Warrior: Coupé

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Warrior: Coupé
Product information
Type Novel
Author Michael A. Stackpole
Pages 324 (original)
332 (anniversary edition & reprint)
Cover Artwork David English (original)
Peter Peebles (anniversary edition & reprint)
Publication information
Publisher FASA (original)
Roc Books (anniversary edition)
FanPro (reprint)
First published April 1989 (original)
November 1998 (anniversary edition)
February 2004 (reprint)
ISBN-13 978-0451457226
Content
Era Succession Wars era
Timeline 27 February-15 December3029
Series The Warrior Trilogy
Preceded by Warrior: Riposte
Followed by (none)

Warrior: Coupé, by Michael A. Stackpole, is the final novel in the Warrior Trilogy. It describes the major operations and final conclusion of the Fourth Succession War, and some of its aftermath, following the exploits of Justin Xiang Allard, Daniel Allard and Andrew Redburn.

From the back cover

“ The minions of Maximilian Liao are about the deliver a crippling blow to the forces of Prince Hanse Davion—discovering a way to use Hanse's own technology against him.

Half a galaxy away, assassins stalk Hanse's wife, Melissa Steiner, and her mother, Archon Katrina Steiner, in the passageways of their own palace. Invasion is imminent.

The only 'Mech force capable of stopping that invasion—the mercenary Kell Hounds—is trapped in a game of search and destroy with the most fearsome Kurita unit ever formed. Even if they come back in time... how many would make it?

In a world where ten-meter-tall war machines are the soul of battle, assassins are state policy, and a spy's loyalty is always for sale, the only thing certain is death. Who can you trust? And in the bitter end, how will you be betrayed?

”

Summary

Prologue

ComStar's First Circuit is divided over how to respond to the outbreak of the ongoing Fourth Succession War. Precentor Myndo Waterly is up in arms about Hanse Davion's highly successful surprise attack on the Capellan Confederation, but Primus Julian Tiepolo stalls her motion, arguing that ComStar must maintain its neutral and pacifistic image in order to maintain control behind the scenes. Still, subtle measures are initiated to hamper the Davion war efforts.

Book 1: Truth

Flush with success in the early stages of the war, Hanse Davion gives a press conference providing an overview of the war efforts, including the surprising change of allegiance of the Northwind Highlanders who returned to Northwind just in time to rout two Draconis Combine regiments. He spins the death of Michael Hasek-Davin into a hero's death in service to the Federated Suns while privately informing Morgan Hasek-Davion of the true circumstances.

Justin Xiang, by now not only a high-ranking Maskirovka analyst and part of Maximilian Liao's inner circle but also Candace Liao's lover, finds himself deeply involved in the intrigues of the Liao family, particularly the competition of him and Candace versus Romano Liao and Tsen Shang for Maximilian's favor. Of special importance is Justin's Operation Intruder Communion, a plan to infiltrate a secret Davion research laboratory on Bethel and steal revolutionary technology (a side project on one Professor-General Sam Lewis) to upgrade Capellan BattleMechs.

However, Candace Liao is more realistic about the war than her father or her sister. She prepares to secede her duchy, the St. Ives Commonality, and gives Justin a recorded message with a peace proposal to leave behind at Bethel.

The Kell Hounds have built New Freegom, a new home for the fugitives from Styx, on Lyons but are ordered to leave the world by Duke Aldo Lestrade, ostensibly to prevent the impression that Lyons could be a military target. Since Morgan Kell intends to meet with Yorinaga Kurita for a final showdown on Ryde in their personal war anyways the Kell Hounds comply.

The aging former Archon Alessandro Steiner is facing death from failing health. He is scheming with Ryan Steiner against Frederick Steiner who is attempting a coup with the backing of Aldo Lestrade. Because of his disdain for Lestrade, Alessandro Steiner decides not to support Frederick's coup and even pass his message on to Katrina, in order to further his and his heir-designate Ryan Steiner's own agenda.

Yorinaga Kurita has returned to the destroyed Genyosha base on Nashira

Book 2: Deception

Book 3: Duty

Book 4: Honor

Book 5: Courage

Epilogue

Featured characters

Featured places

Featured BattleTech

BattleMechs

Aerospace Fighters

Vehicles

DropShips

JumpShips

Other

  • unspecified combat exoskeletons (used by CCAF troopers in training)

Notes

  • Like other early BattleTech novels my Michael A. Stackpole, the book's first edition by FASA features a tongue-in-cheek "About the author" appendix of dubious canonicity in the end. It is written as a ComStar dossier in which Michael A. Stackpole, referring to and continuing from similar writeups in the previous novels, describes himself as a delusional subject who maintains that he is a historical writer who was born in 1957 and was held in the "ComStar Reeducation Compound: Phoenix". A situation update from ROM dated 2 August 3030 alerts the ROM headquarters at Langley, Terra, that he eluded his captors and is suggested to have possibly been extracted by the Manannan MacLir which took off from the Phoenix spaceport and escaped the system by means of a JumpShip at a pirate jump point just the other side of Saturn; a "shoot on sight" order is issued.

Covers

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