Black Inferno

Black Inferno
Affiliation	Mercenary
Parent Command	Independent

Black Inferno was a rogue mercenary group operating in the first third of the thirty-first century with support from ComStar.

History

Black Inferno was started by its leader Andreas Kane who set up shop as a mercenary after working for one of the Marik factions, making a nasty name for himself. Meanwhile, ComStar had discovered a Star League fortress buried on Xinyang that had been lost for almost three hundred years. Inside one of the excavated buildings was an ancient star map carved into one of the walls containing the locations of Star League bases, settlements, and weapon depots that were also lost to time. ComStar partnered with Black Inferno, supporting them financially and with BattleMechs, and sent them out to pillage those sites for whatever Lostech they could find, while also shielding them from retaliation by any of the Great Houses.

There was a missing section of the Xinyang star map and Precentor Kenzo Yamata had reason to believe Nikolai Mason had the coordinates to something massive out in the Periphery beyond Draconis Combine space. On 21 May 3015, Black Inferno attacked the Nik's Cavaliers base on De Berry Prime, killing Mason and salvaging his Victor, but could not find the coordinates they were after and believed it had escaped aboard the unit's Leopard-class DropShip.

Having lost the Cavaliers' trail, Black Inferno returned to pillaging sites all around the Inner Sphere, driving people from their lands to unearth lost Star League facilities. They first attacked farming worlds in Davion space in the vicinity of De Berry, leaving a wake of destruction that pirates took advantage of to harass the locals. Later, they struck in Marik space near the Liao border, creating an international crisis when refugees had no choice but to cross into Liao space and initially weren't allowed to return.

Unbeknownst to Black Inferno, the Cavaliers had been rebuilding their strength over the years under the command of Nikolai’s son Jake Mason. They destroyed a refinery the Inferno had seized from a private consortium on Foot Fall III and then repelled an attack against a farming community on Cole Harbour. The Inferno saw an opportunity to both confront the persistent Cavaliers and also make another attempt at acquiring the Periphery coordinates by staging an ambush on Cavanaugh. After weeks of planning, Captain Kruger commanded a two-pronged attack aiming to box the Cavaliers' 'Mechs on-planet while hitting their DropShip with aerospace fighters in low orbit. The operation failed and Kruger was recalled to Xinyang for punishment.

Little did they know that the Cavaliers had intercepted their message and now had the location of their base of operations. After first hitting a Black Inferno reclamation facility on Eaton III, regaining possession of the Victor that belonged to Nikolai, the Cavaliers next set their sights on Xinyang. Despite a garrison consisting of a full company reinforced by a ComStar lance—as Yamata was currently on-planet—the vengeful Cavaliers systematically demolished the Inferno's aerodrome and storage depot on their way to the main fortification. While Andreas Kane made his last stand, Yamata used the opportunity to escape off-world to continue his pursuits in the Periphery. Afterward, the Cavaliers razed the base to the ground, crushing what remained of the Black Inferno.

Officers

Rank	Name	Command
Commanding Officers of Black Inferno
	Andreas Kane
Captain	Kruger
	Tetyana Zavarov
	Mikko Semyonov

Composition History

Attack on De Berry

• CO: Andreas Kane

• Lance: KGC-0000 King Crab, TDR-5S Thunderbolt, HBK-4G Hunchback, SDR-5K Spider

Foot Fall III Refinery

• CO: Mikko Semyonov

• 2+ Lances: Warhammer, Phoenix Hawk, Wolverine, Vindicator, Assassin, Cicada, Panther, Javelin, Commando

Attack on Cole Harbour

• CO: unknown

• Company: BattleMaster, Awesome, Victor, Marauder, Catapult, JagerMech, Centurion, Blackjack, Cicada, Firestarter, Javelin, Locust

Ambush on Cavanaugh

• CO: Captain Kruger

• 2 aerospace fighters
• Company:

• Phantom Lance: Marauder, Thunderbolt, Hunchback, Blackjack
• 2 Other Lances: Banshee, Shadow Hawk, Wolverine, Hunchback, Cicada, Firestarter, Commando, Locust

Eaton III Reclamation Facility

• CO: Tetyana Zavarov

• 2+ Companies (in disrepair): Atlas, Victor, 3 Catapults, 2 Thunderbolts, 3 Wolverines, 4 Hunchbacks, 4 Blackjacks, 4 Commandos, 5 Locusts

Xinyang Base of Operations

• CO: Andreas Kane

• Company: King Crab, Thunderbolt, Quickdraw, Rifleman, 2 Centurions, Hunchback, Blackjack, Vindicator, Cicada, Commando, Locust
• ComStar Lance: Catapult, JagerMech, Panther, Spider

Bibliography

• MechWarrior 5: Mercenaries (video game)