Yagami Kenshin

A former yakuza and veteran of the DCMS's 2nd Ghost Regiment, Yagami Kenshin (Yagami uses the traditional Japanese ordering of family name preceding given name) is indisputably the Dust Devils' most skilled MechWarrior, with a small army of silhouettes representing a career kill list in the hundreds adorning his cockpit.
==MRBC Dossier - 3065==
===Biography===
Originally born to henin on Galedon V, Yagami Kenshin lost both parents in his early childhood to an industrial accident. Placed in state-run foster care, the quiet youth soon developed an aptitude for violence in an environment rife with other troubled children; though not prone to starting fights, Yagami displayed a notable talent for finishing them. Yagami was barely into his mid-teen years when this drew first the attention of, and then sponsorship from, a kyodai of the Galedon yakuza. 
Yagami excelled as an enforcer for his new family, building a reputation for reliability, loyalty, and a certain cold efficiency for one so young. As such, when he came of age, his oyabun viewed Yagami as a perfect candidate for induction into the Ghost Regiments, and sponsored him for training as a Mechwarrior. Yagami took to his new duties with typical quiet intensity, and excelled particularly as a recon and raiding pilot.
Shortly after graduating the training program, Yagami was assigned to the 1st Ghost and the cockpit of a Jenner, shipping out with the regiment for its deployment to Altais just prior to the outbreak of the War of 3039. Though he survived the initial LCAF assault on the planet, his Jenner, and the greater part of his regiment, did not. When the remnants of the 1st and 2nd Ghost lifted in retreat, the young Mechwarrior was left behind, and linked up with local partisan forces to continue to resist the occupying Lyrans for the next few months.
During this time, Yagami was nigh-unbelievably fortunate to find a long-hidden Star League-era cache containing a single BattleMech and a limited amount of supplies, becoming a force-multiplier for the guerillas and reaping a heavy toll from the invaders. The Lyrans, for their part, would withdraw from the planet later that year when they were cut off from their supply lines by the successful DCMS counteroffensive, at which time Yagami attempted to rejoin his unit. Unfortunately, this would prove to be anything but easy.
The 1st Ghost was effectively destroyed as a functional formation of Altais, and in their withdrawal had listed Yagami as KIA. In the chaos following the war, the young warrior found himself at the mercy of a disorganized military bureaucracy that was more focused on the failures of the initial invasion response than the successes that followed, combined with the general DCMS antipathy toward the henin Ghost Regiments. 
After months of attempting to navigate a near-impossible situation and fend off attempts by local command staff to separate him from his new Phoenix Hawk, Yagami's frustration and insulted pride turned to full disillusionment, and deciding to take advantage of his status as officially dead, bartered the spoils he had taken from the Lyrans on Altais for passage for himself and his Mech offworld. Severing his ties to the Combine (and the first digit of his left little-finger, which he sent to his oyabun as an apology for his unwillingness to suffer further indignity at the hands of the DCMS), Yagami realized that his only real hope for survival was in the mercenary profession. He knew, however, that employment with a unit serving alongside the DCMS was off the table, and he found the idea of working with either half of the new Federated Commonwealth distasteful in the extreme, having so recently been on the receiving end of their attempts at conquest.
Left with few options, Yagami ended up in the Periphery, where he was recruited by a struggling command known then as Markham's Marauders. Perhaps the young warrior saw something of a kindred spirit in the underdog unit, having so recently come from its own disastrous near-death in the Aurigan coup, perhaps not; if asked, Yagami simply shrugs off the question. Whatever the case, the combination of Yagami's skill and the advantage provided by his LosTech mount proved instrumental in the recovery of the Marauders from the brink of bankruptcy and dissolution. 
In the years since, Yagami has served his unit faithfully and well, from the Arano Restoration to the recent (and disastrous) engagement on Kufstein. Over the course of this long career the warrior has racked up a number of confirmed kills (including a Marauder piloted by none other than the infamous Bounty Hunter) to rival some of the most celebrated professional soldiers in the Inner Sphere, all while never having suffered the loss of his own venerable Phoenix Hawk. To date, though he has been heavily recruited by larger, more famous commands, Yagami has flatly refused all offers, including command positions within his own unit. He is, simply put, a skilled killer, and seems content to remain so for the foreseeable future, despite rumors of a substantial salary that should have allowed an extremely comfortable retirement years ago.
===Distinguishing Features===
Yagami Kenshin is a handsome man of Japanese descent, with salt-and-pepper hair and a quiet (if a bit intense) demeanor. Though rarely displayed in public, his body is covered from neck to foot in traditional irezumi as befits a former yakuza enforcer.
===Career Highlights===
==== The Arano Restoration - 3043-45 ====
Itrom: Yagami distinguished himself during the action from which the Dust Devils would earn their permanent moniker, and personally exemplified the tactics that led to the same. Riding the edge of his Phoenix Hawk's heat limits, Yagami leaped in and out of the worlds radioactive dust storms, striking down enemy after enemy with carefully-placed shots from unexpected angles, earning no fewer than six BattleMech kills in that single engagement.
Tyrlon: While his lancemates drew the attention of Espinossa's artillery spotters and guard units, it was Yagami who made the perilous, multi-jump climb up the fortified cliffs that housed the power stations feeding Tyrlon's primary anti-orbital defenses. Striking swiftly and brutally before streaking off into the torrential rains, Yagami quickly and efficiently destroyed each generator in rapid succession, allowing Lady Arano's forces to land safely and liberate the world from Directorate control and opening the path to Coromodir, the capital world and seat of Espinossa's brutal regime.
==== The Mantharaka Incident - 3047 ====
Mantharaka: When the Devils faced off against Natasha Kerensky's Black Widow Company and the forces of the Bounty Hunter, Yagami faced the greatest trial yet in his career when he faced off against the Bounty Hunter himself one-on-one in the midst of the larger brawl. Piloting Onryō through a series of maneuvers reminiscent of something out of the Westerhand Quarterly Games, Yagami managed to dodge a hail of particle blasts, lasers, and AutoCannon rounds to get in under his opponents guard and slice into the Marauder's (few) vulnerable spots at point-blank range. When the dust cleared, though the Bounty Hunter managed to eject, Yagami and Onryō stood victorious over his shattered machine.
==== Operation REVIVAL 3050-3054 ====
WIP
==== Operation GUERRERO - 3057 ====
WIP
==== Operation Bird Dog - 3059 ====
WIP
==== Operation WOODSMAN - 3064 ====
WIP
===Decorations===
Yagami Kenshin has received the following commendations from the Dust Devils and their clients: 
*The Shield of Restoration
*The Mantharaka Talisman
*The Hound's Tooth
*The Shield of Valhalla 
*The Broken Chain
*The Balm of Edo
*Kaumaha o ka 'Ohana
*The Golden Bin
===BattleMech===
Yagami Kenshin discovered Onryō by accident while evading the occupying 8th Donegal Guards on Altais during the War of 3039. According to Yagami, the 'Mech was sealed away in a hidden storage bunker revealed by a volcanic rockslide he triggered to bury a pursuing Lyran scout lance. Working with local partisans, he was able to get the 'Mech running again, and piloted it to great effect in the guerilla war against the LCAF. Unfortunately, Yagami does not have any insight into why an SLDF Royal Division Phoenix Hawk was stored, alone, on Altais, nor was he able to locate any records of its prior service.
Onryō served Yagami well when he left the Combine for mercenary life, and he brought the Phoenix Hawk with him when he joined the Dust Devils in 3043. Over time, as the unit recovered more and better salvage, Onryō received priority in upgrades as any technological edge was found to be exponentially increased when combined with Yagami's skill in its cockpit.
The ancient machine's current configuration lends itself well to Yagami's particular fighting style, combining mobility with pinpoint accuracy. Onryō maintains it's original weapons configuration (upgraded to ClanTech versions, of course), with the exception of the ER PPC having been swapped out for a more precise ER Large Laser. Fourteen ClanTech heat sinks help keep the 'Mech cooler than the stock PHX-1b, and the addition of an extra half-ton of armor and the replacement of the original XL Engine with a lower-profile RFUM 270 XL, salvaged from a Clan Jade Falcon Shadow Cat, work with the ECM suite to increase the machine's survivability.
Onryō is painted in a simple scheme of the Devils' standard camel, with a few plate edges trimmed in coral. The machine is largely free from any personalization or ostentation whatsoever, with the small exceptions of Yagami's personal heraldry (a simple etching of a downward-pointing tanto with blood dripping from the blade) painted on the upper-right torso, and of course the multitude of kill silhouettes on the lower left and right armorglas panels of the Phoenix Hawk's canopy.
==Addendum (Classified: WolfNet Level 2 Clearance Required)==
As part of our ongoing efforts to place an asset within the Dust Devils for continued monitoring, it was thought that Yagami's criminal past might indicate a pliability that we could exploit. As such, we sent an agent to approach Yagami with a generous offer in exchange for information; the agent has not reported back or been seen since. 
[We need to have a conversation about timing, apparently. Why in Kerensky's name would anyone think it was a good idea to try to turn a member of a unit that so recently suffered significant losses due to a betrayal? Also, said "criminal past" was with the bloody YAKUZA, an organization that famously puts a premium on personal duty to a rigid hierarchy. I'd like to speak with the section chief who authorized this. Immediately. - M.N.] 
Category:Characters
Category:Dust Devils Personnel
Category:Dust Devils AU