Magyari's Irregulars (3145-era Mercenary unit)

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Do you have a full TO&E for the current iteration of the Irregulars, out of curiosity? I for one would love to see it.

Sure thing. This is the unit as of the end of the Fletcher campaign. I haven't filled in a couple of the gaps for several reasons, not the least of which is that I have a prospective player who's still "umming" on committing to the game.


Alpha Company
Command Lance
Major Irisz “Invisible Space Fairy” Magyari, Mad Cat Mk IV
Carrie Bull, SCG-WF1 Scourge
Assault Lance
Lieutenant Takahashi Oda, AKU-1X Akuma*
Nikola Kardos, CNR-7M Carronade**
Lee Zheng, Vulture Mk IV*
Randy R. Georges, UZL-8S Uziel*
Recon “Peril” Lance
Lieutenant Will “Boof” Owens, HVC-P5 Havoc
Seonaig “Shona” McBryde, PXH-7S Phoenix Hawk*
Bruce Wolf, SCB-9T Scarabus
OTT-9S Ostscout

Bravo Company
Support Lance
Captain Joon Dae-Ho, Sniper Artillery
Sniper Artillery
Sniper Artillery
Sniper Artillery
Air Cavalry Lance
Lieutenant Katrya Dernko, Lamprey Transport Helicopter
Hawk Moth II Gunship (MML)
Hawk Moth II Gunship (MML)
Battle Armour Platoon ("The Mexicans")
Lieutenant Maria Perez, Longinus (Magnetic) Battle Armour
Inner Sphere Standard (LRR) Battle Armour
Spectre Scout Armour

Air Wing
Lieutenant Alan “Sinker” Morrison, F-95 Stingray
F-95 Stingray

Miscellaneous/Support Units
Cecelia Stanley, Savour Repair Vehicle
Dr. Hadrian Cartwright, MIT 23 MASH

Transport
Trutzburg-class Silent Castle
Gazelle-class Duchess Royston

*Player Character
**Retired Player Character

[Nav_Alpha]

Are you running Kardos as an NPC now?

[Deadborder]

Are you running Kardos as an NPC now?

Yeah. In theory the players on an extended leave from the game and could come back at any time. On the other hand, small child, full time job and stuff means it's not likely

Conversely, Ransom is completely out of the game, given that his player moved to the US...

[Nav_Alpha]

It is indeed tough to split RL and gaming.
Shame too, Ransom was interesting and I liked the whole storyline that was going on in terms of his old unit, etc


Interestingly - I just looked back. The elapsed time for the unit in game is like six months, yeah? Which translates to what three years of playing time?

[Deadborder]

Pretty much, yeah. I didn't realize how long it had been until you mentioned it

[Nav_Alpha]

Only thing that made me think of it was the fact that I was wondering what date was the game up to and had you gone past canon and what had been written and how did you handle that.
Then looked at the dates.

But, that totally happens. I've had d&d games sit in one village or besieged fort for five or six months in real life because the four or so of us couldn't get a game night in based around conflicting work schedules, family stuff, overseas holidays, hangovers, etc.

[Deadborder]

Sadly, progress has slowed to the point where we only have one session every leap-Geological epoch. Two of the players also run other games, and since one of them also has small kids, he rarely gets to play either. Added to that, Shona's player is going to be moving away for three months for job reasons, which is not helping either.

There may be some good news ahead, but it's rather outside at the moment. We'll have to see what happens.

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Oh, and if you're interested in what I'm doing on most weeks when there isn't a game, have a link to That game's Blog (Non BT, but same publisher, so that counts!)

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Andiron (A brief history)

Helbrent was first colonised during the Age of War, and became a part of the Rim Worlds Republic's Timbuktu Province, at the outer reaches of that nation. A hot, dry world, the planet was dominated by a single supercontinent separated by a number of large, shallow seas. Much of its water supply was tainted, containing trace elements or high salinity that made it unfit for human consumption, forcing the world to rely on both Water Purifiers and supplies imported from nearby worlds.

In spite of this, the planet flourished, possibly due to its strategic position at the outer reaches of the Republic close to both the Free Worlds League and Lyran Commonwealth. During the Reunification war, the World was one of those that was loyal to the Amaris family, but no less was subject to pacification by the Star League Defense Forces as a part of their campaign to restore the government. Despite this, the damage to the world itself was minimal, and it was restored to the Republic following the war's end.

Helbrent was one of those that benefited from the Golden Age of the Star League. Terraforming and water purification technologies allowed its population to grow dramatically by providing them with access to clean water and improved infrastructure. While no longer at the fringes of the Republic, the world still was deemed vital enough to become a base of operation for the Republican Guard. Those same troops were stripped from it during the Amaris Coup, leaving it functionally defenseless and easily captured by the SLDF during their counter-invasion of the realm.

Following the collapse of the Republic, Helbrent was annexed by the Lyran Commonwealth, providing it with a degree of initial stability that and security that other former Republic worlds lacked. However, despite this, the world still suffered its own problems. The precious technologies that helped make it livable began to fail, and the deprivations of the Succession Wars and its remote location prevented them from being repaired or replaced. The population dwindled due to starvation and water shortages, which in turn lead to the collapse of the planetary government. By 2860, the world's population had withered, leaving little of any value and resulting in the Commonwealth abandoning the planet to its fate.

At some point in the 30th century the planet was integrated into the nascent Circrinus Federation, and renamed Andiron. Its diminished population stabilized and even began to grow as the Federation began to rebuild the planet in order to use it as a launch point for raids into the Lyran Commonwealth. While focused on the Federation's unofficial primary industry, this rebuilding did have trickle down effects on the world's functional infrastructure, benefitting its population.

However, it was the Word of Blake's alliance with the Federation that provided the first real improvements for the world. The Word invested heavily in the planet's infrastructure, engaging in numerous projects across the world. Extensive Water Purification facilities were constructed, giving much of the planet reliable access to clean water for the first time in centuries. With that came extensive investment in transportation infrastructure, including railway and highway networks connecting the worlds' cities and other major facilities.

However, the crowning achievement of the Word's programs was the construction of a new spaceport over the ruins of its ancient Rim Worlds facility. Built on a scale to rival some of the largest in the Inner Sphere, the spaceport was an ultra-modern facility designed to handle large volumes of traffic, a seeming oddity that was far in excess of anything the world would need.

The reasons for the facility's size and capacity became apparent once the Jihad started, with Andiron becoming a staging ground for attacks by both the Word and Circrinus Federation against the Lyran Commonwealth. Many of these forces consider of augmented pirate teams, ones that been equipped with extensive cybernetic enhancements and used a shock troops. While damaging, the chaos of the Jihad and the issues they faced meant that the Lyrans were unable to respond to these attacks.

Instead, while Andiron did come under attack, it was from an unexpected source. In late 3080, despite being allies of the Federation, the Word of Blake’s 49th Shadow Division unexpectedly attacked the world. Using orbital bombardment, the Word forces destroyed the planet's Spaceport, water purification facilities and the capitol city before disappearing. Like so much else that the Word did during the late Jihad, no reason was given for this action, and it is likely the truth will never be known.

Regardless of the reasons behind it, the effects of the attack were devastating. Hundreds of thousands died from the attacks, with many more succumbing to their after-effects. Furthermore, the damage to the Water Purification facilities once again crippled the planet's surviving population, limiting their ability to rebuild. To make matters even worse, the collapse of the Federation's central government meant that the world was once more cut off from any aid.

In the years after the Jihad, the surviving population began to accrue into several city-states built out of the ruins of its devastated settlements. Clean water became vital, and those who controlled access to it became the new rulers of the world. Their power was refaced by forming alliances with the surviving pirate bands, who provided enforcement as well as a share of whatever they took from their raids in exchange for using their holdings to operate from and access to water and resources.

In the years since the Blackout, these pirate bands have become more bold in their attacks, striking further into the Lyran Commonwealth while that realm has been once again beset upon by invaders and its own internal strife. With their raids becoming more lucrative, the pirates have been taking more control of the world itself. In many ways, the world has become a miniature recreation of the old Bandit Kingdoms, ruled by those raiders and driven by the spoils of their operations.

[Nav_Alpha]

This sounds like a pirate nest that needs a clearing out!

[Deadborder]

Yarrrr!

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Sanguine Reapers

RAF Update 01-01-3145

Background
Once a part of the now-defunct Circrinus Federation, Andiron was apparently attacked by the Word of Blake, supposedly their allies, at the end of the Jihad. The attacks shattered the world's infrastructure, leading to a collapse of its central government. Combined with the destruction of the Federation, Andiron collapsed into a near-lawless state, becoming a haven for pirates and other outlaws.

The Sanguine Reapers are one such group, albeit one of the larger and better-armed ones. Born out of a mixture of natives, failed mercenaries, renegades and other such groups, the Reapers have been a constant threat to nearby worlds for over fifteen years now. Equipped with a mixture of BattleMechs and conventional vehicles, many of which are salvaged from the ruined Federation or possibly even Blakeist stockpiles, the Reapers are a constant threat.

Much of their strength comes not from force of arms but their surprising level of cohesion for a pirate band. While the exact origin of the raiders is unclear, many of their members are natives to Andiron or the former Federation, and some are second-generation members of the unit. Their members look out for each other, as long as they are pulling their weight and do what is needed. A member who fails to measure up tends to find themselves 'retired' in short order

With the losses suffered by the Lyran Commonwealth in recent years, the Sanguine Reapers have become more adventurous as they take advantage of the situation. With the LCAF damaged, in retreat and stretched perilously thin, the Reapers have been presented with a smorgasbord of targets, ripe for the picking. The Raiders have been known to go for both equipment that would be useful in maintaining their world, such as water purification technology, as well as military supplies and valuables. In addition, the Reapers have been known to engage in slaving operations, as well as kidnapping for ransom.

The current leader of the Reapers is Matthias Kaine, a cruel and ruthless man who has displayed a level of brutality unusual even for a pirate. Kaine seized command of the Reapers after deposing their previous leader, reportedly leaving his body on display for months as a grisly reminder of his trophy and power. Little is known about Kaine's past, although it is believed that he is a native to Andiron and well connected within what passes for the planetary leadership.

Force Strength
The Sanguine Reapers sport at approximately a company of BattleMechs, mostly older designs with the occasional piece of Lyran or even Word salvage among them. In support they are equipped with approximately a company of light armour, composed almost entirely of hovertanks. Usually used in support of the main 'Mech force, the hovercraft are also used as transports to haul off whatever they have taken.

Finally, the Reapers support a smattering of conventional infantry, usually drawn from the poor and desperate masses that Andiron has in abundant supply. Armed with whatever comes to hand and used primarily for looting duties, the value of these units is questionable at best. They also tend towards having a high turnover rate, but to the common man from such a desperate background, it would be seen as an acceptable risk.

Support
The Sanguine Reapers’ supply situation could be best described as “whatever they can get their hands on”. The unit’s ‘Mechs and Vehicles are maintained mostly through scavenging and stolen supplies, which has resulted in a hodge-podge of units in varying degrees of decrepitude, with repairs done as supplies become available. The support situation is not helped by a lack of qualified technicians, with much of the work being makeshift or jury-rigged.

Transport
In order to Conduct their raids, the Reapers require both interplanetary and interstellar transport. In order to accomplish this, the pirates poses a pair of Trojan/Danais-class (the actual class is hard to tell, given their age, decrepitude and clear improvised repairs) ships, the Bloodbath and the Grimdark. In addition, the pirates have regular access to a Merchant-class jumpship; the exact identity of this ship is unclear, given its propensity for operating under false flags.

Colours and Insignia
The Sanguine Reapers use a flat red colour scheme with varying highlights, simply based on whatever paints are available at the time. Many of their units are worn or have unpainted parts, or wear fragments of other colour schemes. However, with their often poorly maintained equipment, visual identification is often the only reliable way to tell friend from foe.

The insignia of the raiders is a bloodied scythe, painted wherever the raiders can find space on their ‘Mechs.

[snakespinner]

Sounds just like a normal pirate unit.
Struggling to get along but still having a nasty bite. O0

[Deadborder]

I found a bit on one of the Sanguine Reapers' suspected hideouts. It may not be much, and it's more then a decade out of date, but it's still better than nothing. Every little bit helps, after all.

The Perdition Sea was a large inland sea located in Andiron’s northern hemisphere. Like much of the planet's water, it was heavy with minerals and other contaminants, and was only suitable for human consumption with purification and treatment. During the Star League era, this was done with extensive purification facilities, but those quickly succumbed following the fall of the League.

Conversely, the fish and other sea life found within it were actually suited to human consumption, even if they usually had a bitter, salty taste to them. Fish farming became a major source of protein for the planet's population, especially after the fall of the League and the world’s abandonment by the Lyrans left it cut off. Extensive fisheries grew up around the Perdition seas' shores, enabling the planet's diminished population some degree of sustainability.

When the Word of Blake began to rebuild the world, one of the first things they did was build new and far more extensive water purification facilities around the Perdition Sea. Much of the water flowing into it was used for growing, crops industry and clean drinking water, while the reduced flow was actually less suited for native life than before. In order to offset this, the Word's engineers seeded the sea with introduced species that were better suited to its new conditions while also being easier to farm on an industrial level and better suited to human consumption.

The same adaptations would also be the cause of its demise. During the 49ths inexplicable attack on the world, the Water Purifiers around the Perdition Sea were among those assets destroyed. The resultant damage also blocked off most of the flow of water into the sea, which caused it to begin to shrink. At the same time, the water within it became more heavily contaminated, killing off the introduced sea life and leading to the collapse of the fishing industries around it (and also aiding in the planet's slide into anarchy)

By 3130 (the last known survey of the area), the sea had lost more than half its volume, and had shrunk into two smaller and isolated lakes. Both were considered to be effectively dead, with high salinity and levels of mineral contaminant, as well as very little remaining life. The exposed seabed had become a salty dustbowl, punctuated by patches of scrubby vegetation and the rusted hulks of long-abandoned fishing ships. Dust storms are common, often blanketing out large areas for days at a time.

Feurbok was a large fishing community on the (former) western shore of the sea. Previously the site of substantial fishing and shipbuilding industries, it was abandoned when both collapsed during the sea's retreat. It also would make an ideal hiding place for a pirate band; while the place has long ago been stripped of anything valuable, the buildings themselves could be repurposed for shelter, living quarters, support facilities and the like. Similarly, the port facilities could be used as landing pads for dropships. Finally, the dust storms could be used to mask movements or even launches (much like we used Fletcher’s cloud cover and permanent storms to our advantage).

Several obvious hazards present themselves in any attack. The salt flats arte perfect for the hovercraft that the Sanguine Reapers are known to use, which would give them ample opportunities to harass or divide our forces. The buildings could be trapped or used to conceal troops for ambushes. The terrain itself could be a problem, with high eat, dust storms and sinkholes all representing situations we could encounter.

It's ugly, yes, but I do think that this looks like a good target. If I was a pirate, it'd be one of the spots I'd hide - NK

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From Randy's production notes
Things we know about the mysterious "Ronnie"

• Early-mid 20s
• We have seen him in Tharonja's twice
• First time he was arguing with a red-haired woman. She left and he had a sulk
• Second time was when he was trying to recruit Ivar (of all people). Ransom headhunted Ivar out from under him and he had a sulk
• Comes in to Tharonja's either with others (his lance/other members of his unit) or to try and recruit people
• Doesn't wear an obvious unit patch, and has actually stopped himself from indentifying his unit on at least one occasion
• When he's not at Tharonja's he hangs around in a skeezy merc bar in the bad part of the entertainment district
• Said bar has the insignias various other commands on its wall as the closest approximation it has to decoration
• Ronnie comes in here a lot to drink with his mates but also to do recruitment again.
• It seems that he's recruiting for himself. Building his own unit? Trying to build his own support within his unit?
• Bought the red-haired woman to the bar twice. First time she looked entirely disinterested and wanted to be anywhere else.
• Second time Ronnie was meeting a potential hire and she looked distinctly uncomfortable and like she was trying to retreat into the furthest corner of the bar and not be noticed at all
• Ronnie's unit (whoever they are) work out of an un-marked compound in a bad part of town.
• They are currently Off-world (contract, presumably) having left a week and ha half ago. All that's there now is rent-a-cops
• They do not appear to be registered with the MRBC. Given the current state of the MRBC, this is not surprising

Current Theories:

Ronnie is a member of a dodgy mercenary command, one that is likely unregistered and could have good reason to want to hide its identity. He's possibly been in trouble before for blurting out things that he wasn't meant to, and has so far only just managed to catch himself now. He is dissatisfied with his current position and is trying to either build his own powerbase or possibly build his own unit.

Because his unit is dodgy he can't recruit through the MRBC hiring halls and other legitimate venues. Because what he's doing is dodgy, he can't even recruit through his own unit. He'd be a terrible recruiter anyway.

The red-haired woman is another member of the unit. Ronnie either sees her as an ally or at least wants her as one.

[Deadborder]

From the personal journal of Irisz Magyari

When we took the contract with the FWLM to wipe out the Sanguine Reapers, I was hoping for a quick and easy job. In an ideal world, we'd be able to hit Andiron, eliminate the Reapers on the ground and then be off in a day or two. Clearly I was being incredible naive.

Getting out here was easy enough, and we made planetfall without opposition. Our forward base is inside an abandoned industrial complex, which provides both a solid landing field for our dropships as well as allowing us to fortify the remaining buildings to add an extra layer of protection. That much went well, but it would be about the only thing that actually wound up going to plan.

Once we were down, our recon forces worked with the intel provided to us by the Eagles as well as Nikola's own research to scope out several locations where we believed the Reapers were based. From that, we found two probable locations based on both their location and some activity that we were able to discretely observe.

The first was an abandoned mining facility that had a number of good points going for it. It was a secure and defensible location; the buildings and equipment could act as shelter and be used to service BattleMechs; it had a large, open paved area that could be used as a dropship park and, potentially, underground shelters for storing valuables or equipment.

Conversely, the second wasn't so obvious, but our recon confirmed at least one BattleMech on-site, which was a good indicator. It was an abandoned fishing town on what had been the shores of a large inland sea. For various reasons, that sea had since retreated, killing the local industry and causing the town be abandoned and fall into ruin. But it also again had plenty of places to park a dropship and buildings that could be used as shelter.

I chose to hit both places at once, hoping that speed, superior equipment and the element of surprise would be on our side. Unfortunately, neither site worked out as expected

My Command Lance (with some of Recon Lance's elements) hit the mine, since our 'Mech were both slightly faster and more of them possessed jump jets. We were met by a complete lack of resistance, but not because we caught the Reapers by surprise. Unfortunately, it turned out that the mine was almost entirely abandoned; the 'activity' our recon elements detected was actually a group of nomads who had taken shelter and had been stripping down an old MiningMech. After we questioned them (they didn't know where the Reapers were but didn’t want to run into them anyway) we let them be and pulled back.

Assault Lance's luck was different, but not necessarily any better. The port turned out to be occupied by a lance of rather tattered 'Mechs who were rather immediately hostile. Their opening fire without warning was enough of a confirmation to Takahashi that they were the Reapers so he ordered his lance to take them out.

Unfortunately, the pirates were ready for an attack, and had hidden several hovertanks inside the hulks of several abandoned, rusting ships. While Assault lance were briefly threatened, they managed to turn it around by quickly immobilizing all thee hovercraft, leaving them as little more than a distraction. After popping them up, they were able to return to the main threat with very little actual damage.

Concentrated firepower bought down the pirate leader in a Warhammer, as well as crippling a Hunchback. Two more 'Mechs, a Cronus and a Yeoman, as well as a Phalanx Tank, were able to escape, but all of them were badly damaged (the Phalanx had lost its main gun, for starters). And so while the battle was over rather quickly with the pirate forces seemingly crushed and the Assault Lance only suffering armour damage, there was a problem.

This force wasn't the Sanguine Reapers. They were actually the remnants of the Newcastle Chasseurs, a mercenary unit that had broken contract and gone rogue about seven or eight years ago and had been missing ever since. The Knights had arrived on-planet, and almost immediately been set upon by the Reapers who had 'encouraged' them to join forces. They'd managed to keep their freedom from the Reapers by hiding out in the fringes of the world, entertaining pipe-dreams of one day getting off planet and returning to legitimacy.

No way that was ever going to happen. This is the stage in a Mercenary’s career when the only way left to go is further down. In a sad way, we were probably doing them a favour.

The only good to come out of this mess was some information we gained from the surviving Chasseurs. The Reapers are the effective 'rulers' of Andiron. While there is a semblance of a civilian government, anyone in charge is affiliated with them either through choice or coercion. The Reapers don't operate out of the planetary capitol; rather the location of their base is a well-kept secret to ensure their safety from, well, people like us. So while we don’t know where they are, we do have a good place to start.

And given that we have a skilled investigator, a journalist, a man with a wide array of odd skills and a master of sawing people in half with a Vibrokatana at our disposal, I figure that it’s only a matter of time before we find their location. And, as always it's probably best if I don't ask what they do to get there.

Takahashi rounded up the Chasseurs leader, Raymond Terrace, and the other survivors of their force. Odd are that they're wanted by the MRBC or even their last contractor for desertion, so if nothing else, we might make some money off that. And to be fair, a life in a Galatean prison is probably better than they were getting here on Andiron.

[Deadborder]

Newcastle Chasseurs

MRBC Update 01-01-3138

Background
The Newcastle Chasseurs were originally a private unit in the service of the Dijeh family, hereditary nobles from the Free Worlds League world of Newcastle. Largely a ceremonial command, the force had seen very little actual combat for much of its existence. It was only during the Jihad that the Chasseurs were actually called upon to defend the Dijeh family's lands against raids by forces opposed to the pro-Word of Blake FLW government.

When the Principality of Regulus 'liberated' Newcastle from Word control near the end of the Jihad, the Dijeh family chose to stay out of the fighting. While this spared their lands and forces from destruction at the hands of Regulan troops (and the WMDs they liberally employed during their invasion), the family found themselves at odds with the new order. Tried as Word collaborators, the family was stripped of its title and lands.

Ordered to stand down and disarm, the Chasseurs instead took a different way out, managing to flee the planet with the bulk of their force intact. Even though they had escaped the Regulans, the unit quickly found itself without purpose. However, the rapidly disintegrating league provided them with new opportunities, especially in the face of predation by the vengeful Regulans. Reorganised, the Chasseurs turned to mercenary work, serving the emergent states and independent worlds of the former nation.

Over time, Chasseurs transformed into a professional mercenary command, retaining very few of the trappings of their original role as a ceremonial unit. While largely working within the former Free Worlds League, the Chasseurs did take the occasional contract with other nations. By the time of the Blackout, they had seen service with every one of the former Free Worlds states, save for the RegulanFiefs, as well as several periphery states and other minor powers. The frequent small wars between those states bought the unit a measure of experience, ad did clashes and skirmishes with other powers, including the Republic.

For the first few years after the Blackout, the Chasseurs were employed by the Duchy of Oriente, serving on its border with the Republic. However, in early 3137, the unit took a new contract with the Duchy of Tamrind-Abbey, putting it on the border with the Lyran Commonwealth. This move would apparently prove to be its undoing, as the unit was smashed by the LCAF on Gallatin in the early days of operation HAMMERFALL. Fleeing the world, the Chasseurs seemingly disappeared and have not been seen since.

Force Strength
Prior to their losses sustained on Gallatin, the Chasseurs consisted of two mixed companies. While BattleMechs formed their main offensive force, they were supported by light armour and Battle Armoured infantry. Many of the Chasseur's 'Mechs and vehicles were designs found within the former FWL, often sourced from their employers, which aided with support and supplies. The Chasseurs lacked any air support.

The defeat at Gallatin cost the unit most of its infantry and armour, as well as at least half its BattleMechs. While their current numbers are unknown, the Chasseurs would not be able to muster more then a single understrength company.

Support
The Chasserus were rarely a rich unit, and often were more barely scraping by in terms of both their finances and support. Much of this came as a result of their usual employment in the economically weak former League and near periphery. In order to offset this, the Chasseurs would often take part of their payment in parts and supplies rather than actual currency.

Transport
The Union-class Hawks Nest served as the unit’s sole dropship. An elderly vessel, the craft had at one stage been converted to a civilian cargo hauler, and then crudely converted back to a military ship. This craft was used in their escape from Gallatin and is presumably still in their service.

To flee the system, the Chasseurs commandeered the Nelson Bay, a free trader jumpship. The current whereabouts of the ship is unknown.

Colours and Insignia
The Chasseurs insignia depicts a knight's head in profile, one of the few surviving legacies of their time as a family command. The unit's 'Mechs and vehicles wear a parade-ground scheme of a white with a deep maroon trim.

MRBC Rating: Wanted
As a result of their actions on Gallatin, the Newcastle Chasseurs have been charged by the Duchy of Tamarind-Abbey (in exile) with breach of contract, desertion and piracy.

[primalucem]

Wow, this is some really inspiring stuff.

[Deadborder]

From: Cecelia Stanley
To: Irisz Magyari

Subject: Parts pillaging

I'm gonna be honest here, boss. The Chasseurs' situation could be best described as 'rooted'. I mean, first up they were crushed by the Elsies which is what drove them to flee out here to the arse end of the universe to begin with. And the next seven or so years after that didn't do them any favours either.

They were already a poor unit to begin with, and not exactly blessed with deep pockets. Having half their unit ripped up didn't help them any either, but then living off what they had out here in the middle of hell took its toll. There was next to nothing left in their spare parts pile, for starters. Just some armour, a bit of structure and a few other odds and sods that could be good for emergencies but that was about it.

You could tell that just form looking at Their 'Mechs. The logs from Terrace's Wammer told me it hadn't had a full SRM load in forever, and one of its lasers had been busted for years. And that's just the data; diving under the hood tells me that thing was running on a nightmare of jury-rigging and bypasses, making do with whatever they could scrounge in order to get by. Up close, that thing looks like a Third Succession War era-wreck, all duct tape and ill-fitting repurposed spares. The Hunchie was in similar shape, although there was a lot less left of it by the time your boys were done.

Looking at the battleROMs told me a few other things. The reason why the Cronus never fired its Streaks was because the launcher was busted. Given that Streaks are sensitive little princesses of equipment, they probably didn't have the tech to fix it and instead just pooled the remaining ammo in the Wammer. Likewise, the way that the Yeoman moved suggested gyro damage to me; it wobbled and over-compensated at every step. Again, likely got itself buggered at some point and they didn't have the parts to fix it.

The Hovers were in a bit better shape, but that’s only because most Vees can get by with more makeshift repairs. The four of them are good for scrap, but not much else. Though the Rotary on that Musketeer was a bomb waiting to go off, I swear.

They'd been getting by through scrapping the machinery in the old plants for raw metal, copper wire or whatever else they could find. I mean, we could strip that down as well, but it's such a crappy option that I wouldn't even waste the time, especially not when the real prize is yet to come.

I got to hand it to them that they did a good job of hiding their Union. Yeah, you can camouflage a dropper given enough time, and it wasn't like that thing was going anywhere in a hurry. The Hawk's Nest was north of the site itself concealed in among some industrial wreckage with judicious use of old machinery, camouflage netting and its general decrepitude actually doing a good job of hiding it from space. I'm also going to say now that the old bird was not going anywhere, but it's condition was a result of the degree of schizophrenia and wishful thinking going on within the Chasseurs.

The techs had been slowly cannibalizing the ship for parts to keep their 'Mechs and Vees running,  but the info we got form Terrace and the others suggested he wanted to keep the ship intact in order to leave this rock. It's a pipe dream, I know, as there was no way they were going to replace some of its drive components, and even then they lacked the infrastructure to work on it. But they kept the ship intact-ish and hidden against the day that a miracle occurred.

But the good news is that we have the reeking carcass of a reeking old Union. And as rooted as that thing is, it’s still a goldmine of parts. With your permission, I'd like to get the tech crews into it on a pillaging spree and strip that thing for all its worth. I reckon that with just that alone we could come out ahead on this little jaunt.

[Deadborder]

I'm trying to find out some more on Andiron and the local situation so we can hunt down the Reapers. It's becoming clear that they're a lot better dug in then we thought, and even locating them is not going to be easy. So every little scrap helps. This is a transcript of a discussion I had with Raoul Fassan, one of the Chasseur's hovertank commanders. He turned out to be very willing to talk and had a lot to say on the subject. I've annotated it where needed – NK

The city... Well crap, let me see. Been a while since I was there. Ray (Major Raymond Terrace - NK) wanted us to keep out of there after the mess we got into when we landed. A few of us headed for the city and that's when we had our first blow-up with the Reapers. Two of us ended up dead and another two were Shanghaied into their ranks. Never saw those poor bastards again either. It's also how they got onto us, and when they started 'suggesting' that we should join them 'for our own good'. Plus with how remote we were, sneaking off wasn't that viable an option. But I hear stories and had a few good leads that kept me in the loop. Helpful to know, 'cause I was hedging my bets against when everything fell apart. I mean, come on, look at us. You know it was inevitable. Only Ray kept saying we were going to get off-world somehow, but I don’t think anyone really belived him.

So there's not much to say about its past. What we've got here is the third version of the city, and it's by far and away the worst. The first version was when this hellhole was Hellbrent - yeah, I know, I figure Hellhole would have been a better name - and a part of the Rim Worlds Republic. The capitol was called Hellsgate because they had a pattern going and so sure, why not?

Anyway, Hellgate grew to be a pretty big place during the Rim Worlds, what with regular access to clean water and food and all that other crap that people need. It was enough so that Amaris even had troops on the world, if you can believe it. Yeah, somebody thought that this rock was valuable too. Crazy.

So when the Rim Worlds falls apart, ol' Hellbrent is abandoned and left to its fate. The water purifiers break down and the population collapses. Hellsgate doesn't fare to well, because what do you know, when you take away food and water cities tend to die. The place was reduced to a ghost town, a huge city but with nobody in it but the poor bastards who couldn’t find a way off the planet. Same happened to every other city on the planet, though, and a good number of them just simply vanished.

That’s how the Circrinians found it when they took over the world. And like everything else, they had to rename the place as well because they liked doing that for whatever reason. I dunno, maybe when you have a pirate-based government that's what you do. So when Hellbrent became Andiron, Hellsgate became Firegarde because the Circrinian's love their nonsense names. Seriously. Under their rule things get a bit better as the population begins to bounce back, thanks again to that whole pirate thing. Helps when your leaderships getting fat off their ill-gotten gains.

But the real boom times came when the Word started running the show. They really got big on the infrastructure on Andiron and built all sorts of crap, like water purifiers and a huge-arse space port and the like. They did a lot of redevelopment of the capitol too, turning it from a shantytown built over some ruins into something that was honest to god modern and the like. I've seen pictures of it too; Firegarde looked like a legit city in the Inner Sphere, not some backwater hellhole.

And then, for some reason known only to The Master himself, they bombarded it form orbit. Because the Word, am I right? Between the attacks and the resultant fires and the inevitable collapse of the planetary government, they probably killed over a million. And since the Federation itself stopped existing, nobody was coming to their help. So the survivors were left with dick.

They rebuilt, though. True, it wasn’t anything grand. No it was just a shantytown built out of whatever they could pry from the rubble. It's not like they had much to go on, but the city, or what was left of it, still had some clean water and the like, which was better then anyone else was getting on this rock. I mean, look at where we were living. A fragging fish cannery on the shores of a dead sea. And we got one of the better options.

I couldn't say when, cause I’m no sociologist, but at some point the city got itself another name. Somebody remembered what it was before the Circrinians took over and somehow the name 'New Hades' got started. It wasn't like it was official at first, but it quickly stuck and so that's what the city's called for whatever passes for official around here.

I mean, it fits, because again, it’s an utter hellhole. The city government comes in the form of some guy who calls himself 'Sharkey' for whatever reason. Never met the man myself, but everyone says he's well, a shark. He’s got his hands in everything that happens in the city and is living it up off the proceeds. He basically controls the city because he's so well connected and knows everything that's going on. Oh, and also because he's got a lance of BattleMechs to make sure nobody disagrees.

Sharkey was chummy - see what I did there - with Bronski, the old leader of the Reapers. No idea how things went after Kaine took over.

That aside, there's a lot going on that he's living off. The pirates bring a lot into the planet, one way or another, and he does get his cut of everything. And New Hades, well... you name it, it had it. And more to the point, everything was legal too, since it all went into Sharkey's pocket. Gambling, pit-fights, drugs, girls... Whatever you wanted. Hell, Jonas (Jonas Cruz, the Hunchback pilot - NK) was regularly getting Stoatblaster from some of the traders, made in New Hades' best drug labs. Managed to hide it from Ray too.

Though a word of warning; avoid the girls and drinking the water. Both are full of diseases. Some of our boys found that out the hard way.

'nother thing you want to avoid is the Warrens. They're the bits of the city that are still rubble and nobody was arsed building over. Those are where all the truly desperate go and where Sharkey doesn't even bother to police, largely because he won't make a Groat off of them. (Groats are what pases for the local currency. They're essentially valueless outside of the city - NK) If you don't get shanked by a murder hobo, then a chunk of falling rubble will get ya.

The pit-fights are the best, though. I had a deal to trade tapes with one of the trade caravans, I gave them old vids of Solaris matches or whatever else and they'd give us vids of those. I mean, they're as brutal as all hell. They go all the way from unarmed submission fights up to weapons and to the death, so you get to see all kinds of insane crap, like chainsaws and whatever else. They're a huge racket all over the city, and play hand in glove with the drugs trade. And yeah, Sharkey's getting his cut of all of it.

You probably actually did me a favour there. I got one of the traders hooked on vids of an old League soap, but we were about to run out of tapes. Guy would have probably gutted me when he realised he'd never find out who was the father of Media’s baby. Heh.

The Reapers have a presence in the city, yeah, but they don't operate out of it. Even when Bronski was in charge and all budddy-buddy with Sharkey, the pair of them probably still saw the other as being rivals. You know, too big for the one city and all that. And Sharkey knew that if he ever pissed Bronski off enough, the Reapers could flatten the city for laughs. So they played nice with each other, knowing it was in their mutual best interests to treat each other well.

Oh, if you do head in there and come cross a former Chasseur by the name of Frank Yazzan, let me know. That jerk owes me money and ran off to avoid paying me.

[Deadborder]

I'm trying to find out some more on Andiron and the local situation so we can hunt down the Reapers. It's becoming clear that they're a lot better dug in then we thought, and even locating them is not going to be easy. So every little scrap helps. This is a transcript of a discussion I had with Raoul Fassan, one of the Chasseur's hovertank commanders. He turned out to be very willing to talk and had a lot to say on the subject. I've annotated it where needed – NK

The city... Well crap, let me see. Been a while since I was there. Ray (Major Raymond Terrace - NK) wanted us to keep out of there after the mess we got into when we landed. A few of us headed for the city and that's when we had our first blow-up with the Reapers. Two of us ended up dead and another two were Shanghaied into their ranks. Never saw those poor bastards again either. It's also how they got onto us, and when they started 'suggesting' that we should join them 'for our own good'. Plus with how remote we were, sneaking off wasn't that viable an option. But I hear stories and had a few good leads that kept me in the loop. Helpful to know, 'cause I was hedging my bets against when everything fell apart. I mean, come on, look at us. You know it was inevitable. Only Ray kept saying we were going to get off-world somehow, but I don’t think anyone really belived him.

So there's not much to say about its past. What we've got here is the third version of the city, and it's by far and away the worst. The first version was when this hellhole was Hellbrent - yeah, I know, I figure Hellhole would have been a better name - and a part of the Rim Worlds Republic. The capitol was called Hellsgate because they had a pattern going and so sure, why not?

Anyway, Hellgate grew to be a pretty big place during the Rim Worlds, what with regular access to clean water and food and all that other crap that people need. It was enough so that Amaris even had troops on the world, if you can believe it. Yeah, somebody thought that this rock was valuable too. Crazy.

So when the Rim Worlds falls apart, ol' Hellbrent is abandoned and left to its fate. The water purifiers break down and the population collapses. Hellsgate doesn't fare to well, because what do you know, when you take away food and water cities tend to die. The place was reduced to a ghost town, a huge city but with nobody in it but the poor bastards who couldn’t find a way off the planet. Same happened to every other city on the planet, though, and a good number of them just simply vanished.

That’s how the Circrinians found it when they took over the world. And like everything else, they had to rename the place as well because they liked doing that for whatever reason. I dunno, maybe when you have a pirate-based government that's what you do. So when Hellbrent became Andiron, Hellsgate became Firegarde because the Circrinian's love their nonsense names. Seriously. Under their rule things get a bit better as the population begins to bounce back, thanks again to that whole pirate thing. Helps when your leaderships getting fat off their ill-gotten gains.

But the real boom times came when the Word started running the show. They really got big on the infrastructure on Andiron and built all sorts of crap, like water purifiers and a huge-arse space port and the like. They did a lot of redevelopment of the capitol too, turning it from a shantytown built over some ruins into something that was honest to god modern and the like. I've seen pictures of it too; Firegarde looked like a legit city in the Inner Sphere, not some backwater hellhole.

And then, for some reason known only to The Master himself, they bombarded it form orbit. Because the Word, am I right? Between the attacks and the resultant fires and the inevitable collapse of the planetary government, they probably killed over a million. And since the Federation itself stopped existing, nobody was coming to their help. So the survivors were left with dick.

They rebuilt, though. True, it wasn’t anything grand. No it was just a shantytown built out of whatever they could pry from the rubble. It's not like they had much to go on, but the city, or what was left of it, still had some clean water and the like, which was better then anyone else was getting on this rock. I mean, look at where we were living. A fragging fish cannery on the shores of a dead sea. And we got one of the better options.

I couldn't say when, cause I’m no sociologist, but at some point the city got itself another name. Somebody remembered what it was before the Circrinians took over and somehow the name 'New Hades' got started. It wasn't like it was official at first, but it quickly stuck and so that's what the city's called for whatever passes for official around here.

I mean, it fits, because again, it’s an utter hellhole. The city government comes in the form of some guy who calls himself 'Sharkey' for whatever reason. Never met the man myself, but everyone says he's well, a shark. He’s got his hands in everything that happens in the city and is living it up off the proceeds. He basically controls the city because he's so well connected and knows everything that's going on. Oh, and also because he's got a lance of BattleMechs to make sure nobody disagrees.

Sharkey was chummy - see what I did there - with Bronski, the old leader of the Reapers. No idea how things went after Kaine took over.

That aside, there's a lot going on that he's living off. The pirates bring a lot into the planet, one way or another, and he does get his cut of everything. And New Hades, well... you name it, it had it. And more to the point, everything was legal too, since it all went into Sharkey's pocket. Gambling, pit-fights, drugs, girls... Whatever you wanted. Hell, Jonas (Jonas Cruz, the Hunchback pilot - NK) was regularly getting Stoatblaster from some of the traders, made in New Hades' best drug labs. Managed to hide it from Ray too.

Though a word of warning; avoid the girls and drinking the water. Both are full of diseases. Some of our boys found that out the hard way.

'nother thing you want to avoid is the Warrens. They're the bits of the city that are still rubble and nobody was arsed building over. Those are where all the truly desperate go and where Sharkey doesn't even bother to police, largely because he won't make a Groat off of them. (Groats are what pases for the local currency. They're essentially valueless outside of the city - NK) If you don't get shanked by a murder hobo, then a chunk of falling rubble will get ya.

The pit-fights are the best, though. I had a deal to trade tapes with one of the trade caravans, I gave them old vids of Solaris matches or whatever else and they'd give us vids of those. I mean, they're as brutal as all hell. They go all the way from unarmed submission fights up to weapons and to the death, so you get to see all kinds of insane crap, like chainsaws and whatever else. They're a huge racket all over the city, and play hand in glove with the drugs trade. And yeah, Sharkey's getting his cut of all of it.

You probably actually did me a favour there. I got one of the traders hooked on vids of an old League soap, but we were about to run out of tapes. Guy would have probably gutted me when he realised he'd never find out who was the father of Media’s baby. Heh.

The Reapers have a presence in the city, yeah, but they don't operate out of it. Even when Bronski was in charge and all budddy-buddy with Sharkey, the pair of them probably still saw the other as being rivals. You know, too big for the one city and all that. And Sharkey knew that if he ever pissed Bronski off enough, the Reapers could flatten the city for laughs. So they played nice with each other, knowing it was in their mutual best interests to treat each other well.

Oh, if you do head in there and come cross a former Chasseur by the name of Frank Yazzan, let me know. That jerk owes me money and ran off to avoid paying me.

[Nav_Alpha]

Good to see the Irregulars are still alive and kicking!

[Deadborder]

It took... a while, but things are finally getting back on track. I could have a session as early as this Saturday!

[Nav_Alpha]

Excellent! looking forward to it

[Deadborder]

Saldy, I lost three of my six players and my oefforts at recruiting replacements came to naught (Witness Haki Aadrvarkssen who was there for all of one session) which did kind of put a crimp on things. So we'll see what happens.

[Nav_Alpha]

I know that feeling. I think I've just broken up with my long term d&d group - half left due to work and moving commitment. they got replaced by rules nazis who were all mates of one player. Yeah.. yeah, I think I'm out lads.

[truetanker]

Been there, done that too.

Stupid rule lawyers... " It's this way, not your way! " Best come to mind is roll 3D6 damage to resolve a glancing blow from a Dragon claw attack... wtf?! It either connects or not, what ruling is this? Oh, modified HOUSE rules I see... packs up and leaves right there. Literally twenty given minutes into a four hour game session. Never returned the calls either.

Not wanting to hijack thread, but would any of you PBEM, a D&D here in the forums? Been like forever...

TT

[Deadborder]

We actually had a session. Extensive write-ups to come. Also I kind of forgot to name a couple of NPCs...

[Deadborder]

The Lords of Pain

The Lords of Pain are a typical example of the sort of small, fringe groups that exist on lawless Periphery worlds such as Andiron. The group has its origins in a chance meeting between two pirates, Wilhelm Paine and Jarred Payne. Wilhelm was a member of a small fringe band that controlled an oasis and the ruined town around it, while Jarred was a member of a failed mercenary unit (Moore's Monsters) that had washed up in the world. Neither of them were strangers to banditry; Wilhelm having grown up in the lifestyle and Jarred having fallen back on it in order to survive. Finally,  both were MechWarriors with access to their own BattleMechs. Finally, the pair if them both fund the coincidences of their names somewhat amusing.

Forging an alliance, Wilhelm and Jarred made their move and deposed the prior leader of Wilhelm's band. His seizure of command was backed up by Jarred, who bought several members of the Monsters with him. The pair of them renamed the band the Lords of Pain after themselves, becoming effective co-leaders of the group.

Maintaining control of a source of clean water, the Lords of Pain raid nearby communities, trade caravans and other desert fringe groups for parts, food and other supplies. However, they are not above also trading when desperate. The band boasts a lance of BattleMechs, most of which are in poor repair and often short of ammunition. These are backed up by a lance of medium vehicles and several platoons of foot infantry, mostly recruited form other desert fringers. A squad of Battle Armour, still a rarity in the periphery, gives them an unexpected sting.

-From The Modern Periphery at a Glance, Galatea Free Press, 3142

[Deadborder]

(Given how busy you are right now, here's my quick breakdown of our findings over the last few days. – NK)

Sanguine Reapers

The Reapers seem to rather jealously guard their location, which might be a part of how they’ve managed to live so long and avoid both Pirate hunters and being raided by the other gangs. The Reapers have very little (Official) contact with New Hades City and its people. Rather, they deal directly with Sharkey, the 'boss' of the city. He provides them with food, water and other essential supplies, and in return he gets a cut of their take (And, reportedly, he even puts in special requests for loot).

Despite how it might sound, this relationship seems to have been a mutual agreement between Matthias Kaine and Sharkey. Apparently Kaine walked his 'Mech up to Sharkey's house with the dead body of the Reaper's former leader chained (or nailed) to the front of his 'Mech. That put Sharkey in a mood to talk. It means the Reapers don’t have to worry about getting fed, and can focus on the piracy.

There's no question that they're the top power on the planet. They have a company of BattleMechs, another company of vehicles and a fair smattering of conventional infantry that are augmented by some Battle Armour. They have their own drop ships and a jumpship that they either control or have regular access to. They've been able to carefully sheared this strength by not engaging in random warfare with the other bands on the planet, and rather consolidating their position and limiting their outside access. When they do engage with other gangs, it's in order to 'encourage' them to join. Though looking at the state the Chasseurs were in, starving them out also seems to be a valid tactic.

Sharkey

Sharkey is unquestionably the top dog in New Hades. He's equal parts mayor, crime boss and warlord. He has his hands in much of what goes on in the city, and doesn't even pretend to hide it. Rather, he flaunts it; we passed St Sharkey's Memorial Hospital, the Sharkey Markets and Sharkey's Salvage alone. He has a solid grip over one section of the city, a walled off 'rich' district, in so far as the term can apply to a place like this. In there, life is generally better than the rest of the city, which is to say that it's still poor by Inner Sphere standards. Oh, and this section centers on his own mansion, of course.

Besides the usual array of underbosses, lieutenants, enforcers, legbreakers and the like, Sharkey also has his own obvious personal security force. We saw armed guards in something that passed for uniforms around the 'good' part of town, and we know that he has at least one BattleMech under his control, a Firestarter. When you remember that much of the population lives in ramshackle slums, it's easy to see why he's stayed in charge.

As explained above, his relationship with the Reapers seems to be entirely beneficial. The upside of this is that he also has to know where they're hiding if he's sending them regular supplies. Oda has suggested that we infiltrate his personal compound in order to retrieve that information by whatever means we see fit. He's also suggested that it would be no great loss if Sharkey was to end up accidently being chopped in half with a Vibrokatana along the way.

Luthor Graves

Graves is a bounty hunter who apparently is also here seeking Kaine's head. His plan seems to have fallen apart when he realised that his target would be near impossible to get to. None the less, he was still trying to make something of it, if only to cover the clearly considerable expense at getting out here in the first place. We came into contact with him when we found out that he was keeping an eye on us, using a (clearly intimidated and in over her head) local working girl as a go-between.

He had an apparently lead on the Reapers and was willing to team up with us in order to deal with them. Instead his 'lead' was another band the Lords of Pain (see below) who were entirely unconnected. None the less, Graves apologised and said that he was glad to work with us in future to aid in taking down the Reapers.

On one hand, Graves could be a useful asset. He's a MechWarrior and clearly is both a good shot an an excellent sniper in his stealth Cataphract. On the other hand, he's a bounty hunter and thus is clearly in it for the money. And we've had enough bad experiences with bounty hunters to make me wary of what he might do. Plus he was using a clearly terrified local girl as his gopher, which is more than a little sleazy.

The Lords of Pain

Your basic fringer group who lived off riding others. There’s not much to say; they surrendered after we crippled two of their 'Mechs and badly damaged a third. They really don't have anything to do with the Reapers at all, and had been largely living under their notice. We chose to let them be rather then prolonging an otherwise pointless battle. Of course, I have to wonder how it was that Graves got them confused with the actual Reapers.

They're horrible people, yes, and I can’t see how they're doing anyone any good. But at the same time there was nothing we could have gotten out of them. And when we left them, they seemed to be having something of a breakdown.

Stefania Demou

Our other piece of collateral damage from our operation thus far, Stefania is a working girl from New Hades who was intimidated into being Graves' gopher. So Lee punched out the guy who was 'handling' her and basically offered her refuge here on board the ship as well as a ride off-planet. Katrya has taken her under her wing and is looking after her, but so far the poor girl is somewhere between terrified and gushingly grateful. Dr Cartwright will also do a full medical on her, but it’s pretty clear that we’re doing her a huge favour just by getting her away from there.