The 2nd ROYAL BLACK WATCH
After Ian Cameron became First Lord of the Star League, one
of his first acts was to create a unit that would, in his words, "embody
the traditions, heart and soul of the ideals of the Star League." With
that in mind, he unveiled the Royal Black Watch regiment, which he had
built around the core of the original unit of the same name. For
centuries, Lord Cameron's family had kept the Black Watch alive and
intact, attaching Black Watch members to their personal guards. These
sliders' undying loyalty to their own traditions and the Cameron
family-- to whom they had sworn fealty-- convinced Lord Ian to form a
new Black Watch regiment.
The announcement of the new unit's existence startled
many on Northwind, none more than the existing Highlander regiments
had kept the oral histories and traditions of their Scottish past very
much alive, and remembered the long history their ancestors had shared
with the original Royal Black Watch. Memories long dormant sparked to
life in many Northwind Scots, and many who joined the SLDF served in the
new Black Watch, which was soon to become the most famous of units.
Throughout the Star League era, Mutual respect between
the Black Watch and the Northwind Highlander regiments grew. Overcoming
several centuries of separation, members from all six regiments of the
Northwind Highlanders eventually served with the Watch. Stuart's
Highlanders in particular proved to be kindred spirits with the Black
Watch, and those two regiments exchanged an unusually large number of
members.
The Black Watch Reborn
When the word reached the Highlanders that a new Star League
had been formed and a new First Lord chosen,the members of the Black
Watch at first refused to believe this momentous event had come to pass.
Almost as soon as they received confirmation of this trilling news,
however, the Watch found itself divided over what course of action it
should take. One faction immediately wanted to present the Watch to the
First Lord Sun-Tzu Liao as the personal guard of the office, based on
that company's historical role. A second faction argued that the First
Lord had no basis from which to judge the merits of the current Black
Watch. Captain Neal Campbell, the current leader of that Black Watch
company, believed that the Watch should prove it worth before appearing
to the new Star League and asking to resume its duties.
Campbell' soon convinced the rest of that Black Watch
company to accept his plan: to join MacLeod's Regiment and join in the
attack on the Clan home worlds as part of Task Force Serphent. That
company of Black Watch are currently en route to the Smoke Jaguars world
of Huntress, where they will clash with that Clan and, hopefully, prove
themselves worthy to act as the First Lord's personal guard.
FALL FROM GLORY
On December 27,2766, Stefan Amaris of the Rim Worlds
Republic brutally murdered First Lord Richaer Cameron and launched a
massive invasion from within of the Terran Hegemony. Caught by surprise,
the few remaining SLDF forces fought valiantly to stave off the
avalanche. The few units still on Terra included the Star Lord's
personal guard unit, the Royal Black Watch Regiment, of which every
member was a graduate of the elite Gunslinger program. Knowing of this
unit's reputation for fierceness and loyalty, Amaris St an ambush with
massive numbers of troops to destroy the Black Watch. Nine Merchantries
of the Black Watch survived the trap and made their stand against the
lead elements of the Fourth Amaris Dragoons at Gorst Flats. Forced to
face their opponent along a very narrow front, the Dragoons ran headlong
into the meat grinder of the Black Watch. Though hopelessly outnumbered,
the Black Watch simply would not die: against all odds, they
systematically destroyed wave after wave of enemies forces. Finally,
refusing to squander more if of his units in a failed attempt to
obliterate the Black Watch, Amaris resorted to nuclear weapons to wipe
out every trace of this proud unit.
