Work Text:
Erkin dreamed.
"CADETS!" The Falconer walked up and down the line of the remaining members of the Elemental Sibko. "Today you will be privileged to wear the armor of a True Warrior of Clan Jade Falcon! If you prove worthy, if you pass your Trials of Position, that armor will be yours until the day you die in service to our great Clan! Show yourselves worthy to be Warriors of the Chinggis Khan! Erkin, you are first among your peers! Step forward!"
Erkin stepped forward in the briefs and mesh bodystocking of an armored Elemental. He stepped into the legs of the armor, and felt them clasp his legs tightly as they adjusted to him. So tightly! His pulse raced, his breathing quickened, and he sternly told himself it was only the excitement of finally becoming what he had worked for so hard. At a word from a Tech, he raised his arms and they lowered the upper part of the armor around him. Enclosing him. The viewport was inches from his face. He couldn't move. Couldn't breathe!
His panicked flailing put two Techs in the Medbay, one for over three weeks. The Scientists said his claustrophobia was incurable, an unforeseen defect in his genetic heritage. A stain on the Bloodhouse of Malthus. Due to his otherwise high scores, he was relegated to the paramilitary caste. Not a true Warrior, just a muscled guard cowing helpless lower-castes into doing the will of those who had not been found wanting.
The dream faded into another.
The Battle of Sudeten. Erkin had been assigned to man a hidden field gun under the direction of a solahma Warrior. They waited until a battered Pack Hunter II walked past their position, and then opened fire into its rear. It fell, and the gun crew cheered. Later, the solahma found the death in battle she craved, and Erkin took over the gun section. After the Horses were gone, Erkin stood before Khan Jiyi Chistu and heard words of praise. The praise of one Warrior to another.
But in the dream, a Jade Phoenix--the bird, not the mech--floated in the air behind the Khan. It merged with the Khan, and it spoke with the Khan's voice:
"Erkin, you must help the clan be Reborn."
Erkin woke with a start. Raising his head, he saw his spartan quarters in the barracks--alone, not with a Point of others like him. He sat up and shook his head to clear it. "Stravag! Did they put Nova Cat genes in me or something? That was strange. And now I am talking to myself. Get UP, Erkin!"
---
"Star Commander Erkin reporting as ordered, my Khan!"
Khan Jiyi Chistu smiled up at him. "At ease, Star Commander. I called you here to discuss your proposal. I have considered it carefully, and I find I cannot give you permission to try."
Erkin licked his lips, trying not to show his disappointment. "I understand, my Khan."
Jiyi just chuckled. "No, Erkin, I do not think you understand at all. I said I cannot give you permission to try. The Horses weakened us, Star Commander. We must find more strength if we are to survive. You only have my permission to succeed. We need those people badly. Bring them home to us. When you speak to them, you speak with my voice. Bring them home, Erkin!"
"I will, my Khan! I swear it!"
---
They watched from among the snow and rocks as the Saxon APC whined to a halt, settling down onto its skirts. The hatch opened, and an Elemental climbed out. He wore the uniform of a Jade Falcon Warrior with the insignia of a Star Commander--the old uniform, not the black of those who followed the Mongol Doctrine. The holster at his thigh had the flap tucked back to show it was empty. "Adela! I am alone. Come out, and we will speak, one Warrior to another."
From among the rocks emerged a short, narrow-framed woman with the large head and large eyes of the Aerospace Pilot genome, dark blonde hair longer than before and twisted into a braid that trailed down her fur jacket. "One Warrior to another, testdown? Were you granted another Trial of Position?" She smiled, "I am glad you survived, Erkin. I'm surprised to see you wearing that uniform, though."
Erkin winced inwardly. She was even using contractions, now! He cleared his throat, "All I knew was that a Star Captain ordered me to let her pass, as she was on important business. They were furious with you and ignored me. It never even reached Khan Hazen, I think--she was concerned with more important things than a deserter and a freeborn Tech run off to join the Dark Caste. Now she is dead, and Jiyi Chistu is Khan of Jade Falcon. My Trial of Position was against the Hell's Horses. I, and others whom the Mongols found unworthy, found a...a trial of rebirth in that battle. You, too, can find that rebirth. Khan Chistu offers you all amnesty. Those who do not wish to rejoin their former caste will be offered an avenue of appeal, even a chance to leave the planet and go to Alyina. The Chinggis Khan is dead, and the Wolves hold Terra. If the Jade Falcon is to survive, it must adapt."
Adela's laughter was bitter. "Amnesty? Rebirth? And I just get my old rank back again, just like that? Star Captain Adela? Perhaps I will compete for the Binetti Bloodname, even?" She ignored the whispers among the rocks behind her.
He took one step forward, and extended a hand. "Khan Chistu offers you a Star to command, and more if you can prove worthy of it. Your Tech can stay with you. It will be a Star of cadets fresh from the sibko, freeborns, and testdowns who could not handle a 'Mech, it is true. But with just such did we send the Hell's Horses back to their filthy barns. As for the Bloodname? He has told the Freeborn that he is prepared to found new ones for them if they are deserving of such an honor." His voice rose, "All of you! It is time to come home! All will be forgiven."
"All?" She smiled, and shook her head. "Not all, I'm thinking. Ivelisse?" A woman only a little taller than Adela, but with normal proportions, stepped out from behind the rocks. A boy and a girl clung to each of her hands. "Ivelisse is not my Tech, testdown. She is my wife. And these children? We took them in and are raising them together. This is my family, and family is a forbidden thing in the Clans."
It was Erkin's turn to laugh. "That is where you are wrong, Adela! Our Khan trialed for cadets from the Ghost Bears, and these sibkin will not give up their tradition of family. Jiyi Chistu has decreed that, while he does not fully understand, he will embrace this business of family in the new Way of Clan Jade Falcon. What matters is survival. That cannot be negotiated. Other things...new ways, new traditions. New ideas."
Ivelisse spoke up before Adela could. "Is it true that the Merchant Factor challenged the Khan to a Trial of Grievance and lived to tell about it?"
"Ah," and the Elemental coughed. "No, not precisely. There was no Trial. She just...she slapped him. Across the face. And he laughed, and praised her for it. Our Khan is...he is not like other Bloodnamed Warriors you may have known. Every day, a new surprise, but usually a welcome one."
Iverlisse leaned over and whispered in Adela's ear, receiving a sharp response. Iverlisse gestured at the children, and then back toward the others hiding in the rocks. Finally, Adela said, "Go warm up in your APC--if it isn't too closed in for you, that is! We must speak among ourselves."
As he opened the hatch, he thought to himself that Sudeten could get too claustrophobic if he had to share it with Adela's sharp tongue. But he was smiling.
---
Another APC came up, snow blowing from under its skirt. "All of us or none of us" had been the decision, and he and Adela were overseeing the loading of every man, woman, and child, even the old and wrinkled ones who had been cast out to die except for the mercy of the Dark Caste. MedTechs were seeing to those, and others with injuries. As the last of their meager supplies and equipment were loaded, he looked down at the pilot.
"Adela, Khan Jiyi Chistu will be very glad of your people, and of you. I had no idea there were so many Trueborn among you, and the escaped bondsmen will be useful as well. Your family is safe, but I must tell you: I do not know if he will be quite so accepting of your use of...of contractions."
She smiled up at him, looking like a grinning snowstalker clad in the pelt of one. "Oh, I know. But Erkin?"
"Yes?"
"I don't give a shit!"