{"product_id":"battletech-legends-the-gray-death-legion-decision-at-thunder-rift-hardcover","title":"BattleTech: Legends - The Gray Death Legion: Decision at Thunder Rift (Hardcover)","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003cb\u003eDecision at Thunder Rift\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003eby\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003eWilliam H. Keith, Jr.\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003eis the first novel in the\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003eSaga of the Gray Death Legion, and the first novel ever to be released for\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003eBattleTech. It was first published in print by\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003eFASA\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003ein July 1986 and later republished by\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003eRoc Books\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003ein 1992 and by\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003eCatalyst Game Labs\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003eas a\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003eBattleTech Legends\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003etitle in July 2016.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAn unabridged audio book edition, narrated by\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003eTren Sparks, was released on 22 December 2020.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe book tells the story of the young\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003eGrayson Death Carlyle\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003eand the events that led to the founding of his famous\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003emercenary unit.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003e30 years before the\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003eClan invasion, the crumbling empires of the\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003eInner Sphere\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003ewere locked in the horror of the\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003eThird Succession War. The great\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003eHouses, whose territories spanned the stars, used BattleMechs to smash each other into rubble...\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eGrayson Death Carlyle had been training to be a MechWarrior since he was 10 years old, but his graduation came sooner than expected. With his friends and family dead and his father's regiment destroyed, young Grayson finds himself stranded on a world turned hostile. And now he must learn the hardest lesson of all: it takes more than a BattleMech to make a MechWarrior...\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eTo claim the title of MechWarrior all he has to do is capture one of those giant killing machines by himself... If it doesn't kill him first.\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eNo exact dates are provided in the novel, but the\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003ci\u003eGray Death Legion\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003escenario pack establishes the climactic battle at Thunder Rift to have occurred in November\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e3024. The\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003ci\u003eDay of Heroes\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003esourcebook places the events on Trell I in \"winter of 3024\".\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eThe exact nature and composition of Carlyle's Commandos is not elaborated upon in the novel, and subsequent sources provided seemingly contradictory information. Eventually, the\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003eBattleTech Line Developer\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003eruled that they were an understrength mercenary company consisting of two 'Mech lances and several platoons of infantry, augmented by a third 'Mech lance of local Lyran Commonwealth regulars who had accepted Durant Carlyle as their CO.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eAccording to Duke Hassid Ricol's (apocryphal) write-up in\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003ci\u003eBattleTechnology\u003c\/i\u003e, Issue #0102, p. 5, Renfred Tor's JumpShip jumped from Trell to\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003eAntares\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003eto spread the word about the invasion.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eThe book is often (falsely) listed as the second novel published, switching places with\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe Sword and the Dagger\u003c\/i\u003e, presumably because the latter is a stand-alone novel that may have been commissioned earlier yet took longer to complete and because\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003ci\u003eDecision at Thunder Rift\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003eformed a trilogy together with the\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003ethird\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003eand\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003efourth\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003enovel in the classic BattleTech line.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eLater reprints of the novel omit most of a four-page overview of the Trell system, attributed to the\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003ci\u003ePilot's Manual and Ephemeris, 4th Quadrant, Cis-Peripheral Sector, Lyran Commonwealth\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e(20th edition, published 3015, Tharkad). A digitized version of the 1992 Roc reprint is available for loan at the\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003eInternet Archive. The limited preview covers the first nine pages, including the full four-page overview.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e","brand":"Catalyst Game Labs","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46574884225221,"sku":"CAT36023C","price":27.95,"currency_code":"CAD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0556\/6962\/0933\/files\/raw_51f04603-a4a4-40cf-a47b-6f84633ebbbe.png?v=1784666768","url":"https:\/\/tapsgames.com\/products\/battletech-legends-the-gray-death-legion-decision-at-thunder-rift-hardcover","provider":"Taps Games","version":"1.0","type":"link"}