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VoidBreaker: Ending the Dark Age

Can Tucker Harwell end the HPG blackout?

VoidBreaker, a new BattleTech novel written by Bryan Young, was released earlier this month. It follows a Clan Sea Fox Watch agent on a mission to locate Tucker Harwell in hopes that he has the knowledge and ability to fix interstellar communications.

Spoiler Warning: This post will contain some spoilers for the book, but I’ll try not to reveal too much of the actual plot.

For more than two decades, both in and out of universe, BattleTech has been in a Dark Age. For the release of the MechWarrior: Dark Age game line in 2002, the setting’s timeline jumped from 3067 to 3132 and the new plot kicked off with the events of Gray Monday, 7 August 3132, resulting in hyperpulse generator (HPG) stations across the Inner Sphere failing. The network of HPG stations run by ComStar is what had allowed for fast and reliable interstellar communication, and their failure isolated thousands of worlds. The chaos that followed saw the outbreak of small conflicts in a collapsing Republic of the Sphere that formed the backdrop for the new collectible miniatures game. No one knew who was behind the mysterious attack on the HPG network, but no one was able to fix the stations either. The Inner Sphere was forced to fall back to less efficient and reliable JumpShip couriers in order to gets news and messages between worlds.

Target of Opportunity, released in 2005, saw the first glimmer of hope for restoring communications. In that story, set in 3135, a ComStar genius named Tucker Harwell managed to repair a single HPG station on the world of Wyatt. Unfortunately for him, that success made him a target of pretty much every faction in the setting as they each wanted to be the one to bring communications back.

Tucker’s story continued through 2009’s A Bonfire of Worlds, 2020’s Rock of the Republic, and 2021’s Hour of the Wolf. He was held captive by a militant splinter of ComStar, freed by the Republic of the Sphere, and then was the one to find Devlin Stone and wake him from cryosleep. Despite his efforts, and the various forms of motivation attempted by the faction’s trying to use him, he was unable to replicate his success on Wyatt. In Hour of the Wolf, BattleTech’s Dark Age era officially ended with Clan Wolf rising to the position of ilClan, but much to ilKhan Alaric Ward’s disappointment, that victory didn’t automatically bring an end to the HPG blackout.

VoidBreaker picks up Tucker’s story after the events of Hour of the Wolf and shepherds him into the ilClan era sparked by Clan Wolf’s victory. It also starts the setting on the path out of the Dark Age with the hope of an HPG station fix that can be replicated.

Starting in April 3151, the novel follows Kenja Rodriguez, a Clan Sea Fox Watch agent. She starts the story on a mission to raid Irian Tactical Communications Corporation in order to retrieve research information they have on HPGs and sabotage the corporation’s efforts to repair them. After that mission’s conclusion, she receives news of Clan Wolf’s victory on Terra and is tasked with a new mission: She needs to find and capture Tucker Harwell. From there the novel follows her months-long mission to locate, capture, and then protect Tucker as he works to restore HPG communications through August 3152.

Because the novel follows a Watch agent on a secret mission, VoidBreaker has less of a focus on military operations and BattleMechs than most BattleTech novels, but they still show up at a few pivotal moments. Instead, readers get a deeper look at undercover operations, interstellar chases on DropShips and JumpShips, and some brutal zero-gravity boarding actions. As much as I enjoy stories about big, stompy BattleMechs, I always appreciate when authors give us views of different parts of the setting.

While the story is almost entirely from the point of view of Kenja, I feel like Bryan Young did a great job with the character of Tucker Harwell once he was introduced. The physical and mental hardships that Tucker’s been through in the nearly two decades since he fixed Wyatt’s HPG could be seen in his behavior and interactions with other characters. He’s a man who has been kidnapped, tortured, and betrayed multiple times, and someone who knows some of the Republic of the Sphere’s darkest secrets, and I think the book gave readers a good sense of that. Bryan wove those traits into the story, and then gave Tucker his moment of triumph as he managed to finally replicate his success and bring another HPG station online.

Tucker’s new fix, which gets applied to a few HPG stations by the novel’s final chapter, promises to bring a true end to BattleTech’s Dark Age. That doesn’t mean the whole network is fixed though. There are thousands of worlds in the Inner Sphere and each of their HPG stations will need to be fixed. I’m sure there will be more twists and turns for Tucker and the Inner Sphere before the work is done. That said, it is good to be on that path.

The only part of VoidBreaker that felt a bit off to me was the antagonist’s actions towards the end. Overall, I think the reveal of his identity and motivations were well handled, but the decision of which world he brought Tucker to felt like an odd choice. While Kenja muses on possible motivations for the choice, I would have appreciated something a little more concrete as to the reasoning for what felt like an extremely risky choice on his part. Ultimately though, the story could have played out the same on any other world he chose, so it’s just a minor quibble in an otherwise very enjoyable book.

As a final note, while VoidBreaker sheds some more light on the blackout, readers should not go into it expecting all of the mysteries to be solved. We get a bit more information about why HPG stations aren’t able to send messages, and a desription of how Tucker’s new fix works. However, there is nothing new to resolve the mystery of who was behind the Gray Monday attacks. That is left for future fiction or to remain an ongoing and unresolved mystery of the setting.

I recommend BattleTech fans pick up a copy to read, especially if you’re a fan of Tucker Harwell or Clan Sea Fox. Like the recent Trial of Birthright, it shepherds characters from the Dark Age novels into BattleTech’s new era and helps to set the stage for what promises to be an interesting time for the setting.

You can purchase a copy of VoidBreaker from these stores:

• Catalyst Game Labs Store
• DriveThruFiction

#BattleTech #ClanSeaFox #ilClanEra #Review #VoidBreaker

Trial of Possession: Wolf vs Sea Fox

https://youtu.be/qlSU6PLzjkQ

As the year 3151 dawned, Clan Wolf, under the command of Khan Alaric Ward, began its assault on Terra. The forces of the Republic of the Sphere fought valiantly, but after Clan Jade Falcon joined the fight alongside Clan Wolf, there was little chance for a Republic victory. In April 3151, Devlin Stone surrendered and dissolved the Republic. With Terra under Clan control, Khans Alaric Ward and Malvina Hazen arranged to fight a trial to determine which of their Clans would rise to the position of ilClan. After a brutal and fiery battle, Alaric Ward’s Clan Wolf emerged as the victors. Clan Wolf became the ilClan foretold by Nicholas Kerensky, and Alaric Ward gained the title of ilKhan.

Unfortunately for him, the fighting against both the Republic of the Sphere and Clan Jade Falcon had left his forces badly depleted. In order to resupply and prepare to defend his new capital world, he needed to negotiate with Clan Sea Fox to acquire much-needed supplies. As one would expect with the Clans, these negotiations often involved combat trials to determine the final terms.

This battle is one such trial between Clans Wolf and Sea Fox. A star of warriors from each Clan will fight an honorable battle to determine the cost that the ilKhan must pay in order to import the material his new Star League desperately needs.

The Forces

Clan Wolf

The Clan Wolf star participating in the trial consists of an Orion C, a Dominator, a Stormwolf Prime, an Ice Ferret D, and an Adder A. All have 3/4 skills.

Clan Sea Fox

The Clan Sea Fox star consists of a Warhammer IIC 8, a Summoner AA, an Ebon Jaguar D, a Mad Dog T, and a Grendel T. All five MechWarriors have 3/4 skills.

The Battle

Adder vs Grendel

The Grendel challenged the Adder. The Adder took up position in a heavy wood while the Grendel jumped into its own woods. In the first exchange of fire, the Grendel melted armor from the Adder’s right leg with its large pulse laser while the Adder had no chance to hit. While the Adder stayed in the relative safety of its woods, the Grendel jumped to its right side. The Adder hit the Grendel with everything buts its flamer, but the Grendel’s return fire finished taking off the Adder’s leg.

The Adder tried to stand back up, but fell again. The MechWarrior blacked out from their injuries, but soon began to stir. Looking to finish off its opponent, the Grendel moved behind the Adder and opened fire. The light ‘Mech was left entirely destroyed, but its final flight of missiles blasted away more of the Grendel’s armor.

Ice Ferret vs Mad Dog

The Mad Dog issued a challenge to the Ice Ferret. Its initial LRM and large laser shots missed their target while the Ice Ferret hit back with its accurate pulse lasers. The next exchange of fire went better for the Mad Dog with it only taking one pulse laser hit while knocking the Ice Ferret off of its feet.

When the Ice Ferret got back up and continued its pursuit, the Mad Dog stuggled to keep the faster ‘Mech from getting behind it. As it attempted to run away, it was forced to use only one arm’s lasers to fire back while the Ice Ferret had easy shots into its back with its own pulse lasers. Eventually it was able to get its back to the battlefield’s edge, and it did so just in time as one of the Ice Ferret’s pulse lasers destroyed its hip and upper leg actuator.

The Mad Dog then stood still while the Ice Ferret ran back and forth in front of it. They blasted away at each other until a salvo from the Mad Dog damaged the Ice Ferret’s gyro and knocked out its MechWarrior.

After a brief moment, the Ice Ferret got back to its feet, and the two MechWarriors exchanged a final volley. The laser beams and missiles of that volley saw both OmniMechs lose their engines.

Stormwolf vs Warhammer IIC

The Stormwolf challenged the Warhammer IIC. While outgunned and out massed, the Clan Wolf MechWarrior was confident that their reflective armor and mobility would let them hold their own against the assault ‘Mech. Using its MASC, supercharger, and jump jets, the Stormwolf did its best to be a difficult target while chipping away at the Warhammer’s armor with its rotary autocannon and laser. Eventually the Stormwolf suffered a jam and needed to work on unjamming its primary weapon, but the Warhammer IIC wasn’t able to capitalize on that. Despite taking little damage, the Stormwolf was forced to recognize that it lacked enough remaining ammo for its autocannon to make it through the Warhammer IIC’s thick armor. The MechWarriors accepted a draw for their duel.

Dominator vs Summoner

The Summoner issued a challenge against the Dominator. In their first exchange of fire, the Summoner hit the Dominator’s head with its large pulse laser and then was knocked off its own feet by the Dominator’s PPC and ER large laser. After getting back up, the Dominator hit it again with both of its big energy weapons. The Summoner hit back with its gauss rifle, then its ER pulse laser hit the Dominator’s head again to end the duel.

Orion vs Ebon Jaguar

The Orion challenged the Ebon Jaguar. While the Orion stood relatively still, the Ebon Jaguar ran towards it. They exchanged devastating volleys of fire until they were standing at point blank range. The Orion lost its gauss rifle to damage in their final exchange of fire, but the Ebon Jaguar suffered an ammo explosion and enough engine damage that it was rendered inoperable.

Orion vs Grendel

With both of their original opponents destroyed, the Orion and Grendel challenged one another. The Grendel used its mobility to be a difficult target, but the Orion’s thick armor and accurate ER pulse lasers kept the fight closely matched. The Grendel lost its left arm in one exchange of fire, but then the Orion’s streak LRMs damaged its engine shielding enough that the Grendel shut down to cool off. While the Orion’s MechWarrior could have finished off the Grendel as it stood immobile, instead he recognized that his battered Orion and the Stormwolf with its nearly depleted ammunition had little chance of finishing off both the Summoner and Warhammer IIC. Instead, he requested hegira to preserve what was left of his star.

The Results

Clan Sea Fox won the trial, so the ilKhan would need to pay Clan Sea Fox’s full asking price for this batch of supplies.

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