Part 817: Let's Read: D.R.T. - Part 10 (Unfinished)

Let’s Read: D.R.T. Part 10: Would you like some content with your briefings, sir?

Chapter 18
DropShip Tracy K, Priate Point 5N/Lu0013Zulu
Wolcott System, Draconis Combine
25 July 3057

Who’s up for ending a shitty derail about a nation in BattleTech nobody gives a shit about? Me too.

Nothing happens this chapter. Rose muses about interstellar travel, but given that he has all the knowledge of a graffiti-covered cinderblock there’s no point to it. Especially since we’ve already gotten our dose of “how JumpShips work” in this book. Instead, we learn that jumping to a pirate point is dangerous.

No shit.

Also, Rose continues to be an asshole to everyone on the ship.


By ‘largest’ he means ‘only.’ Union Dropships aren’t that big.

Rose conducts a staff meeting. Why am I reading this? It’s like reading CTRL+ALT+DEL except at least that has muddy, washed-out colors to go along with its talking heads. Anyway, Rose does his best to improve blindfold morale and shoot it in the head execution-style as he laments the fact that they’re not on the Bristol. He reassures everyone by saying that they’ll only die instantly if they happen to jump into a listening post or straight into a Clan patrol. Truly, Jeremiah Rose is a great leader :usa:

He keeps talking but I’ll be completely honest I’m skipping two pages here. Bets on whether we miss out on anything?

Alright, we’re back. Rose is drinking Coffee. We haven’t missed anything. The Black Thorns are dropping into a location that’s 1000 km from any population center. What the fuck are they trying to accomplish out in the ass-end of nowhere? Taunting the Clans? A worthy goal, except they’re actually trying to destroy an objective. Two objectives. They’re going to smash Clan factories that are thousands of kilometers away.



Rose then says that they’ll probably be fighting “refitted Warhammers, BattleMasters, and Shadow Hawks” and that the tactics for fighting them are the same as fighting their Inner Sphere counterparts. This is FUCKING TERRIBLE advice. 1) No BattleMaster IIC in canon. It’s a weird oversight, but there you go. 2) The Shadow Hawk IIC is actually a good `Mech. 3) Warhammer IICs will fuck you up.

I also guarantee we won’t be seeing any of them. This bit is a red herring that will get some of the Black Thorns killed.

Anyway, as the chapter wraps up we learn that the entire purpose of these eight or so pages of nothing fucking happening was to set up Rose receiving a space-letter from McCloud. She’s pregnant.

Have fun on your suicide mission, asshole!



Chapter 19
DropShip Bristol (sic), Priate Point 43P/Wo1632Zulu
Courcheval System, Nova Cat Occupation Zone
27 July 3057

We’re not on the Bristol. McCloud pining after Jeremiah Rose for a chapter would be interminable. No, we’re on the Tracy K and attacking the Clans! Hours get glossed over in a sentence, but our EVE-esque time dilation ends with six hours to go.

FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF—

Rose decides that the best possible thing to do before a combat drop is to have all the Black Thorns sit on their asses in their `Mechs for SIX HOURS not doing anything so they’ll all be sluggish and exhausted when the combat drop happens. Now, I’ve never been a fighter pilot, but perhaps someone in this thread is military. How often do flight crews get told to suit up and sit on their thumbs for six or more hours before a combat engagement? I could see keeping them nearby, but seriously, what’re they going to do?

They can’t use the radio, that’d give away their position. BattleTech doesn’t have any electronics that weighs less than 80 pounds, and some of the Black Thorns are illiterate. Here’s what’s going to happen when you tell Badicus O’Shea to sit in his cockpit doing nothing: He’s going to follow orders for three minutes before getting bored, then he’s going to start drinking those twenty or so bottles of scotch whiskey he hides under his command couch and get sloshed. Then he’s going to jump out of a DropShip in high orbit.

There’s no way this can go wrong.

Anyway, Rose then holds ANOTHER FUCKING BRIEFING over the comms, because there’s no way stray radio signals will attract Clan fighters or anything. He delivers a line I’ve seen six or seven fucking times since the book started--


I’ve got one. WHY AM I READING THIS AGAIN?!

--and after nobody has any questions about the mission we’ve had FOUR OR FIVE BRIEFINGS ABOUT IN THE PAST FIVE CHAPTERS we learn that, oh hey, his radio transmissions have attracted Clan Fighters have spotted them and are making attack runs. The Tracy K immediately gets shot down and the Black Thorns get prematurely ejaculated ejected into space. They make it down ok, but they’re scattered and somehow Rose has managed to drop directly onto a Star of enemy BattleMechs that JUST SO HAPPEN to be directly underneath him.

Chapter ends on a cliffhanger, and so does Part 10 of this review! See you next time for something nothing happening; and the introduction of our protagonist antagonist!