Friend or Foe

Holden Trumphay, also known as the White Thief, was a legendary raider within
the Capellan March. When his unit and family were destroyed after mercenary
headhunters had discovered his base, Holden buried his dead, salvaged what
little he could, and left system to find work. Using his real name, Holden signed
on with a new Word of Blake-sponsored mercenary unit called the Vampire's
Fangs. Though the other members seemed a bit rough for his tastes, Holden
embraced his hiring and began working with the team.
At the same time, Strider's Strikers accepted a Pirate-Control-Contract involving
the White Thief's capture. By sheer coincidence, the Strikers and Fangs
collided on Wasat as Word of Blake began their first drives towards Wasat's
planetary takeover. The Fangs were eventually defeated, and Holden's
situation was discovered after his capture. Creating a pact with Commander
Mike Strider, Holden was turned over to Pirate-Control-Services.
Striker recon Mechs, under the guise and paint scheme of the Thief's old team,
attacked the PCS base the following night to rescue Holden. After accepting
payment, the Strikers secretly cheated their employers. The Striker's rescue of
Holden ensured that he could join their unit. Clan members of the Strikers are
unaware of these actions perpetrated by Strider.
Holden now commands the Trek Lance of the Strider's Strikers, a lance of
medium class Mechs that specialize in woodland combat. He was given
temporary command of the base and successfully warded off the Denouncement
sect of the Word of Blake until reinforcements could arrive.

Shortly before the Word of Blake attack on the planet Miranda in 3065, Owen
Hardcastle of the Strider's Strikers team was asked a favor by some of his
former Knights of the Inner Sphere friends. The other Knights members had
created a mercenary unit that was now losing popularity among employers in
Marik space. The company sized mercenary group had made a name for
themselves by quelling several Word of Blake machinations on various Marik
planets. However, Word of Blake seemed to be making some political gains,
covertly influencing or even threatening former employers of the team to refuse
new contracts. Calling for help, the team's commander, Sir Alec de Payens, had
contacted Owen in hopes of getting a steady employer in the Nova Cats Irece
Prefecture of Draconis Combine space.
Deciding to help his friend, Hardcastle recommended a solution to the Nova
Cats increasing problem of Clan Ghost Bear raids along the border worlds of the
Irece Prefecture. Government contractors accepted the former Knight's
suggestion, especially after considering the Crusaders unit's colorful
background and history of success.
After the Crusaders made their way to the Irece Prefecture, their Jumpship
arrived in the Labrea system to discover a Word of Blake trap. Word of Blake
had organized a reinforced regimental combat team to attack the Striker's base
and recover secrets about a lostech-era Warship in the area. The Crusaders
quickly organized a deal with the Strikers, which would allow them to work in
league with the Strikers while receiving full repairs on a variety of future
contracted missions. The Strikers arranged this as an exchange for the
Crusaders help in fending off the Word of Blake attack.

Unknowingly to the Strider's Strikers, the team made new enemies among those
several factions living in Draconis Combine space. The Black Dragons, a
radical sect whose goal is the preservation of the Draconis Combine and its
original purity, made new plans to destroy those who aid the Nova Cats
well-being in the Irece Prefecture.
As a leader of Nova Cat / Kurita cooperation, the Strikers were dealt a serious
blow from the Black Dragons. Leaking information to the Striker's old enemies,
the Word of Blake, the Black Dragons disclosed secret information about the
weakness of the Striker's base and its coveted lostech Warship information.
After hearing the information, the Denouncement sect within the Toyama faction
was persuaded at their superior's request to organize a regimental combat team
to attack and capture the Strikers base.
In addition to the information leak, the Black Dragons funded the Word of Blake
forces whose simple aim is to destroy the Strider's Strikers base. Through
several weapons deals, the Black Dragons provided the Word of Blake with an
assortment of Kuritan Mech designs. The only payback for these expensive
donations was the Word of Blake's guarantee to end Striker aid to the Nova
Cats/Combine integration. The Black Dragons may cause future problems for
the Strikers until the mercenary unit retracts its aid from its Nova Cat friends.

Though the Arbiter-class lostech Warship was originally designed as a
superweapon to be used against Stefan Amaris, the Great Usurper, it was
indeed never brought into successful operation. The original crew was killed in
an accident and only centuries of successful testing eventually brought it back to
life. The Thunderdome Minions were a pirate group who learned of the Warship
via one of their members, Bill Davis. The unit bravely fought the Strikers team to
try and keep possession of the Warship, but lost the battle inside the ship's hull.
The Minions were completely eradicated with their loss of the Warship. Strider's
Strikers members arrested and detained all who were not killed in the fighting,
including technicians who had become familiar with some of the ship's simpler
operating procedures. The team had fielded various captured Clan Mechs.