Difference between revisions of "Erster Kontrakt"
Sarna News
(plot summary - work in progress) |
m (→DropShips: fix link) |
||
| Line 80: | Line 80: | ||
*''[[Wyvern]]'' | *''[[Wyvern]]'' | ||
===DropShips=== | ===DropShips=== | ||
| − | *''[[ | + | *''[[Leopard]]'' |
*''[[Overlord]]'' | *''[[Overlord]]'' | ||
*''[[Union]]'' (''[[Freed Rasalhague's Rebels]]'') | *''[[Union]]'' (''[[Freed Rasalhague's Rebels]]'') | ||
Revision as of 16:57, 9 November 2014
 | Apocryphal Product Although the subject of this article is an official BattleTech product, it does not meet the current criteria for Canon. Its content may or may not be canonical for the BattleTech universe, and for the purpose of the Sarna.net BattleTechWiki is considered apocryphal. |
| |
| Erster Kontrakt | |
|---|---|
| Product information | |
| Type | Novel |
| Author | Arous Brocken |
| Pages | 392 |
| Cover Artwork | Karsten Schreurs |
| Publication information | |
| Publisher | Ulisses Spiele GmbH |
| First published | 7 March 2013 |
| ISBN-10 | 3868892621 |
| ISBN-13 | 978-3868892628 |
| MSRP | 11,95 € |
| Content | |
| Era | Clan Invasion era |
| Timeline | 19 March-26 August 3056 |
| Series | Classic BattleTech Novels Bear Cycle |
| Preceded by | Mission Kiamba |
| Followed by | Waffengefährten |
Erster Kontrakt ("First Contract"), by Arous Brocken, is the 22nd in the of the German-language Classic BattleTech Novels that Ulisses Spiele took over from FanPro and continued. Subtitled the fourth part of the Bear Cycle, it continues the story of MechWarrior George from the previous novel, Mission Kiamba.
Contents
Canonicity
Written in German and exclusively published in that language so far, Erster Kontrakt does not meet the current criteria for Canon in the BattleTech universe. As an official product published under a valid license, it should be regarded as apocryphal.
From the back cover (translated from German)
| “ | Heavily decimated, the mercenary Doom Angels return to Outreach, where their Major struggles to scrape together a battle-worthy company and get George, his best MechWarrior, into a cockpit. After the Doom Angels are annihilated in a series of surprise attacks, the former Clan warrior finds himself alone in the Inner Sphere on a planet ruled by the enemy Dragoons and beset by numerous freeborns who all seem to have only one goal: to take from him his last C-bill. George is compelled to start a career as a free mercenary to earn a living, but he soon finds it to be harder than he thought. Fourth part of the Bear Cycle. |
” |
Plot Summary
Besides a brief prologue, the novel essentially comprises two parts: "Die Kriegerwelt" (the Warrior's World), describing the demise of the Doom Angels on Outreach and George'ss struggle to adapt to a life as an independent mercenary; and "Der Kontrakt", which chronicles his experiences during his first mercenary contract.
Die Kriegerwelt
The decimated Doom Angels mercenaries return to Outreach by the skin of their teeth, courtesy of a rescue JumpShip provided by their parent mercenary unit, the Devil's Dents regiment. Captured Clan Ghost Bear MechWarrior George has worked his way up from captive to full-blown member during their enforced stay on Kiamba.
On Outreach, the mercenaries are dismayed to learn that the other battalions of the Devil's Dents fared even worse, with one completely destroyed including its DropShips and the other mauled like the Doom Angels and having lost their JumpShip. The unit's financial reserves are depleted; the former regiment finds itself struggling against bankruptcy. Colonel Marmari and Major Thornhill agree the unit is in no shape to fight the Clans, and that they cannot accept such contracts from House Kurita, their previous employers, anymore. Instead, the individual mercenaries try to stay afloat on Outreach as best as they can while the unit rebuilds. George, who is slowly adapting to life on Outreach with the help of dispossessed fellow mercenary Hiram Taishung, is assigned a Commando as he is the unit's best MechWarrior.
The refusal to accept new contracts for House Kurita prompts their previous employer to regard the Doom Angels as both expendable and a security risk, as they were privy to secret mission orders; it is feared the mercenaries might sell their knowledge about Kurita black ops. Consequently, the unit is effectively wiped through near-simultaneous assassinations and attacks against their assets on 12 April 3056. George evades an assassination attempt through his martial skills and a chance encounter with a woman also on the run. Together, they lose their pursuers in Temptown gang fights and George ends up in her apartment where he learns in the news on the next day what happened to his entire unit.
With most of the Doom Angels dead and a few survivors having fled aboard the Mephisto, George takes possession of the Commando after seeing off a lawyer who was going to impound it. He moves it into a Temptown hangar where he makes a deal with a street gang and sets up shop with two surviving techs, Johnny and Allison. They form the "Biting Bear's Bashers" and, with help of another acquaintance of George, eventually get a mercenary contract to protect a mining operation on Cor Caroli as part of a larger unit.
Der Kontrakt
 | This Section looks to be a Stub This section is a stub (i.e., in need of additional material). You can help us by expanding it. Please remove this tag when that effort is complete. |
Featured BattleTech
BattleMechs
- Atlas (BattleMech)
- Catapult
- Clint
- Commando
- Crab
- Grasshopper
- Griffin
- Hatchetman
- Hermes
- Hitman
- Hunchback
- JagerMech
- Javelin
- Jenner
- Locust
- Mongoose
- Quickdraw
- Raptor
- Rifleman
- [[Sentinel]
- Shadow Hawk
- Summoner (Thor)
- Thorn
- UrbanMech
- Valkyrie
- Wasp
- Watchman
- Wyvern