Nikolai Mason
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 | This article needs to be updated with additional information from the following sources: The Sun Will Rise |
Nikolai Mason | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Personal | |
| Died | 21 May 3015[1] |
| Affiliation | House Mason |
| Career | |
| Profession | MechWarrior |
| Family | |
| Spouse | Chloe Reed[citation needed] |
| Children | Jake Mason[1] |
Nikolai Mason was the commanding officer of Nik's Cavaliers mercenary command.
Contents
History[edit]
The future Nikolai Mason was born outside of the Inner Sphere somewhere in the Deep Periphery, with circumstantial evidence suggesting he originated from the Clan Homeworlds.[2]
Born to merchant parents, while he learned their trade and grew to love life aboard DropShips and JumpShips, Mason desired the freedom to chart his own path and resisted the apprenticeship they pushed him into as much as the straightjacket of his society and his expected role in it. After a terrible event, his family cast him out with the young Mason exiled and falling in with bandits. Though unprepared for the harsh realities of the bandit life, a far too young Mason would ultimately survive the beatings and torture, becoming highly skilled with knives and hand-to-hand combat as well as a resourceful gatherer of information.[3][4][5]
Mason would ultimately travel from the Clan Homeworlds on an intelligence gathering mission to the Inner Sphere, reaching Godwin Prime in 2986 and choosing to leave his 'Mech in the former Star League base there as he prepared to infiltrate the Draconis Combine. He expected to make his next transmission to his superior in 2987. Mason would keep encrypted coordinates for this facility and several other previously unknown Star League Defense Force bases in his possession.[6][7]
Inner Sphere Life[edit]
Upon reaching the Inner Sphere, Nikolai Mason would fall back onto his parent's trade as the best way to seek the freedom he travelled hundreds of light years to obtain, securing a berth on Star Lord-class Talia's Investiture under Merchant Captain Cardian in 2989.[3]
Nikolai would join the mercenary outfit Grave Walkers where he would make the acquaintance of both Sebastian Spears of Interstellar Expeditions and his future partner Chloe Reed. Reed would later give birth to their son Jake Mason.[citation needed]
Mason would develop a long-lasting relationship with Spears and Interstellar Operations assisting the organization with tracking down various Star League relics. Both Spears and Mason had a keen interest in not only re-discovering Star League relics but also keeping them out of the hands of Comstar.
At some point Comstar became aware of Mason and his apparent cache of Star League knowledge making him a person of note. Mason possibly had been caught deliberately destroying information and facilities to prevent Comstar from discovering them.
Mason and Reed would join the Eridani Light Horse in 2997 where they would meet Ryana Campbell.[citation needed]
Commander of Nik's Cavaliers[edit]
Chloe Reed dreamed of running her own mercenary outfit, Chloe's Cavaliers, which was founded in 3007 on Galatea along with the help of Campbell. This means that Mason would likely have been present on New Valencia in 3007, then-homeworld of Wolf's Dragoons, when the Eridani Light Horse were sent to defend the planet.
Reed would be killed in combat some time later and Mason blamed Spears for her death.
Mason would take command of the mercenary unit which was re-named to Nik's Cavaliers.
Nik's Cavaliers would be engaged by Interstellar Expeditions for a mission to recover a Star League memory core on Halstead Station. Although they would fail to recover the memory core Interstellar Expeditions would payout the contract in full which would grant Nik's Cavaliers a Freehold on the world of De Berry where Nik would establish a permanent home for him and his son.[citation needed]
Death[edit]
Nikolai Mason was killed when the mercenary unit known as Black Inferno combat dropped near the Cavaliers' base on De Berry Prime.[1]
Precentor Kenzo Yamata of ComStar's ROM had become obsessed with completing a star map discovered carved into a wall on Xinyang. The 300-year-old map included the locations of several lost Star League facilities but some of the map had been deliberately damaged. Yamata concluded that Mason had the missing information which would lead him to something massive in the periphery.[8]
To that end, Yamata ordered ComStar-aligned mercenary group Black Inferno to attack De Berry and capture Mason and his unit. Realizing what was at stake, Mason sacrificed himself to protect his son Jake and to prevent ComStar from gaining the information.[1] Unbeknownst to Black Inferno, the encrypted information they sought was stored in Nikolai's Victor which they had just captured.[9]
BattleMech[edit]
During Nikolai's service with Chloe's Cavaliers he would pilot a Catapult.[5]
During his journey to the Inner Sphere, Nikolai piloted a pristine Star League Defense Force vintage NSR-9J Nightstar which upon recognizing was out of place in the LosTech depleted Succession Wars era was carefully hidden on HD-389202 in 2986.[7]
At the time of his death Nikolai was piloting a VTR-9B Victor.[1] His Victor was salvaged by the Black Inferno following his death and taken to their repair and refit base on Eaton, with his son defeating Inferno member Zavarov to reclaim the 'Mech. Cavalier chief tech Fahad Arazad would discover that the coordinates sought by the Black Inferno, were hidden heavily encrypted in the 'Mech's computer system.[10] Nikolai also rigged the Victor with a transponder that would react and could command the 'Mech bay containing his Nightstar to activate and open.[7]
Behind the Scenes[edit]
In MechWarrior 5: Mercenaries, Nikolai Mason was voiced by Brent Miller.[11]
References[edit]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 MechWarrior 5: Mercenaries, Tutorial
- ↑ MechWarrior 5: Mercenaries, Campaign Mission 21: "Crucible"
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 The Calm of the Void
- ↑ Contested Dreams
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Knives in the Dark
- ↑ MechWarrior 5: Mercenaries, Campaign Mission 12: "Extraction"
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 MechWarrior 5: Mercenaries, Campaign Mission 19: "Reckoning"
- ↑ MechWarrior 5: Mercenaries, Campaign Mission 14: "Killing Kane"
- ↑ MechWarrior 5: Mercenaries, Campaign Mission 17: "Coordinated Effort"
- ↑ MechWarrior 5: Mercenaries, Campaign Mission 11: "Black Harvest"
- ↑ MechWarrior 5: Mercenaries, closing credits
Bibliography[edit]
- The Calm of the Void (novella)
- Contested Dreams (novella)
- Endless War (novella)
- Knives in the Dark (novella)
- MechWarrior 5: Mercenaries (video game)
- The Sun Will Rise (novella)