BattleTech: The Animated Series/The Gathering Storm

This transcript of the episode of BattleTech: The Animated Series, The Gathering Storm, is based off a VHS recording from the initial airing.

Scene 1

Planet Somerset
Federated Commonwealth
March 2, 3050

Nikolai Malthus: Attention, Somerset. I am Star Colonel Nikolai Malthus of the Jade Falcon Clan. A full Trinary stands ready to conquer your planet. What forces dare oppose us?

Somerset Military Academy

Andrew Steiner: Is this some kind of joke?

Nikolai Malthus: You dare to refuse my batchall?

Andrew Steiner: Refuse your what?

Nikolai Malthus: Prepare to feel the wrath of the Falcon's Claws.

Andrew Steiner: This is Commander Andrew Steiner. Enemy DropShips approaching! All staff and cadets execute defense plan Alpha. This is not a drill!

[Falcon DropShips land. OmniFighters strafe the academy buildings. Cadets scramble to their Centurions and Wolfhounds.]

Andrew Steiner: Steady, people. We still don't know what we're up against.

[Andrew Sees OmniMechs approaching.]

Andrew Steiner: What in the name of Kerensky? They're not like any BattleMechs I've ever seen.

Nikolai Malthus: Your insolence has provoked the fury of the Clans. Prepare to be destroyed.

Andrew Steiner: Prepare yourself, pal.

[Andrew's Wolfhound and two flanking Centurions fire a full barrage at Nikolai's Summoner, with no apparent effect.]

Nikolai Malthus: Ah, Star Colonel Kristen Redmond.

Kristen Redmond: Five against three, Nikolai? Hardly an honorable conquest.

Nikolai Malthus: Very well, Kristen. I shall dispense with these Inner Sphere surats alone. Now switching to Enhanced Imaging.

IMAGING

CENTURION
ARMOR FACTOR 136
MASS 50 TONS

Andrew Steiner: Let's show these creeps what kind of MechWarriors we turn out at the academy.

SCANNING

DATA FEED

DAMAGE ASSESSMENT: MINIMAL

Nikolai Malthus: So these are the warriors of the Inner Sphere.

TARGETING

LOCKED

[Malthus blows a Centurion's leg off.]

Nikolai Malthus: Pathetic!

Cadet: I'm okay, but my 'Mech's finished.

DATA FEED

N. MALTHUS

SCANNING

CENTURION
ARMOR FACTOR 136
MASS 50 TONS

Cadet 2: Don't worry, I can get him.

[Cadet Centurion falls over due to shockwave from missiles exploding harmlessly against the Summoner's torso.]

Cadet 2: Sorry, Commander. You're on your own.

N. MALTHUS

Nikolai Malthus: Bah! This is pointless. Not even a challenge.

DAMAGE ASSESSMENT: MINIMAL

Andrew Steiner: Here's your challenge!

WOLFHOUND
ARMOR FACTOR 120
MASS 35 TONS

Nikolai Malthus: Easy prey.

DATA FEED
COMPOSITE

[The Summoner pounds the Wolfhound's torso with a powerful barrage.]

Wolfhound Computer: Warning! Reactor shielding breached! Catastrophic failure in ten seconds.

[Andrew punches the ejection button, and his escape pod rockets upwards, then descends on a parachute.]

Andrew Steiner: Whatever you are, it's going to take a lot more than that to conquer Somerset.

[ Pytor's Hunchback IIC reaches out its hand to catch the descending pod.]

Nikolai Malthus: Not just Somerset, little freebirth warrior. Soon all the planets of the Inner Sphere will belong to the Clans.

Opening Title

This is the Inner Sphere – thousands of planets colonized by humankind. Once, it was united under the Star League, but for the last three hundred years, it has been consumed by savage wars, until a new enemy appeared – mysterious invaders known as the Clans. Powerful and ruthless, they struck like lightning, attacking every sector at once. But they made one big mistake. They attacked my home planet! Now, in the spirit of the Star League, ancient enemies have reunited, and we're gonna take back our galaxy.

Scene 2

Planet Tharkad
Federated Commonwealth
March 5, 3050

Katiara Kylie: McMannis! You've got a Mauler on your left!

[Wolfhounds, Centurions, and Maulers battle in the snow.]

Kylie: Punch out, McMannis. Now!

[McMannis ejects as the Wolfhound explodes.]

Kylie: I'm the only one left. My only chance is to take out the leader.

[Kylie targets an Axman.]

Rachel Specter: Negative, Kylie. Pull back to 120 meters and engage with your autocannon.

Kylie: I know what I'm doing, Lieutenant Specter.

[Kylie triggers her Centurion's jump jets.]

Rachel: Kylie, wait! The leader's in a…

[The Centurion lands next to the Axman, which chops off the Centurion's arms with its huge hatchet.]

Rachel: Kylie, fall back before it's…

[The Axman finishes off Kylie's Centurion with a barrage of LRMs.]

Computer: Simulation complete.

Scene 3

Nagelring War College
Tharkad

Kylie: I guess I didn't pass, huh Major Steiner?

Adam Steiner: How can I pass you if you don't stay alive, Kylie? Teamwork means looking out for the people under you.

Rachel: And accepting input from your tactical operations officer. Like when I tried telling you the leader is piloting an Axman. It's like the Major always says…

Cadets (in chorus): Information is ammunition.

Adam: Next time, look before you leap.

Ciro Ramirez: What did you expect, throwing an aerojock into a BattleMech? Fliers don't belong in 'Mechs.

Adam: Ciro, as my loyal assistant, you should remember my other credo: "cross-training is the key to victory, specialization is the way to defeat."

Ciro: Catchy slogans may win you points on a backwater planet like Somerset, but here, at the Nagelring, we're a little more sophisticated.

Adam: The word you're looking for is "outdated."

Kylie: Uh, Major? How about another chance? For a fellow Somerseter?

Ciro: The Major has no authority to give you a retest, even if you are from the same pathetic planet.

Adam: Ahem. Don't you have exams to grade, Lieutenant?

Ciro: Yes, Major. Pity I don't have the royal Steiner name to buy me rank.

Adam: I'm sorry, Kylie. Not everybody's cut out for this program.

Scene 4

[Adam's quarters – he is exercising with a punching bag. Rachel enters.]

Rachel: Adam, turn on the vidscreen! Somerset's been attacked! The Intelligence Secretariat intercepted these transmissions. They were the only messages to make it out. These BattleMechs are more powerful than anything we've ever encountered. Somerset never had a chance.

Adam: Those lousy Dracs have gone too far this time.

Rachel: That invasion force wasn't from the Draconis Combine. It's from beyond the Periphery.

Adam: Beyond?

Rachel: We don't know who they are. We don't even know if they're human.

Adam: What about my brother? Did Andrew make it?

Scene 5

Royal Palace
Steiner Landhold
Tharkad

[ Archon Melissa Steiner-Davion reviews the 'Mechs of the 10th Lyran Guards as they pass in review.]

Lyran Officer: … the Tenth Lyran Guards, our best and brightest. And I'm not just saying that because your son Victor is among them.

Melissa Steiner-Davion: Are they soldiers marching to glory or merely lambs to the slaughter? How can we defeat an enemy we know nothing about?

Guard: Presenting Major Adam Steiner, Highness. By your request.

Melissa: I requested no such thing. Who are you?

Adam: A distant cousin, highness.

Lyran Officer: Using the Steiner name to gain an audience?

Adam: I hereby volunteer to lead a unit to liberate my homeworld of Somerset.

Melissa: Request denied. Somerset is only one of many planets hit by these mysterious invaders. The Draconis Combine may seize this opportunity and likewise attack.

Adam: This isn't just about Somerset, Archon. It concerns the entire Commonwealth.

Melissa: I'm listening.

Adam: With a small, independent unit, heading towards Somerset, I could have the freedom to jump through all the occupied systems and gather information about the invaders. Until we know something about them, what hope do we have of defeating them?

Melissa: Hmmm. Your proposal has merit, but I'm afraid I haven't a ship to spare. I'm sorry, Major.

Scene 6

Draconis JumpShip Katana
Tharkad System Orbit
March 6, 3050

Captain Jeroen Frestadt: All hands prepare for hyperspace jump. And not a moment too soon, ja? Enemy space is no place for a civilian merchant ship. I'll rest much easier once we've returned to the Draconis Combine.

Franklin Sakamoto: Not to worry, Captain-san. My company will reward you well for this assignment.

Frestadt: Ja, Franklin-san, but how will I spend it on a FedCom penal colony?

Transmission: Mayday! Mayday! Situation critical! Extensive damage! Requesting emergency docking!

[Through the viewport, a spheroid DropShip can be seen tumbling out of control.]

Franklin: A trick! Tell them our docking collar is inoperative.

Frestadt: Ignore a distress signal? They'll take my license, and the ship.

Franklin: Shigata ga nai! Ah… proceed with the docking clamp.

[Dr. Dierdre Nakamura joins the group at the airlock.]

Franklin: Konnichi-wa, Dr. Nakamura. They report no injuries, but let us be prepared for anything.

[The airlock doors open, and Miles Hawkins bursts through, weapon drawn. He disarms two of the ship's guards, executes a null-gee flip, and lands with his feet on the corridor ceiling relative to the Combine crew.]

Captain Zachary Miles "Hawk" Hawkins: Konnichi-wa, Kurita creeps! Drop your weapons, now! Captain Miles Hawkins, Federated Commonwealth. You smugglers are busted!

[More AFFC troops emerge from the airlock to back Hawkins up.]

Katana crewman: Lousy FedCom pigs!

[The crewman drops his gun and runs forward.]

Hawk: So you want to play?

[Hawkins tackles the crewman, punches him, and body slams him to the deck.]

[In a cargo hold, Hawkins smashes open a wooden crate with the butt of his rifle. Apples float out in the null gee. Sakamoto smirks. Hawkins smashes open another crate, and guns fall out on the floor.]

Hawk: Well, what do you know? Party favors. Smuggling FedCom noisemakers into the Draconis Combine. Not too neighborly, now is it, baka boy?

[Captain Frestadt enters with a FedCom trooper pointing a gun at his back.]

Hawk: Ohayo, Captain.

[Hawkins puts handcuffs on Frestadt.]

Hawk: Please, enjoy your stay in the Federated Commonwealth.

Scene 7

Officers' Barracks
Nagelring War College
Tharkad

Adam: We should have been on Somerset. We could have made a difference.

Rachel: We'd have only shared their fate.

Adam: My family is 250 light years away, and I'm stuck here on Tharkad.

Ciro: Pity your "cousin" couldn't get you a command. Got any other relatives?

[Rachel tips Ciro's chair over with him in it as a holoprojector flashes to life.]

Melissa: Greetings, Cousin Adam.

Ciro: Cousin Adam?

Melissa: It has come to my attention that a smuggling ship from the Draconis Combine has been confiscated, and is presently headed towards Tharkad.

Adam: Thank you for the information, Archon, but what's that got to do with me?

Rachel: You know, Adam, under the current state of emergency, a confiscated vessel may be commandeered by a field-grade officer, like a Major, for instance.

Adam: I see… Thank you, Archon.

Melissa: I'm certain you will bring honor to the family name.

Adam: I won't let you down.

Scene 8

A.F.F.C. Spaceport
Tharkad

[Adam, Ciro, and Rachel run through a hangar to reach a shuttle.]

Adam: Pilot, we need to get to orbital station Prometheus. Military priority.

[The pilot takes off her flight helmet, revealing herself to be Kylie.]

Rachel: Kylie?

Kylie: Thanks to a certain instructor who denied me a passing grade, I'm now a ferry-jock. Muchas gracias, Major.

[The shuttle takes off.]

Rachel: If we jump to the Hamilton system, we can shave a couple of weeks off the trip.

Adam: We'll hit Somerset ready to fight.

Kylie: Somerset? You guys are going to Somerset?

Adam: Kylie, if you don't mind, we're…

Ciro: Don't even dream about it. This mission's treacherous enough without you.

Scene 9

Space Station Prometheus
Tharkad Orbit

[Adam addresses the crew of the Katana and some of Hawkins' troops.]

Adam: … and so, I'm offering you all an opportunity. You can continue your duties aboard the DropShip Kwaidan and JumpShip Katana, but under my command. It's a dangerous mission, but these invaders are a threat to us all.

Franklin: We would rather eat Vegan slug rats than serve with filthy FedCom sleaze.

Kuritan Crew: Yeah! I agree!

Ciro: Who are you calling sleaze, you… you… stinking little Drac?

[A brawl breaks out between the Kuritan crew and the FedCom security troops. Sakamoto grabs a loose pistol and holds it to Adam's head.]

Franklin: Sorry, Major. It would seem your mission has been scrubbed. I am retaking possession of this craft.

[Adam judo flips Sakamoto onto the deck and takes the pistol.]

Adam: Anyone else?

[Frestadt helps Sakamoto to his feet.]

Frestadt: This foolishness ends now, Franklin-san. Let us retain some dignity, ja?

Franklin: I am a businessman, not a warrior. When this mission ends and the invaders are gone, what happens to us?

Adam: You'll be free to return to the Draconis Combine, along with your ship.

Franklin: In that case, Major, my answer is "yes."

Crew: No! That's not right! I don't believe this!

Franklin: Remaining aboard will allow us to return this vessel to Isesaki Shipping. Is that not an honorable goal?

Adam: Then it's settled.

[Later, Hawkins confronts Sakamoto and Frestadt in a corridor.]

Hawk: So, how long do you poor Dracs think you'll survive under Major schoolboy? The kid's too wet behind the ears to know real combat from a simulator.

Franklin: And you are more experienced than he?

[Adam approaches unseen from a side corridor.]

Hawk: Fourth Skye Rangers, War of '39. Twenty-seven missions, four field commendations.

Adam: Very impressive, Captain Hawkins. You've got the job.

Hawk: Uh, Major?

Adam: I'm authorized to recruit any unassigned personnel. We could use a man like you. Welcome to the unit.

Scene 10

[At the spaceport, Rachel directs the unit's BattleMechs as they load aboard the Kwaidan – a Wolfhound, a Mauler, and an Axman. Captain Frestadt and Patch (a technician) supervise from a control room. Adam removes Sakamoto's furnishings from the CO's quarters, which he is taking for himself. Ciro and Hawkins move into shared quarters.]

Hawk: Gonna take weeks to get the Kurita stench out of these quarters.

Ciro: Yeah, but look at all this room.

[Sakamoto enters and angrily tosses his belongings on a bunk. Ciro and Hawkins eye each other uneasily. In a corridor, Patch removes a wall panel and takes a wrench to the machinery behind it as Adam and Rachel walk past.]

Adam: Great work, Patch.

[Cranes lower two Banshee aerospace fighters into the hold.]

Rachel: These are experimental aerofighters, called Banshees.

Adam: Hmmm. Now all we need is someone who can fly 'em.

Scene 11

[The Kwaidan takes off. Sakamoto overhears Ciro and Adam talking in the corridor.]

Ciro: Major, I know you're wondering why I decided to sign up with your unit. The truth is, I know what you're up to. You want the Dracs to let their guard down so we can attack the Combine, right? It's brilliant. With the Inner Sphere reunited under the Federated Commonwealth, no outside force would dare oppose us.

[Sakamoto glowers and runs off, unseen.]

Adam: Let's get one thing straight, Lieutenant. Our only hope lies with cooperation. You want to start a war? Do it under someone else's command.

[The Kwaidan docks with the Katana. Sakamoto removes a hidden communicator from the back of a painting.]

Franklin: Iron Dragon to Sleeping Tiger. I have coordinates for our next hyperspace jump.

[Adam sits in the command center of the Kwaidan, talking with Frestadt on the monitor.]

Frestadt: JumpShip crew is prepared for hyperspace jump to the Hamilton system, Major.

Adam: Thank you, Captain.

[The Katana jumps to the Hamilton system.]

Scene 12

Hamilton Star System
Nadir Jump Point

Rachel: Ugh. I think I left my stomach behind.

Adam: Heh. You have a week until our engines recharge and we get to do it all over again.

[Explosions impact the hull, and the lights flicker. A pair of aerospace fighters loop around for another strafing run.]

Rachel: They're shooting at a JumpShip? That's a violation of the Ares Convention!

Adam: Who are these maniacs?

[Sakamoto enters the bridge.]

Franklin: Mercenaries, Adam-san, in the employ of my company.

Adam: What do you know about this?

Franklin: Only that this ship is going back where it belongs, the Draconis Combine.

[Adam and Sakamoto wrestle while Rachel watches. The lights flicker again from missile impacts.]

Adam: They're taking it back in pieces?

Franklin: [on communicator] This is Franklin Sakamoto. I told you this ship was not to be damaged!

Mercenary: We have our orders, Franklin-san. Your traitorous crew is to be eliminated.

[An explosion knocks Sakamoto to the floor. Adam opens a communications link to Captain Frestadt.]

Adam: Time to choose sides, Captain-san. Are you with us, or not.

Frestadt: I am rather partial to… surviving.

Adam: Then get ready to follow my orders.

[Adam activates the ship intercom.]

Adam: Captain Hawkins, Lieutenant Ramirez. Report to the 'Mech bay on the double.

[Hawkins glances at Ciro.]

Hawk: 'Mech bay? Is he nuts?

[The 'Mech bay door opens into space, and Adam's Axman rockets out on jump jets.]

Hawk: You've got jump jets, and all we can do is float. Great plan, schoolboy.

[The Mauler and Wolfhound follow the Axman out into space.]

Adam: Those mercs won't be expecting our kind of firepower. We've still got the element of surprise.

[The Axman fires missiles at the mercenary aerospace fighters. The explosion sends Ciro's Wolfhound careening off into the void, while tossing Hawkins' Mauler into the hull of the Katana hard enough to dent the structure.]

Ciro: Maaaaaajoooooorrrrr!

Hawk: Any other bright ideas, Major?

[Adam's Axman uses its jump jets to go after Ramirez, hooking the Wolfhound's foot with the axe blade, then braking to cancel their momentum.]

Adam: I've got you, Ciro.

[Hawkins has extricated the Mauler from the hull and walks along it to target the fighters.]

Hawk: Nice job, but we're not out of this yet.

Rachel: Adam, I studied their attack pattern, and…

Adam: I know! Separate the DropShip, now!

[The Kwaidan undocks from the Katana.]

Adam: Only one chance…

[The Axman fires a full barrage of LRMs at the JumpShip.]

Hawk: What in blazes are you doing, schoolboy?!

Adam: Something you've never seen in a textbook, "Hawk."

Rachel: Adam, your missile salvo is headed straight for us.

[Adam presses the missiles' self-destruct button. The incoming mercenary missiles explode amidst the shrapnel from Adam's missile flights.]

Adam: The missiles target infrared signatures. The heat from the blast confused them.

[The fighters turn around for another pass.]

Ciro: Well, pleasure working with you, Major.

[A Banshee emerges from the Kwaidan and engages the mercenaries.]

Adam: Who's flying that Banshee?

Kylie: Yeehah! How ya doing, teach?

Adam: Kylie, what are you doing here?

[Kylie shoots a missile out of space before it can hit Adam's 'Mech.]

Kylie: Saving your butt. What's it look like?

Adam: I don't take kindly to stowaways.

[Kylie's Banshee destroys one of the attackers.]

Kylie: Can we argue about it later?

[The remaining mercenary fighter attacks Hawkins' Mauler, dislodging it from the hull of the Katana. Adam destroys it with his long-range missiles.]

Hawk: That's the last one, kid.

Adam: That's "Major" kid to you.

[Adam uses the Axman's jump jets to maneuver to the Mauler and grabs hold, then burns towards the Kwaidan with the other two in tow. Kylie follows in the Banshee.]

Adam: Let's go home.

Kylie: Last one there's a Vegan slug rat!

[The three MechWarriors walk back through the 'Mech bay.]

Adam: You think maybe a seasoned vet can learn from a schoolboy?

Hawk: Don't push it, Major.

[Kylie enters the 'Mech bay.]

Kylie: Please, no autographs. Seems specialization has its place, after all, eh Major?

Adam: Does the Nagelring know you've gone AWOL?

Kylie: It's not AWOL if you drafted me into your unit.

[Kylie hands Adam papers.]

Adam: You forged my name?

Hawk: Begging the Major's pardon, sir, but it's not forgery if you don't report it.

[Adam shakes Kylie's hand.]

Adam: Welcome to the First Somerset Strikers.

Ciro: Somerset Strikers?

Kylie: Sounds good to me!

[Adam and Rachel enter Sakamoto's quarters.]

Rachel: We're dropping you with FedCom security on the next jump.

Adam: Unless you'd rather get off here.

[The holo-emitter activates.]

Frestadt: Major Steiner, we've just received a message for you from Tharkad.

Adam: Put it through.

Melissa Steiner-Davion: Greetings, Major Steiner. I regret to report that the Draconis Combine has suffered as badly from the same invaders that defeated Somerset.

[A balding man with long mustaches appears next to Melissa.]

Combine Ambassador to Tharkad: The Draconis High Command has approved your unit to operate as a coalition strike force against this mutual threat. The Coordinator himself hopes that his subjects will do nothing to bring him… dishonor.

Adam: We live in interesting times.

Franklin: Giri demands that I honor the demands of my Coordinator.

[Franklin bows to Adam.]

Franklin: I will serve under you, for now.

[Later, aboard the Katana, Adam and Rachel review plans.]

Rachel: We're a motley band, to say the least.

Adam: You think I can pull 'em together?

Rachel: We will. For Somerset.

Adam: And for my brother, Andrew.

[The Katana jumps out]

Scene 13

Somerset Military Academy
March 15, 3050

[A tattered FedCom flag is whipped by the breeze and flames burn in the background. The flag is lowered to reveal Jade Falcon Elementals escorting prisoners. Elementals begin raising a Jade Falcon flag in front of the burning buildings as Kristen Redmond approaches in her Mad Dog.]

Kristen: Attention Scientist, Tech, and Laborer castes of Somerset. You are now isorla, the rightful property of Clan Jade Falcon.

[A Star of Timber Wolfs marches across the square behind Nicolai Malthus' Summoner.]

RADIATION LEVELS NORMAL
DEFENSIVE PERIMETER SECURE

[Nicolai Malthus addresses the prisoners as they are herded into a prison camp.]

Nicolai: As you have witnessed, the Falcon will continue to swoop down on its prey, until the glorious day when the entire Inner Sphere is again under our control.