Lost Boys
"I suppose it could be worse, we could be dealing with those Valkyriate people instead. They leave behind a lot more collateral damage. Still, if we ever got someone to deal with these raiders..."The band of raiders known to Lyran military intelligence as the "Lost Boys" have a long history of being a mild nuisance on the coreward Periphery border. There are records of raids on systems by this group over the last century and a half, in between other pirate raids from known powers. Little is known about their origins, only their capabilities and favored targets. Due to the location of their targets, away from the borders with other Successor States, they have encountered only lightly defended systems and the occasional militia unit. The targets are almost always agricultural centers for food, or storage centers for machines and spare parts. Where most pirates don't mind a bit of capture for ransom or slavery, the Lost Boys seem uninterested in this angle. Lastly, despite the name there have been women among the raiding parties.
Assets
The raiders are known to have access to a JumpShip and at least a pair of Leopard-class DropShips. Rumors say there is an additional cargo ship of some kind, but descriptions seem to indicate this could actually be one of the two known Leopards. Raiding groups have been composed of at most two lances of BattleMechs, one of which is composed of lighter ’Mechs and the other heavier units. There are also reports of light and medium tanks in use, matching the description of Scorpions and Vedettes. The leader is known to use a Zeus light-assault BattleMech, with reports being insufficient to determine the exact model. How the Lost Boys acquired it is anyone's guess, but possessing it puts them at a significant edge over militias in the coreward Periphery. Furthermore, it is believed the light BattleMechs in use are among the common designs referred to as "bug ’Mechs".
History
Spoilers for "A Time to Work" campaign
During the Succession Wars, many worlds vanished off maps due to becoming barren or otherwise uninteresting to those maintaining the maps. Some of these worlds were inhabited, possibly even requiring supplies from off-world to sustain themselves. Among these was Ambrose, a world which had barely started to be self-sufficient before everything became consumed in the fires of war. For a time, they were largely ignored by the ravages of war and had a chance to become stable. Then their luck changed abruptly.
The Second Succession War was an intense portion of the era, and it had been a handful of generations since contact with the rest of the Inner Sphere had been lost. A JumpShip from the Lyran Commonwealth suffered a misjump, mercifully less catastrophic than it could have been, and sought supplies on the planet. When faced with oblivious and ignorant people with no idea what to do, frustration won out over humanity. A company of BattleMechs and a platoon of infantry were dispatched to seize what was necessary.
Resistance started out as incapable of stopping the invasion, but soon solidified into a different tactic. Win or lose, the invaders were not going to get off the planet. Fighting those odds should have been suicide, but winning was thought of as a mere luxury by Ambrose's locals. Overconfidence by the Lyrans helped make matters easier, as they simply didn't expect the locals to fight back after being "pacified". In the end, everything including the JumpShip was seized and the soldiers were all executed after a token tribunal. The damage done, however, meant there was an even thinner margin of failure for the world's inhabitants. After two more generations, the population of Ambrose shrunk considerably and most of the older generations were lost. Along with much generational knowledge on how to operate machines or even effectively run farms for food. The younger generations had to learn it all the hard way, causing even more hardship, until a small group decided there was a far simpler way to handle their needs: they could take it from other systems nearby, until they got things handled again.
This was the genesis of the Lost Boys, using their captured BattleMechs, DropShips, and JumpShip to travel and seize what they needed from nearby systems. Sometimes they would wander further afield in search of spare parts or machines, but they operated on the principle of "don't take more than we need". A couple brushes with militia groups and mercenary garrisons drove the raiders to learn how to operate the heavier seized ’Mechs to make it less risky, making their raids far more effective even if it became less efficient. The current generation has come to rely on the raids, dropping the pretense of only doing them "as necessary" in the last decade. The raiders answer to new leadership known only as "Zeus" to intelligence reports, after the ’Mech they pilot. This leader has been eager to fight, and at a sign of resistance has been known to strike back without discretion and completely raze militia headquarters. It is only because of this escalation some elements of the Lyran Commonwealth Armed Forces are considering employing mercenaries for a "seek and destroy" contract against the Lost Boys.
The Second Succession War was an intense portion of the era, and it had been a handful of generations since contact with the rest of the Inner Sphere had been lost. A JumpShip from the Lyran Commonwealth suffered a misjump, mercifully less catastrophic than it could have been, and sought supplies on the planet. When faced with oblivious and ignorant people with no idea what to do, frustration won out over humanity. A company of BattleMechs and a platoon of infantry were dispatched to seize what was necessary.
Resistance started out as incapable of stopping the invasion, but soon solidified into a different tactic. Win or lose, the invaders were not going to get off the planet. Fighting those odds should have been suicide, but winning was thought of as a mere luxury by Ambrose's locals. Overconfidence by the Lyrans helped make matters easier, as they simply didn't expect the locals to fight back after being "pacified". In the end, everything including the JumpShip was seized and the soldiers were all executed after a token tribunal. The damage done, however, meant there was an even thinner margin of failure for the world's inhabitants. After two more generations, the population of Ambrose shrunk considerably and most of the older generations were lost. Along with much generational knowledge on how to operate machines or even effectively run farms for food. The younger generations had to learn it all the hard way, causing even more hardship, until a small group decided there was a far simpler way to handle their needs: they could take it from other systems nearby, until they got things handled again.
This was the genesis of the Lost Boys, using their captured BattleMechs, DropShips, and JumpShip to travel and seize what they needed from nearby systems. Sometimes they would wander further afield in search of spare parts or machines, but they operated on the principle of "don't take more than we need". A couple brushes with militia groups and mercenary garrisons drove the raiders to learn how to operate the heavier seized ’Mechs to make it less risky, making their raids far more effective even if it became less efficient. The current generation has come to rely on the raids, dropping the pretense of only doing them "as necessary" in the last decade. The raiders answer to new leadership known only as "Zeus" to intelligence reports, after the ’Mech they pilot. This leader has been eager to fight, and at a sign of resistance has been known to strike back without discretion and completely raze militia headquarters. It is only because of this escalation some elements of the Lyran Commonwealth Armed Forces are considering employing mercenaries for a "seek and destroy" contract against the Lost Boys.
Homeworld
Ambrose
Leader
"Zeus"
Ambrose
Leader
"Zeus"
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