Midden
Description: Society Cell
Status: Destroyed
The so-called Midden cell has its origins in the Coyote branch of the Society, but ultimately traces out a web of connections and influences into other Clans. Furthermore, it maintained a network of allies in various Bandit groups that it used as its puppets to fulfil its aims. The Midden was able to out-last many of its contemporaries by a considerable degree due to a combination of careful planning, the use of its allies and its location.
At the head of the Midden was Scientist Shirow, a disaffected Coyote who sought not only to advance the Society’s cause, but also his own personal agendas. Through Society contacts among bandit groups, he learned of an abandoned and forgotten Mongoose mining facility (and mass grave) on Tokasha. Seeing the value of the facility, the Society established a cell in the ruins, hidden from the Clans that occupied the world at the time. Recovered records suggest that the facility was operational as early as 3063.
Firmly ensconced within the Midden, Shirow began work on a number of projects to pursue his own goals. Alliances with bandit groups provided the raw materials needed to set up fabrication and construction facilities within the facility. And while it was never capable of building a full BattleMech or combat vehicle from scratch (or even pre-assembled parts) the Midden did sport advanced repair and maintenance facilities that allowed the cell not only to support their own forces, but also to modify existing Vehicles and even BattleMechs.
The Midden developed alliances with several different bandit groups, but two became key to their operations. The Mongoose Pirates served as their primary transport, giving them access to dropships and jumpships, and the ability to range across the entirety of Clan space. This group also served as intermediaries for the acquisition of raw materials, including slaves. At the same time, the Plague served as the Midden’s millitary arm, employed to aquire materials by force while also serving the Society’s objectives. Many of the Plague’s raids were cover for other operations, such as the theft of data or elimination of key targets.
Once the Society’s open revolt began, the Midden began operating more overtly. By this stage, the cell was fielding its own BattleMech and ProtoMech forces, supplemented by conventional infantry and vehicle forces. While the former were made up of society-aligned Coyote warriors, the latter consisted mainly of conscripts and slaves. These groups operated both independently and alongside the Plague, with efforts made to deliberately confuse the two groups.
At the same time, Shirow continued his own projects within the Midden. While these were supposedly following the objectives laid out by the society, the truth was that he was often only giving them lip service or making the most minimal effort. Instead he engaged in several pet projects, most of them Battle Armour related, including several that had been officially terminated by the Society as a whole. It is believed that this misdirection of resources prevented the Midden from reaching its full potential, but at the same time may have also contributed to its survival by keeping it below the radar and outside of society lines of communication.
This isolation saw the Midden survive the destruction of the Society and the Coyote purge, and instead remain fully operational. Reaching out to other surviving fragmented cells, Shirow offered them shelter within the Midden in exchange for their loyalty. This allowed him to not only continue his own research projects, but also to build a millitary force that would be loyal to him while also independent of the Plague.
For the next decade, the Midden would engage in a series of attacks across clan space, but usually targeted at the former holdings of now-defunct Clans, particularly the Steel Vipers. These seemingly random moves were aimed at harvesting data that would have otherwise been lost, while also gathering resources to allow Shirow to continue his pet projects. Given time, it is possible that the Midden could have continued to operate like this for several decades.
However, a rare mistake on the part of the Mongoose Pirates lead to the discovery of the Midden by the Stone Lions. Realising that there was an active Society cell operating on their homeworld, the Clan moved swiftly to end the threat. The Midden threw together a desperate and ultimately futile defence, with their forces being destroyed by the Clan in a series of short and bloody battles. The Stone Lions then seized and destroyed the facility, cleansing the Society’s taint from Tokasha.
Personalities
Shirow
Age: 62 (born 3023)
Position/Rank: Leader of the Midden Cell
A freeborn, Shirow was born into the Coyote Scientist Caste on Tamaron in 3023. From an early age he demonstrated a keen intellect that saw him excel at his various trials and achieve a position within the Clan’s scientists. An interest in mechanics and electronics saw him assigned to Battle Armour research, a field that he quickly embraced with his own ideas and plans.
What he found, however, was that the field was somewhat stagnant, even by the standards of the diminished Coyote Clan. Battle Armour research was seen as being of a lower priority than OmniMech technology, with the bulk of the work being focused on minute improvements to the already proven Elemental suit. While Shirow devised several designs of his own as alternatives, none of these attracted any real interest from the Clan’s leadership, largely due to their dwindling resource base as well as the feeling that the Elemental fully suited their needs.
This setback bred a degree of resentment from Shirow, who felt that his work was being overlooked by the Clan. This only grew after the Fire Mandrills successfully introduced the Salamander with its flame-resistant armour; to him it was seen as humiliating that the factitious, compartmentalised Mandrills had been able to achieve more than the Coyotes, the supposed scientific leader of the Clans.
His attitudes did attract attention from an unexpected quarter. The nascent Society saw Shirow as a potential asset, one who’s combination of ambition, intellect and resentment would be useful to them. They proved to be correct, as he willingly embraced their cause. Careful manouvering saw him given command of a research facility on Tokasha, concealed within a ruined Mongoose encalve. The so-called Midden would quickly become his private kingdom, one where he would be free to do what he wanted without interference.
Shirow remained fully committed to the Society’s cause and goals, and joined he rest of the group in their attacks on the Clans in their futile uprising. However, as the tide turned against the Society, he became more cagey and began to pull back his forces to preserve his own personal powerbase. Riding out the fall of the Society and the Coyote cleansing, he instead focused on building his own personal empire. He deliberately sought out other Society survivors, offering them shelter in exchange for their loyalty.
According to interrogations of Midden survivors, Shirow became ever increasingly egotistical and self-centred over the next decade. He came to see the Midden as his own private kingdom, one where he ruled unchallenged. His moves seem to have alienated his allies, who none the less stuck with him as they had nowhere else to go.
Ultimately, this move would backfire as Shirow remained in the Midden during its assault by the Stone Lions. He died during its fall, ironically incinerated by a Lion Salamander point tasked with cleansing the facility.
Larsha
Age: 50 (born 3035)
Position/Rank: Midden field commander
Born to a middling Kufahl bloodline, Larsha washed out of the Warrior Caste during her final Trial of Position. However, her obvious intelligence saw her reassigned to the Scientist caste, a position she accepted with some trepidation. While glad to be serving her Clan and to have not ended up as a Technician or Labourer, Larsha still desired to be a warrior.
Her opportunity would come in 3062 when she was discretely offered an opportunity to fulfil her dreams. The nascent Society needed loyal warriors who would be willing to serve their cause, and had begun recruiting from within the Coyote’s scientist caste. Being still relatively young and having only washed out at the last possible minute, Larsha was seen as being a prime recruit. She readily accepted their offer, eager to be behind the controls of a BattleMech again and serving her Clan.
Larsha would wind up being assigned to Shirow’s Midden Cell, where she was placed in charge of the group’s small millitary force. She was also introduced to Keith, a Wolf Warrior washout who was the leader of the Plague, a bandit force allied with the Midden. The two almost immediately developed a disliking for one another; despite similar circumstances, Larsha saw herself as being superior to Keith, as she had at least made it to her Trial of Position, and had not resorted to banditry. None the less, the two worked together, even if begrudgingly.
When the Society began operating openly, Larsha showed no hesitation in her actions. She gladly led attacks against the other Clans, all of which she had come to see as enemies of the Coyotes and the Society. While her actions were un-Clanlike, she readily justified them to herself as saving the Clans from themselves. Outwardly, it would seem that she had simply been won over by the Society’s propaganda. However, recovered records suggest that she had been offered a chance at a Bloodname in exchange for her actions.
Following the Coyote cleansing and the Society’s effective destruction, Larsha became somewhat resentful and self-loathing. She realised that she now was stuck with the Midden, alongside Keith (whom she still despised) and under the leadership of Shirow who was, to her mind, becoming increasingly detached from reality. Despite this, she also knew that she had nowhere else to go, and that her only other option would be to live as a bandit or fugitive.
Even despite these setbacks, she still threw herself into battle to defend the Midden when it was attacked by the Stone Lions, simply because she knew that the only other option was Annihilation at their hands. Despite her drive, the effectiveness of her leadership would be undercut by her feud with Keith, which saw their forces divided and unwilling to cooperate with each other. This in turn would hamper the Midden’s defence and lead to its downfall.
While her Osteon was disabled during the battle, Larsha apparently escaped from her OmniMech, and remained unaccounted for following the destruction of the Midden. Her present whereabouts is unknown.