Player Dossier: Benjamin "Patriot" Martin

1st Davion Guards Dossier

Type: Mechwarrior

Name:  Benjamin Martin

Callsign: Patriot

Unit: 1st Davion Guards, 7th Company

Battlemech: Guillotine GLT-3N

Specialty:  Lasers, SRM's

At the beginning of the War of 3039 between the Federated Suns and Draconis Combine,

Benjamin Martin is a veteran of the Fourth Succession Wars and a widower raising his seven children.  He is living in the Rochester system and is a second cousin to Field Marshal James Sandoval, The Duke of Robinson.  Martin is called to Robinson and offered a Company command for the Invasion of the Draconis Combine. Fearing the consequences of a war, Martin declines to posting. Ashamed of his father's perceived cowardice, Martin's eldest son, Gabriel, enlists in the Federated Suns Military against his father's wishes.

Colonel Tavington, Fourth Ghost Regiment

A within months the Draconis Combine has launched a counterattack which includes landings on Rochester.  Gabriel returns home to Rochester, having been wounded in early action.  His unit was wiped out, but he escaped capture returning with valuable information about Combine forces. The Martins open their estate to wounded / recovering veterans of the conflict.  However Draconis Combine forces soon arrive at the Martin estate.  A lance of the Fourth Ghost Regiment, led by the ruthless Colonel William Tavington.  They arrest Gabriel as a spy and intend to execute him back at their camp. When Benjamin's next eldest son Thomas attempts to free Gabriel, he is shot and killed by Colonel Tavington. Tavington orders the Estate burned, and the wounded shot.

On their way back to camp, the Fourth Ghost Lance is ambushed by Martin and two of his sons, freeing Gabriel in the process. Gabriel and Benjamin decide to rejoin the Federated Suns army and fight the Combine Forces on Rochester, leaving the rest of the children in the care of his sister-in-law, Charlotte. Due to his battlefield experience, Benjamin is appointed a Captain and put in charge of the local militia. His goal will be to keep The Fourth Ghost Regiment occupied in order to prevent them from marching north to the higher populated areas of Rochester. Benjamin recruits and trains his force with the assistance of Major Jean Villeneuve, a retired Lyran Tank commander, who is assigned to Martin's militia unit.

Benjamin's militia uses guerrilla warfare with limited Mechs, Tanks and infantry, harassing Combine supply lines and capturing goods. These tactics earn him the disdain of Colonel Tavington who is willing to use whatever means necessary to capture Martin and crush his militia.  Tavington learns the identities of some of the militia members and proceeds to attack their families and burn their homes. Benjamin's family is forced to flee Charlotte's plantation, after it is burned, and settle along the coast with a group of former servants.

During his campaign, Tavington rides into a town known to support the militia and has the inhabitants locked in the church. He then orders the church burned, killing all inside, including Gabriel Martin's new wife Anne Howard. In a rage, Gabriel and a small group of militia attack Tavington's encampment. Before Benjamin is able to arrive to support his son, Gabriel is killed by Tavington.

Heartbroken, Benjamin leads the militia in a decisive battle against Tavington. The Rochester militia forces prevail over the Fourth Ghost Regiment and Benjamin kills Tavington. 

Now 20 years later, all his children are grown and have lives of their own.  Martin at 54 still feels he has something to offer the Federated Suns in their battle against the Clans.  Needing every able bodied Mechwarrior, the Federated Suns quickly took Martin back.  He was assigned to the 1^st Davion Guards, a unit that would be at the forefront of the Jaguar counter offensive.  Fed Suns media made his posting to the unit wide spread on many media outlets. The idea being to show the Draconis Combine allies that even a veteran of the last two conflicts between the Dracs and the Suns is in full support of liberating Combine space and removing the Clans from the Inner Sphere.  Little did they know he is really bat%&$^ CRAZY!

(Written by Patsfreak, Edit by RangerRob)