So, it turns out the guys I game with like this Battletech thing- maybe not as much as I do, but enough so that it has become a regular part of our gaming diet (yay!). I wasn't sure they would, so we started with the basic premise of "you guys are pirates from this part of the Periphery, somewhere around this area, and you have these mechs and a way to transport and repair them, I'll play the other side." They chose the pirate thing, I chose the location for its wide-openness. I've just been pretty much ignoring details up until now, but since we're getting more into it, I decided to come up with some. I'm not worried about being 100% canon-compliant, but I plan to stick more or less to the existing material because I like it (what I know of it anyway).
Some basic info: the name of the founder is temporary (A. Mercer, get it?), I told them they could come up with a name for the pirate band if they wanted, so I'm leaving that open in case they want to do a "So-and-so's Banditos" type thing. Lots of other missing details too, I just wanted more than "yarr, we be pirates", so I came up with this over the last few nights' worth of free time (loosely based on brain-sketches I've been doing all along). I don't really get into the evil-for-evil's-sake thing, so while I'm not at all going for a good guy, I would like the founder character to be more than a cartoon bad guy. More Han Solo than Jabba, but with tendencies towards the dark side. The players may never actually interact with him directly (at least not in-game), so it's more about where they came from as a group and why, his personal details aren't important (yet). They answer to a sub-commander and are off doing questionable things as part of a larger unit, basically the goombas of the operation, though their unit has some degree of autonomy. Here's what I have written up:
Founded by Anthony Mercer, a mercenary who was employed by the Lyran Commonwealth during the Fourth Succession War. Having grown tired of risking his life and the lives of his men for the sake of someone else's political gains, he decided to strike out on his own, and set course for the Periphery with those of his men who wanted to join him. His initial idea was a sort of Robin Hood-esque band of Merry Mechwarriors, stealing from the rich to give to the poor (he and his men being “the poor”), but he soon realized that the truly rich had them outgunned. Thus, they started raiding weaker targets, becoming little more than small-time pirates like so many others in the Periphery. Some time went by, times got hard, equipment failed, morale dropped. The men began fighting amongst each other, mutiny seemed imminent. Anthony decided to land on a planet they had come across earlier by accident, several jumps from the Lyran Rim. The planet had a small population and did little interstellar trade, but had food and fresh water, relatively modern technology, and best of all only minor defenses (no battlemechs). While they had not yet sunk to the level of attacking essentially unarmed civilians, Anthony hoped that the locals might take pity. Failing that, he hoped that the implied threat of a dropship loaded with mechs landing near a populated area would put the locals in a bargaining mood, since the band had little left to trade themselves. Upon arrival, they found the locals to be only marginally charitable, offering only a little food and water "to help them get by". Some of Anthony's men thought this lack of brotherly love was insulting, and that they should be made to see the error of their ways. He was forced to make threats to the worst of these, and once again began to worry about mutiny. He began to contemplate more drastic measures, perhaps just a show of force...
Then struck The Law of Large Numbers (aka random chance). While Anthony was trying to figure out what to do, another band jumped into the system and dropped a force equipped with battlemechs. The locals suddenly found themselves to be in need of charity, and offered “anything they could give” if Anthony and his men would protect them. Anthony agreed, though some of his men were unwilling to join in the planet's defense. This didn't turn out to be a problem, as the attackers had not been expecting any kind of real defense, and thus sent only a small force. The planet was saved.
The locals were grateful, but had little to offer a mercenary/pirate group beyond a small amount of money, food and water, medical supplies, and other such necessities. While definitely needed, Anthony knew he couldn't go back to his men with only groceries, a pittance for each man, and some low-grade battle salvage as booty, what with the growing discontent among certain members of the group. While part of him felt they should take a naked spacewalk, he also felt responsible for the situation. He told the locals he would give them a night to sleep on it, but they had to come up with a better offer.
The next day, the locals brought their offer: a fiefdom of sorts for Anthony and his men. In return for continued protection, they would be given a plot of land and whatever the locals could give to get them started on a permanent settlement. Furthermore, the locals would look the other way on any questionable activities the band participated in out-of-system, though they would deny any knowledge publicly, down to disavowment if it came to that. As long as they behaved at home, they could join in the planet's society if they chose. A few of his men went off on their own as soon as they could find a way off-world. Anthony would go on to become a successful smuggler and privateer, with most of his men sticking around to join in the endeavor.
We're starting in the year 3049, mostly because it's the era I'm most familiar with, and I want to bring in some Clan action eventually. So Mr. Mercer has had 25-ish(?) years to, um, expand his business (so I can hand-wave finances, which we don't want to bother much with). From what I gather though, mercs (especially small-time mercs) from the time of his defection probably wouldn't have owned multiple drop/jumpships, so maybe he stole 'em from the Steiners (at least a couple), and/or had sympathizers among the crews? Gives me a reason for the Steiners (and now FedCom) to be after them, even if they don't go looking for trouble there themselves. I also figure there could be trouble at home for them to come back to at some point- either a new political leader or other nutjob that disapproves of their presence, or someone who didn't like 'em from the beginning and somehow gains influence. Maybe a former employee comes back with a grudge and his own band of not-so-merry-men, screaming "YOU RUINED MY LIFE!"...
Ok, I've gone on long enough... feel free to share thoughts, suggestions, or whatever, or to ignore it entirely. :)
