Blazing Aces

Blazing Aces
Formed	ca. 3024
Disbanded	3051
Affiliation	Mercenary
Parent Command	Independent

The Blazing Aces were the mercenary unit headed by Duke Gideon Braver Vandenburg in his five-year quest to avenge the murder of his family and clear his name of fabricated allegations of patricide.

History

After the War of 3039, the unit was expanded to company size.

Gideon Braver Vandenburg and the Blazing Aces perished in combat against Clan Ghost Bear's Fourteenth Battle Cluster while under contract on Kaesong. While no date was confirmed for this, context strongly suggests this occurred in December of 3051, during the Clan Invasion.

At least some of the unit's BattleMechs had been hidden away, and it was Duke Vandenburg's dying wish that his daughter Maria Vandenburg should rebuild the Blazing Aces with these. It is not known if this ever came to pass.

Apocryphal Content Starts

The information after this notice comes from apocryphal sources; the canonicity of such information is uncertain.
Please view the reference page for information regarding their canonicity.

The unit as described in Recognition Guide: ilClan, vol. 11 is a nod to the player's unit and storyline from the 1989 MechWarrior computer game.

In the game, Gideon Braver Vandenburg—the player's alter ego—has to build up the Blazing Aces and retrieve the Chalice of Herne within five years.

While commanding the unit he managed to uncover the truth behind Operation Inroad and eventually track down and vanquish the Dark Wing.

Game Storyline

Further information: MechWarrior (1989 Video Game) § Plot summary

Under the abbreviated name of "Gideon Braver," Gideon Braver Vandenburg left his homeworld of Ander's Moon in March 3024 for a nearby world after his family had been killed in an attack by an unknown Lance of BattleMechs (the Dark Wing) and he himself was charged with conspiracy and crimes against the state with forged evidence. A friend, Jordan Rowe, provided him with an old Jenner, some money and a safe passage off-world. Upon his arrival at the destination world, Gideon Braver began a mercenary career and created his own unit, the Blazing Aces, in April 3024.

Following their formation in April 3024, the Blazing Aces took on a multitude of mercenary contracts for numerous clients while trying to locate and retrieve the Chalice of Herne from the Dark Wing. They had contract offers from all ruling Houses (it is up to the player to choose specific employers and negotiate contracts).

What can be established is that during his inquiries, Gideon Braver was told that crime lord Grig Griez would be able to identify the crest of the unknown attackers. The Blazing Aces traveled to Land's End to meet a henchman of Griez and eventually met with Grig Griez in person on another planet. Promised information about the Dark Wing as payment by Griez, Gideon Braver proceeded to Dustball on a courier mission and, following the information gained there, sought out Wendall Puritan, brother of the notorious smuggler Willard "Kangaroo Jack" Puritan, on a world in the Free Worlds League who in turn provided a lead to a world in the Federated Suns. However, the informant there was murdered before Gideon could meet with him. Following a hint by a man named Kearney that the Dark Wing were none other than the Black Widow Company in disguise, the Blazing Aces next traveled back to Draconis Combine space and met the Black Widows in a bar. Gideon Braver openly accused Natasha Kerensky of having attacked Ander's Moon, which she denied. A barfight broke out and only the intervention of a mysterious woman named Tasha saved Gideon from a severe beating. Tasha revealed the information about the Black Widows' involvement as false and provided him with data files about Operation Inroad that proved Matabushi Incorporated to have ordered the Dark Wing attack. In an attempt to contact Kearney, his erstwhile informant, Gideon Braver then went to Albiero where he wound up involved in a MI6 attack on Matabushi Inc. and finally received detailed information on the whereabouts of the Chalice of Herne. Although it was guarded by the Dark Wing, the Blazing Aces prevailed and retrieved the artifact in less than five years after the Dark Wing had taken it from Castle Vandenburg.

The Blazing Aces continued as a mercenary unit beyond this point until they were destroyed by Clan forces on Kaesong in December 3051; the Crescent Hawks answered their distress call but arrived too late to save Gideon Braver. His dying words to Jason Youngblood were: "You're too late. The Aces... destroyed. I've taken precautions, hidden the 'Mechs. Tell Maria... rebuild the Aces. She'll know what to do."

Morgan Kell promised to inform Maria Vandenburg of her father's end and cryptic last words.

Officers

Rank	Name	Command
Commanding Officers of the Blazing Aces
	Gideon Braver	3024

Tactics

Unknown.

Organization and equipment

The unit's exact composition is determined by a combination of random events and player choices over the course of the game. Starting out with only Gideon Braver and his Jenner, additional 'Mechs and up to 3 other 'Mech pilots can be obtained to boost the Blazing Aces up to Lance size (4 'Mechs). While more 'Mechs can be bought, the unit cannot have more than 3 pilots besides Gideon Braver at any given time.

It can be said for sure, however, that the Blazing Aces fielded no other BattleMech models than those eight models available to the player throughout the game (i.e. before 8 April 3029): Locust, Jenner, Phoenix Hawk, Shadow Hawk, Rifleman, Warhammer, Marauder, and BattleMaster. Braver was piloting a Phoenix Hawk at the time of the Aces' destruction.

Apocryphal Content Ends

Notes

• Gideon Braver and the Blazing Aces were introduced in the 1989 Activision computer game Mechwarrior, where the player takes the role of Gideon Braver.
• The end of Gideon Braver, which presumably also marks the demise of the Blazing Aces, is narrated in the 1990 computer game BattleTech: The Crescent Hawks' Revenge by Infocom/Westwood Associates.
• Although Kaesong was actually occupied by Clan Ghost Bear, in the game the Clan Smoke Jaguar insignia are shown for the second line Clan forces who killed Gideon Braver; apparently, no other Clan crests exist in the game's database as all other fights are exclusively against Smoke Jaguar forces. It was confirmed in canon that it was Clan Ghost Bear forces that killed Gideon Braver Vandenburg on Kaesong.
• The Elidere system (containing Giden Braver Vandenburg's homeworld, Ander's Moon) is one of the Federated Suns worlds conquered by the Draconis Combine during the War of 3039. Having lost his landhold might explain why Duke Gideon Braver Vandenburg is running a small mercenary unit on Kaesong during the Clan Invasion.

Gallery

• 

  Original Blazing Aces insignia from BattleTech: The Crescent Hawks' Revenge (apocryphal)

Bibliography

• BattleTech: The Crescent Hawks' Revenge (video game)
• MechWarrior (1989 video game)
• Recognition Guide: ilClan, vol. 11