Enraged
at the thought of Acamar falling back under Capellan sway when
Liao and Marik forces attacked in 3057, Patrick Gladden, the
owner of a large silver mine, persuaded several of his colleagues
to form the Acamar Merchants Freedom Guild. In their first act,
Guild members pooled their resources to hire a mercenary unit
from Outreach to take back the planet. Better businessmen than
generals, the merchants hired the Tiger Sharks, a combined-arms
battalion that had served on the Marik-Periphery border.
Unfortunately for the merchants, the Tiger Sharks looked far
better on paper than they did in the field.
The
Tiger Sharks hit the ground running, destroying numerous 'Mechs
and vehicles and liberating two major cities in their initial
engagements with Liao forces. A major counterattack by Liao
troops, however, badly damaged the Tiger Sharks and prompted
their commanding officer, Major Jason Timmus, to order an assault
on Acamar's capital of Kalskag. Confident of Kalskag's defenses,
the Liao government ordered the bulk of its troops to assault the
headquarters of the Acamar Merchants Freedom Guild in the city of
Flat.
The
Tiger Sharks stormed into Kalskag, overrunning the few remaining
government troops. They leveled the Capitol Building and killed
several prominent nobles inside. In flat, government tanks rolled
over much of the city center, and the leaders of the merchants'
resistance fled before the onslaught. With their employers
vanished into hiding or offworld, the Tiger Sharks sought passage
off Acamar, returning to Outreach to rebuild and seek a new
contract.