Herbert A Beas

LOST IN THE FIRES OF WAR... Freelance explorer Dr. Brooklyn Stevens made her career finding lost artifacts from Inner Sphere history, but a job offered by the academic organization known as Interstellar Expeditions gives her a chance at the find of a lifetime: a missing planet, one lost in the ravages of the brutal Succession Wars. But the world of Jardine did not die in planet-scouring fire...it was entirely erased from stellar maps-and Brooke's employer wants to know why. But someone wants this planet to remain hidden-and will go to any length to ensure that Brooke's quest ends in tragedy. SHROUDED IN SECRETS... But when she finds the long-lost planet of Jardine, Brooklyn finds more than she bargained for-a lot more. She and her partner soon find themselves between two very different groups: one whose members are an unholy amalgamation of man and machine, the other a hardy village of natives that live off the land. Both groups are soon after Stevens and her knowledge of Jardine-one side to protect the planet from those that seeking to reclaim it, the other intent on killing anyone who knows of its existence. Caught between both factions, Brooklyn must uncover the mysteries of Jardine...and stay alive long enough to tell the universe about it...

THE DAWN OF A NEW AGE... In the 25th century, humankind is locked in a seemingly endless cycle of warfare as each of the Great Houses seeks to expand their holdings at the cost of the others. But in 2438, the Terran Hegemony perfects a battle system unlike anything seen in combat before-the Mackie, the very first BattleMech. With it, the Hegemony quickly reigns supreme on the battlefield. The Mackie's arrival sets off a desperate arms race among the Great Houses, each desperate to possess the BattleMech's secrets. Some houses will use military force to steal them, others resort to stealthy espionage teams to infiltrate highly secured BattleMech facilities. Still other Houses will use diplomacy, or even corporate espionage to get their hands on the coveted plans or the men and women who can build a BattleMech. Now, collected for the first time, stories by celebrated BattleTech authors Ilsa J. Bick, Herbert A. Beas II, Christoffer Trossen, Randall N. Bills, Chris Hartford and Jason M. Hardy, Jason Schmetzer, and Blaine Lee Pardoe-who wrote a brand-new novella about the creation of the Coyotl, the first OmniMech-tell how BattleMechs were invented in one complete volume. Welcome to The Proliferation Cycle.