MechWarrior 3®: Loren Coleman's "Cliffhangers"

Trial by Fire

Loren L. Coleman began writing fiction in high school, though it was during his five years as a member of the United States Navy, nuclear power field, that he began to write seriously. Despite the many threats which accompanied a flywheel printer interrupting the sleep of shipmates, he persevered through the rest of his enlistment and beyond, finally seeing his first novel published in 1997. As it happened that first novel detailed his prescient vision of a future battlefield, the machines of warfare, and the men and women who piloted them. It joined the BattleTech series as the novel Double-Blind.

Working as a freelance writer and part-time game designer, Loren L. Coleman has continued to write for companies such as FASA and TSR while also pursuing his own work. For FASA, he has written for both the BattleTech and Earthdawn gaming lines, writing source material and fiction as well as working on MechWarrior 3® and its first expansion pack. His BattleTech fiction includes the novels Binding Force, Threads of Ambition and The Killing Fields.

When he is not chronicling the politics and wars of thirty-first century mankind, Loren L. Coleman retreats to the Pacific Northwest territories of the United States on twentieth century Terra. He currently resides in Everett, Washington with his wife, Heather Joy, two sons, Talon LaRon and Conner Rhys Monroe, and a new daughter, Alexia Joy. He occasionally claims ownership (or at least responsibility) for three troublesome Siamese cats-Rumor, Chaos and Ranger.

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The Story of Connor Sinclair and the Damocles Commando

Story by: Loren L. Coleman

<330-1347> Field Commander Charles Antonescue reports. Southern pass held against Smoke Jaguar force. Coordinated resistance on Huntress has been smashed, but there is no indication of Khan Osis’ presence. Surviving clan warriors available for interrogation.

<408-1955> Prince Victor Steiner-Davion to all field commanders. Huntress is ours.

<409-0942> Lieutenant Michael Tonai, DEST, on debrief of prisoners. All evidence indicates that Khan Lincoln Osis has escaped Huntress for Strana Mechty. However, of possible worse consequence are rumors that one Galaxy Commander Corbett is rallying Smoke Jaguar forces at a remote staging area. Flagged for immediate investigation.

<409-2115> Jerrard Cranston reports to Prince Victor. Galaxy Commander Brendon Corbett, the Smoke Jaguar officer who led forces back to Huntress, bypassed the capital for the colony world of Tranquil. From this command post, he has sent out a call that all surviving Smoke Jaguar warriors should rally to his position rather than to Khan Osis on Strana Mechty. Reconstructed records prove that Corbett has received several responses. Our "friend" Trent believes that Tranquil may possess the command and production resources to resurrect Clan Smoke Jaguar.

<410-0801> Prince Victor Steiner-Davion commanding. Unacceptable.

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It was one of the smallest briefing rooms aboard the DropShip Black Hammer. Enough space between the gray-painted metal bulkheads for a small table surrounded by half a dozen chairs, three of the seats currently occupied. A duct in the ceiling blew down tepid air tasting of the tang left by atmosphere scrubbers. It tugged at the trailing edges of the Star League ensign which hung over one wall: the silver eight-pointed "Cameron" star against a black field. The room’s one concession to tactical briefings was the flat-D screen opposite the flag, connected via spiraling cable to the keyboard cradled over the left arm of Lieutenant Connor Sinclair.

Lieutenant Sinclair stood next to his own seat typing one-handed, his gray eyes studying the blank screen with a frown of concentration. The young lance leader kept his dark brown hair cut at the edge of military regulation length. Though his uniform was cut along the original Star League Defense Force lines, he’d added the regimental patch from his old unit, the Davion Heavy Guards. All MechWarriors® assigned to one of the Damocles Commando lances had done the same. In his lance he counted one from the Kestrel Grenadiers and two from the First Aragon Borderers -- warriors he had never served with before.

Finally the screen glowed to life and, against the backdrop of a star-studded spacescape, a world grew to fill the frame. Dark blue oceans covered a majority of the planet’s surface, with two large land masses standing out in brown-green relief.

"Tranquil," Sinclair named the world. The planet rotated quickly and froze when the smaller continent came under the camera’s eyes. One final flurry of keystrokes and, as the land zoomed in to fill the screen, he set the keyboard into a special wall receptacle designed to hold it. "This is where Galaxy Commander Corbett has decided to reestablish the Smoke Jaguars, if he can." The young lieutenant swept his gaze over the assembled lance. "We’re here to kick the supports from under him."