Battletech: Eyestorm

Carlyle's Commandos #2

by William H. Keith Jr.

Eyestorm is a 24 page Battletech fiction novella included in the 2019 edition of BattleTech: A Game of Armored Combat. Eyestorm is a prequel to the Saga of the Gray Death Legion featuring Durant Carlyle, the father of Grayson Death Carlyle.

"A Storm is blowing ... And Durant Carlyle is stuck right in the center of it. His merc unit,Colby's Commando's, found more than they expected while trying to remove a brutal warlord on the icy planet of Golandrinas, and now possess a fortune in gold - a fortune the warlord's mercenary force will do anything to recover.

But that's exactly what Durant and the Commando's are counting on. Using the hijacked gold as bait, they plan to draw the enemy mercs into a trap and finish them off once and for all. But the huge storm they're setting their ambush in can hide much more than the Commando's ... it might also conceal an enemy 'Mech force large enough to destroy them all ..."

Genres: Science Fiction

24 pages, Paperback

Published January 23, 2019

About the author

Bill Keith was raised in the mountains of western Pennsylvania, and served in the Navy as a corpsman for many years. In addition to writing fiction and non-fiction works, he is an award-winning illustrator/artist.

He has also published under the psuedonyms:
Ian Douglas (SF series: Heritage, Legacy, Inheritance, Star Carrier, Andromedan Dark)
H. Jay Riker (SEALS:The Warrior Breed series)
Keith Douglass (Carrier and Seal Team 7 series)
Bill Keith
Keith William Andrews (Freedom's Rangers series)
Robert Cain (Cybernarc series)

Reviews

[Adam · Rating 4 out of 5]

After reading "Golden Rule" I was definitely interested in reading more, but I was a little less excited because "Golden Rule" also made some of the short story restrictions pretty glaring. "Eyestorm" does fall into that trap a bit, but Keith handled the story a little bit better in my opinion. It's just a shame, because after reading this installment I really do kind of wish this operation had been fleshed out to more of a full novel length.

"Eyestorm" was packaged with the BattleTech: A Game of Armored Combat game box set that you are intended to purchase after going through the Beginner Box. It has a fuller set of rules and more plastic Mechs, so it is a bit pricier, but I think Catalyst does a good job of making it worth the cost.

"Eyestorm" continues where "Golden Rule" left off, sort of, and now Colby's Commandos have to face off against the rest of the invading force. Will the Commandos be able to fight in a storm that hides the enemy from their sensors? That's pretty much the Mech battle that takes place in this book. Keith hasn't really lost the knack for writing good Mech battles, they're just a bit more brief than I think he would normally have written them in some ways. In the character development end of things he also introduced some interesting new characters, which makes me wish this had more to it and he wasn't so restricted by the 24 page goal. Ah well... maybe a new Keith novel in the Battletech universe will surface someday beyond short stories.

This series of short stories does continue on into the rule book Mechwarrior Destiny. In there you'll find the next chapter in the Colby's Commandos story. So, this was a pretty interesting way to bring new players into the realms of BattleTech fiction.

[Christopher · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nice little splash scenario to get you in the mindset of Battletech.

[Odyssey · Rating 3 out of 5]

This 20 page short story came with the "Battletech: a game of armoured combat" box set. It is a direct continuation of a short story from the "Battletech beginners box" called "Golden Rule".
The story starts a couple of days after the events in the "Golden Rule". We again follow the exploits of Carlyle, Grayson's father, as the outfit he is with tries to fulfill their contract and get rid of the Deathgeld mercenaries.
It presents an interesting scenario of a superstorm full of bird-like critters that plays havoc with sensors and of course a battle in the above superstorm.

It's a short, mindless fun similar to the previous short story. The action is punchy, the prose gets out of the way to tell the story and it's biggest achievement, very similar to the "Golden Rule", it gives you scenario ideas to play out in the boardgame, getting you excited to do so.

It was a nice touch for this to have been included in the boardgame box set and makes me appreciate the game and Catalyst Game Labs, the company behind it, even more.

[Vicente Serrano Lespier · Rating 3 out of 5]

A story included in the Battletech A Game of Armored Combat box set that presents an adventure with Durant Carlyle, the father of Grayson Carlyle, the founder of the Grey Death Legion. Short, fun and to the point, presenting a typical skirmish during the 3rd Succession War and the battle for the planet Golandrinas.

[David · Rating 2 out of 5]

Another 'freebie' (of sorts), with this 20-odd page novella being given away in the main 'Battletech: A game of Armo(u)red Combat' box, and following on from the previous entry given away in the Beginner box.

Again, more of the same as prior - i.e. the main draw being the mech vs mech combat!

[John Somers · Rating 3 out of 5]

10/20.

[Sandy Thompson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not a literary masterpiece, but a good quick fun read. Excellent as a dose of mental imagery before starting to play the battletech game it came with

[Tobias Lindqvist · Rating 3 out of 5]

For being a short story included in a game this was a good read.