LEGENDS OF THE STAR LEAGUE... The great Star League general, Aleksandr Kerensky. Colonel Archer Christifori, a man with a score to settle. Neilson Geist, on Christmas patrol. MechWarrior Joanna of Clan Jade Falcon. A Sandoval scion. An eleven-year-old girl. Northwind Highlanders. A prisoner of war. They all have two things in common. A universe torn apart by unending warfare. A mission to stand up against the darkness. This compilation contains a selection of eighteen of 2004's best BattleTech fiction pieces, as well as an all new story about young Kerensky by Loren L. Coleman! Includes stories by some of the most celebrated BattleTech authors: Randall N. Bills, Loren L. Coleman, Blaine Lee Pardoe, Robert Thurston, and Michael A. Stackpole, along with stories by new favorites such as Ilsa J. Bick, Jason M. Hardy, Kevin Killiany, Steven Mohan, Jr., Louisa M. Swann, and Phaedra M. Weldon!
STORIES FROM ACROSS THE INNER SPHERE... The great Star League general, Aleksandr Kerensky. Colonel Archer Christifori, a man with a score to settle. Nelson Geist, on Christmas patrol. MechWarrior Joanna of Clan Jade Falcon. A Sandoval scion. An eleven-year-old girl. Northwind Highlanders. A prisoner of war. They all have two things in common: A universe torn apart by unending warfare. A mission to stand up against the darkness. This compilation contains a selection of eighteen of 2004's best fiction pieces, as well as an all-new story about young Aleksandr Kerensky by Loren L. Coleman! Includes stories by your favorite BattleTech authors: Randall N. Bills, Loren L. Coleman, Robert Thurston, and Michael A. Stackpole. As well as stories by new favorites: Ilsa J. Bick, Dan Duval, Jason M. Hardy, Kevin Killiany, Steven Mohan, Jr., Louisa M. Swann, and Phaedra M. Weldon!
MAN AND MACHINE COMBINE ON THE 31ST CENTURY BATTLEFIELD... A Star League Gunslinger fights against overwhelming odds during a rebellion. A dauntless warrior faces his most painful trial yet, far from home and all but alone. Mercenaries, betrayed from within, lash out at all who threaten them. And the Word of Blake, always present, plots and schemes and maneuvers allies against each other. Thirteen stories of combat, honor, betrayal and death fill the pages of Counterattack: BattleCorps Anthology Volume 5. Savvy readers will recognize now-familiar names in BattleTech lore among the authors: Steven Mohan Jr., Kevin Killiany, Phaedra Weldon, Jason Schmetzer, Jason M. Hardy, and Blaine Lee Pardoe. These writers have shaped the direction of the BattleTech universe. In 2008, with these stories, they took the fictional storylines of the BattleTech universe and fought back. They told the stories that demonstrated the indomitable will that has carried readers across more than 25 years of publication.
LOYALTY. VALOR. DESPAIR. JIHAD. A massive invasion fleet is destroyed almost to a man. Legions of soldiers, confident of victory, are cut down before they even reach the ground. Those that do make landfall are bombarded and shattered and rained with nuclear fire. Elsewhere, veterans long retired from combat are called back to duty by desperate times. Explorers comb unknown worlds for hints to explain deadly evils. Seventeen stories of combat, honor, betrayal and death fill the pages of Fire for Effect: BattleCorps Anthology Volume 4. Savvy readers will recognize now-familiar names in BattleTech lore among the authors: Steven Mohan, Jr., Kevin Killiany, Phaedra Weldon, Jason Schmetzer, Jason Hardy and Herbert Beas. These writers have shaped the direction of the BattleTech universe. In 2007, with these stories, they took the fictional storylines of the BattleTech universe to new and violent heights. Worlds rose and fell, and empires toppled. Armies of BattleMechs and fleets of WarShips fought and perished. And beneath all of it, the spidery tendrils of the Word of Blake sowed mistrust and conflict in every realm...
A COST IS ALWAYS PAID… Nikolai Reed is a trader on a Lyran JumpShip plying the space lanes… Chloe Mason is a hot-shot tech with the Hsien Hotheads mercenaries… Leaving the Northwind Highlanders, MechWarrior Ryana Nikol fills a billet with the Eridani Light Horse… Disparate lives, but a unified dream that will bring them all together on a fateful course that will span decades, cover hundreds of light years, and involve love, friendship, and loss across a dozen worlds. Each will pay a price along the way, as a cost always comes due. The Mercenary Life anthology is a compilation of stories written by Randall N. Bills. Including tales from several different characters as they cross paths, and the dream to found a new mercenary command is born. Their unique lives showcase the struggles and trials of the men and women who take up the mercenary mantle from a variety of angles, all bound around that central vision. The first eight stories of this anthology were originally posted for free alongside the release of MechWarrior 5: Mercenaries, acting as the origin stories for the mercenary command within that computer game. This is the first time they have been compiled into a single volume to allow for a Print on Demand physical copy. Additionally, an all-new ninth story has been added—The Sun Will Rise—along with postscripts for every story that gives the reader insight into how stories are crafted within a shared universe between tabletop, computer games, and fiction that spans more than thirty years and tens of millions of words.
THREE COMPLETE BATTLETECH NOVELS FEATURING THE DEADLIEST FOE TO EVER INVADE THE INNER SPHERE…THE CLANS! In the late 28th century, the Star League collapsed, and the Five Successor States were born. For the last three hundred years, these mortal enemies have fought over space, land, and politics, but now a new threat looms just outside the Inner Sphere. The descendants of an old Star League general—the Clans—have returned from their long-ago exile to take what they believe is rightly theirs. They have been bred into the best military force humanity has ever seen. The Clans have come to conquer, and the Successor States must put aside their differences—or face total destruction. LETHAL HERITAGE Two decades after the events that nearly brought the Successor States to the brink of all-out war, the Great Houses exist in an uneasy peace. But from out beyond the Periphery comes a new threat. A swift-moving military force of unknown origin, piloting BattleMechs unlike any seen before. Their power, speed, and ferocity are unparalleled. Nothing the Inner Sphere has can stop them. Some of the finest warriors and ablest units have challenged them and been crushed. No force has faced them and won. They are the Clans! A military juggernaut whose sole reason for existence is battle. A race that selectively breeds itself for combat. Humanity’s only hope is an alliance of mortal enemies. The Federated Commonwealth and the Draconis Combine, interstellar empires at war for 300 years, must now stand side-by-side—or face certain annihilation. BLOOD LEGACY Since appearing in the Inner Sphere, the frenzied Clans have overwhelmed every planet they’ve invaded, brutally crushing any opposing force. Nothing the Great Houses have can stop them. Humanity’s only hope—an alliance of mortal enemies—may be doomed. The Clan invaders have chosen their next objective—Luthien, capital of the Draconis Combine. House Kurita must now fight for survival on its homeworld. Hanse Davion is presented with a situation undreamed of...the final defeat of the Dragon itself. Should he attack his distracted foe and destroy the enemy his family has battled for over 300 years? Or should he reinforce a fellow House of the Inner Sphere against a force that Davion and the Federated Commonwealth might not otherwise defeat when their time comes? And even if the Houses should somehow agree to stand together against the Clan menace, another just as dangerous threat lurks within their midst. ComStar, the semi-mystic sect that controls interstellar communication, schemes to hurl House Davion, House Kurita, and the Clans into a devastating war that will leave ComStar in a position to dominate the Inner Sphere... LOST DESTINY Invaders from beyond the Periphery, the Clans have beaten the forces of the Inner Sphere repeatedly. Now the Clans are driving toward their ultimate objective—Terra, cradle of humankind, and hub of the ComStar communications network. Nothing the Inner Sphere has can stop them. Entire regiments of BattleMechs lie smashed in their wake. The heir to the throne of the Draconis Combine is missing. Rasalhague is overrun. The Clans are sweeping toward the center of the known universe in a relentless tide. Humanity's only hope is the Inner Sphere’s most powerful traitor. ComStar betrayed the Inner Sphere by aiding the Clans in their conquests. Now the mystic sect that controls all interstellar communication must face the Clan hordes—alone. And a mysterious, elderly warrior—along with the untested warriors of ComStar—is the Inner Sphere’s last defense against total defeat.
THERE'S MORE THAN ONE WAY TO ACQUIRE A BATTLEMECH... In the year 2456, the Great House of the Federated Suns is between the rock of the Terran Hegemony and its fielded BattleMechs, and the hard place of the Lyran Commonwealth, which has just acquired the plans to build its own walking war machines. Beset by enemies on all sides, what is Prince Simon Davion to do? Why, employ his most cunning weapon—a diplomatic envoy sent to Tharkad with the express purpose of gaining access to the stolen Battlemech plans. But when diplomatic niceties are unable to accomplish this goal, subterfuge and deception will have to win the day...
THE UNTOLD STORY OF THE INVENTION OF THE BATTLEMECH... Break-Away is the first of six novellas detailing the struggle to create the next awesome weapon to rule the battlefield—the BattleMech. In the mid-25th century, factions of mankind are desperate to invent the next technological leap in warfare—a machine that would give each group an overwhelming advantage on the battlefield. And no one is more aware of the race to perfect this new machine than the leaders on Terra. But during the final trials to find the first pilot for the Terran prototype, the contest is infiltrated by a deadly enemy who wants to ensure that no one survives. It's up to the last remaining Terran candidate—and a scientist struggling to make a breakthrough on the human-machine interface that will control this new war machine—to save Terra's BattleMech program from those who wish to destroy it.
THE COMPLETE STORY OF CLAN JADE FALCON’S MOST REVERED WARRIOR! THIS BOX SET CONTAINS THE FOLLOWING NOVELS: WAY OF THE CLANS In the 31st century, the BattleMech is the ultimate war machine. Ten meters tall and armed with devastating weapons, it is an unstoppable engine of destruction. In the 31st century, the Clans are the ultimate warriors. The result of generations of controlled breeding, Clan Warriors pilot their BattleMechs like no others. In the 31st century, Aidan aspires to be a Warrior of Clan Jade Falcon. To win the right to join his Clan in battle, he must succeed in training that will forge him into one of the best warriors in the galaxy—or break him completely. In the 31st century, Aidan discovers that the toughest battle is not on the field, but in his head—where failure will cost the ultimate price: his humanity. BLOODNAME Truebirth: Born in the laboratory, these genetically engineered soldiers train to be the ultimate warriors. They are the elite pilots of the Clan's fearsome BattleMech war machines. Freebirth: Born of the natural union of parents, these too are soldiers, but pale imitations of their Truebirth superiors. Despised for their imperfections, they fight where and when their Clan commands. Aidan has failed his Trial of Position, the ranking test all Truebirth warriors of the Clan Jade Falcon must pass. He is cast out. Disgraced. But with a Bloodname, all past failures are forgiven. With a Bloodname comes respect. With a Bloodname comes honor. Aidan will do anything to gain that name. Even masquerade as the thing he has been taught to despise. A freebirth… FALCON GUARD In 2786, the elite Star League Defense Force fled the Inner Sphere, abandoning the senseless bloodshed ordered by the Successor Lords. Now, almost three hundred years later, the Clans, heirs of the SLDF, turn their eyes back upon their former home. Nothing will stop them from raising the Star League banner over Earth once again. For two years, the Clans’ BattleMech war machines have overwhelmed the armies of the corrupt Successor Lords. Now, on the doorstep of Terra, the Clans must fight one final battle, a battle that will decide the fate of humanity for all time. For Star Colonel Aidan Pryde of Clan Jade Falcon, the battle is more than a question of military conquest. It is an affirmation of the superiority of the Clan way, a way of life that he has sworn to uphold despite his fear that the noble crusade has fallen prey to the lust and ambition of its commanders. But amid the chaos and carnage of battle, he is about to be tested in a way he never thought possible…by a person he has never even met…
THE QUEST FOR BATTLEMECHS TAKES ITS TOLL ON ALL WHO SEEK THEM... The BattleMech. King of the battlefield. Prized. Feared. Coveted. Fearing being left behind in the arms race among the other Great Houses, the Draconis Combine will do anything—anything—to possess this fearsome technology. Even grind its most loyal subject into useless husks in a decades-long attempt to gain the information the Dragon so desperately needs. Two brothers. One an intelligence analyst and deep-cover operative, the other a leader in the Combine's commando unit. Both with the same goal—recover the BattleMech plans—but with very different ideas on how to accomplish it. But only one will survive and emerge triumphant... or will the Dragon's machinations destroy them both?
