Morrison's Extractors

Morrison's Extractors
Formed	Mid-to-late 3040s
Affiliation	Pirate
Parent Command

Morrison's Extractors was a gang of pirates, one of the most rapacious of all, founded by "King" Hopper Morrison sometime in the mid-to-late 3040s.

History

Originally composed of former Black Warriors MechWarriors hailing from the Circinus Federation, Morrison, who led a company, and the rest of his unit rebelled and left the Black Warriors after finding a cache of Star League-era 'Mechs and weaponry while on a deep-space raiding mission near the borders of the Rim Collection and Lyran Commonwealth.

After rebelling, Morrison led his men to a pair of planets capable of supporting life, which Morrison named Pain and The Rack. On these planets, Morrison built up a base from which he could launch raiding parties. The first was originally named Dijonne, but Hopper renamed it Pain. The Extractors discovered that the planet had a stable and numerous population. The pirates behaved with surprising restraint, leaving the locals alone. In exchange for food and labor, the locals would be protected from the Extractors and any third parties.

By the end of the 3040s, the Extractors had become the scourge of Lyran worlds. Eventually each of his two base worlds was garrisoned by a regiment's worth of pirates. These two regiments were largely equipped with good equipment, only a company of each regiment used Succession Wars era technology. The Clan Invasion left the Extractors untouched, but after the Truce of Tukayyid, Federated Commonwealth issued a call for mercenaries to hunt down and destroy the Extractors after the pirates began raiding Timbuktu (a trading hub and source of germanium) frequently. The FedCom also offered the support of the 11th Arcturan Guards RCT to finish off the Extractors. Archon Katherine Steiner-Davion offered a sizable bounty for Hopper's head, but without success: the Extractors successfully escaped the grasp of Lyran forces.

The Extractors were responsible for destroying two battalions of Simonson's Cutthroats in 3056. Most of the survivors joined the Extractors, but a few stragglers fled to parts unknown, vowing revenge against Morrison.

Although initially successful, a sizable percentage of the Extractors, by then two regiments strong, were destroyed by the mercenary unit Able's Aces in 3062 after a series of botched raids on Rim Collection territory, and the planet Pain was liberated from their control.

It is evident that the crushing defeat was devastating to the Extractors: they didn't attack the Rim Collection again, and as of 3067, they hadn't approached there a single time. Ironically, his salvage-which included several Star League-era 'Mechs from the original Morrison's find, allowed the Collection to form the Third Collection Armored Battalion.

It is unclear to what degree the remaining Extractors were an operational unit, but they had enough manpower and resources to mount a raid on the New India Parts Depot in September 3065.

Amongst the Extractors' losses was Pain which was taken by the Black Harrriers, another pirate gang. Without any doubt, the loss of their main base critically weakened the Extractors.

Officers

Rank	Name	Command
Commanding Officers of the Morrison's Extractors
"King"	Hopper Morrison	mid-3040 to 3062

Tactics

Unknown.

Composition History

Unknown.

Rules

Game Rules

3067

Morrison's Extractors possess the Overrun Combat and Banking the Initiative special abilities. They aren't skilled at countering AeroSpace units however: All Extractors have a +1 to hit penalty to hit any enemy AeroSpace unit. AeroSpace units targeting the Extractors receive a -1 to hit bonus.

Gallery

• 

  "King" Hopper Morrison with two of his Extractors

Bibliography

• By Blood Betrayed (Novel)
• Field Manual: Mercenaries, Revised
• Field Manual: Periphery
• Handbook: Major Periphery States
• Hot Spots
• Magician (BattleCorps Story)
• The Periphery, 2nd edition (sourcebook)
• Planet Digest: Pain in Shrapnel#10