Barrett's Bushrangers

MRBC Update 01-01-3131

(After we hired Ransom, and with the information you gave me, I decided to do some poking around of my own. Let’s be honest; a well-equipped, long-lived, prestigious mercenary command simply vanishing is far from an everyday occurrence, especially when combined with the very conscious timing of that disappearance. In doing such, I found this file in the MRBC’s system which I wouldn’t have given much attention to if not for two things. The first is that it’s regarding another vanished mercenary command who also disappeared close to Grey Monday. The second is that, despite the file being nearly fifteen years old, somebody had recently accessed it and mode some clumsy efforts to alter it. That’s enough to get my attention in and of itself - NK)

History

The exact origins of Barrett’s Bushrangers are unclear. The unit first appeared on Herotitus in 3090 under the command of captain Bruce Barrett as an understrength company of battered BattleMechs with some infantry support. Attempts to investigate the unit's past reached no definitive conclusions, but some evidence suggested that they hailed from the former Circrinus Federation. The unit was almost immediately snapped up by the Taurian Concordat, hired to help bolster its shattered military and protect its worlds from predation.

Several early successful contracts allowed the unit to bring itself up to a modicum of strength and stability, even if its financial state remained precarious like so many other units. The Bushrangers roamed across the near periphery, working principally for various Periphery powers, although the unit also saw some action with the independent worlds of the former Free Worlds League. That aside, however, the Bushrangers generally avoided the Inner Sphere, and never worked out of any Inner Sphere hiring halls such as Galatea.



In 3107, Bruce Barrett stepped down from command of the unit in favour of his son, "Big Kev" Barrett. Under his command, the Bushrangers began to become more aggressive in their choice of contracts, focusing more on raiding and especially pirate hunting operations. This saw them fighting on both sides of the Concordat Civil War, as well as wiping out several pirate groups including the Fatale Furies (3112) and The Seven Knives (3116). These contracts netted the Bushrangers valuable salvage and experience, raising the unit's overall capabilities as well as its quality of equipment. During this time, Kevin's daughter, Colleen Barrett emerged as a capable second in command of the unit.

This experience paid off after Colleen took command of the unit in 3118, with Kevin choosing to retire. After a shake-up of the unit’s command and roster, Colleen Barrett also chose to turn the unit in another direction. Abandoning Herotitus as their long-time hiring hall of choice, she chose to gamble with the command’s future and venture to Galatea, the Bushrangers setting up shop on the Mercenary’s Star. The move was a calculated risk; besides the expense of relocating, it also reduced the unit’s access to its’ traditional periphery markets.

However, it also gave them access to a boarder range of potential employers and contracts, usually better paying and far more lucrative in other regards. It likewise gave the Bushrangers access to a larger pool of potential hires, as well as a better access to modern technologies. Despite the risk, the gamble paid off. Within a year, the Bushrangers had managed to nearly double in size, adding a full company of armour and a lance of BattleMechs. Furthermore, both the quality of personnel and equipment available to the unit also substantially improved, making it far more capable then before.

The unit even managed to recover from unexpected disasters with surprising speed. While serving alongside the AFFS in the Draconis Reach in 3121, the Bushrangers suffered severe casualties at the hands of DCMS forces, costing them much of their strength (And their long-time XO, Shane Packard - NK). Despite this, the Bushrangers were able to rebuild surprisingly fast, coming back up to full strength within a year. Even allowing for the often slim pickings that the mercenary trade in the 3120s provided, the unit was successful enough to remain operational and hold a consistent level of strength and capability.

(And that’s where the file ends, with the Bushrangers having apparently disappeared in late 3131. It’s possible that they were destroyed while on a contract that was negotiated outside of the MRBC or even not officially lodged for whatever reason, or that they went rouge. Another possibility is that the unit chose to relocate back to Herotitus, which would make tracking them a lot harder given the far less organised and regulated nature of the mercenary trade there. It’s also much harder to track Mercenary units in the periphery, which is why the unit’s exact origin is so unclear to begin with)

(The other thing to note of course is the timing. While still a year before Grey Monday, the events of the Blackout and their immediate aftermath makes tracking a lot of smaller or less well kniwn units very hard. With how badly depleted the MRBC has become, locating such units and following up on them is a luxury that it cannot afford any more and so it’s unlikely that they’ll ever make any efforts to locate the command. After all, if they lost track of the 21st Centauri Lancers, then why would they worry about a small-time unit like this?)

(On the other hand, the fact that this file has been active after over a decade dormant makes me think that somebody’s looking into this command. Maybe finding out who would help explain where they are now. Or it could just be one gigantic red herring - NK)

Force Strength

Colleen’s reforms saw the Bushrangers dramatically increase in size. When the unit arrived on Galatea, it consisted of little more then two battered lances of BattleMechs, supported by a rough lance of light armour and a short platoon of Battle Armoured troopers. Several additional platoons of conventional infantry support their forces, many of which are ad-hoc formations recruited from Herotitus' underclass of unemployed and dispossessed mercenaries.

At present (ie, 3130 - NK) the Bushrangers consist of a company each of BattleMechs and armor, supported by artillery and Battle Armour assets. A single air lance rounds out their strength, and are usually tasked with providing support to their ground forces. While each company is dedicated to a specific unit type, the Bushrangers will often intermix the two depending on the needs of the individual assignment. Overall, the unit possesses a below-average level of upgrades, with most of its units being post-Invasion to Jihad-era designs with a comparable overall level of technology, but no access to Clan technology.

(It’s possible that the Bushrangers sprang back from absorbing another command; it’s a common enough move in the Mercenary trade, and it certainly kept us alive during the Jihad. Either that or they had much deeper pockets then it seemed - NK)

Support

When the Bushrangers arrived on Galatea, they were on shakey financial ground, with little in the way of cash or part reserves. By 3130, the unit’s fortunes had completely turned around (Suspiciously such given the way they bounced back from heavy losses – NK) with the unit possessing a fair level of technical support and at least marginally financially sound. In order to supplement its technical staff and improve overall performance, many of the MechWarriors and other combat personnel have some technical training and often serve as astechs.

Transport

The Bushrangers possess a single dropship, the Trojan-class Tom Tully. An older ship that they aquired by dubious means, the vessel is a constant drain on their resources through its maintenance needs and keeping ahead of its decrepit condition. While replacing the ship would be ideal, financial realities and the poor market for dropships, especially in the Periphery makes it unlikely.

(The Tom Tully was replaced with a Union, with a second ship added to their roster sometime before their disappearance - NK)

Colours and Insignia

The Bushrangers' insignia depicts a black plate metal helmet. In theory, their BattleMechs and vehicles are painted in a dull green and sandy grey camouflage pattern, however parts and supply shortages often leave their units painted with whatever comes to hand.