Mercantile Militia
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The Mercantile Militia are the armed forces of the Alyina Mercantile League.
Operational History[edit]
Founded right after the AML, the Militia was the mastermind of his highest rank officer: Star Colonel Margolian. He rose from a dezgra commander of an unimportant Trinary relegated to babysitting merchants, to the supreme military leader of a rich and powerful regional power.[1]
The unit was his own, the one charged to protect VaultShip Alpha, one of the VaultShips owned by Clan Jade Falcon, filled with riches. Onboard it was the Clan's Merchant Factor, Marena. In June 3151, after almost all the Falcon's touman had departed to Terra, the ship returned to Alyina, to verify the rumors of the Falcon's Occupation Zone dissolving into chaos.
The rumors were true, but Alyina had a small contingent of solahma warriors, ardent followers of the Mongol Doctrine, and Marena ordered Margolian to get rid of them.
It wasn't difficult: the Star Colonel used a Star of 'Mechs to draw the solahma garrison outside of the factory compound they protected, and ambushed them, leaving no survivors. Alyina belonged to Marena.[2]
Marena was ambitious, so sent Margolian's forces to ensure the taking of the nearby planets of Twycross and Waldorff. Both fell without any fight, and Marena declared the formation of her own state, the Alyina Mercantile League.
In August, VaultShip Delta arrived at Alyina. As it had been attacked by Clan Hell's Horses it had lost his escort DropShip, but the riches and its ground troops survived, reinforcing the Militia, and also the Trinary of VaultShip Beta.[3]
In August, the Militia faced a new attack: a well-organized group of pirates landed near Factory 4 on Alyina itself to steal newly manufactured BattleMechs. Margolian rallied his Trinary to engage them, he managed to drive them off... but as the pirates were well coordinated, managed to steal a half-dozen of 'Mechs. The failure embarrassed Margolian. Marena, after receiving it, understood than the Militia wasn't able to fully protect Alyina, and still less the other AML worlds, so began hiring mercenary groups, first of these, the Lone Wolves.[4]
The Wolves proved their worth when they, along with the Militia, drove off the pirates when attempted to repeat after a brief engagement. However, not all the mercenaries were so trustworthy: another one, the Tread of Doom, after one of his tankers was sentenced to death for a crime, decided to defect... and make a big bank robbery. The evening of 30 October, the mercenaries attacked: with six heavy tanks rolled through Alyina's capital, New Delhi's streets, attacking the prison, and freeing not only his man, but also any other prisoner it was there, taking them with them. The rest of the Doom, composed of swift hovercraft and VTOLs, struck the Jade Depository, intending to steal the wealth from VaultShip Beta, but the Militia stood their ground, with their Elementals in full armor. A fierce firefight ensued, and though they lost three Elementals, also crippled two hovercraft. The Tread was unable to reach their target, but in their place they stole the vault of a bank before escaping off world.
The incident embarrassed Margolian, but Marena didn't punish him, but instead promoted him to Star Colonel. She almost cancelled the contract of the rest of mercenary groups, but at the end it decided against it.[5]
One of the mercenary groups which arrived later proved especially valuable: the Raging Horde was a special group, of Clan origin, so it was invaluable to help train the Militia, as they knew all about Clan and Inner Sphere tactics.
Meanwhile, the AML continued growing, incorporating three more worlds. But Marena knew than the mercenaries were a short-time solution to defend them: she wanted a powerful Militia, so she ordered the conquest of Blackjack. The planet housed the Jade Falcon School of Conflict with several sibkos nearby graduation. The School leader, Star Colonel Derek-Jaim Clees agreed to surrender the planet and garrison if he was defeated in a series of non-lethal Trials of Possession. Marena agreed, and the Militia and Raging Horde easily win the Trial. Clees surrendered the planet before committing suicide.[6]
Towards the end of 3152, the Militia had a great future: with Blackjack's recruits and Alyina's military industry, they had the means to create a respectable and powerful force. Margolian, despite his past failures as tactician, proved to be an adept trainer, laboring heroically to mold his heterogeneous agglomeration of solahma and green sibkids into a functioning force. The assistance of the Raging Horde also helped. Ironically, the main weakness of the Militia was Margolian itself: he feared than Marena replaced him for his failures, and was relieved to see Derek Jaim-Cleese to commit suicide, and currently, a friction developed between him and the Raging Horde leader, because the first saw him as a potential rival.[1]