Erster Kontrakt

Erster Kontrakt
Product information
Type	Novel
Author	Arous Brocken
Pages	392
Cover Artwork	Karsten Schreurs
Publication information
Publisher	Ulisses Spiele GmbH
First published	7 March 2013
ISBN-10	3868892621
ISBN-13	978-3868892628
MSRP	11,95 €
Content
Era	Clan Invasion era
Timeline	19 March-26 August 3056
Series	Classic BattleTech Novels Bear Cycle
Preceded by	Mission Kiamba
Followed by	Waffengefährten

Erster Kontrakt ("First Contract"), by Arous Brocken, is the 22nd in the German-language Classic BattleTech Novels that Ulisses Spiele took over from FanPro and continued. Subtitled the fourth part of the Bear Cycle, it continues the story of MechWarrior George from the previous novel, Mission Kiamba.

Canonicity

Written in German and exclusively published in that language so far, Erster Kontrakt does not meet the current criteria for Canon in the BattleTech universe. As an official product published under a valid license, it should be regarded as apocryphal.

From the back cover (translated from German)

“

Heavily decimated, the mercenary Doom Angels return to Outreach, where their Major struggles to scrape together a battle-worthy company and get George, his best MechWarrior, into a cockpit. After the Doom Angels are annihilated in a series of surprise attacks, the former Clan warrior finds himself alone in the Inner Sphere on a planet ruled by the enemy Dragoons and beset by numerous freeborns who all seem to have only one goal: to take from him his last C-bill. George is compelled to start a career as a free mercenary to earn a living, but he soon finds it to be harder than he thought. Fourth part of the Bear Cycle.

”

Plot Summary

Besides a brief prologue, the novel essentially comprises two parts: "Die Kriegerwelt" (the Warrior's World), describing the demise of the Doom Angels on Outreach and George'ss struggle to adapt to a life as an independent mercenary; and "Der Kontrakt", which chronicles his experiences during his first mercenary contract.

Die Kriegerwelt

The decimated Doom Angels mercenaries return to Outreach by the skin of their teeth, courtesy of a rescue JumpShip provided by their parent mercenary unit, the Devil's Dents regiment. Captured Clan Ghost Bear MechWarrior George has worked his way up from captive to full-blown member during their enforced stay on Kiamba.

On Outreach, the mercenaries are dismayed to learn that the other battalions of the Devil's Dents fared even worse, with one completely destroyed including its DropShips and the other mauled like the Doom Angels and having lost their JumpShip. The unit's financial reserves are depleted; the former regiment finds itself struggling against bankruptcy. Colonel Marmari and Major Thornhill agree the unit is in no shape to fight the Clans, and that they cannot accept such contracts from House Kurita, their previous employers, anymore. Instead, the individual mercenaries try to stay afloat on Outreach as best as they can while the unit rebuilds. George, who is slowly adapting to life on Outreach with the help of dispossessed fellow mercenary Hiram Taishung, assumes the name George Bear and is eventually assigned a Commando as he is the unit's best MechWarrior.

The refusal to accept new contracts for House Kurita prompts their previous employer to regard the Doom Angels as both expendable and a security risk, as they were privy to secret mission orders; it is feared the mercenaries might sell their knowledge about Kurita black ops. Consequently, the unit is effectively wiped through near-simultaneous assassinations and attacks against their assets on 12 April 3056. George evades an assassination attempt through his martial skills and a chance encounter with a woman also on the run. Together, they lose their pursuers in Temptown gang fights and George ends up in her apartment where he learns in the news on the next day what happened to his entire unit.

With most of the Doom Angels dead and a few survivors having fled aboard the Mephisto, George takes possession of the Commando after seeing off a lawyer who was going to impound it. He moves it into a Temptown hangar where he makes a deal with a street gang and sets up shop with two surviving techs, Johnny and Allison. They form the "Biting Bear's Bashers" and, with help of another acquaintance of George, eventually get a mercenary contract to protect a MonDiTec mining operation on Cor Caroli against attacks from competing corporations as part of a newly formed company called Advanced Attack.

Der Kontrakt

En route to Cor Caroli George meets the other Advanced Attack members and befriends some of them. He gets along particularly well with Artak "Ache" Hasall and Penny Walker, two members of a group calling themselves the Temptown-Trio; their third partner, "Sugar", was unavailable for the mission as she had accepted another contract. The poorly composed and disparate company concerns George, who finds that clearly incompetent Warriors are above him in the order of command, but raising this issue during transit only alienates his superior officer Norman Kubler.

The march from the DropPort to their base is already a near-disaster. One MechWarrior, Siggi, is so poorly trained that he repeatedly causes damage (even to his own Clint) and George finds that his own 'Mech has a number of glitches though he refrains from reporting them.

During a patrol on 23 July, George and Siggy detect suspicious readings in a deserted foundry. After Siggy triggers a light barrier they fight a Commando which George manages to destroy despite faulty onboard electronics in his own 'Mech, but the pilot is killed by a failed ejection. Following the fight George and Siggi return to base to report the incident to Lt. Kubler and have their 'Mechs repaired. George later gets into an argument with MonDiTec head of security Dana Knutson.

Five days later a trio of 'Mechs including Ache Hasall is ambushed, and reinforcements appear too late to prevent their destruction. Hasall was injured. He tells Walker, who rescues him from his cockpit, that he recognized Sugar as one of the attackers. Two days later George overhears them arguing about the situation in the hangar. Walker first shoots him with a stun gun, but then they decide to let him in on the secret.

Yet again two days later George's patrol finds (through George's instincts) a DropShip landing site and what seems to be a base camp for two lances of BattleMechs. After a brief engagement with a Whitworth they return to base to report, but nobody is available to countermand their orders to dress up and airlift for a parade at Dlacia base, despite George's objections that an attack is likely now that the enemy camp was found; his BattleROM recordings cannot back up his report. Against orders, George leaves the party on the VTOL to return to his hangar. As expected, an attack occurs around midnight and George takes up the fight in a borrowed Valkyrie because his Commando is still undergoing repairs. However, he is up against an entire lance and eventually has to eject. He regains consciousness as his techs treat him inside their truck. An enemy Hermes approaches and is about to fire on them when Ache Hasall intervenes and asks Sugar (the Hermes pilot and third Temptown Trio member) to let George live. She agrees and moves off, indicating that she is just scouting after all.

In the aftermath of the attack on the hangar, George is taken more seriously by his superior officers and more costly battles against the enemy mercenaries, since identified as Chadds Shadows, take place. In one battle, George comes to face "Sugar" Savill and her Hermes again. True to his word he does not engage, and does not even mention the 'Mech which vanishes during the fighting. Yet later Dlacia Base is attacked in force and the opposing mercenary forces decimate each other. George encounters Sugar's Hermes once again, and again they part ways without engaging. Despite excellend performance, George eventually loses his Commando in the fighting and is dispossessed. The Cor Caroli militia is taking over protection of their employer's assets, and the shattered mercenary command ends its contract.

On the way back from Cor Caroli, the Temptown Trio attempt to recruit George, who was awarded a salvaged Wasp for his performance. However, he refuses their offer. They part on friendly terms.

Featured BattleTech

BattleMechs

• Atlas
• Bushwacker
• Catapult
• Centurion
• Clint
• Commando
• Crab
• Grasshopper
• Griffin
• Hatchetman
• Hermes
• Hitman
• Horned Owl (Peregrine)
• Hunchback
• JagerMech
• Javelin
• Jenner
• Locust
• Mongoose
• Quickdraw
• Raptor
• Rifleman
• [[Sentinel]
• Shadow Hawk
• Stealth
• Stinger
• Summoner (Thor)
• Thorn
• UrbanMech
• Valkyrie
• Vulcan
• Wasp
• Watchman
• Whitworth
• Wyvern

DropShips

• Leopard
• Overlord
• Union (Freed Rasalhague's Rebels)

Notes

• One of the Advanced Attack mercenary MechWarriors, the owner of the Valkyrie, is named Steve Venters. This seems to be a nod to the BattleTech artist of the same name. The character dies when the helicopter is shot down at the onset of the attack on the hangar.