Blackwatch is cool and all, but this is neat...
TimEd
Meteor maker
You missed that vote already. Unless you wanted someone named Falcon in Clan Ghost Bear.
KlavoHunter
THOU SHALT WORSHIP NO GODS ABOVE ENTERPRISE!
TRIAL OF REFUSAL!!! 🗡️
Introduction Part 3
3.
STRANA MECHTY, CLAN HOMEWORLDS
DEEP PERIPHERY
5 July 3039
You are Roland of Clan Ghost Bear, even by the age of eight your training has greatly intensified, allowing you to develop skills far in advance of your distant peers in the Inner Sphere. The childish games have given way to cross country marches, runs through the assault course and organised combat drills. Your have been taught the basics of martial arts, and small arms marksmanship.
And yet for all the focus on physical skills, the developmental of your intellect has been by no means neglected. Beyond the study of the Remembrance, you have been introduced to strategy, mathematics, literature, military history, and in accordance with Ghost Bear philosophy encouraged to explore artistic endeavour.
Your instructors have expounded on the moral supremacy of Clan society and highlighted the failings of the inferior neo-fuedal empires that hold the Inner Sphere within their oppressive grip.
You have adapted excellently to the increasing severity of the education program, your natural aptitude and measured temperament well suited to tackling each challenge you are presented with. There are others amongst your creche who do not fare quite so well, and the instructors are quick to dole out encouragement exercises to remind those that lag behind to redouble their efforts. You notice that a couple of your creche-mates how lag too far behind disappear from the group. When asked, the lead instructor simply states that they were transferred somewhere more fitting to their capabilities.
No one talks about the missing after that, soon it is hard to even remember they were there at all.
Now that you are old enough to understand, the true meaning of your codex, the metal band that has been attached to your wrist since birth, is revealed to you. How it contains a record of your genetic lineage and identifies your place in Clan society. Thorough it you learn of your gene-sires, the fallen blood-named warriors who contributed to your genetic composition. Your blood heritage is that of:
[] Gene-mother Khan Michelle Tseng and Gene-father Star-Colonel Adrian Kabrinski -A prestigious blood lineage drawing from a former Ghost Bear Khan of the early 31st century.
[] Gene-mother Galaxy Commander Ada Hawker and Gene-father Star-Captain Weylan Ortiz- A well known mechwarrior blood-lineage, though the Hawker bloodname is shared between several other clans.
[] Gene-mother Star Commander Zira Noble and Gene-father Star Captain Yongjin Scott- A lesser known blood-lineage with few deeds of renown, but your Gene-mother supplied a giftake after falling heroically in battle.
You study their deeds and achievements, and are exhorted to follow in the footsteps, to aspire to win glory in the clan, to earn your own bloodname, and so pass on your genetic legacy to the generations that will come after you. Each of your friends within the creche dreams of earning fame and rank on the Battlefield and ascending to khanship.
Despite the increasing tempo of training you are not entirely deprived of time to yourself. You are permitted one afternoon of liberty per week. The responsibility to use this time productively is left up to you, and many of your creche-mates come to believe that it is another kind of assessment.
Though what exactly the cadre of warrior-instructors and scientist-caste overseers might be expecting, none of you are quite sure. Personally you decide to engage in...
[] Physical training- You spend as much time as you can within the gymnasium facilities honing your body in preparation for the rigours of Sibko life.
[] Artistic endeavour- Inspired the famed works of Ghost Bears past, you further explore the arts, seeking to find the style that will define your future works.
[] Socialising- You prefer to spend time with a group of your peers, getting to know them outside of the lessons and exercises. The bonds built here may serve you well later.
[] Games of Skill- You challenge any who will accept to contests of skill and prowess. With no possession or currency to bet with, your wagers are primarily the exchange of chores and duties.
[] Marksmanship- You dedicate yourself to improving your mastery of weapons, spending as much time as you can at the range and familiarising yourself with the weapons on offer.
Overall you get the impression that your teachers approve of your progress, and this knowledge instils a pride in your accomplishments that drives you to strive for yet greater achievements.
However towards the end of your time in the creche, one incident does occur shortly before you are due to be assigned to your training Sibko, that marks you out from the other children and gives cause for the instructors to pay you closer attention.
It happened...
[] On a wilderness survival training exercise.
[] During an excursion to Katyusha City.
[] In the mess hall, the day of an inspection.
[] The night before the graduation ceremony.
AN: A few choices to make here, so we can get things move forward quickly.
Lots of good characters made, the ones that didn't win the vote will likely appear as fellow Sibbies in future updates.
STRANA MECHTY, CLAN HOMEWORLDS
DEEP PERIPHERY
5 July 3039
You are Roland of Clan Ghost Bear, even by the age of eight your training has greatly intensified, allowing you to develop skills far in advance of your distant peers in the Inner Sphere. The childish games have given way to cross country marches, runs through the assault course and organised combat drills. Your have been taught the basics of martial arts, and small arms marksmanship.
And yet for all the focus on physical skills, the developmental of your intellect has been by no means neglected. Beyond the study of the Remembrance, you have been introduced to strategy, mathematics, literature, military history, and in accordance with Ghost Bear philosophy encouraged to explore artistic endeavour.
Your instructors have expounded on the moral supremacy of Clan society and highlighted the failings of the inferior neo-fuedal empires that hold the Inner Sphere within their oppressive grip.
You have adapted excellently to the increasing severity of the education program, your natural aptitude and measured temperament well suited to tackling each challenge you are presented with. There are others amongst your creche who do not fare quite so well, and the instructors are quick to dole out encouragement exercises to remind those that lag behind to redouble their efforts. You notice that a couple of your creche-mates how lag too far behind disappear from the group. When asked, the lead instructor simply states that they were transferred somewhere more fitting to their capabilities.
No one talks about the missing after that, soon it is hard to even remember they were there at all.
Now that you are old enough to understand, the true meaning of your codex, the metal band that has been attached to your wrist since birth, is revealed to you. How it contains a record of your genetic lineage and identifies your place in Clan society. Thorough it you learn of your gene-sires, the fallen blood-named warriors who contributed to your genetic composition. Your blood heritage is that of:
[] Gene-mother Khan Michelle Tseng and Gene-father Star-Colonel Adrian Kabrinski -A prestigious blood lineage drawing from a former Ghost Bear Khan of the early 31st century.
[] Gene-mother Galaxy Commander Ada Hawker and Gene-father Star-Captain Weylan Ortiz- A well known mechwarrior blood-lineage, though the Hawker bloodname is shared between several other clans.
[] Gene-mother Star Commander Zira Noble and Gene-father Star Captain Yongjin Scott- A lesser known blood-lineage with few deeds of renown, but your Gene-mother supplied a giftake after falling heroically in battle.
You study their deeds and achievements, and are exhorted to follow in the footsteps, to aspire to win glory in the clan, to earn your own bloodname, and so pass on your genetic legacy to the generations that will come after you. Each of your friends within the creche dreams of earning fame and rank on the Battlefield and ascending to khanship.
Despite the increasing tempo of training you are not entirely deprived of time to yourself. You are permitted one afternoon of liberty per week. The responsibility to use this time productively is left up to you, and many of your creche-mates come to believe that it is another kind of assessment.
Though what exactly the cadre of warrior-instructors and scientist-caste overseers might be expecting, none of you are quite sure. Personally you decide to engage in...
[] Physical training- You spend as much time as you can within the gymnasium facilities honing your body in preparation for the rigours of Sibko life.
[] Artistic endeavour- Inspired the famed works of Ghost Bears past, you further explore the arts, seeking to find the style that will define your future works.
[] Socialising- You prefer to spend time with a group of your peers, getting to know them outside of the lessons and exercises. The bonds built here may serve you well later.
[] Games of Skill- You challenge any who will accept to contests of skill and prowess. With no possession or currency to bet with, your wagers are primarily the exchange of chores and duties.
[] Marksmanship- You dedicate yourself to improving your mastery of weapons, spending as much time as you can at the range and familiarising yourself with the weapons on offer.
Overall you get the impression that your teachers approve of your progress, and this knowledge instils a pride in your accomplishments that drives you to strive for yet greater achievements.
However towards the end of your time in the creche, one incident does occur shortly before you are due to be assigned to your training Sibko, that marks you out from the other children and gives cause for the instructors to pay you closer attention.
It happened...
[] On a wilderness survival training exercise.
[] During an excursion to Katyusha City.
[] In the mess hall, the day of an inspection.
[] The night before the graduation ceremony.
AN: A few choices to make here, so we can get things move forward quickly.
Lots of good characters made, the ones that didn't win the vote will likely appear as fellow Sibbies in future updates.
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[X] Gene-mother Star Commander Zira Noble and Gene-father Star Captain Yongjin Scott- A lesser known blood-lineage with few deeds of renown, but your Gene-mother supplied a giftake after falling heroically in battle.
[X] Socialising- You prefer to spend time with a group of your peers, getting to know them outside of the lessons and exercises. The bonds built here may serve you well later.
[X] In the mess hall, the day of an inspection.
[X] Socialising- You prefer to spend time with a group of your peers, getting to know them outside of the lessons and exercises. The bonds built here may serve you well later.
[X] In the mess hall, the day of an inspection.
- Pronouns
- Reader
[X] Gene-mother Galaxy Commander Ada Hawker and Gene-father Star-Captain Weylan Ortiz- A well known mechwarrior blood-lineage, though the Hawker bloodname is shared between several other clans.
[X] Marksmanship- You dedicate yourself to improving your mastery of weapons, spending as much time as you can at the range and familiarising yourself with the weapons on offer.
[X] During an excursion to Katyusha City
[X] Marksmanship- You dedicate yourself to improving your mastery of weapons, spending as much time as you can at the range and familiarising yourself with the weapons on offer.
[X] During an excursion to Katyusha City
- Location
- Earth
I'm not super familiar with the setting - what is a 'giftake'?
A genetic sample taken from a clan warrior after their death in battle. It is considered to be a superior material for the clan Eugenics program. Clanners born from a giftake sample are thought to be more likely to display exceptional qualities.
The blood heritage vote is really a choice that will effect a future trial of bloodright. The Tseng choice will be the most heavily contested, while the Hawker one will see competition from other clans. The Noble option will be easier to achieve but is far less prestigious.
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- Pronouns
- Reader
It's a genetic sample. It's not some kind object or bonus item.
- Location
- Earth
[X] Gene-mother Star Commander Zira Noble and Gene-father Star Captain Yongjin Scott- A lesser known blood-lineage with few deeds of renown, but your Gene-mother supplied a giftake after falling heroically in battle.
[X] Socialising- You prefer to spend time with a group of your peers, getting to know them outside of the lessons and exercises. The bonds built here may serve you well later.
[X] On a wilderness survival training exercise.
[X] Socialising- You prefer to spend time with a group of your peers, getting to know them outside of the lessons and exercises. The bonds built here may serve you well later.
[X] On a wilderness survival training exercise.
[X] Gene-mother Star Commander Zira Noble and Gene-father Star Captain Yongjin Scott- A lesser known blood-lineage with few deeds of renown, but your Gene-mother supplied a giftake after falling heroically in battle.
[X] Marksmanship- You dedicate yourself to improving your mastery of weapons, spending as much time as you can at the range and familiarising yourself with the weapons on offer.
[X] On a wilderness survival training exercise.
[X] Marksmanship- You dedicate yourself to improving your mastery of weapons, spending as much time as you can at the range and familiarising yourself with the weapons on offer.
[X] On a wilderness survival training exercise.
- Location
- New England
[x] Gene-mother Star Commander Zira Noble and Gene-father Star Captain Yongjin Scott- A lesser known blood-lineage with few deeds of renown, but your Gene-mother supplied a giftake after falling heroically in battle.
[x] Socialising- You prefer to spend time with a group of your peers, getting to know them outside of the lessons and exercises. The bonds built here may serve you well later.
[x] The night before the graduation ceremony.
Looks like somebody was "graduating" in more ways than one, heh.
[x] Socialising- You prefer to spend time with a group of your peers, getting to know them outside of the lessons and exercises. The bonds built here may serve you well later.
[x] The night before the graduation ceremony.
Looks like somebody was "graduating" in more ways than one, heh.
- Location
- Pilipinas
[X] Gene-mother Star Commander Zira Noble and Gene-father Star Captain Yongjin Scott- A lesser known blood-lineage with few deeds of renown, but your Gene-mother supplied a giftake after falling heroically in battle.
[X] Socialising- You prefer to spend time with a group of your peers, getting to know them outside of the lessons and exercises. The bonds built here may serve you well later.
[X] In the mess hall, the day of an inspection.
[X] Socialising- You prefer to spend time with a group of your peers, getting to know them outside of the lessons and exercises. The bonds built here may serve you well later.
[X] In the mess hall, the day of an inspection.
[X] Gene-mother Khan Michelle Tseng and Gene-father Star-Colonel Adrian Kabrinski -A prestigious blood lineage drawing from a former Ghost Bear Khan of the early 31st century.
[X] Marksmanship- You dedicate yourself to improving your mastery of weapons, spending as much time as you can at the range and familiarising yourself with the weapons on offer.
[X] During an excursion to Katyusha City.
The Tseng bloodname will be pretty hotly contested so the best chance is being a combat monster ourselves.
[X] Marksmanship- You dedicate yourself to improving your mastery of weapons, spending as much time as you can at the range and familiarising yourself with the weapons on offer.
[X] During an excursion to Katyusha City.
The Tseng bloodname will be pretty hotly contested so the best chance is being a combat monster ourselves.
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KnightDisciple
Brotherhood. Unity. Peace.
- Location
- Midwest, USA
[X] Gene-mother Star Commander Zira Noble and Gene-father Star Captain Yongjin Scott- A lesser known blood-lineage with few deeds of renown, but your Gene-mother supplied a giftake after falling heroically in battle.
[X] Socialising- You prefer to spend time with a group of your peers, getting to know them outside of the lessons and exercises. The bonds built here may serve you well later.
[X] During an excursion to Katyusha City
[X] Socialising- You prefer to spend time with a group of your peers, getting to know them outside of the lessons and exercises. The bonds built here may serve you well later.
[X] During an excursion to Katyusha City
[X] Gene-mother Khan Michelle Tseng and Gene-father Star-Colonel Adrian Kabrinski -A prestigious blood lineage drawing from a former Ghost Bear Khan of the early 31st century.
[X] Physical training- You spend as much time as you can within the gymnasium facilities honing your body in preparation for the rigours of Sibko life.
[X] On a wilderness survival training exercise.
[X] Physical training- You spend as much time as you can within the gymnasium facilities honing your body in preparation for the rigours of Sibko life.
[X] On a wilderness survival training exercise.
[X] Gene-mother Khan Michelle Tseng and Gene-father Star-Colonel Adrian Kabrinski -A prestigious blood lineage drawing from a former Ghost Bear Khan of the early 31st century.
[X] Games of Skill- You challenge any who will accept to contests of skill and prowess. With no possession or currency to bet with, your wagers are primarily the exchange of chores and duties.
[X] The night before the graduation ceremony.
Could someone tell me a bit about the settin' if they don't mind? It seems interesting to say the least.
[X] Games of Skill- You challenge any who will accept to contests of skill and prowess. With no possession or currency to bet with, your wagers are primarily the exchange of chores and duties.
[X] The night before the graduation ceremony.
Could someone tell me a bit about the settin' if they don't mind? It seems interesting to say the least.
The Battletech universe is a massive setting that sprawls across a time frame ranging from three hundred to a thousand years in the future, where humanity has gained FTL capability and spread to occupy an area of space over a thousand light years across called the Inner Sphere, and an undefined wilderness beyond called the Periphery
Though they began as a united state called the Terran alliance, sheer distance and the faults of human greed and hubris inevitably shattered them into several antagonistic factions that grew in power and fiercely competed. An Age of War ravaged the Inner Sphere, as they threw fleets of immensely powerful warships that could devastate entire worlds, against each other.
Under the stresses of almost continuous war and in order to maintain control these interstellar great powers began regressing socially into neo-feudalism. Eventually after several notable massacres where the population of entire worlds were slaughtered, the Great Houses of the Inner Sphere came together and agreed to some rules for warfare to try and prevent them bombing each other back to the stone age, called the Ares Conventions.
What this actually did was reduce the risk of war and turned it almost into a game. House militaries ballooned and around this time the Terran Hegemony, the most advanced human state, developed giant combat walkers called Battlemechs, that have dominated the battlefield ever since, with their pilots, mechwarriors, becoming a celebrated class of the lower nobility. These Battlemechs obsoleted almost everyone's armies and set off a new arms race as every state tried to build as many as they could and develop new ones.
Eventually a hereditary leader of the Hegemony got into his head that he should try and reunify humanity to stop the wars. Through political guile, economic prowess and sometimes outright threats he actually managed this without having to conquer them.
This new polity called the Star League ushered in a golden age of peace and technological development.
However it was a castle built on sand, neo-feudalism and the Great Houses of the Inner Sphere had not been abolished, only sworn fealty to a greater power. Beneath the First Lord of the Star League factions constantly bickered and jockeyed for influence and power. Though they contributed to a joint military, called the Star League Defence Force, each member state maintained its own vast armies.
Two hundred years after its formation the Star League was destroyed and the Terran Hegemony ravaged by an almost apocalyptic civil war, triggered when a incompetent First Lord was killed and usurped by his closest advisor. Who then tried to use his own personal military to declare himself Emperor of all Humanity.
The SLDF, which had been sidelined by a deployment to subjugate rebellious territories in the Periphery, objected to this and under General Aleksandr Kerensky waged a decade long war to overthrow the usurper and retake the Hegemony. The other Great Houses meanwhile stood back and did nothing.
When Terra was finally liberated, there was almost nothing left to rebuild the Star League government with, except Kerensky's battered army, and no heir to place on the throne.
The House lords bickered and argued amongst each other and none could agree on how to rebuild the Star League and who should lead. So they each proclaimed themselves the next First Lord and used Their fresh militaries to start attacking everyone else to force them into submission.
Rather than spend another ten years fighting the House lords to try and rebuild something resembling the Star League, General Kerensky decided he would not be part of another age of war. Along with the majority of the SLDF he packed up and left on an exodus into the deep periphery.
The inner Sphere powers then spent the next two hundred years beating each other back into a technological dark age, called the Succession Wars, where most advanced technology has become irreplaceable lostech. What advanced manufacturing there is occurs in highly automated factories that no one really knows how to operate, so when they break the capability is lost forever.
By the 31st century they are still going at it with armies of centuries old Battlemechs, that have been repeatedly salvaged and patched together. War has devolved mostly into small raiding actions over important resources and technology. Though around 3025 some progress is made in recovering list knowledge through the discovery of old Star League data cores.
Meanwhile Kerensky's SLDF have had their own problems. After journeying deep into unknown space beyond the periphery, they settled on some marginally habitable world's and tried to set up a Star League in exile. However with a society made up almost entirely of combat veterans who just fought a decade long war and spent two years crammed into warships, the colonies were not stable.
Despite the best efforts of the government, factionalism and infighting took hold and the aging Kerensky could not maintain control. The SLDF remnants fell into civil war themselves.
A small group of them lead by General Kerensky's son Nikolas fled on a second Exodus to a recently discovered group of world's that was more habitable.
There disgusted by what they saw as the weakness of those that had destroyed everything they had fought for, they reformed themselves into a highly militaristic caste based society and after building up for twenty years invaded and conquered what was left of the rest of the SLDF exiles.
These are the Clans.
Now two hundred years later they have built up their forces, eugenically bred themselves into 'perfect warriors' and developed new advanced technology, and are on the brink of deciding whether they should invade the Inner Sphere to destroy the Great Houses once and for all, and then refound the Star League atop the Scavenger Lord's ashes.
That roughly bring you up to the period this quest is set in, though without going into things like Comstar, the mercenary trade, the Wolverines, the Periphery states and their uprising, The Wolf's Dragoons, or Hanse motherfucking Davion.
More detail can be found at this excellent resource: History
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I massively appreciate your detailed explanation fo the history, and just know that it has definitely not gone to waste. The information was flawless and you seem to have covered al the most importnat parts that at least a learned man in the Battletech universe would know, and I'm thankful for that (and the link you posted),
So basically the takeaway here is: everyone is bad and everyone who's good is bad or dead.
Is that a negative or a positive to his reputation?
Both?
He is a magnificent bastard, who from the 3020s onwards came closest to being able to win the succession wars though military prowess and dynastic union, and possibly would have if not for the Clan invasion and his awful children.
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His children are disappointing but not surprising over squabbling on their inheritance.
Introduction Part 4
4.
CGB COLD WEATHER TRAINING AREA GAMMA, NOVY TERRA
STRANA MECHTY, CLAN HOMEWORLDS
DEEP PERIPHERY
12 AUGUST 3040
Your foot crunched lightly in the snow as you stepped out of the tree line. The sun was getting low in the sky, and the fresh snow from last night, that had softened in the glare of midday, was now beginning to form a harder crust on the surface that made a satisfying sound each time your insulated boots broke through it.
Ahead the largish clearing between the trees was cast in a pinkish-orange glow from the sun setting behind you, pierced by the jagged blue shadows in the lee of the stand of pines that you had just left. You could just about make out the shapes of Leonid and Rikke crouched in the gloom beneath the branches on the far side. Leonid had just given the all clear sign; so you, Timur and Sayaka were now carefully making your way across the dead ground to join up with the rest of your squad.
Your entire training creche had flown in to this area of the Gostro Plateau early yesterday monring. The exercise your instructors had set for you was simple enough, a test of over land navigation and wilderness survival skills.
You had actually been to this area before, on group camping trips. Though each of those times had been accompanied by the adult guides and instructors as they taught you various survival skills and supervised unit cohesion activities. Now however you were on your own.
The creche had been split up into squads of five and driven out to widely dispersed points around the edge of the valley. Your objective was to navigate the two day hike across the training area to the rendezvous point without assistance. Successfully completing the task was part of your graduation into the Sibko program, to prove that you were independent and capable enough of taking on the challenges of true warrior training.
Each squad had been issued a set of survival gear for the journey, though only the minimum of what you would need. A Clan warrior must learn to conserve resources of course. Instructor Gustav had picked Leonid as the squad leader, and he had divided up the equipment between your packs. Timur carried the five sets of cold weather rations rations and chemical stove, Rikke got the compact tent you would sleep in over night, Sayaka the first aid kit, and map. Leonid of course kept the survival knife, compass, and flare gun for himself.
The two flares issued with the gun would be your squad's one way of calling for help once the excessive began. The instructors had made it clear that it should only be used in a true emergency, and heavily implied that using it would be an automatic failure.
You were given the rifle. Some might have thought that carrying the firearm to be the best option out of the group. You knew better.
Not really a true weapon, it was a bolt action model intended more for the labourer caste wardens who kept predators away from remote farms than actual warriors. It was heavy and awkward to carry over your shoulder by its single strap. The stock kept bumping against the back of your leg as you walked, which was irritating over a short distance, and maddening on long hike. You were certain that Leonid had chosen you to carry it for just this reason.
Both you and he had been the expected picks for squad leader during this excersise, and had known it ever since the lists dividing everyone into squads had been posted in the crechehall the week before. You had both stepped up attempts prove yourself to Gustav and the other instructors, eager to get the command slot, even if it was just for a two day hike. Leonid had got it, not you, and now you were sure he had given you the worst job just to rub your face in it.
Others might have been angered by that, and acted out pettily to undermine their leader's actions. You saw there was little point, that would be what Leonid wanted after all. Instead you had stoically shouldered your burden and fallen in with the rest. That had been eighteen hours of hiking ago, and now a small part of you was beginning to ponder ways to get back at the other boy.
Not now though. You could wait.
You ducked under a pine branch laden with snow and crouched down next to Rikke, Timur and Sayaka joining you in quick succession. Rikke twitched her head, flicking the bangs of her blonde bob to the side as she did so, and snorted.
"Glad you slowcoaches could make it. My feet were starting to go to sleep." Sayaka stuck her tongue out in reply, whilst Timur merely grunted.
You ignored her, and stepped over to where Leonid was busy, seemingly peering into the darkness between the trunks of the forest ahead. His face did not betray whatever thoughts were swirling around in his big dumb head, but you felt that the way he did not even acknowledge your presence was a calculated snub.
Not wanting to give him the satisfaction, you said nothing
For a moment there was no sound amongst the group, and you listened to the wind as it whistled gently through the needles of the pine trees above you.
Eventually Sayaka, ever the impatient one, broke the tension with a groan and pushed past you, the braid of black hair thumping imagist her shoulder as she went. She nudged Leonid to break him out of his reverie.
"Which way next then?" She asked, the tone of exasperation clear in her voice.
Leonid snorted softly, the warm air blowing out of his nostrils, billowed out in a pair of small clouds that reminded of one of a cow you had seen once during an excursion that had passed through an agri-farm. You thought it was a fitting comparison.
Oblivious to your mental image of him with horns and eating grass, Leonid flipped open the compass and examined the needle as it quivered beneath the thick dome of plastic in the fading light. After a moment he twitched his head and looked in a different direction of to the right.
"That way." He nodded.
"You want to look at the map first Quiaff?" Questioned Sayaka, pulling the rolled sheet of plastifilm out of a pocket of her pack and proffering it towards him.
"Neg. I do not need to." He shook his head. "I know where we are going."
Without waiting for anyone to respond his stood and began to stride off in the direction he had indicated.
"Ugh." Sayaka rolled her eyes, and went after him, followed closely by Timur.
As Rikke went past she glanced you out of the side of her eyes. "Are you going to sit there and grow roots, quineg?"
Taking a breath you got up and followed as well, taking the rear position in the column.
After a while of walking, Timur eventually found the lack of conversation too boring, and spoke up.
"What I do not get is why we have to do this stupid exercise anyway." You knew where this was going. It was the same complaint he had made during the flight yesterday.
"We are gonna be mechwarriors right? So why do we need to march through the snow in the dark? When I get my mech I will have a navmap and be able to run though this dumb forest faster than a ground car. I will never have to to hike again."
Rikke clipped him over the ear.
"Ow!" He spun round on her. "What was that for?"
"If you do not complete this exercise you will never be a mechwarrior, idiot."
"But walking is for Elementals. Not us." Timur continued.
Sayaka turned on him " And what happens when the great ristar Timur gets his gyro blown out and has to eject? Going to walk back to the dropship, or sit there in the wilderness and die quiaff?
"Neg." He grumbled, looking down. Obviously wishing he had kept quiet
"Good. Now shut up before you attract the wolves with your whining."
"Wolves?" Timur's brown eyes widened slightly. "There are no wolves here are there?"
Technically he was right, the warders who maintained this training area for the Clan were supposed to keep predators like the fearsome Strana Mechty wolf away. However it covers a large area, and there was always a chance that a small pack could find their way in between sweeps. This was part of the reason each squad had been issued a rifle. Though typically it would be completely unnecessary, if you were to encounter even one of the large wolves that made this continent their home, it could mean the difference between life and death.
You decided that keeping Timur quiet for a bit would be a good idea.
"Aff. Why do you think I have this thing." You said, hefting the rifle slightly of your shoulder by its strap.
He closed his mouth audibly.
"That is enough chatter now." Leonid spoke up from the lead. "We have another nine kilometres to cover before dark."
The five of you continued in silence for another few minutes, as you went the ground beneath your feet began to get steeper, and the trees cover became sparser. Patches of scree and loose rocks littered the area around you, and solitary boulders, ranging from football size to ones taller than you were dotted seemingly at random between the trunks. You all slowed slightly to take more care with your footing, and every so often a pebble or too dislodged by an errant step would bounce away down the slope to clatter against a tree or other rocks.
Suddenly Rikke stopped in front of you. You opened you mouth to tell her to keep moving, but she held up her hand to pre-empt any words. Cocking her head slightly she turned to face slightly towards the left.
"Do you hear that?" She asked.
Timur, Sayaka and Leonid each noticed that the two of you had stopped, and turned around to see what was going on.
"Hear wha-" You began to say, and then stopped. Because you did hear it. "Aff. I hear it."
It was faint, coming from somewhere to the North, further down the slope that you were currently descending.
If you concentrated hard it sounded almost like...
"Wolves? Is it wolves?" Asked Timur. A tinge of worry in his own voice.
Rikke shook her head. "Neg. It is someone shouting."
You heard it again, it was louder this time.
"It sounds like they are in trouble." Said Sayaka. "We should go and look."
You all looked at Leonid. He was the leader, so it was his decision. "Aff." he said. "We are going that way anyway.
You squad made it's way further down the slope, where the boulders became more frequent, and jagged outcrops of bedrock began to appear, thrusting through the carpet of snow and pine needles. Up ahead you could see an area where the ground dropped away into a gulley where the water from a spring had cut through the hillside. Crumbling walls of weathered rock lined the edges, and further down a couple of trunks from fallen trees were wedged inside it at odd angles.
The cries were becoming louder now, and you were certain they were coming from inside the gulley. Stopping near the edge the five of you peered down, and in the gloom you saw their source. It was one of your crechemates, from another squad.
Rikke peered down. "I think that is Ulyana. She looks hurt."
The girl noticed you all standing on the edge of the cliff above her, and called out. "Please. Please help."
At first you had thought that she was simply lying propped up against one of the fallen pine trunks, but as your eyes adjusted you saw that the sharp spear of a broken branch was thrust through her side, and coated with dark blood.
Sayaka gasped. "She is injured, we need to help her. Don't worry Ulyana we'll come down to you!"
Sayaka moved towards the edge of the gulley, and crouched down, ready to start climbing. Leonid caught her by the shoulder and dragged her back.
"Neg." The bigger boy rumbled, staring down at the impaled form of Ulyana.
"What!" Sayaka shouted. "But she is really hurt!"
"Please!" Ulyana groaned again. She sounded weaker. This was not good.
"I said Neg." Repeated Leonid. "We cannot help her. It is too risky to climb down, you might fall, and be injured just like her. I am responsible for this squad, I will not allow it."
"Then we go back up the hill and down the gulley." She replied, her voice filled with determination.
Leonid shook his head again. "That would take too long, she is badly injured we would take too long getting her off the tree, and even if we did she would slow us down on the route to the rendezvous. We would miss our time window and fail the exercise."
Sayaka's mouth hung open as if she did not believe that Leonid was saying these words.
You looked down at Ulyana, who was no limply reaching her hand up towards the five of you. Though your creche was quite large with fifty other children in total, you knew her quite well. She often sat on your table in Instructor Julia's art classes. She had light brown hair, always worn in a tight braid, and freckles all over her face. She smiled a lot, and her amber eyes lit up with happiness when she got excited about something. You liked her.
"Fine then." Sayaka's lips formed into a tight line. "You go on, but I have got the aid kit, I will go and help her myself!"
She made to start walking back up the hill, but Rikke quickly stepped in front of her, and Leonid grabbed her arm with an iron grip.
"Hey!" Sayaka shouted at them, and tried to wrench herself free, but Leonid held on tight.
"The exercise was for all the whole squad to reach the rendezvous. We either all complete it, or none of us do." Rikke spoke calmly, as if reeling off facts in response to a lecture question.
"But what about Ulyana's squad? They have left her." Timur spoke up finally.
Leonid look darkly at him. "Then they have already failed. I am squad leader I will not let us fail too."
"Wait. The flare gun." Timur said quickly, seeming to try and find a solution that would keep everyone happy. "We fire off a flare and the instructors will come get her. We can carry on to the end and make it in time."
Rikke shook her head. "Neg. We cannot do that either. Using the flare gun is an automatic failure. I will not sacrifice my future as a warrior"
She looked down at Ulyana in the gulley. "With this injury and failing the exercise she will not make the sibko anyway. Better she die here."
"But if we fire it and leave now they wouldn't know it was us." Timur reasoned. His voice was beginning to sound pleading. "Come on we have to help her. She is family!"
"The quartermaster checks our equipment when we had it in. They will know it was us, and we will be punished all the same." Said Leonid slowly, as if he was talking to someone from a much younger creche.
"We have wasted enough time, we will keep going. Sayaka you will mark this location on the map, when we get to the rendezvous we can tell them where Ulyana is, they will retrieve her.
Both Timur and Sayaka looked at you for support. "You can not let them do this." Pleaded Sayaka, her light green eyes now edged with water.
"I am squad leader, my word is final." Growled Leonid. He let Sayaka go and turned to continue walking down hill.
Below you in the gulley Ulyana called out again, a barely intelligible cry of fear and pain. "No! Please."
What will you do?
[ ] Leonid and Rikke are right. You must continue on. Completing the mission is your first duty as a warrior.
[X] Sayaka and Timur are right. You must help Ulyana. To hell with the mission, family comes first!
[ ] Demand a trial of Grievance with Leonid for command of the squad.
CGB COLD WEATHER TRAINING AREA GAMMA, NOVY TERRA
STRANA MECHTY, CLAN HOMEWORLDS
DEEP PERIPHERY
12 AUGUST 3040
Your foot crunched lightly in the snow as you stepped out of the tree line. The sun was getting low in the sky, and the fresh snow from last night, that had softened in the glare of midday, was now beginning to form a harder crust on the surface that made a satisfying sound each time your insulated boots broke through it.
Ahead the largish clearing between the trees was cast in a pinkish-orange glow from the sun setting behind you, pierced by the jagged blue shadows in the lee of the stand of pines that you had just left. You could just about make out the shapes of Leonid and Rikke crouched in the gloom beneath the branches on the far side. Leonid had just given the all clear sign; so you, Timur and Sayaka were now carefully making your way across the dead ground to join up with the rest of your squad.
Your entire training creche had flown in to this area of the Gostro Plateau early yesterday monring. The exercise your instructors had set for you was simple enough, a test of over land navigation and wilderness survival skills.
You had actually been to this area before, on group camping trips. Though each of those times had been accompanied by the adult guides and instructors as they taught you various survival skills and supervised unit cohesion activities. Now however you were on your own.
The creche had been split up into squads of five and driven out to widely dispersed points around the edge of the valley. Your objective was to navigate the two day hike across the training area to the rendezvous point without assistance. Successfully completing the task was part of your graduation into the Sibko program, to prove that you were independent and capable enough of taking on the challenges of true warrior training.
Each squad had been issued a set of survival gear for the journey, though only the minimum of what you would need. A Clan warrior must learn to conserve resources of course. Instructor Gustav had picked Leonid as the squad leader, and he had divided up the equipment between your packs. Timur carried the five sets of cold weather rations rations and chemical stove, Rikke got the compact tent you would sleep in over night, Sayaka the first aid kit, and map. Leonid of course kept the survival knife, compass, and flare gun for himself.
The two flares issued with the gun would be your squad's one way of calling for help once the excessive began. The instructors had made it clear that it should only be used in a true emergency, and heavily implied that using it would be an automatic failure.
You were given the rifle. Some might have thought that carrying the firearm to be the best option out of the group. You knew better.
Not really a true weapon, it was a bolt action model intended more for the labourer caste wardens who kept predators away from remote farms than actual warriors. It was heavy and awkward to carry over your shoulder by its single strap. The stock kept bumping against the back of your leg as you walked, which was irritating over a short distance, and maddening on long hike. You were certain that Leonid had chosen you to carry it for just this reason.
Both you and he had been the expected picks for squad leader during this excersise, and had known it ever since the lists dividing everyone into squads had been posted in the crechehall the week before. You had both stepped up attempts prove yourself to Gustav and the other instructors, eager to get the command slot, even if it was just for a two day hike. Leonid had got it, not you, and now you were sure he had given you the worst job just to rub your face in it.
Others might have been angered by that, and acted out pettily to undermine their leader's actions. You saw there was little point, that would be what Leonid wanted after all. Instead you had stoically shouldered your burden and fallen in with the rest. That had been eighteen hours of hiking ago, and now a small part of you was beginning to ponder ways to get back at the other boy.
Not now though. You could wait.
You ducked under a pine branch laden with snow and crouched down next to Rikke, Timur and Sayaka joining you in quick succession. Rikke twitched her head, flicking the bangs of her blonde bob to the side as she did so, and snorted.
"Glad you slowcoaches could make it. My feet were starting to go to sleep." Sayaka stuck her tongue out in reply, whilst Timur merely grunted.
You ignored her, and stepped over to where Leonid was busy, seemingly peering into the darkness between the trunks of the forest ahead. His face did not betray whatever thoughts were swirling around in his big dumb head, but you felt that the way he did not even acknowledge your presence was a calculated snub.
Not wanting to give him the satisfaction, you said nothing
For a moment there was no sound amongst the group, and you listened to the wind as it whistled gently through the needles of the pine trees above you.
Eventually Sayaka, ever the impatient one, broke the tension with a groan and pushed past you, the braid of black hair thumping imagist her shoulder as she went. She nudged Leonid to break him out of his reverie.
"Which way next then?" She asked, the tone of exasperation clear in her voice.
Leonid snorted softly, the warm air blowing out of his nostrils, billowed out in a pair of small clouds that reminded of one of a cow you had seen once during an excursion that had passed through an agri-farm. You thought it was a fitting comparison.
Oblivious to your mental image of him with horns and eating grass, Leonid flipped open the compass and examined the needle as it quivered beneath the thick dome of plastic in the fading light. After a moment he twitched his head and looked in a different direction of to the right.
"That way." He nodded.
"You want to look at the map first Quiaff?" Questioned Sayaka, pulling the rolled sheet of plastifilm out of a pocket of her pack and proffering it towards him.
"Neg. I do not need to." He shook his head. "I know where we are going."
Without waiting for anyone to respond his stood and began to stride off in the direction he had indicated.
"Ugh." Sayaka rolled her eyes, and went after him, followed closely by Timur.
As Rikke went past she glanced you out of the side of her eyes. "Are you going to sit there and grow roots, quineg?"
Taking a breath you got up and followed as well, taking the rear position in the column.
After a while of walking, Timur eventually found the lack of conversation too boring, and spoke up.
"What I do not get is why we have to do this stupid exercise anyway." You knew where this was going. It was the same complaint he had made during the flight yesterday.
"We are gonna be mechwarriors right? So why do we need to march through the snow in the dark? When I get my mech I will have a navmap and be able to run though this dumb forest faster than a ground car. I will never have to to hike again."
Rikke clipped him over the ear.
"Ow!" He spun round on her. "What was that for?"
"If you do not complete this exercise you will never be a mechwarrior, idiot."
"But walking is for Elementals. Not us." Timur continued.
Sayaka turned on him " And what happens when the great ristar Timur gets his gyro blown out and has to eject? Going to walk back to the dropship, or sit there in the wilderness and die quiaff?
"Neg." He grumbled, looking down. Obviously wishing he had kept quiet
"Good. Now shut up before you attract the wolves with your whining."
"Wolves?" Timur's brown eyes widened slightly. "There are no wolves here are there?"
Technically he was right, the warders who maintained this training area for the Clan were supposed to keep predators like the fearsome Strana Mechty wolf away. However it covers a large area, and there was always a chance that a small pack could find their way in between sweeps. This was part of the reason each squad had been issued a rifle. Though typically it would be completely unnecessary, if you were to encounter even one of the large wolves that made this continent their home, it could mean the difference between life and death.
You decided that keeping Timur quiet for a bit would be a good idea.
"Aff. Why do you think I have this thing." You said, hefting the rifle slightly of your shoulder by its strap.
He closed his mouth audibly.
"That is enough chatter now." Leonid spoke up from the lead. "We have another nine kilometres to cover before dark."
The five of you continued in silence for another few minutes, as you went the ground beneath your feet began to get steeper, and the trees cover became sparser. Patches of scree and loose rocks littered the area around you, and solitary boulders, ranging from football size to ones taller than you were dotted seemingly at random between the trunks. You all slowed slightly to take more care with your footing, and every so often a pebble or too dislodged by an errant step would bounce away down the slope to clatter against a tree or other rocks.
Suddenly Rikke stopped in front of you. You opened you mouth to tell her to keep moving, but she held up her hand to pre-empt any words. Cocking her head slightly she turned to face slightly towards the left.
"Do you hear that?" She asked.
Timur, Sayaka and Leonid each noticed that the two of you had stopped, and turned around to see what was going on.
"Hear wha-" You began to say, and then stopped. Because you did hear it. "Aff. I hear it."
It was faint, coming from somewhere to the North, further down the slope that you were currently descending.
If you concentrated hard it sounded almost like...
"Wolves? Is it wolves?" Asked Timur. A tinge of worry in his own voice.
Rikke shook her head. "Neg. It is someone shouting."
You heard it again, it was louder this time.
"It sounds like they are in trouble." Said Sayaka. "We should go and look."
You all looked at Leonid. He was the leader, so it was his decision. "Aff." he said. "We are going that way anyway.
You squad made it's way further down the slope, where the boulders became more frequent, and jagged outcrops of bedrock began to appear, thrusting through the carpet of snow and pine needles. Up ahead you could see an area where the ground dropped away into a gulley where the water from a spring had cut through the hillside. Crumbling walls of weathered rock lined the edges, and further down a couple of trunks from fallen trees were wedged inside it at odd angles.
The cries were becoming louder now, and you were certain they were coming from inside the gulley. Stopping near the edge the five of you peered down, and in the gloom you saw their source. It was one of your crechemates, from another squad.
Rikke peered down. "I think that is Ulyana. She looks hurt."
The girl noticed you all standing on the edge of the cliff above her, and called out. "Please. Please help."
At first you had thought that she was simply lying propped up against one of the fallen pine trunks, but as your eyes adjusted you saw that the sharp spear of a broken branch was thrust through her side, and coated with dark blood.
Sayaka gasped. "She is injured, we need to help her. Don't worry Ulyana we'll come down to you!"
Sayaka moved towards the edge of the gulley, and crouched down, ready to start climbing. Leonid caught her by the shoulder and dragged her back.
"Neg." The bigger boy rumbled, staring down at the impaled form of Ulyana.
"What!" Sayaka shouted. "But she is really hurt!"
"Please!" Ulyana groaned again. She sounded weaker. This was not good.
"I said Neg." Repeated Leonid. "We cannot help her. It is too risky to climb down, you might fall, and be injured just like her. I am responsible for this squad, I will not allow it."
"Then we go back up the hill and down the gulley." She replied, her voice filled with determination.
Leonid shook his head again. "That would take too long, she is badly injured we would take too long getting her off the tree, and even if we did she would slow us down on the route to the rendezvous. We would miss our time window and fail the exercise."
Sayaka's mouth hung open as if she did not believe that Leonid was saying these words.
You looked down at Ulyana, who was no limply reaching her hand up towards the five of you. Though your creche was quite large with fifty other children in total, you knew her quite well. She often sat on your table in Instructor Julia's art classes. She had light brown hair, always worn in a tight braid, and freckles all over her face. She smiled a lot, and her amber eyes lit up with happiness when she got excited about something. You liked her.
"Fine then." Sayaka's lips formed into a tight line. "You go on, but I have got the aid kit, I will go and help her myself!"
She made to start walking back up the hill, but Rikke quickly stepped in front of her, and Leonid grabbed her arm with an iron grip.
"Hey!" Sayaka shouted at them, and tried to wrench herself free, but Leonid held on tight.
"The exercise was for all the whole squad to reach the rendezvous. We either all complete it, or none of us do." Rikke spoke calmly, as if reeling off facts in response to a lecture question.
"But what about Ulyana's squad? They have left her." Timur spoke up finally.
Leonid look darkly at him. "Then they have already failed. I am squad leader I will not let us fail too."
"Wait. The flare gun." Timur said quickly, seeming to try and find a solution that would keep everyone happy. "We fire off a flare and the instructors will come get her. We can carry on to the end and make it in time."
Rikke shook her head. "Neg. We cannot do that either. Using the flare gun is an automatic failure. I will not sacrifice my future as a warrior"
She looked down at Ulyana in the gulley. "With this injury and failing the exercise she will not make the sibko anyway. Better she die here."
"But if we fire it and leave now they wouldn't know it was us." Timur reasoned. His voice was beginning to sound pleading. "Come on we have to help her. She is family!"
"The quartermaster checks our equipment when we had it in. They will know it was us, and we will be punished all the same." Said Leonid slowly, as if he was talking to someone from a much younger creche.
"We have wasted enough time, we will keep going. Sayaka you will mark this location on the map, when we get to the rendezvous we can tell them where Ulyana is, they will retrieve her.
Both Timur and Sayaka looked at you for support. "You can not let them do this." Pleaded Sayaka, her light green eyes now edged with water.
"I am squad leader, my word is final." Growled Leonid. He let Sayaka go and turned to continue walking down hill.
Below you in the gulley Ulyana called out again, a barely intelligible cry of fear and pain. "No! Please."
What will you do?
[ ] Leonid and Rikke are right. You must continue on. Completing the mission is your first duty as a warrior.
[X] Sayaka and Timur are right. You must help Ulyana. To hell with the mission, family comes first!
[ ] Demand a trial of Grievance with Leonid for command of the squad.
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