Am I supposed to believe THIS?

This page asks the questions you might have had when reading a BT novel.

I know that BT is Sci-Fi, but there are some scenes where I asked myself:

"Now how did he do THIS?"
...or...
"How could anybody survive that?"

Well, I still don't know how they do it, but they do it. But I'm talking too much.
The point is that there are scenes where everybody could think of a more logical ending. That's where this page comes into play.

There is one easy example. Has anybody of you ever read the "Legend of the Jade Phoenix" trilogy by Robert Thurston?
Those who have know what I mean. For those who haven't read it, I present the highlights.

The trilogy covers the entire life of Aidan Pryde of the Jade Falcons.
Book 1: Aidan, a trueborn, fails to become a warrior because of Clan politics but becomes a warrior using a faked identity (or something like that) with the help of Horse (great name), a freebirth.
Book 2: Aidan qulifies himself a bit and gains a bloodname.
Book 3: Tukayyid. Aidan finally dies!

Now for the fun part.
The biggest "Wait a minute..."-scene is in the third book. Like it's said above, Aidan Pryde (Just look at the name...! Ahhhhhhhhh...!) is on Tukayyid. His unit is retreating and he gives them cover. He knows that he won't make it to the DropShip. But he saved the life of his daughter Dianne.
Sounds heroic? Then just wait what happens next...
Well, there he is, piloting his haunted Mad Cat (yep, haunted). He is alone. In front of the starting DropShip (not so close to be toasted). His Mech is a walking pile of scrap metal. Billions of ComStar Mechs are charging towards him. And then it begins.

"You won't make it back to the DropShip, Aidan Pryde. Why did you stop? Only to buy the Elemental time to rescue a single Mechwarrior? That doesn't make sense." Kael Pershaw said. Pershaw is sitting in his helicopter thousands of kilometers above the planet (well, not thousands but...). They talk for a while and then everybody is wondering. The reason: "Turn right, Aidan Pryde. Fifteen degrees. ... Good. A head shot. It was a Rifleman. Now twentyfive degrees to the left. Use your missiles. Good. (...)"

I think you know what I mean.

Now for something you can even try out in the RPG:
How to destroy a Mech with a crossbow

According to the rules (BattleTech Companion) it should be possible to detroy any BattleMech with one shot from the normal crossbow.
Let's have a closer look at page 46 (Individual Attacks). We will proceed step-by-step.

Take a light crossbow, load it and find an active (important!) BattleMech.
Draw his attention (VERY optional).
Still alive? Good.
Fire your crossbow at the Mech. You have to be in his front or rear.
Hit the Mech.
Now determine damage. You have to roll a "6" two times. This will do 1 point of BT-damage.
Determine Hit Location (BT Compendium). Roll a "1" two times (Center Torso critical hit)
Determine Criticals. You have to roll a "6" two times (3 criticals)
Score three engine hits.
RUN

Impossible? Almost. But it's not against the rules, is it?
I have to admit that it isn't very logical and it is not very fair for the Mech ("My Daishi faced it all: ACs, LRMs, artillery, but then came the crossbow...").