Rhonda Snord

Rhonda Snord is the commanding officer of Snord’s Irregulars, probably one of the oddess mercenary outfit in the Inner Sphere (and that is saying a lot). She is known for living a high octane life and has been the basis for numerous Trideo characters and drama characters in the Inner Sphere, which she quite appreciates. She is also seen as one of the most despicable individual by the Clans, especially Clan Jade Falcon, as she mocks their way of life and honor through her actions.

Early Life

Military career

Camelot Command Affair

The Irregulars returned to their base deep in Clan space at Camelot Command after completing their work for Interstellar Expedition and ComStar, bringing their prize, a Riga II-class destroyer, with them. Renovation on the Camelot Command yard was an expensive and complex affair, with Snord and her crew trying to make sure they would have a place to “park” their new ship. For a few years, the Irregulars and Snord were happy to use Camelot Command as a base to raid into Clan space while also doing some daring explorations for nearby Rim Worlds Republic ruins.

Things came to a head in 3057 when Clan Goliath Scorpion decided to retake Camelot Command. At the time, Rhonda Snord was providing some cover for the Eight Donegal Guards who were helping with the refit of the station while also doing some recon work in Clan space. The two units were met with Hellion Galaxy and their two WarShips. The 8^th Donegal’s own Fox-class corvette and the Irregular’s Riga II were no match for the Clan ships, but large groups of aerospace fighters engaged each other while none of the ships really opened fire.

Rhonda led the defense of Camelot directly, her ‘Mech forces facing off against some of the elite Goliath Scorpion troops. Even with the help of the Eight Donegal Guards, however, she quickly realized the situation was hopeless as they were being pushed further back. Luckily for her, Galaxy Commander Colin Yeh wanted to limit damage to the naval yard and offered her troops hegira, which she gladly accepted.

Back with the Dragoons

Wanting to rebuild her unit before going back to the Clan front, Colonel Snord took her unit to Outreach. Already being a good friend with Mackenzie Vickers after saving his life on Bristol, she hoped she could leverage this for a good deal. Brigadier Vickers was quite cordial when they met, but he explained to her that almost all resources of the Dragoons were being used to replenish their own regiments and assist with the defense the Rasalhague Republic. Rhonda felt a bit betrayed by this, but Vickers offered her a deal: her unit would serve for 10 years with the Wolf’s Dragoons and they would get their equipment replenished and first pick on any exploration missions.

Rhonda felt that this deal was too good to be true, even though it would mean her command would lose its freedom for a significant amount of time. She knew the start of the Fifth Succession War could mean plenty of work opportunity for her and her crew, but it was still unsure compared to “training Com Guards and Rasalhague troops”. She brought the offer up to her men, who debated the pros and cons for a few days. Most of them agreed this was not a terrible deal, as they were already on friendly terms with the Dragoons. While supplies did not come as quickly as Rhonda originally hoped, her troops received ship to ship combat training and drills from the Dragoons to better use their own WarShip.

Fighting for Rasalhague

When Operation AEGIR began in early 3063, Snord’s Irregulars had been dispatched to Degholan to train with the 2^nd Freemen but also looking for an ancient Star League lab on the planet. As orders came to begin operations in Clan space to retake worlds, Rhonda felt anxious as she had settled down in her training role quite well. Thankfully, her support of time training the Freemen had made the two units quite close and they worked well in the fighting to retake Altenmarkt.

While not serving on any other worlds, Snord’s presence on Altenmarkt led to many “glory seeking” commanders to attack the world to punish the Irregulars. As combined Clan forces started pushing back against them, Rhonda took her troops into “Canyon Country” and baited Clan invaders in treacherous locales to take them out. On their side, the Second Freemen maintained order on the planet and made sure the Clan invaders did not damage the key infrastructure of the planet. “Canyon Country” was renamed “Rhonda’s Country” in 3066 as the Irregulars were granted a landhold on the planet.

Personal Life

Rhonda was always a wild soul and never settled down, unlike many other members of her unit and the larger Wolf’s Dragoons. While she had a few romantic entanglements in her life, she never had children of her own, adopting the orphaned Alexandria Snord which she didn’t spend a whole lot of time raising. Rhonda is a melomaniac, with a focus on 20^th century rock and roll and heavy metal music. She has a particular fondness for Elvis Presley and other early rock and roll icons but is generally seen blasting heavy metal to distract her foes (and friends, at time). Colonel Snord explains her remarkable shape for a woman her age thanks to “rock aerobics” and “hard rock yoga”.

Rhonda Snord’s BattleMech

Rhonda Snord originally piloted a Shadow Hawk but moved to a Highlander name “Heavy Metal”as the Irregulars more frequently used Star League ‘Mechs. After the incident at Camelot Station, she started piloting a Highlander IIC which had been converted from her “Heavy Metal”.

Clan Watch Report

“Where to start? Rhonda Snord has been a constant thorn in our side since she refused orders to return to Clan space. Unlike many other former Wolf’s Dragoon and affiliate, she fully embraced the Inner Sphere way of life and much prefers to live “a hard rock life”. Her constant jibes and stings against the Jade Falcons during the early days of Operation REVIVAL have made her a mortal enemy to many, but she later also antagonized most other Clans with her irreverence.

This is not to say that she is not an amazing commander. Her attracting attention to her unit on Altenmarkt likely cost various Clans no small amount of skilled warriors. She also made sure she captured as much of our technology as possible, allowing her to improve her unit to a level that is underheard of outside the Wolf’s Dragoons which still employ her.”