Born: 8-29-3017
Homeworld: Luthien, Draconis Combine
Rank: Captain
The newest Captain in Graves' Dancers, Peter Takeda is a man with a past as checkered as it is storied. Just another orphan fending for survival on the streets of Luthien, Takeda fell in with a yakuza gang at a young age, where his combination of tenacity, street smarts and leadership skills ensured his rapid ascent through the ranks. As a member of the
Yamaguchi-gumi, a venerable yakuza clan over a thousand years old, he was one of the initial candidates selected for membership in Theodore Kurita's nascent Ghost Regiments. Takeda first saw action against the AFFS in the war of 3039, where his unit, the Second Ghost, was ultimately shattered by the Gray Death Legion on Altais. Like the other survivors, he was transferred into the Third Ghost to help bolster the understrength regiment. Just a year later, the regimental
oyabun, Yasir Nezumi, was executed following a failed assassination attempt against Takashi Kurita, and any latent loyalty that the Third Ghost might have had to the DCMS died with him. In the wake of Operation Bulldog, the regiment was moved to Dumaring, along the new Ghost Bear border, where they languished for several years. During the Dominion War, the Ghosts attempted to raid the world of Marawi and were demolished by the Bears' Seventeenth and Thirtieth PGCs. Takeda himself was taken bondsman by the Bears, and once again he fought his way up through the ranks. Becoming a member of the warrior caste, he managed to get his hands on a salvaged
Sunder, which he customized with Clan omnipods shortly before escaping from the Bears during a raid on Shirotori. From there he smuggled his new 'Mech to Galatea, where he was recruited by Jean Graves' to head up the fourth and final company of Dancers' reinforced First Battalion. With over thirty years of combat experience and a powerful assault 'Mech with which to lead his new company, Jean is certain that Takeda will quickly shape Fourth Company into a force to be reckoned with. Takeda is covered in elaborate tattoos from his neck down to his ankles, a mark of his time in the yakuza. He is also a firm believer in keeping one's body in peak condition, and leads his company in calisthenics drills every morning.
Born: 1-7-3033
Homeworld: Glengarry, Lyran Alliance
Rank: Leftenant
Gerard Ventress is one of the few survivors of the Gray Death Legion, the famed Lyran mercenary force that was almost completely wiped out holding off the Free Skye assault against the Defiance Industries complex on Hesperus II. He was one of the most talented Mechwarriors in Hassan's Assassins, the Legion's elite second battalion. A Glengarry native who'd joined up with the Legion at the age of eighteen, the deaths of most of the Legion hit Ventress hard. He retired to Glengarry, where he found a job as a "security consultant" for Gray Death Technologies. In 3068, he decided to once again take up the mercenary profession, and traveled to Galatea. Hired to be the new fourth 'Mech company's executive officer, Ventress pilots a heavily-modified
Avatar that mounts several pieces of Clan weaponry and advanced electronics. On the battlefield he is a patient hunter, wearing down his opponents at range before leaping in for the kill with a lethal pointblank barrage.
Born: 3-3-3036
Homeworld: Cerillos, Free Worlds League
Rank: Mechwarrior
Rosa Morales hails from the "southwestern" world of Cerillos, a hardbitten frontier world on the anti-spinward end of the Free Worlds League. She is a tough and skilled fighter, a veteran of the Sixth Orloff Grenadiers who has seen combat against both the Lyrans and the Circinians. As a fiercely independent woman, she left the FWLM due to their constant attempts to stamp out the unique traditions of the Orloff regiments. Mercenary life suited her well, and she drifted through various mercenary units until her recent hiring by the Dancers.
Born: 12-29-3037
Homeworld: Labouchere, Free Worlds League
Rank: Mechwarrior
Renard Duval is a man who lives by the motto "Fight smart, not hard." A LoaderMech pilot turned merc, he prides himself on having never once been shot out of his 'Mech. He prefers to be the backboard of his lance, staying toward the back of formations and laying down long-range support rather than closing in. Some might consider it cowardly; Duval just sees it as the smart way to make a living.
Born: 10-25-3034
Homeworld: Hardcore, Magistracy of Canopus
Rank: Leftenant
Sofia Carter grew up on Hardcore, a glitzy entertainment world in the Magistracy of Canopus. Her mother was a BattleMech gladiator who'd achieved some minor success in the arenas of Hardcore, and she brought up her daughter to follow in her footsteps. After training under her mother to become a Mechwarrior, she enlisted in the MAF, but her lack of monies and social connections resulted her being relegated to the 3rd Canopian Light Horse, a sink unit left to fester at a dead-end posting on Andherlwin. Like so many dissatisfied soldiers before her, she eventually resigned from the MAF, and freelanced her way to Outreach and then Galatea. That was where the Dancers found her, and in the rigorous testing prior to formation of First Battalion's new Fourth Company, her skills both in command and at the controls of her
Warhammer secured the leadership of the new Vanguard Lance.
Born: 10-17-3040
Homeworld: Markab, Federated Suns
Rank: Sergeant
Alexander bin-Harud is another Addicks DMM veteran who spent the war as POW in the wake of the DMM's surrender at the war's outset. Due to two separate escape attempts, bin-Harud was cashiered from the AFFS when the civil war concluded. Quickly burning through what little savings he had remaining, bin-Harud used what was left to get to Galatea, where he offered to join the Dancers after learning of their pedigree.
Born: 5-2-3038
Homeworld: Tantara, Capellan Confederation
Rank: Mechwarrior
Athena Zhai is a St. Ives expatriate, a former member of Aliesha's Mounted Fusiliers. Her dislike of House Liao turned to hatred when her husband and two sons were killed in the horrific Black May nerve gas attacks. When the Compact rejoined the Confederation following the conclusion of the Xin Sheng War, she was one of the many SIMC soldiers who mustered out, unable to serve under the enemy she had fought so hard against. With only her skills as a Mechwarrior to live on, she turned to the mercenary trade. Now a member of Graves' Dancers, Zhai pilots her
Falconer with the reckless abandon of someone who has nothing left to lose.
Born: 2-7-3024
Homeworld: Circinus, Circinus Federation
Rank: Mechwarrior
Zbigniew Kowalski, better known as "Z-Big", is a Circinian pirate turned Solaris gladiator turned mercenary 'Mechjock. A Circinus native, he tried to join the Black Warriors but was rejected in the final phase of his hazing. In spite of this setback, Kowalski managed to gain passage to Solaris to ply his skills as a Mechwarrior in the Game World's famed arenas. Although he never achieved much fame (or success, for that matter), Solaris proved to be an excellent test of his mettle, sharpening his skills and giving him enough of a reputation to gain the attention of several mercenary recruiters. After several stints with various merc units, he ended up with Graves' Dancers, hired to round out Vanguard Lance.
Born: 7-29-3039
Homeworld: Sheridan, Clan Homeworlds
Rank: Leftenant
Ezra Graves' relation to Graves' Dancers is complicated, to say the least. Born on the Clan Star Adder capital world of Sheridan into a Mechwarrior sibko, he experienced the brutal upbringing that all Clan warriors undergo. His sibko was bred directly from the legacy of Ezekiel Graves, founder of the Graves Bloodhouse and twin brother of Jeremiah Graves, of whom Jean is a direct descendant. Ezekiel, always the more adventurous of the two brothers, had left with Aleksandr Kerensky and the SLDF, but Jeremiah elected to stay behind and return to his homeworld. Ezra's sibko trainers often remarked that he was possessed by that same wandering spirit, a portent of things to come. He won his Trial of Possession with two kills and was assigned to the 73rd Adder Cavaliers, who were immediately thrown into the frenzied fury of the Absorption War. Leading the charge on Priori, the Cavaliers smashed the Blood Spirits' 12th Blood Drinkers and then swept through the remnants of the 19th and 65th Assault Clusters. Ezra personally downed eight Blood Spirit 'Mechs in the course of the campaign, including an audacious zellbrigen duel where he simultaneously challenged two Spirit assault 'Mechs in his
Grendel and emerged victorious. Following the fighting on Priori, Ezra was sponsored for and won the Graves Bloodname, cementing his place in the Adders' genetic program. The Cavaliers were then reassigned to Marshall, where the Adders were in the middle of a major territorial war with Clan Goliath Scorpion. Ezra, now a Star Captain, led his Trinary in a series of stunning victories that attracted the personal attention of Galaxy Commander Colin Yeh, the highest-ranking Scorpion officer on Marshall. Yeh sought out him on the battlefield, and after a vicious duel, Ezra found himself a bondsman of the Galaxy Commander. Yeh saw a great deal of potential in Ezra, and after declaring him
abtakha, he took Ezra under his wing and taught him the ways of the Goliath Scorpions. Yeh also helped induct Ezra into the Seeker movement, where his restless ways proved an excellent fit. He soon set out on a necrosia-inspired quest to the "paradise" worlds of the Inner Sphere, searching for artifacts related to his Bloodhouse founder. When a newsfeed he was monitoring made a passing reference to Graves' Dancers, Ezra knew he had finally found what he was looking for, and immediately sought out Jean Graves, hoping to test his mettle against a man who seemed to be his genetic equal. The duel that followed was the most challenging of his life. For the second time in his career as a warrior, he found himself taken bondsman; Ezra was quickly adopted into the Dancers and given command of the newly-formed Force Recon Lance. Though young, Ezra has more battlefield experience than many officers twice his age, and his phenomenal skills at the joysticks of a BattleMech are matched only by Jean's own.
Born: 3-6-3036
Homeworld: Thermopolis, Free Worlds League
Rank: Sergeant
Giorgos Georgousopoulos, better known by his nickname "Gorgeous George", is a former Oriente Hussar who was cashiered from the FWLM for participating in illegal underground boxing leagues while stationed on Van Diemen IV. His skills in a boxing ring were equaled by his skills at the controls of a BattleMech, and he soon found himself fighting in the arenas of Solaris. He was off-world when the Word of Blake struck the Game World in mid-3068, and when he got word of the situation, he knew his career as a gladiator was over. Turning to mercenary work, he signed on with the Dancers shortly after they left Giausar. Gorgeous George firmly believes in the old boxing adage "float like a butterfly, sting like a bee", and uses his swift
Bloodhound to make repeated passes at his opponents, wearing them down until they are forced to retreat or fall.
Born: 9-22-3023
Homeworld: Inarcs, Lyran Alliance
Rank: Mechwarrior
Callum Cochrane is the son of a lostech prospector from the far reaches of Lyran space, near the old Rim Worlds Republic. His father struck big in 3037, when he found the wreckage of an old SLDF
Hussar built as a testbed for what would become the Royal model. Cochrane's father spent the rest of his savings (and life) rebuilding the machine by hand, and when he died of heart failure in 3056, Cochrane decided to finish what his father had started. By 3063, he had restored it to fully functional status and began hiring himself out as a professional scout for lostech hunters throughout the near Periphery. He was hired by the Dancers through Jack McClintock's vast network of contacts, and now pilots his hyper-advanced light BattleMech as part of the new Force Recon Lance.
Born: 6-15-3040
Homeworld: Markesan, Federated Suns
Rank: Mechwarrior
Daphne Bristow is yet another ex-Loyalist scooped up the Dancers. A veteran of the 15th Deneb Light Cavalry, Daphne saw combat on Algol and Tikonov, fighting alongside the Dancers on both worlds; when the Cavalry made their last stand on Marlette, she was among the final bitter holdouts who were taken prisoner by the Allied forces at the end of the civil war. Like many of the other former Loyalists in the Dancers, Daphne left the AFFS after the war; she now rounds out the 4th Company's Force Recon Lance, using the jamming capabilities of her
Hermes to sneak behind enemy lines and strike at vulnerable support units and supplies.