- Leader: Jacob Bannson
QUOTE: “Either we work together, or you don’t work at all.”
Bannson is a pragmatist. He has stated that Devlin Stone will never return and
that the Republic Stone left behind is only interested in holding on to power.
Additionally, he is the richest man in Prefecture IV — and almost the richest in
the Republic — but his lack of noble blood has caused other nobility and even
the Senate to thwart his ambitions time and again, filling him with a brooding
bitterness. Now, with communications gone and others making their bids for
control, he seems ready to indulge his own thirst for power while paying back
the nobility for all the offenses (real or imagined) it has committed against him.
A charismatic leader, Bannson has roused the commoners to his cause and
attracted many warriors — be they accomplished MechWarriors or street thugs
— to follow him down his new path. He seems to believe that if the other
factions would only listen to him, they would realize he is the logical person to
lead them to a better tomorrow. His efforts are certainly aided by the
inexhaustible funds that he uses to grease the wheels wherever he goes.
Bannson’s Raiders are opportunists, masking their greed for power behind a
façade of helping the common man of the Rimward Prefecture.
One might think that Bannson’s opportunistic nature would make him an easy
target for our agents to turn, but our profilers believe differently. Their
research indicates that while his followers may be out for whatever they can
get, he himself has a very clear agenda, and though each step may seem
random, it is in reality a precise move meant to advance a well-planned
objective.
Military Details:
- Elite Unit: The Scourge
Motto: "Never Retreat"
Originally the private “security force” for Bannson and his corporate empire,
with the fall of darkness he has revealed their true nature: a large, well-trained
military force.
However, though Bannson has the resources to train this force and provide
them with new, well-maintained equipment, he has not been able to acquire
the latest military technology due to his commoner status and his lack of ties to
the Republic’s military.
Nevertheless, the First Scourge have proved their worth and dedication to
Bannson and his cause. This “dedication” is helped by the fact that the unit
keeps all of its salvage — Bannson does not take it to equip any of his other
units. More, any ’Mech that a MechWarrior captures on the field becomes his
personal property. That is the kind of incentive that most men will gladly kill —
or be killed — for.
- Veteran Unit: Band of Five
Motto: "Mech or Dagger, Dead Is Dead."
The Band of Five have quickly become one of the most feared units in the six
major factions emerging in Prefectures III and IV of the Republic.
Though they have nowhere near the training or equipment of the other
factions, they have a brutality and savagery about them that manifests in their
willingness to do anything to achieve victory. Whether on the battlefield or off,
whether through traps, ambushes, assassinations, intimidations, hostage
taking — only winning matters. This attitude, along with their propensity for
maneuvering in groups of five, gave them their name.
Although they are more a gang or a band of thugs than a true military unit,
they usually get the job done. The other faction leaders have attempted to
brand them renegades and have accused them of numerous atrocities, but the
Band of Five have survived intact. After all, with every side vying for control on
numerous worlds, results are what matters — and the Band of Five provide
those results in spades.
- Green Unit: Wyld's Jokers
Motto: "Of Course We're Insane."
The Wyld’s Jokers — named after their “esteemed” leader Geoff “Crazyman”
Wyld — are a rag-tag group that formed during the period of violence following
the loss of the HPG communication grid. Culled from the fringes of Republic
society, it is filled with solitary men and women who enjoyed the peace and
prosperity of the Republic but wanted a taste of the rough-and-tumble life the
orderly Republic did not generally provide. Trappers, traders, hunters,
prospectors, freebooters — anyone with the ability to scrap it out in the
toughest situations or even go it alone to accomplish their objectives.
Though each has declared loyalty to Bannson’s cause, Jacob knows that most
of them owe allegiance only to themselves. But they are also loyal to the
handsome bounty he pays them on the successful completion of each mission,
and that kind of loyalty Bannson trusts. As such, Wyld’s Jokers are perhaps
the only true mercenary unit currently employed by a faction within the
Republic.
Generally speaking, they are no good in a stand-up fight; their lack of formal
military training makes their destruction almost a foregone conclusion in a
head-to-head battle. But their strange assortment of skills means that
regardless of what Bannson may need done, Wyld’s Jokers has someone who
can fit the bill.
* Indicates non-cannon information
| March 9, 3134 |