Battletech Legends Black Dragon

STRANGERS.... Theodore Kurita, samurai tyrant of the mighty Draconis Combine, is celebrating his sixty-first birthday. Topping the guest list is an unlikely bunch of high-tech troublemakers: Camacho's Caballeros, the toughest team of mercenary MechWarriors the Inner Sphere has ever seen. But their invitation is more than merely social. Theodore's powerful cousin, "Uncle Chandy," has recruited their ace operative, Cassie Suthorn, for a dangerous mission. IN A VERY STRANGE LAND. On an xenophobic planet where honor and duty are worshiped like deities, the freelancing Caballeros are considered barbarians. But Cassie's covert investigation uncovers an insurrection, and Camacho's foreign "barbarians" could be the only unit with enough guns and grit to save the Draconis Combine from its own extremists. And when the armor-piercing rockets and laser fire finally subside, counted among the slain may be Cassie and many of her courageous comrades—as well as the fragile peace of the entire Inner Sphere...

Camacho's Caballeros, the deadly mercenary force, plans to unveil the traitorous Black Dragon secret society and their scheme to destroy the Draconis Combine's Theodore Kurita--a scheme that could change the course of the entire Inner Sphere. A full-length BattleTech feature film is in development with New Line Cinema.

MERCS ON A MISSION... The enigmatic Draconis Combine industrialist "Uncle Chandy" Kurita owns property on planet Towne. Upon hearing news of the secret Black Dragon Society's plans to invade, Uncle Chandy dispatches Cassie Suthorn and Camacho's Caballeros to protect his holdings there and organize the local militia to defend against the anticipated attack. THAT GOES FROM BAD TO WORSE. To the Caballeros' surprise, Towne has become a faction-ridden shambles. The populace rejects all outside intervention, and the Caballeros find themselves fighting the very people they were sent to help. Cassie Suthorn must use her unique woman-to-'Mech combat style to unify Towne in the face of the Black Dragon threat—or be ultimately destroyed...

HONOR ABOVE ALL ELSE... For MechWarrior Zane, allegiance to the Nova Cat Clan comes above all else. So when he sees his clan disgraced, cast out, and suddenly allied with the hated Inner Sphere, Zane's only desire is to see the Nova Cats returned to their former greatness. For Palmer Yoshio, the Draconis Combine is the only honorable thing in a chaotic galaxy. But when he is forced to train alongside the outcast Nova Cats, he finds that his own notion of honor is a far cry from his leader's. Now, for Zane and Yoshio, the line between friend and foe will be drawn in the blood of the fallen comrades—and neither warrior will be able to look at their universe in the same way again...

BORN TO TAKE DOWN BATTLEMECHS... Resourceful, ruthless, beautiful, apparently without fear, Scout Lieutenant Cassie Suthorn of Camacho's Caballeros is as consummately lethal as the giant BattleMechs she lives to hunt. Only one other person in the freewheeling mercenary regiment has a hint of the demons which drive her. CAUGHT IN A WEB OF DECEIT... When the Caballeros sign on to guard Coordinator Theodore Kurita's corporate-mogul cousin in the heart of the Draconis Combine, they think they've got the perfect gig: low risk and high pay. Cassie alone suspects that danger waits among the looming bronze towers of Hachiman—and when the yakuza and the dread ISF form a devil's alliance to bring down Chandrasekhar Kurita, only Cassie's unique skills can save her regiment. AND ONLY ONE WAY OUT. All she has to do is confront her darkest nightmares...

CLAWS THAT CATCH… As a reward for her loyalty and cunning, Katana Tormark has been granted the rank of Warlord of Dieron—a somewhat dubious honor. For even as she is given her new title, she is also given a nearly impossible task to prove her worth—one that may usher in a new era of interplanetary chaos... Barely three generations ago, the Draconis Combine ceded control of dozens of planets to the Republic of the Sphere. But now, with Terra locked behind its impenetrable Fortress Wall, these same planets are left to fend for themselves. Some go on as if nothing has changed, while others find themselves pawns in a deadly game of territorial sovereignty. These are the planets Katana must take over if she is to reestablish the historic Dieron Military District. If she can manage this with minimal resources and the very subtle support of the Coordinator, then she will become a full-fledged warlord of House Kurita. But Katana’s enemies inside and outside the Combine see the ensuing confusion as a chance to destroy her once and for all...

A ROGUE DRAGON RAMPAGES… Between the Republic of the Sphere and the Draconis Combine stands the military unit known as the Dragon's Fury. Claiming worlds in the name of the Dragon without House Kurita's support and threatening the entire Inner Sphere, the Fury pursue their leader’s agenda with fanatical devotion... Katana Tormark bears the burden of disgrace. A traitor’s actions against her father dishonored her family. Now, to regain the respect the Tormark clan deserves, she openly challenges the Coordinator's policy of nonaggression with the Republic, hoping to push House Kurita into a war—one the Coordinator apparently doesn't want. Warlord Mitsura Sakamoto believes Katana is making House Kurita look weak, and he’s determined to turn the situation to his advantage. For he has his own designs on ruling the Combine, and he's not going to let the daughter of a disgraced samurai stand in his way...

A SWORD FORGED IN SHADOWS… Theodore Kurita is the son of Takashi Kurita, and heir apparent to the Draconis Combine, one of the most powerful realms of the Inner Sphere. But the Draconis Combine has never been a place of smooth transitions. Historically, a Kurita proves himself a fit leader by a successful bid for power, political or...otherwise. Theodore's perilous journey to power is a twenty-year odyssey, beginning with his graduation from Sun Zhang Military Academy. At each level of ascendancy, Theodore finds that keeping power is far more difficult than getting it, and failure lies in wait at every turn. His tactical knowledge is put to the test all too many times. His successes in impossible situations are dismissed as smoke and mirror trickery by some, but lauded as genius by others. Upon reaching the level of Deputy of the Combine Military, Theodore’s new power allows him to see the uncertain future of his people. He must plan carefully as he bargains for his future with ComStar, the mystic sect, and the yakuza, an interstellar network of organized crime. All the while maintaining an uneasy truce with the man he must one day depose...his own father, Coordinator of the Draconis Combine!