After several significant delays, MechWarrior 5: Mercenaries will be ready to launch as the exclusive Epic Games Store for Windows PCs on December 10th. The developers of Piranha Games are ready to launch the first BattleTech simulation in the cockpit for almost 16 years. To celebrate, they helped to create a series of short stories.
This novelty collection titled MechWarrior 5 Origins is available online for free. They tell the backstory of Niks Cavaliers, the new mercenary squad that will be at the center of attention in the final game. These short stories also come from Randall N. Bills of Catalyst Game Labs, who helped build the battle-based strategy game Harebrained Schemes and co-developed the story for MechWarrior 5.
Below is an exclusive excerpt from the third edition of MechWarrior 5 Origins entitled Endless War. You can read the first two installments in EPUB or MOBI format or automatically through a selection of Ereader services on the MechWarrior 5: Mercenaries website.
Just before the hoist came to a standstill fifteen feet above the underlying deck, Ryana Campbell ignored the gate, slipped over and made a leap to the Highlander’s shoulder.
“Careful,” the boss said goodbye.
Why do you always assume that I’m not careful? I’m always careful . just not the way you want me to be.
Unlike many BattleMechs, the Highlander’s shoulders were rather flat and allowed for easy maneuvering around the entry hatch at the back of the square head. She did not need to enter any code, as the boss had already prepared this phase, and she turned on the hatch, slipped inside, and held her.
Flavors that were more familiar than her own body filled her senses: burned metal, worn-out leather, residues of cleaning solutions, not completely removed blood odor. In that moment, between shutting down the rest of the world and immersing herself in her element, she felt she had some sort of synesthesia, the echo of terror and the excitement of dozens of pilots who had occupied the cockpit over the centuries Mantel stated responsibility on her skin. Goosebumps flared up and her heartbeat quickened. She stood for many long seconds at the event horizon between the two worlds, before letting the euphoria pass, slipping past the bulk of the Conn chair and settling in the seat. Although the interior was jet-black, she could be half-dead and still go through these movements, which were more familiar than eating or breathing.
She reached for the console, which turned almost 180 degrees in front of her, and typed in the startup protocols for the fusion reactor. Her boss had started a warm-up sequence just minutes after the announcement of the raid, as a cold start often took time they might not have had. Your code has simply moved him from sleep to wakefulness. A Christmas tree of lights came to life as the heart of the Highlander pumped its power into every part of the machine.
She opened a compartment on the side of her chair and pulled out wires and medical records. She pulled the tape from each pad and fastened it firmly to the inside of each thigh and arm. Then she attached braces to each of the four medical monitors and pulled the ends through a loose loop of her cooling vest on her neck. Then she reached to the right of the small shelf in which her neurohelmet was. She pulled the heavy device over her head and put the bulky object on her shoulder pads to make sure she could see well. Then she fished out the dangling cable ends and tucked them tangibly into the part of the neurohelmet that lay against her chest. Then she pulled another cable out of a slot in the other armrest and put it in her coolant vest. Thereafter, she synchronized the five-point restraint belt firmly. She liked it more tightly than most, as the launch of 90 tons in a heavy ballistic bow made it harder to jiggle than the lighter ‘Mechs.
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Then she twisted a series of buttons and her skin tingled as the numerous tubes of coolant began to cycle in her waistcoat to counteract the damaging heat of the battle. Dizziness washed her senses for a moment as the neurohelmet went online and synchronized with the massive three-ton gyro located directly above the fusion reactor in the belly of her animal. She reached forward and typed in two more sequences, carefully and methodically checking off every point in the startup sequence and checking all the ads before inviting another occupant to her group of solitude with the last touch of a button.
“Voice authorization required,” the computer said. She knew a hundred warriors who designed the voice individually, from male to female, with or without accents and everything in between. She had retained the original defaults that she had maintained when she left the assembly line for the Star League Defense Force. it somehow seemed blasphemous to do something else.
“Captain Ryana Campbell,” she answered clearly.
“Speech recognition verified. Authorization of code phrases. “
“Cha togar m’fhearg gun dìoladh,” she said softly. Her Scottish Gaelic, though not her mother tongue, was still as good as the day she left the Northwind Highlanders to forge her own destiny under the all-too-helping arms of her adoptive parents. Nobody can harm me with impunity. She still should not use the motto of the Highlanders regiments. One of the longest stories of any Inner Sphere fighting commander, dating back more than 1,500 years, to the regiments of the Scottish Highlands on ancient Terra. a legacy whose modern descendants (in both blood and mind) are deeply protected. She had gone by herself. And they had given her a grandiose honor to take the Highlander who had been in the regiment for almost four centuries. She was still out of breath when she thought about the gift. But she no longer had any right to this heritage. And she would resign herself, especially as she found a home in the legendary Light Horse on her own way. Yet she could not quite let go of her youth and the comfort she brought in these moments of loneliness.
The computer voice interrupted her reverie: “Reaktor online. Sensors online. Weapons online. All systems nominal. “
The previously locked joystick, the gas and pedals unsealed according to the correct verification protocols, and the rest of the banking machine came to life. Fifteen meters of war-forged Majesty moved to their command. A smile of wild joy blossomed; Their hands and feet found their true extension as the machine made a tedious step out of the mooring toward another battle.
Randall N. Bills began his career as an author in the adventure gaming industry, where he has been a full-time job for over two decades. He has literally published hundreds of source books, rule books, boxing games, and more. This includes instrumental work on the groundbreaking BattleTech and Shadowrun game lines; He was the Lore Advisor for Harebrained Scheme’s BattleTech computer game and is a co-story developer for the upcoming MechWarrior 5 computer game by Piranha Games. Among his latest games publications is the Deckbuilder Dungeons & Dragons Dragonfire.
