Viper Lore and Blueprint

Viper Lore and Blueprint
Short story by Randall N. Bills
Publication
Published	26 April 2016
Published in	MechWarrior Online Legends
Publisher	Piranha Games Inc.
Chronology
Era	Succession Wars era Clan Homeworlds
Timeline	13 March 3039
Series
MWO Hero 'Mech Lore series
Phoenix Hawk Lore and Blueprint   Cyclops Lore and Blueprint "Succession Wars eraClan Homeworlds" is not in the list (Pre–Star League era, Star League era, Succession Wars era, Clan Invasion era, Civil War era, Jihad era, Dark Age era, ilClan era, Clan Homeworlds era, Multiple eras) of allowed values for the "Era" property.

Viper Lore and Blueprint is a short story by Randall N. Bills published for MechWarrior Online Legends' Hero 'Mech Lore series in MWO's public internet forum.

Canonicity

Although MechWarrior Online Legends as such does not fall under the current criteria for canon, the fiction for the Hero 'Mechs written by Randall N. Bills—who at the time was also the incumbent BattleTech Line Developer at Catalyst Game Labs—was expressly declared fully canonical. This ruling was however reversed in January 2025 by Bills' successor Ray Arrastia, such that these short stories are not canonical, and can only be considered Apocryphal.

Plot Summary

Star Captain Dwillt Radick of Clan Wolf's Sixteenth Battle Cluster is engaged in a Trial of Possession against Star Captain Nikkil of Clan Diamond Shark. The trial is fought on Paxon in the badlands south of Manufacturing Plant DSF-8 after the Wolves have declared a batchall for a production run of Stormcrow components. The victor of the trial remains unknown.

Featured Characters

• Star Captain Dwillt Radick
• Star Captain Nikkil

Featured Units

• Sixteenth Battle Cluster Clan Wolf

Featured Places

• Paxon

Featured BattleTech

BattleMechs

• VPR-M Viper "Medusa"
• Kingfisher
• Stormcrow (mentioned)

Notes

• This apocryphal short story was posted on the MechWarrior Online Legends forum (link to archived copy of original entry/announcement) [1]
• The story indicates that Dwillt Radick was still a ristar within Clan Wolf as of March 3039. Therefore, it is likely that this trial took place before the trial for Star Colonel Kael Pershaw's Bloodright on Glory, as depicted in the novel Bloodname.