Maereeta Squad

"Stroganoff"

- on the Maereeta Squad.

About
The Maereeta Squad (マエリータ隊, Maerīta-tai) is an elite Monster combat unit that is considered to be the most powerful organized fighting force in the entire Monster Realm.

The Maereeta Squad was originally formed during the GL Era by Stroganoff, a monster in possession of both extraordinary strength and tactical ability. Stroganoff sought out monsters that had developed rare and unusual mutations to fill out the group's ranks. While these monsters were generally persecuted as outcasts by the rest of monsterkind, Stroganoff believed their unique attributes to be sources of strength that would allow them to stand above their brethren. Stroganoff's unconditional acceptance of their unusual qualities caused the mutant monsters to feel a sense of belonging for the first time in their lives, allowing them to quickly become a close-knit group united by an unbreakable bond of friendship.

Following its formation, the Maereeta Squad fought in several conflicts, producing excellent results through a combination of its considerable strength and outstanding teamwork. Unlike other powerful monsters, who generally chose to transform themselves into Monster Soldiers during times of war, the members of the Maereeta Squad remained in their original bodies in order to emphasize their natural strength and showcase their mutations with pride. The numerous victories that the group achieved on the battlefield, combined with their distinct and unusual appearances, caused them to quickly gain recognition from the rest of the Monster Realm, eventually reaching a point where they were declared to be the strongest monsters in existence. The mutant monsters, once viewed with scorn and mockery, were praised as heroes for their accomplishments.

At the dawn of the LP Era, the Monster Realm was divided by a civil war known as the War of the Factions, in which the Dark Lords Kayblis and Hornet fought for supremacy in the absence of the Demon King. During the war, the Maereeta Squad fought for the Kayblis Faction due to Stroganoff's belief that Kurusu Miki, the individual that Hornet supported to become the next Demon King, was unfit to lead the Monster Realm. The group played an active role on the frontlines throughout the majority of the conflict, and clashed with the Dark Lord Satella, one of the Hornet Faction's commanding members, several times, but was eventually forced to separate after Stroganoff was critically injured to the point of near-death and made to retire from the battlefield. Unwilling to fight alongside anyone other than their squadmates, many of the Maereeta Squad's members chose to desert from the civil war entirely and live in seclusion, with the ones who remained carrying a deep sadness in their hearts for similar reasons.

In the year LP0007, Kayblis finally emerged victorious from the war and was recognized as leader of the Monster Realm. Immediately following his victory, Kayblis ordered a full scale invasion of the Human Realm, beginning the 2nd Dark Lord War, a climactic battle that would irreversibly alter the future of The Continent. Stroganoff, who had caught Kayblis' interest during the civil war, was appointed Supreme Commander of the reformed Monster Army.

During the events of Rance X, the Monster Army's invasion was complicated by the formation of Dark Lord Extermination Squad, an elite unit of the United Human Army composed almost entirely of humanity's strongest warriors and led by the warrior Rance, which was designed with the sole intention of hunting down and defeating the Dark Lords that commanded the monsters' forces. With Kayblis' permission, Stroganoff sanctioned the reformation of the Maereeta Squad, believing that a similarly elite and specialized unit was the only thing that could counteract the Dark Lord Extermination Squad. No longer capable of leading the squad himself, Stroganoff named Scholar, one of his oldest and most trusted comrades, to be the leader of its second incarnation.

After an emotional reunion, the reorganized Maereeta Squad immediately began work combating the Dark Lord Extermination Squad. The two groups fought countless times across the war, providing each other with a formidable challenge every time. Over the course of their many battles, the Maereeta Squad began to develop a genuine sense of respect for their human enemies, to the point of eventually beginning to question whether it was truly necessary to fight them.

Later on into the war, the Maereeta Squad was given a secret mission by Stroganoff to kidnap Miki, who had escaped into the custody of the United Human Army. Despite facing considerable opposition and suffering heavy losses, the Maereeta Squad succeeded at their mission and transported Miki to Kayblis' castle. Rather than be pleased by their performance, however, Kayblis, due to being both intensely paranoid and very cowardly, became convinced that the Maereeta Squad's strength posed a threat to him. Not wanting to risk their betrayal, Kayblis assigned the remnants of the squad to serve as gatekeepers at the entrance to his secret headquarters of Mount Bezdog, intending to keep a close eye on them until he was able to successfully become Demon King, after which he planned to immediately have them killed.

Upon being made aware of Kayblis' intentions, the commanding members of the Maereeta Squad declared him to be a menace to all of monsterkind, and immediately began working against him. Joining together with the Dark Lord Extermination Squad, the Maereeta Squad fought Kayblis in order to free the world from his tyranny.

Following the end of the 2nd Dark Lord War, the Maereeta Squad, unlike many other powerful monsters, chose to recognize their former enemy Rance as their new master after he was instated as the 8th Demon King, and continued to serve under him throughout his reign without issue. In recognition of their loyalty, the group was granted the important duty of serving as gatekeepers at Amazing Castle, the Demon King's new place of residence, with their leader Scholar being given the position of Supreme Commander of the New Monster Army.

Trivia

 * The word "Maereeta" is likely derived from a combination of "ma" (魔; written in kana as マ), the first kanji of "mamono" (魔物), the Japanese word used to refer to monsters throughout the Rance Series, and "erito" (エリート), the Japanese pronunciation of the word "elite".
 * The Maereeta Squad is unique when compared to other enemies fought in Rance X in that its stats scale directly with the player's party rather than with the total number of Difficulty Up spaces activated. This guarantees that it will provide a formidable fight regardless of the player's current level.
 * In early drafts of Rance X's story, Ninja, who is stated to have already died prior to the events of the game in the final version, was intended to appear alongside the rest of the Maereeta Squad, but was eventually removed from the group for unknown reasons. An additional member, a mutant Okayu Fever named Druaga (どるあーが, Doruāga), was also planned to appear, but was similarly cut. The name Druaga was likely in reference to the titular creature from the 1984 arcade game The Tower of Druaga, which bares some resemblance to an Okayu Fever. Unlike Ninja, no reference is made to Druaga in the final version of the game, making it unclear whether they are still considered to have ever existed.