Location: Outside of the Lyran Commonwealth,
near Oberon Vl
Number of Worlds: One
Current Ruler: Redjack Ryan
Military Strength: 2 Battalions
Technology Level: Poor
Literacy Level: Poor
World Name: Butte Hold
Star Type: G8
Position in System: 3
Time to Jump Point: 6.19 days
Recharging Station: None
Political Ruler: Redjack Ryan
ComStar Facility Class: None
ComStar Representative: None
Population: 150,000
Percentage and Level of Native Life: 99%, Fish
Founded in 3018, Butte Hold is one of the more recent
additions to the many Bandit Kingdoms. The inhabitants are a
motley collection of cutthroats nominally under the command of
Redjack Ryan, an arrogant, strutting MechWarrior with delusions
of grandeur. The Pirates of Butte Hold epitomize the worst
characteristics of Periphery bandits.
Redjack Ryan was once a battalion commander under Hendrik
Grimm. In 3017, while "on loan" to the Lyran
Commonwealth, Ryan's unit was ordered to occupy a Marik border
world. During the course of his occupation of Lysidas, Ryan's
troops sacked the cities, enslaved the populace, and destroyed
many industries, including a fusion power plant. The destruction
of the fusion plant poisoned half the planet's atmosphere,
bringing an immediate halt to Ryan's carousing.
Following this blunder, troops from both the Oberon
Confederation and the Free Worlds League pursued Ryan and his mob
out of the Inner Sphere. Ryan took his men to Butte Hold, where
he set up shop. Since then, the bandit has launched a series of
indiscriminate raids against the Lyran Commonwealth, the Draconis
Combine, and even an occasional snipe at a Confederation world.
To date, none of these governments have retaliated because of the
many prisoners Ryan holds hostage. Few like to contemplate what
an angry Ryan might do to them.
Another version of the story of how Ryan broke away from
Oberon states that Ryan apparently has no other interests in life
than rapine, and so he could not face the prospect of handling
actual responsibilities, as Grimm wanted him to do. Whether
Ryan's own most vicious lieutenant, Agnar Satanson, will turn on
Redjack the way he turned on Grimm remains to be seen.
Attracted by the lure of booty, Ryan has won numerous recruits
since his break with Grimm, enough to maintain two battalions of
BattleMechs. Ryan's hold on his subordinates is tenuous at best,
however. He spends as much time guarding against a knife in the
back as he does planning his next raid. Left to their own
devices, the pirates of Butte Hold may well destroy themselves.
In addition, one raid too many against an irritated Lyran or
Draconis government may bring a full-scale assault against the
pirate holdfast.
[Prepared by Major C.G. Toho, Periphery expert for Wolfnet, Military Intelligence Division, Seventh Kommando]
The major event affecting the balance of terror among
Periphery pirates was the union of Maria Morgraine and Redjack
Ryan. The merger of Morgraine's Valkyrate with the Pirates of
Butte Hold has created the Greater Valkyrate, a potent entity
with a fearsome military unit, Ryan's Rebels. This has had the
beneficial effect of curbing the Oberon Confederation and the
bother of creating a growing nest of vipers on the border of the
Federated Commonwealth. Ryan and Morgraine's oldest child, Major
Susie "One Eye" Morgraine-Ryan, have proven to be
capable and vicious military leaders, boding ill for civilized
worlds in the area for the foreseeable future.
The arrival of the Clans in 3049 held grave consequences for
the Greater Valyrate. In only a few battles, Clans Wolf and Jade
Falcon made short work of Ryan's Rebels; Wolf Clan forces
shattered the Rebels' First Battalion on The Rock, and Jade
Falcon warriors routed the Second and Third Battalions on the
planets Last Chance and Gotterdammerung. According to initial
reports, the Jade Falcons destroyed the Second and Third
Battalions of Ryan's Rebels; recently discovered evidence,
however, points to a face-saving cover-up on the part of the Jade
Falcon leadership. The Second Battalion was indeed destroyed on
Last Chance, but most of the Third Battalion survived the attack
on Gotterdammerung.
The Falcon assault on the Valkyrate's capital caught Susie
Ryan and the Third Battalion completely off guard. The bandit
MechWarriors, soon realizing that the enemy troops had them
vastly outgunned, managed to retreat with slight losses -- with a
little unwilling help from their antagonists. Expecting little
resistance from mere bandits, Jade Falcon commanders initially
used their forces with less than complete effectiveness; this
momentary blunder allowed Maria Morgaine and a few MechWarriors
to dig in and fight long enough to let Susie escape with the bulk
of the Third Battalion. Susie Ryan and two companies of Rebels
fled deeper into the Periphery, away from the invasion path of
the Clan enemy.
Shortly after the battle of Tukayyid, Susie Ryan and
MechWarriors landed on Star's End with somewhat exaggerated tales
of their "victories" against Clan troops. Almost
immediately after their arrival, Susie made Morgan Fletcher a
proposal -- she and her forces would unite with the remaining
Belt Pirates, and together the two battered bandit kingdoms would
give the Clans "a taste of their own damned medicine."
The only condition Susie Ryan asked was to command her own troops
and to share overall command with Morgan Fletcher. Though wary of
shared command, Morgan badly wanted to strike back at the Clans,
and using the Rebels' experience seemed her best hope of doing
it. She agreed to the proposal and the New Belt Pirates were
born.
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