Gray Death Legion

The Gray Death Legion was a mercenary company formed by Grayson Death Carlyle. It began as an offshoot of Carlyle's Commandos, a mercenary unit formed by Grayson Carlyle's father, Durant. During fighting on Trell I, the unit suffered heavy losses and was reformed under Grayson Carlyle. Through subsequent actions it reached regimental strength and went on to face the Clans and feature prominently in the FedCom Civil War. The Gray Death Legion also took credit for the Gray Death Battle Armor and the Gray Death Scout Armor.

History

Verthandi Campaign

Emerging from the campaign against Duke Hassid Ricol on Trell I with a small unit consisting of five 'Mechs and veteran ground troops, the Grey Death Legion traveled to Galatea, known as the Mercenary's Star, seeking employment. There they were hired by a representative of the Verthandi Revolutionary Council. The planet had been traded to the Draconis Combine several years earlier by House Steiner as part of a treaty obligation and many people were engaged in a guerrilla war against the Combine forces. The Legion was hired to provide training for the rebels, especially in anti-'Mech infantry combat. The contract was for 900 hours of training, but no combat engagements. The unit traveled to Verthandi and barely succeeded in running the blockade. The DropShip Phobos was severely damaged while trying to evade the blockade and was converted to a steam-powered ocean-going vessel and actually sailed on the Azure Sea to safe harbor for repairs. Two of the Legion's members - Captain Ilse Martinez and Davis McCall - were primarily responsible for enabling this transformation.

The unit soon began training the rebels. It quickly became clear to Carlyle that the Legion forces would not be able to simply train the rebels, but would need to participate to ensure that the rebellion was successful. Several members of the rebel council were against the Legion's participation (primarily due to concerns of the ability to pay the mercenary unit), but Carlyle succeeded in reassuring them that his forces were committed to fighting the injustices on the planet regardless of their mercenary status.

While the Legion trained the rebel pilots and infantry, Governor-General Masayoshi Nagumo struggled to locate the mercenary unit. His lord, Duke Hassid Ricol (the same Duke that Carlyle had beaten on Trell I) was pressuring him to crush the rebellion. Through the capture of Sue Ellen Klein, one of the two Gray Death aerospace pilots (the other was killed while running the blockade), Nagumo learned of the location of the rebel stronghold. He arranged a Draconis Elite Strike Team (DEST) raid on the complex which resulted in many of the rebels being killed or captured, including rebel leaders and the Legion's technicians. The Legion 'Mechs were on a raid elsewhere when the base was attacked and avoided the ambush relatively unscathed. They then launched a prolonged, yet accelerated, guerrilla campaign, increasing their attacks on outposts whenever possible and encouraging outright rebellion by the populace.

The rebellion was concluded successfully when Carlyle led a raid to free Lori Kalmar who had been captured by the Kuritan forces. The raid freed Kalmar and several of the rebellion's leaders. During the raid, Carlyle was able to secure a Marauder which later became strongly associated with him. The Legion forces caught the Combine 'Mechs in a cross-fire during the final moments of the rescue and, despite heavy casualties, the rebel forces emerged victorious. The Governor-General was presumed dead following the raid though his body was never recovered.

House Marik

After the Verthandi campaign, the Legion signed on with House Marik. The unit performed admirably during several operations and was well-respected within the Free Worlds League. Following a successful campaign on the planet of Sirius V, the unit planned to return to its landholding of Helm. A rogue ComStar Precentor named Rachan created a byzantine plot involving a Free Worlds League noble whereby the Legion was framed for the merciless slaughter of the planet's inhabitants. Once the Legion had left Sirius V, 'Mech forces disguised as the Gray Death Legion and under the command of Lord Garth, Duke of Irian, destroyed domes protecting the cities on Sirius V and killed millions of inhabitants. The unit was kept uninformed about the atrocities committed following their departure, yet, sensing something amiss and despite orders from the Duke to go to Marik, Carlyle instead led the Legion back to Helm. The general outrage produced by repeated airings of holovids of the massacre resulted in the Legion being declared as outlaws.

Helm Memory Core

While the unit was off-world, Free Worlds League militia units had invaded Helm, believing the story of the atrocity at Sirius V. They killed or captured many of the unit's dependents who had remained, believing them to be members of an outlaw unit. When the Legion returned, they found themselves under constant attack from League forces. They learned about the possible existence of a Star League cache on the planet. Carlyle determined the likely location of the cache and led his forces on an expedition to secure the site. The League units attacked in force, but the Legion secured the BattleMech stockpile and, more importantly, the Star League library core and got off planet through the unlikely assistance of Duke Hassid Ricol. They copied the core and gave one to Duke Ricol who promised to copy and disseminate it; the Legion retained the other. More copies were made and one eventually made its way to the New Avalon Institute of Science.

Clan Invasion

When the Clans appeared in 3050 and rolled through any and all opposition, the Gray Death Legion were one of the units to fight them. The Legion suffered heavy defeats on Sudeten, losing that world to Clan Jade Falcon, but on Pandora, despite having to disobey orders to succeed, managed to defeat the Clans for the first time ever. With severe damage to the Legion and having acquired substantial salvage of lostech, or, as the Legion call it "Foundtech", they became very famous as one of the premier mercenary units in the Innser Sphere.

First Skye Secession

The Legion was gifted with the world of Glengarry in a political move by Victor Steiner-Davion, but they immediately had to defend the world against Skye Separatists who did not want them there. The defensive guerilla campaign was led by Alexander Carlyle, the son of Grayson and Lori Kalmar Carlyle. The younger Carlyle held out until the unit could return home to take care of things, though the forces on the planet suffered heavy losses and and Alexander lost his best friend, Davis Clay, who was the son of one of the original members of the Legion.

Second Skye Secession

The third most senior member of the Legion, Davis McCall, received word from his estranged family that atrocities were occurring on his homeworld of Caledonia, three jumps from Glengarry, and he went, with Alexander Carlyle, to investigate in the event that the Legion were deployed there as per rumours that were heard. This was all part of an elaborate plot by Marshal Brandal Gareth to discredit and disband or destroy the Legion as part of his plot to carve an empire for himself centred around Hesperus in the Skye March. After a failed assassination attempt by Gareth on Grayson and Lori, elements of the Legion deployed to Caledonia and were ordered by the government to fire on civilians, leaving them with the option of either causing atrocities and breaking interstellar law, or refusing to obey and breaking their contract with the Federated Commonwealth. With the previous intelligence gathered by McCall and Alexander Carlyle, Grayson sided with the rebels and, even though outnumbered two-to-one by elements of the Third Davion Guards, defeated them in combat. However, a traitor planted within the unit by Gareth ambushed Grayson Carlyle and crippled him, including damage to his inner ear that would prevent him from piloting a Battlemech again.

Meanwhile, Gareth moved against Glengarry in an attempt to destroy the Legion in response to their breaking of the contract with the Federated Commonwealth. Lori Kalmar-Carlyle managed to hold the attacking force at bay until the rest of the Legion arrived from Caledonia and Gareth retreated off-world, leaving the battle to be fought in the courts. The senior staff of the unit were summoned to the capital world of Tharkad just as Katherine Steiner-Davion announced the separation of the Lyran Alliance from the rest of the Federated Commonwealth and the Legion were found guilty of breaking their contract, though Grayson Carlyle resigned from the unit in order to absolve them of blame, citing his personal choice as the deciding factor in the crime. From there, he left the unit and went to work with Gareth on Hesperus, as Gareth declared an independent state called the Free Star Republic, having gotten the young, impressionable Daniel Brewer, CEO of Defiance Industries to support his grab for power. The Legion were deployed to support Gareth on Hesperus, but instead turned around and took over the Battlemech factories for House Steiner. defending them against Gareth's forces while Grayson Carlyle led a daring commando raid to capture a jumpship and go for help from other House Steiner forces. After these actions, both Grayson and Lori were awarded the McKennsky Hammer by a grateful Katherine Steiner-Davion and re-awarded Glengarry as a home.

Destruction

In 3065 they recieved orders to reinforce the defenders of Hesperus II against possible invaders, whether they might be Victor Steiner-Davion's forces or Skye rebels. (At this time, the Gray Death Legion consisted of two 'Mech battalions, one tank battalion, one battle armor battalion and one aerospace wing.) There, they fought alongside the 15th Lyran Guards and 36th Lyran Guards against the 4th Skye Rangers, 17th Skye Rangers and 22nd Skye Rangers. They were able to defend Defiance Industries. The victory of the Lyran forces essentially spelled the end for the rebellion, though it came at a heavy cost to the Legion. They ceased to exist as a combat command. What remained of the unit was folded into the Defiance security forces, as the highest-ranking surviving officer Daniel Brewer was also chief executive of Defiance Industries. The Defiance security forces were annihilated during the Jihad.

The whereabouts of Alexander Carlyle, who had been serving in the LAAF, remain unknown.

Other Appearances

• The Gray Death Legion appear in the MechWarrior IV: Mercenaries PC game as potential sponsors. Due to the timeline the game is set in, the Legion is described as rebuilding after their decimation on Hesperus II. Whether this is canon or not is unknown. They are also portrayed as being very loyal to House Steiner, a sentiment which is echoed in the BattleTech novel Tactics of Duty. Units sponsored by the Gray Death gain earlier access to Lostech weapons.

References

• Decision at Thunder Rift - FASA, 1986. William H. Keith, Jr.
• Mercenary's Star - FASA, 1987. William H. Keith, Jr.
• The Price of Glory - FASA, 1987. William H. Keith, Jr.
• Blood of Heroes - FASA, 1993. Andrew Keith
• Tactics of Duty
• Operation Excalibur - FASA, 1996. William H. Keith, Jr.
• The Dying Time - Thomas S. Gressman
• Field Manual: Mercenaries
• FedCom Civil War
• Dawn of the Jihad
• Jihad Hot Spots: 3070

Notes

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