Battletech No Tears

TRADITIONS RUN DEEP… Other mercenary units fly flags at two flagpoles at their headquarters, one with their unit’s flag, and other bearing the flag of their current employer. However, the Third Regimental Combat Team—a.k.a. the Eridani Light Horse—leaves one flagpole bare, as a reminder of the death of the Star League, and the other pole flies the Light Horse’s unit and regimental flags at half-mast. What triumphs and tragedies shaped the Eridani Light Horse and its traditions? What drove them to become a force to be reckoned with, an elite mercenary unit with one of the longest histories and the deepest traditions in the Inner Sphere? Witness the unit’s origins in the Star League and follow their evolution all the way through the Succession Wars and the Clan Invasion to their downfall in the Dark Age and their resurrection in the uncertain future of the ilClan era. Part Two: No Tears by Craig A. Reed, Jr.: During the First Succession War, a tragedy borne of spite strikes the Eridani Light Horse on the Draconis Combine world of Sendai, and they will stop at nothing to exact their revenge.

TRADITIONS RUN DEEP… Most mercenary units fly flags on two flagpoles at their headquarters: one with their unit’s flag, and other bearing the flag of their current employer. However, the Third Regimental Combat Team—a.k.a. the Eridani Light Horse—leaves one flagpole bare, as a reminder of the death of the Star League, and the other pole flies the Light Horse’s unit and regimental flags at half-mast. What triumphs and tragedies shaped the Eridani Light Horse and its traditions? What drove them to become a force to be reckoned with, an elite mercenary unit with one of the longest histories and the deepest traditions in the Inner Sphere? Now, collected for the first time, nine of BattleTech’s finest authors bring the legacy of this storied unit to life like never before. Witness the Eridani Light Horse’s origins in the Star League, and follow their evolution all the way through the Succession Wars and the Clan Invasion to their downfall during the Dark Age and their resurrection in the uncertain future of the ilClan era. Featuring stories from: Joel Steverson Craig A. Reed, Jr. Chris Hussey Randall N. Bills Jason Hansa Daniel Isberner Alan Brundage Jason Schmetzer Michael J. Ciaravella

TOO OLD TO FIGHT, TOO YOUNG TO DIE… For nearly a decade, the relentless warriors of Clan Jade Falcon have held the world of Jangso in the A Place system, using it as a training ground for their next generation of warriors. When the planet’s garrison departs to join other Falcon forces in the fight for Terra, the Clans’ ultimate prize, aging Star Commander Hasara is ordered to remain behind. Deemed too old to be worthy of going to Terra, he still embraces his honor, and vows to safeguard the planet and all of the cadets too young to join the fight. The Lyran Commonwealth, still stinging from losing Jangso to the Falcons, resolves to exploit their absence by taking back the planet before the Falcons can return. Armed with military intelligence and smuggled BattleMechs, Lyran natives on Jangso launch critical strikes at Hasara, his ex-MechWarrior partner, and the Falcon cadets under their wings, luring them into a trap. But the Lyrans have greatly underestimated the Falcons’ indomitable spirit and the lengths they will go to when driven to the brink of desperation. As Hasara wrestles with his own sense of honor, and faces dwindling morale and diminishing returns against troops seeking to exterminate him and his cadets, he must prove there is still enough fight left in his old bones to secure a victory for the future of his Clan.

FIGHT FOR SURVIVAL… Beset on all sides, Jiyi Chistu, Khan of Clan Jade Falcon, is struggling to keep his place in the crumbling Jade Falcon Occupation Zone. When Clan Hell’s Horses arrive on Sudeten to claim the planet, Jiyi is forced to defend it with everything he has in a battle that could mean the end of his people. But he cannot just hold his territory. Being cut off from the rest of the Inner Sphere is as much a death for his Clan as annihilation. To take the planets surrounding Sudeten and bring home the errant Jade Falcon warriors he so desperately needs, Jiyi dispatches a unit, including Alexis, a young, idealistic Falcon warrior, to bolster the Clan. Both Jiyi and Alexis will have to find new ways to adapt to their ever-changing reality, as Alexis learns what it means to be known as a Jade Falcon, and Jiyi is visited by an unexpected Falcon from the past…one who could spell doom for his entire Clan…

A DEFEATED WARRIOR... For years, Star Commander Joanna has had to live with the shame of the Jade Falcon defeat at Twycross, and the nightmares of the heroic Aidan Pryde flaunting his bloodname in her face. A LAST CHANCE FOR REDEMPTION. Now, with the arrival of the new Star Colonel Ravill Pryde, who will lead them against the Wolf Clan, Joanna must once again fight for her chance to recapture the glory of her victory at Tukayyid. But will her advanced age bring her to defeat again, or will being a Jade Falcon be enough for her to take on the legendary Black Widow in a repeat battle at the Great Gash on Twycross?

TRADITIONS RUN DEEP… Other mercenary units fly flags at two flagpoles at their headquarters, one with their unit’s flag, and other bearing the flag of their current employer. However, the Third Regimental Combat Team—a.k.a. the Eridani Light Horse—leaves one flagpole bare, as a reminder of the death of the Star League, and the other pole flies the Light Horse’s unit and regimental flags at half-mast. What triumphs and tragedies shaped the Eridani Light Horse and its traditions? What drove them to become a force to be reckoned with, an elite mercenary unit with one of the longest histories and the deepest traditions in the Inner Sphere? Witness the unit’s origins in the Star League and follow their evolution all the way through the Succession Wars and the Clan Invasion to their downfall in the Dark Age and their resurrection in the uncertain future of the ilClan era. Part Eight: No Dust, No Wear by Jason Hansa: The Eridani Light Horse regiment, serving as the Star League’s representative in the Clan Homeworlds after the Great Refusal, is beset by angry Clans who seek to destroy them for threatening their way of life. Colonel Sandra Barclay must do everything in her power if her command is to survive…

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...

THE FINAL ENGAGEMENT… The minions of Maximilian Liao are about to 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 Kell Hounds mercenary unit—is trapped in a game of search and destroy with the most fearsome Kurita unit ever created. 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?