After a couple of issues off, writing Elements of Treason: Honor, I have a new story in Shrapnel #12. It's a bit of an odd story, because I go back in time, further than I have ever gone before in Battletech History, to the time of the Davion Civil War, the Five Regents, and Alexander Davion.
Alexander Davion is an important Leader in Federated Suns History. He is the one who decides to join the newly forming Star League, reforms the Federated Suns military into the AFFS, and rules the Federated Suns for most of the 26th Century. A pawn in the game between Regents, Alexander escapes the clutches of Regent David Varney, who daughter Alexander marries, in 2525, setting the stage for the Davion Civil War.
What drew me to this story was there's little detail on how Alexander escaped Varney's clutches. Alexander's seventeen, not old enough to be First Prince, so not experienced enough to escape on his own. And where is the his bodyguard? He's not sneaking out on them, if they're any good.
So,it has to be his personal protection team, Federation Protection Forces (the Armed Forces of the Federated Suns does not exist yet) soldiers who has to be the lead in getting him out. And this is where Captain Cadmon Mallory comes in. (If you're wondering, Vengeance Games's Baron Riordan Mallory is from the same family, just a different branch.). Cadmon is a professional, loyal to the soon-to-be First Prince, and knows he's in a tough situation. The rest of his command is equally skilled and loyal to Alexander.
When it becomes clear Alexander is in danger, it becomes Cadmon's job to get his charge out of it and away from the danger and David Varney, who is "escorting" the First Prince around the Capellan March. He needs help and he finds it from an unlikely source.
I had only a couple of facts to work with: where Alexander was when he made his escape, and when. From there, it's deciding how the escape happened and the background of the escape. And it wasn't that hard -- as soldiers and bodyguards, Cadmon and his soldiers are use to planning on the fly and having plans in place to handle most situations. It doesn't go smoothly -- few plans do -- but Cadmon and his soldiers win through.
As I said before, this is the earliest story I've written on Battletech History, some 500 years before the the Gray Death Legion story starts. There are a few stories from before the 31st Century, and the only novels I can think of that are set before the first Battletech novels is the Founding of the Clans trilogy. Which is a pity, because there are great tales yet to be told -- the Amaris Civil war is worth a novel series similar to the Twilight of the Clan series in breath and scope, nine novels that detail the most important event in Battletech history. The first and Second Successor Wars also deserve stories to explore the events. And the Jihad is also another event that needs multiple novels to bring away from the sourcebooks and making it personal.
But I also realize that Battletech is a large universe, and Catalyst has limited resources. The IlClan is the focus of the novels, bringing a new era alive and showing the fans this new universe and this era. I hope one day we can go back and explore those stories of the past. But we have a new era waiting for us writers and others to create, so that is where we will be. But if I have my way, this will not be the last time Cadmon Mallory appears in the pages of Shrapnel. There are still stories to tell about Alexander Davion, and Cadmon will be the start of a Mallory family saying -- "Where there's a Davion making history, there'll be a Mallory guarding their back." And Cadmon has plenty of reason to guard Alexander's back.....
Later!
Craig
(PS: I hope Elements of Treason: Honor will be out in April, but no guarantees -- the KS prep is sucking all the air our of the room ATM. Hopefully after Adeptacon, things will calm down and things get back to normal.....)
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