Willard Gibbs

Willard Gibbs
Character Profile
Died 13 January 3028[1]
Affiliation Draconis Combine
Rank Chu-i
Profession MechWarrior
Law Enforcement Officer


Willard Gibbs was a MechWarrior and SecurityMech pilot in service of House Kurita.

History[edit]

Early Life & Career[edit]

As of 14 September, 3021, he held the rank of Chu-i[2] in the Command Lance of Reconnaissance Company Gold of the Draconis Combine's elite 2nd Sword of Light regiment under Tai-i Minobu Tetsuhara. Gibbs was present when the lance, composed of three Panthers and his own Ostscout, encountered Jaime Wolf's disabled Archer on Dromini VI and Tetsuhara made the fateful decision to spare Wolf's life.[3]

Gibbs' Ostscout was destroyed by a Wasp LAM from Wolf's Dragoons later in that same battle, leaving Gibbs dispossessed. In the aftermath of the debacle, his lancemate Jerry Akuma shamelessly framed and bad-mouthed others, presumably also Gibbs, souring their relation. Akuma was also an outspoken detractor of the code of bushido to which Gibbs (and Tetsuhara) adhered. Gibbs subsequently left the DCMS and became a SecurityMech pilot with the Civilian Guidance Corps on the world of An Ting.[4]

By 3028, Jerry Akuma had risen to the position of liaison officer to Wolf's Dragoons, now under contract to the Draconis Combine, as well as commanding officer of the Ryuken-ichi regiment, both of them stationed on An Ting. He deliberately stirred up conflict between the two units to the point of open warfare. When the Dragoons gained the upper hand, Akuma was desperate enough for additional troops that he pressed the unwilling Gibbs and his entire SecurityMech detachment into service with himself as Gibbs' superior officer. Out of spite, Akuma tried to prevent Gibbs from becoming a proper MechWarrior again by restricting him to his ultralight SecurityMech, a GS-54 Guard; 'Mechs below 20 tons were not regarded as BattleMechs by the Draconis Combine's Procurement Department. However, Gibbs found a legal loophole in a forgotten but still effective law from the Star League era to become a MechWarrior again anyways. Honor-bound to serve Akuma's orders, Gibbs then managed to set Akuma up for being killed by following his orders to the very letter. Gibbs died in the process, apparently preferring a death as a MechWarrior to a possible return to the ranks of the Dispossessed. He left a haiku that read "Death is a feather / overcoming the mountain / winter brings balance".[4]

In his last battle, Gibbs faced off against Dechan Fraser and Thomas West, assisting in the severe damage that a Warhammer inflicted upon Fraser's Shadow Hawk and luring West's Griffin onto a vibrabomb which resulted in the loss of a leg to the 'Mech.[5]

References[edit]

  1. Feather Vs Mountain, p. 13; also (by implication) Rise and Shine, p. 8
  2. Wolf's Dragoons sourcebook, p. 28
  3. Wolves on the Border, p. 12 (Prologue p. xi); also Wolf's Dragoons sourcebook, p. 28
  4. 4.0 4.1 Feather Vs Mountain
  5. Rise and Shine

Bibliography[edit]