Dance of Vengeance
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Dance of Vengeance (consistently misspelled "Dance of Vengence") is a BattleTech short story by William H. Keith, Jr.. It was published in the 1988 anthology Shrapnel.
No exact dates are provided in the story but references to other events suggest the duel to take place shortly after the recovery of the Helm Memory Core in 3028; the destruction of Tyrell's Raiders occurred four years earlier, i.e. around 3024.
Plot summary
This story is told through flashbacks during a honor duel to the death between Chu-i Salvadore Tyrell and Sho-sa Victor Garreth during a reception on Kajikazawa:
Tyrell's Raiders were an independent mercenary unit of company size, originally from Kajikazawa, under the command of Salvadore's father. At some point they were attached to the 2nd Benjamin Regulars as auxiliary reserve troops, and deployed on the planet of New Wessex. Battalion commander Sho-sa Victor Garreth, openly disdainful of the unit, ordered Tyrell's Raiders to guard an important river crossing, the Ourus Crossing, against a Steiner force of ostensibly equal strength. However, the attacking force turned out to be not a company, but a heavy regiment in size, and crushed the defenders in short order, killing Salvadore's sister Theresa in her Shadow Hawk and forcing Salvadore himself to eject from his wrecked Centurion.
Upon returning to base on foot after three days in the wilderness, Salvadore Tyrell found that the survivors of his unit had been hanged for cowardice in the face of the enemy because they allegedly retreated from a fight with roughly equal numbers against explicit orders after having suffered only light damage. Their remaining BattleMechs had been confiscated by the Second Benjamin Regulars, who had already lifted off-planet. The destruction of Tyrell's Raiders had obviously been a plot by Victor Garreth to acquire their valuable 'Mechs for his own troops, sacrificing what he considered a worthless mercenary unit.
Dispossessed and with no options, Salvadore returned home to plot his revenge against the treacherous commander. Almost a year later he was contacted by Duke Hassid Ricol and hired to create the Red Duke's personal 'Mech company. Salvadore named the unit "Tyrell's Terrors" after his late father's Dragon. The unit sees action on Verthandi following an uprising there.
After Ricol's return from a venture in the Free Worlds League (implied to be the recovery of the Helm Memory Core), the Duke informs Salvadore about a reception on Kajikazawa where he finally gets his chance to confront Garreth; Ricol feels that Victor Garreth is an arrogant liability to his nation and that Salvadore's vendetta is justified.
Featured Characters
- Salvadore Tyrell
- Hassid Ricol, the Red Duke
- Victor Gareth
- Ukita Hideie, Earl of Kajikazawa
Featured BattleTech
- Archer
- Blackjack
- Centurion
- Dragon
- Griffin
- Marauder
- Panther
- Shadow Hawk
- Stinger
- Warhammer
- Wasp
- Wolverine