Tempest Stryker

Tempest Stryker
Character Profile
Also known as Damocles
Died 31 October 3081[1]
Affiliation ComStar

An infamous deep-cover agent and black-ops team leader, Tempest Stryker was a senior officer in ComStar Intelligence who operated under the code-name of "Damocles."

History[edit]

Little information is available about Stryker's formative years or early service in ComStar, save he had claimed to have served in Blake's Wrath, ROM's fearsome special forces unit, and at the time of the Battle of Tukayyid and Operation SCORPION that he was on special assignment in the Clan Occupation Zones.[2]

Project Phoenix[edit]

On 1 August 3067, Stryker sent a confidential message to his longtime associate, Precentor ROM Victoria Parrdeau.[3] In this message, Stryker states the following facts and his personal opinions:

1. The Circinus Federation obtained technology and blueprints for several Star League-era 'Mechs that were allegedly redesigned by the Word of Blake, which helped the Federation prevent the takeover of their nation by the Marian Hegemony.
2. The technology given to the Federation was not only Star League-era, but also included innovations exclusive to the Capellan Confederation, which had known ties to the Word of Blake.
3. Giovanni Estrella de la Sangre, planetary governor of Demeter and CEO of Vicore Industries, was strongly suspected of being a Blakist collaborator. The refitted Blakist 'Mechs are identical to those designed by Vicore, as part of De La Sangre's "Project Phoenix" initiative, which he sold to several Inner Sphere manufacturers such as Defiance Industries, Earthwerks Incorporated and General Motors.

As part of Project Phoenix, Stryker also penned a report for Precentor ROM Parrdeau outlining known non-state intelligence and terrorist organizations such as the Nekakami, the Omniss, Free Capella, the Free Skye Movement, Black Dragons, Heimdall, the Zhanzheng de Guang and Thuggees which the Word was apparently attempting to court to aid their efforts in the Chaos March. The report also detailed the what little info Stryker had uncovered by that point about the Manei Domini, though he openly admitted much of it was circumstantial. [4]

On some date prior to September 3067, Stryker and his team received another assignment from Precentor ROM Parrdeau dealing with Project Phoenix. After infiltrating Blakist-held Epsilon Eridani and bases that appeared to be manned by First Division, Stryker discovered they were training Thuggee recruits at the behest of the Sixth of June, believing this indicated that Kali Liao controlled the Sixth of June alongside Cameron St. Jamais.[5] As Stryker's team pulled out, they stumbled upon a 'Mech bay containing Phoenix upgrades of the Grand Crusader, Raijin and Nexus, their computer cores indicating they were outright developed by Vicore for the Blakist factories on Terra. [6]

Finally making it to their extraction zone, Stryker and his team walked into an ambush. While losing two members, Stryker's team succeeded in defeating their attackers, only to discover their elimination had been ordered by Victoria Parrdeau herself. Seeming to prove Parrdeau had been hiding intel of the Blakist expansion efforts and had possible ties to St. Jamais, Stryker declared his team had resigned from ComStar to become independent operators and vowed he would eliminate Parrdeau once he could prove she was a Blakist. Stryker would proceed to leak this report to a variety of sources, including Wolfnet.[6]

Freelancer[edit]

Going even further, Damocles would attempt to pass the information he'd uncovered about Project Phoenix, the Sixth of June, Manei Domini and the Word of Blake to numerous sources, even reaching out to Sandra Raines, a former member of the Com Guards and reporter for the Interstellar News Network. Meeting with Raines on Sheratan, Damocles would have a brief but winding conversation with her before their safe house was assaulted.[2]

Jihad[edit]

Despite issues surrounding the authenticity of the information he frequently secured, Damocles would try to forward Blakist intel and information about The Five directly to Precentor Martial Victor Steiner-Davion as the Jihad erupted, unfortunately Blakist plants within Victor's staff would stymie most of these efforts, though Victor would credit Damocles as a vital source. [7][8]

Damocles would also provide information to Chandrasekhar Kurita in the lead-up to his coalition's strike against Odessa and the Ruins of Gabriel. By the latter half of the Jihad, Damocles had established himself as part of Devlin Stone's secretive covert operations command. [8] Information from Damocles would be utilized during the planning of Operation SCOUR.

Unfortunately intel acquired by Damocles about the defenses of the Word of Blake Protectorate world of Chara were heavily lacking if not deliberately counterfeited, with Clan Wolf-in-Exile's Beta Galaxy encountering a fully-functional Caspar II SDS System and that the two Protectorate Militia Level IV's supposedly on-world were reinforced by the Fourth Free Worlds Legionnaires, the Thirteenth Marik Militia and the Steel Guard, taking heavy losses before they were forced to withdraw. [9]

The disastrous events on Chara led to widespread questioning of Damocles' loyalty, identity and motivations, with some claiming in public that he was a Blakist double agent, intentionally feeding the Coalition false intelligence.[10]

Damocles' reputation would take another blow after he corroborated intel from ComStar ROM that indicated the infamous Precentor Manei Domini Apollyon and his Fifty-second Shadow Division were using the supposedly abandoned Luyten 68-28 as a staging base. In reality the intel had been leaked by the Blakists to lure Devlin Stone into a trap, Stone and the Com Guard Second and Third Armies suffering extremely heavy losses escaping from the 46th, 48th, and 54th Shadow Divisions.[11] [12]

Death[edit]

On 31 October 3081, Republic of the Sphere-affiliated forces attempted to ambush surviving elements of the 49th Shadow Division and the notorious Opacus Venatori Precentor, Berith, at the location known as the Gates of Hades on Devil's Rock. The Republican forces were acting on information provided by Damocles, who accompanied them into battle; the ambush was actually the result of intelligence planted by Berith, who was determined to kill Stryker. In this, Berith succeeded; having goaded Damocles into a berserk, suicidal rage, three Opacus Venatori BattleMechs combined their fire on the charging Com Guard agent when he charged, killing him. The Blakist forces then retreated in good order, leaving the remaining Republican forces alive.[1][13]

References[edit]

  1. 1.0 1.1 Jihad: Final Reckoning, pp. 78–79: "Chaos Undaunted: Scrap Iron"
  2. 2.0 2.1 Interstellar Players, pp. 13–20: "Sixth of June: Unravelling the Mysteries by Sandra Raines"
  3. Technical Readout: Project Phoenix, pp. 10–11
  4. A Guide to Covert Ops, pp. 101–105: "Overview of Intelligence Agencies - Independent Groups"
  5. Jihad Conspiracies: Interstellar Players 2, pp. 91–94
  6. 6.0 6.1 Technical Readout: 3055 Upgrade, pp. 94–95: "Inner Sphere "Phoenix" BattleMechs"
  7. Jihad Hot Spots: 3070, p. 31: "And In Other News... Damocles' Report to the Precentor Martial"
  8. 8.0 8.1 Masters and Minions: The StarCorps Dossiers, p. 223: "Other Realms and Powers - Other Notable Personalities of 3076 - "Damocles""
  9. Jihad Hot Spots: Terra, pp. 48–49: "Chara Operational Report"
  10. Jihad Hot Spots: Terra, p. 48: "Chara, Damocles and Trust"
  11. Jihad: Final Reckoning, p. 106: "What Lies Beneath - The Republic of the Sphere - The Com Guards"
  12. Total Chaos, pp. 192–193
  13. Interstellar Expeditions: Interstellar Players 3, p. 30: "Hunting the Word - Refugees of a Lost Cause - The Manei Domini"

Bibliography[edit]