So being born in Virginia, I did a bit of digging on Sarna to see what wonderful stories the creators of Battletech came up with on the name of Virginia, and I came across the Coreward Confederacy. Turns out it was originally an Autocratic nation named the Autocracy of New Virginia which was overthrown to create the Virginian Union, followed by a civil war leading to the Coreward Confederacy. Then ComStar decided to show up, and the Confederacy told them to get off their lawn. It seems like it has quite a bit of potential, with a couple scuttled shipyards and resource-rich worlds. Unfortunately most of their planetary military assets are composed of ground vehicles and some aerospace assets. In the end, this seems like the perfect system that describes the Deep Periphery, and will provide a good background for my 'mercenary' force.
With that long description over, I present to you the first couple assets of the Provisional Virginian Union Conscripted Militia.
With only two mechs, this merc "force" is composed of ragtag revolutionaries and deposed government leaders who want to revitalize the Virginian Union constitutional federal republic to encourage personal freedom, constitutionalism, and creating a military power strong enough to defend their holdings, as well as to hopefully find ways to get the shipyards and industries fully operational again.
The pilot of the Awesome AWS-8Q, and leader of the PVUCM, George Washington, was able to purchase it after piloting and winning a good number of fights in the Solaris Arena after leaving the Coreward Confederacy with his companions on one of the few yearly jumpship visits. With a few of his buddies from New Virginia, they have started selling their services as a 'merc' unit in order to salvage more mechs and recruit more pilots and soldiers to their cause. After a few months of renting his assault mech out to house and mercenary forces that didn't want to risk their own, he finally landed a contract that would grant him salvage of a light mech if the opportunity was presented. Fighting the Lyrans for control of an airfield, he was able to cripple a Commando for salvage. The PVUCM now has two mechs and is one step closer to liberating their beloved home-system. His second-in-command, John Adams, has taken control of the Commando after being a Patton pilot during the Virginian Union Civil War.
My goal with this unit is to give them a uniform appearance, but to make the units appear rusty and not visually maintained. Obviously there is a bit of a theme going on with the names, the 'location' and it's history, and the 'mercs' purpose. I imagine if George Washington was in the Battletech universe he would have piloted an Awesome. Adams will upgrade as soon as he gets a chance, but for now this is all he has.
I wasn't sure if I should put this in Fan Fiction or in the Miniatures section, so here it is since there is a bit of backstory and I plan on building on it. But if a mod feels it should be in the Miniatures section, then please feel free to move it.