Legacy (Anthology)

Revision as of 10:50, 4 June 2018 by Frabby (talk | contribs) (work in progress)
LegacyCover.jpg
Legacy (Anthology)
Product information
Type Anthology
Author Alan Brundage
Aaron Cahall
Alex Fauth
Jason Hansa
Travis Heermann
Chris Hussey
Robert Jeschonek
Kevin Killiany
Philip A. Lee
Darrell Myers
Craig A. Reed
Geoff Swift
Development John Helfers (Editor)
Philip A. Lee (Editor)
Pages 280
Cover Artwork Des Hanley
Interior Artwork Franz Vohwinkel
Publication information
Publisher Catalyst Game Labs
Product code 35826
First published 17 August 2017
ISBN-13 978-1941582312
MSRP 11.95 US$
Content
Era (see text)

Legacy (subtitle: A BattleTech Anthology) is a print anthology of thirteen short stories from different authors, plus a foreword by editor Philip A. Lee and an "About the Authors" section.

Although described as an anthology, it can arguably be described as a serial novel as the individual short story episodes narrate the overarching story of a single individual BattleMech, a Grasshopper—tentatively called the "Legacy Grasshopper"—as it is passed down from one MechWarrior to the next over a span of three centuries.

From the back cover

LIFE IS CHEAP. BATTLEMECHS ARE NOT.

A Draconis Combine warrior struggles with immoral orders in the First Succession War. A House Davion MechWarrior participates in a risky heist as part of Operation Guerrero. A history buff battles the Word of Blake during the Liberation of Terra. What do these MechWarriors have in common? Each one pilots the same BattleMech, a survivor that has been repaired and rebuilt countless times throughout its long and bloody 300-year lifespan.
The seventy-ton GHR-5H
Grasshopper can outmaneuver and outlast some of the most fearsome enemy 'Mechs, making it an invaluable asset to battlefield commanders. Even an incapacitated Grasshopper will be rebuilt to fight another day, with a new pilot at its controls, because MechWarriors can be replaced, but 'Mechs cannot.
In
BattleTech: Legacy, thirteen all-new stories chronicle the fortunes and tragedies of a single 'Mech across several tumultuous points in its wide-ranging combat history. Veteran BattleTech authors Kevin Killiany and Craig A. Reed, Jr. bookend this exciting collection, while other familiar names and new blood explore important moments in this 'Mech's history of constant, unmitigated warfare that leaves no corner of the Inner Sphere untouched.

Stories

What's in a Name?

What's in a Name?
Story information
Author Kevin Killiany
Pages 14
Type Short story
Product Legacy (Anthology)
Content
Timeline 27 March 2779 - 13 April 2830

Working on prototype #5 of the GHR 'Mech design project in 2779, engineer Lucia Cavaletta had a breakthrough design idea and within just sixteen hours hand-built a prototype of a device (an actuator) that will solve a development the team had. Just as she engraves the masterpiece with her signature, the facility is infiltrated and Cavaletta is captured and tortured to death over two hours for information on the project. However, it is later discovered that Cavaletta managed to mislead the intruders into stealing critically flawed design specs for an earlier prototype instead of her most recent invention. Grasshopper had been a relatively obscure naming suggestion by Cavaletta for the GHR project; it is implied that the design was later actually named Grasshopper (instead of Ghost Hunter, an earlier project name) in her honor.

The hand-crafted component prototype she built that night turns up on Le Blanc in 2830, reportedly salvaged from a Draconis Combine "kamikaze" 'Mech (implicitly one destroyed in one of the Combine's Chain Gang missions). The techs note that it is masterfully built, performs well over specifications, and is signed like a piece of art.

Swords of Light and Darkness

Swords of Light and Darkness
Story information
Author Travis Heermann
Pages 21
Type Short story
Product Legacy (Anthology)
Content
Timeline 11 September 2796 - 17 April 2797

During the latter days of the Kentares Massacre, Tai-i Sam Tanaka of the Sixth Sword of Light regiment resolves to hide a fugitive local girl in his Grasshopper to at least give her a few days of relative comfort; intellectually, he knows that he will ultimately be unable to save her life, and will likely be executed for treason for not killing the girl outright.

Flashbacks reveal how Tanaka's morale, and that of his entire unit, was worn down by the atrocious mass murder they were ordered to commit on the entire planet's population, how he tries to reconcile this reality with his bushido ideals of honor and duty, and how he no longer cares about his individual fate.

Fates and Fortunes

Fates and Fortunes
Story information
Author Darrell Myers
Pages 19
Type Short story
Product Legacy (Anthology)
Content
Timeline 11 October 2840 - 23 April 2843

The Forgotten Places

by Alan Brundage

One Man's Trash

by Philip A. Lee

Lightning Strike

by Geoff Swift

Choices and Chances

by Chris Hussey

The Third Pillar

by Jason Hansa

Earthbound

by Aaron Cahall

Underfoot

by Robert Jeschonek

Homecoming

by Alex Fauth

End of the Road

by Craig A. Reed

Epilogue: Where Legends Come to Rest

by Philip A. Lee