Difference between revisions of "Bounty Hunter"
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The actual origin of the Bounty Hunter persona is unknown. | The actual origin of the Bounty Hunter persona is unknown. | ||
| − | === | + | ===Early History=== |
| − | + | Though no one knows for sure when he started, the first stories of the Bounty Hunter emerged in the 2920s when a masked individual piloting a green ''[[Warhammer]]'' attracted fame for hunting down some of the most infamous MechWarriors of the time - most frequently dead. No one ever found out his name, but he quickly gained wealth and glory by cashing in several high value bounties on some of the most elite and notorious MechWarriors operating at that time. Stories of this man defeating entire [[battalion]]s single handed seem questionable, but the most famous albeit unconfirmed tale of this first Bounty Hunter saw him reportedly bring in the bodies of twenty-nine men who robbed a bank on [[El Giza]], collecting millions in bounties offered by [[House Humphreys]] and making even more when he sold their BattleMechs. <ref name=BDTBH-4>''BattleTech Dossiers: The Bounty Hunter'', pp. 4-5 "History"</ref> <ref name=IP-84>''Interstellar Players'', pp 84-86 "The Bounty Hunter - The Myth"</ref> | |
| − | + | The man with the green ''Warhammer'' would disappear from public view after collecting the El Giza bounties, purportedly retiring immediately afterwards, until three decades later in [[2957]] when a man (or possibly even a woman) either in an environment suit or full [[Star League]] [[MechWarrior Combat Suit]] piloting a green ''Warhammer'' appeared to claim the bounties on a group of pirates that had been preying worlds in the [[Principality of Regulus]]. For the next two decades the Bounty Hunter as he or she now became formally known would travel across the Inner Sphere and Periphery seemingly at random but more specifically tracking down some of highest bounties of the time, again most often dead. The volume of stories and rumors about the Bounty Hunter would also start to dramatically increase too as a number of copycats would attempt to cash in on the Bounty Hunter's reputation and anonymity.<ref name=BDTBH-4/> <ref name=IP-84/> | |
| − | + | The second Bounty Hunter would also initially operate solo as before, but by the 2980s the Bounty Hunter had begun using a variety of BattleMechs other than his trademark green ''Warhammer'' and had started to operate with a team of fellow MechWarriors to assist him in taking down more lucrative contracts. Initially these teams were ad-hoc formations that the Bounty Hunter hired as needed, but by the 2990s they had become a more formalized part of his operation, with four to six associates accompanying the Bounty Hunter in the same 'Mechs all using the same green paint scheme he did.<ref name=BDTBH-4/> <ref name=IP-84/> | |
| − | |||
| − | This was the | + | This change in behavior was assumed to be an indication of another individual taking up the mantle of the Bounty Hunter, it was also around this time that the Bounty Hunter's image began to darken, as rather than continuing to target notorious MechWarrior branded criminals he started to accept contracts merely for those warriors whose bounties were especially high, eventually accepting contracts to take out anybody - be they prominent [[general]]s, scientists, engineers and business men - not merely MechWarriors. Those who looked up to the Bounty Hunter as a noble folk hero, the one man able to bring the worst criminals to justice, now reviled him as a mere profit-driven [[mercenary]], and worse the Bounty Hunter seemed to embrace it, adopting his now trademark practice of painting monetary symbols on his 'Mech as if to confirm his one true loyalty.<ref name=BDTBH-4/> <ref name=IP-84/> |
| − | + | The stories and rumors around the Bounty Hunter changed from noble adventures to tales of a man arguably worse than those he tracked. One of the earliest stories of this incarnation of the Bounty Hunter portrayed him and his team landing on the [[Federated Suns]] world of [[Markesan]] in [[2996]], killing two [[Armed Forces of the Federated Suns]] generals and numerous others who stood in their way. While making their way to the [[Draconis Combine]] to claim their bounties and carrying a large volume of AFFS 'Mechs as salvage, they slipped onto [[Le Blanc]] where they convinced a new and untested mercenary unit to give them safe passage to the Combine in return for arranging a contract with the [[Draconis Combine Mustered Soldiery]]. But as soon as they had safely entered Combine space, the Bounty Hunter and his team killed everyone belonging to the hapless mercenary unit, selling their 'Mechs and even their [[DropShip]].<ref name=BDTBH-4/> <ref name=IP-84/> | |
| − | |||
| − | On 8 October 3030, they ambushed agent Panati, whom Noketsuna held responsible for the bombing on [[Barlow's End]] that had maimed Minobu Tetsuhara, in the city of Deber on [[Benjamin]]. Incidentally, they captured [[Theodore Kurita]] in the process. Kurita accepted Noketsuna's claim for vendetta and allowed him to kill Panati, recruiting Noketsuna to help protect the [[Draconis Combine]] from the nascent [[Federated Commonwealth]] in the process. On that night, Noketsuna turned over the Bounty Hunter tradition, 'Mech, armor and log to his lancemate Vic Travers, while Rand and Fraser decided to follow Theodore Kurita into service for the [[Draconis Combine]].<ref>''Heir to the Dragon'', chapters 39-40</ref> | + | For the next twenty years the Bounty Hunter seemed to make sport playing the Great Houses against each other, this focus on playing upon the ambitions of nobility may be an indication of another change in person using the identity. In [[2998]]-[[2999]] numerous stories abound in the [[Free Worlds League]] of the Bounty Hunter tracking down officers and popular MechWarriors, presenting their heads a proof to then-[[Colonel]] [[Katrina Steiner]] before in [[3005]] he had apparently turned on the [[Lyran Commonwealth]] to hunt Lyran nobles, politicians and generals. Around this time the Bounty Hunter was also alleged to have taken alternating contracts with the Federated Suns and [[Capellan Confederation]] to kill or kidnap notable individuals on both sides of the border, always one-upping his own deeds at the request of the side he had just targeted.<ref name=BDTBH-4/> <ref name=IP-84/> |
| + | |||
| + | ===Natasha Kerensky's Nemesis=== | ||
| + | Arguably one of the most infamous stories in his legacy is the Bounty Hunter's bitter feud with the Black Widow - [[Natasha Kerensky]]. | ||
| + | |||
| + | In June of [[3014]] during the [[Marik Civil War (31st c.)|Marik Civil War]], the Bounty Hunter operated alongside [[Wolf's Dragoons]] on [[Nova Roma]] to hunt down [[Janos Marik]]-loyalists. During a mop-up operation following the conquest of the planet he signaled to Natasha Kerensky (then a regular [[Lieutenant]] with the Dragoons [[Beta Regiment]]) that a certain ravine in the Dawn River region which he had inspected was safe. When Kerensky's [[lance]] entered, they were ambushed and destroyed by enemy forces and Kerensky had to eject, being knocked unconscious. The remains of her unit–namely her ''[[Marauder]]''–were salvaged by the Bounty Hunter who went on to use her 'Mech as his new signature 'Mech.<ref>''Brush Wars'', p. 20</ref> With only one member of her lance, [[Colin MacLaren]] suriving the ambush, this began a long and bitter personal feud between Kerensky and the Bounty Hunter. Kerensky would somehow claim the Bounty Hunter's ''Warhammer'' as her own in the wake of this incident.<ref name=BDTBH-4/> <ref name=IP-84/> | ||
| + | |||
| + | They clashed again on [[Le Blanc]] around [[3024]].<ref>''Tales of the Black Widow Company'', pp. 30, 31</ref><ref>''Wolves on the Border'', p. 197</ref> Full details of this engagement are not understood, but reportedly [[Duke]] [[Michael Hasek-Davion]] led Kerensky into a trap laid by the Bounty Hunter, reportedly as part of a scheme to use a captured Kerensky as leverage to force the Dragoons to sign on with Hasek-Davion. The ambush ultimately failed, but not before the Bounty Hunter killed two of Kerensky's MechWarriors out of sheer spite.<ref name=BDTBH-4/> <ref name=IP-84/> | ||
| + | |||
| + | The final meeting between them both amazingly saw them temporarily allying on [[Benet III]] in 3027 when their respective employers — Kerensky working for the Combine and the Bounty Hunter working for the FedSuns — left them both without support on a planet full of enemies. Against the expectations of many they set aside their animosity to join forces and left the world together, though their blood vendetta never cooled. The Bounty Hunter disappeared from public view following Benet III, though rumors insist he fought as a free agent throughout the [[Fourth Succession War]] accepting contracts from each of the Great Houses at various times.<ref name=BDTBH-4/> <ref name=IP-84/> | ||
| + | |||
| + | ===Michi Noketsuna's Vendetta=== | ||
| + | Following the Fourth Succession War, the identity of the Bounty Hunter passed to [[Michi Noketsuna]] in his quest for vengeance against [[Warlord]] [[Grieg Samsonov]] for the betrayal of [[Minobu Tetsuhara]] and Wolf's Dragoons. How Noketsuna claimed the identity is unknown, with suggestions either he met the previous Bounty Hunter and his associate [[Vic Travers]] at some point during the Fourth Succession War or that the Dragoons killed the previous holder and bequeathed the Bounty Hunter's identity and attendant equipment to Noketsuna, whose for quest for vengeance fell squarely in the Dragoons' agenda after the battle on [[Misery]] and the Fourth Succession War and that was undertaken with the Dragoons' blessing and the assistance of [[Dechan Fraser]] and [[Jenette Rand]] from mid-[[3028]] onwards.<ref>''Historical: War of 3039'', p. 25</ref> <ref name=BDTBH-6>''BattleTech Dossiers: The Bounty Hunter'', p. 6 "Unit Profile - Vic Travers"</ref> | ||
| + | |||
| + | Accompanied by Vic Travers (piloting an ''Orion'', possibly the same one that had been with the Bounty Hunter on Benet III), Dechan Fraser (piloting a ''Shadow Hawk''), and Jenette Rand (piloting a ''[[Dervish]]''), Noketsuna embarked on his vendetta under the Bounty Hunter identity. On 10 January [[3030]] he and Fraser delivered Samsonov's severed head to [[Tomiko Tetsuhara]], who however refused the gift and suggested her late husband's father might appreciate it<ref>''Heir to the Dragon'', chapter 37</ref> (though as it turned out, [[Minoru Tetsuhara]] did not approve of Noketsuna's vendetta either). | ||
| + | |||
| + | On 8 October 3030, they ambushed agent Panati, whom Noketsuna held responsible for the bombing on [[Barlow's End]] that had maimed Minobu Tetsuhara, in the city of Deber on [[Benjamin]]. Incidentally, they captured [[Theodore Kurita]] in the process. Kurita accepted Noketsuna's claim for vendetta and allowed him to kill Panati, recruiting Noketsuna to help protect the [[Draconis Combine]] from the nascent [[Federated Commonwealth]] in the process. On that night, Noketsuna turned over the Bounty Hunter's "tradition", 'Mech, armor and log to his lancemate Vic Travers, while Rand and Fraser decided to follow Theodore Kurita into service for the [[Draconis Combine]].<ref>''Heir to the Dragon'', chapters 39-40</ref> | ||
===Vic Travers=== | ===Vic Travers=== | ||
Revision as of 17:55, 10 November 2018
 | This article needs to be updated with material from BattleTech Dossiers: The Bounty Hunter, Interstellar Players, Masters and Minions: The StarCorps Dossiers, Record Sheets: 3085 Unabridged — Old is the New New, Technical Readout: 3145 Capellan Confederation, Mercenaries Supplemental II. Once these titles clear the Moratorium period, or if they already have, please consider revisiting this article and updating it with the new material. |
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The Bounty Hunter is a mysterious figure who first appeared in the late 2900s. He (or she) always appeared to wear a fairly uncommon, and often thought to be an experimental, PA(L) (Power Armor - Light) suit. Its design, while heavily modified, was based off of the five Great Houses' special operations groups (SOG) suits whose designs were available only in limited numbers or thought to be LosTech to the majority of the military and mercenary units.[citation needed] The idea was that the suit obscured the wearer's identity enough to allow this mysterious figure to take on contracts of well known notorious criminals, who were more often than not brought back dead.
Contents
General Description
Always a MechWarrior, the Bounty Hunter piloted a variety of BattleMechs, typically leading a BattleMech lance. His 'Mechs were invariably painted a bright green with currency symbols on it, a feared sight on the battlefield, and often custom-modified, allowing for his or her PA(L) armor to be worn while piloting to further conceal the pilot's identity.
The Bounty Hunter had been active for close to a century, leading to speculation that the PA(L) suit, the modified 'Mechs that he piloted, and even the mysterious mythos surrounding the individual were passed from person to person via the death or retirement of the former MechWarrior whose personified him. Known people to have been the Bounty Hunter were Michi Noketsuna and Vic Travers, who inherited the equipment, as well as an ancient book referred to as "the tradition".[1] Travers eventually passed the legacy on to one of his aides going by the name of Walt Urizeman, though that name is held to be just one of the man's several fake identities.
The "Bounty Hunter" legend was the topic of a hero team-style tri-vid show called "The Bounty Hunters". Though tapping into the Bounty Hunter's reputation, the producers instead developed their own mythos almost completely unrelated to the real person. The popularity of the series was such that many people in the Inner Sphere cannot separate the fiction of the holovid from the reality of the true Bounty Hunter.[2]
History
The "Bounty Hunter" is an identity rather than a single individual, which is often suspected but not generally known for a fact within the BattleTech universe.
The actual origin of the Bounty Hunter persona is unknown.
Early History
Though no one knows for sure when he started, the first stories of the Bounty Hunter emerged in the 2920s when a masked individual piloting a green Warhammer attracted fame for hunting down some of the most infamous MechWarriors of the time - most frequently dead. No one ever found out his name, but he quickly gained wealth and glory by cashing in several high value bounties on some of the most elite and notorious MechWarriors operating at that time. Stories of this man defeating entire battalions single handed seem questionable, but the most famous albeit unconfirmed tale of this first Bounty Hunter saw him reportedly bring in the bodies of twenty-nine men who robbed a bank on El Giza, collecting millions in bounties offered by House Humphreys and making even more when he sold their BattleMechs. [3] [4]
The man with the green Warhammer would disappear from public view after collecting the El Giza bounties, purportedly retiring immediately afterwards, until three decades later in 2957 when a man (or possibly even a woman) either in an environment suit or full Star League MechWarrior Combat Suit piloting a green Warhammer appeared to claim the bounties on a group of pirates that had been preying worlds in the Principality of Regulus. For the next two decades the Bounty Hunter as he or she now became formally known would travel across the Inner Sphere and Periphery seemingly at random but more specifically tracking down some of highest bounties of the time, again most often dead. The volume of stories and rumors about the Bounty Hunter would also start to dramatically increase too as a number of copycats would attempt to cash in on the Bounty Hunter's reputation and anonymity.[3] [4]
The second Bounty Hunter would also initially operate solo as before, but by the 2980s the Bounty Hunter had begun using a variety of BattleMechs other than his trademark green Warhammer and had started to operate with a team of fellow MechWarriors to assist him in taking down more lucrative contracts. Initially these teams were ad-hoc formations that the Bounty Hunter hired as needed, but by the 2990s they had become a more formalized part of his operation, with four to six associates accompanying the Bounty Hunter in the same 'Mechs all using the same green paint scheme he did.[3] [4]
This change in behavior was assumed to be an indication of another individual taking up the mantle of the Bounty Hunter, it was also around this time that the Bounty Hunter's image began to darken, as rather than continuing to target notorious MechWarrior branded criminals he started to accept contracts merely for those warriors whose bounties were especially high, eventually accepting contracts to take out anybody - be they prominent generals, scientists, engineers and business men - not merely MechWarriors. Those who looked up to the Bounty Hunter as a noble folk hero, the one man able to bring the worst criminals to justice, now reviled him as a mere profit-driven mercenary, and worse the Bounty Hunter seemed to embrace it, adopting his now trademark practice of painting monetary symbols on his 'Mech as if to confirm his one true loyalty.[3] [4]
The stories and rumors around the Bounty Hunter changed from noble adventures to tales of a man arguably worse than those he tracked. One of the earliest stories of this incarnation of the Bounty Hunter portrayed him and his team landing on the Federated Suns world of Markesan in 2996, killing two Armed Forces of the Federated Suns generals and numerous others who stood in their way. While making their way to the Draconis Combine to claim their bounties and carrying a large volume of AFFS 'Mechs as salvage, they slipped onto Le Blanc where they convinced a new and untested mercenary unit to give them safe passage to the Combine in return for arranging a contract with the Draconis Combine Mustered Soldiery. But as soon as they had safely entered Combine space, the Bounty Hunter and his team killed everyone belonging to the hapless mercenary unit, selling their 'Mechs and even their DropShip.[3] [4]
For the next twenty years the Bounty Hunter seemed to make sport playing the Great Houses against each other, this focus on playing upon the ambitions of nobility may be an indication of another change in person using the identity. In 2998-2999 numerous stories abound in the Free Worlds League of the Bounty Hunter tracking down officers and popular MechWarriors, presenting their heads a proof to then-Colonel Katrina Steiner before in 3005 he had apparently turned on the Lyran Commonwealth to hunt Lyran nobles, politicians and generals. Around this time the Bounty Hunter was also alleged to have taken alternating contracts with the Federated Suns and Capellan Confederation to kill or kidnap notable individuals on both sides of the border, always one-upping his own deeds at the request of the side he had just targeted.[3] [4]
Natasha Kerensky's Nemesis
Arguably one of the most infamous stories in his legacy is the Bounty Hunter's bitter feud with the Black Widow - Natasha Kerensky.
In June of 3014 during the Marik Civil War, the Bounty Hunter operated alongside Wolf's Dragoons on Nova Roma to hunt down Janos Marik-loyalists. During a mop-up operation following the conquest of the planet he signaled to Natasha Kerensky (then a regular Lieutenant with the Dragoons Beta Regiment) that a certain ravine in the Dawn River region which he had inspected was safe. When Kerensky's lance entered, they were ambushed and destroyed by enemy forces and Kerensky had to eject, being knocked unconscious. The remains of her unit–namely her Marauder–were salvaged by the Bounty Hunter who went on to use her 'Mech as his new signature 'Mech.[5] With only one member of her lance, Colin MacLaren suriving the ambush, this began a long and bitter personal feud between Kerensky and the Bounty Hunter. Kerensky would somehow claim the Bounty Hunter's Warhammer as her own in the wake of this incident.[3] [4]
They clashed again on Le Blanc around 3024.[6][7] Full details of this engagement are not understood, but reportedly Duke Michael Hasek-Davion led Kerensky into a trap laid by the Bounty Hunter, reportedly as part of a scheme to use a captured Kerensky as leverage to force the Dragoons to sign on with Hasek-Davion. The ambush ultimately failed, but not before the Bounty Hunter killed two of Kerensky's MechWarriors out of sheer spite.[3] [4]
The final meeting between them both amazingly saw them temporarily allying on Benet III in 3027 when their respective employers — Kerensky working for the Combine and the Bounty Hunter working for the FedSuns — left them both without support on a planet full of enemies. Against the expectations of many they set aside their animosity to join forces and left the world together, though their blood vendetta never cooled. The Bounty Hunter disappeared from public view following Benet III, though rumors insist he fought as a free agent throughout the Fourth Succession War accepting contracts from each of the Great Houses at various times.[3] [4]
Michi Noketsuna's Vendetta
Following the Fourth Succession War, the identity of the Bounty Hunter passed to Michi Noketsuna in his quest for vengeance against Warlord Grieg Samsonov for the betrayal of Minobu Tetsuhara and Wolf's Dragoons. How Noketsuna claimed the identity is unknown, with suggestions either he met the previous Bounty Hunter and his associate Vic Travers at some point during the Fourth Succession War or that the Dragoons killed the previous holder and bequeathed the Bounty Hunter's identity and attendant equipment to Noketsuna, whose for quest for vengeance fell squarely in the Dragoons' agenda after the battle on Misery and the Fourth Succession War and that was undertaken with the Dragoons' blessing and the assistance of Dechan Fraser and Jenette Rand from mid-3028 onwards.[8] [9]
Accompanied by Vic Travers (piloting an Orion, possibly the same one that had been with the Bounty Hunter on Benet III), Dechan Fraser (piloting a Shadow Hawk), and Jenette Rand (piloting a Dervish), Noketsuna embarked on his vendetta under the Bounty Hunter identity. On 10 January 3030 he and Fraser delivered Samsonov's severed head to Tomiko Tetsuhara, who however refused the gift and suggested her late husband's father might appreciate it[10] (though as it turned out, Minoru Tetsuhara did not approve of Noketsuna's vendetta either).
On 8 October 3030, they ambushed agent Panati, whom Noketsuna held responsible for the bombing on Barlow's End that had maimed Minobu Tetsuhara, in the city of Deber on Benjamin. Incidentally, they captured Theodore Kurita in the process. Kurita accepted Noketsuna's claim for vendetta and allowed him to kill Panati, recruiting Noketsuna to help protect the Draconis Combine from the nascent Federated Commonwealth in the process. On that night, Noketsuna turned over the Bounty Hunter's "tradition", 'Mech, armor and log to his lancemate Vic Travers, while Rand and Fraser decided to follow Theodore Kurita into service for the Draconis Combine.[11]
Vic Travers
During Vic Travers's tenure the Bounty Hunter apparently actively engaged in eliminating his competition. Though in one instance he would "buy off" the Cursorial Hunt bounty hunting group in 3044, making a payment in public wearing his full armor, many others suffered violent ends such as the fate of the Meticulous Pursuit mercenary team.[9] In 3034, the Bounty Hunter reportedly hunted down and killed freelance MechWarrior/bounty hunter Dale Sandstrom over a competition for a contract.[12] In 3047 Isabella "the Hyena" Cygnus, who had taken to advertising herself as the "new Bounty Hunter", was executed by Travers in rather public and brutal fashion for stealing his "shtick".[9]
In 3045 the Bounty Hunter brazenly landed on the Draconis Combine world of Marduk in pursuit of Tai-i Rej Mori of the defending Sixth Benjamin Regulars. Expertly timed and grounding less than a kilometer from a Sixth company led by Mori engaged in a training exercise, the Bounty Hunter demanded his surrender only for Mori to show his true colors and flee. Unfortunately he ran into the waiting clutches of "Sheridan's Ghost". Mori was unable to land a shot on the nimble Wasp which eventually destroyed his Dragon's rear armor and gyro, blending back into the forest as the rest of the Bounty Hunter's team defeated Mori's company and picked up the war criminal for transport to the Federated Commonwealth.[13]
Sometime during the fighting on Kathil during the FedCom Civil War, the Bounty Hunter recruited an infamous MechWarrior named Rebekah into his team, a former warrior with McCarron's Armored Cavalry.[14]
In May 3067 Vic Travers [15] undertook a successful and highly lucrative mission on Solaris VII that he considered to be possibly his last mission, intending to hand the legacy over to "Walt Urizeman" (whose real name remains unknown; Walt Urizeman is just one of several aliases the man used). Travers had already been grooming Urizeman as his successor for some time.
Later in 3067 Vic Travers accepted what he considered a fitting last contract for his tenure as the Bounty Hunter; hired by George Hasek to capture Kai Allard-Liao alive. Recognizing he would need some form of leverage in order to force the Duke of St. Ives to expose himself for capture, the Bounty Hunter learned that a Fernando Calvin was a childhood friend of Kai's young daughter Melissa Allard-Liao, and that Fernando's father Hector Calvin was the commander of the Calvin's Cuirassiers mercenary unit garrisoning the Federated Suns world of Perkasie. On 11 January 3068, with his associates drawing out the local defenders with a strike against the Water Purification Plant 51, the Bounty Hunter ambushed and defeated the Cuirassiers single handed to capture Hector and learn the location of his son. [16] [17] [18]
Information supplied by Fernando allowed the Bounty Hunter's team to pinpoint Melissa Allard-Liao's safe house in Tian-tan on St. Ives, the teenage girl attending a normal school under an false identity. Launching a swift and brutal attack to capture her on 25 June 3068, the Bounty Hunter and his team terminated all guards on site, and spirited Melissa away under sedation. [19] While the Maskirovka sought to find out the culprits, that same day the Bounty Hunter personally confronted a battlion from the First St. Ives Lancers led by Kai Allard-Liao, calling upon Kai to face him in single combat to secure the safe return of his daughter. To the surprise of Lancer MechWarriors watching the epic duel between the two greatest MechWarriors in the Inner Sphere at the time, the Duke of St. Ives lost, the Bounty Hunter claiming his prize and leaving the system unharmed as Kai had agreed, releasing Melissa once he had safely left the system.[20]
Walt Urizeman
By 3072 "Walt Urizeman" had taken over after Vic Travers.[21] In the employ of Chandrasekhar Kurita, he tracked down Victoria Parrdeau on Dalton to obtain her journal, and tangled with Specter Precentor Sigma Berith over its possession.[22]
Still in Chandrasekhar Kurita's employ, the Bounty Hunter was present on Arcturus for Operation Higashikuni, and instrumental in saving his employer from the Word of Blake attack in 3073.
Dark Age
During October/November 3133 the Bounty Hunter landed on Irian and quickly engaged the Clan Leaders of the Spirit Cats and Steel Wolf forces that were leading the assault against the Dragon's Fury, defeating them both. After that fight both Clan forces left the planet.[23] It cannot be confirmed for whom he was working at that time. Both Bannson's Raiders, who appeared quickly afterwards and laid siege of the IrTech installations, and Katana Tormark whose opposition was thus taken out (and who might not have expected Bannson's Raiders to show up afterwards) are possible candidates.[citation needed]
The Bounty Hunter continued in active duty throughout the Dark Age. His incarnation was a man named Michi Fraser at one point, who was discovered and murdered. However, even his killer could not discover if Michi Fraser was his real name or only an alias, though the latter option seems more likely. The killer took the name and identity, becoming maybe the most infamous Bounty Hunter incarnation. Named Jonathan, he took the Bounty Hunter's identity as part of a plot by his brother Marcus, one of the richest persons in the Inner Sphere, to approach to Katana Tormark and kill her. Jonathan was a talented MechWarrior and fighter, lethal with any weapon and even his bare hands, an excellent cook, and a master hacker. However, he was also a psychopath and cold blooded killer who enjoyed torturing and killing, specially women, just for fun. He quickly murdered eight people, including three ISF agents, decapitating the last and sending the head to ISF director Ramadeep Bhatia.
Wearing the Bounty Hunter armour, Jonathan infiltrated the Dragon's Fury headquarters on Proserpina but did not kill Katana Tormark, instead warning her about the inminent invasion of the Republic by Warlord Sakamoto in search for her group to destroy it, before leaving.
The Bounty Hunter then fought with the Dragon's Fury in the battle of Ancha, downing three fighters, though he actually only fought to win the trust of Katana's people and murder her partner, Antonia Chinn. However, Chinn was killed in battle before he could kill her. Enraged by the casualty, Crawford, his superior in the group, ordered the Bounty Hunter to hit Warlord Sakamoto, and Jonathan left on this new assignment. After infiltrating in the Draconis Combine as a wounded aerospace pilot, he managed to become Sakamoto's personal new cook.
The Warlord would die in a combat drop on Saffel. The Bounty Hunter fought in the same battle on Saffel, at the controls of a Panther BattleMech after killing and replacing his original pilot.
When Marcus accused his brother to have fallen in love with Katana Tormark, Jonathan responded by killing his brother.
Battlemechs
Immediately prior to stealing Natasha Kerensky's original Marauder in 3014, the Bounty Hunter piloted a Griffin.
Kerensky's Marauder subsequently became the Bounty Hunter's signature 'Mech of choice between 3014 and the Clan Invasion. (Conversely, her signature Warhammer is sometimes said to be the Bounty Hunter's original 'Mech, but there is no evidence to support this claim, nor even that the Bounty Hunter ever actually piloted a Warhammer.) The Bounty Hunter later piloted a Mad Cat and by the time of the Jihad had switched to a Marauder II. He felt that the Mad Cat had been too expensive to maintain.
The Marauder II is still used by the Bounty Hunter as of 3134, where he piloted it in the Ancha battle and then left it behind during his mission to murder Warlord Sakamoto. Over the course of this mission, he took a Panther to assume the identity of its former pilot; this 'Mech was thus not painted in the usual fashion. It is implied that the Bounty Hunter intended to reclaim his Marauder II after the mission.
Bounty Hunter Gallery
- BountyHunterPA.JPG
The Bounty Hunter in his Power Armor
- BountyHunterMarauder.JPG
The Bounty Hunter beside his custom Marauder II
References
- ↑ Heir to the Dragon
- ↑ Interstellar Players, pp. 83-84, "The Bounty Hunter - Mindless Entertainment to Unmitigated Drek"
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 3.6 3.7 3.8 BattleTech Dossiers: The Bounty Hunter, pp. 4-5 "History"
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 4.5 4.6 4.7 4.8 Interstellar Players, pp 84-86 "The Bounty Hunter - The Myth"
- ↑ Brush Wars, p. 20
- ↑ Tales of the Black Widow Company, pp. 30, 31
- ↑ Wolves on the Border, p. 197
- ↑ Historical: War of 3039, p. 25
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 BattleTech Dossiers: The Bounty Hunter, p. 6 "Unit Profile - Vic Travers"
- ↑ Heir to the Dragon, chapter 37
- ↑ Heir to the Dragon, chapters 39-40
- ↑ Technical Readout: 3039, p. 116 "BattleMechs - Medium 'Mechs - ASN-21 Assassin"
- ↑ Combat Manual: Kurita, p. 94 "Rules Annex - Technical Readout - WSP-1A Wasp"
- ↑ Technical Readout: 3055 Upgrade, p. 62
- ↑ A Guy Walks Into a Bar on Solaris VII...
- ↑ BattleTech Dossiers: The Bounty Hunter, p. 3 "Indirect Axquisition"
- ↑ BattleTech Dossiers: The Bounty Hunter, p. 11 "Missions - Don't Make it Personal"
- ↑ BattleTech Dossiers: The Bounty Hunter, p. 12 "Missions - I Have A Question"
- ↑ BattleTech Dossiers: The Bounty Hunter, pp. 13-14 "Missions - Means To An End"
- ↑ BattleTech Dossiers: The Bounty Hunter, p. 15 "Missions - You'll Accept My Offer"
- ↑ Jihad Secrets: The Blake Documents pp. 7-8
- ↑ Jihad Secrets: The Blake Documents pp. 4-14
- ↑ Turning Points: Irian, p. 9
Bibliography
- A Guy Walks Into a Bar on Solaris VII...
- Historical: Brush Wars
- Heir to the Dragon
- Historical: War of 3039
- Interstellar Players
- Jihad Secrets: The Blake Documents
- Tales of the Black Widow Company
- Technical Readout: 3039
- Technical Readout: 3055 Upgrade
- Turning Points: Arcturus
- Wolf's Dragoons
- Wolves on the Border