TOW41

Chapter 41 - The Other War
=Liberty=
A long slender slum of drably painted, partially collapsed structure made of scrap passed by as a jeep drove on filthy dirt roads toward Richard Tchernokov Polytechnic. The jeep looked like it was pulled from a scrapyard and it was. In this present condition it could not even maintain highway speeds and had to go across surface streets. Its passengers Rex and Rebekah (Rho) worked on it during their sparse spare time even though they could have ordered a Tech to do it because in their Sibko they were taught that 'Waste was Treason.' They were to extend everything, their rations, their gear, themselves, always reaching to be better to build themselves up just as Clan Coyote had clawed itself back.
Rebekah leaned back crossing her arms over the denim jacket of her casual outfit scanning the pitiful under-caste that clustered around the San Mateo Starport and Fort Hollifield. This area known as 'Starcity' to the locals was a squatter community built in the shadow of the new highway. It was not officially recognized or surveyed and its residents lived in a state of self-imposed misery.
Bright thruster plumes at night and proximity to the noise resulted in Technicians installing new windows so the Warriors could rest. This was not always the case but in recent years Clans were consolidating their holdings much to the appreciation of the Merchants. Unproductive or highly contested ones were closed down, their castemen reassigned, and machinery moved to superior locations where they could be easily defended.
This resulted in major disruption but it was a necessary sacrifice to maintain the strength of the Clan. The Inner Sphere's assault on Huntress that precisely obliterated its Warrior monuments and all of Clan Smoke Jaguar while bringing new freedoms to the castemen of Lootera now under the protection of the Eridani Light Horse. Conditions that were enviable anywhere else in the Cluster and a point of friction that could start a great conflagration. This foreign occupation shook the Great Council while serving as an affront to the Way of Kerensky of which Coyote was a rightful inheritor now that the Wolves fled to the Inner Sphere.
While a factor it was not as great as the influence that Khan Koga and her leadership now wielded over the Homeworld based Hell's Horses and growing Goliath Scorpions. The nine Potemkins shared between those three Clans crossed the Exodus Road massing out with resources fueling a boom in trade and industrial productivity. Trade that was managed by increasing dropship traffic to the Coyote capital. The noise of their landing was omnipresent even dampened by buildings and distance.
The pair passed a group of Horse Laborers drinking from a bar consisting of a plastic table and glass bottles. As they neared the corner a Horse Patrol van made the turn onto the street with its red and blues lit up. Brawny Elementals decked out in impact armor and helmets hung onto the side with heavy staves mounted on brackets nearby and sidearms on thigh rigs. The Laborers saw it and tried to run but not fast. By the time Rex completed the left hand turn a dozen Laborers were roughly thrown into the back. A Patrolman smashed the roadside bar with a heavy staff and called that a warning.
“Those Patrolmen were not messing around. Thirty seconds for a dozen collars with five Elementals.”
“I am guessing its not their first offense. This city is riven with vermin. They must be frequently reminded of their place.”
Rebekah patted the Gauss SMG concealed in her lap, “So they must. We really should get a tech to look at that engine Rex. This thing looks as bad as it performs.”
“I think we can do it ourselves, Bek. The Techs have more important tasks to attend to than this vehicle.”
Finally they navigated the un-mapped community and its dirt roads without further incident. They drove across a broken steppe toward the glittering glass buildings of the Polytechnic and destination for their hard earned day of liberty. The new Warriors had spent most of their lives in Sibko under constant watch by their Pack Leader. Now that they had earned their place they could enjoy the privileges of that rank.
The Horse Patrol Van caught up with them throwing up a cloud of dust in its wake. The Patrolmen hanging off the side made crude gestures toward the blonde seventeen year old (Rebekah) perhaps mistaking her in normal clothes for Rex's date rather than a fellow Warrior who happened to be driving a beat up and unmatched jeep. She answered with a display of her SMG that was met with mixed results before the driver passed them heading along the same route.
“What were those Elementals doing?”
“Just friendly communication between Warriors trothkin. Nothing to worry about.”
“If you say so. We can source some parts from the Polytechnic while enjoying our day off.”
“I cannot wait to walk about this place. We have spent the past week in orientation covering the same topics we learned in Sibko.” She mounted the SMG in a bracket built into the front seat, “My mech is still missing pieces.”
“Yours was in worse shape than mine. Maybe you should talk to techs rather than the Star Commander.
Just because we have only been Warriors for a week doesn't mean that the others were. Training needs to be reinforced. At least we sounded like the smartest ones in the class.”
The Jeep pulled into a recently built parking garage on the expanding campus of the Richard Tchernovkov Polytechnic Academy. A banner hung across the top stating this building was commissioned by Tanya DeLaurel, the present Hell's Horses' SaKhan. They concealed sidearms under their jackets shouldering small backpacks to blend into the civilians and began walking toward their first destination.
Richard Tchernovkov Polytechnic Academy was the engine that drove the Coyote's growth during the Golden Century. Scientists trained here were behind the first Omnimech, the Lupus, and a number of technological advances. Now Khan Koga invited Scientists from the Hell's Horses and Goliath Scorpions to lecture and work with the elite researchers within. It was once more the Coyote's growth engine even if it had to be through 'lesser' Clans.
The Warrior trothkin found their first destination in this dizzlingly busy place. They passed stone statues of great Warriors and Scientists with names spoken of in the Remembrance. A full sized Lupus cast in bronze stood over the West Campus Quad. A savory smell of sauce drew them toward 'Western Charcut' which they heard about from other Rho Warriors. Tallasi ribs from here were used as rewards for good performance on-base. They had tasted it along with many other local eateries when they eat lunch with the Khan a week ago. Its operator proudly displayed the Khan's crest on the window.
The word was clearly out though and the Warriors lined up to be served enjoying pictures hung from the walls. Bek looked at one studying its geology, “Drum Canyon, quiaff”
“Aff, never thought I would miss it. Can never forget it especially since we climbed it a dozen times.”
“San Mateo has many cliffs. We should get climbing gear next liberty day.”
One of the undercaste, an elderly Merchant and possibly former Warrior overheard them, “You say you are Warriors from Drum Canyon? Prove it.”
Rex reached for the small of his back while Rebekah and the others watched. All expected a confrontation before Rex produced a large golden coin with the Golden Keshik emblem and Drum Canyon Sibko crest stamped on it. “These Warriors are the ones that impressed the Khan enough that she shared a meal with them on their first day. Your meal is on me.
Fellows! We should part! Let these Warriors go about their important business.”
The others parted allowing them to skip the line and begin eating far faster than otherwise, a large bottle of beer appeared on the table shortly afterwards and disappeared just as quickly. Rebekah leaned in, “Where did you get that Challenge Coin?”
“I asked the Khan for one,” he lifted another from his jacket pocket and put it in front of her, “she gave me two. This one is yours.”
Rebekah looked at the coin still in its poly-carbonate case, a small note was enclosed. She opened it reading a woman's fine, clear, and strong handwriting, Thirty seconds, I expect more from nine years of training. Beat it in less than nine months. Learn, Adapt, Overcome, SK
She was stricken to tears. A Clan Warrior rarely even saw their Khan except perhaps on ceremonial gatherings like Founding Day before they either died or aged out. Fewer still had a personal note written by their own hand. “I do not know what to say Rex. Thank you.”
“Do not thank me yet. The Khan has high expectations for us and she should.
We are the future.”
----------
Previous Chapter - Return to Story Index - Next Chapter
Category:The Other War Chapters
Category:Works by AlphaMirage