MechCommander 2

MechCommander 2 was the follow up to the original MechCommander real-time tactics video game based on the BattleTech/MechWarrior franchise, developed by FASA Interactive and distributed by Microsoft.

In 2006 Microsoft released a modified version of the source code along with most game assets (i.e. everything needed to compile the game without networking support and without all the art) under a Shared Source license in order to demonstrate its XNA Build system.

Storyline
Carver V, a planet previously held by House Liao, finds itself in the region known as the Chaos March as of 3063. At the time of the storyline's start, House Steiner and House Davion have laid claim to a few territories, killing Mandarin Cho, Liao ruler of the planet, in combat.

As the Federated Commonwealth formed by Houses Davion and Steiner slides towards civil war, the House forces on Carver V remain tense, but otherwise avoid any direct military action that would endanger the relatively peaceful situation. However, when a suspiciously well-equipped bandit force threatens Steiner territory, the chief military representative of House Steiner, Colonel David Renard, proposes quite an unusual countermeasure—a "neutral" mercenary force.

In Campaign 1, the player is under the command of Colonel Renard and starts with a number of easy tasks (attacking bandit encampments and reclaiming facilities that have been overrun). Suspicions arise of the bandits' allegiance when a captured mobile HQ reveals that they are headed by one Choung Vong, a former Liao officer. These sentiments are confirmed when Liao forces grant refuge to a fleeing bandit convoy on the Steiner-Liao border. In response to this and despite protests from Steiner's Ambassador Yee, Colonel Renard orders the player into Liao territory, shattering the tentative peace between local Liao and Steiner forces and beginning a new series of operations against Liao forces. The final mission of the campaign takes the player to the remote Little Bear island to destroy the last of the bandit forces, their HQ, and their leader. Despite the player's overwhelming success, Colonel Renard ends his contract with the mercenaries and hints at his motives with the blunt remark, "Do this and get out. I've got plans for Carver V and you don't want to be part of them."

Campaign 2 begins with a twist as the player unit is now in the employ of its former enemy—House Liao. The player is under the command of Mandrissa Anita Cho, Mandarin Cho's widow, and her son, Captain Jason Cho. The Mandrissa is seemingly ill with a terminal disease, and her last wish before she dies is for her son, Jason, to rule Carver V. For the first mission, the player is tasked with liberating a remote Steiner prison camp containing political prisoners, better known as the Gulag. The mission starts with Renard saying "So, you've betrayed me too..." and giving orders to destroy the camp, a fact that disgusts even normally-indifferent Lieutenant Diaz, the player's tactical advisor. This mission also marks the first appearance of Baxter, the commander of partisan forces on planet, who dispatches transports to recover survivors. In the following missions, the player is tasked with various covert ops missions, including the instigation of conflict between Steiner and Davion troops, a deployment deep into enemy lines to dispatch Steiner-held orbital guns, and an encounter with a couple of Davion bondsmen (spoils from Operation Bulldog) on Carver V's moon during a mission to destroy the Hyperpulse Generators there which are the only immediate means of communication to other worlds.

But despite the player's concurrent successes, it seems that Jason Cho is an incompetent commander, as Liao forces are regularly served beatings under his command and are forced to negotiate a truce with House Steiner. Colonel Renard agrees, seeing as both houses have a mutual enemy, the Davions, but only if Cho agrees to one condition—the mercenaries must die. Jason gladly agrees, and player is forced to flee before advancing Steiner forces, and by securing an abandoned base, manages to beat the Steiner troops back. Jason then steps forward to personally deal with the mercenaries, and is killed by the player. Outraged by the death of her son and only heir, Mandrissa Cho sends a reprisal force of Liao units which are defeated with the help of Baxter, who once again sends his forces to help the mercenaries.

In Campaign 3, it is revealed that Baxter and Davion commander Major Kelly have allied, as Davion is not against an independent Carver V. In exchange for revenge and Clan technology, the player fights on the rebel/Davion side, defending the city of Bannickburg, eliminating heavily defended Steiner and Liao bases, and even destroying the Liao palace (though Mandrissa Cho personally commits suicide after her elite guard is crushed). The fight for Carver V is finished when the player defeats a crazed Colonel Renard (who appears in a jump-capable Atlas, which is unusual as Atlas 'Mechs cannot be equipped with jump-jets in the game otherwise) and destroys the Steiner High Command on planet.

The Campaign ends with Archon (Katrina Steiner) mourning Colonel Renard's death, Baxter becoming a President of Carver V, now renamed Liberty, and the mercenary team returning back to the Periphery, raising their price on MercNet. "Peace has been restored on Carver V by an unlikely source—a mercenary commander."

Prelude
Day 1 - Colonel David Renard and his executive officer, Major Kelly, agree to peacefully separate their garrison into House Steiner and House Davion military containment zones.

Day 5 - A bandit army of tanks and light BattleMechs seizes several Steiner outposts.

Day 7 - Archon Katrina Steiner rules out deploying House troops to Carver V.

Day 20 - Refugees flee Carver V as the bandit attacks continue. Mercenaries hired by Katrina Steiner to deal with the bandits are due to arrive shortly. (Transcript)

Steiner Campaign (Day 21 - Day 35)
Arriving three weeks after the division of FedCom garrison forces on Carver V, a mercenary unit in the employ of House Steiner is ordered by Colonel Renard to eliminate a bandit scouting party. (Transcript)
 * Island Patrol

Colonel Renard and Ambassador Yee (House Steiner's representative) order the mercenaries to retake Base Gemini in the Adam Sector from the bandits which seized it two weeks previously. (Transcript)
 * Reacquisition - Base Gemini

Intel recovered at Gemini identified a bandit resupply station in the Carroll sector. Colonel Renard and Ambassador Yee order the mercenaries to intercept a convoy and capture a Mobile HQ unit for more intelligence. (Transcript)
 * Ambush & Acquire - Mobile HQ

Data from the Mobile HQ identified the bandit leader as Choung Vong, the CCAF commander who led the failed invasion of Carver V during Operation GUERRERO in 3057. Over Ambassador Yee's objections, Colonel Renard orders the mercenaries to intercept and destroy a bandit convoy trying to cross the Little Yangtze River from Steiner into Liao territory. Renard subsequently orders the mercenaries to cross the river in pursuit of the bandits. (Transcript)
 * Search & Destroy - Bandit Convoy

Ignoring Ambassador Yee's official protest, Colonel Renard orders the mercenaries to enter the Darian Sector (in Liao territory), destroy a fuel depot, and use the explosion as a distraction to recover a captured civilian spy. (Transcript)
 * Night Ops - Liao Raid

Responding to the mercenary incursions into their territory, Liao forces have launched attacks into the Steiner control zone. Renard orders the mercenaries to defend Base Aries, in the Fetters Sector. (Transcript)
 * Defensive Counter - Base Aries

Colonel Renard orders the mercenaries to drop into the Garrison Sector and destroy a chemical plant and the military facilities at Base Leo. (Transcript)
 * Sector Occupation - Garrison

Colonel Renard orders the mercenaries to destroy the Hart Airfield and rescue Claymore, the sole survivor of Task Force Sig-9, which failed in the first attempt to destroy the bandit base. (Transcript)
 * Combat Rescue - Claymore

Colonel Renard, displaying signs of paranoia, orders the mercenaries to destroy the bandit stronghold on Little Bear Island in the Ivan Sector while most of their forces are drawn away by a full-scale Lyran assault. During the mercenary attack, the mercenaries intercept a transmission in which Chong Vong calls for support from House Liao, but is rebuffed. (Transcript)
 * Breach - Bandit Headquarters

Liao Campaign (Day 38 - Day 45)
Mandrissa Eliza Cho and her son Jason hire the mercenaries to protect the Liao-loyal people of Carver V from Colonel Renard's Lyran forces. (Transcript)

Mandrissa Cho orders the mercenaries to free Liao-loyalist political prisoners and their families from The Gulag. Colonel Renard threatens to kill all the prisoners, but a resistance group headed by a man named Baxter helps evacuate them to safety. (Transcript)
 * Liberate - Gulag

Mandrissa Cho orders the mercenaries to steal 'Mechs from a Davion base in the Jacksen Sector and use them to attack a Steiner base nearby, inciting conflict between the two factions. (Transcript)
 * Facility Assault - Hijack

Mandrissa Cho orders the mercenaries to destroy reinforcements bound for a Davion base in the Dearborn Sector, weakening the base enough to let Liao regular forces overwhelm it. (Transcript)
 * Mobile Intercept - Killdeer

Mandrissa Cho orders the mercenaries to destroy Carver V's moon base, where a Davion garrison guards the HPG transmitters. With the loss of interstellar communications, Baxter's resistance group launches a popular revolution. Jason Cho announces he will be personally leading the primary assaults in the next phase of the war. (Transcript)
 * Remote Assault - Eclipsed (Day 42)

Mandrissa Cho orders the mercenaries to slip into the Marko Sector, in Steiner territory, and destroy four lightly guarded orbital guns to enable House Liao to control Steiner's airspace. (Transcript)
 * Covert Ops - Orbital

Mandrissa Cho orders the mercenaries to destroy a factory producing prototype Legion tanks. Baxter and his partisans support the mercenary attack. (Transcript)
 * Facility Assault - Legion

Mandrissa Cho orders the mercenaries to seize Base Hermes—a Davion outpost in the Colddain Province—for use in the Liao campaign against Colonel Renard. (Transcript)
 * Acquisition - Base Hermes

Jason Cho's inexperience has cost the Liao forces most of their soldiers and equipment, forcing Mandrissa Cho to sue for peace. She orders the mercenaries to escort Jason to the cease-fire negotiations. At the negotiations, Colonel Renard offers Jason Cho peace in exchange for Liao support against Major Kelly and the Davion loyalists. Renard also demands that Cho kill his mercenaries, and Cho gleefully agrees. The mercenaries kill Cho in the ensuing firefight and manage to withdraw from combat with vengeful Liao forces with the help of Baxter's partisans. (Transcript)
 * Honor Guards

Partisan/Davion Campaign (Day 46 - Day 60)
The popular revolution continues to swell, with thousands of civilians joining Baxter, and fighting rages across the planet. The mercenaries agree to support Baxter and his partisans, as does Major Kelly, though she limits her Davion-aligned forces to fight only the Liao troops, and not those allied to House Steiner. (Transcript)

Baxter asks the mercenaries to defend the city of Bannkiburg, the primary rebel resupply point, from a joint Steiner/Liao assault. The mercenaries arrive after the attackers have already seized control of the city, and successfully retake it. (Transcript)
 * Defensive Counter - Bannikburg

Baxter and Kelly ask the mercenaries to destroy the Liao staging base on Mount Cho. (Transcript)
 * Mobile Assault - Mt. Cho

After a Davion DropShip goes down in the Pierce Sector, Baxter asks the mercenaries to disable the orbital guns that shot it down and recover the crew and resources aboard. Rooster (a character from the previous game, MechCommander) is one of the survivors. (Transcript)
 * Combat Recovery - DropShip

Baxter asks the mercenaries to slip through the Steiner air defenses in the Rameses Sector and destroy targets of opportunity in and around Base Scorpio. (Transcript)
 * Night Ops - Scorpio

Baxter and Kelly ask the mercenaries to assault and destroy the heavily fortified Liao Palace in the Palace Sector. The mercenaries receive a message indicating Mandrissa Cho committed suicide prior to the destruction of the palace. Surviving Liao units either go into hiding or flee the planet. Colonel Renard declares martial law and seizes the civilian starport, cutting off imports of food and medical supplies. (Transcript)
 * Baxter's Gambit

Baxter asks the mercenaries to liberate the civilian starport, with support from partisan forces. (Transcript)
 * Liberate - Starport

Major Kelly refuses to support Baxter's plan to strike at Steiner High Command and kill Colonel Renard. Baxter asks the mercenaries to support the partisan forces making the assault. The mercenaries succeed in killing Renard, ending the fighting. (Transcript)
 * Operation Goliath

Baxter assumes control of a new planetary government as President, and opens negotiations with Chancellor Sun-Tzu Liao of the Capellan Confederation to discuss diplomatic relations. He announces his intent to retain the mercenary commander as Protector General of the Carver V, now renamed "Liberty." The mercenaries, however, depart the planet and set out for the Periphery in search of higher paying work. (Transcript)

Light 'Mechs

 * Anubis
 * Cougar
 * Fire Ant
 * Hollander
 * Raven
 * Razorback
 * Uller
 * UrbanMech
 * Wolfhound

Medium 'Mechs

 * Bushwacker
 * Enfield
 * Hunchback
 * Men Shen
 * Ryoken
 * Sha Yu
 * Shadow Cat
 * Starslayer

Heavy 'Mechs

 * Catapult
 * JagerMech
 * Lao Hu
 * Mad Cat
 * Shootist
 * Thor
 * Vulture

Assault 'Mechs

 * Atlas
 * Blood Asp
 * Cyclops
 * Highlander
 * Zeus

Featured Planets

 * Carver V

Featured Characters

 * Tactical Officer Diaz


 * Weapons Officer Cash


 * Colonel David Renard


 * Mandrissa Anita Cho


 * Major Susan Kelly


 * Baxter


 * Katrina Steiner-Davion

Resources

 * Equipment in MechCommander 2
 * BattleMechs in MechCommander 2
 * Vehicles in MechCommander 2
 * Characters in MechCommander 2
 * Mods for MechCommander 2

Canonicity
While the contents of Battletech computer games are generally not considered canonic, the book Inner Sphere (sourcebook) gives the following description: "Carver V recently became embroiled in a brief conflict between the Houses Steiner, Davion and Liao. Only the actions of a brilliant mercenary commander enabled the planet to buy his freedom". This broadly summarizes the game's plot and implies that the events on Carver V could be part of the canonic universe.