Captain Satan is the commander 2nd Regiment, the Winged Wolf (so named after the angel wings painted on the back of the Colonel's mech).

He is a tall and lanky Eurasian man (think some Caucasian mixed with Indian/Pakistani) in his late 40s, with greying hair and more white than black in his well-groomed beard. He's one of the oldest active service mechwarriors in the Lancers. Little is known of his past, except that he was born and raised somewhere in the Free Worlds League. he’s spent most of his adult life as a mercenary in the Periphery. He seems to know the Black Wolf from this period, having fought with - and against – him on several occasions. He also has a link to Natalia Chesterton, and is a good friend and colleague to Teatime.

Satan is a still a skilled mechwarrior, despite this advanced years. His reflexes probably aren't what they used to be, but as regimental commander they do not need to be. Regimental command requires a different skill set altogether. He’s also a skilled mechtech and a master scavenger, talents acquired after years touring the Rimward Periphery.

At the start of the campaign he was retired on Zaniah, but at Natalia's urging he agreed to come out of retirement to help build the company. He started out as commander of the Battle Lance, then worked his way up through company and battalion command, before being instated as the commander of 2nd Regiment.

Satan’s call sign is derived from his surname, which many of his fellow mechwarriors couldn't pronounce, even if they wanted to. He pilots a SLDF Shadow Hawk named "Angel" that's been fitted with some additional command computers, and doesn't seem like he's interested in anything heavier.

Satan is an Old Wolf. He's aware of the Exodus, the Great Betrayal, and the flight back to the IS. 

The Oberon Confederation was born in the aftermath of the 2773-2775 war between the Lyran Commonwealth and the Rim Worlds Republic (part of the Amaris Civil War). Much of the Rim Worlds were annexed by the Commonwealth, but the most distant ones were not. Originally comprised of just 3 worlds, it expanded in the years that followed, as Lyran interests lay elsewhere. Never a violent or expansionist power, the people of Confederation were content with just surviving the rigors of Periphery living.

Fast forward a couple of centuries to the years 2940. The 3rd SW was in full swing, and on the FWL world of Graham IV one Colonel Hendrik Grimm decided he had had just about enough of Lyran High Command. After months of hard fighting for control over Mitchell Industries' facilities on the planet, he could only watch as more and more Marik reinforcements arrived - while he got none. He gathered the remnants of the 6th (his own regiment) and 5th Lyran Regulars and departed Graham. Knowing they would find no refuge in the Commonwealth, they headed for the Periphery.

When reinforcement finally arrived on Graham about a year late, the Lyrans found it to be fully in Marik hands, and another major campaign developed. It took two years to recapture what Grimm had already conquered - and when the Lyrans finally succeeded, they found the Marik's had evacuated everything of industrial value. The Lyrans blew up some empty factory buildings and went home. It was hailed as a great victory on Tharkad. There was some talk of searching for Grimm, but he was assumed dead and buried on Graham.

Meanwhile Grimm wasn't having much success in the Periphery. Details are scarce, but for years he and his people wandered along the Rim, stirring up trouble and learning just how hard life out there can be. Eventually they winded up on a virtually unknown world within the Oberon Confederation: Henry's Star. How he came to learn of the system no one knows. Perhaps it was chance, perhaps he listened to an old legend and decided to risk it all on a final gamble. On the world called 'Crater' he found an old outpost of the Rim Worlds Republic, still inhabited by the descendants of the people abandoned there generations ago. He either conquered them - or persuaded them to join him. No one knows for sure. However it went the damage caused was very minor, if there was any at all.

It matters not. What matters is that Grimm hadn't yet found safe haven, but he at least had a base from which to operate. Desperately short on resources he started raiding the Inner Sphere - or more specifically, the Trellshire. It worked only too well, and Grimm gained a massive influx of slaves and worldly goods. Using his newfound success as a pirate as a springboard, he attacked Oberon VI and force it to submit to his rule (shortly prior to 2955). He then proceeded to alternate between expanding his little "Empire" and raiding the Commonwealth. He moved his flag to Oberon, and did his very best to limit knowledge of Crater, which became something of a "treasure planet".

Eventually Tharkad took notice. Garrisons along the rim were reinforced, as much as was possible given demands elsewhere. This just caused the Oberon pirates to raid ever deeper into Coventry and Trellshire. Punitive raids were then launched against Oberon, but the Grimm was never home when they came calling. Finally Lyran Intelligence was able to track him down, and the bulk of the 3rd Lyran Guards under Colonel Melissa Musgrave were dispatched to deal with him in 2978. They were never heard from again: More than two heavy mech battalions and supporting assets were lost, along with a Star Lord, a Fortress, an Overlord, three Unions, and support ships. The operation was hastily classified and all mention of it buried forever.

Col Musgrave was not the only commander to die upon Crater. She took the aging Hendrik Grimm with her - the man was over 80 at the time, but still commanded from the front. He was succeeded by his Son Hendrik II Grimm. But the battle had taken its toll, and succession already leads to unrest in these minor realms ruled by a single strong leader. Hendrik II eventually consolidated his power base and became a pirate king like his father, but he was smarter, and spread out his raids more and sought to make profit through trade also. He also expanded his influence into neighboring realms, annexing some, making others his vassals - and allying with both the Greater Valkyrate (through marriage between his son, Hendrik, and a princess of the Valkyrate) and the Elysian Fields.

By 3002 the Oberon Confederation is a fairly large and powerful Periphery realm. It's certainly much more powerful than what the Inner Sphere realizes. The Confederation is still ruled by old King Grimm II from his royal hall on Oberon VI. He has several children. His oldest, Hendrik, is married to a woman of the Valkyrate. By all accounts this Hendrik, who is a skilled mechwarrior, will be crowned King Hendrik II Grimm when his father passes.

The Confederation has about 10 core worlds, plus an equal number of vassal (minor single or multi-system Periphery states). It is also allied to the Valkyrate (6+ worlds) and the Elysian Fields (just under 10 worlds).

Benjamin Walker is an Eurafrican man in his 60s. He keeps his scalp shaved, but sports a bushy beard long since gone to white. He has many tattoos, including facial ones, and wears a patch over his left eye, which makes him look like a caricature of the pirate captain he is. Benjamin hails from somewhere in the Deep Periphery. He become as spacer as a youngster, and eventually worked his way to become a dropship's mate. Then pirates happened, and Mr. Walker had two options: serve or walk the lock. He chose the latter, and was promoted for his willingness to embrace the new way of life.

Walker has worked some 20-odd years as a pirate captain, plying the space lanes in his dingy Mule. Like most pirates he's not really a full-time pirate. Most of his time is spent ferrying goods and people between the worlds of the Oberon Confederation and it's vassals. He has visited every world in the Confederacy, the greater Valkyrate and the Elysian Fields at least a dozen times, and knows well many places in the Deep and along the borders of the Commonwealth and the Combine. But when King Grimm calls upon his services, he will fill his dropship to raid the worlds of the inner Sphere for slaves, technology and valuables.

Capt. Walker is now eagerly serving the Black Wolf Lancers. He's not formally an employee, but he's doing his very best nonetheless. Perhaps he seeks to atone for his wicked deeds - or just make himself so useful he's not handed over to the Lyrans...

GM Notes: For some reason poor DROPSHIP Cpt. Walker was mixed up with JUMPSHIP Cpt. Greer during the Crater affair. No idea why, except shitty GM.

Cpt Walker is a colorful, minor NPC that could be worth keeping around, but could also be disposed of. He run a MULE-class dropship, and has firsthand knowledge of a great many worlds in this part of space.

Cpt. Greer is a pretty faceless jumpship captain (SHE is also actually a woman, Greer is her given name, a detail that seems to have slipped into the cracks). She's an experienced captain to be sure, but like most jumpship crew she rarely sets foot on a planet.

Somerset I is the sole habitable planet orbiting a orange K5V star of the same name. It is relatively Earth-like, despite the ruddy glare of its star. Time to jump is a mere 4.12 days at 1G, making the planet very accessible to traders. Somerset has a Class A HPG station, making is an important communications hub.

It has a long history of independence, but was eventually incorporated the the Rim Worlds Republic. It's also notable as the capital of one of the "Little Kingdoms" created during the 1st Succession War. It's House Uther Archonette is infamous for taking up arms against the Archon of the Commonwealth, which caused much suffering for the people of Somerset.

About 200 million people make their home on Somerset in year 3000. The planet is moderately prosperous. There is a fair bit of trade with the worlds of neighboring Coventry Province. Trade with the Periphery has slowed to a tickle as the Oberon Confederacy has grown in power and avarice.

Somerset is also the site of a small mechwarrior/ASF pilot academy, the such academy in the Trellshire. It may lack in both size and prestige, but it has strong roots and its graduates are proud of their education. Most graduates end up serving in various militia regiments or minor House guards.

Summary of events, assets and characters:

Arrive late Dec 3001
Find another jumpship close by, sail furled (ship has a defect fusion reactor and likes to keep sail out to generate power).
Ship boxed in and boarded.
Suspect pirate activity on planet.
5.5 day burn at 1-1.5G
Pirates gone, search of about 10 days
Pretend to leave, Katanas take enemy in ambush
Capture enemy dropships with battle suits
Heroes of Steelton
Jump out-system in late January 3002

Queen of the Rim, Merchant-class (2x2 slots)
Pirate (Oberon Confederacy)
Renamed Queen of Chesterton

Burn to Steelton

Union (armed): Mech carrier
Crusader
Hunch
Griff
Griff

SH-K
Cent
PH
PH

Assassin
FS
Stinger
Stinger

Mule: Loot carrier
Utility vehicles

Gazelle: Troop carrier/slave pen
1 coy pirate inf

Maj. Gen Gunnar Wald: Commander of the capital's regimental garrison.

Commander Tomas Wilhelm Grendel: Police/militia officer. Worked with the the Katanas during their previous visit.

Sgt Homer: Old pirate "solider".Claims to have served on the previous pirate king's guard. Caucasian. Old, balding, turning to fat - and with an eye patch. Claims to know every nook and cranny of Oberon VI - and the movers and shakers of the place (maybe he did, 20 years ago).

Cpt Walker: Eurafrican. In his 60s. Served on Periphery ships all his life. Past 20 years a pirate captain.

Benjamin: African. 14 yo mechwarrior wannabe.

Neira: Young pirate slave/prostitute.

All Black Wolf Lancers regiments and Yellow Katanas use the same rank structure. Due to early influences, ranks are sometimes referred to by their German names.

Mechwarrior/ASF Officer ranks

The Lancers are led by their mechwarriors – only mechwarrior officers have full command authority. Non-line officers (anything from supporting infantry to logistics) have command authority only over their own branch.

General-Oberst (Brigadier): Reserved for the Wolf himself. Note that the Wolf is also the commanding officer of the Wolf’s Own regiment.

Oberst (Colonel): Regimental commander/Katana commander. Natalia Chesterton has this as an honorary rank. Other current colonels are Satan and Takari.

Major: Battalion commander. Also regimental XO.

Hauptmann (Captain): Company commander. Also battalion XO. This rank is more often referred to by its English name.

Leutnant (Lieutenant): Lance commander. Also company XO.

Fähnrich (Sub-Lieutenant): Lance 2^nd in command/junior lieutenant (typically an officer-in-training). Not all lances will have an officer as 2^nd in command.

Mechwarrior/ASF NCO ranks

Not all mechwarriors have officer commissions. More than half are NCOs.

Sergeant Major (SMaj): Regimental senior NCO mechwarrior.

First Sergeant (1Sgt): Battalion senior NCO mechwarrior.

Master Sergeant (MSgt): Company’s most senior NCO mechwarrior. There is usually only one Master Sergeant per company, but veteran companies could have more.

Gunnery Sergeant (GSgt): Senior Mechwarrior. Mechwarriors with a degree of field experience and good conduct will be promoted to this rank.

Staff Sergeant (SSgt): Junior Mechwarrior. The lowest rank for active mechwarriors.

Sergeant (Sgt): Replacement mechwarrior. This rank is given to mechwarriors who have passed training/been hired, but have yet to qualify as combat pilots in a line lance.

Corporal: Mechwarrior-in-training. Rank is used for mechwarrior trainees (in the Cadre Company or elsewhere).

Lance Corporal: Not used for mechwarriors, support personnel only.

PFC: Not used for mechwarriors, support personnel only.

Private: Not used for mechwarriors, support personnel only.

Recruit: Not used for mechwarriors, support personnel only.

Tech ranks

Technical personnel are either enlisted or NCOs (the Chief mechtech grades). There are about 4 techs and astechs working on each mech/ASF when on deployment, plus additional tech in a communal pool used for heavy maintenance.

There will be technical officers leading the tech departments in the various regiments/battalions. The highest rank for a tech officer is Major, with heads regimental tech teams being Captains and battalion tech teams headed by Lieutenants.

Master Chief Mechtech: Senior NCO in charge of 1 company, master sergeant equivalent.

Senior Chief Mechtech: Senior NCO in charge of 1 lance, gunnery sergeant equivalent.

Chief Mechtech: NCO in charge of 1 mech, staff sergeant equivalent.

Mechtech 1^st Class: Senior experienced mechtech (enlisted), sergeant equivalent.

Mechtech 2^nd Class: Mechtech (enlisted), corporal equivalent.

Mechtech 3^rd Class: Junior mechtech (enlisted), lance corporal equivalent.

Astech 1^st Class: Senior astech (enlisted).

Astech 2^nd Class: Astech (enlisted).

Astech 3^rd Class: Junior astech (enlisted).

Support personnel ranks

Support personnel other than techs, such as logistics and security, use the same ranks as mechwarriors. They have command authority only within their own fields of responsibility. So the lieutenant in charge of security can’t boss around a mechwarrior sergeant – unless it’s got something to do with security. It’s not a complex as it sounds: Lancers know their areas of responsibility and there is minimal “inter service rivalry”.

Naval ranks

Dropship (and jumpship) crews follow standard naval ranks. With “Captain” being equal to both God and King, “Commander” being the captain’s henchman, and the rest of the ranks unimportant and unintelligible to ground-pounders (for example, a naval ‘Lieutenant’ supposedly is the same as a Captain of mechs… how confusing).

ASF Ranks

Like their naval counterparts, ASF pilots have weird rank titles. Their supreme leader is the Wing Commander, which supposedly is about the same as a Colonel of mechs. Below that are the Squadron Leaders attached to each regiment (Majors) and the Flight Leaders (Captains) in charge of battalion-level ASF assets. An ASF lance (2 fighters) is commanded by a Flight Lieutenant (same as a Lieutenant of mechs). His wingman could be a Flight Officer (Sub-Lieutenant) or an NCO (same ranks as mechwarriors).

Originally intended as the administrative center of the Trellshire province, the idea was quickly abandoned due to the backward nature of the planet and the harsh environmental conditions on the surface (some say it was the droll nature of the locals that sealed the deal). The name stems from a slurring of the words “Trell” and “One”.

Trellwan has a small population, just under one hundred million at last census (admittedly that was over a hundred years ago), divided between three primary locations, the capital of Sarghad being the most important. Other than some local tradition crafts, Trellwan has nothing to offer the wider galaxy in terms of exports. As a consequence, imports are also very limited – the planet lacks the C-bills needed to buy foreign goods in any quantity.

Trellwan’s central location in Trellshire and shallow gravity well (under three days thanks to its tiny M2V star) makes it a strategically valuable planet. The presence of an ancient Star league era fort (long since stripped to the bedrock) just outside Sarghad is an added benefit. At Takari’s urging its defense has been subcontracted to Carlyle’s Commandos, a small, but experienced merc company.

Key world in the rimward end of the Tamar Pact (that being Lyran region bordering the Combine). Although technically outside the borders of the Trellshire district, Sudenten is the de facto command post for this region. As part of the Archon’s “Doktrin der Umverteilung von Mech-Kerneinheiten auf entscheidende Schlachtfelder” (oft derided as “Concentrated Weakness”), Sudeten became a garrison planet for the Lancers (specifically the Wolf and Satan’s battalion).

Sudeten is a world of contrasts. Humans can live unprotected on the surface. The local flora and fauna are largely imported Terran stock. It has ample surface water (care should be taken to filter it before drinking as it contains some mildly toxic compounds), pleasant temperatures and a perfect gravity match. It’s also perpetually cloudy and windy, with little seasonal variation, and the ruddy glow of the distant K5V star isn’t enough to sustain standard crops (almost everything is greenhouse grown). Only a potent greenhouse effect keeps the planet warm enough to be generally habitable.

Time-to-jump is short, only a little over 4 days, making Sudenten very accessible – to trade and military activity alike. Almost two and a half billion people live on Sudenten, the majority of them across the heavily urbanizes east and west coast of the main continent, but almost all areas of the planet has some habitation.

Largely uncharted world in the Deep Periphery, some 290 light years beyond the Trellshire border (given the lack of recharging stations any trip there would take several months one way). Geologically stable, but unsuitable for human habitation. Used by the fleeing Wolves to cache the majority of their war gear. Equipment spread across several sites (underground storage facilities). There may be other planets with additional caches – only Natalia would know of sure.

Located in the Trellshire province of the Tamar Pact. Second world orbiting a Sol-like G0V world, Waldorff is very earthlike in all key parameters, such as gravity, atmospheric composition, temperature, axial tilt, and surface water. There is one moon, Nikolai, which ensures Waldorff has Earth-like tides and a stable axial tilt. Humans can live comfortably on the surface without protective gear. Planet has some native plant life, but all higher life-forms have been imported or geneered from Terran stock.

Time-to-jump is about 10.5 days at 1G burn. On paper it’s ruled by a Baron, currently one Wilhelm Truder, but in reality Commonwealth trading guilds run the place. Current population is approximately three quarters of a billion. The planet isn’t prosperous, but is sufficiently developed to support major urban centers, some local industry and interstellar trade. ComStar maintains a Class B facility on a small island just outside the capital.

Waldorff was chosen as a garrison planet for the Lancers (specifically for Princess’ battalion, but also a forward operating base for the Katanas). Later upgrade as a regimental base, with additional support from Steiner units.