Colonel
Branka Ferguson
Born: 3014
Age: 43
Branka Ferguson was born on the planet Syrma, in the
Federation of Skye, to a middle class family of Scots-Croatian heritage. She
won a scholarship to a military academy and served in the elite 4th
Skye Rangers. Although Branka enjoyed a successful career in the LCAF she left
after the War of 3039 due to her pro-separatist political activities coming to
the attention of the newly formed Federated
Commonwealth
For the best part of ten years she fought pirates across the
periphery and piece by piece a unit began to form around her, Ferguson ’s
Blackshields. In truth Branka was a better man manager than battlefield
commander, but in the relative peace of the 3040s that was never a problem.
Of course no one could have predicted the situation in 3050
which forced Branka, in the face of certain destruction at the hands of Clan
Jade Falcon, to make the fateful decision which saved her warriors but doomed
the survivors of her newly formed mercenary company to a life of piracy and the
hardships that brought.
It has weighed heavily on her conscience ever since, and the
last few years have been particularly hard, with less of the ‘originals’
remaining their replacements truly are the scum of the periphery. This gradual
realisation has gone hand-in-hand with a growing alcohol addiction that has
taken away some of the pain but also eroded the remainder of Branka’s will to
hold her people together.
She has not been out on a raid for over six months and her
absence means there are no checks on the worst excesses of her troops. In fact
she is devolving more and more authority to her subordinates.
Branka tries to maintain an air of detached military
correctness, purposefully retaining the title ‘colonel’ and insisting on a
standard system of organisation but she is clearly losing her position of
authority. From time-to-time, when she thinks no one is around, she can be
found in her old Skye Rangers uniform quietly singing rebel songs and drinking
to the ghosts of long dead comrades.
BattleMech: CRD-3R Crusader
Captain Jared Hausa
Born: 3020
Age: 37
Jared Hausa grew up on a well-known resort planet in the
Tamar Pact called Hot Springs , to a poor working
class family of West African descent. As a boy Jared had no particular military
ambitions but he had watched with envy as an endless stream of off-world
travellers, many of them the Lyran Commonwealth’s notorious ‘social generals’
came and spent their Kroner on having a good time and then left for their seemingly
exciting and well-paid jobs.
As soon as he could Jared enlisted in the LCAF only to
fulfil a dream of travelling the stars and perhaps bettering his lot. It took
him years of hard work and dedication to climb the enlisted ranks only to be
passed over again and again for a commission, while less able but better
connected colleagues left him behind.
He met Branka in 3046 just as his tour as part of the
garrison force on a remote planet clinging to the edge of Lyran space was
coming to an end. Jared was impressed by her confidence, vision and more
importantly the fact that she immediately offered him a lance to command with
the rank of lieutenant. Without a second thought he saw out his tour and joined
her new unit, Ferguson ’s Blackshields to begin
his mercenary career.
The first few years went well and Branka rewarded Jared’s
devotion and hard work with a full company and promotion to captain, of course
then everything turned to shit. During the dark days following the Clan
invasion Jared backed Branka in everything, and protected her from the
dissenting voices that spoke out against her actions. His loyalty to the person
that gave him his chance was unshakable and he ensured the remaining members of
the company ‘shared’ this belief.
However that was some seven years ago and while Jared
continues to be Branka’s foremost supporter and guardian he is not blind to
their situation. After years scratching out a living in the periphery he yearns
to return to the inner-sphere, even though his home world is lost to the Clans.
Jared seems at a loss as what to do for the best.
BattleMech: GRF-1N Griffin
Born: Mid-3030s
Age: Early-twenties
Najid ibn Hanwi is a native Astrokaszian and was born in the
neighbouring caliphate of Benhaddou. His early life was, as is common on
Astrokaszy, marred by violence and the simple struggle for survival.
Najid’s mother was the second wife of a warrior in service
to the caliph of Benhaddou, but when his father was killed they were turned out
of the paternal family home by his father first wife and her brothers. Having no
particular skills or education to speak of he did what generations of
Astrokaszian boys have done before him, he joined a local warlord’s militia.
It did not take long before his fearlessness and natural
ability as a fighter marked him out for advancement, Najid began to rise
quickly through the ranks. Once secure in his position he returned to his
father’s house and shot dead his step-mother, her brothers, their wives and
their children. He then calmly set the house alight. On any other planet this
massacre and wilful destruction would be considered a dreadful atrocity and
Najid a psychopath, but on Astrokaszy it is just another incidence in the
tangled web of blood feuds and expectations of personal honour that somehow
holds the society together in perpetual dysfunction.
To evade the wrath of various step-brothers, cousins and
step-uncles Najid was forced to flee into the deep desert for several months
and it was during this time that he acquired his BattleMech. Exactly how Najid
came by his BattleMech is a mystery, but the most plausible answer is that it
belonged to a lone mercenary or pirate who was unfortunate to have crossed his
path. It is clear that Najid can not return to his birth place and so he has
thrown in his lot with the Blackshields, for now.
BattleMech: FS9-H Firestarter
Mechwarrior Tomas Rebollar - Deceased
Born: 3030s
Age: Late-twenties
Tomas Rebollar was born in the periphery, that much is
obvious from his distain for ‘spheroids’, but the exact details of his
background are unclear. He does seem to reserve a special dislike for the Free
Worlds League, although he will not say why.
Tomas joined the Blackshields after a violent disagreement
with his previous host, the caliph of Jowhar. The caliph made the mistake of
withholding payment for a batch of slaves that Tomas had handed over to him for
sale. Jowhar now has a new caliph but the caliph no longer has a palace after
Tomas spent several hours tearing it apart brick-by-brick.
Sensing that it was time to move on, having ruined a good
portion of the city Tomas seemingly chose the Blackshields at random, although
he actively avoided bigger and better equipped groups that were closer to his
location.
Since Arturo joined the company he and Tomas have become
confidants and like Arturo he argues for more frequent raiding, whether preying
on other city-states or nearby worlds. What is apparent is that he seems to
have little interest in anything other than feathering his own nest.
Despite his predatory nature, or perhaps because of it,
Tomas does seem to have a reasonable grasp of Astrokaszian politics, culture
and a large network of contacts. This network has helped the Blackshields
supply issues and could be the reason Branka and Jared suffer his
presence.
BattleMech: ENF-4R Enforcer
Mechwarrior Erwin Schoenwald
Born: 3020
Age: 37
Erwin Schoenwald is a mercenary warrior that joined the
Blackshields just a few weeks before the Clan invasion. He was born in the
Lyran Commonwealth but his family were part of a small mercenary band and his
childhood was spent travelling from world to world.
He took over his mothers BattleMech and her place in the
unit when she retired, and his life continued in much the same way as it had
always done. He never saw much action, his unit usually being posted to core
worlds in the Lyran half of the Federated Commonwealth. The boredom finally
became too much and he quit to join the Blackshields, who had posted
recruitment notices in HPG stations within a jump of their garrison planet,
Here. The notices promised better pay and more importantly the active combat assignments
Erwin craved, even if it was only pirate hunting. As soon as he could cash in
his savings from the company coffers Erwin booked passage on a merchantman and
left the unit that had been his home.
There was precious little time for Erwin to adjust to his
new life before the Clan flotilla arrived and provided a baptism by fire. All
of the dreams of exciting and glorious combat became a living nightmare as the
Blackshields were thrown into the meat grinder that was the Clan invasion,
buying time with their blood for regular house units to re-group. Only the
speed and manoeuvrability of Erwin’s BattleMech allowed him to survive that
first encounter on Here and make it to the company dropship. Again, on
Somerset, Erwin was lucky enough to be close enough to the LZ to make it
off-world and with very little damage.
Since then Erwin has struggled. The life of a pirate does
not suit him at all, he lacks the ruthlessness and callousness required to be
successful, but he realises that he will probably never be accepted back in the
inner-sphere as a mercenary. So he continues with the Blackshields, having no
means to do anything else.
BattleMech: STG-3R Stinger
Mechwarrior Arturo Shirinov - Deceased
Born: 3020s
Age: Early-thirties
Arturo Shirinov does not any share details of his upbringing
or his personal history more recent than the time he has been with the
Blackshield’s. However his accent gives him away as native of the Capellan
Confederation. He is polite but uncommunicative if questioned, neither
confirming nor denying questions about how he came to Astrokaszy, merely
smiling knowingly.
He joined the company a few months before you arrived on
Astrokaszy, but in that short time he has managed to build a power base amongst
them more disgruntled warriors. As his criticism of Branka Ferguson and Jared
Hausa’s leadership becomes more vocal and direct, so does his self promotion.
He favours a much more aggressive policy towards the local populace and argues
for an increase in the frequency of the raids on other worlds, particularly Canopian
border worlds and inner sphere powers.
Arturo and Tomas Rebollar have become, quite literally, as
thick as thieves and he is beginning to draw Najid ibn Hamwi into his
confidence. Kaja Rebane appears to be his next target, although his suggestion
to raid Canopian worlds is proving a barrier to any alliance.
One thing that cannot be denied are his exceptional
abilities as a commander, all the missions that Arturo has led have been a
resounding success, although his methods leave something to be desired.
BattleMech: WHM-6R Warhammer
Mechwarrior Naizen Ogata
Born: 3001
Age: 56
Naizen Ogata hails from the pro-Combine planet Predlitz in
the former Rasalhague Military District of the Draconis Combine.
Naizen was once a part of the DCMS, and an inheritor of the
proud samurai traditions of his
forefathers. However his military career suffered from the start. While in his
final year at the Sun Zhang Mechwarrior Academy there was an affair of honour,
the details of which he has not revealed, which required him to leave prior to
his graduation.
Normally that would have doomed Naizen to a second line
posting at best, and a life of shame, but he was fortunate that he was offered
a place in the 2nd Night Stalkers ‘Johiro’s Regiment’. The Night
Stalkers had only formed a few years earlier and were happy to take competent,
if tarnished warriors.
During his time in Johiro’s Regiment he rose to the rank of Tai-i or Captain, always performing his
duty unflinchingly and with the certainty that a devotion to bushido provided. Therefore, when
Theodore Kurita gave the order for DCMS units to leave their posts, in the newly
autonomous Free Rasalhague Republic, Naizen was caught on the horns of a
dilemma.
He was a loyal samurai,
but to obey the order meant abandoning thousands of pro-Combine citizens to
their fate at the hands of nationalistic mobs that had been whipped into a
vengeful frenzy. When Tai-sa Todaki
Johiro announced that he was remaining to defend the loyal populace Naizen
understood what such defiance meant for him, but without hesitation pledged his
service.
Branded ronin they
were attacked by their sister regiment, the 1st Night Stalkers, whom
they fought to a standstill, only quitting the world once the last civilians
had been evacuated. As the short Ronin War came to an abrupt end with the
deaths of its political leaders and the safety of the pro-Combine citizens
assured Naizen and his fellow warrior’s surrendered en-masse. Recognising their
actions were motivated by their sense of honour the Coordinator enforced a
token punishment of a month’s imprisonment and refused all requests to be
allowed to commit seppuku. After his
release Naizen was permitted to quietly retire and retain position of his
family BattleMech.
Ironically he found himself the other side of the border he
had once defended, but he no longer considered the Draconis Combine home. All
that could be hoped for was a glorious death in battle. However in one last
twist of fate Naizen was badly injured in the first Clan attack, he and his
BattleMech were recovered and transported back to the dropship. Naizen was not
conscious when the decision to break the contract was made. However his sense
of loyalty to Branka and perhaps a need to try and redeem their situation has
kept him from leaving the Blackshields.
BattleMech: HBK-4G
Hunchback
Mechwarrior Kaja Rebane
Born: 3033
Age: 24
Kaja Rebane was born on the planet Krimari and still
considers herself a citizen of the Magistracy of Canopus. In the best
traditions of the matriarchal Canopian nobility Kaja was sent to a fine school,
a prestigious military academy and upon graduation a commission was purchased
in the Canopian Fusiliers.
She arrived on Astrokaszy as part of the security detail for
a Canopian humanitarian and peace-keeping force. In truth the force was sent in
reaction to a move by the Free World’s League to increase their influence in
the area and use Astrokaszy as a possible staging ground for operations in the
periphery.
Unfortunately the people that they had been sent to help
were more interested in how they could use the material and expertise of the
Canopian’s to gain an advantage over their closest rivals. At the urging of the
local warlord militia fighters from the city the mission was based in managed
to infiltrate the cargo hold of the Canopian dropship and took a large number
of hostages, including the director of the mission and the commander of the
security force. The inexperienced Kaja was now the ranking officer but was
completely out of her depth when dealing with the unpredictable and ruthless
warlord.
In vain she tried to overawe him with her BattleMech force
but this only infuriated the warlord, to whom a female commander, let alone a
warrior, was an aberration and resulted in three hostages being executed.
Panicking and fearing a massacre she ordered the dropships remaining crew to
retake the cargo bay, while she and her lance secured the landing zone and
compound. Unfortunately this action resulted in exactly what she was trying to
avoid; twenty-two Canopian’s, including doctors and educators, died in the
crossfire, along with an estimated three hundred locals, many of whom were non-combatants
that had come to the compound for medical treatment.
Devastated by the consequences of her actions Kaja was
desperate for redemption. She soon discovered the warlord that ordered the
attack was not amongst the dead, so in an attempt to salvage something from the
disaster she elected to stay and hunt him down, although the captain of the
Canopian dropship reminded her that if she remained it would be considered
desertion.
As yet Kaja has not found the rogue warlord, and has been
forced, for her own safety to join the Blackshields while her search continues.
BattleMech: STY-3C Starslayer
Mechwarrior Darius Magnus Grandbois
Age: Late-twenties
Darius Magnus Grandbois is as tight-lipped about his past as
he is about how he came to be on Astrokaszy. However it is not difficult to
guess his origins, despite his caginess. Of course his tria nomina could be changed but the Marian Hegemony symbol branded
onto his left cheek provides an indelible and obvious clue to his
homeland.
The brand identifies him as a former member of the Cohors
Morituri, the Marian Hegemony’s penal legion. The thing is no one ever leaves
the Cohors Morituri, except by being executed or with a posthumous pardon from
Caesar O’Reilly. The fact that Darius is very much alive raises some interesting
questions. However he has a mouth like a sewer and a mind to match, it is not
inconceivable that he may have talked himself into a one-way ticket like the
Cohors Morituri.
When he joined the Blackshields Darius’ BattleMech was
little more that scrap and he was barely alive, suffering from severe
dehydration. He had obviously spent some time in the deep desert, but will not
say why or what he was doing there.
Darius has been happy to follow Branka and Jared’s
directions, perhaps thankful for them taking him in and repairing his
BattleMech, but boredom and inaction seem to be pushing him towards Arturo’s
more hawkish position.
BattleMech: Hermes II HER-2S
Jumpship Captain
Herman Melville
Born: 2981
Age: 76
Herman Melville has been plying the Inner Sphere and
Periphery space lanes longer than he cares to remember, so long in fact that he
considers the vastness of space to be his home rather than any single planet or
house. The Vanishing Point has been
in his family for six generations and it is clear that he considers her to be
his favourite member, often talking about her as though the ‘old girl’ was
listening in. The fact that a number of the crew are related to Herman makes
for the occasional breakdown in discipline but also ensures a remarkable level
of co-operation during operations.
Piracy, privateering and smuggling are all things that
Herman has extensive experience in, sometimes as the hunter and sometimes as
the hunted. What he credits with keeping him alive this long, in a potentially
dangerous profession, is the ability to adapt to a rapidly changing situation.
This is not to say that Herman cannot be trusted but that he will take whatever
action is necessary to preserve his ship and his crew. This instinct for
self-preservation is the main reason he fled to the periphery with Branka,
rather than dumping her on some airless rock, the sight of a Clan warship was
enough to make up his mind that the inner sphere was a lost cause.
As Herman rarely goes planet-side he is insulated from the
goings on and tensions within the Blackshields, he seems happy enough to work
with Branka as long as he is free to pursue his own interests as and when he
wants.
Ship: Vanishing Point
Invader class jumpship
Dropship Captain Isaac Hull
Born: 3007
Age: 50
Isaac Hull was born on the Federated Suns planet Lackland
and with its vast ocean covering ninety-one percent of the surface there was
plenty of employment on the giant ice ships that transported water from
treatment plants to orbital stations, for shipment to thirsty water-poor
worlds.
However the military build up prior to the 4th
Succession War provided more exciting and better paid opportunities for anyone
that could fly orbital craft. Isaac signed on with a mercenary transport unit and
found himself taking part in the invasion of the Capellan Confederation. It was
better than hauling ice but it he was still just a deck hand. So he applied
himself, learnt his trade and what was required to become a ships master,
always watching for a chance to gain an advantage over the competition or a
personal success that would allow him to climb the greasy pole.
It took a few years but eventually he bought, lied and
cheated his way into the captain’s chair of the King Goblin, a Union class vessel that had been run into the ground
by years of poor management. Isaac managed to turn the de-motivated crew
around, getting rid of most of the command crew and restored the vessel to its
former glory.
This pride in his ship was exactly the reason why Isaac agreed
to flee with the remaining Blackshields. He is the surviving captain of the
Blackshields small flotilla and witnessed his fellow captains vessels destroyed
in the vain attempt to blunt the Clans advance. From that moment on he vowed to
remove himself and his ship from that conflict.
Isaac is surprisingly happy with his status as a fugitive
and has rationalised his actions with the notion that when he worked for the
Successor States he often transported raiding forces that engaged in legitimate
state sponsored piracy.
Ship: King Goblin
Union class dropship
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