Major Sean Rutherford, head of Wolf's Dragoons' Contract Operations Group, contacted the president of the Blackwell Corporation in January 3007 to negotiate a contract for production of combat vehicles and replacement parts. Three vehicles were commissioned: the Kestrel VTOL transport, the Badger APC and the Bandit hovercraft. Blackwell, then a minor manufacturer of actuator parts and 'Mech components, grew dramatically in the intervening years.
         The first Bandit was delivered to the Dragoons in March 3008 and the vehicle remained an exclusive Dragoon vehicle into the 3050s. The rise of the Allied Mercenary Command, formed to combat increasing Word of Blake predations on the Chaos March, changed this policy. The Dragoons began selling Bandits to member commands of the AMC, and when Word of Blake equipment began to outclass the design, they ordered an upgrade.
         The Bandit IIC as it became known soon the entered the battlefield to the general approval of the AMC and became a powerful weapon against the Word. They fought throughout the Jihad, even performing well during the assault on Terra itself, and have remained one of the most prestigious AMC troop transports ever since.

         The major advantage of the Bandit IIC is its versatility. It can carry a standard seven-man squad or a five-man point with equal capability. Privacy berths for each trooper, a small exercise area, and a common meeting room give the troops spacious, by military standards, room to work in. A morgue with automatic systems makes it quick and easy to maintain and load up the BattleArmor.
         When outfitted to carry unarmored infantry, the Bandit can easily carry up to two full platoons or their clan equivalent in comfortable communal rooms with plenty of room to stretch out and relax on their way to the target. Many militaries do not realize how effective a a well-rested infantry unit can be, but most mercenaries have long since learned that happy soldiers are easier on the bills, and public opinion, than angry soldiers that take their aggressions out on local bars.
         The Bandit IIC frees up the space to carry this many troops by making liberal use of advance technologies, including Clan armor and an extra-light engine. This has kept them from having to reduce the weapons load, keeping it an effective firing platform. Blackwell markets a large number of weapons pods for the design, giving the Bandit IIC an impressive range of firepower, not to mention confusion in their foes. AMC techs have become adept at remounting different weapon systems on Bandits after allowing enemy recon patrols to glimpse the vehicles, to really mess up their enemies.

         The Bandit IIC is the primary troop transport of the richer member mercenary units of the Allied Mercenary Command. Fast, heavily armored, and heavily armed, the Bandit can be seen throughout the Human Sphere. Almost always defending civilian populations, the Bandits and their troops tend to be welcomed when they arrive.