For Want of a Nail

For Want of a Nail
Short story by Dan C. Duval
Publication
Published30 September 2004
PublisherBattleCorps
illustrator(s)Chris Lewis
Pages11
Chronology
EraCivil War era
Timeline10 March 3067

For Want of a Nail is a short story by Dan C. Duval that was first published online on BattleCorps on 30 September 2004. It was later republished in print in the first BattleCorps anthology, The Corps.

Teaser Text[edit]

In the Periphery, fighting a ground war often involves using what you have. Or, what you haven't sold off. Dan Duval shows us an unlikely hero reaching deep and using whatever he has left to defend his home and nation.

Plot Summary[edit]

Following a very embarrassing experience with a live grenade in training, Alliance Military Corps soldier Defoe finds himself assigned to grunt work involving spare parts and supply runs on Ramora as part of the Alliance Borderers. While he is replacing a damaged communication component on a decreipt and grounded Pegasus Scout Hovertank, the nearby fighter factory comes under attack from a company of BattleMechs and Defoe is trapped inside the tank with the two spotters (Benny and Hutchins).

The tank is hit and critically damaged. Defoe awakens from being knocked out in the back compartment to find Benny dead and Hutchins heavily wounded. Over the radio, they are urged to provide targeting data for the incoming air wing. Defoe prepares to run away. Hutchins, having lost an arm among other injuries, is in no condition to do anything but commands Defoe to report targets, but Defoe points out that the tank's transmitter was destroyed.

Recalling the saying about "For the want of a nail..." and realizing that providing the targeting information may make all the difference in the fight now, Defoe reconsiders. He rebuilds the still functional receiver unit, which uses the same antenna and data bus as the transmitter, by exchanging receiver modules for transmitter modules even while an enemy 'Mech is approaching to finish off the wrecked tank.

Defoe awakens in a hospital, the only survivor. He learns that his improvised transmitter worked. The factory was saved and all enemy 'Mechs were destroyed, yielding valuable salvage.

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Notes[edit]

  • Originally published with the date of "March 3067", the 2024 edition of The Corps updated this to 10 March 3067. No other substantial edits were made.