Editing Duncan Kalma

{{InfoBoxCharacter
| image               = 
| caption             = 
| name                = Duncan Kalma
| birthdate           = 
| died                = 
| othernames          = "Demon"
| affiliation         = [[House Kalma]]<ref name=SL>''Star Lord'' (novel)</ref>
| profession          = [[Mercenary]]
| parents             = [[Harrison Kalma]] (father)<ref name=SL/><br>[[Cynthia Kalma]] (mother)<ref name=SL/>
| siblings            = 
| spouse              = 
| children            = 
}}

==History==
'''Duncan Kalma''' was the son of retired [[Free Worlds League]] intelligence officer Harrison Kalma.

Duncan is a gambler and periphery mercenary that tends to get into trouble and by [[3057]] his father has just saved him from a debtor's prison for which he is not overly thankful. After his father provided an analysis on the terror raids that [[Stefan Amaris VII|unknown forces]] were carrying out pretending to be [[Knights of the Inner Sphere]], he suggested his son [[Duncan Kalma]] for the undercover operation that will end creating [[Duncan's Demons]].

At the [[Captain-General]]'s Winter Palace on Marik, Harrison and Duncan Kalma and [[Rod Trane]] (a former [[Knight of the Inner Sphere]] discuss the implications of the alleged raids with [[Thomas Marik (False)|Thomas Marik]] and [[SAFE]] Director [[Wilson Cherenkov]] on April 16. Thomas Marik has taken a personal interest in why somebody would seek to discredit his Knights. Intelligence indicates that an attack against [[Herotitus]] is imminent, and Duncan Kalma and Rod Trane are sent there to obtain further intelligence although they do not get along well with each other.

Kalma and Trane arrive on Herotitus aboard the commercial DropShip ''[[Levine's Star]]'' and  begin their investigations on 30 April. They witness the expected attack on Herotitus on the 1st of May. They commandeer an old ''[[Warhammer]]'' from the [[1st Herotitus Defense Garrison|First Herotitus Defense Garrison]] and engage an enemy ''[[Vindicator]]'' and a ''[[Rifleman]]'' with some success. After the fight, they decide to end their recon mission and return to Marik immediately.

After their return to Marik, Kalma and Trane discussed their findings and revisit the earlier idea of infiltrating the unknown mercenaries on [[Galatea]]. To this end, a detachment of Knights of the Inner Sphere assumed "cutthroat mercenary" identities and much to Trane's chagrin, Kalma is appointed mission leader because of his familiarity with the mercenary life. On May 8, enroute to Galatea aboard the ''[[Union]]''-class DropShip ''[[Farragut's Folly]]'' (attached to the [[JumpShip]] ''[[Janos]]''), Kalma explains to the unit that they have been given substandard equipment and that he has even gone so far as to confiscate their razors and disable the showers aboard the DropShip so that they can blend in with the lowlife mercenaries. For the time being, their unit is called [[Raima's Mercenary Company, Ind.]].

Duncan incorporates a few true mercenaries to look more real, [[Hermann Bovos]], [[Garth Hawkes]] and [[clan]] renegade [[Dawn Moffat|Dawn]], as they also all want to know who those mysterious raiders are.

They go to participate in a Company vs. Company tournament, where [[Carmody's Cavaliers Stables|Carmody's Cavaliers]] are the current champions. Outside of the arenas, Kalma's unit is repeatedly attacked with trowing knifes, sniper shots and even poison by the Cavaliers who are found to be building up their strength to about battalion level. Following the successes of Kalma's group in the arena, the arena master suggests they adopt a catchier name and they settle for "Duncan's Demons" after Duncan's callsign. They continue their feud with the Cavaliers, and both sides suffer material losses and even deaths until the Cavaliers are finally decisively beaten in a match on May 28 where [[Clinton Carmody]], their commander, is killed.

Their victory gives them visibility, and one [[Count]] [[Sessa Lottimer]] approaches Duncan Kalma with the long-awaited offer to hire his unit for a periphery military. Within a few days, Duncan's Demons leave for the world of [[Kyeinnisan]] where they are to meet a representative for "final approval".<ref name=SLc1-20>''Star Lord'' (novel) Chapters 1 to 20</ref>

The Demons' prospective employer has a JumpShip circuit in place to quickly move Kalma and his unit to Kyeinnisan. While waiting for their host to appear, Bovos and Hawkes confront Kalma about his suspicious behaviors, namely passing on many other contracts to finally accept this one and all, including Dawn, finally reveal their respective backgrounds to each other.

While they are visiting a casino in Luck City on June 8, [[Kyeinnisan Security Force|security personnel]] who are obviously part of the plan come to arrest Kalma and his entourage (Bovos, Hawkes and Dawn) after Bovos is set up for accusations of cheating. They fight their way out with concealed weapons and Dawn's martial arts skills, hijack a transport and escape into the nearby Kispiox Forest after getting off a secret radio message to Trane back aboard the DropShip. Stopping at a store in a small hamlet for food, they are drugged by the proprietor and awake locked up in a store room on the next day. They manage to escape easily, feeling that their captors wanted them to escape. Security forces pursue them further, but it turns out they are herding them in a certain direction rather than actually searching for them. Eventually, they arrive at a fence with signs at regular intervals bearing the crest of the [[Rim Worlds Republic]]. Meanwhile, Trane and the elements who remained on the DropShip proceed to forcibly take control of the JumpShip, following the message from Kalma.

Kalma and his group find themselves escorted by uniformed guards onto the grounds of the luxurious Jaggoda Estate, where they are greeted by Count Lottimer and meet "Master Jaggoda", a wealthy individual who offers the group a position within the military of a fledgling nation for their impressive performance.

Jaggoda later discusses Duncan's Demons with an aide. Having killed two security guards during their unexpected flight, the resourceful group is now more or less in the hands of Jaggoda but he does not trust them entirely. It is decided that only the four who are already planetside will be moved to New St. Andrews for now.

Testing out 'Mechs for Jaggoda upon his request, Kalma, Bovos, Hawkes and Dawn find them to be worn-out and barely functional. They confront Jaggoda, claiming that they rigged the 'Mechs for self-destruction and are subsequently accepted into the as-yet unnamed army after Jaggoda admits to having set them up for arrest and apologizes for the "test". On the same night (June 11) they break into his office and find out the destination of their travel - [[New St. Andrews]]. They feel uneasy about their orders for the command lance to go ahead to receive the commission and prepare the arrival of the remainder of their group, and manage to send another message to Trane instructing him to follow them to New St. Andrews and to notify Thomas Marik.

Fortunately for Duncan, Rod Trane is able to send message that is received by Thomas Marik. Though it was largely jumbled in transmission (presumably due to [[ComStar]] sabotage of the [[Word of Blake]]-operated [[HPG]]s), it is enough for Thomas Marik and Harrison Kalma to piece together some information, helped by a [[Magistracy of Canopus]] message from the the [[Magestrix]] herself about where troop movements took place, and decide to send the Knights of the Inner Sphere to New St. Andrews in full strength.

On New St. Andrews, Captain Varas welcomes the command lance of Duncan's Demons into the [[New Republican Guards]] but realizes they are different from the mercenaries they recruited so far. Four 'Mechs short, the Demons are allowed to pick 'Mechs from the stocks but find out these are just as worn-out as the ones they tested back on Kyeinnisan. They also note old insignia on the 'Mechs indicating their origin to be the [[Illyrian Palatinate]] and the [[Lothian League]], proving that this army is recruiting from all over the periphery. They decide to sabotage as many 'Mechs as possible under the pretense of testing them, and to contact the local Clave Lords for support against the self-proclaimed Star Lord.

Varas still has doubts about Duncan's Demons, who are nothing like their other recruits (which include [[Black Warriors]] from the [[Circinus Federation]], [[Crimson Reapers]] from [[Astrokaszy]] and [[Praetorian Guards]] from the [[Marian Hegemony]]).

On their third day on New St. Andrews, Duncan's Demons have already sabotaged a company's worth of mercenary 'Mechs and Bovos has met with a Clave leader who is ready to lead an uprising. While operating their new 'Mechs on Brannigan Plain the Demons are attacked by elements of the Black Warriors and figure that their game is up. Shortly afterwards, Varas has to report the defeat of the Black Warriors and also that an unidentified DropShip (Trane with the rest of Duncan's Demons, made up of Knights of the Inner Sphere) has landed somewhere in the direction of the retreating Demons; New St. Andrews is obviously under attack.

Making a stand at the DropShip, Duncan's Demons fend off an attack from a company of the Praetorian Guards and subsequently, from an orphaned company from the [[Oberon Confederation]] on July 12. By the following day, the Demons are down to nine MechWarriors, with all 'Mechs damaged to some degree, Kalma is severely wounded, but they have destroyed the better part of three enemy companies in separate engagements. Varas now suspects they may be House troops, probably Knights of the Inner Sphere in disguise. Although lacking in aerospace forces, Varas' forces double their efforts to find the Demons in the mountainous regions and eventually discover their location. During an infantry attack on the Demons' position, the local Claves join the fight with horse-mounted infantry and help to repel the attack. Just as enemy 'Mech reinforcements (the Crimson Reapers) threaten to overrun Duncan's Demons, the real Knights of the Inner Sphere arrive in force to relieve the Demons and proceed to exterminate all mercenaries who posed as Knights with extreme prejudice. During the fighting, Dawn disappears with the ''[[Orion]]'' she is piloting. On a hunch, Trane follows her to the Cavern of the Skull which is guarded by a detachment of the Black Warriors. There, the ''Orion'' is destroyed and a small DropShip leaves before the Knights can secure the installation.

On August 16, Duncan's Demons are received at the Marik Palace on Atreus. [[Sophina Marik]] has died, and it has also turned out that [[Joshua Marik]] has long since succumbed to his leukemia and was replaced by a double by [[Victor Steiner-Davion]]. Thomas Marik has sent a [[holovid]] message to [[Katherine Steiner-Davion]] about his intentions to confront her brother Victor and demand reparations; war looms. Lieutenant Bovos has accepted a commission with the Knights; Duncan Kalma and Dawn have turned down similar offers. Trane was promoted to [[Force Captain]]. Duncan Kalma, now reconciled with his father, points out that his short-term investments with the winnings from Galatea have made the Demons "stinking rich" and invites all to a celebration. Duncan's Demons then disband in an brief meeting on the tarmac to go their separate ways.

==References==
<references />

==Bibliography==
* ''[[Star Lord (novel)|Star Lord]] (novel)

[[Category:Free Worlds League Characters|Kalma, Duncan]]
[[Category:Mercenary Characters|Kalma, Duncan]]