Paper Tiger

Paper Tiger
Story information
Author	Mark Hill
Type	Short Story
Product	Shrapnel Issue 6
Content
Era	Succession Wars Era
Timeline	22 March 3012 - 8 June 3012

Paper Tiger is a short story by Mark Hill.

Plot summary

Years after a Lyran penal sentence brought him to retirement, Carmichael tends his small bar on Hardisey's Haven, the Crooked Crab, when an old crewmate from his mercenary days shows up. Michelle Duclair has a job - raid a Star League warehouse on Cruz Alta and take the civilian equipment inside - and she needs Carmichael's help. He eventually agrees, and they pull what they can of the old crew together, supplemented with on-planet locals.

The team reaches the warehouse, finding the contents: a lance of wooden replica BattleMechs made for parades. Before they can load up, though, a scout spots incoming forces. Carmichael's crew soon finds itself facing Bowie Industries Captain Reinhold Bisset and his forces. The two forces clash over the Star League artifacts, and with a bit of bluffing and trickery, then fight ends with Bisset's surrender and the victorious withdrawal of Carmichael's crew. Costs take most of the mercenaries' earnings, but they earn some money from the job, and Carmichael is left with a salvaged 'Mech to display over his bar.

Featured characters

• Carmichael
• Michelle Duclair
• Shu
• Shoemaker
• McKinley
• Wright
• Sloane
• Reinhold Bisset
• Mendez (mentioned)
• Bethany (mentioned)
• Marcel (mentioned)
• Morris (mentioned)
• Ainsley (mentioned)
• Bauer (mentioned)
• Smitty (mentioned)

Featured BattleTech

BattleMechs

• Crab
• Panther
• Locust
• UrbanMech
• Griffin (wooden replica)
• Orion (wooden replica)
• Jenner (mentioned)
• Blackjack (mentioned)

Vehicles

• APC (types not identified)
• Galleon

Featured planets

• Cruz Alta
• Hardisey's Haven
• Alarion (mentioned)