Vengeance (novella)

Revision as of 18:44, 12 March 2017 by Dmon (talk | contribs)
VengeanceCover.jpg
Vengeance
Product information
Type Novella
Author Jason Schmetzer
Pages 55
Cover Artwork ?
Publication information
Publisher Catalyst Game Labs
Product code E-CAT35NV005
First published 10 December 2012
MSRP 2.99 US $
Content
Era Succession Wars era
Timeline 3-9 October 3046
Series Blitzkrieg (fiction)

Vengeance is a story by Jason Schmetzer published as part of the Blitzkrieg fiction format by Catalyst Game Labs. It was put up for sale through BattleShop in EPUB and MOBI (Amazon Kindle) format on 10 December 2012. It was also published via BattleCorps on 15 December 2012; like all BattleCorps publication, this was a PDF file offered for download free of cost to subscribers.

Teaser text

EPUB

When the armies of the Draconis Combine killed his parents, Galen Cox swore vengeance. Now an elite MechWarrior with the Armed Forces of the Federated Commonwealth, Galen will have a chance to exact his justice when the Combine raids the planet Ryde with a BattleMech battalion. As two armies clash on this snow-and-ash covered world, two men will be forced to examine exactly why they're fighting even as they both strive for victory and absolution.

Jason Schmetzer is the author of more than 40 published short stories and novellas, as well as four BattleTech sourcebooks and a novel. His work crosses genre and game boundaries, working with both print and electronic publications. He holds an MFA in fiction writing and works during the day as an advertising copywriter. He is also editor of the BattleCorps fiction website.

BattleCorps

Before the Clan invasion and the Federated Commonwealth Civil War, before Jerrard Cranston and Victor Steiner-Davion, Galen Cox was a MechWarrior. See here one of his formative incidents, in our latest Blitzkrieg release.

Plot summary

To prove his worthiness for House Kurita's Draconis Combine Mustered Soldiery, Chu-sa Arik Arlansson (from what is now the Free Rasalhague Republic, though he elected to become a Draconis Combine citizen) has been ordered to lead a battalion of MechWarrior cadets against a target on Ryde, expecting nothing but local militia opposition in accordance with ISF intelligence.

C Company of the 12th Donegal Guards regiment under Hauptmann Rychert is stationed in the planet's far north on the Lesser Dasentica continent, only some thirty kilometers from the Kurita landing zone. Although the Kurita DropShip lands unnoticed amidst Ryde's volcanic ash clouds, the 'Mechs are detected on their way to the city of Nisibis and the Donegal Guards company, augmented by militia hovertanks, moves to intercept them. The scouting hovertanks are ambushed by a Kurita lance, taking losses, and Leftenant Galen Cox is lured into pursuing the enemy 'Mechs into a canyon where his 'Mech lance is ambushed by the rest of their company. Only the arrival of Hauptmann Rychert's assault lance saves Cox's lance and forces the attackers to retreat. However, a parting shot from a PPC scores a lucky hit that kills Rychert, leaving Cox suddenly in command of the company.

Both sides subsequently decide they must attack the other. Their forces clash in the Holland Vale, where Cox's heavier forces push the attackers back. Keen on maintaining the initiative, Cox decides to attack them at their landing zone once the enemy Overlord-class DropShip is found. With a double-layered feint, Cox draws the defenders out far enough to attack the DropShip. Arlansson stubbornly attempts to make a stand, but ultimately the Kurita DropShip lifts off, carrying barely two 'Mech lances out of the nine it came with.

Characters

Federated Commonwealth characters

Draconis Combine characters

Featured BattleTech

BattleMechs

Vehicles

DropShips