Warriors of Light and Steel

Warriors of Light and Steel is the third episode of BattleTech: The Animated Series.

The episode begins on an unknown world
We see Jade Falcon mechs tearing through more Inner Sphere mechs, led by Malthus's red Thor. Malthus bitterly muses about the lack of challenge the Inner Sphere warriors pose as he blasts through four mechs - including an assault-class Mauler - entirely on his own.

Elsewhere, on the planet Romulus
The Kwaidan lands on a cliff. Soon after, Adam debarks in his Axman, telling the Strikers that the Romulus Militia have agreed to lend the Strikers their training facilities for some much-needed practice - and hopefully teach the unit some lessons in teamwork. Ciro's griping out the training nature of the mission draws some mocking jokes from Val, Hawkins and Kylie.

In the training facility's control room, a member of the Romulus Militia explains that the facility was left in the hand of the militia after the Federated Commonwealth moved its regular troops to the Clan front. With a voice command - "Kerensky will return" - the training systems activate, and three holographic mechs - a Thug, a Champion and a Crab, all Star League designs - appear on the battlefield.

Back at the site of Malthus's latest conquest
Star Colonel Nicolai Malthus addresses the POWs on Wotan - the planet we saw captured in the opening sequence - welcoming them into Clan Jade Falcon. Upon hearing that the last resistance movement on the planet have been quashed, Malthus announces his intent to take the Clan's next objective, a planet once commanded by the founder of Malthus's bloodline - Romulus.

Back on Romulus
The Strikers take to the battlefield as their holographic opponents start to appear around them. As the battle begins, Specter tries to feed the Strikers information from the Katana, but the time lag results in information that is out of date by seconds - far too fast to be effective in the battle that they're engaged in. Ciro gripes once again about Specter's shortcomings, but Adam tells the Strikers to just work through the problem.

As the Strikers' battle plan falls apart, Ciro rallies the troops and calls them into formation, an order Val and Hawkins readily follow against Adam's direct orders. Unfortunately, Ciro accidentally "shoots down" Kylie's Banshee, and Val's Centurion is disabled by a simulated leg hit. The holographic mechs bathe the rest of the Strikers in simulated laser fire, ending the engagement in a loss for the Strikers. Adam angrily explains that the mechs were fighting based on the Clans' field maneuvers. Hawkins tries to tell them that the tactics worked against the Draconis Combine, but Adam shouts him down - they're fighting a new enemy now, one that "isn't impressed by your quaint little defense formations."

Inconsistencies with BattleTech canon

 * Under Battletech mech construction rules, there are entirely too many weapons mounted on Malthus's Thor's legs in the opening battle sequence. At most, two weapons can be placed in each leg, yet there appear to be six lasers per leg opening fire on the opposing mechs!