Face in the Viewport
Sarna News
Face in the Viewport | |
|---|---|
| Short story by Robert Thurston | |
| Publication | |
| Published | July 2009 |
| Published in | BattleTech: 25 Years of Art & Fiction |
| Publisher | Catalyst Game Labs |
| illustrator(s) | John Paul Lona Jim Nelson |
| Pages | 5 |
| Chronology | |
| Era | Jihad era |
| Timeline | 19 October 3069 |
Face in the Viewport is a short story by Robert Thurston that was published in BattleTech: 25 Years of Art & Fiction.
Contents
Plot Summary[edit]
Horse, once a Star Commander, has become solahma, a veteran so old the Clan gave him the choice to decommission or become cannon fodder. As a true MechWarrior, he chose battle, even if it would be without a 'Mech. Badly injured and dazed, he stumbles upon a working Elemental battle armor in the middle of a smoky battlefield. The Elemental inside it had died, but Horse is able to pull his large body out of the armor and then climb in himself. The suit's automated medipack and HarJel relieve his pain and stop his bleeding. Meanwhile, he remembers the bitterness of Joanna, who like him is now solahma and had charged off into battle looking for a warrior's death that never seems to come. He also thinks about his friend Aidan Pryde, now long deceased, and their times together, and how he still hears Aidan's voice decades later.
Hidden in the armor, Horse avoids an enemy soldier who dishonors the body of the Elemental he had taken out of the suit. Slowly his disorientation starts to recede, though it never clears. Heading back to the battle, he comes across another Jade Falcon warrior who calls him an inspiration as Horse had earned lines in The Remembrance. In the tenebrous front line they become separated and Horse finds himself surrounded by four enemy fighters. He kills all four, his actions instinctual, letting him feel like a warrior again if only for a moment. He trudges back into the smoke, hoping to find the soldier that abused the Elemental's body, so that he can kill one more monster before he finally gains a warrior's death.
Featured Characters[edit]
- Horse
- Joanna (mentioned)
- Aidan Pryde (mentioned)
- Selima (mentioned)
Featured Places[edit]
Featured BattleTech[edit]
Battle Armor[edit]
Notes[edit]
- As is appropriate for the anniversary book in which it was published, this story revisits and is effectively a send-off for two prominent characters from the author's Legend of the Jade Phoenix trilogy that was published 18 years prior.