Lowbräu

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Lowbräu
Disbanded 3072 (considered wiped out)
Affiliation Mercenary
Parent Command Independent

The Lowbräu (often misspelled as "Lowbr") were a shadowy mercenary unit specializing in infiltration and false flag operations,[1] apparently unafraid of ethically questionable or outright illegal operations. It is unclear if they were registered with the Mercenary Review and Bonding Commission.

History[edit]

They were suspected of having caused the fighting in the Lyons Thumb in 3062, by staging false-flag attacks against the Draconis Combine on Imbros III (an attack ostensibly carried out by the Lyons FTM) and Yorii (ostensibly by the Arcturan Guards).[2] These attacks occurred concurrently with a real retaliation attack by the Skye Jaegers against Ko that was staged in response to a Draconis Combine attack against Skye by (apparently) the 15th Dieron Regulars which in turn was later revealed as a false-flag operation by the Ramilie's Rangers mercenary unit hired by the Black Dragon Society.[2][3]

As of ca. 3067 the Lowbräu hired out from rundown Galatea, then regarded as a "black market for hired thugs" willing to get their hands dirty.[4] At the time, they were at least one BattleMech lance in strength including WHM-8D Warhammer pilot Arnold Gruber.

In ca. 3067, Gruber was killed in a shootout involving a Federated Suns agent, a Lyran Alliance agent, and a trio of Word of Blake assassins following separate attempts by the former two to apprehend him and question him about who hired the Lowbräu to give the Draconis Combine an excuse to invade the Thumb worlds during the FedCom Civil War. (Context suggests this might have been the Word of Blake, who killed Gruber in the shootout and unsuccessfully attempted to kill the other two agents as well. However, Duke Hassid Ricol, later revealed as a member of the Black Dragons, as of 3062 was also reportedly involved in the Lyons Thumb operation in some form, and his investments were said to have paid off greatly.)

It was noted that the Lowbräu mysteriously disappeared from Galatea again right after appearing there (presumably following the shootout). They resurfaced on Tharkad in February of 3068, where they worked for the Word of Blake occupation forces by posing as Lyran resistance fighters, locating and assassinating real resistance fighters.[1] They were described as the scourge of the Tharkan underground.[5] Several other, minor mercenary units under Word of Blake contracts were placed under their command and sometimes even fought in their colors.[1] Those missions included a battle in the Tatyana Island Chain on 16 June 3071 where their spies were subverted by turncoats, causing the battle to turn into a chaotic brawl until the commander of Grandin's Crusaders (working under the Lowbräu) ordered all units to stand down, and destroyed a Lowbräu Wolverine to make a point. Lowbräu commander Major Parker managed to spin the engagement into a minor victory based on damage done to the resistance cell.[5]

The Lowbräu was supposedly wiped out when Adam Steiner's coalition retook Tharkad in 3072, though given their reputation for false-flag operations nobody can rule out that some might have escaped in the overall chaos.[1]

Officers[edit]

Rank Name Command
Commanding Officers of the Lowbräu
Major James Parker 3072[1]

Tactics[edit]

Unknown.

Composition History[edit]

Unknown.

References[edit]

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 Jihad Turning Points: Tharkad, p. 6
  2. 2.0 2.1 FedCom Civil War, p. 20
  3. Path of Glory, ch. 5
  4. Professional Courtesy
  5. 5.0 5.1 Total Chaos, p. 104 (Track "Reasserting Authority")

Bibliography[edit]