Hendrik Grimm II

Revision as of 04:57, 18 January 2018 by Frabby (talk | contribs)
Hendrik Grimm II
Character Profile
Affiliation Lyran Commonwealth
Oberon Confederation
Profession LCAF Colonel
Pirate King
Children (at least one son)

Hendrik Grimm II is not directly mentioned by name in any sources. His existence is inferred by the fact that Hendrik Grimm III styled himself as the third of his name. However, information about the character can be deduced from available information:

Hendrik Grimm I, a LCAF Colonel as of 2839, established the rule of House Grimm over the moribund Oberon Confederation in the 2840s (and prior to 2855) after going rogue with his regiment.
In 3012 one "Colonel Hendrik Grimm", a former Lyran Commonwealth officer, made Oberon VI the homeworld of the Oberon Confederation and conducted pirate raids against undefended targets as far as Rasalhague and Black Earth from there, gaining a brutal reputation for ruthlessness, routinely destroying all property his raiders couldn't carry off and savagely mistreating his enslaved prisoners.[1] Given that Hendrik Grimm I would have been at least two hundred years old by 3012, the entry obviously refers to a different person. At the same time, it cannot refer to Hendrik III because it was explicitly noted that the person who "created the Confederation as a mockery of a state" was the grandfather of Hendrik Grimm III, and not Hendrik III himself.[2]

From this it can be deduced that the "Colonel Hendrik Grimm" who founded the Oberon Confederation pirate realm in 3012 was Hendrik Grimm II, a successor of the original Hendrik Grimm and grandfather of Hendrik Grimm III. (Notably, Hendrik Grimm III is also often referred to simply as "Hendrik Grimm", suggesting the use of the numeral was optional.)

This in turn would establish that Hendrik Grimm II, too, was an ex-Lyran officer before turning to piracy, a plausible proposition given the 3001-3004 Jolly Roger Affair, which was a covert ComStar operation that specifically aimed to turn suitable individuals into pirates in the general area of the Oberon Confederation—Hendrik Grimm II could conceivably have been a Lyran officer before ComStar supported him in going rogue and becoming a pirate. Incidentally, it was noted that the power of House Grimm (who had ruled over Oberon VI since the 2840s) grew rapidly in the decades before ca. 3025,[3] again a timeframe suggesting a connection to the Jolly Roger Affair; also, the concept of "founding" the Confederation, a state that had existed in one form or another since 2777 and over which House Grimm had ruled for over 170 years, in 3012 apparently refers to the act of turning it into a pirate kingdom, in turn suggesting it was not regarded as a pirate kingdom at the time (even if it may have been one before).

It would also indicate that the rule of Hendrik Grimm II ended in 3012 already, the same year that he had "founded" the pirate realm, and passed down to Hendrik Grimm III (who became ruler of the Oberon Confederation in 3012[2]). The wording further suggests that the unnamed son of Hendrik II and father of Hendrik III briefly ruled in the interim, as it was said that Hendrik III's grandfather founded the state and his "father simply continued the family business of brutality".[2])

References

  1. The Periphery (2nd Ed.), p. 79
  2. 2.0 2.1 2.2 The Periphery, p. 149
  3. According to the writeup on Hendrik Grimm III in the Battledroids rulebook, p. 5; reproduced verbatim in the BattleTech 2nd Ed. rulebook

Bibliography