Annika "Nikkie" Tomaszewski, born Annika Herczeg, was a MechWarrior for the Crowe's Bloody Buccaneers mercenary company during the mid 32nd century, as well as the lover and fiancée of the Bloody Buccaneers' then-commander, Adam Crowe. Born in 3126 out of an adulterous relationship between Marian noblewoman Helena Maddock-Herczeg and a slave named Alojzy Tomaszewski, when Annika was born Helena would attempt to pass the child off as the legitimate offspring of her and her husband, Patrician and House Lord Tibor Herczeg. While Tibor initially believed this, he would soon become suspicious as Annika grew older, and would eventually order a paternity test be carried out, which of course only confirmed that Annika was not in fact his daughter. Tibor would soon track down Alojzy as the being the true father, and in turn ordered the slave be executed and his wife whipped. Despite this, Tibor would still continue to raise Annika, who would continue to grow up in a privileged environment, however Tibor went out of his way to sure Annika knew she was seen as "lesser" than her three elder siblings, all of whom were Tibor's legitimate offspring. Tibor would increasingly view Annika as an unwanted burden thrust upon him by his unfaithful wife, becoming increasingly emotionally and on occasion even physically abusive towards her. Her mother meanwhile would become cold and distant, reluctant to take responsibility for the decline in her and her husband's relationship and instead placing the blame primarily upon her daughter.
On Annika's 17th birthday it was revealed to her that it had been arranged for her to be married off to Arlowe Sheffield, the 46 year old head of a subordinate house which conducted slaver raids into nearby territories for House Herczeg and others. Annika was mortified by the idea, finding both Sheffield and his family profession reprehensible. As luck would have it, however, just a few months later, only mere weeks before the wedding was set to take place, a servile rebellion sprung up on the Herczeg's homeworld of Suetonius. It took only days for the slave revolt to reach the Herczeg estate, with rebel forces liberating the slave quarters before moving on to assault the main property. Annika's brother was killed and her mother was captured in the attack before the rebels located her as well, but rather than resist them Annika instead insisted upon joining them in their efforts. Annika would steal her brother's BJ-3 Blackjack BattleMech, piloting it in support of the rebel attack, and her efforts would enable the rebels to relatively easily take control of the entire estate and take the rest of her family as hostages. Annika found she had an exceptional degree of natural talent as a MechWarrior, and would continue to aid the rebels from the cockpit of her family's Blackjack as the uprising continued.
Ultimately, however, the Marian-aligned Winfield's Regiment mercenary company based on Suetonius would quash the rebellion. With her family free once more, Annika now found herself a wanted woman for her role in aiding the rebellion. Having escaped the mercenaries' clutches with a small assortment of valuable trinkets plundered from her family's coffers in hand, Annika adopted the surname of her late biological father and sold the items in exchange for Sea Fox credits before making arrangements to board an outbound DropShip along with her stolen Blackjack in hopes of escaping to parts unknown.