Pilot: Grigori Kovalenko

Mech: Ilya Muromets CTF-IM Cataphract

• Mech Identification Number: CTF2X0042A-1013
• Tonnage: 70
• Top Speed: 64.8 kph
• Armor: 432 points
• Weapons: 2 Medium Lasers, 2 AC/5s, 1 AC/10, 1 Small Laser
• Hardpoints: 3 Ballistic, 3 Energy, 1 AMS
• Jump Jets: n/a

Grigori Kovalenko was born on planet Hassad in the year 2995. His family had lived in Capellan Confederation space for generations, until Hassad was taken by the Free Worlds League in 2917. While he did not embrace his Capellan roots, as he was a Free Worlds citizen, he did respect them and he grew up into a man with a heavy reverence for the concepts of honor and heritage. To that end, he joined up with the Second Regiment of the Twelfth Star Guards mercenary unit, having been impressed by their Star League Defense Force lineage, and the Twelfth Star Guards having been impressed by his piloting abilities. He served with them dutifully, fighting for the Federated Suns and the Lyran Commonwealth, up until the start of the Fourth Succession War in 3028.

When the Federated Suns launched their initial attack against the Capellan Confederation, Grigori was incensed, seeing the assault as little more than a cowardly sneak attack. Not wanting to participate on any attacks against the Capellans, he abandoned the Twelfth Star Guards and took his Mech, a Centurion, into Capellan space. It was there that he offered his services as a mercenary to the Capellan Confederation.

Shortly into the war, the Federated Suns captured the planet Tikonov and, with it, the Capellans’ newly up and running Cataphract production facility. Grigori took the theft of the Cataphract design and production as his new cause. He styled himself as a noble knight of old, with a quest to take back all Cataphracts from non-Capellan hands. Fatefully, it was not long before he encountered a Cataphract on the battlefield. With careful shooting, he disabled the Mech with minimal damage and took it as his own, replacing his aging Centurion. He dubbed it Ilya Muromets, after the legendary knight of Slavic myths, and emblazoned it with the noble Cameron Star of the Star League as a nod to his time with the Twelfth Star Guards and their connection to the SLDF. For the last 21 years he has been using Ilya Muromets to hunt down Federated Suns’ Cataphracts, meting out justice for their theft. Their salvaged remains have been used to repair and refit his own Mech to the point that it now operates with a unique loadout.