Ripple's Rangers
History
Previously Markham's Marauders, a poorly budgeted 'Mech lance taking minor contracts in the Aurigan Reach, this unit appeared to have entered a terminal decline after the loss of their commander as collateral damage during the Espinosa coup that deposed House Arano and established the Aurigan Directorate. Under the rather questionable leadership of Lieutenant Darius Olivera, a series of poorly thought out loans and unsecured contracts left the lance in effective thrall to local banking concerns.
Following one particularly disastrous contract, command was transferred to Qin "Ripple" Shen, a Capellan expatriate and former member of House Arano's Royal Guards, with Olivera retained in a solely administrative role. In and of himself, Shen was only able to stabilise the unit's precarious position until Kamea Arano's surprise reappearance with Canopian support. The self-proclaimed 'Sword of Restoration' was badly in need of troops not beholden to her sponsors or to the other Aurigan Founding Families and bought up the renamed Ranger's debts leaving Shen little choice but to comply with her wishes but also offering him the chance to avenge the presumed death of their mutual mentor, Raju "Mastiff" Montgomery presumed killed in the Espinosa coup.
The partnership worked out surprisingly well: no longer forced to pay crippling installments to service the debts and with generous salvage terms, the Rangers were able to improve their equipment and show the real quality of their mechwarriors. Under Shen's command they spearheaded several key operations against House Espinosa also taking short term missions for Capellan, Canopian and independent contractors during lulls in the fighting. Founding Families siding with Lady Kamea were also pleased to be able to contract anti-piracy work to the Rangers while their own forces were committed against Espinosa and their Taurian allies. During this period they adopted a distinctive blue and green paint scheme, with gold trim.
Ripple's Rangers served right the way through the seven year campaign to overthrow the Directorate, including the final invasion of Coromodir. Shen himself formed part of Kamea Arano's lance in the final confrontation with her treacherous cousin Victoria Espinosa and some credit the mercenary with striking the finishing blow. Following this, Arano and Shen appear to have parted company: the new ruler of the Reach's decision to honour her agreement to cancel the debts and even transfer ownership of the priceless dropship Argo to the Rangers led many to consider the mercenaries too highly placed and after she further presented them with her Lostech Atlas II as a personal reward it was no longer politically tenable for them to remain. In any event the Ranger's expenses weren't affordable in a peacetime regime still recovering from the war.
Since leaving Coromodir, the Rangers took a short term Capellan contract on Herotitus and now appear to be looking for employment by either the Canopians or the Free Worlds League. Time will tell whether they can prosper in the Inner Sphere.
Sample Personnel
Captain Qin "Ripple" Shen
KGC-0000 King Crab Custom
Tightfisted after seeing his family lose everything but the family Blackjack in the Confederation, Ripple tempered his youthful fire under the guidance of Raju "Mastiff" Montgomery. The Blackjack is long gone but improving fortunes moved him up into one of the Ranger's many Orions and finally into his custom King Crab. Precision fire from the two Class 10 autocannon has brought down many a Mechwarrior through the course of the last seven years.
Lieutenant Mirlande "Blue" Kinnunen
BNC-3M Banshee
A relatively recent hire who joined the Rangers during the push on Coromodir, Blue is a Canopian veteran hired on to take command of the unit's third lance. It's not clear yet if his personal style of command or aggressive piloting will gel well with the Ranger's propensity for accurate long range fire.
Mechwarrior Miranda "Behemoth" Aguilera
AS7-D-HT Atlas II
An ex-pirate from the Lyran Commonwealth, Behemoth is a ruthless and brutal fighter on the battlefield, typically acting as Shen's bodyguard. To the surprise of many, the captain assigned her to use the unit's advanced Atlas II, indicating the high value he places on the woman's skills and loyalty.
Mechwarrior Melanie "Ringo" Speulveda
HGN-733 Highlander
Hailing from the Tortuga cluster, Ringo had an abortive career as a ComStar Acolyte before entering the mercenary trade. Despite a hardscrabble origin and presumably sophisticated education she remains wide-eyed at much of what the Rangers encounter.
Chief Technician Yang Virtanen
A wounded veteran of the CCAF, Yang left them behind (along with his right arm) after a debacle involving the Ceti Hussars. Despite a cynicism when it comes to Capellan nobles (which sometimes causes friction with Lieutenant Kowalski of the Recon lance) he gets on well with Ripple who is more than happy to provide supplies and equipment to fine-tune the unit's 'Mechs.
Full Roster
Command Lance
Captain Qin "Ripple" Shen (King Crab)
Mechwarrior Miranda "Behemoth" Aguilera (Atlas II)
Mechwarrior Jessica "Glitch" Chernovskaya (Stalker)
Mechwarrior Edmund "Noble" Ly (Awesome)
Striker Lance
Lieutenant Mirlande "Blue" Kinnunen (Banshee)
Mechwarrior Malinda "Garuda" Reid (Highlander)
Mechwarrior Chloe "Igor" Koren (Highlander)
Mechwarrior Melanie "Ringo" Sepulveda (Highlander)
Recon Lance
Lieutenant Amir "Dekker" Kowalski (Orion)
Mechwarrior Mohammed "Medusa" Benitez (Orion)
Mechwarrior Shahd "Osprey" Bozinov (Orion)
Mechwarrior Hallie "Tapper" Andreassen (Orion)
Command Staff
Lieutenant Darius Olivera
Chief Techican Yang Virtanen
Chief Engineer Farah Murad
Chief Pilot Sumire Meyer
Supernumaries
Mechwarrior Apprentice Mollie "Spaniel" Bates (Orion)
Mechwarrior Apprentice Maryia "Bronco" McKee (Orion)
Notable 'Mechs
While the Rangers field two assault lances, their workhorses are six Orions, customised for their needs. Three "Desert" Orions were modified for desert environments, trading their standard armament for AC/5, three LRM-5s and two medium lasers in order to mount extra armour and heatsinks. In addition two were modified to mount an AC/5 and a pair of large lasers for sniping, the so called "Marauder" Orions. The final unit, the so called "Cannon" Marauder upgrades to a AC/20 at the expense of missile armament. This can come as a great surprise to mechwarriors who assume all Ranger Orions use lighter autocannon.
