Aurigan Royal Guard
ʻAʻole manuahi ke kūʻokoʻa
IntroductionOften just called the Arano Royal Guard, due to the unit mostly being used to protect House Arano itself, the Aurigan Royal Guard is a company-sized unit of Battlemechs that serves the Coalition as their primary deployable battlemech unit and garrison unit of the Coalition capital of Corodmir VI. This does see the company often being deployed to counter pirate raids on the outskirts of the Coalition. Thanks to this it was one of the most famous and notable units of the Coalition. Allowing it to have some of the most well-trained and experienced Mechwarriors. However, in recent years and the forming of Battlemech units for other Founding House Guard Units would see the Royal Guard now mainly being used as an Honor Guard Unit staying in place on Corodmir VI and Cordia City.
Histortical OverviewThe Aurigan Royal Guard was originally formed out of the remains of Keona Arano's scrapped together Free Aurigan Rangers after Keona became the first High Lady of the new Aurigan Coalition after the disposing of her older brother Kade Arano. From there on it would serve the Coalition as one of their handful of Battlemech units through the rest of Keona's time as High Lady and into the reign of her son Tamati Arano I. From there the Royal Guard become quite notable as a veteran and elite unit of Battlemechs as it was used by the Coalition to fight against several different Pirate Raids on the border worlds of the Coalition. This included one notable raid in early 2927 that managed to actually land on Corodmir VI itself which saw the Royal Guard become notable across the Coalition and would see the expansion of the Aurigan Coalition Military Academy to include a Mechwarrior training program.
It was only in the early years of Keona's grandson Tamati Arano II's reign that things started to become different with the formation of Battlemech Units for the other Founding House's and their Guard Units. This saw the Royal Guard being retained mainly as an Honor Unit and never really saw action off-world all that much anymore. It was only during the time known as Terror of the Harlequin around 2995 that started to see the Royal Guard being sent out once more to combat Pirate Raids including one fateful battle on the world of Artu. All of which was against a notable pirate leader known as the Harlequin which would lead to the formation of the Rampart Company, an anti-pirate taskforce centered on a company of Battlemechs taken from the Royal Guard and other House Guard Battlemech Units. For a couple of years afterward things settled down and Rampart Company was stood down returning its borrowed Battlemechs and Mechwarriors to their parent units. The Royal Guard then returned to being primarily an Honor Unit and for over a decade of a peace, the Royal Guard became quite lazy. This changed when the Great Pirate Raid began in 3017 which saw several worlds, including Corodmir VI itself being raided by pirates leading to much destruction across the Coalition.
During this Second Pirate Raid of Corodmir VI the Royal Guard and its Mechwarriors was caught totally unprepared with several of its mechwarriors caught outside of their Mechs when the Pirates first landed on the planet. Either caught in the panicked chaos of the Cordia City population rushing around or being killed when a pirate saboteur somehow managed to bomb the Guard's Mechwarrior Barracks. This saw the Royal Guard only managing to deploy a reinforced lance of light mechs to fight the Pirates of which combined with the light vehicles of the Corodmir VI Militia barely managed to hold off the pirates from reaching Cordia City. It was only the arrival of the Esponisa House Guard Battlemech Unit, guarding the nearby Esponsia Mech Refit Yards, and a squadron of aerospace fighters of the Aurigan Combined Aerospace Forces that saw the defeat of the pirates. Not before they managed to raze a few different villages and kill around a couple thousand civilians in said razed villages. It also saw the loss of hundred of acres of farmland that saw a food shortage across Corodmir VI and its surrounding worlds.
Thanks to this disaster High Lord Tamati Arano II first took notable veteran mercenary Mechwarrior Raju Montgomery who had been guest lecturing at the Aurigan Coalition Military Academy over the last couple of years and made him the new Guard Captain of the Royal Guard with the mission of kicking the Royal Guard into shape. The High Lord also directed the formation of a new Rampart Company to serve as an anti-pirate combat unit to combat the increasing amounts of pirate raids on the Coalition's border worlds. However, unlike the earlier Rampart Company which sported units from not only the Royal Guard but from Guard Units of the Founding Houses the new Rampart Company was left to draw only from the Royal Guard due to disagreements in the Council. This saw the new Rampart Company only sporting a reinforced lance of Battlemechs and a reinforced platoon of Militia Combat Vehicles plus a flight of Aerospace Fighters from the Aurigan Combined Aerospace Forces.
Even then it did not take long for newly installed Guard Captain Raju Montgomery to kick the Royal Guard into some form of shape and with Rampart becoming a sort of second company attached to the Royal Guard it became even more notable as Rampart started to counter-raid against pirate holdouts in the Rimward Frontier. However, things started to go downhill for the Royal Guard and the Coalition itself. Starting with the death of High Lord Tamati Arano II and his wife in a Dropship accident in late 3021 which included a lance of Royal Guard Mechwarriors. This diaster would see the Rampart Company once more stood down and its remains merged back into the larger Royal Guard to make up for the losses. Then a few months later in April of 3022 would see what would be known as the Coronation Day Massacre which saw several unknown Battlemech Units somehow appearing across Corodmir VI during the festivities for the coronation of the new High Lady of the Coalition Kamea Arano, daughter of Tamati Arano II and attacking of everyone under their guns causing chaos across the planet. This incident was put down by the arriving forces of House Espinosa, House Maderia, and other Founding Houses. However, in the chaos of the Massacre, the vast majority of the Royal Guard was destroyed through both sabotage and being overwhelmed by the unknown attackers. It also saw the death of future High Lady Kamea and Guard Captain Montgomery who had been on the traditional Coronation Day March where they ran into a unit of Mechs painted in the colors of the Royal Guard and House Espinosa Guard. The few remaining mechwarriors of the Royal Guard were either absorbed into the other House Guard Units or mysteriously vanished including Lady Kamea's newly assigned personal bodyguard Mechwarrior Berah Ronah.
[Future Spot for the Restoration version of the Royal Guard and Post Restoration Royal Guard]
Notable Battles and CampaignsFirst Pirate Raid of Coromodir VI - May 10, 2927
The first major trial by fire for the new Royal Guard was a small pirate raid on Coromodir VI itself during the early days of the Coalition. It would see ten Royal Guard Battlemechs plus the personal mech of High Lady Keona Arano herself, against a pirate force of a dozen medium-weight combat vehicles and eight pirate battlemechs. The resulting battle saw the majority of the pirate vehicles flaming wrecks while all eight pirate mechs were either wrecks themselves or surrendered to the Royal Guard. At the cost only two Guard mechs which were easily repaired and put back into action. While this wasn't the worst battle of the Royal Guard it was one of the first and would go on to serve as a shining example of the Royal Guard's abilities and strength for years after the end of this battle.
Battle of Azaru - September 28, 2931
In response to the Pirate Raid on Coromodir VI, a follow-up raid on Coromodir V's Pinkerton Orbital Docks, and a couple of other raids on the other planets of the Coalition the Royal Guard alongside several units of Coalition Militia and a lance of hired mercenary Battlemechs would attack the small pirate haven on the tiny moon of Azaru in the Gangtok System. The resulting battle saw the destruction of the pirate haven and would lead to the annexation of the entire system by the Coalition in the years that followed the battle due to the discovery of an abandoned livable world in the solar system. During the battle for the first time the Royal Guard was at full strength of twelve Battlemechs, plus the new personal Battlemech of Lord Consort Maui Baru, husband of High Lady Keona.
First Battle of Artu - April 10, 2996
The first real battle of the operations against the pirate lord known only as the Harlequin. The Coalition Royal Guard plus a second battlemech company drawn from the newly formed Battlemech units of the Coalition Founding House Guards and several hired mercenary mechwarriors including the Markham Marauders would attack a pirate base on the world of Artu right up against the new border of the Taurian Concordat. This was believed by many in the Coalition as the base of the Pirate Lord Harlequin but in reality only a former Lostech Treasure Hunter base once occupied by the Harlequin and his forces. Still, the gathered forces did manage to find the base occupied by the pirate group known as the Black Wings, a notable aerofighter pirate unit and a loose lance of hired Lost Mechwarriors. The resulting battle was drastically one-sided and the Black Wings were wiped out as a unit while the Lost Mechwarriors were all killed in action. Still, this battle would see the formation of the new Rampart Company and would be the start of the long relationship between the Coalition and Markham Marauders. It would also see the first clues of something more hidden on Artu, thanks to records recovered from the base about why some Lostech Treasure Hunters were searching around a somewhat desolate world like Artu.
Second Pirate Raid of Coromodir VI - June 1, 3017
One of the handfuls of embarrassing battles for the Royal Guard in that it was caught unprepared by an enemy. Only a reinforced lance of light mechs were able to be used against a large pirate force of twelve Battlemechs, sixteen combat vehicles, and a squad of aerofighters. Thanks in part to some luck on the part of the pirates where they were able to slip in a saboteur onto Coromdir VI that saw the destruction of a Mechwarrior barracks killing a few Guard Mechwarriors. The pirate force unlike that earlier pirate raid on the planet was actually after the Esponisa Refit Yards and the rumored brand new battlemechs that were being constructed at the Yards. Therefore, the pirates were able to more easily land on the planet without being harassed by the five-year-old Aurigan Combined Aerospace Forces. Even then, the six-light mechs of the Guard plus dozens of Coromodir VI Militia combat vehicles were able to hold off the pirate force for a few hours. Allowing a force of Esponisa House Guard Mechs and a squadron of ACAF Aerofighters to finally arrive destroying the pirate forces.
Notable BattlemechsThanks in part to the Aurigan Royal Guard forming out of the remains of the Free Aurigan Rangers of Keona Arano which themselves were drawn from a variety of different places there happened to be several heirloom Battlemechs that have served the Aurigan Coalition since its founding and even before with a couple of the Mechs. Unlike a couple of other mechs used by the Royal Guard, these heirloom Mechs were not owned by any one person, family, or House but are under the general ownership of the Royal Guard itself. Something that is quite rare with many heirloom Mechs actually being passed down in notable Mechwarrior Families or Noble Houses. The following are some of the most notable Royal Guard heirloom Battlemechs.
SHD-2H Shadow Hawk Thunder - The
Thunder, a
Shadow Hawk Battlemech, is one of the heaviest battlemechs in the Royal Guard and had been captured by the Royal Guard during the First Pirate Raid on Coromodir VI. It was given over to Lord Consort Maui Baru, husband of High Lady Keona, by his wife after he managed to lose his old mech an HBK-4H
Hunchback during an accidental ammo explosion several months before the First Pirate Raid. The
Thunder would remain with the Lord Consort for several years as he personally led the Royal Guard in several combat engagements with pirates including the famous Battle of Azaru. However, when the Lord Consort retired from being a Mechwarrior the
Thunder due to his failing health the Mech would remain under the general ownership of House Arano, often being handed down to other members of the House including the younger brother of Tamati I, Kalani Arano. This changed when Kalani's sole daughter, Solena, would be killed in battle while piloting the Mech during a battle with an unknown hired mercenary group that raided the recently added planet of Mechdur. Kalani would convince his nephew Tamati II to hand the
Thunder over to the Royal Guard before Kalani left the Aurigan Reach for some reason or another where he would disappear into the chaos of the Rimward Frontier. Since then
Thunder would be passed to different mechwarriors over the years before it would be piloted by Lady Consort Serena Espinosa, wife of Tamati II and younger sister to Lord Santigo Esponisa. The Lady Consort would pilot the mech for a couple of years before it returned to the Royal Guard.
GRF-1T Griffin Balrog - The Griffin known as the Balrog has an interesting history in that it was built by Vandenburg Mechanized Industries of the Taurian Concordat during the early days of the Third Succession War. It was part of a small production run produced by Vandenburg during those days and was really its own small variant. The Balrog is said to be one of the only units left from this short production run. Unlike the more popular GRF-1N and GRF-1S models of the Battlemech the short-lived GRF-1T model replaces it PPC with four Medium Laser with two on each arm, and the rest of the saved tonnage from the removal of the GRF-1N's PPC went into reinforcing the armor of the mech. Unlike the rest of the heirloom Battlemechs of the Royal Guard, the Balrog is one of the newest units brought into the Guard having been captured from a Pirate during the mess with the Pirate known as the Harlequin. Since then it has become a strong unit and found in the hands of several notable Guard Mechwarriors since being brought into the Royal Guard. As of the Coronation Day Massacre, the Balrog was sabotaged somehow by the unknown attackers and shut down when trying to fight against these attackers. It was then recovered by the House Espinosa House Guard and brought to the Espinosa Refit Yards where it would be repaired before being assigned to a newly trained Mechwarrior in the newly formed First Corodmir Calvary.
WVR-6R Wolverine Bodmin - The mech known as the Bodmin was originally the Battlemech in use by Ian Adar, a Mechwarrior in service of Kade Arano during the Aurigan Rebellions. It was salvaged by the Free Aurigan Rangers after an early battle in the Rebellions, quickly repaired, and handed over to Jonathan Haust a hastily trained Mechwarrior from Corodmir V. From there Jonathan would continue to pilot the Mech well into the early days of Royal Guard and upon his retirement from the Royal Guard would pass on the offer of keeping the Mech from newly installed High Lord Tamati Arano I. Afterwards it would go through several different Mechwarriors till it was assigned to the Grandson of Jonathan Haust Royal Guard Lieutenant Alastair Haust. The Bodmin would then follow newly installed Captain Haust of the Rampart Unit when it was reformed and would take part in several notable counter-raids against pirates in the Rimward Frontier. During the Coronation Day Massacre, it would be one of the few intact units of the Royal Guard and would join up with a reinforced lance of the House Esponisa Guard led by Lady Victoria Esponisa. From there it would be damaged in a battle against a unit of fake Royal Guard Battlemechs where the Bodmin would be heavily damaged by an enemy Centurion Battlemech. However, it would be soon repaired and retained by Captain Haust in his role as the new commander of the First Corodmir Calvary.
PXH-1 Phoenix Hawk Hina - A
Phoenix Hawk Medium Battlemech nicknamed the
Hina, that may have started out as a standard PXH-1 model but has been modified over the years by the Royal Guard Technicians. As far as anyone in the Royal Guard knows this machine was originally constructed somewhere in the Lyran Commonwealth and it is unknown how it made its way to the Rimward Frontier and the Aurigan Reach. It was one of the original Battlemechs used by the Free Aurigan Rangers during the Aurigan Rebellion. Since then it has been piloted by several notable Mechwarriors over the years including the future husband of newly installed High Lady Keona Arano, one Maui Baru. It was also the first mech piloted by Kamea Arano before she received the family's Kintaro a couple of years before the death of her parents. As of the Coronation Day Massacre it had been completely rebuilt by the Esponisa Refit Yards after a nasty battle with pirates and sports a slightly different loadout from the original PXH-1 design. This was mostly similar to the rare PXH-1K variant just retaining its machine guns instead of a Small Laser. It would be one of three Royal Guard Battlemechs to survive the Coronation Day Massacre and would disappear from Corodmir VI a couple of days after the Massacre alongside its assigned Mechwarrior, one Guard Lieutenant Kikki Rosoria.
LCT-1V Locust Runner - One of the handful of
Locust mechs in service of the Aurigan Royal Guard it would be captured during the Battle of Artu and would be handed over to newly trained Mechwarrior Natalie Osborn who would use the mech for her entire career in the Royal Guard. From there it would follow Mechwarrior Osborn to her lifelong project of the formation and introduction of the new Royal Aurigan Military Academy on Coromdir V. Once the new Academy was running the
Runner would be along with a couple of newly bought STG-3R
Stingers would become notable as training units for the Academy. For years new Mechwarriors would be trained in the
Runner and it is said that once a Mechwarrior finished training they would scratch their name on a plate on the back of the cockpit. Sadly the
Runner would be transferred back to the Royal Guard when brand new STG-3AT
Stinger Trainers would be introduced by the Esponisa Mech Refit Yards. It would then be primarily stored in the underground storage bunkers underneath the Arano Palace from thereon. Though it is said that the plate with all the names of the Mechwarriors who trained in the Mech would be retained by the Academy where it would be displayed in the main hall of the Academy.
LCT-1E Locust Gecko - A Locust known as
Gecko that is another notable heirloom mech of the Royal Guard which is one of the few remaining mechs that was originally used by the Free Aurigan Rangers during the Aurigan Rebellions. It had somehow made its way to the Aurigan Reach from an unknown Capellean Mechwarrior who deserted his unit sometime during the First Succession War. It then would go through several owners before the Rangers picked it up the heavily damaged Mech for cheap and would completely rebuild it. From there it would go through a couple of different Mechwarriors in the Rangers before falling in the hands of Serena Esponisa the younger sister to the current head of the Esponisa Family who had rebelled against the rest of the family who joined Kade Arano. Serena would use the Mech all the way to the final battle of the Rebellion fighting alongside the future High Lady of the Coalition, Keona Arano. After the end of the Rebellions, Serena would retire from being Mechwarrior due to injuries suffered during the Final Battle and would be content to lead the newly formed House Esponisa. The Gecko would then be placed in the Royal Guard armories where it would be brought out a couple of times over the years. It is further notable as being one of the Mechs that fought during the Second Pirate Raid of Corodmir VI in the hands of sixteen-year-old Victoria Esponsia Great Granddaughter of Serena. From there it remained as Victoria's Mechs during her early years as Mechwarrior before she abandoned it when she received the new
Kaga, a newly produced hand-built version of the CPLT-K2 Catapult from the Esponisa Refit Yards. It was then taken over by an unknown House Esponisa Mechwarrior who fought against a fake Royal Guard Mech Unit during the Coronation Day Massacre where they would be killed and the Gecko heavily damaged. It would be repaired and given over to another Mechwarrior who became part of the newly formed 2nd Directorate Armigers.
WSP-1A Wasp Trailblazer - The
Trailblazer is one of the Royal Guard's first bought Battlemechs from outside of the Reach and was bought at scrap value from a down on their luck mercenary who ran into problems in the Rimward Frontier during the chaos of the early years of the Third Succession War. It would join a handful of other
Wasp and
Locust Battlemechs as the central part of the Royal Guard. Since then the Trailblazer has continued to be operated by the Royal Guard over the years and would be quite notable in various battles. However, unlike other notable heirloom battlemechs of the Royal Guard, the
Trailblazer does not really have any notable Mechwarriors piloting it mostly due to it becoming quite unlucky for every Mechwarrior that entered its cockpit ended being killed during their first battle piloting the mech or even from an accident on a couple of occasions. Due to this, it was often stored in the Royal Guard Armory and only taken out from storage when it was desperately needed. Still, it remained under the control of the Royal Guard for several years and while the Guard tried to pass it onto one of the other newly formed Founding House Guard Units it wouldn't be taken seeing this Mech remaining stored in the Royal Guard Armory till it is needed once more. At least, till the day of the Coronation Day Massarace when newly trained Royal Guard Mechwarrior Irainna Sanchez jumped into the cockpit of the mech and would be notable in taking down three unknown enemy controlled Battlemechs during the ensuring the chaos of the day. For this feat of bravery and skill, Mechwarrior Sanchez would be celebrated and lionized by the newly formed Aurigan Directorate. At least till Mechwarrior Sanchez and the Trailblazer disappeared four weeks after the Coronation Day Massacre.
WSP-1A Wasp Lightfoot - The
Wasp known as
Lightfoot was yet another heirloom battlemech that came from the days of the Free Aurigan Rangers and would be used by the Royal Guard in several battles and such over the years. It was quite notable as being the oldest known Mech in the Royal Guard, having been produced by 2485 on Mars by General Mechanics. From there it has gone through numerous owners including every Great House military before somehow ending up on Corodmir V where it becomes part of the Free Aurigan Rangers of Keona Arano. However, over the years it started to show its age, therefore, would be decommissioned by the Guard and its parts being used in other Mechs while its reactor would be used in the construction of new mechs by the Esponisa Mech Refit Yards alongside fellow Royal Guard
Wasp Runner.
WSP-1A Wasp Scout - Like many Battlemech units in the Periphery the former Free Aurigan Rangers had mostly either WSP-1A
Wasps and STG-3R
Stingers on its roster. The
Scout was one of these light mechs, therefore, took part in some of the toughest battles of the Aurigan Rebellion and after the formation of the new Aurigan Coalition, it would continue to take part in some of the tougher battles of the new Aurigan Royal Guard. However, when the new STG-3A
Stinger would be produced by the Esponisa Mech Refit Yards the
Scout would be decommissioned by the Royal Guard with its reactor being used in a new prototype mech design also produced by the Esponisa Mech Refit Yards.
WSP-1F Wasp Firebug - The modified WSP-1F
Wasp known as
Firebug had been originally modified by an unknown independent mechtech in the Periphery where a regular WSP-1A
Wasp was heavily damaged in battle and the unit it was assigned to did not have a replacement for its destroyed SRM-2. Instead, it would be repaired and given a Purity-L Flamer from a destroyed Firestarter to replace its SRM launcher. While an extra Heatsink would be added to help combat the increased heat load the Flamer brought the mech. It was captured by the Royal Guard during the First Pirate Raid of Coromodir VI however due to being a sort of niche unit it wouldn't be used by the Royal Guard all that much during the following battles with pirates. The only real time it was brought out by the Royal Guard for combat was during the Second Pirate Raid of Coromodir VI where it would use its flamer to overheat two pirate mechs before it would be brought down by a pirate
Commando killing its pilot. It would be repaired but would continue to lavish in the Royal Guard hangar till it was decided to decommission the mech to allow its reactor to be used by new prototypes being produced by the Esponisa Mech Refit Yards.
STG-3A Stinger Vanguard - This particular Mech known as
Vanguard was one of the first handbuilt STG-3A Stingers produced by the Esponisa Reft Yards and would be ceremoniously given over to the Royal Guard alongside two other newly produced STG-3A Stingers, the
Pathfinder and
Spearhead. These three mechs would replace a couple of aging Wasps that were on their last legs and be the first brand new Mechs of the Royal Guard since their formation. The Vanguard would then serve the Royal Guard well over the years following its production and would be one of the Mechs assigned to the reformed Rampart Unit. There it would take part in several counter-raids against pirates of the Rimward Frontier. During one such counter-raid, the Battle of Mandalas was it would be brought down by a Pirate Phoenix Hawk. It would be recovered after the battle and be repaired before being assigned to an unknown newly trained Mechwarrior who would pilot it during the fateful day at the Coronation Day Massacre where it like several other Mechs of the Royal Guard would simply shut down due to Sabotage.
Notable Mechwarriors[Coming Back to This Later]
Unit Colors and EmblemThe main parade colors for the Aurigan Royal Guard is a bright red and black color scheme with dark gray tattoo-like markings down the legs and arms of the Battlemech. The emblem of the Royal Guard is a black-winged lance on a golden background and is often worn somewhere on a Guard Mech. Though some units of the Royal Guard often wear the great golden winged cormorant of House Arano on their mechs alongside the black-winged lance of the Guard showing their allegiance to that of House Arano. This was mostly after the formation of the Mech Companies of the Founding House Guard Units who often wore the sigils of their Founding House. When the Royal Guard was rebuilt as the spearhead of the Arano Restoration this was changed to a black-winged cormorant on the same red background.
