Timewalking Archive Trap: Gepanzerte Welle (Part 1 of 3)

Battletech is a universe set in the 31st century where giant robots called Battlemechs are kings of the battlefield and feudal realms fight for planets devastated by years of warfare. I'm also putting up a 'Green Box' entry with background for Battletech in general, and this write-up in particular. It's linked here, or it's just below if you're using an RSS feed.

A few years ago, I tried to convince my friends to participate in a Battletech email-based roleplaying game where each of them would play the ruler of one of these realms and play politics and manage war in one of the best universes for it. They didn't not decline, but participation was marginal and the fiction I had for the setting got shelved as I focused my work on storytelling and original settings.

However, I am quite proud of much of the work I did on it, even on a peripheral write-up I did for a mercenary unit connected with one of the 'NPC' factions, revised and presented below. It should be noted that as with most Battletech products, it's written from an in-universe perspective; that is, it represents a document published by one of the characters in the setting, which makes it subject to bias and omissions from characters who simply do not have perfect knowledge. This document itself is a compilation of two different sets of documents; a series of personal memoirs and a more standard unit report. The memoirs also serve to break up a massive document that's the centerpiece of TL;DR Week, which I am never doing again ever.

Gepanzerte Welle

"After her time as a bondswoman, my mother came to hate The Clans in a way I never could. Had I lived with her into adolescence, I think I would've taken to the Clans as a part of a teenage rebellious period. Looking back, every time she told me about winning a battle against them, or even recounted about how the company had lost in terms of victory or manpower, she'd always remark on how many of them she'd killed. I think to her, each one of them was my father."
Tavan Londeri, Memoirs of My Mother, unpublished private collection, c.3083

[This final section covers our least relevant data, but is included for completeness. It includes information from the old MRBC files as well as updates and pertinent pieces of the Ghost Bear information packet we received after the Entente Alliance raid on New Terra.]

Unit Type: Mercenary
Inception Date: 3054
Current Status: Terminated
Last Updated: 3064

Mercenary Review and Bonding Commission Membership Review Document, 3054
Founders
Colonel Blair Londeri-An unremarkable, loyal member of the Kungsarme, she was captured by the Ghost Bears during the initial phases of the Clan Invasion. She emerged over a year later, saved from bondship as a Smoke Jaguar tech during the battle for Luthien. She--and her newborn son--made her way back to the remains of the Free Rasalhague Republic where she continued to serve in the Kungsarme until earlier this year. Frustrated--like many of her acquaintances--with the Inner Sphere's dedication to playing defense against The Clans after The Treaty of Tukayyid, she departed with equipment and personnel on the Midnight Sally, a dropship with a captain and crew sympathetic to her cause. After a short swing through the Lyon's Thumb to pick up Xao Ollendorf and his followers(see below), they made their way towards Outreach, to form Gepanzerte Welle.
Year of Birth: 3023
Battlemech: Orion ON1
First Company, First Lance


Lt. Colonel Xao Ollendorf -A retired Armed Forces of the Federated Commonwealth (AFFC) General, he met Londeri during her first time at the KungsArme Warrior University where he was teaching. They became good friends, and kept in touch regularly both before her capture and after her emancipation. Sympathizing with the young warrior, he's allegedly come out of retirement to temper her enthusiasm and occasional recklessness. A father of three loyal AFFC mechwarriors, he also provides regular parenting advice for the first-time mother. He’s accompanied by a handful of survivor Commonwealth mechwarriors with no unit and deep a sense of betrayal over the Steiner family's inaction over the Clan threat.
Year of Birth: 2998
Battlemech: Zeus ZEU-6S
Second Company, First Lance

Major Adam Minisadler-Initially, Adam Minisadler was charged with helping Blair Londeri reintegrate into normal command after her capture. By all reports, the relationship between the two was antagonistic from the start. Minisadler gravitated towards administration and management rather than prowess in a 'mech (despite an apparent lifetime of training to the contrary), and Londeri preferred to take to the field over the requisitions and politicking of even the lowest Free Rasalhague Republic commands. Minisadler discovered her plan to desert and alerted their superiors, forcing her hasty departure from the KungsArme. He successfully jockeyed for the right to be the one to hunt her down. He requisitioned the 2nd Air Wing, the same one that hesitated to stop the departure of the Midnight Sally, and a handful of infantry and 'mechs to bring the errant officer to heel. Showing greater investigative skill than most had given him credit for, he was waiting planetside when Londeri arrived to gather her Lyran allies. Much to everyone's surprise, he, the 2nd Air Wing (now the 110th), and an up-and-coming mechwarrior named Quigley joined her fledgling mercenary unit. To fights the Clans wherever and whenever others would not. The 110th now deploys in support of the Gepanzerte Welle 1st Company.
Year of Birth: 3019
Battlemech: Spider SDR-5V
First Company, Second Lance

Captain Raymond Starling-A prodigy in the sciences and behind a 'mech, Raymond Starling was a celebrated entrant to the KungsArme Warrior University. There, he was mentored by Blair Londeri, before was redeployed to the periphery border for routine field training. Undisciplined and selfish, he washed out of the KAWU and fell in with the mercenary unit Deg's Black-Heart Warriors. When their command structure was shattered in late 3054, the almost-whole unit fell apart. Charismatic, if only moderately experienced, Starling led elements of their aerospace, vehicular, and 'mech forces to the banner of his old teacher. Both hope to develop both his leadership and warrior skills more fully. In the aftermath of The Clan Invasion, he's had to strike the old name of his Trebuchet, once named "Daishi." He has not yet thought of a new moniker for it.
Year of Birth: 3030
Battlemech: Trebuchet  TBT-5N
Second Company, Second Lance

Deployments
The Gepanzerte Welle intends to take contracts against the Clans, remembering their rather low upgrade status. Their roots make it unlikely they will be hired by FRR and ComStar employers and it's doubtful they'll take contracts against the FRR.

Assets
Gepanzerte Welle consists of two active field companies consisting of two battlemech lances and a wing of fighter support. First company also boasts a lance of vehicles while Second company has a motorized infantry unit. Their third 'company' consists of a collection of vehicles, fighters, and infantry who usually serve on base defense and emergency reserve forces.

Tactics
Because of their relatively light equipment and low upgrade status, The Gepanzerte Welle is looking for work in light raiding, fire support, and scouting missions. Colonel Londeri's tactics in the Dragoon simulators feature on-the-ground scouting with intense aerial attacks from a distance. Ground combat contingencies feature the larger, 'anchor' mechs and standoff vehicles of a company holding a center while lighter units seek to encircle and harass.

According to reports, they are searching for contracts that lean towards upgrade kits and salvaged technology over C-Bills.

Part I
Part II
Part III