Tempest Stryker

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An infamous deep-cover agent and black-ops team leader, Tempest Stryker (B. 30?? - D. 31 October 3081) was a senior officer in ComStar Intelligence who operated under the code-name of "Damocles".

Biography

Little information is available about Stryker's formative years or early service in ComStar, save he had claimed to have served in Blake's Wrath, ROM's fearsome special forces unit, and at the time of the Battle of Tukayyid and Operation Scorpion that he was on special assignment in the Clan Occupation Zones.

Project Phoenix

On August 1, 3067, Stryker sent a confidential message to his long-time associate, Precentor ROM Victoria Parrdeau.

In this message, Stryker states the following facts and his personal opinions:

• Stryker was a harsh critic of former Precentor Martial Anastasius Focht. Stryker blamed Focht for inciting the FedCom Civil War and also criticized Focht for being obsessed with fighting the Clans during the Battle of Tukayyid, Operation Bulldog and Operation Serpent.

• The Marian Hegemony attempted to conquer the Circinus Federation in 3064.

• Primus Myndo Waterly gave Star League-era BattleMechs to the Draconis Combine during the War of 3039.

• Stryker despised the Word of Blake and had a few conspiracy theories about the Blakists:

1. The Circinus Federation obtained technology and blueprints for several Star League-era 'Mechs that were allegedly redesigned by the Word of Blake, which helped the Federation prevent the takeover of their nation by the Marian Hegemony.

2. The technology given to the Federation was not only Star League-era, but also included innovations exclusive to the Capellan Confederation, which has known ties to the Word of Blake.

3. Giovanni Estrella de la Sangre, planetary governor of Demeter and CEO of Vicore Industries, was strongly suspected of being a Blakist collaborator. The refitted Blakist 'Mechs are identical to those designed by Vicore, as part of De La Sangre's "Project Phoenix" initative, which he sold to several Inner Sphere manufacturers such as Defiance Industries, Earthwerks Incorporated and General Motors.

As part of Project Phoenix, Stryker also penned a report for Precentor ROM Parrdeau outlining known non-State supported intelligence and terrorist organizations such as the Nekakami, the Omniss, Free Capella, the Free Skye Movement, Black Dragons, Heimdall, the Zhanzheng de guang and Thuggees which the Word was apparently attempting to court to aid their efforts in the Chaos March. The report also detailed the what little info Stryker had uncovered by that point about the Manei Domini, though he openly admitted much of it was circumstantial.

On some date prior to September 3067, Stryker and his team received another assignment from Precentor ROM Parrdeau dealing with Project Phoenix. After infiltrating Blakist held Epsilon Eridani and bases that appeared to be manned by First Division, Stryker discovered they were training Thuggee recruits at the behest of Sixth of June, believing this indicated that Kali Liao controlled the Sixth of June alongside Cameron St. Jamais. As Stryker's team pulled out, they stumbled upon a 'Mech bay containing Phoenix upgrades of the Grand Crusader, Raijin and Nexus, their computer cores indicating they were outright developed by Vicore for the Blakist factories on Terra.

Finally making it to their extraction zone, Stryker and his team walked into an ambush. While losing two members, Stryker's team succeeded in defeating their attackers, only to discover their elimination had been ordered by Victoria Parrdeau herself. Seeming to prove Parrdeau had been hiding intel of the Blakist expansion efforts and had possible ties to St. Jamais, Stryker declared his team had resigned from ComStar to become independent operators and vowed he would elminate Parrdeau once he could prove she was a Blakist. Stryker would proceed to leak this report to a variety of sources, including Wolfnet.

Freelancer

Going even further, Damocles would attempt to pass the information he'd uncovered about Project Phoenix, the Sixth of June, Manei Domini and the Word of Blake to numerous sources, even reaching out to Sandra Raines, an former member of the Com Guard and reporter for the Interstellar News Network. Meeting with Raines on Sheratan, Damocles would have a brief but winding conversation with her before their safe house was assaulted.

Jihad

Despite issues surrounding the authenticity of the information he frequently secured, Damocles would try to forward Blakist intel and information about The Five directly to Precentor Martial Victor Steiner-Davion as the Jihad erupted, unfortunately Blakist plants within Victor's staff would stymie most of these efforts, though Victor would credit Damocles as a vital source.

Danocles would also provide information to Chandrasekhar Kurita in the lead-up to his coalition's strike against Odessa and the Ruins of Gabriel. By the later half of the Jihad, Damocles had established himself as part of Devlin Stone's secretive covert operations command.

Death

On the 31st of October 3081 Republic of the Sphere-affiliated forces attempted to ambush surviving elements of the 49th Shadow Division and the notorious Opacus Venatori Precentor, Berith, at the location known as the Gates of Hades on Devil's Rock. The Republican forces were acting on information provided by Damocles, who accompanied them into battle; the ambush was actually the result of intelligence planted by Berith, who was determined to kill Srtyker. In this, Berith succeeded; having goaded Damocles into a berserk, suicidal rage, three Opacus Venatori BattleMechs combined their fire on the charging Com Guard agent when he charged, killing him. The Blakist forces then retreated in good order, leaving the remaining Republican forces alive.

Bibliography

• A Guide to Covert Ops
• Interstellar Players
• Jihad Hot Spots: 3070
• Jihad: Final Reckoning
• Masters and Minions: The StarCorps Dossiers
• Technical Readout: 3055 Upgrade
• Technical Readout: Project Phoenix