Far Country
Sarna News
Far Country, the only BattleTech book written by Peter Rice, is notable for its storyline which has only tedious connections with the established universe. It is also the only (canonical) source where sentient aliens play a significant role, something many fans feel should have no place in the fictional BattleTech universe. The book introduced two new starship classes, mentions a new APC type and provides information on hyperspace jumps and the cockpit layout of a LAM.
The protagonists are marooned in an unknown star system with no chance whatsoever to return to known space. The story therefore has no impact on the fictional history of the BattleTech universe; as far as anyone else is concerned, the protagonists would be considered to have been killed in a jump accident.
Contents
From the back cover
| “ | Sho-sa Yubari Takuda leads a Draconis Elite Strike Team, one of the Combine's elite commando units. Well versed in techniques of conventional and unconventional warfare, even MechWarriors respect and fear the prowess of these deadly warriors.
A follower of the ancient code of the samurai, Sho-sa Takuda firmly believes in the superiority of the Combine warrior culture and has always maintained that it would produce a harmonious and prosperous society - if only the realm could be freed from the pressure of foreign aggressors. But when a JumpShip malfunction catapults Takuda's team and a company of mercenary MechWarriors beyond known space, he finds long-held beliefs challenged. For the warriors find themselves on a planet inhabited by a primitive alien race, a race enslaved by the descendants of another group of humans - from the Draconis Combine. |
” |
Summary
Prologue - Year 2510
Chapter 1
Because of the MacAllister Rebellion, troops are being called back from the distant edges of the Draconis Combine, including the 3542nd Battalion of the Fifth Galedon Regulars on Salford under Chu-sa Tokashio Hamata. On 9 November 2510 he oversees his troops being loaded on Vulture-class DropShips and boards one of them, the Hideyoshi Toyotomi. The DropShips then take off and dock with the Leviathan-class JumpShip Raiden which is supposed to bring them to Brailsford.
Chapter 2
The jump fails, effectively wrecking the Raiden as well as damaging all DropShips to some degree, and they find themselves stranded in an unknown star system. The captain identifies two locations, a planet and a large moon, as habitable for humans. The initial plan is to release the DropShips after six days of drift so that they can complete the voyage under their own power, but late on day five the Raiden's fusion core has to be scrammed and the ship is slowly breaking up. One DropShip is trapped by a deformed Hardpoint and breaks up when trying to get free. Four DropShips are clustered together, the others fan out. One ship brushes another while maneuvering; locked together and out of control they drop towards the planet for two days with no hope of survival. Lifeboats carrying the JumpShip crew follow the DropShips towards the planet, Kaetetôã.
Part I - 3056
Chapter 3
On 7 November 3056 the Scout-class JumpShip Telendine has been awaiting clearance for fourteen days already while waiting at a Jump Point in the Salford system. Master and Commander Reston Bannin, a trader, is fuming as he has a DropShip packed with valuable, but perishable Colobara wine down on the planet. Against his wishes he is assigned "military cargo" instead, namely a Leopard-class DropShip carrying a DEST team under Sho-sa Yubari Takuda and Garber Vost's mercenary unit, to bring to a classified destination. The Telendine misjumps out of Salford, however, and has to be abandoned. Its lifeboat and the Leopard descend on Kaetetôã.
Chapter 4
Inside the Leopard, pilot Parker Davud tries to get the ship under control while the soldiers and mercenaries aboard secure the cargo and deal with damage incurred. They manage a crashlanding. Shortly afterwards, the lifeboat (crash-)lands nearby and the survivors join up.
Chapter 5
During the first night on the alien planet, the altogether 27 survivors form three distinct groups: Twelve DEST soldiers, eleven mercenaries and four crew from the spaceships. Mercenary leader Garber Vost confronts Takuda with allegations that the Draconis Combine failed to fulfill their part of the mercenary contract, namely safe insertion and extraction, and declares the contract null and void under the radically changed circumstances. He goes on to suggest that the surviving women are dealt out to the best men to ensure survival on this new world, which all agree they have no chance to leave again.
Chapter 6
Featured characters
- Dadoko (of the Tetatae species)
- Brian Seagroves
- Sho-sa Yubari Takuda
- Garber Vost
Featured places
Featured Units
- 2452nd Battalion, Fifth Galedon Regulars (in 2510)
- Draconis Elite Strike Team 6654
- Vost Lance
Featured BattleTech
BattleMechs
Vehicles
- Chi-Ha APC