Under the Shadows of the Stars
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| Under the Shadows of the Stars | |
|---|---|
| Product information | |
| Type | Novella/novel |
| Author | Jason Schmetzer |
| Pages | 116 |
| Publication information | |
| Publisher | BattleCorps |
| First published | 28 September 2007 |
| Content | |
| Era | Clan Invasion era |
| Timeline | 1 January-2 May 3059 |
Under the Shadows of the Stars is a story by Jason Schmetzer that was published online on BattleCorps on 28 September 2007. Page count suggests the story could be regarded as either a novella (which falls under BattleCorps' definition of "short fiction") or a novel; it is therefore categorized as both a novel and a short story.
Contents
| “ | In the deep dark of the Periphery there is little light to illuminate the evil that men are capable of doing to each other. Sometimes it become necessary to bring the light to them in the form of a cleansing fire. When a mercenary unit takes on a vicious pirate band, even the light must bend. | ” |
Plot summary
DCMS Supply Station Roku is located on the Deep Periphery world of Durham, and performs a vital role; it's the logistical hub for supplies moving out to forty-seven assorted Draconis Combine Mustered Soldiery, Internal Security Force and Explorer Corps operations being conducted in the spinward Periphery as part of the campaign against the Clans. Elsebeth van Tassel - former Leftenant Colonel in the Armed Forces of the Federated Commonwealth, and a countess in her own right - has been hired along with her mercenary unit, the Hessian Horseman, because Tai-i Samuel Cooper, the commanding officer of the outpost, has a problem. A local pirate band approximately a company in size watches for the DropShips arriving and leaving, and regularly raids Roku. By concealing supplies and keeping his personnel in bunkers, Cooper has managed to keep the operation running, but the pirates are showing up like clockwork, killing those they find in the open, taking any prisoners found in detention cells as slaves, ransacking the administration building and blowing up the sewage processing plant. The pirates are placing operations in jeopardy, and the Horseman have been hired to stop them. Complicating the Hessian's mission is that no-one knows where the pirates are operating from - but there are nineteen habitable systems within a thirty light year radius of Durham, and forty within two jumps... of which only four have been explored.
Having planted a prisoner in the cells ready for the pirate arrival, the morning of the 2nd of January finds Elsebeth and her command concealed outside the base, waiting. A company of Horsemen armor are guarding her grounded DropShips, while her six Thunderbird aerospace fighters are lurking in the skies above. Her two Invader-class JumpShips had already positioned themselves in the system while the Hessians were on approach to Durham, one JumpShip moving to each of the nadir and zenith jump points and depositing an Intruder-class assault ship with a contingent of marines aboard them. There, they wait for signs of the pirates emerging in either jump point. Inside the prison cell, Leftenant Indri Marcus is settling into her role, and making her feelings for her cellmate clear; Jiro, caught raping a seventeen-year-old girl from Rasalhague who worked as a part of the supply ship's crew, has been sentenced to return to the Draconis Combine for execution, and still bears the markings of the beating given to him by the squadmates who caught him.
The pirates duly arrive, approaching from a pirate point close enough to the planet that the Hessian's satellites and orbiting Thunderbirds receive little warning, but the warning they receive is enough to ensure that the ground forces are ready.
Featured Locations
- Durham (deep periphery)
Featured BattleTech
BattleMechs
JumpShips
DropShips
- Intruder
- Leopard-class Tisiphone
- Mule
- Ramshackle (unknown class)