Taurian Concordat: 2nd Concordat Commandos - 3145

[Aleksandr]

Dark Company does not exist. There is no joint offensive operations between the TDF and TMI, nor is it supported by the Calderon Protectorate. This unit is either a rogue mercenary or a pirate band operating in the vicinity of the Fronc Reaches.


...Officially, at least.

"Dark Company" is the moniker the company's members have given themselves, due to the lack of an official unit name. It was born out of backroom meetings between high level Concordat and Protectorate diplomats, its purpose to find evidence that the Magistracy of Canopus and Capellan Confederation are actively engaged in a decades-long campaign to undermine and weaken the Taurian Concordat. While Protector Doru is already convinced of their guilt, other high-ranking members of the TDF and Privy Council require further convincing that the Concordat's true enemies are anyone but House Davion.

The original company roster was as follows:

Code: [Select]

Command Lance:
BLR-4L Battlemaster
Pilot: Subaltern Reynard Cardenas

ZEU-6S Zeus
Pilot:  Cornet Jessica Bourbon

VTR-9B Victor
Pilot: Cornet Harold Jimenez

ARC-6W Archer
Pilot: Cornet Jacques Ruel

Red Lance:
STY-3Dr Starslayer
Pilot: Senior Cornet Tyler Rivera

GRF-1N Griffin
Pilot: Cornet Ivanka Giratina

KW1-LH2 Lineholder
Pilot: Cornet Victoria Sanders

ARC-6W Archer #2
Pilot: Cornet Michael Jarón

Black Lance:
OSR-5C Ostroc
Pilot: Senior Cornet Jacqueline Marquis

PXH-4W Phoenix Hawk
Pilot: Cornet Gerald Saunders

LCT-1V Locust
Pilot: Cornet Raina Gillette

LCT-1V2 Locust
Pilot: Cornet Frederick Krieger
Their first mission was a raid against the Fronc world of Independence, to destroy a munitions factory and crush whatever militia stood in defense. The militia on-site was made up of a lance of VTOLs, a lance of tanks and a lance of fairly advanced Battlemechs. No salvage was taken, but several members of Black Lance took severe structural damage before the militia could be put down, forcing Dark Company to return to the Concordat rather than continue deeper into the Reaches. Cornet Krieger's Locust was upgraded to a -5V variant while being rebuilt, something much easier for the Concordat to maintain than the Marian-built -1V2 the Protectorate had provided from the Open Market.

While undergoing repairs on New Vandenberg, however, the planet was attacked by unknown raiders. The raider battalion split up into individual companies, with each company further splitting into their individual lances to spread the Taurian defenders thin. One such lance was deployed near the Command Lance's firebase, and was intercepted. While Cornet Jimenez's Victor was destroyed in the battle, a lucky shot to the head of the raider Yu Huang ensured that it was easily salvaged and put back into action. The downed Cataphract was not so easy to repair, but considered a much-needed upgrade to allow Cornet Jarón to keep up with the rest of his lance.

The most valuable thing gained from the raid defense, however, was the capture of an operational Penthesilea along with it's pilot. The pilot, Courtney Mavros, was interrogated for hours by Dark Company's resident TMI officer, and facing a swift trial and execution for piracy she finally cracked. She revealed that she, as well as the other raiders on the planet, were soldiers of the Magistracy of Canopus.

Seeing the value of having a Canopian soldier around, Agent Xavier Ertol offered her a chance to work her way into the trust of Dark Company. Seeing no other option - she was too poor to afford to get back into the Canopian military, let alone to cover up the stigma of capture - she agreed to serve as a technician and shiphand... under surveillance, of course.

After a series of successful missions, the unit has been enlarged and given a new name: The 2nd Concordat Commandos. Their current roster is as follows:

1st Company
Command Lance:
BLR-4L Battlemaster
Pilot: Brigadier Reynard Cardenas (⅔)
Kills: 2
XP: 5

PEN-2H Penthesilea
Pilot:  Cornet Jessica Bourbon (¾)
XP: 3

TNZ-N1 Tian Zong
Pilot: Cornet Harold Jimenez (¾)
Kills: 1
XP:4

ARC-6W Archer
Pilot: Cornet Jacques Ruel (¾)
Kills: 3
XP: 5

Beta Lance
ZEU-6S Zeus
Pilot: Senior Cornet Courtney Mavros (⅘) [Ex-MoC]
Kills: 0
XP: 0

KSC-5MC Koschei
Pilot: Cornet Terrence Bridgeholm (⅘)
Kills: 0
XP: 0

RFL-9T Rifleman
Pilot: Cornet Randall Kalthos (⅘)
Kills: 0
XP: 0

ARC-6W Archer #2
Pilot: Cornet Nadine Varela (⅘)
Kills: 0

Gamma Lance
AS7-K2 Atlas
Pilot: Senior Cornet Stan Bagster (¾)
Kills: 0
XP: 0

WHM-11T Warhammer
Pilot: Cornet Carrie Diallo (⅘)
Kills: 0
XP: 0

MAD-2R Marauder
Pilot: Nicolai Lundberg (⅘)
Kills: 0
XP: 0

TDR-5Sb Thunderbolt
Pilot: Janelle Kaphiri (⅘)
Kills: 0
XP: 0

2nd Company
Black Lance:
OSR-5C Ostroc
Pilot: Subaltern Jacqueline Marquis (¾)
Kills: 1
XP: 3

PXH-4W Phoenix Hawk
Pilot: Cornet Gerald Saunders (¾)
Kills: .5
XP: 2.5

TDR-9T Thunderbolt
Pilot: Cornet Martin Bakewell (⅘)
Kills: 0
XP: 0

BRM-5B Brahma
Pilot: Cornet Tatianna MacVean (⅘)
Kills: 0
XP: 0

Blue Lance:
VLK-QT2 Valkyrie
Pilot: Senior Cornet Mardea Jelani (3/4)
Kills: 0
XP: 0

CVR-A1 Cadaver
Pilot: Cornet Matthew Paptimus (⅘)
Kills: 0
XP: 0

LCT-5T Locust
Pilot: Cornet Raina Gillette (¾)
Kills: 0
XP: 2

LCT-5V Locust [Upgraded from -1V2]
Pilot:Cornet Frederick Krieger (¾)
Kills: .5
XP: 2.5

Red Lance:
STY-3Dr Starslayer
Pilot: Senior Cornet Tyler Rivera (3/3)
Abilities: Weapon Specialist (HPPC)
Kills: 2
XP: 1

GRF-1R Griffin
Pilot: Cornet Ivanka Giratina (¾)
Kills: 0
XP: 3

KW1-LH2 Lineholder
Pilot: Cornet Victoria Sanders (¾)
Kills: 2.5
XP: 5.5

CTF-3LL Cataphract
Pilot: Cornet Michael Jarón (¾)
XP: 4.5
Kills: 1.5


TMI Detachment:
Spectre Battle Armor
Pilot: Agent ?? ?? (3)
XP: 1

[SteveRestless]

I'm rooting for these guys, even though I've controlled most of their opfor  :)

[nerd]

I like them. They have a Starslayer.

[Foxx Ital]

I'm rooting for these guys, even though I've controlled most of their opfor  :)

Same here, they're a fun departure from what we usually opfor against.

[Demon55]

I like them. They have a Starslayer.

Starslayers are almost always a good choice for a mech.

[Aleksandr]

Dark Company returned to the Fronc Reaches after completing repairs on New Vandenberg, jumping to a pirate point in the Portland system and making an end-run for the mountains on Portland's main continent, over 1000 kilometers from the 1st Fronc Cuirassiers' planetary Headquarters. Black Lance was deployed as a diversionary force, deployed to intercept a Fronc patrol, do as much damage as possible, and leave enough of a trace to bring more Cuirassiers.

Due to the 1st's unique lance-sized deployments, Black Lance found itself facing a Taurian-built Clint, a pair of hovercraft, a Cyrano VTOL and an infantry platoon. The battle was quick, but dirty, seeing machine guns and the raw power of a battlemech's foot deployed against the infantry after their transport had been destroyed. Both Locusts took notable damage, and Cornet Marquis' Ostroc was nearly downed by pilot death - but fortunately, the cockpit's structure held... if barely.

The lone Cuirassier mech, a CLNT 3-3T Clint, escaped along with the Cyrano. A handful of infantrymen, and the crews of both tanks, were allowed to leave alive in exchange for their vehicles.

A Maxim Heavy Hovertank was salvaged almost entirely intact, save for the ruined turret, while a Fulcrum heavy hovertank was stripped of its usable parts and destroyed on the site.

[Aleksandr]

A week after Black Lance's strike, Red Lance launched a raid against a Cuirassier Forward Operating Base where they found another "lance" detachment. Facing a pair of Centipede hovercraft, a Sabre ASF, a squad of Asterion BA and an RFL-3N Rifleman, Red Lance managed to close in on the base before the Cuirassiers could use their superior mobility to their advance. The Sabre was driven off first by a shot from Cornet Jarón's Cataphract before returning several minutes later, only to be shot down by a hit from the Heavy PPC on Senior Cornet Rivera's Starslayer.

The Centipedes were taken out quickly by the pulse lasers and Plasma Rifle on the Cataphract, and once the Asterion suit was gone the Rifleman was left with no choice but to surrender. With the pilot dumped out on foot and a new 'mech to add to their hangar, Red Lance gave the mission complete signal. The TMI team arrived quickly and ransacked the FOB, destroying supplies that couldn't be captured and setting the communications equipment to broadcast a constant distress call.

With two successful raids, it seems that the final strike on the Cuirassier's HQ is drawing near.

[Aleksandr]

A few days later, the Command Lance and Red Lance descended on the Cuirassier's HQ. Facing a lance of Heavy mechs from the Magistracy of Canopus supporting the lone 'lance' of Cuirassier defenders, the Dark Company managed to decapitate their command structure early when Senior Cornet Rivera decapitated the Canopian commander's Tian Zong with a shot from his Starslayer's Heavy PPC.

The sudden loss of command showed plain as day to the Taurians, who charged the still-shaken Fronc/Canopian forces and decimated them. The Canopians lost 3 of their 4 mechs, with only a Penthesilea escaping. It left behind the wreckages of a Tian Zong, Koschei and Lao Hu alongside the annihilated Fronc Griffin and unconscious - but intact - Clint.

How that Clint managed to survive a full alpha strike of an ARC-6W is beyond anyone's understanding, but the Cuirassiers accepted surrender terms - abandoning an immobilized Hetzer, the savaged CLNT-3-3T Clint (which escaped the earlier battle with Black Lance!), and their HQ.

The Tian Zong, Clint and Koschei were all salvaged from the field, while the Lao Hu was scuttled. There was nothing left of the Griffin to salvage.

Cornet Jimenez's Yu Huang was completely annihilated when its UAC/20 ammunition cooked off, but the pilot managed to escape - barely. He may have something of a curse on his head, given this is his second mech lost - and the only pilot of the Company to lose a machine. With any luck, a change in roles away from close-in brawlers will help solve this problem.

With proof of overt Canopian intervention in the Fronc Reaches, Dark Company is returning to New Vandenberg to rest and refit. With more than a Lance's worth of salvaged mechs in their Mule, it seems that there may be some promotions coming down in the near future.

[Aleksandr]

Promotions have indeed come down. Reynard is now a Brigadier, with an official commission of a full Battlemech battalion. While only at half strength, the addition of a new 'Mech company has greatly increased the potency and firepower of the unit. Jacqueline Marquis, formerly of Black Lance, has been promoted to command 2nd Company, which will be a lighter and more mobile unit, while 1st Company will maintain the bulk of the battalion's firepower.

In addition, the captured Canopian has been granted a chance to prove herself as a lance commander. She is the most qualified for command - perhaps more qualified than Subaltern Marquis - but has yet to prove her loyalty. For her part, not being held back by a lack of wealth has made the offer quite tempting. Her lancemates are all born from military families and have had their loyalty deeply vetted by TMI, which should minimize what little damage her Succession Wars-era Zeus can inflict if it goes rogue.

The roster has been updated.

[Aleksandr]

The Newly-minted Battalion - now officially the 2nd Concordat Commandos, though that name doesn't appear on any TDF documents - was deployed on a raiding campaign into the Capellan Confederation, with the dual objectives of stalling any further Capellan raids and inserting TMI agents onto former Taurian worlds to forment unrest.

Their first target was Brisbane, and the mission was a resounding success. 2nd Company dropped into the fertile Garden Valley that divides the two main population centers on the primary continent, putting themselves squarely between the continent's Home Guard company and the dropship's landing site. The Home Guard's lance of mechs and its two supporting lances were crushed, netting the Commandos a legless Raven and a near-mint -1R Vindicator that simply needs a new cockpit.

The cost of this was severe structural damage to the LCT-5T Locust, which lost a leg and most of its torso armor, and some personnel wounds.  Red Lance was able to hold off the last part of the continent's home guard contingent, six hovercraft, while the mechs were salvaged from the field. The captured and destroyed tanks were disabled, but left intact for the Resistance to take over at their leisure. With TMI agents successfully deployed, they should have no problem in reactivating the machines.

Their next target is Rollis, where they hope to repeat their successes. If that doesn't draw one of the nearby CRC regiments to pursue, then they will have to make a strike on their garrison worlds.