A half-century ago the local government of Alda authorized the formation of the Aldani

Golden Companies, a group of mercenary companies that would feed money back to their
homeworld. These companies were formed largely by promises of land and citizenship on Alda once
their charter was completed. Of the four companies, three failed within a few decades and declared
bankruptcy then dissolved. One, however, managed to turn a profit and funnel that to the planet.
Over forty years, they funnelled enough money and interest to Alda to turn it from a frontier world to
a high-Tier 2 world, with suggestions it could reach Tier 1 within another few centuries. The company
responsible for this enormous gain was the 3rd Aldani Gold, better known as Lobar’s Wolves.
Colonel Lobar Black himself was one of only a handful of Aldani natives in the company. The
son of a local noble, he entered the armed forces as an officer and found his way to the upper ranks
through pacification operations during the planet’s contentious move to a one-world government.At
the conclusion of the Aldani Unification Wars, Lobar was hand-picked by the administration to head
one of the Golden Companies.
Somehow, despite the nepotism inherent to his rise, Lobar proved himself a shrewd and
capable mercenary leader. He demonstrated a talent for reading people that both made finding both
effective soldiers and trustworthy employers much easier. When the other companies failed, the
Wolves had tripled in its original size and already turned a massive profit. As they neared the end of
their charter, fifty years later, they were one of the best-known companies in the Alliance.
Then, tragedy struck. Paid to help drive off an Arachnid invasion on Haumaea III, a border-
world, the Wolves found the invasion much larger than expected. Eventually, two-thirds of their
strength eliminated by the engagement, they decided to cut their losses and retreat. Morale crashed,
and the company was left in a precarious position. With the charter ending, Lobar made the decision
to return home to Aldani and claim the promised spoils. The Wolves’ small fleet entered orbit around
Alda and Lobar descended expecting a triumphant return. Instead, he met with sheepish
administrators who informed him the planet could not honor their end of the bargain. They simply
hadn’t expected the number of people that would have to be paid and made citizens - not to mention
these were all violent soldiers, by their estimation poorly suited to reintegrate into society. With no
actual contract having been written up, the Wolves were left no legal recourse - especially not in their
ruined state.
At this point, things began to fall apart. A rogue group of Wolves - possibly under Lobar’s
orders, though this is contentious - attempted to assassinate the president of the Aldani Federation in
retaliation for this betrayal. Unfortunately, they succeeded, and the general of the armed forces
stepped in and declared an assault on the Wolves’ cruiser in dock. In their state, the Wolves were
forced to retreat, as the Aldani placed a significant bounty on their heads for the crime.
On the run, the Wolves splintered. First, believing that Lobar had ordered the assassination,
a chunk of the survivors defected to the Alliance, selling out their comrades in exchange for
integration into the military. Led by Captain Shak Tai, the Cizerack right hand of Colonel Black and his
third wife, they lit a beacon on the flagship for the Alliance to hone in on. Alliance cruisers ambushed
the Wolves and they were once again forced to retreat, as their own comrades attacked them. Then,
after this series of unfortunate events, yet another group splintered. The colonel claimed he had not
ordered the assassination, but the third-in-command, the Pythonian Captain Kal-Ten-Keraz, said he
had been told in a quiet conversation to make it happen. This was the final blow to the Wolves, who
fully collapsed into infighting between those who believed the colonel and refused to believe their
beloved leader would do something so low, and those who believed the captain and more
importantly believed he had done the right thing. Those who went with the Pythonian called
themselves the Grey Wolves.
In the fighting that followed, Colonel Black was killed. Reports disagree, but many claim Kal-
Ten personally stabbed the colonel through his heart. With the colonel dead and the charter ended,
his son, Etienne Black, took command of what was left and contacted the Alliance to have the bounty
recanted. After long negotiations, blame assignment to the Grey Wolves and the dead colonel, and
significant reparations payments to Alda which almost bankrupted Lobar’s Wolves, the bounty was
cancelled and they were once again free men.
With all this done, the Wolves were now theoretically free. With nothing else to do, now-
Colonel Etienne Black renewed the charter with whoever would now stay - less than a hundred total
people who had survived the entire ordeal. Decimated, their glowing reputation trashed, and with
former friends - now enemies - everywhere, Etienne is left the undesirable task of rebuilding the
entire thing.