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Icons of War

From BattleIntelligence
Icons of War
Product information
Type Novel
Author Craig A. Reed, Jr.
Pages 219 (POD)
Cover Artwork Marco Pennacchietti
Matt Heerdt
David Allen Kerber (design)
Interior Artwork Alan Blackwell
Brent Evans
Jordan Cuffie
Harri Kallio
Duane Loose
Matt Plog
Publication information
Publisher Catalyst Game Labs
First published 25 September 2020
ISBN-10 1-947335-33-2
ISBN-13 978-1-947335-33-2
MSRP $4.99 (EPUB)
$9.95 (POD)
Content
Era Jihad era
Clan Homeworlds
Dark Age era
Timeline 8 April 3071—11 June 3077
19 July 3147 (epilogue)

Icons of War is a novel by Craig A. Reed, Jr. that was published in EPUB and Print on Demand on 25 September 2020.

It is one of the titles that was published to prepare the ground and lead up to the events detailed in Hour of the Wolf.

From the Back Cover

“ SYMBOLS OF POWER...

After the Word of Blake exacts an incalculable toll on Clan Wolf, Elemental warrior Garmen Kerensky is tasked by Khan Vlad Ward to undertake an audacious, top-secret mission in the Clan Homeworlds. While other covert teams help the Wolves evacuate Clan Space, Garmen’s command will steal the most prized relic of Clan history: the body of the Great Father, Aleksandr Kerensky, Garmen’s ancestor. But the father of the Clans' founder is entombed aboard the McKenna's Pride, a Star League-era WarShip in permanent geosynchronous orbit above the Clans' capital city, a staunchly guarded vessel that will take ingenuity, a warrior's spirit, and more than a little luck to reach.

Stealing his ancestor's remains is a tall order under normal circumstances, but the Homeworld Clans are on the verge of open warfare with each other, and this mission threatens to blow Clan society apart entirely. As the elite warrior guards of the Ebon Keshik hunt Garmen, he and his hardened team must navigate the intrigue of the shadowy Dark Caste to have any hope of reaching the Pride alive. But no plan ever survives enemy contact, and Garmen must overcome the forces arrayed against him or risk forever losing the Great Father's body to the chaos and destruction of the Clans' internal warfare.

”

Plot Summary

On 8 April 3071, on a WarShip above Strana Mechty, Khan Vlad Ward has a meeting with Star Commander Garmen Kerensky. Ward tells the Elemental about the devastation caused by the Scouring of Tamar and the Wolves' weakness, which forces them to abandon the Clan Homeworlds. He tells him about Operation DAMOCLES II, in which Garmen will lead a key part, Operation SPATHA: to infiltrate Strana Mechty, board the WarShip McKenna's Pride and steal the body of the Great Father, Aleksandr Kerensky.

Once infiltrated, Garmen's team began selling weapons. In a meeting with the mysterious Dark Caste leader called the "Winter Lady", he discovered that she, now called Satinka, was a very near sibkin of him, and both began making business, and soon they became lovers and partners in SPATHA. In another part of Katyusha City, Clan Cloud Cobra Star Captain Bhu Telinov began his first day as a member of the Ebon Keshik, the intelligence division on Strana Mechty. When SPATHA's personnel launched the operation, it failed; they were slowed when chaos erupted in the city, due to several Clans fighting, and their DropShip was destroyed. After reuniting with Satinka, the groups became partners to obtain the resources to launch Operation SPATHA II.

Four years later, the Wars of Reaving were still raging across the Clan Homeworlds, but despite having taken control of almost all Dark Caste members in the city, the operation still wasn't within reach. In August 3075, Satinka and Garmen recruit an old Wolf warrior named Stas to lead a suicide BattleMech Trinary to attack several places in Katyusha City. Stas agrees and starts to recruit further MechWarriors, forming the Retribution Wraiths. During that time, the Ebon Keshik uncovers Satinka's secret identity, and launches an all-out assault to capture her and Garmen. The assault fails and she and her people went to ground, continuing their plans.

A year later, when the Pride returned to Strana Mechty, SPATHA II final preparations began, and, on 5 April, they attacked. While the Wraiths attacked the center of the city, crushing a Trinary of defending Adders, to later cripple all communication systems in three key buildings, Garmen and Satinka's people, who wanted to migrate to the Inner Sphere, attacked, sabotaging several DropShips and stealing another, the McKenna's Honor. Thanks to the element of surprise, the boarders quickly took control of the Pride, forcing all the original crewmembers to evacuate it. Garmen was forced to change the plans, and stole not only the coffin, but also the full WarShip with it. Meanwhile, the Wraiths made their final stand. ilKhan Hannibal Banacek led the counterattack, but the Wraiths fought to the last man, causing severe losses to the Adders before falling.

After uncovering the Pride's theft, the Home Clans throw waves of fighters, assault DropShips and other WarShips at it from all sides, but the Pride's crew managed to escape the system anyway. The day after, Banacek meet the Ebon Keshik leaders, announcing the plan to create a fake body of Aleksandr Kerensky, using Stas' remains, before ordering them to find who was behind the attack.

A year later, after parting ways with Satinka's fleet, the Pride reunites with Clan Wolf. Garmen Kerensky informs Vlad Ward about the mission, and Ward congratulates him for his success before sending him away to lead a trinary attached to Stone's Coalition. In the aftermath, the Pride is hidden, in the greatest secrecy, in the Dark Nebula.

Around 70 years later, a fleet led by saKhan Garner Kerensky recovers the Pride to bring it to the Wolf Empire, in preparation of Clan Wolf's assault on Terra.

BattleMechs

Battle Armor

DropShips

JumpShips

WarShips

Notes

  • The cover art which shows the McKenna's Pride during its escape from Strana Mechty, depicts the visual design of the original McKenna class, as of ca. 2750. Line Developer Ray Arrastia has stated that this depiction is in error, and that it should have the refurbished shape of the McKenna-class as of ca. 3057.[1]

References

  1. ↑ In this posting on the BattleTech forum, replying to the observation "a 2750 McKenna-class as the shrine above Strana Mechty? I SO prefer the 3057 McKenna look" with "It was an oversight, should have been the 3057 style. To reconcile this it could be speculated that the image of the McKenna's Pride predates the novel's timeframe
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