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The Human Sphere is a BattleTech universe set in 3100. The Jihad has come and gone, leaving in its wake dozens of small realms in a perpetual cycle of raids and small wars. Will you seek money or defend your nation? Or both? You decide.
"Because vitually everyone was against us ... I knew we were on the right track." - Dr. Marshall T. Rose
Proserpina Syndicate
“You will never find a more wretched hive of scum and villainy.” – Benobi Kenaga
Those words by the ancient Dark Age warrior priest Benobi Kenaga seem prophetic when compared to the Proserpina of today. Wedged between the Azami Caliphate, the Robinson Republic, and the Ozawa-Addicks Mercantile Alliance, the Syndicate is a collection of ten star systems where Ronin from the Combine, Dark Caste Clanners, Yakuza, and gangs from three thousand systems collect to ply their trade. A dangerous collection of systems to travel to, those in the Syndicate generally fall into three categories. Those too poor to move, those in the various gangs that dominate it, or the rich who come to buy things they cannot get elsewhere. Showing up on few maps as anything more than “unclaimed space”, the Syndicate is recognized by even fewer governments. The Caliphate is one of those few, most likely because of the number of ex-Combine forces loyal to the Kurita family that moved there after the Word of Blake leveled Proserpina during the Jihad.
Many rumors suggest that the Syndicate fought beside the Caliphate during the Nova Cat war, putting further pressure on the Draconis Combine and forcing them to give up. While these rumors have never been proven, many historians do not believe the Robinson Republic alone could have accounted for all of the chaos on the Combine’s southern border.
Historians point to the massacre of Halstead Station early in 3088, when a full regiment of Combine BattleMech pilots were torn apart in their sleep, as a point that suggests Syndicate involvement. Studies of the massacre note that the tactics used fit perfectly with known Yakuza tactics. Whatever the truth of Halstead Station, military records show that the unit was preparing to hit Al Na’ir, an action that would have succeeded based on the forces the Azami had in place at the time. The loss of Al Na’ir so early in the war would have crippled the Azami Legions and given the Combine an advantage in their prosecution of the war against the Nova Cats and their other allies.
It is also generally known that an underworld war has waged between the Ricols and the Azami since Hassid’s ascension to the rank of Coordinator. As the Azami are not, by nature, underworld fighters of the caliber that are seen in this undeclared war, experts on the study of the Yakuza believe the Syndicate is shielding the Azami Caliphate from Combine Yakuza, just as the Caliphate has shielded the Syndicate from Combine BattleMech forces. Not that either organization will admit to this unofficial alliance.
The battle between a full battalion of Azami BattleMechs and two battalions of Combine OmniMechs on the Syndicate world of Matar in 3095 for instance is always noted as being an “aggressive war games situation in which Combine forces regrettably became involved.” How the Azami defeated twice their number of ’Mechs is unknown, but Syndicate involvement is highly suspected. They do not admit to having any BattleMech forces, but too many “forward recon units” from both the Robinson Republic and the Draconis Combine have disappeared in Syndicate space for more than a few to believe their party line.
Whatever the truth of the Proserpina Syndicate and its relations with outside nations, it is a dangerous place to go. All nations have travel warnings in place, telling their citizens not to go to that lawless region of space. Only the rich are safe there, and then only so long as their guards are tough enough not to be defeated by the local riffraff, and only so long as they do not make enemies of the more powerful organizations that no guard can protect them from. Many nobles have disappeared after making either of those mistakes.
For those who can brave the riffraff and keep out of the firing line of the Yakuza though, the Proserpina Syndicate is the place to go when you absolutely, positively, have to get that shipment of illegal bionics. Or the “gene therapies” that are illegal in 2,500 systems. Or those canisters of custom-made chemical warheads when you want to take over a town without destroying the buildings. And without having to clean up the bodies afterwards. Slaves, a night of pleasure beyond your wildest dreams, contract killings, and drugs of more varieties than you can imagine, no matter how good your imagination is, only brush the surface of what you can get there.
If you want it, whatever it is, Proserpina is the place to go.
GameMaster Notes
The internal situation, not known by many outsiders is that it is run by the Ghosts, Ryuken, and other "non-traditional" Combine soldiers that survived the Jihad. Not to mention the Yakuza, Dark Caste, and anybody else who likes to go outside the law.
The former Combine soldiers are the muscle of the place. Nobody messes with them, they get a commission of everything that happens, and they let people do whatever they want. They guarantee that nobody comes in from outside to enforce any foreign ideas like...laws. And everybody else has fun doing and selling anything that catches his or her fancy.
Military
Unknown at this time.
Factories
Proserpina – Bulldog Enterprises – APCs, Engineering vehicle, Bulldog, Manticore, Tokugawa, and Schiltron.
– Bulldog BattleWerks – Strider, Blackjack, and Sunder OmniMechs.
Systems
No information at this time.