Yoshitmitsu’s Lawmen, also known as “Luthien Armor Works Security Contractor One”, is a Private Military Contractor in the service of House Kurita, but more specifically of Luthien Armor Works. The Lawmen are one of the units that evaded the “Death ot Mercenaries” act as they were officially not regarded as “mercenaries” as private security. Extremely well equipped and armed, they also dodge the Security Mech Treaty by being a “fully independent subsidiary” of Luthien Armor Works.

History

Age of War

Yoshimitsu’s Lawmen, then just called Samarkand Metal Guardians, were the security division of New Samarkand Metal. As the Age of War was raging, their primary mission was to make sure all shipments from the company reached their customers. Constant threats from foreign powers, Periphery raiders and even rival Combine warlords forced the Guardians to be at the top of their game. As Battlemechs were introduced to warfare, the Guardians received some of the first “imitation Mackie” and Gladiators for testing.

Over the years of the Age of War, they progressively grew stronger and better armed, which scared some of the local warlords, which forced Luthien Armor Works / New Samarkand Metals to have the Guardians be their own “official” military unit. While officially registered in the DCMS roster, they remained the property of the corporation

Star League Era

During time of the Star League, the biggest problem of the Samarkand Metal Guardians came from the SecurityMech Treaty of 2613. Limiting “security forces” to primitive IndustrialMechs and such and ratified by the Star League as a whole, it would have forced the Guardians to relinquish control of their entire force to the state. Luckily, Yoshimitsu Yoshikage, the Corporate General at the time, quickly had a new contract drafted and ratified both by the DCMS and Luthien Armor Works, turning their operation into a legitimate “mercenary unit”, which was governed by a different set of treaties.

After this, the biggest problem Yoshimitsu’s Lawmen (a cunning pun, at least in the mind of Yoshimitsu Yoshikage) was the random Ronin of the DCMS trying to prove their might against any and all opponents. The Lawmen often had to fight skirmishes against rogue samurai that were trying to have a brave death in battle.

Succession Wars

The Succession Wars were rough for the Lawmen, as their contract with LAW stipulated that losses taken by the company while under their guard woud be deducted from their renumeration. Even with good negotiation and various insurance payouts by the likes of Lloyd’s of New London, the Lawmen ended up with a massive negative balance on their account. Even as they wanted to “branch out” into the more lucrative “actual mercenary” market of the Succession Wars, they couldn’t due to how airtight their agreements were.

This also led Yoshimitsu’s Lawmen to be one of the most aggressive Private Security Contractor in the Inner Sphere, often preferring entirely destroying their opposition to letting anyone get away. Bonuses were paid to soldiers for captured salvage which could be traded in. Many pirates learned to avoid any LAW shipments if they wanted to avoid getting chased down.

Clan Invasion

Yoshimitsu’s Lawmen were lucky that Kanrei Theodore Kurita did not consider any losses to the Clans as “losses for the company”. This led the overall balance sheet of the Lawmen’s to remain more or less neutral during Operation REVIVAL. During the Battle of Luthien, the majority of the Lawmen’s command were deployed and engaged both Clan Nova Cat and Clan Smoke Jaguar in defense of LAW’s facilities and warehouses. Cash rewards from the Coordinator for captured Clan equipment were larger than normal, which allowed the Lawmen to shore up their fortune quickly.

Jihad

The Second Battle of Luthien and the destruction of Luthien Armor Work’s OmniMech annex was a critical blow to the Lawmen’s however. While their forces were stretched extremely thin having to fight both external and internal threats, the Lawmen were unable to prevent the nuclear device detonation in the Annex. Unlike during the Clan Invasion days, LAW could not afford to “not charge” their mercenary support for the damage, erasing almost all progress they had done towards paying their debt.

Republican Era

Yoshimitsu’s Lawmen paint scheme

Yoshimitsu’s Lawmen prefer to have their ‘Mechs painted in garish colors and include Japanese demon iconography on many of their machines. Even outside of their ‘Mechs, the pilots often are dressed and coifed in as flamboyant ways as possible to differentiate themselves from the DCMS samurai or the yakuza.