Born: 4-20-3024
Homeworld: Mizar, Lyran Alliance
Rank: Major
John Purcell was formerly a Sergeant-Major in the Wolf's Dragoons' Home Guard, but with the decimation of the Home Guard during the recent uprising in Temptown, he decided to seek employment elsewhere. A cynic and a sarcastic misanthrope, Purcell's attitude meant he was always just one step away from being fired (he had once been a Captain in Beta Regiment's Long Riders, but was sent to the Home Guard for "attitude problems and insubordinate behavior". When Jean Graves offered him command of his own company of hovertanks, he jumped at the chance for such a big promotion. He has already begun to put the new company through its paces, and his irreverent command style meshes well with Graves' own quirky sense of tactics. Off-duty, Purcell is an enthusiastic musician, whose love of rock music led to him installing a music system in his Regulator on which he plays his tunes of choice during missions -- usually with the volume turned all the way up. Purcell's first outing with his new company was a wash: his Regulator was responsible for decapitating the Capellan commander's
Victor, but his crew was killed when weapons fire from a
Crusader penetrated the cabin. Purcell himself was badly injured, nearly losing his right leg. He now walks with a limp, and must take powerful painkillers multiple times a day. This has not begun to affect his leadership yet, but it certainly has not improved his disposition, either.
Born: 11-9-3029
Homeworld: Novaya Zemlya, Federated Suns
Rank: Major
Pavel Kovelevsky is the newly-minted commander of the Dancers' new Third Battalion, an airmobile battalion of Achileus and Puma suits with air support from a combination of Karnov and Hawk Moth VTOLs. Kovelevsky himself is a Novaya Zemlya native who was one of the early graduates of the New Avalon College of Military Sciences' battle armor program. Like Leftenants Hawkins and Crawford, he is a hardened veteran of the 22nd Avalon Hussars, where he commanded a company of the 3rd Avalon Armored Infantry.
Born: 3-16-3033
Homeworld: Macintosh, Federated Suns
Rank: Captain
Norm Houston is a graduate of the Armstrong Flight Academy. Or at least, that's what he leads most people to believe. In actuality, Houston was expelled from the famed institution during his last semester after he was caught taking an instructor's fighter for a "joyride". But in spite of his expulsion, his talents landed him a job as a test pilot for Jalastar Aerospace. Taking part in the Battle of Panpour during the FedCom civil war, Houston earned his biggest claim to fame when he single-handedly shot down a half-dozen fighters from the Islamabad CrMM before he was forced to make an emergency landing on a freeway on the outskirts of Kantara. Deciding he'd tired of such a relatively quiet life after getting a taste of adventure, Houston headed for Galatea to find employment as a mercenary. Hired by Jean Graves to head up the Dancers' newly-expanded aerospace contingent, Houston is eager to once again take to the skies, this time with his new wingmates at his side.
Born: 7-27-3026
Homeworld: Hobbs, Federated Suns
Rank: Sergeant
"Little John" Washington is yet another veteran of the FedCom Civil War. He was a fighter pilot with the 5th Syrtis Fusiliers, and fought in the infamous Battle of Axton, where the 5th FedCom RCT deployed nuclear weapons against the Hasek forces. Little John is a giant of a man; dwarfing every other member of the Dancers, he is often assumed to be a former Clan Elemental. His size befits the massive
Stuka he pilots, which he handles with a deft grace unusual for such a bulky craft.
Born: 5-27-3019
Homeworld: Australia, Lyran Alliance
Rank: Leftenant
Beauregard Travis is one of the few survivors from Storm's Metal Thunder, the corporate mercenary unit that fought for the Loyalists during the FedCom Civil War and was annihilated in the Jade Falcon assault on Blue Hole in 3064. His brusque mannerisms and disheveled appearance made it difficult for him to find new jobs, but Graves' Dancers was more than willing to overlook his eccentricities in order to put him on the payroll, as he is a lifelong
Corsair pilot.
Born: 3-12-3044
Homeworld: Praxton, Outworlds Alliance
Rank: Pilot
Aaron Whittaker started his career as a cropduster on his homeworld of Praxton, just like his father and his before. But his adventuresome spirit yearned to travel across the stars, and to that end, Aaron enlisted in the Alliance Military Corps. What he'd assumed would be a star-spanning romp, however, turned out to be exactly the opposite: he was assigned to the Alliance's 4th Wing, permanently stationed on the iceball world of Lushann, the primary source of petrochemicals for the Outworlds Alliance. Realizing that the skills his training had bestowed on him would make him a valuable commodity as a freelancer, Aaron mustered out of the AMC after his first tour of duty, and for the next few years he wandered across the Inner Sphere, taking escort contracts with merchant fleets to pay his way. When he ended up on Galatea, he took a job with Graves' Dancers, the lure of steady pay and constant travel being too much for him to resist.
Born: 9-7-3038
Homeworld: Drozan, Capellan Confederation
Rank: Leftenant
Yulia Chelekova is formerly a member of Hell's Black Aces, one the most famed (and feared) aerospace-based mercenary groups in the Inner Sphere. She is the granddaughter of one of the original Aces, one Vasily Chelekova, and grew up around aerospace fighters and fighter pilot culture. However, following the conclusion of the Xin Sheng War, the Black Aces became closer and closer to the CCAF; those who did not desire reintegration with House Liao slowly began to resign from the unit, and Yulia was among them. She joined Graves' Dancers on Galatea during their post-Tomans recruiting run, and now pilots her nimble
Sparrowhawk with deadly precision.
Born: Unknown
Homeworld: Unknown
Rank: Pilot
Rafael Herrera is something of an enigma; no one else, save Jean Graves, knows about his past. Suffice to say that he produced some form of credentials that satisfied Jean, for he has thus far decided to respect Rafael's privacy. Rumors within the unit speculate that he is a former pirate or perhaps even a renegade Blakist. What is known is that he is a crack fighter pilot, and that is more than enough to gain him acceptance from the rest of the Dancers.
Born: 2-22-3020
Homeworld: Sabanillas, Federated Suns
Rank: Chief Technician
Angus MacGyver is the Dancers' master technician. He comes from Sabanillas, though his brogue has been diluted by his technical education. He has been working on machines since he was old enough to turn a wrench; as a child, he once took apart his father's farm tractor just to see how it worked! He is precise in technical matters, but his strange sense of humor often makes others question his sanity. Angus might be crazy, but he is certainly not stupid, and his ability to improvise complex repairs with only minimal resources makes him the Dancers' most valuable supporting asset.
ROLLS OF HONORRobert Mykelby, a Terran from the British Isles, joined the Com Guards a few years before Operation Serpent. Assigned to the Second Division, he witnessed firsthand the bloody fighting on Huntress. Unlike most of his comrades, he survived, but barely, and with serious emotional scars. No longer able to stomach the leadership of "the incompetent dwarf", to use his words, he left the Com Guards with his
Falconer, looking for mercenary work on Outreach. On the battlefield, he and his 'Mech were a force to contend with. Off the battlefield, he was a vociferous opponent of Victor Steiner-Davion, whom he blamed not only for the deaths of his friends on Huntress, but also for ComStar losses during the FedCom Civil War. After the uprising in TempTown on Outreach, Mykelby's
Falconer was damaged beyond repair, but it was replaced by a brand-new
Warhammer of the WHM-9D model. Mykelby was one of those killed in the fighting on Solaris, his BattleMech decapitated by a heavy gauss shell.
Kevin Tsang was born in Can Fu City on Kittery during the opening months of the Fourth Succession War, and his parents were killed in a suicide bombing by a member of the Kittery Tong when he was only an infant. Spending his childhood in a series of state orphanages, Kevin proved to be an extremely self-reliant individual, and he devoted all of his energy to pursue his dream of becoming a Mechwarrior. Years of hard work and good grades paid off when he was accepted into the St. Ives Academy of Martial Sciences. Kevin was a model student, and earned Compact citizenship while also slaving away at his coursework. Upon graduation, he was accepted into the ranks of the Chevaux Legers, one of the workhorse regiments of the St. Ives Compact. A dozen years of service with the unit ended when they were shattered on Indicass by Star League "peacekeepers" at the beginning of the Xin Sheng War. Embittered by the Capellan Confederation's absorption of his adopted home at the conclusion of that conflict, Kevin decided to make his fortunes on Galatea. Fortunately, he did not arrive until just after Group W had brought an end to the fighting that had engulfed the planet for the past eighteen months. Taking various small jobs to get by, he was finally hired by Graves' Dancers when he responded to an ad on MercNet. He piloted one of the 'Mechs freshly salvaged from Acamar, a heavily modified
Cataphract. Sadly, he was killed on Solaris when a man-pack SRM fired by some Blakist infantry pierced his 'Mech's cockpit.
Jane Danton was often called "Crazy Jane" throughout her career, though no one would ever do it to her face. A lifelong mercenary, she was ejected from no less than seven other mercenary units for everything from "striking a superior officer" to actually firing on a fellow Mechwarrior in combat for, in her words, "crowdin' me." Were it not for her talent at the controls of a BattleMech, she likely would have found herself unemployed, but Jean felt that the more relaxed environment of his Dancers would give her the space she felt she needed to do her job. Tragically, she was killed in the fighting on Solaris when a Blakist
Nightsky stove in her cockpit with its hatchet.
Danica Weiss was the cousin of Sergeant Noah Levine, and was also a member of the 3rd Robinson Rangers. She had retired from the AFFS following the conclusion of the Civil War, but when a spot opened up in Backboard Lance, Levine contacted her and convinced her to join with the Dancers. Danica piloted the
Enforcer formerly piloted by Leftenant Crawford. She was killed in action on Tomans when laser fire from a
Fire Falcon vaporized her cockpit.
Bryce Crawford, like the Dancers' XO, fought with the 22nd Avalon Hussars, and also like many of the Dancers, was a veteran of the civil war. During the end of the brutal fighting on Talon, Crawford was flash-blinded by laser fire. Crawford used nearly all of his savings in order to have sight-restoring implants surgically embedded in his eyeballs. This had the side-effect of giving his eyes an eerie, electric-blue glow which most people found fairly unnerving. Crawford was just grateful to still be a Mechwarrior, and figured that a life as a mercenary would be the best way to put a few C-bills back into his emptied bank accounts. With his recent promotions to Sergeant and then to Leftenant, he had gotten that much closer to his goals. Sadly, he was killed shortly after the start of the Giausar campaign, when a particle bolt from a Myrmidon penetrated his
Cataphract's cockpit.
Felipe Deleon was formerly a pilot in the Defiance Self-Protection Force; they were nearly destroyed to the man during the Free Skye assault on Hesperus II. A vicious close-in fighter who specialized in urban combat, he liked to slowly stalk his opponents and then eviscerate them in a single sneak attack. The
Axman he piloted perfectly suited his methodical style. He died in the fighting on Giausar when the neurohelmet feedback from an ammunition explosion knocked him unconscious. Unable to keep his 'Mech upright, it toppled to the ground, and in the fall Deleon's neck was fatally broken.
TACTICS The Dancers use mobile raiding tactics, in the tradition of units like the Eridani Light Horse. Their battle plans are often improvised on the fly, according to whatever is guiding Jean's thoughts at the time; the Dancers have learned not to question their Colonel's quick judgment, and follow his orders to the letter.
A few tactics, however, have become trademarks of the Dancers since their transition to the mercenary lifestyle. They have become quite skilled at fighting in adverse weather and lighting conditions, and often time their raids to coincide with storms or blizzards in order to impair the ability of their foes to detect them. In the same vein, the numerous ECM suites the unit deploys are often used to put up a screen of electronic interference in advance of the main force.
[Abilities: Graves' Dancers have the Maneuvering Ace ability (
ATOW, pg. 223), and may use the Hidden Units rules (
TW, pg. 259) unless a scenario specifically disallows it.
The Dancers have become adept at using foul weather to their advantage. All units receive a -1 modifier to all Gunnery Skill rolls when the battle takes place in non-standard weather or lighting conditions, so long as those conditions cause their own to-hit modifiers.]
SUPPORT The Dancers have the
Merchant JumpShip (the
Toorna Prophet) that they hijacked during the civil war, and they still possess the
Union DropShip (the
Charon) that they used when they were an AFFC unit. Their rapid expansion, however, has left them unable to transport more than a small portion of the unit at once, leaving them heavily dependent on their employers for travel from system to system. This was alleviated to a degree when the Dancers captured the
Overlord-class DropShip
Royal Flush from the One-Eyed Jacks, but they are still forced to rely on their employers for the transportation of their 2nd and 3rd Battalion. They have 100% tech support; being a graduate of the hands-on PBMA, Jean fully understands the value of self-sufficiency, especially in a guerrilla raiding unit.