View source for Clinton's Cutthroats

{{infoBoxMilitaryCommand
| image =
| Designation = Clinton's Cutthroats
| Formed = [[2794]]
| Disbanded =
| Previous Designation =
| Nickname =
| Affiliation = [[Mercenary]]
| Parent Command = Independent
| Sub-Command =
}}

'''Clinton's Cutthroats''', also referred to as the '''Clinton Cutthroats''', were a veteran [[mercenary]] [[BattleMech]] [[regiment]] operating during the [[Succession Wars era]]. The unit mysteriously disappeared in [[2870]].

The future Clinton' Cutthroats were a regiment-sized ad hoc group of former [[Star League Defense Force]] troops who declined to join [[General]] [[Aleksandr Kerensky]]'s [[Operation Exodus|Exodus]] and soldiers from the collapsed [[Rim Worlds Republic]] who banded together and entered mercenary service in [[2794]].<ref name=FSW-35>''First Succession War'', p. 35 "The Succession War (2786-2821) - Those Left Behind - Became Mercenary"</ref>

==History==
===First Succession War===
Accepting a contract with the [[Free Worlds League]] during the initial outbreak of the [[First Succession War]], the Cutthroats would ultimately have a long history of honorable service to [[House Marik]] during both the First and [[Second Succession War]]. One of the more notable events during their service with the League was the strike against [[Lyran Commonwealth]]-held [[Solaris VII]] in March [[2820]]. Seeking revenge for the [[Solaris Games|Game World]] transferring its loyalty to the Commonwealth earlier that same year, a reinforced [[battalion]] each from the Cutthroats and the [[Red Eagles]], supported by the ''[[Essex]]''-class [[Despiser|FWLS ''Despiser'']], emerged from a [[Pirate Point]] close to the planet's orbit. Without a Lyran naval presence to challenge the ''Despiser'', the Cutthroats and Red Eagles landed without incident near the Bracken Swamps north of [[Solaris City]]. Facing the local [[Lyran Commonwealth Armed Forces]] garrison, the Free Worlds League attackers were eventually forced to retreat after a three-day firefight, but not before they had destroyed a major water treatment planet and reduced a local industrial park to ash, the ''Despiser'' covering their escape from the system.<ref name=FSW-79>''First Succession War'', p. 35 "The Succession War (2786-2821) - The War of Raids: House Steiner's War - The Solaris Bulge - Solaris VII"</ref>

At the conclusion of the First Succession War, Clinton's Cutthroats had been reduced to 47% strength and were stationed on [[Hamilton (FWL)|Hamilton]].<ref name=FSW-138>''First Succession War'', p. 138 "First Succession War Deployment Table - Free Worlds League Military (FWLM) - Mercenary Combat Commands (FWLM)"</ref>

===Second Succession War===
At the start of the [[Second Succession War]] the unit was stationed on [[Hamilton (FWL)|Hamilton]] with an operational readiness of 84 percent.<ref name=2ndSSp98/>

By the end of the Second Succession War they unit was stationed on [[Blue Sava]] with an operational readiness of 23 percent.<ref name=2ndSSp98/>

===Third Succession War===
By the [[Third Succession War]] the Cutthroats had become so tired of the political wrangling endemic to the Free Worlds League that in they accepted a contract offered by [[Field Marshal]] [[Jerome Hasek]] of the [[Capellan March]] in the [[Federated Suns]] in [[2869]].<ref name=HDTFS-79>''House Davion (The Federated Suns)'', pp. 79-80 "History - Third Succession War - Private Little War"</ref><ref name=HHD-62>''Handbook: House Davion'', p. 62 "History of the Federated Suns - Third Succession War - War Unleashed - Pendragon - Clinton's Cutthroats"</ref><ref name=JSTBD-114>''Jihad Secrets: The Blake Documents'' p. 114 "Through the Looking Glass - Overview - Karpov's Legacy"</ref>

Hasek hired the Cutthroats out of his own pocket and sent them to capture the [[Capellan Confederation|Capellan]] world of [[Verlo]] together with seven other regiments and fighter wings. Privately planning the unsanctioned mission, Hasek had not consulted with the [[MIIO]]. As a result, the assault suffered from incomplete intelligence information on the defenders and was mired down, only taking up momentum after a year of fighting. The mercenaries became very frustrated with the situation, which they felt was a result of virtually the same House politics that had driven them away from the Free Worlds League in the first place.<ref name=HDTFS-79/><ref name=HHD-62/><ref name=JSTBD-114/>

In March 2870 a [[JumpShip]] appeared and deployed a small courier vessel assumed to be of [[ComStar]] origin, from which a man and a woman in unmarked overalls emerged, asking to see the CO of the Cutthroats (instead of the Davion commander). Colonel Clinton talked with them for three days, refusing to explain the situation to the furious Davion commander. On the fourth day, three more JumpShips appeared with seven [[DropShip]]s of a type not seen in the [[Inner Sphere]] since [[Aleksandr Kerensky]]'s [[Operation Exodus|Exodus]], all in pristine condition, and evacuated Clinton's Cutthroats.<ref name=HDTFS-79/><ref name=HHD-62/><ref name=JSTBD-114/><ref name=TSL-99>''The Star League'' p. 98 "History - Aftermath"</ref>

The Federated Suns forces attacked the rogue mercenaries, but it was an uneven fight as they had no 'Mechs at their disposal. Weakened without the mercenaries, they were subsequently overrun by enemy forces and lost three front-line regiments in their withdrawal.<ref name=HDTFS-79/><ref name=HHD-62/>

The mysterious disappearance of Clinton's Cutthroats, who were not seen or heard of again, caused many rumors linking them to everything from Kerensky's lost forces to the [[Minnesota Tribe]] and the [[Green Ghosts]].<ref name=HDTFS-79/><ref name=HHD-62/><ref name=JSTBD-114/><ref name=TSL-99/>

===Rumors of their destiny===
Documents recorded in the secret journal of former [[Precentor]] [[ROM]] [[Victoria Parrdeau]], secured by [[Chandrasekhar Kurita]] during the [[Word of Blake]] [[Jihad]], included a snippet [[Canon Rumor|alleging]] that the embittered mercenaries were selected for hire as guardians of ComStar's five [[Hidden Worlds]], following an incident on 15 October [[2869]] where a JumpShip accidentally discovered one of these worlds ([[ROM]] covered up the discovery and killed the unlucky captain). The Cutthroats were won over with a relaxing and high-paying garrison contract by ComStar negotiators intentionally "disguised as people trying to look like ComStar". Nearly a regiment in total strength after being outfitted by ComStar, half a battalion went to each of ComStar's hidden worlds to guard them. Some descendants of the Cutthroats guard these worlds "to this day" according to the undated note that was uncovered around [[3072]].<ref name=JSTBD-114/>

==Officers==
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! scope="col" width="220" style="background: #dedede;" | Rank
! scope="col" width="220" style="background: #dedede;" | Name
! scope="col" width="220" style="background: #dedede;" | Command
|-
| colspan="4" style="background: #efefef;" | '''Commanding Officers of Clinton's Cutthroats'''
|-
| [[Colonel]]||Clinton||[[2870]]<ref name=HDTFS-79/>
|-
|}

==Tactics==
Unknown.

==Composition History==
===2821===
'''Clinton's Cutthroats''' (Regiment/Veteran/Reliable)<ref name= FSSp138>''First Succession War'', p. 138</ref>
: Note: by 2821 the command was reduced to 46 percent of its strength and was deployed on [[Hamilton (FWL)|Hamilton]].<ref name= FSSp138/>

=== 2830 ===
'''Clinton's Cutthroats''' (Regiment/Veteran/Reliable)<ref name=2ndSSp98>''Second Succession War'', p. 98</ref>
: Note: At this point in time the heavy-weight unit was stationed on [[Hamilton (FWL)|Hamilton]] with an operational readiness of 84 percent.<ref name=2ndSSp98/>

=== 2864 ===
'''Clinton's Cutthroats''' (Regiment/Veteran/Reliable)<ref name=2ndSSp98/>
: Note: At this point in time the assault-weight unit was stationed on [[Blue Sava]] with an operational readiness of 23 percent.<ref name=2ndSSp98/>

=== 2870 ===
'''Clinton's Cutthroats''' (Regiment/Veteran/Reliable)
: Note: When the unit assaulted [[Verlo]].<ref name=HDTFS-79/><ref name=HHD-62/><ref name=JSTBD-114/>

==Notes==
* Note that Clinton's Cutthroats have nothing to do with [[The Bandersnatches]], who formed the core of what was to become the secret ComStar Guards and Militia that evolved into the [[Com Guards]].

==References==
<references/>

==Bibliography==
* ''[[First Succession War (sourcebook)]]''
* ''[[Handbook: House Davion]]''
* ''[[House Davion (The Federated Suns)]]''
* ''[[Jihad Secrets: The Blake Documents]]''
* ''[[Second Succession War (sourcebook)]]''
* ''[[The Star League]]''

[[Category:Mercenary Commands]]