Ok, here we go:
Barony of Ouachita- The barony is mostly rural, with agriculture and timber industries predominating, though some small-scale mining goes on, mostly for bauxite, novaculite, and industrial-grade diamonds. A few wealthier gentleman farmers and loggers own IndustrialMechs, but they’re rare, and essentially unheard of outside of noble estates. In the equatorial reaches of the barony there is a vast swamp where locals make their living selling the meat and hides of “swamp dragons”, a local variant of Terran alligator that is rumored to grow over thirty feet long. Outside of the major cities, the transportation network in Ouachita is very primitive; while some rail lines exist, most ‘roads’ are merely well-mowed trails of grass perhaps 100 meters wide and often hundreds of kilometers long. Most locals use all-terrain vehicles or, for those who can afford it, hovercraft to traverse the wilderness between cities.
[/size]The barony is also unusual in that most inherited nobility are not mechwarriors; the Baronial family controls three the barony’s five mechs and loans them out for set terms. The competition to get these slots when they open up is fierce indeed (mos aspirants will have trained for years on family IndustrialMechs while waiting for a slot to open up), and the periodic centerpiece of local political wrangling. Even within their own family, the Baronial mech is typically given to the candidate most capable of fulfilling all baronial roles, both military and political, rather than any sort of strict primogeniture. In this way, the current baron succeeded over the claims of two older cousins.
[/size]The baronial castle is actually centered on an ancient dropship, which irreparably damaged its thrusters ages ago during the early colonization of Foxhaven. It sits on an island in the middle of a dammed portion of the Barony of Ouachita’s namesake river. Built up around the ship itself are a complex of walls, turrets, and so on, while barracks and repair facilities are located within the ancient ship’s cavernous bays. Its still-operable fusion reactor is the primary source of power for the capital of Rock Lake, built on the shore of the lake that surrounds the island. Rock Lake has about hundred thousand or so residents, and is surpassed within the barony only by Graceland, the barony’s seaport trading hub that sprawls across a chain of islands situated near the mouth of the Ouachita River.
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[/size]Baron Cameron Leonard is fairly young, in his early thirties, having succeeded to the barony on the death of his spinster aunt and several of her retinue in a plane crash five years ago. He is aound 1.75m tall and somewhat stockily built, like most of the baronial line (his mother’s family), with light brown hair and beard cut short enough not to get in the way while piloting. An average pilot, and only slightly better gunner, his tactical skills far outstrip his other martial abilities. Outside of the cockpit, he is noted for being an avid distance runner, but even moreso for his bookishness. He owns an extensive library of books on subjects ranging from history, law, and military tactics, to tomes on philosophy, theology, and astrophysics. Never the most tactful of men, Baron Leonard is considered uncouth even by the standards of his notably provincial subjects. Indeed, the Baron should be the most eligible bachelor in the barony, but his inelegant manner, distaste for formality, and rather introverted nature have combined to stymie any efforts at courtship. Local gossip columns nevertheless continually link him to any number of women, including several of his household retinue. Before his assent to the barony, he had spent nearly his entire life in school, achieving a Master’s in Military History and Juris Doctorate before his twenty-fifth birthday. He pilots his family’s age-old [/size]WHM-6D [/size]Warhammer[/size] “Jane”.[/size] [/size]One of his first commands as baron was that the mech be refit from the 6L “Hot Hammer” configuration his aunt preferred to the 6D configuration as soon as possible (which turned out to be when the relevant parts were salvaged from pirate mechs after a raid seven months later).
[/size]Sir Timothy Christopherson-“Tiny” Tim Christopherson is the most recent addition to the Baron’s bodyguard. Barely 18, he won the right to pilot one of the baron’s auxiliary machines scant months ago. A small man with blue eyes and a head full of dark hair, Tim stands barely 1.62 meters and weighs only around 50 kilos. The young mechwarrior is, if anything, even more introverted and bookish than his baron, and an average mechwarrior at best. Indeed, many wonder how he got the spot at all. Court gossip is that his recently-widowed mother, the baronial librarian, won her son’s spot through with feminine charms. For his part, the baron maintains that while Ms. Christopherson is a friend, Sir Tim won the seat on his own merits, and claims to see much of himself in the young man. Whatever the case, the two are rarely found apart on the battlefield. Sir Christopherson pilots the baron’s BJ-1 Blackjack “Betsy”, which he keeps loaded with flak ammunition to defend his liege from aerial threats.
[/size]Lady Karmyn Kelly pilots the Baron’s third mech, a HBK-4G Hunchback named “Dianna”. The Kellys are deeply entrenched in the Ouachita court, with close relationships to the Barons going back decades, but they lost their family mech generations ago. Karmyn defeated all comers (including one of her own cousins) for the right to follow her father as pilot of the baron’s Hunchback upon Baronet Kelly’s promotion to Finance Minister five years ago. In fact, her family has piloted the Hunchback as the baron’s bodyguard for close to fifty years, and some expect it to be formally turned over to them in the near future. A tall woman, she stands 1.85 meters and is built like the proverbial brick outhouse, with grey eyes and a long, platinum-blonde pony tail that hangs to her waist. She is widely regarded as the best mechwarrior in his retinue. When off duty, it is common to find her spending her free time at the gym, on her family’s hunting preserve, or playing any of several sports with local amateur teams. Whether in the cockpit or out, she maintains a quiet, stony demeanor, ever the bodyguard. While Baron Leonard has tried many times to get her to lighten up and relax a bit, she insists on cold professionalism when in his company, even if technically off duty, and relaxes only around her extensive family or her close friends, such as Lady Taylynn Wright, another of the baron’s mechwarriors. Court gossip says this is due to some unspecified grudge against him that only her professionalism allows her to overcome. Alternatively, others put it down to spurned advances, though which of them was interested and which not varies by the telling.
[/size]Lady Laurel Lee is the Baron's second, and a childhood friend of his, who was his cadet lance commander at the Ouachita Military Academy. She exudes an air of quiet competence, and the baron readily acknowledges her as a superior mechwarrior in all respects, and defers to her expertise in all matters of recon and scouting. Physically, Lady Lee is an almost entirely unremarkable woman, of average height and build, with brown hair and eyes, and an uncanny ability to blend into any crowd-an ability she has used to foil at least one attempt on the baron’s life. She pilots her family’s mech expertly, and is an almost preternaturally accurate gunner. When not in the cockpit, Lady Lee enjoys hiking the mountains of the Barony’s Central Range and participating in marksmanship competitions, with weapons ranging from pistols to longbows to her mech’s large laser. Her mech “Old Blue” is a MON-68 Mongoose that has been in her family since the planet was colonized, named for its blued-steel coloration. It has been repaired and refit more than once since arriving on Foxhaven, and was modified to the MON-68 configuration several decades ago.
[/size]Lady Taylynn Wright is the eldest daughter of Baronet Marcus Wright, the Commandant of Ouachita Military Academy, and under whom every mechwarrior in the unit studied at one time or another. Only after she graduated did her father relinquish his place as the Baron’s second to devote his full energy to the academy. With her dark hair and entrancing blue eyes, she is already the darling of the court, despite being new to the court and only in her mid-twenties. Baron Leonard gladly allows her to be the unit’s public face, since it allows him to retreat to the peace of his library a little more often. While Taylynn inherited her family mech on her father’s retirement, she claims that her younger sister Ashlynn, a cadet at the Ouachita Military Academy, is a superior pilot and will likely soon replace her. Court gossip is that this is because she hopes to marry the baron and retire from military service. Outside the cockpit, she is most often found overseeing her family’s extensive agricultural and timber holdings (where she first learned to pilot a mech, driving her own Crosscut LoggerMech by her twelfth birthday) or playing one sport or another with her best friend Karmyn. Her mech is a Javelin, modified at some point in the past into the JVN-10F Fire Javelin configuration, and is named “James”.[/size]
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[/size]Generally speaking, I'd expect the unit's tactics revolve around the lights acting as the hammer to the baron's anvil, either driving enemies into the other three, or flanking enemies that have already been engaged. The Whammy is used for direct firesupport with the Blackjack nearby screening flyers and hitting anything that closes with MLs, while the Hunchback moves forward and keeps enemies from closing with the Baron.
