CONTRACTS MAKE STRANGE ALLIES… For new mercenary groups just starting out, one of the primary rules is “Follow the money.” Even when it’s being paid by the same people who forced you to become a mercenary unit in the first place. Ronan and Isobel Carlyle are experiencing this right now, having accepted a contract from the newly-formed Tamar Pact, the cluster of planets that recently seceded from the Lyran Commonwealth—and got the once loyal-Carlyle siblings cashiered as turncoats. Now the Pact wants the Legion’s help with one of their newer planets, Crimond. But murky mission parameters and an unhelpful liaison officer leaves Ronan and Bel wondering who’s a friend and who’s a foe. And when the Legion splits up to handle two different missions, Bel finds herself an entire continent away, on a mission to scout an abandoned Star League base. But she soon discovers the base—and the nearby community—is anything but abandoned…and if she doesn’t act fast, she and her GDL commandos will receive a welcome they won’t walk away from…

BACKS AGAINST THE WALL… Galatea. The Mercenary's Star. Even the most down on their luck units can find work here. Leading the newly-formed Gray Death Legion has been challenging for Grayson Death Carlyle, so when a job comes their way, he’s only too happy to take it. The mission: train the local resistance on the planet Verthandi to resist their Draconis Combine masters. But things do not go well almost from the moment the Legion arrives. Trapped on Verthandi and facing a superior force and a fractured populace, the men and women of the Legion find themselves in a situation that makes the campaign on Trellwan look like a walk in the park. And Grayson quickly learns repeating his past successes may not be so easy this time…

A HERD DIVIDED… For the entirety of its existence, Clan Hell’s Horses has been underestimated by its fellow Clans. The inclusion of tanks and infantry alongside their BattleMech forces has often unfairly forced the Horses into lopsided alliances with other Clans. As competing Clans race headlong to conquer Terra, the birthplace of humanity, the Horses must focus on survival rather than the glory of conquest. But many Horses want more, and they refuse to be shouldered aside as Clans Jade Falcon and Wolf reap the rewards of their campaign toward Terra. Star Captain Peter Cobb, a controversial rising star and military scholar, sees a new trail for the Hell’s Horses to blaze. This path would put the Clan on a fiery trajectory to earn the victories and respect they rightfully deserve, and push the Clan toward a prosperous future. But few embrace his controversial ideas and, divided by distrust and ambition, the leadership of his Clan lacks the will to ensure that the Hell’s Horses will be strong enough to survive the tumultuous conflicts ahead. Caught between the bloody agendas of two rival Khans—a political maneuverer and a bellicose warmonger—Peter must find a way to restore the soul of the Hell’s Horses without sullying his honor, or risk dooming his entire Clan to extinction in the face of a rising power unlike any the Inner Sphere has ever seen…

For over forty centuries, mercenaries have plied their trade and been instrumental in toppling empires or holding the tides of war at bay. And as mankind expanded to the stars, soldiers of fortune rose to new heights of power. Business is booming, yet along with those riches comes a dangerous life and the scorn of many who see only filthy lucre-warriors. Its a dangerous life, but as long as you keep your Mech intact and your bottom line balanced, the universe is yours!

WHEN THE GOING GETS TOUGH… Former hauptmann Ronan Carlyle and his sister Isobel are soldiers without a nation. After their commanding officer left the Lyran Commonwealth Armed Forces entirely, the pair returned to Lyran space for reassignment. But their senior officer branded the remaining troops traitors and cashiered them, stranding hundreds of former LCAF soldiers and technicians. With nothing but a local salvage yard to their name, the Carlyle kids hit upon a way to at least get their people off-planet and back home. So, out of desperation, the Gray Death Legion is reborn. But soon, what was supposed to be a temporary mercenary unit turns into something entirely different…a real mercenary unit. THE TOUGH GO MERCENARY. Gray Death Rising chronicles the new Gray Death Legion’s early missions. From their very first job—working for the same unit that kicked them out of the LCAF—to their next job off-planet, to their biggest mission yet, facing political intrigue and taking on the mantle of their famous great-grandfather’s legacy on the planet of Pandora in a brand-new story. In the cutthroat mercenary world of the Inner Sphere, it takes more than a famous name to survive. Fortunately, Ronan and Bel have the training, intelligence, and most importantly, experience to carry their family’s legacy into a new era. And collected here for the first time, read where it all begins…again.

A TEST OF LOYALTY… Clan Jade Falcon’s war efforts draw closer to Terra, but to conquer this ultimate prize, the Falcons’ vicious Khan, Malvina Hazen, must be able to trust all of her warriors to carry out her commands without hesitation—no matter how much death or collateral damage they will cause. For Malvina, victory is the only thing that matters, and those who stand in her way suffer swift and brutal elimination. Star Captain Archer Pryde is an unconventional Falcon MechWarrior who chafes at carrying out his Khan’s terror tactics, but he delivers results in combat, so Malvina has turned a blind eye to his beliefs so far. But when civilians on a conquered world revolt against their Clan masters, innocents are caught in the Falcons’ crosshairs. Archer and his fellow MechWarriors must prove their mettle to Star Colonel Nikita Malthus, the Khan’s vindictive advisor, by carrying out their scorched-earth orders to the letter. But are these orders a betrayal of what it means to be a true and honorable Jade Falcon? With both his loyalty and honor in question, Archer must run the gauntlet between duty and principles, or risk his own destruction.

A NEW ERA IS DAWNING… The Illician Lancers: a mercenary outfit with centuries of honorable tradition, yet somehow always missing the limelight. Especially recently, after their mission failure during the liberation of New Syrtis in 3147 tarnished their once-sterling reputation and left them languishing on the Capellan border. Can Colonel Luciana Araya Morales overcome the shame of those events and restore the Lancers to their former glory? Meanwhile, as Clan Wolf prepares for its invasion of the cradle of humanity, Ya’el Labov, saKhan of the Sea Fox Khanate, hunts for new opportunities in the currents wafting from Terra. Rumors that the Clan Wolf Khan is using mercenaries as part of his attack plan set the wily saKhan’s mind to spinning. How can he take advantage of this, and make Clan Sea Fox’s star rise even further? Two people with very different goals are about to embark on a shared mission that, if successful, will change much in the Inner Sphere. And if they are not, their alliance may be doomed to failure before it can even begin…

A WORLD UNDER SIEGE… After repelling the Capellan Confederation’s brutal attempt to capture their planet’s working HPG, the people of Northwind had hoped to get a break from the growing conflict in the wake of the splintering of the Republic of the Sphere. But Capellan ruler Daoshen Liao has other plans for the beleaguered world, sending wave after wave of mercenaries to grind Northwind’s defenses into bloody dust. Standing against them is what is left of the legendary Northwind Highlanders, particularly the Grey Watch. Already heroes for driving the Capellans off-planet, the valiant warriors of the Watch are now fighting a campaign of attrition, hoping to beat back the rampaging mercenary hordes. But when a Knight of the Republic arrives with universe-changing news, the men and women of the Grey Watch must face a remade Inner Sphere and find their place in it…or perish.

A COST IS ALWAYS PAID… Nikolai Reed is a trader on a Lyran JumpShip plying the space lanes… Chloe Mason is a hot-shot tech with the Hsien Hotheads mercenaries… Leaving the Northwind Highlanders, MechWarrior Ryana Nikol fills a billet with the Eridani Light Horse… Disparate lives, but a unified dream that will bring them all together on a fateful course that will span decades, cover hundreds of light years, and involve love, friendship, and loss across a dozen worlds. Each will pay a price along the way, as a cost always comes due. The Mercenary Life anthology is a compilation of stories written by Randall N. Bills. Including tales from several different characters as they cross paths, and the dream to found a new mercenary command is born. Their unique lives showcase the struggles and trials of the men and women who take up the mercenary mantle from a variety of angles, all bound around that central vision. The first eight stories of this anthology were originally posted for free alongside the release of MechWarrior 5: Mercenaries, acting as the origin stories for the mercenary command within that computer game. This is the first time they have been compiled into a single volume to allow for a Print on Demand physical copy. Additionally, an all-new ninth story has been added—The Sun Will Rise—along with postscripts for every story that gives the reader insight into how stories are crafted within a shared universe between tabletop, computer games, and fiction that spans more than thirty years and tens of millions of words.

OUT FOR BLOOD… Wolf's Dragoons, the most storied and elite mercenary unit in the Inner Sphere, has been utterly shattered for the first time in its centuries-long history. In 3151, most of the Dragoons listened to Marotta Kerensky and followed Alaric Ward to Terra. There, they helped him destroy the Republic of the Sphere and establish the ilClan. Four out of five Dragoons died in the fighting. The survivors were injured, shell-shocked, and finally, gravely insulted by Alaric Ward’s token payment of thirty pieces of silver. In one brutal gesture, the ilKhan did what no other enemy had ever done: He broke Wolf’s Dragoons. The decimated survivors limped off Terra to rendezvous with their remnants that had stayed behind. Colonel Henry “Hack” Kincaid, senior striker officer, is waiting when the Dragoons convoy appears, full of wrecked machines, but depleted of personnel. Kincaid is a man of reputation in the Dragoons. His word carries weight. And he hasn’t been tarnished by Terra. Three regiments and one of his irreplaceable striker battalions have all been ground to dust. All that is left now is duty. And vengeance…