Editing The Race Is Not to the Swift

The edit can be undone. Please check the comparison below to verify that this is what you want to do, and then save the changes below to finish undoing the edit.

Latest revision		Your text
Line 29:		Line 29:
	On their way back, St. George's decimated unit integrates on two ''[[Rifleman]]'' pilots from Leonard's Lions into their ranks who were separated from their unit during the fighting. Captain Seguin, the mercenary commander, is impressed with St. George's care for his people, telling him that if it was not for him, the Marik forces would have broken up. St. George persuades the mercenary to maintain his position long enough for the Swords to make it back to the DropShips, one of which is already making for orbit by the time The Swords of St. George race past the power plant. Captain Seguin then surrenders to the Lyran Regulars in an attempt to buy the retreating Swords some more time.		On their way back, St. George's decimated unit integrates on two ''[[Rifleman]]'' pilots from Leonard's Lions into their ranks who were separated from their unit during the fighting. Captain Seguin, the mercenary commander, is impressed with St. George's care for his people, telling him that if it was not for him, the Marik forces would have broken up. St. George persuades the mercenary to maintain his position long enough for the Swords to make it back to the DropShips, one of which is already making for orbit by the time The Swords of St. George race past the power plant. Captain Seguin then surrenders to the Lyran Regulars in an attempt to buy the retreating Swords some more time.
−	The Swords make it to the starport by the skin of their teeth, only to see their DropShip wrecked and burning - they took too long. Roughrider 'Mechs, an ''[[Atlas (BattleMech)|Atlas]]'' and a ''[[Cicada]]'', approach and demand their surrender.	+	The Swords make it to the starport by the skin of their teeth, only to see their DropShip wrecked and burning - they took too long. Roughrider 'Mechs, an ''[[Atlas]]'' and a ''[[Cicada]]'', approach and demand their surrender.
	==Featured Characters==		==Featured Characters==
Line 52:		Line 52:
	==Featured BattleTech==		==Featured BattleTech==
	===BattleMechs===		===BattleMechs===
−	*''[[Atlas (BattleMech)|Atlas]]''	+	*''[[Atlas]]''
	*''[[Cicada]]''		*''[[Cicada]]''
	*''[[Crusader]]''		*''[[Crusader]]''

Anti-spam check. Do not fill this in!

{{InfoBoxStory | image = | name = | author = [[Bear Peters]] | pages = 9 | type = Short story | product = Shrapnel (anthology) | illustrations = [[Jeff Laubenstein]] | era = [[Succession Wars era]] | agency = | universedate = | timeline = (see text) | scrollable timeline = [[Start date::]][[End date::]] | series = | precededby = | followedby = }} '''''The Race Is Not to the Swift''''' is a [[BattleTech]] short story by [[Bear Peters]] that was published in the 1988 anthology ''[[Shrapnel (anthology)|Shrapnel]]''. No exact time is given for the story. The author apparently wanted the story to take place in [[3002]], but a note in ''[[Technical Readout: 3039]]'' ([[Patton]] entry, p. 60) establishes that it must have occurred while the Patton was in prototype stages, i.e. between [[3020]] (when it was first unveiled) and [[3027]] (when it entered full production). (See [[The Race Is Not To The Swift#Notes|Notes]].) ==Plot summary== [[Captain]] Cyrus St. George is the company commander of The Swords of St. George, 131st Battalion (Keshii's Battalion), [[33rd Marik Militia]]. The regiment, augmented by the [[Seguin's Strikers]] [[mercenary]] [[lance]], is attacking the [[Lyran Commonwealth]] world of [[Solaris]]. They managed to sneak in on disguised [[DropShip]]s and achieved their initial objectives, but relentless [[aerospace fighter]] attacks and a mounting counterattack by regular Lyran forces and [[Hansen's Roughriders]] threaten to overwhelm the Marik forces. Now the 131st Battalion is ordered to leave their entrenched position at the power plant they captured and make for the countyside in hopes that they would draw off the heaviest counterattacking defender units. They move out from their entrenched position at the power plant in waves of one company each while Seguin's Strikers remain to guard the power plant. The plan does not work out, as the Lyrans gradually attain aerospace superiority and push the attackers on the defensive. St. George tries to organize an orderly retreat for his exposed unit at the point of the attack while the regimental command structure is coming apart around him and losses are mounting. The Marik advance turns into a retreat, then into a rout. The regiment is ordered back to the DropShips. On their way back, St. George's decimated unit integrates on two ''[[Rifleman]]'' pilots from Leonard's Lions into their ranks who were separated from their unit during the fighting. Captain Seguin, the mercenary commander, is impressed with St. George's care for his people, telling him that if it was not for him, the Marik forces would have broken up. St. George persuades the mercenary to maintain his position long enough for the Swords to make it back to the DropShips, one of which is already making for orbit by the time The Swords of St. George race past the power plant. Captain Seguin then surrenders to the Lyran Regulars in an attempt to buy the retreating Swords some more time. The Swords make it to the starport by the skin of their teeth, only to see their DropShip wrecked and burning - they took too long. Roughrider 'Mechs, an ''[[Atlas]]'' and a ''[[Cicada]]'', approach and demand their surrender. ==Featured Characters== *Trooper Bryant *[[Private]] Cho *[[Colonel]] Drinkwater *[[Sergeant]] Harris *[[Corporal]] Jones *[[Force Commander]] [[Sen Sho Keshii]] *"Lippy" Lipescue *[[Master Sergeant]] [[Allen McHaigh]] *[[Captain]] Patel *Captain [[Julian Seguin]] *Captain [[Cyrus St. George]] *[[Lieutenant]] Trapp ==Featured Units== *[[Hansen's Roughriders]] *Keshii's Battalion (131st Battalion), [[33rd Marik Militia]], The Swords of St. George Company *[[Seguin's Strikers]] ==Featured BattleTech== ===BattleMechs=== *''[[Atlas]]'' *''[[Cicada]]'' *''[[Crusader]]'' *''[[Hermes II]]'' *''[[Hunchback]]'' *''[[Locust]]'' *''[[Marauder]]'' *''[[Rifleman]]'' *''[[Shadow Hawk]]'' *''[[Stalker]]'' *''[[Stinger]]'' *''[[Warhammer]]'' *''[[Wasp]]'' *''[[Wolverine (BattleMech)|Wolverine]]'' (also ''Wolverine''-M variant) ===Fighters=== *''[[Seydlitz]]'' ==Notes== *The overall description of the attack strongly suggests that the undated story was meant to be set during [[Willis Crawford]]'s unsuccessful attack on Solaris VII in [[3002]]. This is supported by the fact that the same author wrote another short story (''[[Final Exam]]'') which centers on Willis Crawford's graduation exercise, foreshadowing his reckless tactics that would prove his undoing in the 3002 attack on Solaris VII. However, later publications established that Hansen's Roughriders did not become mercenaries until after 3014; their appearance in this story among the [[House Steiner]] defenders is an anachronism if the story was really supposed to take place in 3002. ''[[Technical Readout: 3039]]'', published in 2009, finally established that this fight took place while Hansen's Roughriders were field-testing the then-prototype [[Patton]] tank which was unveiled in [[3020]] and entered full production in [[3027]]. *Two previously published pieces of BattleTech art are included on pages 3 and 10 to which the story apparently makes reference: **Captain St. George pilots a ''Shadow Hawk'', "Lippy" Lipescue a ''Crusader'', Master Sergeant McHaigh a ''Wolverine''-M and Trooper Bryant a ''Wasp''. This is the lance depicted on the cover of the [[BattleTech Reinforcements]] box (which was also used for [[Ral Partha]]'s [[Medium Lance (miniatures set)|"Medium Lance" miniatures set]]), although the ''Wolverine'' pictured looks like an unmodified WVR-6R model and the 'Mechs appear to bear the crest of [[Helmar Valasek]]'s pirate band, [[Santander's Killers]]. **The standing ''Atlas'' from the last scene, with a ''Cicada'' moving up and both sporting the crest of Hansen's Roughriders, is reminiscent from the cover of [[BattleForce]] although they are depicted with a wilderness background and a clear sky whereas the scene in the story takes place in urban environment, during or shortly after heavy rainfall. ==References== *''[[Shrapnel (anthology)]]'' [[Category:Short Stories|Race Is Not To The Swift, The]] [[Category:Works by Bear Peters|Race Is Not To The Swift, The]]

Summary:

Please note that all contributions to BattleTechWiki are considered to be released under the GNU FDL 1.2 (see BattleTechWiki:Copyrights for details). If you do not want your writing to be edited mercilessly and redistributed at will, then do not submit it here.
You are also promising us that you wrote this yourself, or copied it from a public domain or similar free resource. Do not submit copyrighted work without permission!

To edit this page, please answer the question that appears below (more info):

____ Corporation is the publisher who created BattleTech (then called Battledroids) in 1984

Cancel Editing help (opens in new window)

Advanced templates:

Editing: {{Merge}}   {{Moratorium}}   {{Otheruses| | | }}

Notices: {{NoEdit}}   {{Sign}}   {{Unsigned|name}}   {{Welcome}}

Administration: {{Essay}}   {{Policy}}   {{Procedure}}

Template used on this page:

• Template:InfoBoxStory (edit)