Zorn

Andurien-Kriege 2: Zorn ("Andurien Wars 2: Wrath"), by Bernard Craw, is the 21st of the German-language Classic BattleTech Novels, published by Ulisses Spiele after they took over the line from FanPro.

An Epub version is available since 27 November 2012.

Canonicity
Written in German and exclusively published in that language so far, Zorn does not meet the current criteria for Canon in the BattleTech universe. As an official product published under a valid license, it should be regarded as apocryphal.

From the back cover (translated from German)
"Andurien does not bother with border worlds, and the first attack already aims to rip the Capellan Confederation's heart out. Grand Base, center of the Capellan military industry, is the target of the 6th Defenders. Lieutenant General Mildred Humphreys faces an immense task. The enemy's conventional forces are led in battle by the fanatical Warrior House Fujita, and an ongoing occupation of an entire planet threatens to overextend the power of the invasion forces. In the Steel Gorge, every canyon is doggedly fought over, for they hold the Earthwerks factories renowned throughout the Inner Sphere. And another question looms over the commander's head: Are the Death Commandos really as dead as they seem?"

Plot Summary
The novel follows the fates of several characters on all sides of the conflict as the 6th Defenders of Andurien move to conquer Grand Base in late 3030. With the jump points secured and the recharge station captured, the attackers secure the moon Fortress, then land ground forces on Grand Base proper. The landings are almost unopposed as the Capellan defenders, spread thin because of the Fourth Succession War, have gone to ground, and the major cities surrender without a fight when confronted. The biggest initial problem for the attackers is that the planetary computer systems have been flooded with false information, making accurate maps hard to come by.

Gerbar Island is a special case. Featuring a Star League era 'Mech maintenance facility, it is owned by Shonso Jukon Miwong. After the execution of his daughter, a Death Commando cadet, by her fellow cadets for recklessly endangering her life and thus breaking her Death Commando vows, Miwong renounced his ties to the Confederation and declared his fief on Gebrar Island independent; his private army is strong enough to effectively guard it and as a last resort he has installed a nuclear warhead that could destroy the valuable facility at his command. He is eventually killed by Jen Xiao, ending the insurrection on Gebrar Island.

A week after the initial landings, Warrior House Fujita begins a guerilla war against the invaders. Evading a stand-up fight, they carry out hit-and-run strikes that cause losses to the Andurien troops and begin to affect morale. The Andurien regiment's Gamma Battalion set up their main camp in the former Death Commando training barracks to make a point, but over time several patrols vanish without a trace, unsettling the soldiers.

The freedom-loving Andurien troops are appalled at the plight of the servitor caste in Capellan society, and are determined to free the perceived slaves. However, the servitor castemen are required to keep the most basic work done across the entire planet (and on the space station). Many servitors are incapable of living a free life, having known nothing but being a servitor for generations. Count Kessderr, the young Andurien noble in charge of the civilian administration, is nevertheless eventually stirred into action by the fate of a servitor woman of Andurien origin who was cruelly mistreated by her master for running away. On 5 December 3030 Kessderr decrees that all servitors have to be released. This leads to a near-collapse of the infrastructure, as many Capellan citizens refuse to perform menial work like harvesting. Within less than two weeks, food riots break out and marauding mobs sow chaos.

In January 3031 the 6th Defenders of Andurien move against the titanic self-contained Earthwerks factory complex and arcology in the Steel Gorge, which is captured after a prolonged and costly battle. Following their victory, the Andurien troops arrange for a joint celebration with the populace, but it is overshadowed by poisoned beverages. Warrior House Fujita, in cooperation with the Death Commandos training cadre and trainers, step up their attacks. Jen Xiao kills Mildred Humphreys in her sleep on 9 March, depriving the Andurien forces of her leadership. Subsequently, followers of the Ash Witch cult incite a patriotic fervor in Capellans across Grand Base, leading to widespread uprisings. Civilian mobs attack the entrenched Andurien troops at the Earthwerks factory and elsewhere. Colonel Kress, in command after the death of Lieutenant General Humphreys, decides to abandon the Death Commando training area and concentrate all Andurien forces at the Earthwerks complex. En route, Major Pavel Padura's battalion is waylaid by Death Commando and Warrior House forces, however, with a minefield across their escape route. The battalion is evacuated by Union-class DropShips on 17 April, as the 6th Defenders of Andurien retreat from Grand Base again after failing to secure a foothold. Padura dies in a duel with a Death Commando Atlas.

Amidst the happy celebrations and collaborator executions that take place following the successful defense, Jen Xiao breaks into the Fujita barracks and finds the files that reveal the late Fujita MechWarrior Wa Kalenn was in fact a servitor girl from Niomede that Jen had briefly met sixteen years earlier, abducted for a special Fujita training cadre at the age of five. Jen arranges for her burial in the caves on Niomede.

Notable featured characters

 * Tobias Grimsley, ComStar Precentor on Grand Base
 * Rodrigo Horn, infantryman with the 6th Defenders of Andurien
 * Mildred Humphreys, Lieutenant General in charge of the 6th Defenders of Andurien
 * Walter Kemben, Catholic military chaplain with the 6th Defenders of Andurien and ex-MechWarrior officer
 * Jukon Miwong, Shonso of Gebrar Island and its Star League era BattleMech maintenance facility on Grand Base
 * Pavel Padura, battalion commander with the 6th Defenders of Andurien
 * Savita Rajpita, Diem of Grand Base
 * Pao Tell, Duke of Sax
 * Jen Xiao, Death Commando cadet

BattleMechs

 * Archer
 * Atlas
 * Cataphract
 * Catapult
 * Charger
 * Crusader
 * Grasshopper
 * Hatchetman
 * Hermes II
 * Hornet
 * JagerMech
 * Locust
 * Marauder
 * Orion
 * Ostscout
 * Raven
 * Rifleman
 * Spider
 * Stalker
 * Stinger
 * Vindicator
 * Warhammer
 * Wasp
 * Wolverine

Aerospace fighters

 * Cheetah
 * Riever
 * Stingray
 * Thrush

Vehicles

 * Galleon

DropShips

 * Behemoth (DropShip)
 * Intruder
 * Mammoth (heavily modified; 6th Defenders of Andurien command ship)
 * Union

JumpShips

 * unspecified type: Gacela; Großer Wurm ("Great Worm"), previously: Weisheit des Kanzlers ("Chancellor's Wisdom"); Wohl des Volkes ("The Good of the People")