Mercenaries (Battletech)

Not so much a unified nation in Battletech and more of a conglomerate of various mercenary bands, Mercenaries are an unaffiliated faction that exists in all parts of the Battletech universe.

Overview

In human history, there have been two jobs that have survived from caveman times up until the time of the BattleMech; prostitution, and mercenaries. Mercenaries have always been a need for militaries, and changing the playing field from county to county, country to country, continent to continent, and finally planet to planet hasn't caused any meaningful change to that arrangement for any reason. Their specific use had been declining for centuries however, and it wasn't until things got going in the 23rd century and the Great Houses began their ascent to power that they became a ubiquitous part of the Inner Sphere's way of doing things, though by then they were merely fill-ins from people lucky enough to own 'Mechs or ad-hoc groups put together, with very little prestige involved.

All that changed after the Star League's collapse and the Amaris Civil war, however.

With 80% of the largest and most well-equipped army in human history fucking off to god knows where in bumfuck space, it fell to the remaining 20% to find a way to make some money now that the Star League wasn't fitting the bill. And wouldn't you know it, the Great Houses were perfectly willing to shill out a little cash to whomever could help fill space in their armies as they began the Succession Wars. As a way to better facilitate this, ComStar created the Mercenary Review Board to better allow Mercs and interested parties to do business with each other. At the beginning, they actually had to reign their employers in because they had begun to ask them to commit warcrimes, but have still a reputation as being the guys you call in when you don't want to sully your hands with particularly grim work.

Mercenaries have had a major impact on the life of the Inner Sphere; able to enforce what became known as the Conventions creating the standard limited warfare of the Inner Sphere, and for reviving the LosTech that'd been all but forgotten in the ravages of the Succession Wars.

Life as a Merc

Understandably, it's not an easy life being a soldier of fortune. Merc Companies vary wildly in size and in influence, some of the bigger groups could even say they rival the power of Periphery States or even simply prop some up entirely. Manpower in a Mercenary company can be as little as a single MechWarrior, to a couple division’s worth of troops. Moral Codes are also understandably pretty varied, as it can run the gamut from being quasi-pirates and bandits set to live fast and die young, to honor-bound units that’ve lasted centuries. It’s a common stereotype that many mercenaries are either military units from Great House militaries that went independent or defected. Conversely, many Successor State militaries seek to pay mercenaries for their dirty work or outright coopt them into being drawn into permanent service as a standard military unit, though this is an arrangement that can often backfire on a particularly poorly run military.

And while the allure of fighting for fortune on your own terms is appealing, especially in a setting where independence as a concept is at a specific premium; the majority of mercenaries have to run a gauntlet of obstacles such as being certified (and then closely monitored) by the universal Mercenary Review Board, have enough cash to avoid bankruptcy, and ensuring your supplies and contracts aren’t held on a tight leash by your employers. Oh, and when the MRB collapsed, the one put up after it sucked ass for the Mercs, so you might have to take more missions to pay the bills.

Well known Units

• Wolf's Dragoons - The Protagonist/Mary Sue Merc faction of the BattleTech universe. Formerly a compromise by the Clans to try and figure out Inner Sphere tactics, the Dragoons would break from Clanner ways entirely and eventually make themselves distinguished as the single biggest and best armed Merc company in Sphere space, serving each Successor State once, getting their dicks punched in by the Combine in the Battle of Misery, and then got the planet of Outreach from the FedSuns. They spent a lot of time trying to find Star League caches; including only taking Outreach once it was confirmed that it did indeed have one. Eventually joined back up with Clan Wolf when they made their bid for IlKhan. Once the Wolf Khan used them as meatshields while denying them their custom of being the tip of the spear in the attack and were ground down to 1/3rd of their size, they swore a grudge against the IlClan.
• Eridani Light Horse - The oldest Merc company in the Inner Sphere. Distinguished themselves as a major force in the Amaris Civil War, but eventually ended up pressganged by the Draconis Combine for most of the first two succession wars until Jinjiro Kurita got involved, wherein they fucked off for greener pastures in the Periphery. Finally got gunned down in the Dark Age by Clan Jade Falcon.
• Snord's Irregulars - take Wolf's dragoons above, cut them down to a small unit, and give them the secret task of preserving historical artefacts. While listening to the author's favourite rock music.
• Kell Hounds - Stackpole's darlings. A usuallytwo regiment outfit with close ties to the Lyran ruling family, the Kell hounds hit a low spot when their commander Morgan Kell faced THE samurai's samurai - Yorinaga Kurita. Unable to kill each other (due to Kell's... special abilities) both leaders quit warfare and joined monasteries. The mercenaries took this as a hard betrayel by their commander, slumpind into their worst period. Years later, Yorinaga is recalled to service and winds up killing Patrick Kell, Morgan's brother, while trying to intercept the Lyran princess travelling to Federated suns to prepare for marriage to Hanse Davion. Yorinaga also trains up an elite Kurita equivalent to the Kell hounds - the Genyosha.

This is enough to get Morgan to leave the monastery and gather the Hounds together. During the little drunken brawl following a certain wedding, the two units eventually faced each other again, with another drawn duel - Morgan tricks Yorinaga into shutdown from overheating. Yorinaga commits seppuku to preserve his honour, while the Kell hounds become one of the most renowned elite mercenary units of the IS. Years later, Morgan's son Phelan gets caught by mysterious enemies while hunting periphery pirates, and is our first close look at the alien Clans as he progresses from a captive to a warrior of the clans. Managing to climb riggt to the top, when the Falcons and the Wolves go to war against each other over the whole Tukayyid affair, Phelan leads the Warden faction of Clan Wolf into the Inner sphere, where they join up with the Kell hounds, forming a major part of the defences against the clan agression as the Arc Royal Defence Cordon.

• Gray Death Legion - the original mercenaries from the veey first novels. Notably got embroiled in a ComStar plot to secretly dig up an old Star League facility, which the GDL managed to foil AND walked away from with a whole Star League memory core full of technical data. Uncharacteristically, for mercenaries, they didn't sell the core to the highest bidder vut inatead made sure the knowledge was spread around the Inner sphere, starting a whole technological renaissance. Instead, they resumed mercenary activities and made a nice side business of manufacturing the first IS powered armor suits. While they are supposed to have been destroyed down the line, no one really buys the theory.