistance). It had also brought in two additional Level III units to replace the ROM Level IIIs that had accompanied the unit's two initial Level IIIs. The unit -fighting alongside it's allies- fought the Black Dragon-controlled 32nd & 40th Dieron Regulars as well as combined forces of the 1st Genyosha and other loyalist Kurita forces.

The division's allied 42nd was the target of Clan Nova Cat's 3072 invasion. The 9th was spared the Cat's vengeance against the 42nd. The Xi Galaxy was shattered by the heavily damaged Shadow Division's tactical nuclear weaponry.

Continuous fighting between the three factions had exhausted the 9th's mercenary unit, Sathen's Snipers, forcing it to withdraw in early 3073. The 32nd Division arrived in February to replace the mercenaries and help the 9th and heavily-damaged 42nd garrison the Combine capital city.

In December 3074, two Clan Ghost Bear Galaxies assaulted Luthien, with Ghost Bear's Alpha Galaxy focusing and reportedly wiping out all Word of Blake forces, leaving no survivors.

3075

The remaining units of the 9th Division not present on Luthien were reported to be present in the Federated Suns operating theater.

Officers

As of 3062, the commanding officer of the 9th Division was Precentor XII Alice Phuong.

As of January 3068, the commanding officer of the 9th Division was still Precentor Alice Phuong.

As of February 3072, the commanding officer of the 9th Division was Precentor William Nikoli.

Composition History

3067

• Measure of Trust III-beta - CO: Precentor XVII Alice Phuong
• Crushing Reality III-delta - CO: Precentor V Bruce Lenca
• Grand Illusion III-gamma - CO: Demi-Precentor (Adept IX) John Majors
• Transfer of Faith III-lambda - CO: Demi-Precentor (Precentor II) Victor Franks

3072

• Measure of Trust III-beta - CO: Precentor William Nikoli
• Crushing Reality III-delta - CO: Precentor V Bruce Lenca
• Grand Illusion III-gamma - CO: Demi-Precentor (Adept IX) John Majors
• Transfer of Faith III-lambda - CO: Demi-Precentor (Precentor II) Victor Franks
• Call to the Faithful III-Delta - CO: Unknown

Notes

• Information regarding the Ninth's activities as reported in Jihad Secrets: The Blake Documents is not necessarily reliable.
• Information provided in both Jihad Secrets: The Blake Documents and Jihad Turning Point: Luthien regarding their presence and role on Luthien in the month of January of both 3068 and 3069 may appear to be contradictory, but as worded in the former title, the division was leading assault maneuvers in 3069, which does not preclude their arrival in 3068.
• The inclusion of Sathan's Snipers in the "Bullet In the Blue Sky" scenario of Jihad Turning Points: Luthien may be in error, as the Snipers were not under a recognized Word contract until early 3071 (per their "Combatants" entry). At the time of this note, an errata correction called for removing Sathen's Snipers from the "Defender/Recommended Forces" and removing the "including Sathen’s Snipers, now under a Word contract" line from the Defender write-up; the suggestion has not yet been endorsed. (This is relevant to this 9th Division article, due to their assumption of the Snipers' contract.)

Rules

Game Rules

The 9th Division has the Overrun Combat special ability during the Battle of Luthien; it also receives a negative modifier for Initiative when defending.

Bibliography

• Field Manual: Updates
• Jihad Secrets: The Blake Documents
• Jihad Turning Points: Luthien