Welshman_bc's Xanga

Epilogue

Sat, 28 Jun 2008 12:59:16 GMT

And with this, we close out the second chapter in the saga of the Gray Death Legion.

Formed in the fires of one revolt, the Gray Death was tempered in the fires of another. From a unit that could have been generously referred to as a demi-company, they departed Verthandi stronger in spirit and body. Well on their way to a combined arms Battalion. The relationship of Kramer and Carlyse was cemented in the mutual saving of one another and demons were laid to rest by one and all.

Given the passionate nature Carlyse commands in, and the way the GDL becomes a part of the communities they protect, there is little confusion as to how they grew so quickly. They literally took a piece of every world they served on with them.

What Verthandi? Even in the final pages of the book, the fall of Verthandi is written in the stars. The GDL fought and died for their freedom, but politics were already in play to keep Verthandi a part of the Combinie. Though I am rather certain they welcomed the FRR happily when it came to be. I would also predict that Verthandi was probably much unchanged by the coming of the Clans. With a long cultivated history of "You can be in charge, just let us do our own thing" combined with the more liberal Wolf, then Ghost Bear rulership, I expect the University of Regis exists even in the days of the jihad.

But Verthandi was just a battlefield. The second one for the GDL and facing the same opponent. Once again facing Duke Hasid Ricol, the GDL shamed him and brought his people low. Given what we know of who Ricol really is and was, this had to have been a glaring and harsh wound for Ricol. One he would not let go lightly.

On a more personal note, we see that Grayson has traversed so far down the path of command, that vengeance is not even a passing though to him. When he captures the Marauder, he spends no real time thinking of the pilot. The man who executed his father, Grayson cares more for if the MAD was reset. It is only in a passing note, that we learn that Kevlavic lost his arm to the glancing LRM blow from Grayson in the battle that saw Lori captured. In many ways the ultimate revenge for Grayson, to ruin the mans career, never to pilot a Mech again. Kevlavic is destined to fade into the darkness of print, never to be seen again.

The book as a whole?
It is an 80's science fiction heroic epic. With in those boundaries the book is a marvelous jaunt through a plot that is nail biting and aggravating. Still even 20 years later I only found myself rolling my eyes a few times. When you read this book, one realizes that the GDL was never one of those 'blessed' units, like the Kells or the Dragoons. They fought for every scrap, every tooth and every nail. And they damned near were destroyed time and time again.

They didn't survive because they were big, they survived because they were to stubborn to lay down and die.

That was a good book...

Tue, 24 Jun 2008 16:02:41 GMT

Whew... Man that was a great book. Bit ketchy on the epilogue wrap up, but hey it's 80's genre science fiction, they are always a bit stereotypical.

Yeah, was nice to see how Grayson got his signature Mech, saved the girl and freed the world.

What?

Oh.....! Sorry about that, right you weren't actually sitting over my shoulder reading it. But come on you didn't see it coming?

Let's see if we can recap this-

- Lori's captured
- Rebel Commander won't help, after all Grayson didn't help save his girl.
- Grayson frets (he's good at this), but goes ahead with his commando raid. After all Lori knows where the Phobos is.
- Commando raids goes off spectacularly. Well what did you expect, Ramage organized it and hand picked the team, Grayson was just window dressing.
- Grayson saves the girl.
- The girl saves Grayson, curing herself of her fire bad fear schtick.
- And then everything does what I'm now calling the GDL Snowball effect.

The Snowball effect, when the GDL does some seemingly small thing, that just starts building, until it is a monumental event, that no one planned for.
That about sums up the commando raid to rescue Lori. Started as an in and out, rescue Lori and if we happen to find the Rebel Council, them too.
Hundreds of prisoners later, its a full blown battle in the University complex (Man some people are if for some serious detention here).
Grayson steals another Mech (Does this guy ever buy anything), but nearly dies cause Ramage things he's not who he is.
Hey no worries, did you know Marauders are convertibles? Grayson just popped the top on the MAD and drove it around RobotJox style. What kind of sunscreen do you need for passing PPC blasts?
And that's where the snowball just got out of hand, popular civil uprising, Rebel leader gets his head out of his butt and things just cascade from there. Mine you if helps Miss Red Shirt Traitor, Sue Ellen, hunts down Governor Nagumo and kills him, painfully and slowly.

And then it's over...

Yeah scary huh?

Wasn't supposed to be anything more then a quick commando raid, but with the GDL nothing is ever quick and nothing is ever ever simple.

One more Blog on Mercenary's Star, where I wrap up the epilogue and give my final thoughts on the book. Then it's on to the book of fame, Helm Memory core here we come.

Cooking with SPAM, we're winning!

Sat, 21 Jun 2008 03:29:22 GMT

Well something has to be wrong... come on, just has to. Things are going to well.

The GDL is on a steady path of victory after victory. Even the bad things seem to be minor. What the heck is going on, did Murphy take a vacation to go mess with the FWL again?

So where are we?

They have just rescued the prisoners, which lead to the return of Sue Ellen and meeting a new Verthandi woman, who helps the GDL with information and "cultural" liaison work (Boy for a woman who doesn't trust Grayson, Lori sure is steamed at the thought of him shagging anyone else).

Off screen we have more rebel raids, workers of the 'salt' mines freed, and general good stuff for the rebels. Duke Ricol is very not happy with Nagumo. Our dear Nagumo goes from being the smart competent bad guy, to blithering syncopate, in the space of a page.

But Ricol is here, things will get better for the Snakes right?

Murphy? Paging Murphy, call on line 3... Where is that Murphy.

Grayson leads a daring double prong mission. Laying bait at Fox Island, he goes and stakes out the aerofield of Regis.
Not even the stupidity of the Rebel Colonel (I like to think of him as Cool Hand Luke), trying to rescue his girlfriend with 200 PBI, can put to much of a pall over the destruction of Kurita's last three planet bound ASF. (Mind you, we are made to fret, after all the other GDL red shirt dies dramatically, cockpit crushed by a Crusader).
And meanwhile, back at the island... This battle doesn't get page time, and more's the pity. 24 BattleMechs attack Fox Island. Ramage and his Anti- Mech boys take out nearly two lances of Kurita Mechs, forcing the rest to tuck their tails between their legs. To heck with Grayson, Ramage is the MAN!.

So now, Ricol is leaving the planet, a lost cause in his eyes already. The rebel army is in the tens of thousands. The Kuritans are hold up in their bases and things are looking bad.

Oh Murphy there you are! Man you look like hell... Too much partying on Spring Break? Well get to work man!

Nagumo gets smart finally. "Hey they keep hitting my supply bases... maybe"

Grayson on the other hand gets a dose of stupid pills.

Maybe... just maybe, if Nagumo shut down all his supply bases weeks ago. And then suddenly builds one in the middle of no where... Just maybe "ITS A BLOODY TRAP"

To Grayson's credt, he is not happy with the raid. He thinks something is wrong. But does he change his plan? Does he try and trip the trap safely?

Hell no! He's Grayson Death Carlyse, he laughs in the face of Murphy!

Go get me Murphy!

Um Murphy? Wow that looked like that hurt. You okay dude? Don't move, you just got run over by a Shadowhawk of doom.

So Murphy is definitely having a bad day. His perfect little trap didn't go off so well.

Course having a Shadowhawk do the equivalent of a WWF piledriver on your Crusader, is bound to be bad for you. Yeah, Grayson activated his jets, went up three meters and then cut me out, landing on poor mister Crusader.. .then he kicked in the cockpit..

Well he did kill Grayson's red shirt in the Aerofield battle...

Murphy? Man you don't look good, maybe you should lie down for the rest of the book.

Zammo!

Eww.... Man... Okay... Don't piss off Murphy... Just don't.

So he couldn't take out the entire GDL, with his little ambush. That's all right, this has been about Murphy vs Grayson from the beginning anyway.

So he just went and blew up his girlfriends Mech. Look at that, Kurita infantry arriving at just the right time to capture poor little Lori...

Murphy's back and he's pissed.

And back on the upswing...

Fri, 06 Jun 2008 17:29:12 GMT

Like the weight on a giant pendulum, the GDL is carried from one extreme to the other. Often screaming through the middle ground so fast, if you blink you miss it.

And as we pass the middle of the book, there is that inevitable artificial sense of tension and urgency. With each page you come closer and closer to the end of the book. Will they tie up the loose ends, will they prevail, at what cost?

It leads to a bit more scattered thoughts for me. I've been reading this one book for way to long now. I'm ready for it to be over and jump on ahead. I mean I've read this book before right? So I know how it ends, no need to finish it, the GDL wins, why keep going?
But at the same time my twenty year old memory is sparked with every page. Some little twist or nuance that I had forgotten. A fresh memory that takes me back into the heart of the universe. Sure I know the GDL survives for another forty years, but the destination is not the journey, and this is one dammed fine journey.

of course there are also the things that make me go Huh?

Colonel "You killed my Father" Marauder offered to resign and face court martial. Hmm... Keith still seems to have something of his own idea about the Draconis Combine. While we see him wholly embrace the TRO 3025, his own take on the Combine is decidedly different from the just published Handbook House Kurita.
Same goes for his Regiment, the 3rd Strike Regiment. Anyone ever hear of a 3rd Strike Reg? No? Didn't think so. It's of course also portrayed as Ricol's personal forces. Does this mean Ricol is supposed to have four regiments of his own? Probably not, but one wonders.

The Invidious- It's getting cramped here!
80,000 tons sounds big. Until you realize that the Invidious is supposed to be a Merchant or Invader class JumpShip. We know it can carry 2 DS and there are hints it can carry more. Not at 80Ktons it can't. :)

And one of the best goofs of all. The Invidious is sent back to Galatea to get 'reinforcements'. Galatea is half a border away, as close to Terra as Verthandi is to the periphery. Yet the arrival of the Diemos on Galatea is portrayed as happening very soon after the Invidious left Verthandi. Actually there are a lot of hints that Verthandi was supposed to be a lot closer to Galatea then it ends up. Now mind you, you could explain away the Diemos as having taken other JS in a semi circuit. But now were just making excuses.

Wolf's Dragoons, Eridani Light Horse, 21st Centari Lancers, Hansen's Roughriders and the Grey Death.
Just what do these units all have in common, other then being mercs? Why they are all part of the "Our dependants have been captured/killed/harmed" club.
You want a mercs achilles heal? Find their families and drop a cluster bomb on them...
On no wait, with the exception of the 21st, when you mess with a mercs family, it just tends to make them madder. If you're gonna mess with a mercs family, make sure you take out the mercs as well. Revenge is a gold plated XXXXXX.

Oh the story? Right the story!

We are moving to Book III, the end game of the book and we come full circle in many way.

Ricol is back and he's not happy that Grayson is around.
Nagumo is starting to look like a moron, hey have to make Ricol look smart.
Remember Sue Ellen? Traitor and sell out? Got tossed in a prison cell for her troubles? Yes well Grayson rescues her, along with a bunch of other women, destined to be shipped off planet.
Poor Sue, she's not had a good book. But she serves as an admirable plot device.
Let's see- She shows us another important leadership trait of Grayson's. Listening. he listens to her sob and cry and unfold her whole treacherous tale. Just holds her until she falls asleep on his shoulder.
Specter of Jealousy- Yeah baby! Lori may actually break out of that dang stupid shell of hers now. Seeing Sue all cuddled up on Grayson's shoulder, sure set off the fires of jealousy. Come on Lori!

So we're headed downhill with the book on fire. Ricol is on scene and ready to crank it up a notch. Grayson has momentum and ready for more, the Jungle's a rocking and plot threads are starting to converge.

But I'm sure that Murphy has some nasty surprises still in store, he's not that nice.

I'm not dead yet!

Thu, 29 May 2008 22:52:30 GMT

On no yes I am... urk.

Ah to be a Redshirt. Literally if not figuratively. Remember when I said everyone dead or captured? So I was wrong, but only because Murphy wanted to twist the knife in a little deeper.
Good old Jaleg Yorulis, I knew him well. All right not really, his page time can be measured in two primary scenes and a few supporting roles in the cockpit of his Mech. Scene 1- Introduction, look at the wet behind the ears kids. Scene 2- "Maybe we should sign up with the Kuritans, we can't win after all."
So when Grayson leaves him behind, on the next mission, you can expect things are not going to end well for Jaleg.
They don't, really don't, but not before Murphy gets to twist the knife deeper. Nothing like a dying man in your arms to tell you that your base is captured, your Techs are prisoners, and oh right, there's a company of Mechs waiting for you.
Yeah for that kind of fun Murphy will let a man get up and walk away from being gunned down by a Phoenix Hawk's machine guns... twice.

Murphy is on an unholy tear now. Base wiped out, Red shirt dying in Grayson's arms, no where to go, no where to run... What else can go wrong?

Oh look, ambush!

And the honeymoon is over...

Tue, 27 May 2008 23:04:35 GMT

Well now that didn't last long now did it?

Grayson gets his stunning ambush in the jungle. Nets himself two Mechs, not to mention recovering one of theirs that had to be abandoned in the retreat. Everyone is happy and everyone is a team, sing koombaya and let's roast some marsh mellows!

Yeah well Murphy must have had a quad espresso that day, cause he was ready for the GDL this time.

Remember our Chippewa pilot, Sue Ellen? Yep you knew she'd be back. Nagumo doesn't put that much effort into an asset for her not to work out. More importantly neither does the Author. In a little pillow talk with her Combine pilot lover she reveals the one vital piece of information that will spell doom for the GDL. She reveals where they are hiding.

Oh no, does not look good for the home team now. Nagumo knows where his quarry is and he's going after it. We in fact get our first fiction introduction to the DEST, in the body of DEST Strike Team 4.
Must commend the write up on the DEST in this book. Makes the SEALS sound like bath tub babies. All right not that bad, you can actually feel Keith pulling from real world sources here.
The DEST team halos in (Using man sized drop cocoons from very high altitude. Once on the ground they just tear through the rebel base, masquerading as a loyal farm/ranch. By the time the Mechs arrive the fight is over and done. All accounted for, dead or captured.

Yep Murphy hates the GDL. Oh well nice unit while they lasted. Wonder what Keith will do for his next book.

What's that? Oh GDL get a third book, so they can't die halfway through this one?

Yes well, seems Murphy loves one thing better the messing with the GDL.

Twisting the knife into the GDL.

Grayson and most of intrepid band (Minus his most of his Techs and one Red Shirt MechWarrior), are away from the base when all this happens. Actually Grayson's been doing darn well, taking out a Kurita Watch Post, with a lance of Mechs, and then going on to tricking/forcing the local populace that they have to rise up against the Combine.

Naturally this great success will make the stunning loss of so much, that much harder for him to swallow.

Get ready for a woe is me scene... Come on even Grayson has to have those right?

End Book I- RESET!!!

Fri, 23 May 2008 13:28:28 GMT

And so we reach the end of Book I. Literally, turn the page and there you see in big print "BOOK II". Wonder if that counts to the word count?

In what will quickly become the GDL formula, we end the first phase of the book with the GDL kicked in the teeth and looking down right hopeless.

They actually start Book II with the inevitable "It's hopeless, maybe we should join the Dracs, staff meeting." Keith tackles this scene admirably, though once again you have to marvel at the smarts and tactics of a man barely old enough to drink. Still Grayson, cajoles, prods, shames and inspires his command to carry on.

Most notable in all this would be the stark contrast his core tenet of fighting back is with one of the core concepts of the early BT universe. When one of his men says "But they have four regiments!", Grayson replies "Yeah spread out over an entire planet." Grayson's argument however, for those old timers reading with me here, rings counter to the very base concept of the 3025 era game. That being that a company of Mechs can take and hold a planet.

Now of course 20+ years later that we know that this was a gross exaggeration. A company of Mechs might be able to stike a planet and do enough damage to "take it" short term but to hold anything requires a pretty large influx of 'unlisted troops' to actually hold it. Keith at the very least recognized this a long time ago, but while he's the Grandfather of CBT fiction (We'll call Stackpole the Father), he didn't control the entire universe development.

The second chapter of Book II takes us right back to the real roots of the GDL. Grayson laid out in the dirt, directing a wicked ambush against the Kurita forces.

And so the death of a thousand cuts guerilla campaign begins.

Unit Lists-
I'll admit free time is not my friend. My duties as a CGL Minion, while awesome, are eating up what little free time I have. So this means my Random Thoughts posts probably will drop a little in volume. However to help cover that I'll probably drop some of them into my main posts. One thing I'm starting today is my Unit Sighting list. This will simply be listing the first sighting of a new unit. With this book we can see Keith's access to TRO 3025 and it is fun to watch the units he plays with.

So far in the book-
Wolverine
Rifleman
Dervish
Orion
Galleon Tank
Leopard DropShip
Shilone
Slayer
Chippewa
Warhammer
Centurion
Vulcan (With flamer fuel)
Hermes II
Assasain
Trebuchet
Jenner

But don't worry, the GDL is here right?

Fri, 16 May 2008 22:28:28 GMT

It's always bad when the bad guys control the sat imagers and can lay a nice little trap for your unsuspecting sneak attack.

Man don't you hate it when someone wears the same dress to the ball? Just as annoying when your sneak attack is sneak attacked.

The Rebel assault was an utter failure. But after all it has to be or this book would be about the Verthandi Rangers not the Grey Death Legion.

Speaking of which where are they?

Charging to the rescue in what is one of the more believable rescue type scenes around. It's not a single Mech shimmering with heat as it smacks around the heathens as the beleaguered army struggles to escape... Oh no wait that would be Kai not Gray.

No in fact he rallied the troops, used the GDL as a core of a counter attack and opened the door to give the rebels a way out.

It also did help that General Warhammer (Okay his name was Thorvald) had the good graces to have a battlefield epiphany on how messed up his plan was. Going out in a blaze of glory he gave the Kurita forces something to shoot at as Grayson lead the survivors away.

Yeah for once Murphy hated someone more then the GDL. But even then the GDL is getting the short end of the stick. "Look at us, we have the terrified shattered remains of a rebel army that at it's best was a light combined arms battalion. Now all we have to do is get away... Time to leave this rock and these stupid rebels."

If only it were that easy...

Everything can go wrong...

Mon, 12 May 2008 16:39:59 GMT

AgroMechs that slip on a perfectly good trail.

Mechs with no hands when you need hands.

Pilot Skill Rolls failing left and right.

Made in China transmitters that don't work.

Overly smart and diligent evil bad guys who pay attention to dangling plot points "Say why is this door open, it's never open."

Now one would think that General Warhammer could get a clue eventually.

After all one of his LoggerMechs gets stuck on a trail that is commonly used by said machines. He has no Mechs with hands in a position to immediately help it. When he does move a Mech with hands it slips and slides down the mountain needing itself to be rescued before it can rescue the LoggerMech.

You'd think he'd take this as a sign of things to come?

One would think...

So are we surprised when the diversion force goes on time and their transmitter is defective so never sends the signal?

Nope.

Are we surprised when Governor Evil puts two and two together and starts laying a trap?

Nope.

Are we surprised that Grayson knows something will go wrong and is already planning some kind of rescue.

Nope.

But dang I bet General Warhammer is about to be surprised big time.

What could go wrong?

Wed, 07 May 2008 14:31:10 GMT

Six week later...

Well no actually we should step back a minute first. After all we've got to have the obligatory scene setting.

<Insert Image Here>

Great scenary huh? Love those tree... what oh right sorry.

The rebel base is in one of the lush verdant areas of the planet, in fact the similarities to the moon of Yavin from Star Wars can not be dismissed. That or Dagoba and its "No don't step there" swamps"

Now Murphy has been a little rough on the GDL so far, even in victory they got banged up pretty darn well.

So he had to give back a little, after all it was too soon for the dramatic "All is lost" part of the book.

So where Murphy took he now gives with a wonderfully justified underground Mech repair and storage facility right under the secret rebel General's plantation. A former AgroMech construction facility is has conveniently been erased from records and allows the secret rebel general to act like a nice upstanding Combine citizen while secretly hosting the largest part of the Verthandi rebel army, including the other members of the rebel council. Slap some cinnamon buns on the side of the woman council member and we'd be way to close to Star Wars for any legal good taste.

So from the perfect base the Grey Death Legion is ready to wage war with the evil Kuritan army right?

Wrong... No you see they were hired to train the rebels not fight. In fact the lead general (Not the secret general) all but threatens to not repair their damage because they didn't ask permission to engage the Kurita forces on the beach.

No the Rebel Council is one of those fun penny pinching, micro managing, wouldn't know a battle plan if it hit them in the face kind of employers.

So the GDL concentrates on teaching some ArgoMech pilots how to be combat pilots and training a rag tag collection of barely competent reblel insurgents into being a stand up Anti-Mech force.

In six weeks...

"What could go wrong?"

<Crack of thunder>

You know those great 'machines' like the Mousetrap game. THe toast pops up which pushes the roller skate down the ramp where the pin on the front pricks the balloon that then... Yeah one of those.
General Warhammer's plan makes one of those look like a teeter totter. And he all but says "What could go wrong?"

Murphy loves Verthandi almost more then he does Grayson....

It's about to get really ugly for the home team folks