Book excerpt: TO REFORGE A SHATTERED LEAGUE… A MechWarrior without peer, Thaddeus Marik has become the figurehead for a new community of worlds attempting to resurrect the Free Worlds League after the collapse of the Republic of the Sphere. After defeating a Lyran invasion on the planet of Savannah and negotiating a successful alliance with the Clan Protectorate Coalition, Marik must now ally himself with Jessica Halas-Hughes Marik if the new league is to have a chance. Having Marik and his forces at her side gives Jessica much-needed credibility and greater influence on Oriente. But old hatreds die hard, erupting in a war against enemies who will stop at nothing to destroy the founding of a new league...