The Spider and the Wolf

The Spider and the Wolf is a BattleTech comic depicting Anton Marik's betrayal of Wolf's Dragoons and their revenge.

From the back cover

“

The beginning of a legend... Here is Natasha Kerensky, the infamous Black Widow, in one of her unit's first and most daring missions... a deadly mission of revenge against Anton Marik, the rebel of the Free Worlds League.

”

Contents

History of the Inner Sphere

On the inside cover, there is a brief one-page rundown of the history of the Inner Sphere. It begins with man taking to the stars in the middle of the twenty-fourth century, provides a brief overview of the Star League era and Aleksandr Kerensky's Operation Exodus, and finally introduces the reader to the Succession Wars era with its neo-feudalism and lostech.

Prologue

Natasha Kerensky's unit is fighting what appears to be a rearguard action, luring enemy BattleMechs into a trap set by hiding some of her own 'Mechs. MechWarrior Bobby Hunnel suffers critical damage to his Griffin. Preferring death to being dispossessed, he stays back to buy his comrades time to withdraw, until his Griffin explodes. This leaves Kerensky's command lance one man short.

Conjecture implies that this fight took place on Calloway VI in 3014, and that it is the same battle described in the first scenario (Natasha's Surprise) in the book's scenario section at the end. Bobby Hunnel and his Griffin are not mentioned in the scenario.

The Spider and the Wolf

At the ComStar HQ on Terra, Vesar Kristofur reports to the Primus on the battle on Calloway VI six months ago where Wolf's Dragoons managed to withdraw. He suspects them to possess a secret BattleMech factory in the Periphery, and ComStar is worried by the thought of an operational 'Mech factory that they cannot observe. Because of this, their remarkable combat prowess and Natasha Kerensky's surname, Kristofur is wary of a possible connection between Wolf's Dragoons and the exiled SLDF. He plans to inflict losses on the Dragoons, hoping that they will then undertake another resupply run to the Periphery and give ComStar an opportunity to track and observe them. If he succeeds in unveiling the Dragoon mystery, Kristofur intends to capitalize on this success to depose the Primus and assume his place. The Primus is aware of Kristofur's ambitions, but is confident that Kristofur lacks the skill to endanger his position.

On the sidelines, ComStar explicitly state that they engineered the Marik Civil War to stabilize the Marik currency at a low exchange rate against the C-Bill.

On New Delos, Dragoon Nicolai Koniev elects to serve in Kerensky's command over being shot or exiled for crimes that include theft of Dragoon funds. Jaime Wolf later informs Kerensky of trouble brewing with the Dragoons' current employer, Anton Marik. While Kerensky meets with her lover Joshua Wolf, members of her command enter a bar on Sin Street and end up in a barfight.

Jaime Wolf later meets Anton Marik and refuses his demands that the Dragoons be combined with Marik's troops. Marik dismisses Wolf from the meeting, ordering him to leave Joshua Wolf as a liaison. Kristofur, who had been listening, reinforces Marik's fears that Wolf's Dragoons might turn against him, catering to Anton Marik's mounting paranoia.

The MechWarriors under Kerensky's command are serving penance for the barfight when they are ordered to mount up and leave for the JumpShip at the zenith Jump Point. They arrive after a space journey of more than two weeks aboard a trio of Leopard-class DropShips. But when the Dragoons learn that Marik took Joshua Wolf and 27 other people as hostages they turn around and return to the planet immediately. Jaime Wolf tells Kerensky that he knows about her affair with his brother.

Back in his HQ, Anton Marik is irritated by the lack of a response from the Dragoons. Kristofur announces to the already badly beaten Joshua Wolf that he will be killed as an example to prove the hostages are no idle threat. At this, Wolf attacks his guards and grabs a weapon, but Kristofur shoots him.

Enroute to the planet, the Dragoons learn of the death of the hostages and decide to burn New Delos to cinders. Kerensky's unit, which was earmarked for a rescue mission against the Duke's stronghold, has to combat drop when their DropShips come under heavy attack. Pilot Williams suffers a hard landing and is believed killed. They proceed through the burning forest that Marik had ignited to protect his rear flank and assault his stronghold which they raze. Kerensky gets to personally kill Anton Marik. Over the next two days, the Dragoons lay waste to the planet.

In the aftermath of the action, the ComStar Primus sends Vesar Kristofur to exile on Alpha Hydri, five parsecs from any inhabited region. Back on New Delos, a mourning Natasha Kerensky leaves a memorial for Joshua Wolf, a five meter high stone cube with the words "Joshua Wolf, Warrior - Friend - Brother, Died 3015" and the crest of Wolf's Dragoons on it.

Scenarios

Natasha's Surprise - Board Game scenario

Set on Calloway VI in 3014, where Wolf's Dragoons were scattered during combat drops and are threatened to be overrun by loyal FWL forces. Kerensky's unit is fighting a rearguard action at an oil refinery which had originally been their mission objective. To buy the rest of the Dragoons time to withdraw in good order, they need to stop an approaching enemy company. Following a suggestion by Lieutenant Ikeda, some defending 'Mechs are hidden beneath the sand dunes to set a trap for the attackers.

The Bigger They Are... - Board game scenario

Kerensky's frontal assault on Duke Anton Marik's stronghold on New Delos on 22 October 3014. This scenario was also included in the CityTech rulebook.

Not A Drop to Drink - MechWarrior (RPG) scenario

Recreating the barroom brawl from the story under RPG rules, pitting Takiro Ikeda, Lynn Sheridan, Mirth Harlowe and Arthur Williams against a group of Marik MechWarriors and drunks.

Canonicity

Unlike other comics, The Spider and the Wolf was produced in-house by FASA and its story is therefore considered fully canonical. However, being a very early product of the franchise, a number of issues exist:

• During the Black Widow Company's roll call, MechWarrior Steve Tommersom reports his 'Mech as a Hornet. However, the 'Mech seen behind him in the spoot where the personal 'Mechs of the individual pilots are depicted during their reports looks very different from a Hornet, and more like a modified, or inaccurately drawn, Stinger (or an Alpha Veritech from the Invid section of the Robotech series, which has no counterpart in the BattleTech universe and would be unseen if it had). When asked about this particular picture, the Line Developer declared it to be in error and thus non-canonical. Further, Tommersom canonically pilots a Stinger in the Black Widow Company lineup in the book's scenario section, and in every other publication that mentions his 'Mech. This does not rule out that he had a Hornet originally, but he was evidently piloting a Stinger exclusively from the formation of the Black Widow Company onward.
• Two JumpShips are depicted in the comic which have a vaguely similar design that is different from virtually all other known JumpShip types. One is shown while Kristofur reports on the Dragoons possessing JumpShips of a type not seen for two centuries, but from the context it could also be a recharge station of unspecified type. The other is clearly a Wolf's Dragoons JumpShip. The latter vessel curiously bears a striking resemblance to a Federated Suns JumpShip that appears in the (apocryphal) BattleForce #2 comic by Blackthorne Publishing, possibly indicating a hitherto unnamed JumpShip type.