Decision at Thunder Rift

Last updated
Decision at Thunder Rift
Author William H. Keith Jr.
Cover artist Jim Holloway
LanguageEnglish
Series BattleTech
Publisher Roc Books
Publication date
June 1986 (original)
September 1992 (reprint)
Pages374
ISBN 0-451-45184-8
Followed byMercenary's Star 

Decision at Thunder Rift is a novel by William H. Keith Jr. published in 1986. it is the first book of the Saga of the Gray Death Legion, and the first novel ever to be published for BattleTech. [1] It tells the story of the young Grayson Death Carlyle and the events that led to the founding of his famous mercenary unit.

Contents

Plot summary

In 3024 AD, the planet Trellwan, situated near the Lyran Commonwealth's periphery border, is garrisoned by Carlyle's Commandos under Captain Durant Carlyle whose 20-year-old son Grayson is being trained to become his successor.

Viscount Olin Vogel, a personal emissary of Archon Katrina Steiner, has prepared a pact with the nearby Oberon Confederation by which they will garrison the world, freeing up Carlyle's Commandos for duty elsewhere. The population on Trellwan is incensed about the deal, because Oberon Confederation troops have raided the world in the past, and they are now generally paranoid and hostile towards off-worlders.

A neutral third-party freighter of House Mailai is expected to deliver the Oberon Confederation delegates to finalize the treaty. However, the DropShip unexpectedly opens fire on Captain Carlyle's Phoenix Hawk and deploys BattleMechs. Carlyle is killed when an enemy Marauder destroys his 'Mech. The garrison base near the capital city of Sarghad is simultaneously stormed by commando troops with the aid of Stefan, a Trellwanese traitor. A small number of Carlyle's Commandos escape on their DropShip while most senior personnel are killed; Grayson Carlyle and Viscount Olin Vogel are captured and brought before the enemy war leader. He shoots Vogel in cold blood and proceeds to execute Grayson as well. Grayson is actually only grazed by the bullet to his head, but passes out and is left for dead.

He awakes three days later in the house of Berenir the merchant, a local connection sympathetic to him. Berenir's son was trained as a tech by Carlyle's Commandos and tried to rescue SeniorTech Riviera, but found him dead and rescued the unconscious Grayson instead who was the only one left alive in the hangar.

Briefed on the situation and urged to leave the house because helping him means trouble, Grayson decides to seek out his girlfriend Mara who happens to be the daughter of Defense Minister Stannic. However, at the palace Royal Guards and militia units try to apprehend him. He escapes and meets another off-world fugitive who reveals himself as Renfred Tor, an independent starship captain who had been hired to work for House Mailai by one of their principal traders, Proctor Sinvalie. Tor relates to Grayson how he was assigned to ferry the delegates between Tharkad, Oberon VI and Trellwan for the supposedly secret agreement. On the way here, they were waylaid by unknown forces in Oberon Confederation livery but the raiders summarily killed the delegates aboard Tor's ship, brought BattleMechs aboard and modified the DropShip to carry concealed weapons. Piloting the DropShip to the planet with a gun to his head, Tor realized that he would likely be killed sooner or later and hid, then escaped into Sarghad.

Grayson tries to bring Tor to Berenir's house, but they find it destroyed by the same Marauder that had killed Grayson's father. Tor decides to head for the starport and hire out as a tech, while Grayson retreats to Thunder Rift outside the city with a stolen militia hovercraft skimmer to think the situation over. He returns to Sarghad, only to be caught up in a BattleMech attack against King Jeverid's palace. By a combination of battlefield instincts and pure chance, he ends up commandeering a militia skimmer with a heavy machine gun and uses this to kill the pilot of a Wasp in battle, thereby rallying the defenders and leading them to victory over the attacking pirates. He even manages to corner an overheating Locust in a dead end and forces the pilot (Lori Kalmar) to surrender by means of a shoulder-mounted inferno launcher, thereby capturing the damaged but functional 'Mech.

Following this "Battle of Sarghad", Grayson, reunited with Mara, is hailed as a hero and receives praise and a decoration from King Jeverid in a reception ceremony. Over his objections he is then tasked with creating a specialized anti-'Mech combat formation, the Trellwan Lancers, from the two captured 'Mechs and assorted militia and Guards forces, to fight the pirates still holding the garrison castle.

Competition and bickering between Guard and militia units makes training them difficult, and they also lack the spare parts and tech skills to repair the Wasp. Captive Locust pilot Lori Kalmar reveals that three of the attackers including herself are inexperienced conscripts from the Oberon Confederation, forced to work for the pirates on Trellwan because of circumstances beyond their control. Grayson decides to integrate her into the Trellwan Lancers over the vocal objections of the other soldiers under his command, who do not trust her and also have problems accepting a woman in a command position in Trellwan's male-dominated culture. With her help, the Trellwan Lancers carry out their first mission—capture the other pirate Wasp to salvage for spare parts. The attack succeeds beyond expectations when both the Wasp and a Stinger are captured, and a prisoner camp liberated on the sidelines.

Political pressure soon forces the Trellwan Lancers into action again against Grayson's better judgment. A commando raid is staged against the garrison castle with orders to fatally sabotage the Shadow Hawk undergoing repairs there, but inside the hangar the 'Mech turns out to be fully functional. Only Grayson and four others escape the trap. Following the debacle, the Lancers are redesignated as a company within the Royal Guards and Grayson is relieved of duty.

Shortly afterwards, DropShips from the Draconis Combine arrive carrying Duke Ricol and his entourage, and subdue the pirates who reportedly surrendered immediately. Grayson notes that King Jeverid and militia General Varney are curiously absent, and Guards officers under General Adel have apparently staged a coup. He evades arrest and informs Mara, who draws a gun on him and takes him prisoner; her father Stannic is in on the coup.

Lori Kalmar and Wasp pilot Garik Enzelman, who also defected from the pirates to the Trellwan Lancers, stage a rescue together with militia elements of the Lancers who had gone to ground. They break Grayson out of prison and he leads the ragtag remnant of the Lancers into Thunder Rift to hide for the time being. It is decided that House Steiner must be warned of House Kurita having taken control of the planet, and Renfred Tor's JumpShip is their only chance. Gambling on his crew still being in control of the vessel, Tor leads a commando team into the DropShip while Grayson sneaks into the garrison castle to forge flight orders in the computer. From the computers Grayson learns that the "pirate raid" was a ruse orchestrated by Duke Ricol so that the people of Trellwan would welcome him as their savior. He escapes by commandeering the Shadow Hawk.

Aboard the DropShip, Tor finds that "Proctor Sinvalie", his House Mailai contact, is in truth one Captain Yorunabi of the ISF. Tor takes him captive, recaptures the ship, and takes off while Lancer ground forces stage diversionary raids, providing him with an excuse to take off to avoid the fighting.

Fifty-five hours later, as Tor's DropShip is scheduled to rendezvous with the JumpShip, the Lancers stage another raid against the starport to destroy the ground-based communication array, ensuring the Kurita forces cannot order their own DropShips to intercept it. To this end, they stage a fighting withdrawal into Thunder Rift to draw off the defenders while Grayson in the Shadow Hawk, lying hidden, approaches the array. He is confronted by Singh, the enemy war leader, in his Crusader and the enemy Marauder, but manages to escape after detonating fuel tanks. Tor's party successfully recaptures the JumpShip and jumps out, negating Ricol's advantage of surprise. Seeing how there is nothing to be won on Trellwan for him, the Red Duke leaves the planet.

In the epilogue, Grayson assumes full command of the Trellwan Lancers and reforms them into the Gray Death Legion mercenary unit.

Publication history

Shannon Appelcine stated that by 1986, FASA "began creating a metaplot for Battletech. At first this was just reflected in yearly updates: the Battletech Technical Readout: 3025 (1986) was soon replaced by the Battletech Technical Readout: 3026 (1987). However, FASA had simultaneously begun publishing fiction—starting with William H. Keith Jr.'s Decision at Thunder Rift (1986)." [2] :70

See also

Reception

Stephan Wieck reviewed Decision at Thunder Rift in White Wolf #7 (1987), rating it a 7 out of 10 and stated that "I highly recommend reading this book before purchasing the games. It is good reading, and it will give you an idea of the type of action in Battletech gaming." [3]

Reviews

Related Research Articles

BattleTech is a wargaming and military science fiction franchise launched by FASA Corporation in 1984, acquired by WizKids in 2001, which was in turn acquired by Topps in 2003; and published since 2007 by Catalyst Game Labs. The trademark is currently owned by Topps and, for video games, Microsoft Gaming; Catalyst Game Studios licenses the franchise from Topps.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fenian raids</span> Irish military campaign in Canada in between 1866–1871

The Fenian raids were a series of incursions carried out by the Fenian Brotherhood, an Irish republican organization based in the United States, on military fortifications, customs posts and other targets in Canada in 1866, and again from 1870 to 1871. A number of separate incursions by the Fenian Brotherhood into Canada were undertaken to bring pressure on the British government to withdraw from Ireland, although none of these raids achieved their aims.

MechWarrior: Dark Age was a tabletop wargame by WizKids set in the BattleTech universe that uses the Clix system. The game's miniatures are pre-painted models of infantry squads, vehicles, and giant walking war machines known as BattleMechs or more simply "'mechs".

The Robotech Defenders are a line of scale model kits released by Revell during the early 1980s with an accompanying limited comic series published by DC Comics. Contrary to what their name seems to imply, the "'Robotech Defenders'" are not part of the Robotech anime universe adapted by Carl Macek and released by Harmony Gold USA, but they did adopt the same moniker and logo.

<i>Wing Commander: Privateer</i> 1993 video game

Wing Commander: Privateer is an adventure space trading and combat simulator computer video game which was released by Origin Systems in September 1993. Privateer and its storyline is part of the Wing Commander series. The player takes the role of Grayson Burrows, a "privateer" who travels through the Gemini Sector, one of many sectors in the Wing Commander universe. Unlike Wing Commander, the player is no longer a navy pilot, but a freelancer who can choose to be a pirate, a merchant, a mercenary or any of the above in some combination. The player may follow the built-in plot, but is free to adventure on his own, even after the plot has been completed.

<i>Path of the Fury</i> 1992 science fiction novel by David Weber

Path of the Fury and the later re-issuance with new material and a full prequel novel as In Fury Born are stand-alone science fiction novels by American writer David Weber, covering the life and times of female protagonist Alicia DeVries.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Laurens de Graaf</span> Dutch pirate

Laurens Cornelis Boudewijn de Graaf was a Dutch pirate, mercenary, and naval officer in the service of the French colony of Saint-Domingue during the late 17th and early 18th century.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Zheng Yi Sao</span> Chinese pirate (1775–1844)

Zheng Yi Sao, also known as Shi Xianggu, Shek Yeung and Ching Shih, was a Chinese pirate leader active in the South China Sea from 1801 to 1810.

<i>BattleTech: The Animated Series</i> 1994 American TV series or program

BattleTech is an animated television series based on the BattleTech fictional universe, produced for syndication by Saban Entertainment in 1994. Written by Robert N. Skir and Marty Isenberg, the series ran for 13 episodes and focused on the character of Adam Steiner, a military officer in the distant future who struggles to liberate his home planet from an attacking faction.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Battle of Port Royal (1690)</span> Battle of King Williams War

The Battle of Port Royal occurred at Port Royal, the capital of Acadia, during King William's War. A large force of New England provincial militia arrived before Port Royal. The Governor of Acadia Louis-Alexandre des Friches de Menneval had only 70 soldiers; the unfinished enceinte remained open and its 18 cannon had not been brought into firing positions; 42 young men of Port-Royal were absent. Any resistance therefore appeared useless. Meneval surrendered without resistance not long after the New Englanders arrived. The New Englanders, led by Sir William Phips, after alleging Acadian violations of the terms of surrender, plundered the town and the fort.

<i>MechWarrior 2: Mercenaries</i> 1996 video game

MechWarrior 2: Mercenaries is a video game released in September 1996 as a stand-alone expansion to MechWarrior 2: 31st Century Combat and the last BattleTech game made by Activision. In this game, the player takes control of an Inner Sphere mercenary squad, with control over finances and free choice of missions.

<i>The Day Will Dawn</i> 1942 British film

The Day Will Dawn, released in the USA as The Avengers, is a 1942 British war film set in Norway during World War II. It stars Ralph Richardson, Deborah Kerr, Hugh Williams and Griffith Jones, and was directed by Harold French from a script written by Anatole de Grunwald, Patrick Kirwan and Terence Rattigan, based on a story by Frank Owen. The music by Richard Addinsell was performed by the London Symphony Orchestra conducted by Muir Mathieson.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Harry Scobell</span> British general (1859–1912)

Major-General Sir Henry Jenner Scobell, KCVO, CB was a British military leader who served as the last officer in command of Cape Colony before the formation of the Union of South Africa.

<i>Attack on the Iron Coast</i> 1967 film by Paul Wendkos

Attack on the Iron Coast is a 1967 DeLuxe Color Anglo-American Oakmont Productions international co-production war film directed by Paul Wendkos in the first of his five-picture contract with Mirisch Productions, and starring Lloyd Bridges, Andrew Keir, Sue Lloyd, Mark Eden and Maurice Denham. The film depicts an account of Allied Combined Operations Headquarters commandos executing a daring raid on the German-occupied French coast during the Second World War. The plot is based on the commando raid on the French port of St. Nazaire and is reminiscent of the film The Gift Horse.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">British Commando operations during the Second World War</span> Military unit

The Commandos formed during the Second World War, following an order from the British Prime Minister Winston Churchill in June 1940 for a force that could carry out raids against German-occupied Europe. Churchill stated in a minute to General Ismay on 6 June 1940: "Enterprises must be prepared, with specially-trained troops of the hunter class, who can develop a reign of terror down these coasts, first of all on the "butcher and bolt" policy..." Commandos were all volunteers for special service and originally came from the British Army but volunteers would eventually come from all branches of the United Kingdom's armed forces and foreign volunteers from countries occupied by the Germans. These volunteers formed over 30 individual units and four assault brigades.

<i>A Rising Thunder</i> 2012 novel by David Weber

A Rising Thunder is a science fiction novel by American writer by David Weber, released on March 6, 2012 by Baen Books. It is the thirteenth novel set in the Honorverse in the main Honor Harrington series. The novel was originally split into two books due to its size, leading in a delay of publication.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Battle of Cartagena de Indias (1586)</span> Part of the Anglo-Spanish War

The Battle of Cartagena de Indias (1586) or the Capture of Cartagena de Indias was a military and naval action fought on 9–11 February 1586, of the recently declared Anglo-Spanish War that resulted in the assault and capture by English soldiers and sailors of the Spanish colony city of Cartagena de Indias governed by Pedro de Bustos on the Spanish Main. The English were led by Francis Drake. The raid was part of his Great Expedition to the Spanish New World. The English soldiers then occupied the city for over two months and captured much booty along with a ransom before departing on 12 April.

<i>BattleTech</i> (video game) 2017 video game

BattleTech is a mech turn-based strategy video game developed by Harebrained Schemes and published by Paradox Interactive. It was released on macOS and Windows on April 24, 2018, with a Linux release on November 27, 2018. The developers set aside US$1 million to create the game, and turned to Kickstarter to secure funding for additional features, including a single player campaign, an expansion of that campaign, and a player versus player multiplayer mode.

<i>MechWarrior 5: Mercenaries</i> 2019 video game

MechWarrior 5: Mercenaries is a BattleTech mecha game developed by Piranha Games released on December 10, 2019, on Microsoft Windows. It is the first single player MechWarrior game since 2002. It was initially available as an Epic Games Store exclusive title, which, like other games with Epic Games Store exclusivity deals, was met with criticism. On May 7, 2020, it was made available through Xbox Game Pass for PC. On May 27, 2021, it was made available on additional platforms including Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One, Steam and GOG, in addition to the DLC pack Heroes of the Inner Sphere, Call to Arms, and Rise of Rasalhague. On PC, it features ray tracing as well as DLSS. Piranha Games will be releasing a stand-alone sequel called MechWarrior 5: Clans on October 16th, 2024.

References