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BattleTech Universe #120
BattleTech: Outfoxed:
MERCENARIES FOR HIRE!
Led by Katie Ferraro, the Fox Patrol has traveled to the Hinterlands, seeking work for a small mercenary company. Unfortunately, too many close calls have made Katie a bit cautious, and the jobs she finds aren't ones that pay well enough to keep up the unit's morale, much less their coffers.
When they take a bigger job, they have no idea they're going up against Lord Leon Hansen, son of the Duke of Tybalt, and the leader of a mercenary unit called Hansen's Hawkeyes. Humiliated by his defeat, Leon vows revenge against the Fox Patrol, and schemes to destroy them for the insolence of their very existence.
Katie must fight to keep her unit together and alive through all of Hansen's attempts at sabotage, assassination, and destruction... Could Hansen's burning rage and limitless resources really mean the end of the fabled Fox Patrol?
Led by Katie Ferraro, the Fox Patrol has traveled to the Hinterlands, seeking work for a small mercenary company. Unfortunately, too many close calls have made Katie a bit cautious, and the jobs she finds aren't ones that pay well enough to keep up the unit's morale, much less their coffers.
When they take a bigger job, they have no idea they're going up against Lord Leon Hansen, son of the Duke of Tybalt, and the leader of a mercenary unit called Hansen's Hawkeyes. Humiliated by his defeat, Leon vows revenge against the Fox Patrol, and schemes to destroy them for the insolence of their very existence.
Katie must fight to keep her unit together and alive through all of Hansen's attempts at sabotage, assassination, and destruction... Could Hansen's burning rage and limitless resources really mean the end of the fabled Fox Patrol?
209 pages, Kindle Edition
Published October 24, 2025
7 people are currently reading
6 people want to read
About the author
Bryan Young
119 books156 followersBryan Young (he/they) works across many different media. His work as a writer and producer has been called "filmmaking gold" by The New York Times. He's also published comic books with Slave Labor Graphics and Image Comics. He's been a regular contributor for the Huffington Post, StarWars.com, Star Wars Insider magazine, SYFY, /Film, and was the founder and editor in chief of the geek news and review site Big Shiny Robot! In 2014, he wrote the critically acclaimed history book, A Children’s Illustrated History of Presidential Assassination. He co-authored Robotech: The Macross Saga RPG and has written five books in the BattleTech Universe: Honor's Gauntlet, A Question of Survival, Fox Tales, Without Question, and the forthcoming VoidBreaker. His latest non-fiction tie-in book, The Big Bang Theory Book of Lists is a #1 Bestseller on Amazon. His work has won two Diamond Quill awards and in 2023 he was named Writer of the Year by the League of Utah Writers. He teaches writing for Writer’s Digest, Script Magazine, and at the University of Utah. Follow him across social media @swankmotron or visit swankmotron.com.
Support Bryan on Patreon: http://www.patreon.com/swankmotron
Support Bryan on Patreon: http://www.patreon.com/swankmotron
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
November 1, 2025
I have been in this fight since I was seven or eight years old . Maybe eight. Saw older kids playing battletech at the comic /game store . Started hanging out with them when I could , especially when I was allowed to ride my bike to the comic store .
They let me roll dice and move minis . Been in the the fiction/novels the whole time but not always the game . Come back to the game in a big way recently .
But the fox patrol stories and particularly outfoxed makes me feel like a little kid again watching little metal robots on a paper mat . Or trying to read dark age in high school/ in school suspension .
That is to say makes me feel like a kid again. Then it makes me grow up and face the world we live in right now and without getting into it , it’s a scary place sometimes .
The fox patrol along with the mountain wolves and other battletech stories makes me and I personally believe many others feel seen by them. Which is important the way things are now . Even more important is finding your family . And it’s not always the one you are born with.
No matter where you come from or where you been there are people out there who accept you and we will be waiting for you when you come looking for us . Can’t always promise things will be perfect . That there won’t be conflict or pain but there are people who will love you through it all .
That’s the most important thing to take away from Outfoxed.
Onto the fun stuff: Katie and the gang square off with the spoiled noble son of a duke in a fun , exhilarating and suspenseful story of found family on the run from people who look down on them and want to hurt them for existing . For slights real and imagined . And the whole fox family and some new friends are here for you in a story full of fun , pain , loss , hope and of course giant robots with really big freaking laser cannons .
Out of all of Bryan Young’s stories I’ve read this is my favorite so far . I say so far cuz I look forward to hanging with Katie and the gang for a long time to come .
Welcome to the Fox Patrol
They let me roll dice and move minis . Been in the the fiction/novels the whole time but not always the game . Come back to the game in a big way recently .
But the fox patrol stories and particularly outfoxed makes me feel like a little kid again watching little metal robots on a paper mat . Or trying to read dark age in high school/ in school suspension .
That is to say makes me feel like a kid again. Then it makes me grow up and face the world we live in right now and without getting into it , it’s a scary place sometimes .
The fox patrol along with the mountain wolves and other battletech stories makes me and I personally believe many others feel seen by them. Which is important the way things are now . Even more important is finding your family . And it’s not always the one you are born with.
No matter where you come from or where you been there are people out there who accept you and we will be waiting for you when you come looking for us . Can’t always promise things will be perfect . That there won’t be conflict or pain but there are people who will love you through it all .
That’s the most important thing to take away from Outfoxed.
Onto the fun stuff: Katie and the gang square off with the spoiled noble son of a duke in a fun , exhilarating and suspenseful story of found family on the run from people who look down on them and want to hurt them for existing . For slights real and imagined . And the whole fox family and some new friends are here for you in a story full of fun , pain , loss , hope and of course giant robots with really big freaking laser cannons .
Out of all of Bryan Young’s stories I’ve read this is my favorite so far . I say so far cuz I look forward to hanging with Katie and the gang for a long time to come .
Welcome to the Fox Patrol
November 12, 2025
Would have worked better as a short story.
This is the first longer form offering for the Fox Patrol, and while I've been a huge fan so far, this one didn't land quite as well with me.
Make no mistakes, the hallmarks are still there, Katie and her found family are all acounted for, keep growing and changing with all the soap-y, cheesy drama that entails and it's fun.
But for a longer story, I'd have wanted for more of a story. In the end, the main story just happens because the antagonist is evil and dumb, and the protagonists prevail because they are the plucky underdogs. There's very little agency on their part, and Katie's flaws unfortunately are at full display and she comes off as a highly incompetent leader for a mercenary unit, which the novel mostly just glosses over because that's not the intended focus, but at least to me, while for a short story I can accept some things as not that important, for a longer novel about mercs in BT, there's some things that shouldn't be ignored. For a longer story, for me this book needed a more compelling plot and antagonist and some more agency on the protagonists part (like it would have been nice for the Fox Patrol to actually "Outfox" anyone, that would have made the final encounter a lot more satisfying to me) as well as some more care taken with the worldbuilding.
It was still an okay read with some highly entertaining scenes, but as a whole, I cannot give it more than 3 stars because there were just too many disappointing moments to ignore.
This is the first longer form offering for the Fox Patrol, and while I've been a huge fan so far, this one didn't land quite as well with me.
Make no mistakes, the hallmarks are still there, Katie and her found family are all acounted for, keep growing and changing with all the soap-y, cheesy drama that entails and it's fun.
But for a longer story, I'd have wanted for more of a story. In the end, the main story just happens because the antagonist is evil and dumb, and the protagonists prevail because they are the plucky underdogs. There's very little agency on their part, and Katie's flaws unfortunately are at full display and she comes off as a highly incompetent leader for a mercenary unit, which the novel mostly just glosses over because that's not the intended focus, but at least to me, while for a short story I can accept some things as not that important, for a longer novel about mercs in BT, there's some things that shouldn't be ignored. For a longer story, for me this book needed a more compelling plot and antagonist and some more agency on the protagonists part (like it would have been nice for the Fox Patrol to actually "Outfox" anyone, that would have made the final encounter a lot more satisfying to me) as well as some more care taken with the worldbuilding.
It was still an okay read with some highly entertaining scenes, but as a whole, I cannot give it more than 3 stars because there were just too many disappointing moments to ignore.
November 25, 2025
Fox patrol, I always enjoy them!
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews