System: Butte Hold

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 control 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 Free Worlds League, Ryan's unit was ordered to occupy a Steiner border world. During the course of the occupation, Ryan's troops sacked the cities, enslaved the populace, and destroyed many industries, including a fusion power plant. The destruction of the power 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 Lyran Commonwealth 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 indiscriminate raids against the Lyran Commonwealth, the Draconis Combine, and even an occasional snipe of the Oberon Confederation. 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.

Another version of the story of how Ryan broke away from Oberon states that Ryan has apparently 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 viscous lieutenant, Agnar Satanson, will turn on Ryan 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 much of his 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 of Draconis government may bring a full-scale assault against the pirate holdfast.

[3049] Clan Wolf landed on Butte Hold in September 3049. The Bronze Keshik was unopposed when it invaded this barren, thinly populated world.

There are no functional factories located on this planet.