Arrival; being the first part of Rae's Story: a work of Battletech fan fiction by Dave "saganaki" Mooney
All setting elements are copyrights of Wizkids, LLC (http://www.wizkidsgames.com). This story takes place within the confines of the classic Battletech setting, as originally envisioned by the FASA corporation. If you'd like more information on the setting, I'd suggest checking out http://www.classicbattletech.com, as it is the official information site of the Classic Battletech universe. All characters are copyrights of myself. If you wish to use them in fan fiction works of your own, please email me at dave@fgc.every1.net
-Arrival
Reality wavered and solidified as the Jumpship Brightest Hope arrived in the New Samarkand system. One by one, its complement of dropships detached from the docking collars and began the slow passage towards the planet that gave birth to Minoru Kurita. In a matter of days, the passengers aboard would find themselves students of the Sun Zhang Mechwarrior Academy, one of the most prestigious schools of combat in the vastness of the Inner Sphere.
Rachel Kumiko Sakamoto watched from a porthole as the ship began the final leg of its voyage, one that would see her in her new home. Four long years had passed since she had convinced her parents to send her to a military academy as opposed to a preparatory school. Four years since, at the tender age of twelve, she began her training to enter the Draconis Combine Mustered Soldiery. She had spent so long working towards admission, so many hours spent after classes. She was one of a handful of people from the planet Vega to gain admission.
"We've almost made it, Rae," a voice called from behind her. Rachel turned to see her closest friend, Yu Hashirobei, smiling at her. She grinned back at the only other female graduate from her military academy, whose shoulder-length black hair and deep brown eyes were a mirror of her own. They were often mistaken for sisters, such was the similarity between them.
"I know, Yu," Rachel replied. "I can't believe we're really here." She looked back at the Jumpship, rapidly shrinking behind them, taking the last fragments of her old life with it.
The planetward voyage was uneventful, though the air was filled with the anticipation of the ship's passengers, the young men and women who would become the elite among Combine soldiers. Rachel, however, kept to herself, watching the stars as they passed by her porthole. Yu visited hourly, trying to ease her friend's nerves, and encouraging her to meet some of her future classmates. Rachel had refused every time. She didn't wish to meet anyone when her homesickness would leave a bad first impression.
Most of the passengers were asleep as the Dropship made its descent through the atmosphere of New Samarkand. Rachel watched from her porthole as the ship fell from the heavens, its trajectory taking it towards a small island.
As it grew closer, she saw buildings growing rapidly larger. Bunkhouses primarily, though there were some command buildings. A knot formed in her stomach as she realized where they were landing.
Rachel looked at her watch. 5 AM. As she looked back to her porthole, she felt a rumbling as the spheroid ship began firing its engines. The landing procedure had begun.
Alarms began ringing on all parts of the ship. Klaxons
wailed, waking any cadet who remained sleeping through the reverse thrusters. A voice crackled over the intercom.
"Good morning, hojuhei," the speakers hissed, "This is sho-ko Eiji Kurosawa. For the next four months, you belong to me. You will learn to fear me as you should fear dishonour, and to love me as you should love the Dragon.
Any dissent while training here will be grounds for expulsion. You are to respect your superiors without question.
"Each of you will be assigned to a squadron," the voice continued, "overseen by one of your upperclassmen. I hope that I need not impress upon you the vitality of obedience to your squad leader. You have been judged worthy of attendance at our illustrious academy. Your time here shall ensure your worthiness. You have twenty minutes to assemble in the cargo hold, with identification, and prepared for inspection. That is all."
The entire populace of the ship was on the move. Showers sprang to high-pressured life, quickly cleaning their occupants. Everywhere was the rush of feet running. Uniforms were donned, boots laced. Hair and nails were given a final once-over before a mad dash to the cargo hold.
A man with severely cut iron gray hair stood at a podium, eying a stopwatch. The moment the watch hit twenty minutes, he signaled the cargo bay doors shut. Go-cho were sent among the crowd of hojuhei, performing inspection. Any who didn't meet the requirements were sent to the hall with the stragglers.
Once the group was thinned, the go-cho were sent to gather the identification of those who passed inspection. The papers were passed to the sho-ko, who counted them off, one-by one.
"One hundred sixty-eight," he said, looking at the last sheet of ID. "Over five hundred hojuhei, and only one hundred and sixty-eight of you managed to meet this simple requirement!" he slammed his fist upon the podium, causing
the speakers to ring with feedback.
Regaining his composure, the passed the sheets to a group of men behind him and left the cargo bay. The men distributed the sheets amongst themselves and began calling names. Within the space of twenty minutes, they had been divided into six squadrons, each numbering at twenty-eight hojuhei. Rachel was unsuprised that she and Yu were to be in the same squadron: of the one hundred sixty-eight hojuhei who passed inspection, only thirty were female. It wasnÕt a great shock that twenty-eight of them were placed in the same group, and the other two kept together. It kept with the ingrained segregation of the sexes that the Combine had upheld for centuries.
The astonishing coincidence, however, was that Rachel and Yu were the two not assigned to the all-female squad 3419. Instead, they were placed along with twenty-six men in squad 3413. In command of this unit was an imposing young man who Rachel guessed to be her elder by four years at the very least.
He was not unattractive, with a strong face, piercing eyes, and broad shoulders. His hair, the colour of jet, was cropped close to his skull. He towered over Rachel by a quarter of a metre. A smirk formed on his face as he scanned his unit.
ÒI am Masamune Shunji,Ó he said, ÒI am here to conduct the last of your admissions tests. For the next four months, I will mould each and every one of you into a proper servant of the Dragon, ready to assume your proper role in the Draconis Combine.Ó His last comment seemed directed at Rachel and Yu specifically. Not all soldiers in the DCMS were in favour of women in the ranks.
Masamune led the group to a bunkhouse. "You have today until 1800 to prepare your bunks and train freely. Tomorrow, the test will begin. You had best be prepared tomorrow at 500. That is all." He left, leaving the hojuhei to fend for themselves.
All setting elements are copyrights of Wizkids, LLC (http://www.wizkidsgames.com). This story takes place within the confines of the classic Battletech setting, as originally envisioned by the FASA corporation. If you'd like more information on the setting, I'd suggest checking out http://www.classicbattletech.com, as it is the official information site of the Classic Battletech universe. All characters are copyrights of myself. If you wish to use them in fan fiction works of your own, please email me at dave@fgc.every1.net
-Arrival
Reality wavered and solidified as the Jumpship Brightest Hope arrived in the New Samarkand system. One by one, its complement of dropships detached from the docking collars and began the slow passage towards the planet that gave birth to Minoru Kurita. In a matter of days, the passengers aboard would find themselves students of the Sun Zhang Mechwarrior Academy, one of the most prestigious schools of combat in the vastness of the Inner Sphere.
Rachel Kumiko Sakamoto watched from a porthole as the ship began the final leg of its voyage, one that would see her in her new home. Four long years had passed since she had convinced her parents to send her to a military academy as opposed to a preparatory school. Four years since, at the tender age of twelve, she began her training to enter the Draconis Combine Mustered Soldiery. She had spent so long working towards admission, so many hours spent after classes. She was one of a handful of people from the planet Vega to gain admission.
"We've almost made it, Rae," a voice called from behind her. Rachel turned to see her closest friend, Yu Hashirobei, smiling at her. She grinned back at the only other female graduate from her military academy, whose shoulder-length black hair and deep brown eyes were a mirror of her own. They were often mistaken for sisters, such was the similarity between them.
"I know, Yu," Rachel replied. "I can't believe we're really here." She looked back at the Jumpship, rapidly shrinking behind them, taking the last fragments of her old life with it.
The planetward voyage was uneventful, though the air was filled with the anticipation of the ship's passengers, the young men and women who would become the elite among Combine soldiers. Rachel, however, kept to herself, watching the stars as they passed by her porthole. Yu visited hourly, trying to ease her friend's nerves, and encouraging her to meet some of her future classmates. Rachel had refused every time. She didn't wish to meet anyone when her homesickness would leave a bad first impression.
Most of the passengers were asleep as the Dropship made its descent through the atmosphere of New Samarkand. Rachel watched from her porthole as the ship fell from the heavens, its trajectory taking it towards a small island.
As it grew closer, she saw buildings growing rapidly larger. Bunkhouses primarily, though there were some command buildings. A knot formed in her stomach as she realized where they were landing.
Rachel looked at her watch. 5 AM. As she looked back to her porthole, she felt a rumbling as the spheroid ship began firing its engines. The landing procedure had begun.
Alarms began ringing on all parts of the ship. Klaxons
wailed, waking any cadet who remained sleeping through the reverse thrusters. A voice crackled over the intercom.
"Good morning, hojuhei," the speakers hissed, "This is sho-ko Eiji Kurosawa. For the next four months, you belong to me. You will learn to fear me as you should fear dishonour, and to love me as you should love the Dragon.
Any dissent while training here will be grounds for expulsion. You are to respect your superiors without question.
"Each of you will be assigned to a squadron," the voice continued, "overseen by one of your upperclassmen. I hope that I need not impress upon you the vitality of obedience to your squad leader. You have been judged worthy of attendance at our illustrious academy. Your time here shall ensure your worthiness. You have twenty minutes to assemble in the cargo hold, with identification, and prepared for inspection. That is all."
The entire populace of the ship was on the move. Showers sprang to high-pressured life, quickly cleaning their occupants. Everywhere was the rush of feet running. Uniforms were donned, boots laced. Hair and nails were given a final once-over before a mad dash to the cargo hold.
A man with severely cut iron gray hair stood at a podium, eying a stopwatch. The moment the watch hit twenty minutes, he signaled the cargo bay doors shut. Go-cho were sent among the crowd of hojuhei, performing inspection. Any who didn't meet the requirements were sent to the hall with the stragglers.
Once the group was thinned, the go-cho were sent to gather the identification of those who passed inspection. The papers were passed to the sho-ko, who counted them off, one-by one.
"One hundred sixty-eight," he said, looking at the last sheet of ID. "Over five hundred hojuhei, and only one hundred and sixty-eight of you managed to meet this simple requirement!" he slammed his fist upon the podium, causing
the speakers to ring with feedback.
Regaining his composure, the passed the sheets to a group of men behind him and left the cargo bay. The men distributed the sheets amongst themselves and began calling names. Within the space of twenty minutes, they had been divided into six squadrons, each numbering at twenty-eight hojuhei. Rachel was unsuprised that she and Yu were to be in the same squadron: of the one hundred sixty-eight hojuhei who passed inspection, only thirty were female. It wasnÕt a great shock that twenty-eight of them were placed in the same group, and the other two kept together. It kept with the ingrained segregation of the sexes that the Combine had upheld for centuries.
The astonishing coincidence, however, was that Rachel and Yu were the two not assigned to the all-female squad 3419. Instead, they were placed along with twenty-six men in squad 3413. In command of this unit was an imposing young man who Rachel guessed to be her elder by four years at the very least.
He was not unattractive, with a strong face, piercing eyes, and broad shoulders. His hair, the colour of jet, was cropped close to his skull. He towered over Rachel by a quarter of a metre. A smirk formed on his face as he scanned his unit.
ÒI am Masamune Shunji,Ó he said, ÒI am here to conduct the last of your admissions tests. For the next four months, I will mould each and every one of you into a proper servant of the Dragon, ready to assume your proper role in the Draconis Combine.Ó His last comment seemed directed at Rachel and Yu specifically. Not all soldiers in the DCMS were in favour of women in the ranks.
Masamune led the group to a bunkhouse. "You have today until 1800 to prepare your bunks and train freely. Tomorrow, the test will begin. You had best be prepared tomorrow at 500. That is all." He left, leaving the hojuhei to fend for themselves.
