From the Succession Wars to the Clan Invasion, from the SLDF’s destruction of the Smoke Jaguars to FedCom Civil War. Constant and increasingly escalating warfare destroyed worlds and killed billions. What many failed to account for, and was indeed ignored when reported, was that the years of fighting decimated something else. Something intangible – a soldier’s soul.

Most soldiers persevered, barely retaining their sanity by loosing themselves among their brethren and unit. Some commit suicide. Others flee, searching for a place to recover their direction, humanity and soul – or simply to escape from court martial charges of desertion, cowardice and mutiny.

A group of such warriors from all over the Inner Sphere and Periphery met on New Hedon, the capital of Herotitus and formed the unique and unconventional Black Stars mercenary command.

Though technically a single command, the Black Stars operate like no other mercenary unit. It is basically a collective of small units ranging from individual soldiers, to an entire Battlemech lance. These small units sub-contract jobs from the Black Star leadership.

The leadership of the unit that runs the operations is simply called the ‘Cell’. Consisting of soldiers who have stayed for the longest with the Black Stars, the ‘Cell’ negotiates all contracts after filtering through suitable ones and getting a majority vote from the current sub-contracted units.

The Black Stars make no preference for their recruitment. They would just as readily hire a retired Colonel from the AFFS as they would a washed out Periphery Mechjock seeking to escape gambling debts. There have been been cases of former Word of Blake soldiers fighting side by side with former ComGuards within the unit. The Black Stars thus offers autonomy and a safe haven to individuals in the very eye of the turmoil in the current universe.

The founding members of the Black Stars decided to gave the fragmented members of the unit at least a passing sense of unity and belonging by deciding on a simply black star as the unit insignia. It also reflected the fact that the unit's loyalty was to itself, which may change from battle to battle – hence the preclusion of a traditional “House” of “Unit” colours. It may also be noted that being a simple to spray and/or stencil on design, a new unit sub-contracting under the Black Stars can put up the small logo quickly, and remove them just as easily when they inevitably decide to leave.

TBA