Early 3050s, Galatea City, Galatea, Lyran Commonwealth
A grubby looking building with a worn-down sign reads ‘Blackjack School of Conflict, Galatea City Extension.’ A group of fit young people in mismatched street clothes sat in wobbly squeaking chairs within the smoky dust filled lecture hall. A gruff looking man with half blonde and half red hair stood behind the lectern, one clearly carved from some other piece of wood pulled from the dumpsters of the nicer part of town. Embers from his cigar fell on his chrome arm which had a special extension built in for holding it. Behind him a grainy but slickly templated slide appeared on the yellowed partially burnt looking projection screen.
“So, you want to be Mercs hey?” He took another long pull from the cigar, “Kill some Clanners, liberate your homeworlds, and all that jazz the trivid pounds into your head?”
A resounding cheer rose from the crowd.
“Well then sorry to disappoint you but you’ve come to the wrong place.”
His gravely New Capetown accented voice grew more grating, “Unless your actual daddy is some rich noble,” a propaganda pic of Adam Steiner and his Somerset Strikers appeared behind him, “you aren’t going to be able to afford to get into that game. Go join the COMGuards, they’re always hiring to fill in the blanks, pledge your allegiance to almighty Blake and maybe Focht will see fit to use you as something other than cannon fodder. Blackjackers do have a certain reputation after all. However, taking on the Clans is a rich man’s game. They got the best of everything, instead we just got salvage, dirty tricks, luck, and grit.”
Large piles of wrecked COMGUARD material and the burning red skies of Tukayyid appeared behind him, “Now that could be enough but you gonna start on the bottom tier. Maybe you live long enough to get mid-tier and retire happy to some nicer world than you came from. Get lucky and you might even nail yourself a Knighthood, one where you get a fancy uniform and invited to some Social General’s parties along with all the other retainers. Afraid the Blackjack School Sash ain’t much to look at.”
“Now once you get your school fees in check BSC has a nice loan plan supported by generous, anonymous donors that are nevertheless sharks if you cross them. You can always hire on with another BSC affiliated group. Our alumni society is broad and resourceful. Or you go into business for yourself.”
The slide changed over to a single Battlemech logo and a variety of bubbles connecting to it. “Unless you manage to secure some outside financing or patron the loans are typically enough to get you into a new light mech or well used Medium. My personal favorite is the Phoenix Hawk, mobile, lethal, easy to find parts for.
If you want, you can go into business as a single Merc with a Mech aka Singleton. You are limited in what you can do and you’re likely to need to rely on your employer for technical support but that’s probably fine.”
As a singleton you have a couple contract options:
Retainer duty can be a mixed bag, you don’t know what to expect so it pays decently but its tough to live with such uncertainty for long. These are typically longer-term assignments which can be good for some Mechwarriors and you are likely to meet enough people along the way or gain the trust of a person enough that it can lead to greater things.
Cadre duty is good duty, you become a temporary Master-at-Arms or OPFOR for some corporate or private security team. Blackjackers are popular for OPFOR as we fight like bandits or pirates rather than national soldiers or some feudal Knights. If you can get an OPFOR assignment for one of the AFFC units, you are on the inside track to greater things. We are less popular for Master-at-Arms being slightly ‘crude’ according to some stuffed shirts.
Pirate Hunting or Security Duty has your Mech there to support a larger force in dealing with local malcontents. A single mech is a major deterrent to any hostiles without their own heavy arms particularly if it is one with a nasty reputation like a Firestarter. Best fights are the ones you never have to risk yourself in and frankly a Firestarter is otherwise a deathtrap. Security work doesn’t normally pay well unless you can roll this into Cadre duty. However, if you are assigned to bodyguard or hunt down a specific person like a bounty hunter you can make a mint.
Riot Duty is a mess but something that a single mech with the right ammo can handle at little risk to itself. It is amazing how fast a couple of tear gas missiles, and streams of rubber bullets, or water can disperse an angry mob. I don’t recommend it unless you are particularly savage or gentle.
Twofers and Triplets add a few more missions but mostly increase the complexity or challenge of the above:
Firstly, Recon Raids and Observation missions can be undertaken by less than a lance of Battlemechs rotating their awareness. With such a small footprint and fast mechs there is less risk than dropping in force on an objective. Follow up on points of interest and pay close attention to the enemy’s movements and intent. These can take a long time (Observation) or be done quickly (Recon Raid).
Secondly, Diversionary Raids can be undertaken by small teams in support of a larger invasion force. This can be consecutive with a Recon Raid where the recon team is still in the field as the main attack force approaches. These typically pay extremely well as your employer is using you as bait to draw away the enemy from their true objective.
“Once were get into Lance scale all that differs is the complexity. Until then get a drink and share that scuttlebutt.”
