777th Assault Regiment

(You look into one thing and you end up discovering so much more - Irisz)

The 777th Assault Regiment was formed in the aftermath of the Second Succession War, growing out of the shattered remnants of several different mercenary commands. Knowing that their battered units were no longer viable, the commanders of those units came together during a meeting on Galatea in 2865 to discuss their options. All of them agreed that another war was inevitable, and that in order to keep operating during the forthcoming conflict they would need to rebuild their shattered commands.

Those present decided to amalgamate the remnants of their own units into a single command. While the idea was agreed upon by those present, no consensus could be reached as to who should lead them. In the end, in order to break the impasse, command of the unit was determined through a poker game which was eventually won by Bedford O'Toole, formerly of the Kannon Rifles. Taking his luck as a good omen, and noting the generally heavier weight of the equipment he had inherited, O'Toole named the new unit the 777th Assault Regiment.

From the personal journal of Annika Magyari

A couple of ones from my Grandmother's journals that I found interesting, especially given all the edits to one of them - Irisz

3rd February, 3068

I really shouldn't be surprised at what we found. The identity of dad's killers revealed, and it was exactly who we should have expected from day one. If you ever wanted a good example of just how toxic the world of big egos and log memories that is Mercenary culture could be, this is the best proof you'll ever get.

The feud between the Irregulars and Raymond's Roughnecks never really ended. It just went away from time to time, flaring up on those occasions when our units were coincidentally in the same place at the same time. Be it on Galatea or Outreach, it would keep happening. Name calling, deliberate provocation, bar brawls... You name it. All so very petty and banal, but also very much key to the culture. Dad would try to discourage them, of course, but one way or another, these things kept on happening.

New Hades investigation, days 1-3

(Given how busy you are right now, here's my quick breakdown of our findings over the last few days. – NK)

Sanguine Reapers

The Reapers seem to rather jealously guard their location, which might be a part of how they’ve managed to live so long and avoid both Pirate hunters and being raided by the other gangs. The Reapers have very little (Official) contact with New Hades City and its people. Rather, they deal directly with Sharkey, the 'boss' of the city. He provides them with food, water and other essential supplies, and in return he gets a cut of their take (And, reportedly, he even puts in special requests for loot).

Despite how it might sound, this relationship seems to have been a mutual agreement between Matthias Kaine and Sharkey. Apparently Kaine walked his 'Mech up to Sharkey's house with the dead body of the Reaper's former leader chained (or nailed) to the front of his 'Mech. That put Sharkey in a mood to talk. It means the Reapers don’t have to worry about getting fed, and can focus on the piracy.

Audio Log File #75887-Rho

Major Irisz Magyari: So tell me exactly what happened. Don't leave anything out.

Corporal Martin Levesque: I... I'm not in any trouble, am I?

Magyari: I just need to know what happened, that's all. These are my - our people we're talking about  here. I need to know as much as I can.

Levesque: Okay. [Deep breath] M... I was escorting Chief Technician Stanley and her crew back from the Union she was stripping down. My Centurion was leading the column, with her Savior right behind me and a couple more trucks behind that. They were all loaded down with parts taken from the ship.

Magyari: As was your assigned duty, yes.

The Lords of Pain

The Lords of Pain are a typical example of the sort of small, fringe groups that exist on lawless Periphery worlds such as Andiron. The group has its origins in a chance meeting between two pirates, Wilhelm Paine and Jarred Payne. Wilhelm was a member of a small fringe band that controlled an oasis and the ruined town around it, while Jarred was a member of a failed mercenary unit (Moore's Monsters) that had washed up in the world. Neither of them were strangers to banditry; Wilhelm having grown up in the lifestyle and Jarred having fallen back on it in order to survive. Finally,  both were MechWarriors with access to their own BattleMechs. Finally, the pair if them both fund the coincidences of their names somewhat amusing.

Forging an alliance, Wilhelm and Jarred made their move and deposed the prior leader of Wilhelm's band. His seizure of command was backed up by Jarred, who bought several members of the Monsters with him. The pair of them renamed the band the Lords of Pain after themselves, becoming effective co-leaders of the group.

Maintaining control of a source of clean water, the Lords of Pain raid nearby communities, trade caravans and other desert fringe groups for parts, food and other supplies. However, they are not above also trading when desperate. The band boasts a lance of BattleMechs, most of which are in poor repair and often short of ammunition. These are backed up by a lance of medium vehicles and several platoons of foot infantry, mostly recruited form other desert fringers. A squad of Battle Armour, still a rarity in the periphery, gives them an unexpected sting.

-From The Modern Periphery at a Glance, Galatea Free Press, 3142

New Hades City

I'm trying to find out some more on Andiron and the local situation so we can hunt down the Reapers. It's becoming clear that they're a lot better dug in then we thought, and even locating them is not going to be easy. So every little scrap helps. This is a transcript of a discussion I had with Raoul Fassan, one of the Chasseur's hovertank commanders. He turned out to be very willing to talk and had a lot to say on the subject. I've annotated it where needed - NK

The city... Well crap, let me see. Been a while since I was there. Ray (Major Raymond Terrace - NK) wanted us to keep out of there after the mess we got into when we landed. A few of us headed for the city and that's when we had our first blow-up with the Reapers. Two of us ended up dead and another two were Shanghaied into their ranks. Never saw those poor bastards again either. It's also how they got onto us, and when they started 'suggesting' that we should join them 'for our own good'. Plus with how remote we were, sneaking off wasn't that viable an option. But I hear stories and had a few good leads that kept me in the loop. Helpful to know, 'cause I was hedging my bets against when everything fell apart. I mean, come on, look at us. You know it was inevitable. Only Ray kept saying we were going to get off-world somehow, but I don’t think anyone really believed him.

So there's not much to say about its past. What we've got here is the third version of the city, and it's by far and away the worst. The first version was when this hellhole was Hellbrent - yeah, I know, I figure Hellhole would have been a better name - and a part of the Rim Worlds Republic. The capitol was called Hellsgate because they had a pattern going and so sure, why not?