Difference between revisions of "The Quest for Jardine"

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'''''Forgotten Worlds''''' is a novel-sized multi-part story by [[Herbert A. Beas II]]. Book 1 (Chapters I through V) is named '''''Forgotten Worlds (the Hunt for Jardine)''' {sic}'', book 2 (from Chapter VI onwards, but with new numeric chapters) is named '''''Forgotten Worlds: Finding Jardine'''''. The story remains unfinished to date, with the most recent sections (Part VIII = Chapters Five and Six of Book 2) having been published on 21 January 2009. A third book, '''''Escape from Jardine''''', was at least partly written (see below).
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'''''Forgotten Worlds''''' is a novel-sized multi-part story by [[Herbert A. Beas II]]. Book 1 (Chapters I through V) is named '''''Forgotten Worlds (the Hunt for Jardine)''' {sic}'', book 2 (from Chapter VI onwards, but with new numeric chapters) is named '''''Forgotten Worlds: Finding Jardine'''''. The story remains unfinished to date, with the most recent sections (Part VIII = Chapters Five and Six of Book 2) having been published on 21 January 2009. A third book, '''''Escape from Jardine''''', was written after the shutdown of the BattleCorps site, and was released in a "semi-official" capacity in a serialized fashion by author Herbert Beas in the FanFic section of the bg.battletech.com forums <ref>In [https://bg.battletech.com/forums/index.php?topic=65085.msg1496959#msg1496959 this thread] on the official [[BattleTech forum]], dated 14 April 2019</ref> starting on April 14, 2019.
  
 
The individual chapters were published online on [[BattleCorps]], with the prologue and chapter I available as free teaser downloads from the BattleCorps site since 12 October 2007. The entire first book was also published in print in the fourth BattleCorps anthology, ''[[Fire for Effect]]'', in 2013.
 
The individual chapters were published online on [[BattleCorps]], with the prologue and chapter I available as free teaser downloads from the BattleCorps site since 12 October 2007. The entire first book was also published in print in the fourth BattleCorps anthology, ''[[Fire for Effect]]'', in 2013.

Revision as of 05:49, 15 April 2019

The Quest for Jardine
Product information
Type Novel/serial (9 parts)
Author Herbert A. Beas II
Pages 79 (book 1)
99 (book 2)
Publication information
Publisher BattleCorps
First published 12 October 2007 - 21 January 2009
Content
Era Jihad era
Timeline 3067 - 3068

Forgotten Worlds is a novel-sized multi-part story by Herbert A. Beas II. Book 1 (Chapters I through V) is named Forgotten Worlds (the Hunt for Jardine) {sic}, book 2 (from Chapter VI onwards, but with new numeric chapters) is named Forgotten Worlds: Finding Jardine. The story remains unfinished to date, with the most recent sections (Part VIII = Chapters Five and Six of Book 2) having been published on 21 January 2009. A third book, Escape from Jardine, was written after the shutdown of the BattleCorps site, and was released in a "semi-official" capacity in a serialized fashion by author Herbert Beas in the FanFic section of the bg.battletech.com forums [1] starting on April 14, 2019.

The individual chapters were published online on BattleCorps, with the prologue and chapter I available as free teaser downloads from the BattleCorps site since 12 October 2007. The entire first book was also published in print in the fourth BattleCorps anthology, Fire for Effect, in 2013.

Plot summary

Book 1: The Hunt for Jardine

Prologue

published on 12 October 2007
They are the lost. The hidden. Worlds erased from star charts across the centuries. Some harbor terrifying secrets. Are they real or just fantasy? Doctor Brooklyn Stevens and her ex-IE crew will risk their lives and more to find out.

On the lost world of Rocky, Brooklyn Stevens and her crew recover the Chalice of Uston DeKirk from the beached cargo vessel "Annie M" for a client. During the retrieval on 13 May 3067, ancient decayed ammunition aboard the ship ignites and threatens to capsize it. Dr. Stevens narrowly escapes when the wreck breaks up, but manages to secure the Chalice and other valuables.

Chapter I

published on 12 October 2007
Brooklyn Stevens--Scientist, Explorer, Mercenary--will receive her greatest challenge ever...

During a reception on Skye celebrating her recovery of the Chalice of Uston DeKirk, Stevens is approached by Dr. Henry J. Croft who offers her work for Interstellar Expeditions as a freelancer on her own terms. Stevens and IE apparently had a falling-out, but Croft assures her that IE now acknowledges that "what happened at Vulture's Nest" was not her fault; the director responsible (Denderhoff) was sent back for field work and was since killed by the Green Ghosts.

Stevens' interest is piqued by Croft producing a recent scientific publication about the re-discovery of the Jardinian Fire Cat and the fact that the author was subsequently killed in an accident while his work was decried as a hoax. Croft and Stevens agree that the lost world of Jardine may have been re-discovered but obviously, a powerful faction is willing to kill to keep the find secret. IE wants Stevens to find the lost world.

Chapter II

published on 26 October 2007
The hunt for Jardine is on, but first Brooke must play the peacemaker.

On 29 July 3067, Stevens and her bickering crew make preparations aboard their modified Explorer-class JumpShip Sacajawea at Shasta's zenith jump point to trace the find of the Jardinian Fire Cat in the Mesozonia natural rainforest preserve on Shasta, six days away.

Meanwhile, the Leopard-class DropShip Kaylin receives orders to move to Shasta from its waiting position in the Alterf system. (Their JumpShip is later described as a Scout-class vessel.)

Chapter III

published on 30 October 2007
A stalker lurks in the wilds of Shasta, but so do the clues to the greatest find of Brooke's career.

Forced to accept a local guide, Esok, to accompany them, Stevens' team comb the dangerous Mesozonia rainforest for over a week until they finally come across a dead juvenile Skatha Ape that was apparently killed by a Fire Cat. At that point, a sniper opens fire and kills Esok. Stevens evades the camouflaged attacker long enough for her team members Lawrence Pohl and Marissa Boerefijn to arrive in the Ibex RV and eventually shoots him, but not before Pohl is wounded and Boerefijn killed. Just before passing out, Stevens comes face to face with a live Fire Cat.

Chapter IV

published on 6 November 2007
"We're with Interstellar Expeditions, and we've come to help you."

Following the death of Boerefijn, a journal entry by Stevens relates how she and her team traced the Fire Cats for weeks, only to find the Clarke, a IE DropShip that had crashed at least five years ago, which had apparently carried them to Shasta where they thrived in the jungle.

Although downhearted, they decide to carry on with the mission. Discussing recent events, they deduct that Croft probably knew of the lost IE vessel (named the Clarke) which had apparently found Jardine prior to getting lost, but not its itinerary.

When their DropShuttle arrives back at the jump point on 13 October 3067, they are hailed by Captain Anton Hara of the Kaylin. Hara explains that he was hired by Croft to serve as their military escort and security advisor. Stevens and her crew suspect that he might mistake "mission support" for "mission control", and decide to play along and try to gain control of the situation.

Chapter V

published on 13 November 2007
Brooke and her crew may have discovered the location of Jardine, but who could have made a world vanish without a trace centuries ago?

Like Stevens suspected, Hara has a IE liaison with him (Nathan Bellamy) and through him, Stevens regains control of the situation as well as the official travel itinerary of the Clarke. From this, they manage to identify a system called Herakleion as the likely last stop of the ill-fated Clarke before it was shot down over Shasta. Herakleion was placed under full quarantine and written off following an extremely virulent plague deployed as a bio-weapon around 2815. Matching the system's features against the known data for lost Jardine mark the two worlds as virtual twins, and Tibor Mitternacht suspects the mixup may be intentional to hide the very existence of Jardine as early as prior to 2788.

Anton Hara meanwhile ponders why his IE liaison gave Stevens the data when suddenly another Scout-class JumpShip appears carrying a Leopard CV-class DropShip (the Luminus Omega) and immediately launches its fighters for an attack...

Book 2: Finding Jardine

Part VI

published on 25 December 2008
Brooklyn Stevens and her crew have narrowly escaped, but where have they escaped to? And who has followed them there, and who awaits?
Chapter One

Stevens and her crew have evaded the unknown attackers by jumping to a pirate jump point in the Herakleion system, where they are greeted by an automated beacon warning them about a Class Ten Extreme Biological Hazard Site and quarantine protocols. It turns out that the "bombing" by the fighters was actually the delivery of boarders in Battle Armor, and one such trooper has entered the ship and is only narrowly defeated, causing substantial damage in the process.

Chapter Two

Convinced that "Herakleion" is in fact Jardine, Stevens and Mitternacht proceed to the planet while Pohl recuperates from wounds sustained in the fight against the battle-armored trooper, and his crew repairs the Sacajawea. Despite coasting under emcon, the DropShuttle is detected by SentrySat J-1098 on 30 October 3067. The satellite raises an intruder alert and launches a trio of ancient Mk30 BlackWasp drone fighters. Trying to evade them in the atmosphere (because BlackWasps are not designed to operate in atmosphere), the DropShuttle suddenly faces Hammerhead fighters.

Part VII

published on 31 December 2008
They survived the fight in orbit, and the crash to the world below, but a ship falling out of the sky attracts the eyes of everyone for hundreds of kilometers. Will Brooke and Tibor find help, or will they be found instead by more enemies?
Chapter Three

Having crashlanded in the Forest of Shrouds on Jardine, Stevens and Mitternacht escape the wrecked K-1 in the Rock Possum WorkMech they brought, which survived the crash with light damage. A squad of six Manei Domini troopers led by Ghost Adept Omega Errol investigates the crash site and pursues the 'Mech westward.

Meanwhile, a rather angry Anton Hara arrives in the "Herakleion" system in search for Stevens, after having plotted a course with the reconstructed information that Stevens' ship had sent them just prior to jumping out of the Shasta combat. IE liaison Bellamy loses the last remnants of Hara's respect by suffering from Transit Disorientation Syndrome.

Chapter Four

Aware of being followed by what they think might be Battle Suits, Stevens and Mitternacht find that their pursuers are almost twice as fast and are finally forced to confront them at a river where they are swarmed by the eerie Manei Domini cyborgs and flee into the jungle with erratic moves, trying to shake off the attackers. Eventually, they kill the Manei Domini more through lucky chance but the 'Mech is also damaged beyond repair in the process, and Mitternacht's prosthetic implants are damaged. Emerging from the wreckage, they are confronted by the final Manei Domini operative who is then surprsingly shot by a man in primitive clothing appearing on an alien riding beast (later revealed to be a Tabiranth).

Part VIII

published on 21 January 2009
Trapped on Jardine, hunted by the enemy, and sheltered—for now, at least—but unknowns, can Brooke and Tibor survive their mission to the Forgotten World
Chapter Five

The ostensibly primitive hunters have captured Stevens and Mitternacht, and inform Stevens that they have used EMP mines (and heavy rifles) to fight the cyborgs they refer to as "Guardians" or machine-men, but later also as Manei Domini. Mitternacht's implants make them wary he might be a Guardian as well. They are brought to the hunters' village, where they learn the history of Jardine.

Poltergeist Precentor Sigma Damien Lucille reports to Specter Precentor Omega Apollyon on the loss of Errol and his team to an EMP mine and the "Waywards" and suggest carpet bombing the jungle to wipe them out and send a message to other tribes. Apollyon objects because burning down the jungle would make the HQ easier to detect from orbit, and orders Lucille to hunt the intruders down with a Level II of 'Mechs and Phantom operatives.

Back aboard the Sacajawea, Pohl and Gretchen have received the DropShuttle's mayday message and are thus aware that it was shot down, but managed a crashlanding. Silently loitering at the pirate jump point, they detect the emergence wave of another JumpShip and deduct it must be Hara who has arrived in-system.

Chapter Six

Stevens learns more about the Manei Domini on Jardine, about The Master, who is described as a "House Lord" and arrived as a gravely injured many years ago and about The Five. Meanwhile, Mitternacht is aware that not all tribespeople are happy to host him and Stevens, and prepares to leave for the nearby Manei Domini city of Hope where some inhabitants are sympathetic to the tribes; he also hopes to gain access to a transmitter that will allow them to send a signal to the Sacajawea.

Aboard the Kaylin, Bellamy has correctly interpreted a narrow-band transmission from the Sacajawea as a warning that the system is hostile. He wants to secure the fame for finding of Jardine for himself, and is plotting with Hara to double-cross Stevens' team, hoping to somehow pick her up on the return trip from the planet.

Precentor Lucille meanwhile assembles a 'Mech and battlearmor force to exterminate the tribe hosting Stevens and Mitternacht.

Book 3: Escape from Jardine

When asked about the missing conclusion to the story, author Herb Beas repeatedly stated that he had the storyline down right to dialogue, but didn't have time to actually write it. Eventually, he released a summary in an official thread that can be regarded as canonical by virtue of having been presented in an official capacity through an official channel (edited for formatting):[2]

Hi,

While I hate giving spoilers, the breakdown of the chapters that are/were planned to follow what was published are thus:

What followed is a very tight overview of the chapters from Book 3 of Forgotten Worlds, with most details removed or boiled down to the bones. There is WAY more material than this in my outloines and the first drafts of the chapters that i have completed. All the same, I will still say: WARNING: SPOLIERS BELOW!

Forgotten Worlds, Book 3: Escape from Jardine

Chapter 1: Precentor Sigma Lucille is ordered to destroy the Waywards in the Forest of Shrouds for giving shelter to Stevens and her companion. Meanwhile, at the Sanctorum in the City of Hope, Apollyon and his team are working on a way to flush out the Sacajawea, and thus eliminate the threat to Jardine's secrecy.

Chapter 2: Lucille's team hits the Wayward camp, and gets a nasty surprise.

Chapter 3: More carnage as Stevens and co. continue their quest to escape.

Chapter 4: Apollyon and Lucille hatch a plan to destroy Stevens' JumpShip. We meet Ogima.

Chapter 5: Stevens and Co. enter the City of Hope.

Chapter 6: Stevens and Co. hitch a ride, but Lucille is already tracking the JumpShip.

Chapter 7: Boom. Boom Boom. Boom Boom Boom. BOOM! Have a nice day.

Chapter 8: Epilogue. Threads for a possible follow-up "Book" are laid.

Possible Follow-Up Book Summation:

After discovering the secret of Jardine, Stevens' crew makes for home. But they are all marked, and hunted by the Word of Blake. Realizing that those closest them are targets as well, they race for Donegal, to rescue Tyler Stevens. But the Word is not the only faction with an interest in these explorers, or the secrets they continue to hold. The race is on, even as war swiftly engulfs the Inner Sphere.

Hope that helps.

Thanks,

- Herbert Beas

Featured characters

Featured places

Featured units

Featured BattleTech

'Mechs

  • Griffin
  • Nexus
  • Raijin
  • Owens
  • Rock Hound (Rock Possum variant) WorkMech
  • unspecified WorkMech, also referred to as DiggerMech ("Digger One"), possibly armed
  • unspecified WorkMech ("Fourty-Niner"), possibly armed

Vehicles

Aerospace Fighters

DropShips

JumpShips

Other

References

  1. In this thread on the official BattleTech forum, dated 14 April 2019
  2. In this thread on the official BattleTech forum, dated 04 April 2013