Tai Kekoa is a former slave, MechWarrior, and current Commandant of the Dust Devils, having inherited the unit, property, and titles of their adoptive mother, Leilani Kekoa, when she was killed in action against Clan Wolf.
MRBC Dossier - 3065[]
Biography[]
Details of Tai Kekoa’s birth are sparse, even to them. Their earliest memories are of life on a JumpShip belonging to one of the independent hyperspace nomad fleets that ply the trade routes in the Rimward and Anti-Spinward Periphery, but they cannot recall which specifically it was. They are able to recall their mother's given name (Ramona), but never knew their father or their surname. When their mother was killed in a shipboard accident when Tai was only five standard years old, they apparently lacked any other family ties to the nomads; as such, there was no one to stop the captain of their vessel selling Tai as a slave during a stopover in the Marian Hegemony. Tai found themself taken in chains to Baccalieu by a privateer captain, slaver, and former Legatus of the Marian Hegemony Armed Forces who called himself Jacobus Klein Ballalabus.
For five hard years, Tai served in Klein's fortified villa, and generally refuses to provide details of that chapter of their life, save to describe Klein as a cruel, cold man. For most in such circumstances that would have been the final word of their story, but fate took an unexpected turn in late 3056 when the privateers of Ballalabus's Bloody Laurel returned to his holdings with an unusual prisoner: a mercenary unit commander named Leilani Kekoa. Klein intended to either ransom Leilani back to the Devils or sell her on to the Cohors Morituri, but there was a personal element as well: The Devils had killed one of the pirate commander's close business associates a few months before on Thraxa, and though he was too shrewd an operator to kill her and forfeit the opportunity for a future payoff, "alive" didn't necessarily have to mean "undamaged".
Even Tai's young eyes could see, though, that Leilani was made of sterner stuff than prior targets of their master's ire. Carrying herself in captivity with a quiet resolve that contrasted starkly with the arrogant, thin-skinned swagger that Tai had always associated with MechWarriors (due to experience with the sort who attended on Klein), this woman was something altogether different. Tai would later attest that something about Leilani kindled something in themself, and they decided that they would not stand idly by while their master broke this woman. Over the three months of the commandant's captivity, the youth smuggled food and medicines to her behind the backs of the Laurel's slave-breakers to help maintain her strength, and through whispered conversations, the two struck up a clandestine friendship. For her part, Leilani found in her helper a quick wit, a hungry mind, and an eye for detail; with the aid of Tai's knowledge of the villa, their familiarity with the habits of the Laurel, and their skill at exploiting the casual indifference with which the slavers treated them, she was able to formulate a plan to free them both from captivity.
Despite (or perhaps, because of) Tai's insistence on the last minute addition of Nala Wanjiku, another young slave, to their conspiracy, the trio ultimately succeeded in escaping their master's estate, reaching the planet's principle settlement, space port, and capital at Shackleton. Leilani was able to alert the Dust Devils to her whereabouts via the planet's HPG. After a few weeks of evading the Laurel's hired slave-catchers and the local authorities, the three fugitives were greeted by the welcome sight of the Devils' three Confederation-class DropShips descending in combat formation alongside a Union, a Fortress, and a Fury (the result of XO Darius Oliveira's calling in of old favors).
When the Devils and their allies from Gwydion Company, the Red Hare Irregulars, and the 1st Thraxa Volunteers lifted from Baccalieu, they brought with them Tai, Nala, hundreds of liberated slaves (many of them Canopian citizens), and a captured Intruder-class assault DropShip, while leaving Klein and every member of his Bloody Laurel dead, the local Marian garrison destroyed, and Shackleton's spaceport and slave market in ruins. Upon returning to Thraxa, the Devils received assistance from the Magistracy in the repatriation of the liberated slaves, but some, including Tai, and Nala, requested and received permission to remain with the unit.
Though Tai and Leilani seemed an unlikely duo, their shared hardships had brought the two close together to the point of becoming inseparable. Commandant Kekoa had lost the ability to have children herself to a combat injury many years prior, but it became apparent that in this curious and compassionate youth she came to see the child she may have almost forgotten she desired. So it was that upon Tai’s 11th birthday, Leilani surprised the youth with the formalizing of their little family, adopting Tai and designating them her heir apparent. Leilani was shrewd and careful enough to establish her heir's status via registration with the governments of both the Aurigan Coalition and Magistracy of Canopus, as well as with the financial and legal institutions of both ComStar and the MRBC, granting Tai's rights of inheritance international validity. For their part, Tai took to the obligations inherent in their new position with an intensity that would prove to be a permanent character trait.
Tai Kekoa's dedication paid dividends in good time. By only age 13 they had passed their Neurohelmet Synchronization and Aptitude Test, and having achieved solid marks in the Devils' academics programs and both simulated and live-fire BattleMech combat trials, took to the field with the Devils for the first time at age 14.
In subsequent deployments, the younger Kekoa would continue to perform well and learn quickly, and by the time of the disastrous action on Kufstein in 3062, had been promoted to Subaltern in command of one of the Devils’ three BattleMech lances. Following the death of Commandant Leilani Kekoa, Tai found themself an orphan once more, with the weight of responsibility for the shattered mercenary command that was their inheritance heavy on their shoulders.
It has yet to be seen what the new Commandant Kekoa will make of their new position as Commandant and owner, but thus far, their focus has apparently been on restoring and increasing the Dust Devils’ strength. It is worth noting that, even with the uncertainty that such a change in command engenders, turnover in the unit has thus far been low, indicating that the units’ survivors have faith in the capability of their new commanding officer. Additionally, that such a young commander has managed to attract a number of experienced MechWarriors, Battle Armor specialists, and AeroSpace Pilots to fill out the gaps in the unit’s roster is noteworthy, though it is possible this has more to do with the Devils' reputation in the regions from which these new recruits are drawn, as well as the unit's very generous equipment modernization programs. Regardless, now that the Devils have returned to active status it will most likely be seen in short order whether Kekoa will sink or swim.
Distinguishing Features[]
Kekoa’s youth may be their most incongruous feature considering their position and rather serious demeanor. Of indeterminable ethnic background and androgynous appearance, they are dark-skinned, dark of hair (though they often dye portions of it in vibrant colors), purple eyed4, heavily pierced and tattooed, and sport unusually prominent canine and bicuspid teeth. The Kufstein Disaster cost Kekoa their left eye, forearm, and lower leg, but fortunately they were able to receive high-quality bionic and myomer replacements thanks to the Devils' medical facilities. They have not, however, bothered with cosmetic concealment of said prosthetics, and thus far seem to have suffered no degradation to combat performance as a result of them.
Career Highlights[]
Operation BIRD DOG - 3061[]
Hanover: During the raid on the Jaguar's French Lick prison camp, Kekoa found themself in the crosshairs of a Hunchback IIC. Barely managing to avoid a flurry of UAC20 rounds, any one of which could end their career instantly, Kekoa was able to maneuver their FrankenMech Big Steel Claw into the deadly machine's rear arc and destroy the Hunchback's gyro, sending the 'Mech sprawling, whereupon the young Mechwarrior severed one of its legs at the hip and fusing the other at the knee for good measure and moved on to assist the rest of their unit. It wouldn't be until the conclusion of the raid, as the Devils were loading the rescued prisoners and captured salvage into their DropShips, that they would discover that the Hunchback's pilot, alive and pinned in the cockpit of his fallen machine, was the disgraced war criminal Cordera Perez.
Operation WOODSMAN - 3064[]
Kufstein: Though the Devils' first encounter with an elite frontline Clan unit ended in disaster for the mercenaries, the Wolves did not leave the field unscathed. Despite their new King Crab receiving near-crippling damage and Kekoa themself being gravely wounded, they were among the few survivors of the action and accounted for the destruction of a Thor and two full points of Elementals, as well as the live capture of an Elemental, all while falling back to their escape point.
Decorations[]
Tai Kekoa has received the following decorations from their unit and/or clients:
BattleMech[]
Tikokura (KGC-666 King Crab): Like its pilot, little of Tikokura’s history prior to its service with the Dust Devils is known. The Devils acquired the rare and ancient KGC-000b King Crab as salvage after a skirmish with black marketeers in the Rimward Periphery, but the lack of any surviving opposition left no one to answer questions as to how the marketeers had gotten their hands on it. Unfortunately, most of the ‘Mech’s advanced SLDF components were lost in said action and couldn’t be replaced at the time, and its remains languished for years in the Argo’s hold.
Clan technology recovered by the Devils gave Tikokura the opportunity for new life, and for then-Subaltern Kekoa and Chief Technician Yang Virtanen, an opportunity to attempt an ambitious redesign of the venerable machine with a very specific design brief: an assault machine that could go toe-to-toe with a Clan Daishi and expect to win.
Once repairs and overhaul were complete (just prior to the disastrous ambush on Kufstein), Tikokura’s resemblance to an original KGC-000b was primarily superficial, and they dubbed their new variant KGC-666 as a pun on the unit’s name. The ‘Mech’s engine was upgraded to a Clan XL model (salvaged from a Smoke Jaguar Behemoth 2), allowing for maximized armor, a laser AMS array, an ECM suite, and CASE ammo bins to increase the King Crab's already impressive durability, while upgraded myomers and a trio of jump jets provide Tikokura enhanced mobility over the stock chassis. The weapons loadout was dramatically altered: The arm ballistic mounts and ammo feeds typical of a King Crab were replaced (and expanded upon) with energy hardpoints and heavy cabling, onto which Virtanen's team mounted an ER PPC and a pair of medium pulse lasers (ClanTech all) in each claw, while the torso mounts were reconfigured for a Clantech LRM-15 launcher with a ton of reloads in each side. Nineteen Clan double-strength heat sinks and a pair of T3 heat exchangers allows Kekoa to maintain a punishing rate of fire without overheating.
Tai named their new mount after a monster from an ancient Terran myth Leilani Kekoa had told them during their mutual captivity in the Marian Hegemony, and a monster it is. The King Crab is more durable and maneuverable than the 'Mech it was designed to face, and though the Daishi's offensive complement is more powerful on paper, Tikokura's superior heat management over the Clan machine allows it to perform alpha-strikes that would shut a Daishi down outright and keep fighting. Thus, on balance, Kekoa and Virtanen consider the design to have met their goal.
Undertow (BSC-20 Big Steel Claw): The Devils acquired the unique BSC-20 Big Steel Claw as salvage from a termination contract on an arena fighter named Bogdan "The Steel Beast" Tubbs, and to Chief Engineer Virtanen's delight, Commandant Leilani Kekoa kept the machine rather than selling it off. A so called "FrankenMech", assembled from components of other destroyed machines, the Big Steel Claw is built in the shell and (most of) the chassis of a CRB-20 Crab, with the ballistic hardpoint and ammo feeds of an UrbanMech and a set of support weapon mounts and feed lines from a Firestarter. As Tai progressed through their MechWarrior training and was in need of a 'Mech to pilot, Virtanen took on restoring the strange machine as a sort of pet project with the aid of the youngster, who named the resurrected beast Undertow. Tai piloted the FrankenMech through the early years of their career prior to taking the controls of their King Crab shortly before the disaster on Kufstein. Though Tikokura has become their go-to mount for most drops, they have been loathe to completely give up Undertow, and have been known to pilot it when speed and agility are more useful than brute strength.
The sigil of House Kekoa
The FrankenMech's reconstruction resulted in a much more versatile and deadly machine than any of its "donors" had ever been. The engine and coolant systems were replaced with a 250 XL power plant and double-strength heat sinks salvaged from a Jade Falcon Black Hawk, granting a great deal of weight reduction at no impact to speed or thermal efficiency. These savings are put to good use, allowing for the the placement of three jump jets for increased mobility, the addition of 1.5 tonnes of armor to offset the engine's increased vulnerability, and the replacement of its armament with more powerful ClanTech weaponry. The 'Mech excels as a mid-range brawler and fast raider with a trio of extended-range medium lasers, a pair of flamethrowers, and a versatile LB-10X autocannon fed by ample CASE-protected ammunition bins. As with most of the Devils' 'Mechs, the Big Steel Claw benefits from upgraded myomers to provide unexpected agility and melee striking power, as well as an ECM suite to allow it to get in close enough to use it.
Tai Kekoa's personal badge
Both Tikokura and Undertow are painted in the Devil’s trademark camel and coral and sport a number of “tattoos” (small murals that display some of the more notable achievements both of the pilot as an individual and the unit as a whole, commonly seen on Aurigan ‘Mechs) in granite. Though Tai themself is not (at least, not by any certainty) Aurigan, they have maintained a number of the cultural traditions of their late adopted mother, the ‘Mech “tattoos” among them. Both 'Mechs also bear the sigil of House Kekoa (white shark jaws surrounding three crimson blood drops over a granite roundel trimmed in coral) on their upper "carapace", as well as the Commandant's personal mark (a stylized badger set in a sawblade-like pattern) on the "forehead" of their cockpits.
Notes[]
- Tai's exact date of birth is unknown to them, other than it being "in the middle of the year". However, as most legal documentation requires more specificity, they chose July 27th, the day they escaped enslavement alongside Leilani and Nala.
- Spoiler: While treating the injuries Tai sustained on Kufstein, the Devils' Chief Medical Officer discovered a Clan Codex implant in her patient's amputated left arm, leading to the revelation that Tai is in fact Trueborn and carries the Legacies of Ebon, Kosh, McEvady, and Dobrev. They would later discover that they were not, as they had believed, born on a JumpShip, but in a Clan Wolverine enclave on the Hidden World of Obeedah. This information is a closely-guarded secret known only to the Dust Devils' command staff.
- Kaukau aliʻi is a rank among the nobility of Coromodir, the capital system of the Aurigan Coalition, that roughly equates to the rank of "Baron" in other Inner Sphere feudal systems. Tai inherited the position from their adoptive mother, and as such represents the head of House Kekoa and owns a small landhold on the tropical coast of Coromodir VI.
- After several centuries of interstellar travel, exposure to new environmental stresses have had some interesting effects on the human genome, particularly among populations that spend generations in void habitats and vessels in the age of LosTech.