My thumbnail thoughts on the new issue:
1) The Bye-Bye Brigade - Jason Schmetzer: Another "small 'merc unit gets launched" story, this one takes the time to give its leading members personality and a good sense of camaraderie. Plus the twist at the end signals a sequel featuring one of the era's heavy hitters, character-wise.
2) Sackcloth and Sand - David Razi: A nice intro to a "fallen" world in the ruins of the Rim Worlds Republic, and a Clan warrior's reactions to being among her ancestors' ancient enemies. Very "Road Warrior" in tone.
3) Tales From the Cracked Canopy: The Red Wraith - Harper Brand: A well executed dive into divided loyalties within the Word of Blake during Case White.
4) All Good Things - James Lee: An interesting expansion on a brief reference in "The Fall of Terra," going into the 21st Centauri Lancers' participation in Operation GUERRERO and their decision to seek employment with ComStar on Terra instead of sticking with the Capellans.
5) Gratitude Repaid - Charles Gideon: Another POV for the final space battle over New Avalon at the climax of the Civil War, focusing on how the rapidly-shifting alliances of the era were sorely tested by generations-old hostilities and suspicion.
6) Advice From A Social General: How to Party - Ken' Horner: Despite the comedic ramifications of the title, this is a remarkably in-depth and nuanced article that many real-life networkers and aspirational social climbers could learn from. The Social Generals come off, not as the traditional Hogarth-esque caricatures, but as individuals who have found a route to success with a completely alternate skill-set that requires thought, strategy, cunning, and skill. Too bad none of it matters in the slightest once the DCMS comes knocking...
7) Roadblock - Faith McClosky: An EMT with the 5th Crucis Lancers deals with post-battle triage. Nice scene-setting and good character work. Powerful ending.
8 ) The Weight of A Name - Marc Follin: An interesting take on bloodname propagation politics with the Wolves-in-Exile, who aren't part of the Great Reavings tradition that the Council of Six developed.
9) Seychelle's Stonehearts - Michael J. Ciaravella: A compact Unit Digest that begins to answer the question of "Hey, why wasn't RotS Unit X featured in the fight for Terra?" Stone's legacy yet persists, despite the hoisting of other flags.
10) The PPC: Lightning in a Can - Matthew Cross: A technical review of various flavors of PPCs, the latest in a series that has already looked into Gauss Rifles. Raises the question - if PPC inhibitors are standard components, why did the one Justin Xiang pulled out of Fuh Teng's
Vindicator on Solaris VII neutralize the weapon as part of a ploy to throw the fight? Was that particular inhibitor model intended for training purposes? (Be a fun bit of industrial sabotage to infiltrate a team into Ceres Metals and put mislabeled training inhibitors into their PPC manufacturing line's component supply chain, though quality control would probably spot them sooner than later when the dissidents...er...training dummies started surviving the firing tests.)
11) The SuburbanMech - Craig Reed: Resurrected from his BattleTechnology article and made canon, this provided the basis for some of the more impressive Urbies of later generations. Interestingly, this writeup actually makes the Subby the first new 'Mech created in the Inner Sphere in a century (the Merlin, in 3010, was a Periphery design), beating out the Hatchetman by a decade.
12) Ghost Ships Galore: The Pride of New Samarkand - Stephen Toropov: Nicely parlays a unit that fell off the deployment tables without explanation into a flying dutchman of the Deep Periphery.
13) Touchpoint: Ista Quidem Vis Est - Aaron Cahall: Nice to get some Dark Age era scenarios/tracks that aren't bare-bones MWDA setups. This lets you put Julian into the action in Paris against the Senate forces. (Piloting his Templar III, rather than "Family Jules")
14) Inverted - Giles Gammage: Gotta admit, I squee'd when I saw Outer Reaches Rebellion fiction. This fits the established chronology (what there is of it) well and gives a sense of what was going on in the areas surrounding the capital during the siege. (Reading the original sourcebook, I'd had the mental impression that the planet's population was tiny and mostly lived in Jefferson City, but this expands that picture and the world's development level.)
15) Voices of the Sphere: Cryogenics - Eric Salzman: Fun to imagine that Snord's museum had a frozen "time traveler" from the Star League era on exhibit for a few decades. I wonder if the guy'll survive long enough for his lawsuit to reach the courts? Maybe if he freezes himself again?
The reference to MechAssault VII as a "campy holovid" suggests that MechAssault II was one as well, which is just about the only explanation for its deranged storyline in the BattleTech universe.
