Tales of the Mimetic Badarses - Run from Paradise

Title: Tales of the Mimetic Badarses - Run from Paradise
Series: Battletech/Mechwarrior
Originally Published: April 2014, Classic Battletech Forums

Run From Paradise represents a major turning point in the Mimetic Badarses series, both from a writing perspective and an in-world one. From the latter, there's a definite shift to being on the offensive, fighting back and turning the conflict around to being on our heroes' terms for once. From a writing perspective, it's a major story arc change, moving in a new direction with an expanded and new supporting cast.

...naturally, this means there are a lot of character introductions, because it's me and it's what I do. Fortunately, the bulk of this chapter is action, something that has been in short supply of late, especially of the BattleMech variety. Plus some really lovely scenery and a massive technological construct who's fate may yet surprise you.

Tales of the Mimetic Badarses - Must Go Home

Title: Tales of the Mimetic Badarses - Must Go Home
Series: Battletech/Mechwarrior
Originally Published: January 2014, Classic Battletech Forums

Picking up almost directly after Fallout, Must Go Home originally grew out of that fic. Much of its first half had been intended as a second half for the rapidly-ballooning Fallout, only to be spun off into its own fic as things changed. The net result is that this chapter becomes one where a lot happens in big chunks. We move into a new story arc, we develop new goals, and character relationships and roles dramatically change, which in turn results in a very big fic.

So the chapter that grew out of a fic ballooning did, itself, balloon. Ironic.

However, for all that, the chapter covers a lot of important ground, both in terms of introducing content as well as moving the story further towards its eventual goal. It also serves as a way to show the changing fortunes of war, by returning to a location that had been featured earlier in the series, albeit under very different circumstances.

Tales of the Mimetic Badarses - Fallout

Title: Tales of the Mimetic Badarses - Fallout
Series: Battletech/Mechwarrior
Originally Published: December 2013, Classic Battletech Forums

Intended to be the end of one story arc and the beginning of the next, Fallout wound up being more of the former then the latter. Picking up directly after On The Edge Of The World, it served to wrap up that arc, as well as to develop the new shape of the characters and their relationships after the last few chapters. Finally, the chapter serves to also re-introduce a character who had been intended for a bigger part all along, but had wound up being squeezed out along the way. This happens a lot.

Following on the trend of the last few chapters, there is an acute lack of BattleMech action. Clearly I need to make up for this shortfall, and hope to do such in coming chapters. It does, however, provide a nicely circular route back to the situation at the start of Chasing Shadows, so that must count for something.

Tales of the Mimetic Badarses - On the Edge of the World

Title: Tales of the Mimetic Badarses - On the Edge of the World
Series: Battletech/Mechwarrior
Originally Published: September 2013, Classic Battletech Forums

Picking up from the cliffhanger at the end of Chasing Shadows, On the Edge of the World marks a major turning point in the series' overall story line. Characters change, characters die, secrets are revealed and relationships are irrecoverably altered as ugly truths emerge. Of course, with anything in this series there's the inevitable issue of how much of what's said can be believed and how much more there is hiding under the surface.

Not only is this chapter a long one, by the way, but it also has no BattleMech combat in it at all. Instead it's all abut daring do, escape plans, gun violence, revelations, experimental surgery and people doing horrible things to one another. In short, the usual.

Tales of the Mimetic Badarses - Dark History

Title: Tales of the Mimetic Badarses - Dark History
Series: Battletech/Mechwarrior
Originally Published: September 2013, Classic Battletech Forums

Like Chasing Shadows, this chapter was a long time in coming. Unlike Chasing Shadows, which sprang pretty much fully-formed into the world, Dark History went through a long and complicated gestation period in which the basic ideas were written and re-written numerous times. By the time it was done, it had been built up and then stripped back several times.

As a story, Dark History sis obviously out of the regular schedule, but none the less is intended to go straight after Chasing Shadows. It both ends the current story arc and sets up the next one, but at the same time takes a rather unusual approach to doing such.

Tales of the Mimetic Badarses - Chasting Shadows

Title: Tales of the Mimetic Badarses - Chasing Shadows
Series: Battletech/Mechwarrior
Originally Published: June 2013, Classic Battletech Forums

The last fic in this arc of Mimetic Badarses, Chasing Shadows was a long time coming. Planned at a very early stage, it relied upon a number of other significant plot milestones to have been reached before it could be written. As a result, this fic calls on every prior chapter to build to a point. Even Ascendance Road, originally written as a one-off side-story contributes in a way. It was only after the completion of Data Mine that everything I had was in place.

As a result, this is a very important chapter, one that not only concludes the story arc started in Deviants but marks a turning point for the series as a whole. It also serves to bring both our protagonists and their enemies into direct conflict while revealing a lot more about both. Finally, it's a chance to write some rather exotic ideas that I've never tried before, and finally name a character who's been hanging around for quite some time.

(Once you're done, go back to the prior chapters and see if you can spot them)

Tales of the Mimetic Badarses - Data Mine

Title: Tales of the Mimetic Badarses - Data Mine
Series: Battletech/Mechwarrior
Originally Published: May 2013, Classic Battletech Forums

Following on from Deviants, the next part of the Mimetic Badarses series continues the investigation into the secrets hidden behind the main storyline and those involved. Following on from leads they picked up in prior chapters, our alleged heroes go searching for the truth behind what's been going on since day one. And along the way, there's the inevitable giant robot violence.

Hmm, I seem to have run out of things to say. Huh.

Tales of the Mimetic Badarses - Hole in the World

Title: Tales of the Mimetic Badarses - Hole in the World
Series: Battletech/Mechwarrior
Originally Published: April 2013, Classic Battletech Forums

By this point, everything in the Mimetic Badarses series was in place; we had our alleged heroes, we had the villains, we had their mercenary minions, we had the wildcard element and we had the vauge hint of greater mysteries waiting to unfold. Now was the time to use it.

Hole in the World picks up after the events of Deviants and moves the story into it's next stage. Re-established with their new recruits and new allies, the titular team would be looking for targets. Bringing them into contact with the main antagonists and giving them a chance to hit back as such seemed like the next logical step. In addition, it served as a great way to continue some of the overall plot threads of the series.

Tales of the Mimetic Badarses - Deviants

Title: Tales of the Mimetic Badarses - Deviants
Series: Battletech/Mechwarrior
Originally Published: January 2013, Classic Battletech Forums

While the Mimetic Badarses series had its protagonists and its antagonists, the idea of having a 'wildcard' third party was also in the overall storyline plan. Of course, the biggest problem with such was allways going to be introducing it and making sure it could fit into the overall story line. After considering several different options, the idea of a chapter dedicated to the subject seemed to be the best solution.

At the same time, there were other storyline problems that needed to be dealt with; after so long beating down the titular Badarses and stripping their resources away, it was time to start rebuilding them and giving back. The two objectives very nicely intersected to the one fic.

Red Asphalt

Title: Red Asphalt
Series: Battletech/MechWarrior
Original Publication: August 2012, Classic Battletech Forums

The last (for now) part of the Grand Theft Agro series, Red Asphalt serves as a wrap-up of sorts, closing off some storylines while opening new ones up. It also was intended to show the change and evolution in the timeline from the earlier fics; conflicts grew and forces became larger, but there would still be those people who, by their actions, can make a world of difference. It also serves to show the changes in the characters, their motivations and their goals, especially when a changing world shifts the proverbial goalposts.

As normal for me, there's a lot of character introduction. This is a necessity; very few carry-over characters appear in this one, which meant that a large cast of newcomers were required. However, a few of them should be sticking around for the future.

A Fistful of Trade Creds

Title: A Fistful of Trade Creds
Series: Battletech/MechWarrior
Original Publication: September 2011, Classic Battletech Forums

Sometimes random ideas just bite. And sometimes they join up with other random ideas and manage to form a coherent story as a result.

A Fistful of Trade Creds was one of those moments. The original concept for the fic come together over a (fantastic) dinner in my favourite Chinese Restaurant as a result of making fun of some in-jokes. It ballooned from there, attaching itself to other stray ideas before reaching its finished form. Surprisingly enough, unlike many of my fics, there were no major re-writes or redevelopments along the way.

While this fic runs parallel to the Grand Theft Agro series, it’s not really a part of it. There are no major GTA characters in it, and it doesn’t really affect the overall plot. On the other hand, it does continue the story of some of the minor characters.

The Best Laid Plans

Title: Best Laid Plans
Series: Battletech/MechWarrior
Original Publication: May 2012, Classic Battletech Forums

When I decided to upgrade Grand Theft Agro from a one-shot to a series, my mind began plotting out a long-term story arc; more to the point, it decided where to end that arc first and then worked backwards from there. Of course, that finale was a long way off and just about everything changed along the way, but a few elements of what was originally planned survived.

The end result was Best Laid Plans, a continuation from Salting the Earth featuring some of the (surviving) characters and incoperating the ending that I had planned all along. It also served as a handy end to one particular character set, bringing them up to the end of the published Dark Age material. For the moment,  this marks the end of their storyline, but not the end for them as a whole.

After all, with Era Report 3145 due soon there's no telling what may be within...

Tales of the Mimetic Badarses - Nothing but a Hound Dog

Title: Tales of the Mimetic Badarses - Nothing but a Hound Dog
Series: Battletech/Mechwarrior
Originally Published: November 2012, Classic Battletech Forums

One of my objectives in my fic writing series was to tie everything together to a degree. The concept was to have two series running in parallel with a third that would follow on to them, but all being interconnected. However, that fell apart very quickly as I got distracted, ran out of ideas and moved on to other things.

Nothing but a Hound Dog was based around some of those earlier concepts. Characters featured in this fic made their actual debuts in You are saying Impudence to me (Yet to be republished) with a backstory that was alluded to but not actually described. A part of this fic is dedicated to expanding upon that, filling out details and also better explaining characters and their motivations.

The other main goal of this fic is to expand upon the Bad Guys in two ways. The first being to bring more life to the Word of Blake force that had become the adversaries to our heroes. The second is to introduce the titular Hounds, a collection of Mercenary units working for the Word.

Tales of the Mimetic Badarses - Haven

Title: Tales of the Mimetic Badarses - Haven

Series: Battletech/Mechwarrior
Originally Published: March 2012, Classic Battletech Forums

Originally I had planned to alternate between Mimetic Badarses and Grand Theft Agro fics. However, that plan fell apart as I became more and more focused on the latter, resulting in a year-long gap between fics. It was particualrily galling as Haven here was conceived in 2010, but would go nearly two years before actually seeing the light of day.

A direct follow-on to Hotel California, the two fics began life as merely parts of the same story. However, as they both ballooned, they were split off, resulting in the substantial gap. The main point of Haven then became to end the story arc that starts with Stormfront, and begin the next one.

Tales of the Mimetic Badarses - Hotel California

Title: Tales of the Mimetic Badarses - Hotel California
Series: Battletech/Mechwarrior
Originally Published: December 2010, Classic Battletech Forums

A direct follow-on to Stormfront, Hotel California continues the Mimetic Badarses storyline. It's the end of the first major arc, but by no means the end of the series. More to the point, the story served as an introduction to the major villain of the series, one who's existence had been confined to a few hints and a short appearance thus far.

This chapter was originally going to be the first half of a story; instead, due to a ballooning wordcount, it ended up being entirely standalone. This happens to me a lot.

Tales of the Mimetic Badarses - Stormfront

Title: Tales of the Mimetic Badarses - Stormfront
Series: Battletech/Mechwarrior
Originally Published: October 2010, Classic Battletech Forums

After the side-story of Ascendence Road, the next chapter, Stormfront, returned to the main Mimetic Badarses storyline. Continuing the plot elements initially raised in They Say, this chapter introduces a number of important elements of the overall main story line. It also greatly expands the cast (in a fic that I wrote? Amazing!) with a lot of new concepts that will be important in events to come.

A chunk of this fic was planned well in advance, and parts of it were written before Ascendance Road. Initially, I started with the last scene and worked backwards from there. I'd even planned to open with a portion of that and do some sort of non-linear storytelling but... it sucks.

Zero Signal - Deleted Scenes

Title: Zero Signal (Deleted Scenes)
Series: Battletech/Mechwarrior
Original Publication: NA

Zero Signal is my second published work. It's not connected to any of my other fics beyond setting, so there's no shared story or characters or the like. However, like Grand Theft Agro it also ran well over the initial wordcount. Whole most of what was dropped amounted to parts of scenes, individual paragraphs or even single sentences, there was one entire scene that was dropped. Needless to say, what remained also (justifiably too!) had the hell edited out of it.

The one complete scene was a bit of a pacing stumper; it didn't add much to the story and actually broke up the overall flow. While it did do it's intended job, showing the problems caused by the collapse of the HPG network, it also dragged the fic towards the end. The result was that it was dropped and the text around it edited out.

The deleted scenes are available here. The full, published story is available on Battlecorps. You should go read it. Now.

Tales of the Mimetic Badarses - Ascendance Road

Title: Tales of the Mimetic Badarses - Ascendance Road
Series: Battletech/Mechwarrior
Originally Published: September 2010, Classic Battletech Forums

A quick one-shot fic, Ascendance Road was created to help introduce and develop some of the characters featured in the Mimetic Badarses series. While both Elezha Karoly and Lynne Street James had already been introduced, the idea of helping develop them was just too fun to pass up. Besides, a freaky-arse cyborg and a redneck mechanic would make for a hillarious "odd couple" setup, right?

Thought so.

This fic is more of a side-story to the main Mimetic Badarses series, being largely unrelated to the main plot. Still, it's there, its fun and it adds to the characters. Enjoy.

Tales of the Mimetic Badarses - They Say

Title: Tales of the Mimetic Badarses - They Say
Series: Battletech/Mechwarrior
Originally Published: July 2010, Classic Battletech Forums

A random bout of inspiration saw me throw together an idea for an entirely new fic series. And by that, I mean that I thought of how I'd end it and the first chapter, and then figured that I'd come up with the rest along the way. Having stolen a good chunk of prose from an older (unused) fic of mine, I then went to work reconstructing it from the ground up and building the hooks for an entire series around it. The end result was surprisingly popular and spawned a series that I am continuing to sporadically work on.

And, since it's me, there's lots of character introduction. I'm terrible like that, but at least I front-load it.

Salting the Earth

Title: Salting the Earth
Series: Battletech/MechWarrior
Original Publication: May 2011, Classic Battletech Forums

The last in the Grand Theft Agro series, Salting the Earth is also the biggest of them. It's the accumulation of storylines and plot threads and concepts and ideas that had been coming together for some time. It was also a bit of a "bounce back" after the darker tones of Stacking the Deck, in not having a "villain-centric" piece. And yes, as allways, there's character introductions. I'm addicted to them or something.

Otherwise, it's full of everything else you expect from the series: Schemes, plots, personal agendas, betrayals, double-crosses, badly written romance, bacon, cars, giant robots blowing things up and so forth. There's a few experimental scenes which I'm not sure how well they worked out, as well as a deliberate attempt at non-linear storytelling.

Also, see if you can guess the fic's big reveal before you get to it. I dare you.