Lonely Hearts Company

C Company, 505th Mechanized Infantry (Dragoons) Battalion, popularly known as the "Lonely Hearts" company, was a small military unit during the Great War. The unit was component of the illustrious 12th Guards Cavalry Division, a heavy armored assault division of the Terran Imperial Army. It has the distinction of being one the few company-sized units to be widely known and reported on. It contained several persons of note during its existence, among them future State Security general William McGrady.
On paper, it was simply an infantry company. However, the unit's exploits and persistence in survival earned it a place of legend among Army personnel. Led most famously by First Lieutenant Edward Malcolm Pepper, it became utilized as the linchpin in numerous engagements during the war, in part because of its growing reputation and seeming "good luck".
The unit's luck ran out in late 2667, when many of its members were killed in action during the Battle of Khoz, including Lt. Pepper, and it came under the temporary command of Artem Meshcheryakov. The unit was reconstituted under the command of Captain Aurora Beaumont soon after, and it remained intact through much of the war's duration. Upon Beaumont's transfer to a staff position in the 505th dragoons, the unit came under the command of Captain Ophelius Greene. It remained under Greene's command until the 12th Guards Cavalry was demobilized after the end of the war. With the remobilization of the 12th Cavalry Division, the division as a whole was named the "Lonely Hearts division" in honor of the squad's heroism.
== History ==
The 12th Guards Cavalry Division was organized in 2550 in the aftermath of the Imperial Civil War, which saw the Terran government suppress revolts by feudal landholders and their private armies. The 12th Cavalry Division, constituted in 2525, was granted Guards status. The honorary appellation of a Guards unit gave it higher ceremonial precedence, and preferential selection for volunteers and recruits that scored highest in evaluations. It was seen as a considerable honor to be selected for the Imperial Cavalry, and especially for Guards units. The division was organized into two armored brigades and two mechanized infantry brigades, along with an artillery brigade, aviation brigade, and attached logistical and engineering units. The 2nd Brigade contained the 505th Dragoon battalion and its component companies. Over its hundred-year long history, the unit saw deployment mostly as a garrison on colony worlds.
However, the "Lonely Hearts" company as generally understood was constituted in the 2650s. Sergeant Edward Malcolm Pepper was assigned to 1st Platoon, C Company in 2654 as leader of a fireteam, then promoted in 2657 to lead the reconnaissance squad. In 2659 he was promoted again and assigned as Platoon Sergeant for 1st Platoon. Several of the unit's more famed members came into the picture in the early 2660s as replenishments due to casualties taken in ambushes by Colonial Liberation Army terroritsts. On search-and-destroy missions against terrorist camps, Pepper often went along with the recon squad and oversaw combat operations. In 2664, the unit was involved in the Windy Heights Massacre, foiling a terrorist siege of a school building. Pepper was promoted to First Sergeant and billeted as Company Senior NCO, and he significantly shaped what the unit would be like in terms of discipline and ferocity. 
At the start of hostilities in September 2665, the 12th Cavalry was mobilized for immediate deployment. The division first saw action against the Soviet Republic in December as reinforcing ground forces at the battle for Kalabaska, a large, hot terrestrial planet with vital industrial infrastructure and orbital installations. The orbital drop was a disaster, with thousands shot down on landing; among them included C Company's headquarters, both 1st and 2nd platoon's officers, and all of 3rd platoon. Pepper as Senior NCO was the highest-ranking survivor, and he the remainder of the company through dense jungle, which earned the unit its moniker "Lonely Hearts". The unit lost 45 soldiers in the landing, and another 18 in the march to the rendezvous point, including its mortar squad. 
Their hard-fought journey to the battalion rendezvous point was only the start; over the next several months, the 505th Dragoons bitterly engaged Soviet forces across the planet's single large continent. Pepper recommended his subordinates for decorations, and he was given a field commission as a 2nd Lieutenant, which was rapidly upgraded to 1st Lieutenant during the battle. He was assigned command over Company C, given the death of many ranking officers. The 12th Guards Cavalry were garrisoned at Kalabaska from March to May 2666, taking policing duties and inducting replacements to get it back to full strength. For a year afterwards, they were redeployed for policing duties on various other worlds in the end-stages of capture, frequently encountering combat situations. 
=== Battle of Khoz ===
In May 2667, they were deployed as part of a large task force to capture the Khoz System. Along with two Marine divisions, and another fourteen reinforcing Army divisions, the 12th Guards Cavalry were landed on the surface of Khoz Prime. The Battle of Khoz turned out to be one of the largest battles of the Great War, with Khoz Prime being the locus of the battle. The fighting lasted six months, during which the 12th Guards Cavalry at first encircled Soviet forces but then themselves became encircled. Significant elements of the unit were pinned down in City Zone 231 by a combination of house-to-house guerilla fighting and a Soviet defensive position north of the city. The Soviet redoubt included several anti-satellite missile launch sites, which were harassing Imperial orbital gunships and contesting Imperial air superiority, as well as a fixed artillery battery. 
The Lonely Hearts lost more than half of their soldiers in the process, requiring some doubling-up of responsibilities. Sergeant Meshcheryakov was simultaneously assigned as Company senior NCO, Platoon Sergeant for 1st Platoon, and both section leader and designated marksman for the reconnaissance section. Sergeant Richard O'Toole was assigned as a team leader in 1st Platoon, Platoon combat medic, and as Company Senior Combat Medic. Lance Corporal Daniel McRogers served as both a company trauma specialist and as 1st Platoon's anti-armor weapon operator. The chaos of battle and difficulties of properly administering the company stretched the soldiers and their resources to the limit. By November, they were low on ammunition, fuel, and vital supplies. Second and third platoon were mostly annihilated. There was no possibility of reinforcement or replenishment, as all available forces were already engaged and the Soviet encirclement had cut off any line of supply to exterior forces, if any were able to be mobilized in relief. 
On 4 November, battalion commander Lieutenant Colonel Nathan Angus gave special orders for Lt. Pepper to re-establish communications with the 503rd Artillery Battalion. Pepper handpicked a section composed of the remainder of the reconnaissance squad, forward observer LCpl Ophelius Green, senior combat medic Sergeant O'Toole, and senior radio operator LCpl Rothschild. He led them through dense forests and riverine terrain, fending off dangerous wildlife and enemy attack. Pepper was injured during a wildlife attack on their camp, and moved the squad towards City Zone 231 to resupply and obtain further medical assistance. 
Sometime between 6 and 8 November, Pepper and the section holed up in a makeshift bunker constructed from a bombed-out apartment building. The surviving soldiers have commented little on the subject, and the official reports are sparse. Pepper and another soldier, grenadier PFC Lucy van Marten, were struck by enemy fire and both died of wounds. Command of the section was given to Sergeant Artem Meshcheryakov by Brigadier General Tivadar Laszlo, and the Lonely Hearts continued afterwards to aid a breakthrough assault in which Sergeant O'Toole was killed in action and Lance Corporal Zenzi Rothschild was injured. The unit departed the city, fighting through dense woodland; Sergeant Jayne Rossum was killed in action, and Corporal McGrady was wounded but still capable of fighting after some medical assistance. The ragtag remnants of the recon section linked up with the 503rd Artillery Battery around 10 November, and assisted the battalion in a ground assault on the Soviet redoubt north of the city. The assault is a textbook case of combined-arms tactics against a fixed, defended position. Colonel Peterson was killed in action during the assault, but it was nevertheless successful and the Soviet position was neutralized. 
The remains of the unit traversed through the outskirts of town back to the battalion combat base and reported in on 11 November. Sergeant First Class Aurora Beaumont, originally of the 503rd, had accompanied them on the return journey and was reassigned to the 505th, C Company. She was promoted to First Lieutenant and placed in command of C Company on 16 November. Corporal McGrady and Lance Corporal Rothschild were discharged, and Lance Corporal McRogers was placed on extended medical leave, and later transferred to the Army Medical School as an instructor. 
The Battle of Khoz was declared over on 25 December 2667, and the 12th Guards Cavalry remained as a garrison unit until February 2668. C Company was redeployed to the Carina front. Sergeant Meshcheryakov was promoted to battalion Sergeant Major. 
=== Post-Khoz ===
For the duration of 2667 to 2670, the unit was deployed at various combat zones throughout the Carina Arm, engaging Soviet partisans during low-intensity occupations. After 2670, the Soviet Republic was effectively fallen. In December 2670, the Lonely Hearts company was allowed shore leave for three months. Aurora Beaumont went on medical leave, and was later transferred up to battalion HQ as a staff operations officer. The company re-mustered in March 2671, under the command of newly-commissioned First Lieutenant Ophelius Green, as part of a new offensive into the United Suns following the Kasian Empire's declaration of neutrality and freedom of movement.
C Company served with distinction along with the rest of the 505th Battalion during the offensive operations, losing a few soldiers but nowhere near the devastation suffered at the Battle of Khoz. Lieutenant Green was promoted to Captain in 2674. The unit was deactivated on 1 August 2675 when the 12th Guards Cavalry Division was demobilized. Captain Green was recruited into State Security, but most others were discharged into civilian life.
== Composition ==
As a mechanized infantry company, during the Great War the Lonely Hearts unit was organized as per Army doctrine. It included a headquarters section, a medical team, a mortar section, and three rifle platoons. Each rifle platoon was composed of a platoon headquarters team, three 9-person rifle squads, and a 9-person heavy weapons squad. Each heavy weapons squad included an anti-armor team and a machine gun team. In addition, each rifle squad was equipped with a light machinegun and a light anti-armor weapon. The company was also equipped with several VI-operated vehicles, including a dozen Infantry Carrier Vehicles, a light cargo truck, a forward command vehicle, and a medical evacuation vehicle. In total, at the outset of the Great War, C Company comprised 5 officers and 132 enlisted.
As a unit of the Imperial Army Cavalry Corps, the company was allowed to use alternative terminology unique to the Cavalry arm; as a mechanized infantry unit, it was entitled to refer to itself as C Troop, 505th Dragoons Squadron, and it occasionally did so in reports. In practice, it was often referred to using standard Army terminology.
In accordance with Army doctrine, the 1st rifle platoon was designated as the scout platoon, and its 1st rifle squad as the reconnaissance squad. This section acted as a forward screen and skirmishing force, probing a forward area. This platoon typically saw the most casualties as it was most likely to engage with superior enemy forces, as well as the most likely to be deployed in dangerous assignments.
The company saw extensive casualties during its deployment. At one point during the Battle of Khoz, the unit suffered 75% losses.
Category:Cavalry units and formations
Category:Dragoons
Category:Lonely Hearts squad