Team Venom
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 | This article needs to be updated with material from Shrapnel Issue 16. Once these titles clear the Moratorium period, or if they already have, please consider revisiting this article and updating it with the new material. |
| Team Venom | |
| Affiliation | Mercenary |
| Parent Command | Independent |
Team Venom was a mercenary unit of unspecified size and composition.
History[edit]
During a raid against a Draconis Combine installation in early 3044, the unit was effectively wiped out save for a lone Commando that managed to board the evacuation DropShip before it lifted off with the recon data that had been the mission objective. Unit CO Colonel Holly Harris's Zeus was left behind and was destroyed in full view of the DropShip when the pickup zone was overrun by enemy BattleMechs, her 'Mech having been too slow to reach the DropShip in time before it had to lift off.
The DropShip arrived at Outreach on 10 May 3044.
The Commando pilot—implied by circumstantial evidence to be Grady Kiefer (see Notes below)—inherited the 'Mech and all funds in the unit's bank account. He continued to work as a mercenary, but it is unknown if he created a new unit around himself, rebuilt Team Venom, or joined another mercenary unit.
Officers[edit]
| Rank | Name | Command | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Commanding Officers of Team Venom | |||
| Colonel | Holly Harris | 3044 | |
Canonicity[edit]
Prior to the publication of Shrapnel issue 12, Team Venom had been mentioned exclusively in the intro sequence for the MechWarrior 2: Mercenaries computer game, which is an official BattleTech publication but does not meet the current criteria for Canon and must therefore be considered apocryphal at this time.
In Shrapnel issue 12, Eric Salzman's report Death to Mercenaries: Rhetoric vs. Reality identified Team Venom as one of the small mercenary units the Draconis Combine hired, under then-Kanrei Theodore Kurita, in the 3040s in contracts subsidized by ComStar and routed through Matabushi Incorporated to hide them from Coordinator Takashi Kurita and his supporters. This had the effect of canonizing Team Venom's existence as a unit, though not all the actions attributed to them in the game as outlined above.
Notes[edit]
- In the MechWarrior 2: Mercenaries computer game, the demise of Team Venom in the opening sequence provides the player with his own 'Mech and some funds, and thus the opportunity to run his own mercenary unit (and enable the economic metagame) instead of joining an existing mercenary command (and simply play through assigned combat missions). If the player elects to form his own unit, he is theoretically free to name it Team Venom though he is equally free to choose another name.
- Over the course of the game storyline, the player will enter the 3049 Solaris Games championship which was open to all comers, regardless of arena standing or ranking. The 3049 champion's name was given as Grady Kiefer in official canon.[1]
- The Team Venom Commando piloted by the player in the opening sequence and at the beginning of the game is identified as a COM-7X, a variant that had not previously been described and which remains apocryphal.
See also[edit]
References[edit]
- ↑ According to the Player Book in the Solaris VII: The Game World boxed set, p. 14 ("Champions of Solaris")
Bibliography[edit]
- MechWarrior 2: Mercenaries (video game)
- Shrapnel, Issue #12