Bannson's Raiders

In the MechWarrior: Dark Age setting of the BattleTech universe, Bannson's Raiders, led by CEO Jacob Bannson, are a private army created to defend the interests of the Bannson Universal Unlimited corporation. They have a grand alliance with House Liao which seems to be coming to an end soon. Alliance has ended since Bannson declared the Marriage with the Liao leader never happened and attempted to break away from House Liao.

LOCAL 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.

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 various splinter factions emerging in the ruins 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.

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.