Moore's Bandits

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Unit History

Formed about 2975 Moore's Bandits appeared in the Periphery as a company attached to Hendrik Grimm II. While an excellent soldier, Dennis Moore, the founder of the bandits, was a swaggering, egotistical braggart. Moore's ego annoyed his boss Grimm to no end when he boasted that soon Oberon VI would be known as Moore’s Planet. Grimm sent Moore and his troops packing with twelve hours with Moore swearing to return when they were ready to take the planet.

The Bandits began work as mercenaries for the Free Worlds’ League, the only government willing to hire an unknown group of Periphery raiders. To augment his troop size, as well as give new guys a chance, Moore began the custom of hiring aspiring, untried MechWarrior. If the student MechWarrior later left, Moore hoped that the warrior would always remember, and be grateful to, the Bandits, who could call on him in any emergency.

Moore’s Bandits soon established themselves in the Free Worlds’ League as a daring regiment, quick to respond to a battle call. Always experimenting with new methods, they developed many useful innovations and had a few disastrous failures. Under Dennis Moore, Jr. they were still an unpredictable group, often going where they were not needed and claiming all the glory. Moore Junior was as bad at keeping good employer relations as his father had been, and the Bandits shuttled between Marik principalities, gradually wearing out their welcome.

Finally, the Bandit’s newest employer, the Duke of Oceana, refused to pay them unless Moore publicly apologized for calling the duke “a weasel in ferret’s clothing”. Once again, Moore’s Bandits went packing, in search of another tolerant, desperate employer. They ended up with the Draconis Combine.

House Kurita was willing to hire any ‘Mech outfit with a good combat record, regardless of their personal history. Under the guidance of Sato Kurita, the Bandits evolved into an efficient, powerful unit. After ten years, the Bandits (under Dennis Moore III) were one of Kurita’s best mercenary units.

Moore continued the Bandit tradition of teaching new MechWarriors. If accepted into the Bandits, a MechWarrior would contract for a five-year unpaid internship, during which he would receive training and field experience. When the five years were over the best would be invited to stay with the Bandits; otherwise, the MechWarriors were on their own. Moore’s training tactics were sound, and few former students failed to find employment with another unit. Any MechWarrior who trained with Moore’s Bandit’s signed, in blood, a paper swearing never to oppose the Bandits. Should an alumnus of the Bandits find himself opposing them in battle, he was to remove himself from combat, however he wished. The penalty for failure to do so was death, either on the field or off. No one doubted that the Bandits would follow through on this punishment.

The practices of Moore’s Bandits and the independence of its commanders have changed little. The last serious incident was over 20 years ago, when Commander Daniel Moore instituted a plan in which student MechWarriors would pay for their training. Soon Moore was accepting payoffs for admittance in the program. As admission standards dropped, the unit became less efficient. Kurita learned of this, and by remarkable coincidence, Daniel Moore died of natural causes shortly hereafter. His nephew John replaced him and quickly ended the practice of accepting money for training.

Moore’s Bandits have been in Kurita’s employ longer than most mercenary units. Although invited to ally with House Kurita as Regular Army troops, they have respectfully declined. The Bandits wish to run their operations their own way and to send Bandit-trained MechWarriors wherever they can. Someday they plan to recall their students and wipe out the Bandit King of Oberon VI.

Unit Notes

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