Afterimage: A Baxter's Phantoms Story

Baxter's Phantoms is on the verge of collapse. Betrayed by their former archon, Katherine Steiner, the shattered remains of the once proud Lyran mercenary company have been drifting aimlessly through the Inner Sphere. Despite having lost over ninety percent of his former strength, Commander Michael Baxter seeks to return his unit to its former glory. He has defied the odds before, but with his numbers depleted and his finances sinking into never-ending debt, the situation appears hopeless.

However, hope soon appears in the form of a job from Periphery crime lord Boss Vilnius, and he is willing to buy the mercenaries' debt to cover the bill. On paper the contract is simple; deliver a small piece of cargo to a set of coordinates on the extreme fringe of the Inner Sphere. The catch? Baxter knows neither the contents of the cargo nor the identity of the buyer. Worse yet, other more powerful parties are interested in what the Phantoms are carrying, and they seem hell bent on taking it from them at any cost.