BattleTech: Break-Away

Book excerpt: THE UNTOLD STORY OF THE INVENTION OF THE BATTLEMECH... Break-Away is the first of six novellas detailing the struggle to create the next awesome weapon to rule the battlefield—the BattleMech. In the mid-25th century, factions of mankind are desperate to invent the next technological leap in warfare—a machine that would give each group an overwhelming advantage on the battlefield. And no one is more aware of the race to perfect this new machine than the leaders on Terra. But during the final trials to find the first pilot for the Terran prototype, the contest is infiltrated by a deadly enemy who wants to ensure that no one survives. It's up to the last remaining Terran candidate—and a scientist struggling to make a breakthrough on the human-machine interface that will control this new war machine—to save Terra's BattleMech program from those who wish to destroy it.