CHAPTER TWO: STARTING OVER
Julian made his way down the command hallway of his new station on Ironhold to Kael Pershaw's office. He just finished moving into his barracks with minimal belongings. It was like basic training again, but worse in some aspects. The hallway seemed different to him this time compared to the last he was down it. Maybe it was the time of day; maybe it was the sound of Kael's voice, and the impending interaction.
He knocked on the door twice and waited for Kael to give him the okay. After entering the room he snapped to attention and spouted, "Sir, Mechwarrior Julian reports as ordered!" He then waited silently for the usual "At ease," that accompanies it.
Kael not so much as looked up from his papers he was reading. "You begin your training tomorrow at 0500. I would advise you to not tell your bunkmate of any of the training curriculum. He is a Lyran bondsman and should not be privy to any information."
"Sir, if I may ask; what is a Lyra—"
"You will speak only when spoken to, do you understand?" Kael interrupted, lifting his head from his desk and staring Julian in the eyes. Julian promptly shut up.
Kael resumed looking at his papers, "Report to classroom six delta first thing in the morning. Bring your supplies and do not fall asleep. Dismissed."
Julian, still standing at attention froze in the wave of questions washing over him. What was he training for? Why did he have a bondsman roommate? What was this class on? Class?
Kael caught him still standing there with a confused look on his face. "I said dismissed."
Julian took his queue and did an about face and quietly left the room.
The next morning he made his way to class 6D, which was really just another office in the same complex, but with only one small desk and an area for the 'instructor'. Julian sat down, feeling awkward being the only one in such a large empty area. It was almost comical if he would stop looking around nervously to think about it. The instructor finally looked up. "Okay, are we all here?"
Julian looked around trying to figure out whom the instructor was addressing. He was the only one there, in the only desk.
"Good. Let us begin. Today, we will start our assessment of the human brain." And with that he lifted a human brain preserved and dried out from behind the desk and onto the area ahead of his books. Julian's eyes widened. He raised his hand for lack of a better thing to do.
"Yes," the instructor replied at Julian.
"Um, sir? Do we not have any diagrams or pictures of the brain to use? Is that necessary?"
The instructor hit a serious tone and spoke directly to Julian. "I brought it here to prove a point. Aside from an indomitable will, the human is only as strong as its operating system. The brain is only flesh and blood. Even with our eugenics programs, trueborn brains do not have any physiological differences with freeborn ones. I will teach you to make your mind immune to everything, and how to make someone else's mind think what you want it to. You will fear no man after this knowing exactly what rests in his head is no different than yours." And with that he threw the brain at Julian, who caught it nervously, not wanting to ruin this crazy whack job's paperweight.
"Do be careful with that. I only have two others."
The instructor uploaded the nav points into Julian's 'mech for the drill. He didn't even remember the name of the thing he was in. It was some old Star League 'mech used for training that didn't even have weapons mounted to it. The nav points all signified the flat tops of seven pillars rising out of a shallow pool of water.
"Sir, you want me to jump to each of the pillars?" Julian had to ask. He has been in so many ridiculous maneuvering drills that he was almost sick of the sight of a battlemech.
"Yes. The model you are in has been refit with new jump jets. Use them. If you fall into the water, consider your machine unusable and find a way to get the 'mech out in under fifteen minutes," the instructor informed him.
Another of Kael's pointless drills. The way these exercises were designed dictated that failure in the primary lesson plan made way for a much harder secondary objective. And if you failed that, you were severely flogged and had a tighter time limit to complete a third one.
"Okay." He had the 'mech brace itself for its first jump, and off he went.
"Shikin haramitsu daikomyo." Julian repeated after his Sensei. He then bowed and clapped his hands accordingly and resumed his kneeling stance until it was time for him to rise.
Tasaki Sensei now stood and allowed Julian to do the same. They faced each other, and Julian imitated the bow given by his instructor.
"Now, do you believe you can attack me?"
Julian, perplexed by this question, responded, "Yes, I do."
"Then do it, I will stand here and keep my hands behind my back."
"I do not wish to attack an unarmed man."
"Then you obviously wish to disobey your superior. Attack!"
Julian, sketchy at first, decided the most direct route was the best and simply lunged in at Tasaki with a nice elbow maneuver he learned in basic training. Tasaki sidestepped and kicked Julian's rear leg out from under him, to where Tasaki managed to jump and wrap his legs around Julian's neck and choke him out not but moments after slamming into the ground.
When he woke up, Tasaki Sensei stood there and told him to rise. Still dazed, Julian rose and struggled to get his footing, but managed somehow.
"How did I do that?" Tasaki asked.
"… You… I do not know." Julian's head was still spinning.
"You were overconfident. I know more combat techniques than you and used it to my own advantage by appearing to be an easy target. Fighting is 90 mental."
"Actually, you ordered me to attack you—" WHACK! Tasaki nailed Julian in the back of the head with his hand hard enough to make his neck sting.
"That is right, I told you to attack me. And you did how? You lunged your entire body in with the intention of bludgeoning my face with your elbow. I defeated you with my toe and my shin. How can I defeat you with those when you used your whole body?"
"I… do not know."
"Then that is something we will find out soon enough."
Tasaki Sensei was a freeborn whom Kael chose to train Julian in the art of Ninpo, most easily described as the art and philosophy of ninjutsu. Tasaki leaned this from his father, who in turn learned it from his father, and so on and so forth. The tradition goes past his ancestor that accompanied General Kerensky on his exodus to the ancient battlegrounds of Terra. Though ninja were not soldiers by trade, war found benefit in their skill since their inception. Now Julian was studying the way of the ninja, and his time could not have been harder.
The day started with stretches, rolls, and break falls on concrete floors, followed by movement drills and intermediate grappling. Throwing and weapon work found its way in by the evening, and the night training ensued after the sun went down.
Tasaki refused to give Julian a rest or any amount of leniency. Needless to say, training found a way to make parts of him hurt that he didn't even know existed. Sensei also refused to speak too much English. Since Kael had Julian enrolled in an alternate language program, he made Japanese the first to be learned. It co-insided with his martial arts training. Next was German, followed by Chinese, then another one or two. Julian lost count with all the stuff he was assimilating day by day.
Julian turned in after a hard day of training with Tasaki Sensei. He undid his boots and practically landed on his hard bunk. Erwin, his bunkmate looked over from the flat vid he was reading and again, for what seemed like the hundredth time tried to initiate conversation. "Jeez, what was it today?"
Julian has largely kept quiet toward Erwin, the Lyran bondsman that Kael still never explained to him. The fact that Julian still cannot speak to any of his instructors unless spoken to has really left a large hole in whatever lame excuse for a social life he had before. At this point, what did he have to lose? Get yelled at more? Another flogging? Bring it.
"Stealth maneuvers," he replied with a sigh. The memory of it obviously still fresh in his mind.
"Stealth maneuvers? What the hell made you so tired doing that?"
Julian looked up at him, "I had two buckets over my shoulders with a lead ball and some crushed glass in the bottom. I had to run through some forest without making a noise, and if they caught me…"
"Oh, yeah, I could see that. Getting sick of this yet?"
"Do you even know what I am doing here?"
"Not really, but I see the bruises you come in with, and you have developed a habit of talking in your sleep."
Julian immediately started thinking of the nightmares he's been having lately. They were of him in the middle of a forest clearing, at the end of it the world drops away into nothing. He is covered in blood and surrounded by bodies, all carved up in one way or another. Then one starts to move, just a twitch at first, and then the head rises, followed by the others around it. With its milky white eyes and blue, blood-covered skin, it speaks to him. It speaks his name…
"Aff. I could think of a reason or two why that would happen."
"Aff? You don't have to be so formal here. Relax, man. This is your bunk. Have you ever seen any of your superiors in here?"
"Come to think of it, no. Never." This was something Julian never noticed before. He just figured it was because by the time he entered his bunk, he was too tired to examine the place.
Erwin returned to his book, "So relax."
And Julian did. He slept, though the nightmare returned eventually anyway…
Julian sat down at a small table in a courtyard during the daytime hours across from Kael Pershaw. Between them was a board with little miniatures on it in a strange, bisymmetrical formation.
Kael started talking without a prompt. "This is the game of chess. Our ancestors played this on Terra before they even learned how to use electricity."
Julian studied the pieces. They were definitely new to him, not one of them resembling a 'mech or battle unit he was familiar with.
Kael continued, "I will teach you the basics of this game, and then we will play once every two days at 1400. The first time you win, you gain the privilege of not having to gain permission to speak if you want to." Julian liked the sound of that. But something worried him, where is he going with this?
"The second time you win I will be obligated to answer one question you have for me, no matter what it its."
Julian really liked the sound of that. But choosing just one would take some effort…
"But every time you lose, you will be flogged and have another detail assigned to your daily routine."
Another detail! What could he possibly fit into his schedule that didn't take from something else?
"So, if we may begin: this is the Pawn…"
After examining the pieces and learning how to move them, he played Kael. Kael won in seven moves.
"You may report to room seventeen for your punishment and detail assigning. That is all."
Julian just sat there, more furious than he's been in a long time. He learned this game not but minutes ago and is already being punished for losing to a seasoned veteran? What kind of crap is that!
Kael, sensing Julian's lack of movement to fulfill his orders, looked up and seemingly read his mind. "You are angry that I beat you on your first time? That you just learned the rules?"
"Aff," was the only word Julian could get out of his mouth.
"Well, you will always be at a disadvantage in combat. It will be your first time in that particular 'mech, or first battle on a certain planet. Or you will be behind enemy lines and have to assimilate a personality and blend into an enemy population for survival. You have to learn the rules as you play the game. This is a concept that will get you killed if you do not learn it now."
Julian still looked at him, pissed.
Kael stood up and walked away, not giving Julian the satisfaction of a stare down. "Dismissed."
Two days later, after another session of 'severe physical conditioning' and digging a five hundred meter trench after his usual light's out period, giving him only two hours of sleep between days, he met with Kael again for another game. This time it was in a small, dark, cramped room with a single light bulb and a loud air conditioner buzz. It was the worst place in the world to play chess, Julian thought, all boxed in with the noise and the light…
He had trouble concentrating since he had near no sleep. Right away Kael got the jump on him and moved his bishops into good board coverage positions. Julian was defending his king before he knew it.
"You are on the defensive. Get on the offensive." Kael ordered.
After another three moves, Julian was able to finally get a rook across the board, pressuring Kael to move pieces to protect his king. Julian pressed the advantage, and moved more pieces downrange to close in on his prize. He paid extra attention to Kael's ability to protect his king so he could not escape indefinitely every time…
Then, "Checkmate." In just one move, Kael surprisingly moved his queen across the board and mated Julian's king with it, a knight, and a bishop. He never saw it coming.
Julian responded out loud, disbelieving, "But how did I lose? I kept your king under—"
"Well, first off, you spoke without being spoken to. So your punishment is doubled this evening." That comment set Julian's mind into an uproar.
"Secondly, you were so busy pressing the charge that you failed to see that my defensive actions were really setting up my final attack on your king. I predicted your movements and feinted weakness to get your mind off of your own prize."
Julian was too pissed to collect all that was being said to him. He just sat there, mustering the energy needed not to kick this old man's ass.
"You can never win if you are 100 offensive, or 100 defensive. You make your enemy think one thing, and play off of his pieces. Keep your strategy fluid, like water, as Sun Tzu once wrote." Sun Tzu wrote The Art of War, and it was required reading for Julian. To top it off, it was in paper book form, not on a flat-vid. "Always see the battlefield from your point of view and your enemy's, because he may be looking at something you unconsciously choose not to see. Now report to room seventeen and get your new detail assignment from your instructor tomorrow morning."
Julian was pissed! The fact that Kael told him to go offensive and it screwed him was almost the straw that broke the camel's back. How can he take orders and get punished for them? His muscles shook in anticipation of attacking Kael. This had to end… soon. The little room, the bad light above his head, the air conditioner ringing in his ears, the blurred vision from no sleep… it nearly drove him over the edge.
But for the first time, he thought more about it. Moderation… did he tell me to stay offensive? I did do what I did last time, failed to protect my king… He went through his options: hit Kael, or worse, kill him, and reap the punishment from the clan or get worse treatment through his training; or walk out of here now and beat him next time. And next time, look at the board the way he does…
Julian, after several seconds of deep thought, unclenched his fists and rose to leave the room. After he closed the door behind him, Kael actually smiled.
"So why are you here again? They normally do not bunk bondsmen with trueborn warriors." Julian was already in a conversation with Erwin, but decided to change topics.
"I do a lot of the landscaping and small outside maintenance. My living area was full already, so they moved me here. It was supposed to be a temporary thing, but it's been a hell of a long while, right?"
"You are telling me."
"So what do you do all day?"
Julian, not wanting to give away any pertinent information, told him part of the truth, "I play chess."
"Really?" Erwin asked, laughing. "Chess… huh, it's been a while."
Julian suddenly became interested in this conversation's new direction. "You have played chess before?"
"Sure. I used to play it with my dad all the time."
Julian mentally shuddered from the thought of a father, something extremely prevalent to being a freeborn. To tell you truth, Julian never really encountered freeborns before. Once or twice through his short career, but not growing up in the Sibko, and not in basic.
"You know, I could teach you a thing or two about it if you want. I haven't played in forever."
Julian thought about it for a second, "But we do not have a set. Kael keeps it all in his office."
"Here," Erwin said as he got off his bunk and tore several squares out of a page in the back of Julian's The Art of War book. He drew pictures of classic chess pieces on each slip of paper and set them up on the floor over a grid he drew representing a board. "This'll do for now, but if you can get me a knife and some wood or something, I can make us a set."
"You know how to woodwork?"
"There are a lot of things you don't know about me," Erwin said with a smile.
Then Julian realized it. He really didn't know anything about this man. He's been sleeping in the same room with him for six months now and never really talked to him too much before last week. His curiosity got the best of him. "So… where did you grow up?"
Erwin concentrated on setting the makeshift chess pieces up while explaining his answer. "I grew up on Goatville in the Lyran Alliance. Your clan picked me up as a bondsman in its Coventry campaign and moved me to the homeworlds."
Julian made the first move, "So what was it like there?"
Erwin thought about what he was going to move first… "Mostly mountains and cold climates. My father was a policeman and I worked construction mostly. We didn't have a lot of money, but it we were close to a large city that had a spaceport, so there was plenty of work for me."
"Hmm… sorry. Not too familiar with anything Inner Sphere."
Erwin looked up from the game with a smile, "Well, this is the best way to learn, quiaff?"
Julian laughed for the first time since he moved back to Ironhold.
Tasaki Sensei held his wooden tanto firmly as Julian closed range. The tanto was the knife used in ancient Japan, and was a great training tool. Julian was excelling in unarmed combat all the way up to this point, something Tasaki Sensei felt great pride in, but was careful not to show it. He needed Julian focused on this new aspect of training, the weapons aspect.
Julian lunged in and swiped twice, missing Sensei both times. Tasaki countered with a jab and a parry, both done quickly and efficiently. Julian moved fast too however, and managed to jab at Sensei, and then punch his arm when he moved to dodge, dislodging his weapon from his grasp.
Julian, sensing victory, stepped in for the killing stroke when Tasaki Sensei found his spot to Julian's right quite advantageous and kicked his leg out with the heel of his foot. Tasaki followed it up with a hand grab to Julian's throat and a lock of his weapon's hand, and Julian tapped out.
Standing up, Julian just shook his head.
"What did I do there?" Tasaki asked him.
"You took my leg out from behind. But I thought I had you when you lost your tanto. My right side was not vulnerable--"
"It was not vulnerable until you thrusted with your weapon. You moved too deeply, opening up your entire side. You see, I lured you into making that move by stepping in right and leaving my arm open for you to hit it. When I lost my tanto, you thought you had gained the upper hand and moved foolishly."
Trying to understand it all, Julian spoke up. "You mean, you meant to lost your weapon? In a fight?"
"What is losing a weapon if you win? What is keeping it if you lose? I gave my tanto up to gain the opportunity for the killing stroke. I lost my weapon and you went down, it is as easy as that."
Julian really felt dumb now. He was learning so much with chess and all this that he just left some of the basic principals out of his common thought. "So you lured me in?"
"Aff. Sometimes you have to lose one advantage to gain another. In this case I lost my weapon to gain the advantage of placement, though it can be applied to every encounter."
Julian let it sink it deeply, "Hai. Domo arigato."
Tasaki nodded, "Now, shall we try again?"
Several mornings later, Julian was briefed that he will no longer be running a monotonous course every morning for his physical training requirement. He was handed a map and told to navigate through a minefield within the allotted time. He was then to reach his appointed destination within another set, over all time before he could shower and prepare for his advanced psychology class.
While on the run, Julian mapped out two attractive routes through the mined area, and naturally chose the easier one. While working his way through, he nearly tripped one that was placed out in some thick, clay-like terrain that mines do not normally make their way into.
Do not sweat it. It is only a mine… Julian systematically worked his way through the de-mining process, one that was planted in his head during basic training not but a year and a half ago. Rewiring a device under your foot was no easy task, but as long as your foot is there, you have all the time in the world. He glanced at his wristwatch, which showed his deadline coming close. He tried to step it up a notch, but realized that he would rather be late and live, then die trying to make it to his point on time. After all, what is another flogging? Sensei taught him a way to displace his mind when in extreme pain, making things normally incapacitating bearable enough to work through. It has helped out exponentially.
Several complications occurred in his wiring when he realized he was spending way too much time on this. Looking at his watch he realized that he misjudged and he was almost out for the mine portion when he heard the engine of an Ares medium tank approaching from around his previous, mine-free path. The thing moved its way toward him as he hurried to finish with his mine. Just another two splices…
Then it appeared, and maneuvered its main cannon at him.
Done! He finished and jumped out of the way right as the tank fired its primary weapon. The extended range large laser burned a deep hole in the ground near the deactivated mine just as Julian sprinted down his projected path toward the end of the clearing. The tank fired again and Julian dive-rolled right as he saw the flash of light signifying the weapon's discharge.
Adrenaline racing, Julian made his way from the minefield into some forest, where he used the trees as cover to give him time to plan a new route through the forest region to his destination. The time it would take to make it there was almost one and a half times his originally plotted route, but it was safer.
The Ares followed him most of the way outside the tree line, trying to get a shot off when it could see him, but Julian was relatively safe most of the time. The tricky part was making his way to the complex beyond the short clearing form the forest without the tank cooking him in a runner's stance.
Use your enemy's confidence against him. Make him do what you want him to do. Quickly he examined the trees around him and formulated a plan.
The Ares moved around to find a proper line of sight to nail Julian with, and finally found a glimpse of him running in the distance. It fired, missing wide, but letting him know it was on to him. Much to the pilot's surprise, Julian actually ran closer to the tree line near the tank, making several zigzags in his path to out run the machine. The tank fired again, and again, both times missing and hitting trees. The laser itself was searing through the trunks, causing several trees to fall over around Julian. Good, the pilot thought, thinking that the more damage he makes in the forest, the more Julian will move out to relative safety.
The tank moved forward another fifty meters and used its infrared to find Julian hunched over and breathing behind a thick tree trunk, using it to block the tank's line of sight. Moving his targeting reticle over the silhouette of Julian, the pilot squeezed the trigger, discharging the massive weapon as Julian heard it and jumped out from behind the tree into a dive.
The laser blasted the trunk out, forcing it over. What the pilot didn't realize was that the majority of the weight was on the left side of the tree, as the sunlight in this valley hit one side more than the other on a yearly basis. The tree, when separated from its base equally, fell over, right into the tank's drive path to Julian's destination.
Confused and determined, the tank lit off several long-range missile volleys aimed at destroying the tree in front of him, but the wood was so dense, that it made more sense to bore a path with the laser. The laser however, needed time to cool down, so it took slightly longer than he wanted it to.
Julian made a mad dash for his rally point as soon as the tree hit the ground. He heard the explosions behind him as the tank tried to blast its way through, but kept sprinting nonetheless. Blood pumping and heart racing, he heard the tree snap in half as the laser finally separated the trunk in two and the Ares crashed its way through, feverishly looking for its target. By the time it found him, he was already at the complex.
Julian entered the building to find Kael Pershaw and several guards in there waiting for him. Kael immediately looked at his watch and told him, "You are twelve minutes late."
Julian, totally confused and angry, responded in the only way he knew how, "No kidding. I was unaware that a tank with live ammunition was going to hunt me down if I did not--"
The guard behind Julian swung his baton at the back of Julian's leg, as he was still heavily breathing from his run. "You spoke out of turn, Julian." Kael replied as the baton hit.
Julian collapsed and looked back just in time to see the guard rearing back with his baton to hit him in the face. He simply responded with a boshi ken (thumb strike) to koe (the guard's nerve complex near his groin) and head butted him when he bent over. Then he grabbed the hand holding the baton and threw him over his shoulder, keeping the baton and sending the guard several feet in the air before impacting a wall and landing in a heap. Julian just looked at the other guard with his baton in his hand, fighting stance and intense stare.
Kael stepped forward, completely non-threatened by Julian's battle prowess. The other guard took a step back, not wanting a piece of whatever it was Julian gave to his companion. Kael sighed, "If you are late to an extraction point for whatever reason, you will be stuck on some planet alone and undefended. A tank, a battlemech cluster, it makes no difference. The only way you survive is to adapt and overcome without letting your original objective out of your sight."
Kael walked past a now dumbfounded Julian to leave the building. "Consider this training exercise over. You have another one tomorrow. Report to your station commander for your punishment in failing today's exercise."
Kael then left the complex and headed to his office without looking back.
This is when Julian surprised himself. He smiled. Instead of beating the shit out of these two hopeless guards, he decided that some pain would be just the thing to burn off his rage. He would rather save his energy for Kael himself, if it ever came to that. He coolly looked down at the guard he threw as he slowly lifted himself off the ground and winced at the pain he now felt in several areas at once. He still didn't know what hit him. The look he gave the two men made them shiver, as Julian finally began to understand what he is becoming.
That day marked the turning point in his training. Soon enough, he got to pilot a Turkina on firing drills, received high marks in his interrogations (which Kael had him perform periodically on random subjects), advanced through his psychology teacher's lesson plan a week ahead of schedule, and graduated several ranks in Ninpo while regularly negotiating the random minefield and live fire exercises he has almost every morning.
Tasaki Sensei even started curbing some of his anger through meditation exercises. Training was now more focused on internal power, with ki exercises and abstract training concepts aimed at improving his state of mind and awareness while keeping his temper in check.
Kael Pershaw thought deeply about his next move, and then figured Julian has waited long enough. He moved his piece and awaited his opponent's response. The game today was played in Kael's office, on a small table dedicated to the chessboard.
Julian sat quietly, showing none of the tension and confusion he did in his first games against Kael. By now he was deeply familiar with the game, with the help of Erwin and the continual games Kael threw at him. He still did a detail every time he lost, but the physical stress sessions stopped, as they had no effect on him anymore. He was able to block almost all pain, endure any hike without complaint. He was a machine.
Julian had a complete game strategy planned every move, and this one was no different. Well, it was to a degree. This was the first series of moves he had with the same objective, which means Kael was not screwing up his plan turn after turn. But instead of reveling in the fact that he finally had a hidden strategy, he just played it cool and natural.
Julian moved his piece and Kael's eyes lit up momentarily, then sunk back down. He was rather quick to make his next move, possibly insinuating that he had a plan of his own that would come to fruition very soon. But not soon enough, as Julian moved his final piece into place and mated Kael.
He just flowed with it, counting the possibilities of Kael's escape again and again, like he didn't believe it. Every time he came up empty, which seemed almost impossible fourteen months ago when he started here. Looking at Kael, he found the man to just sit back and show acceptance of the game's outcome.
"Congratulations, Julian. You can now speak to me, and all the other instructors at your leisure."
Julian could not believe it. This was like being in the real world again! He could speak to people without being addressed like he was some basic trainee… No, he would not let his mind dwell on it. There were so many things he wanted to ask, so many things he wanted to know, but he had to keep his cool. This is a reward given to him by his most hated adversary, and he could not give Kael the satisfaction of breaking down like a little child the moment he received anything good.
But what to say? With all of the things he wanted to say to this man through the last fourteen months, when given the opportunity, he was speechless.
Amazed at his disposition, Julian looked up and found Kael cleaning his pieces up. "You may take the rest of the day off. I will extend your range privileges to include the rec-room and swimming pool, as long as you are in by lights out."
"Sir, I may just go back to my barracks for now. I have much sleep to catch up on."
Kael studied Julian for a second, pinging some little part in the back of his head telling him that he knew about his dealings with Erwin, and that he is being read like an open book right now. But then he realized that he should trust his training. Stay firm, stay solid.
Kael agreed, "Very well. Your range privileges extend only today though, and they will expire at O' dark hundred."
"Than you, sir." Julian could not believe he just thanked the man he has hated for so long, but this was a happy moment for him. So he just took his thoughts with him and left Kael to his dealings.
"So then I maneuvered this way and took his feet out from under him. When he landed, I pinned his arm down and stopped my boken just short of his throat. You should have seen it." Julian recounted his victory today over Tasaki Sensei in his kenjutsu training. Erwin eagerly listened.
"I bet he was surprised as hell that you beat him," Erwin replied.
"To tell you the truth, I think he expected it, because he just nodded and smiled."
"Huh, weird…" Erwin trailed off for a moment. "So, things are a lot better since you won your speaking privileges?"
"Aff. Even my psych professor is applauding me on my in-class observations. I was not allowed to make them before, but now, things have changed."
"Julian, do you know yet why you're here getting all this training?"
Julian stopped, caught off guard by the question. "Well, I thought about it a lot at first, but I guess I just figured, if the clan wants me to train, then that is what I will do."
"Hmm… you are much more passive than I thought you were."
Julian just smiled at that, not really knowing how else to reply. He has been but a handful of things in his life, but passive was not one of them.
In two weeks Julian won his second game of chess against Kael Pershaw. It was another very long game, this one lasting several hours, but he outlasted Kael and made one or two less crucial mistakes. Either way, it was done and it almost seemed natural…
Kael looked up from his board, "Well done. It was a matter of time after I lost my rook to you that you would find a way to exploit it. You have learned much in this game."
Julian looked at Kael, full well knowing what his second victory meant. He was awarded one question to be answered. Sadly enough, Julian didn't really plan on ever winning again, so he didn't have much thought as to what to ask. So the first thing that came into his mind spit out of his mouth, "Kael Pershaw?"
"Yes, Mechwarrior Julian?"
Julian paused, almost contemplating the answer to his own question, "Why me? Why did you go through those lengths to save me on Barcella? I failed my combat and should have been killed. I know that now."
Kael stood up and paced back a little bit, getting a drink from his cabinet. Since he did not drink alcohol, it was full of nutrient filled water and a local fruit juice derived from the growth on this planet. "I heard what the Ice Hellions accused you of on Barcella, and I just happened to be within flying distance. After what they claimed you did, I had to hear it from you myself.
"Under duress, you managed to kill two Hellion mechwarriors with a knife and dispatch their Star Commander with a commandeered 'mech. That is not something to be overlooked."
Julian just listened, gathering every detail.
"You displayed the ability to operate in enemy controlled territory and creatively create and execute original combat strategies. As you can tell, most of our warriors are trained by the books and do not travel far outside the training box we set them in. I thought to myself, if I could tame that rage inside of you and exploit that creative drive you possess at the same time, I could finally have what I have been looking for."
Julian, hanging on Kael's every word asked, "And what have you been looking for?"
With that, Kael looked at Julian straight faced and said, "I agreed to only answer one question for you. That, is another."
Slightly frustrated, Julian realized that he was right, and this was pretty much expected from the man who always seemed to speak in riddles when you needed him to make sense the most.
"Report to my office tomorrow at 0800 for the final stage of your training."
"Aff. I will see you then." Then, hesitantly, Julian left the office and went back to his barracks to tell Erwin the good news. Only that Erwin wasn't there, nor did he return the rest of the night.
