United Free Company

The United Free Company, a mercenary force of Benacian mutineers, previously expelled from Samhold and Amaland and as of 1729 AN present in the Emirate of Sathrati.

History

A defence service agreement awarded by the Hurmu Peace Corps on 1.XIII.1707 AN provided for the United Free Company, a band of Benacian freebooters operating in western Keltia, to provide a garrison supplementary to the small force of artillerymen put ashore by the Honourable Company. The services of the mercenaries would be retained for an initial period running from 1707 to 1712 AN.

The Defence Service Agreement between the United Free Company and the Hurmu Peace Corps elapsed in 1712 AN without being renewed, owing to the demise of the final al-Osman cabinet. As of 1714 AN the United Free Company remained in possession of its fortified places once more as an independent mercenary band, levying fees upon the surrounding communities and receiving a compelled subsidy from the government of the colony. This oversight was addressed once it came to the attention of the administration in Huyenkula, with the result that a new ten year contract (1714-1724) was hurriedly brought into effect under the same terms as before. Owing to the chaos arising from the 1719–1720 Hurmu civil conflict the contract with the United Free Company was once again allowed to expire without being renewed, provoking a further instance of the mercenaries resorting to mutiny and brigandage to protest their loss of income.

In 1727 AN the Regiment of the Blackfriars' was awarded a ten year contract by the Hurmu Fyrð to garrison Amaland in conjunction with the ESB Group. Implicit in the contract was the obligation to expel the United Free Company from the district.