Captain Skip "Zippy" Latermore created this unit..pretty much because it was what he had available.
In the waning days of 3058, Captain Zippy was on Outreach, trying to recruit for a new mercenary company.
His goal was to get it prepared for the expiration of the Clan Truce in 7 years. Unfortunately for him, all he
was able to find who were willing to sign on with him was a couple of UrbanMech pilots, presumable because
his own 'mech was an old, and "much loved" UM-60. So, his core of him, and 3 fellow Urbanmech pilots and
a old Leopard(the "Galloping Ghost") left Outreach on a raid contract for the Combine. The mission was, actually,
to guard the dropship of the unit actually doing the raiding. During the raid, however, their dropship captain, who
had kept the dropship warmed up in case they needed to do a hot evac, called Zippy and let him know the Dracs were
getting kinda over-run. Captain Zippy then made the fateful choice, and gave the order to board the dropship and...
do a combat drop on the Drac's position to rescue them. Probably the only reason anyone went along with this was because
they were fighting Jaguars, and, well...survival was not that likely, either way.
The Jaguars were caught by surprise, not by the arrival of reinforcements, but by the 'mechs that were dropping in. They
were used to seeing Urbanmechs die like little burning trashcans, or being blown apart running away. Seeing a lance execute
a combat drop, and attack caused momenetary confusion in the Jaguar ranks....and a smoking hole from the Lance Second's UM-60L's
AC/20 to appear over the reactor of Cauldron Born. The brief pause in the actions of the Jags allowed the combine forces to get their
heads on straight, and drive into the Jaguar forces, the hammer of the Samurai against the Anvil of....the Urbanmechs. While their contract
did not allow for 'mech salvage, the Kurita commander, in the remains of the Jaguar forces found a 'mech, most likely piloted by a Solahma,
and gave it to Captain Zippy...the UrbanMech IIC that Zippy pilots to this day.
Out of grattitude, the Combine gave the now named "Urbanmech Cavalry", with its unit emblem of an Urbanmech wearing a cavalry hat and
a yellow ribbon, a long term contract, and precious salvage rights. Over the course of the next couple years leading up to Bulldog, the
Urbanmech Cavalry grew to a company plus Captain Zippy in size. The standard practice became an UM-60L in every lance, and, at this time,
it was 2 lances of UM-60s, and one lance of UM-R63. Captain Zippy negotiated all his salvage from one mission for a trade in to his second
owned dropship, a Broadsword named "Siouxsie Sioux," complete with very non-politically correct "nose art."
As they went into Bulldog, the UrbanMech Cavalry distinguished itself with several daring combat drops into close, confined areas. In one instance, Jaguar forces went into a canyon area to get theading towards their dropships....not a single Jaguar came out, but a few hours later,
a baker's dozen of really bad looking UrbanMechs did...with Captain Zippy listing off the salvage locations. At the end of Bulldog, while they
were not tasked with going to Homeworlds, the Cavalry was given time for R&R.
In the intervening years, they took mostly garrison contracts, easy money, with occasional pirate hunting jobs. They gained a reputation
as a solid, professional unit, and as absolute madmen. Coming into the Jihad, they laid low like many merc units, but managed to get
themselves hired as contributing units in Operation SCOUR. As payment, they accepted a big upgrade: their own Hamilcar Dropship, the
"Babylonian Lady of Ill Repute". This allowed them to completely modernize their force, and add in a 4th, support lance of Urbamechs. As
of 3079, their force consists of the following:
Captain Zippy: Urbanmech IIC
Red Lance
1 UM-60L
3 UM-R63
White Lance
1 UM-60L
3 UM-68 (MRM 30 Urbie)
Blue Lance
1 UM-60L
3 UM-70 (RAC/5 Urbanmech)
Polka Dot Lance(Yes, they really ARE painted with Polka Dots)
4 Urbanmech UM-AIV
Captain Zippy and White Lance deploy in "Siouxsie Sioux"
Red Lance deploys in "The Galloping Ghost"
Blue Lance and Polka Dot Lance deploy in "The Babylonian Lady of Ill Repute"
