Ok... how to explain myself? Ok- er... I think I can't explain why I didn't update this, things happened I lost momentum and other shit happened too. I'm so sorry. Good thing that already I have another chapter as buffer, and this one is, in fact, two chapters merged. I'm merging chapters for two reason: First, some of the original chapters are pretty sort. Second, I need to reduce the number of them because I have to split others because they are huuuuuge.

Well, I'm pretty scared with this chapter, since when I wrote it I throw the lore conventions through the window.

Also I want to give my thanks to my beta, Poliamida.

I own none of the franchises that appear in this story. They belong to their respective owner and creators.

Kyle stood at the door of the room sitting on a pile of straw. His master hadn't even allowed him to use his blanket, even though it belonged to him. Apart from the pain of the blows and the explosion, he was hungry. With all the mess with the Germanian girl, and the anger of his master, he hadn't been able to sneak out and find the kitchen and his master had punished him taking away lunch and dinner. And if that hadn't been enough, he had suffered another explosion in alchemy class when that obese instructor had asked Louise to transmute some rocks into a metal, brass to be more precise.

A really interesting power if done right, as this could be the way to recharge his Battlemech. What he needed was find a magician who could transmute water or air into hydrogen. Perhaps if another mage controlled the elements earth and fire, he could get new armor plates, even if they were pre-Star League or simpler rolled steel plates.

But all that was thought for later, that magician wouldn't be Louise unless he wanted to finish destroying his Battlemech since, as Louise's classmates had warned, the explosion she provoked knocked out the fat teacher and left the Classroom made a mess, forcing the young mage, and her unfortunate familiar, to clean it up. In fact, the loss of his dinner was due to the young wolf's idea that Louise should forget about her magic lessons and become soldier, a demolition expert to be more specific. Later she vented her frustration using her magic on him again.

Thinking about getting spare parts for his Mech he realized the actuators would be hard to get. He didn't believe that magic could create the precious polyacetylene fibers called myomers that propelled the machine. In their construction not only intervened advanced polymer synthesis' techniques but also bio-engineering due to the use of genetically modified bacteria needed for the creation of the precious material that so closely imitated the operation of real muscles.

But it was a start. If they could also transmute Endo Steel some other critical components would still be missing but would have better chances at maintaining his Mech for a few years more. But this was, like the myomer, still a daydreaming. Maybe if he sacrificed some mobility installing a heavier, and simple, skeleton. Still, the standard structure was made of an aluminum foam core wrapped in pre-stressed silicon carbide monofilaments and coated with a titanium shell, far too complex for a medieval mage. Even so, the Endo Steel was highly complex as it needed micro-gravity forging techniques for both the steel core and the aluminum and titanium foams.

What worried him even more was the main, and sole, weapon of his battlemech. The Clan-built ER PPC was a piece of weaponry with a higher reach, firepower, better weight-efficiency ratio, but similar heat-generation than its low-tech counterpart of the Inner Sphere. But a PCC, or Particle Projector Cannon. wasn't a simple weapon. Maybe with some mage's help he could repair an automatic cannon, even a missile launcher, but not an energy weapon. It was like a miniature particle accelerator that even some star nations were unable to produce, and so had to entrust their military muscle with 'simpler' energy weapons like lasers.

Kyle feared that when the PPC stopped working it would be better to remove it and install some less advanced weapon. Or none at all and rely on the melee attacks of his machine. Although the Clans despised the physical attacks, the boy understood that in the worst case that would be his only defense. He cursed the scientific caste member who had thought a battlemech with a single weapon was a good idea.

Kyle rubbed his face trying to focus on more immediate and real problems. He might have wanted to be the best possible bondsman for his master, his honor bounded him, but he felt very unhappy. He was obliged to give his 100%, but still would have preferred that girl had summoned a dragon, or a griffin, not him. He didn't know much about the fate he would have suffered in the Inner Sphere, perhaps he would have died the next day or would have become a bloodnamed warrior. But that was something he had been created and trained to do. He wasn't born to be the toy of a capricious teenager with a serious problem of self-esteem and a lot of badly channeled fury. That was something that was clear to him. But then, why did his head hurt thinking about it?

His stomach protested again, he should go search for the kitchen but he wasn't in the mood.

"Kyle?" He heard a voice. It was Siesta from the hall.

"Oh, good evening Siesta of Tarbes." He said getting up.

"What are you doing here?"

"Nothing. I have some... minor discrepancies with my mast-" A roar thundered in Kyle's stomach interrupting him. He felt a little embarrassed. Never, even when hungrier, had something like that happened to him.

"Ep! Didn't you eat?"

"Neg, my master pu-" The girl grabbed him by the arm and pulled with a smile.

"Come with me, there's this place we could go."

In the kitchen, Kyle burped for the second time.

"It seems that 'Our fist' has a very good appetite." Said the chef, a big and broad man with a genuine smile on his face named Marco.

"Our fist?" Kyle asked as he lifted his head from the plate.

"You taught those pretentious nobles that the fist of a commoner can reach them despite their magic!" For a moment Kyle hesitated to explain again who -and what- he was but discard the idea out of pure exhaustion. In addition, having the admiration of the staff of the academy could help him. For now, he would eat today, and quite well. Apart from that, the nickname "Our Fist" suited him, more than his old nickname "Can Opener" that he won when managed to kill that elemental.

"This food is delicious, Chef Marto." The man smiled and smacked him on the back.

"I'm glad you tell me that, lad! Come whenever you want and I'll prepare dishes like these and better!"

"Plates like these?" He whispered almost to himself. "Hmm? Is something wrong, lad?"

"Neg, only that now that I think about it, you are not the first to tell me that. I wonder if everything will be all right with him."

"Who are you talking about?"

"A free... a merchant, had a food establishment. Some members of my Sibko had whisked away some money and wanted to taste the food of the Inner Sphere.

[Flashback]

"Damn stravag! You're going to give our position away." Kyle said.

"A member of the clans does not hide." Grana replied defiantly. "We should simply enter the establishment and demand that the owner feeds us."

"You have the brain of a Surat, Grana" Answered Viter. "The spheroids do not work like that." Miraculously, she didn't explode at that statement.

"They should"

"Maybe, but they do not work that way."

"They sho-"

"Oh, stravags! Be quiet!" Kyle said leaning against the wall of the alley. "We will keep to my plan. Apart from the fact that the merchant can refuse to serve us, there is the possibility of him calling the authorities."

"And what is the problem?"

"And what is the problem? If they call the authorities and find three Wolf cubs dressed as freebirths outside Wolf City, what will they do? I will tell you: Contact the Clan, and you know what the instructors will do us when they find out, quiaff?" Viter broke out.

"But-"

"Silence! I am the operation's leader, quiaff?" Kyle said in his most commanding voice tone.

"Aff." They both said.

"In that case, listen to me and stop complaining. Do not speak unless they ask you explicitly. and if they do, wait for me to speak first. Do not use words like aff, neg, quiaff, quineg, or insults like freebirths or stravag. Say yes and no, drop foul words like the spheroids-"

"Foul words?" Grana raised an eyebrow.

"Aff, things like fuck, holy shit or asshole."

"I did not know you were talking spheroid."

"I do not speak, Viter, but I listen them." He pointed at his left ear with his thumb.

"Fuck!" Grana snapped. They both looked at her. "I was trying, it is barbaric."

"Exactly! Until we get out of there we are three teenagers of this barbaric civilization, quiaff?"

"Aff." They said again in unison.

"Neg- n- no, they're going to discover us. You should have said yes."

"And you should not have said quiaff." Viter retorted.

"You are right." He looked at the establishment. "There are hardly any people now, it is our best chance- okay?" He said with a forced smile.

"Yes." Said Viter with a better smile.

"A- yes." Grana was trying hard. "Yeah! Let's go you- damn- idiots."

The three disguised wolfs approached the premises, a place with a huge sign announcing the place as a bistro burger called 'Fine Old Connaught'. Kyle hurried himself to open the door and let his companions pass first, trying to avoid fights to enter first or something like that. He entered the last.

"Good afternoon, young customers!" Said a large man wearing an apron over his civilian clothes speaking with a strong liran accent. "Welcome to the best Old Connaught burger! Sit at that table there and I'll see you right away."

"T- thank you." The boys sat up unsteadily, picked up the menus, and began to scan them, trying not to look at them, or around, oddly.

"What is- what is Tofu?" Grana asked almost whispering.

"Read down, you idiot!" Viter said exultantly after having said his first profanity in spheroid. "It is a meat substitute."

"There is no meat on this planet? But we do have meat in our rati-"

"There is, but here it says that it is for vegetarians, people who only eat vegetables."

"I do not understand, being able to eat both-"

"That is the people in the-" Kyle almost says Inner Sphere. "That is the way people are, they have different tastes."

"We should use some contractions, we still sound off." Viter muttered.

"But-" Kyle raised a hand, to keep her quiet. The man was returning with a datapad in his hands.

"All good?" They nodded. "Great! Do you know what you want to drink?" They looked at each other for a moment.

"Water." The three of them answered almost in unison. Kyle bit his tongue at such a failure. The man looked at them for a moment confused, he had caught them, Kyle was sure. Then the waiter began to laugh.

"Wow! Such synchronization!" He wrote in the datapad. "Well, three bottles of water for the boys. Do you know what you want to eat or do I come back later?"

"Well- we have some questions" Kyle tried to sound relaxed.

"Go ahead."

"W- what's the Judith Cameron?" He asked puzzled by the name.

"Well, it's a hamburger with white quillar bread, bacon in fine crispy strips, two steaks of veal, but real veal no unnamed meat pieces like others restaurants will serve you, melted cheese, lettuce and chimichurri sauce. It's a recipe from Earth no less, although there it had another less catchy name. I would recommend you take the meat well done."

"I think i- it's fine with me." Kyle said. From the earth? I have to try it.

"I also want the same." Said Grana before having to keep getting dizzy with the menu.

"And for you?"

"I'll try the tofu one, the Melissa Steiner." His companions looked at him strangely. "I- I'm curious."

"Well said! Even if you are not a vegetarian, it can always be interesting to try new things." He said finishing and sending the order to the kitchen through the datapad. "You're not from around here, are you?"

"N- no" Kyle said, clenching the fist that was not in sight. "We are astech apprentices, we arrived recently to this planet because our families were looking for work and here they seemed to need workers."

"Are you working for the Wolves?" Kyle stiffened in his seat.

"W- we- we are-"

"Not that I care, after all a job is a job. Although they took away all these people from the clans, you know, those they called castes, they seem to be willing to hire a lot of people to raise that fancy Wolf City. The only thing I can complain about is that they don't come here to eat, I'm sure that these Elementals eat a lot and I'd be pleased to deliver" Someone came through the door. "Sorry, I have to leave you, enjoy the food."

"Tha- thank you." Viter answered, followed by the other two. Then the three of them looked at each other in fear.

Grana was about to suggest to leave the place, it wasn't necessary for her to speak to understand what she wanted. And the worst part was that Kyle and Viter were about to concede, but they both stood their ground. After a couple of long and uncomfortably quiet minutes, a young boy came with the dishes and the drinks. He asked who had ordered tofu and put the dish in from of Viter when he answered, and then the others in front of Grana and Kyle.

"As he said, enjoy the food." Viter said as he dug into his hamburger. Then his eyes widened. "Ohhhh!"

"What happens?" Grana dropped her hamburger as if it was poisoned.

"Now I understand vegetarians! This is the best thing I have ever eaten!" Kyle bit into his own and felt as if an explosion of flavor had spilled all over his tongue. He chewed with joy and looked up to Grana.

"Eat."

"But-"

"Eat yours or I will eat it when I finish mine." He told her. The girl obeyed and took a small proving bite, then took a bigger one and then started chewing full-mouthed releasing the occasional moan of pleasure.

"Free- Fuck!" She said abruptly. "How can it be so good?"

"Because I use the best ingredients, not like those franchises that only give you bad and cheap meat. Assuming it's meat at all." Kyle and Grana bounced in their seats when the man's voice come out. Viter, who was more interested in his food and saw the man coming to them, didn't react. "I'm glad you like it. I don't know what you were eating back in your planets, but it seems that it wasn't very good."

"Yes... we ate food rations and military food. Our planet doesn't have an ecosystem to cultivate anything." Kyle said making a lie up on the fly.

"Blake's blood! That's horrible! I always say that the key to civilization is food. You can have the best Battlemechs, state of the art technology, or whatever you want, but if you don't feed your equals... well, nothing of that is worth anything." The man was shocked by the boys revelation/lie.

"Well, now you know where this place is, so If you need food I-" Four men entered the restaurant, all of them looking like gang members, or bandits if someone asked the boys. One of them, who looked to be the boss, had a scar crossing from the eye to the chin. Grana let out a slight snarl. She felt a certain predilection, some would say philia, for the scars. In fact the scar on Kyle's side was enough to arouse her at the sight of it, and she had given the boy not a few 'pleasant encounters' with her. "Oh- Boys, sorry, I have to go."

The man went out to meet the four and started arguing. Kyle missed the first moments of the argument because Grana grabbed his leg, dangerously close to the crotch while looking at the scar-faced man.

"You can leave this place now! I told you that I won't sell or close. "Kyle grabbed his partner's hand so she would release him and motioned to both of them, calling for their attention. "Tell your boss he has nothing to do here!"

"Chill out, old man! Yo' should be careful or yo'd give yourself a heart attack. Although I'm sure that yo' would have that anyway cause dis unhealthy shit yo' cook." One of the scarred man's cronies slapped a hamburger off the hands of a nearby client.

"Don't touch my customers!" The man tried to attack the gang-leader but one of the thugs hit him in his stomach with a collapsible baton. The man fell to his knees groaning, but he still had the strength to glare daggers at the thugs' leader.

The leader spoke to the man who threw the hamburger. "Lazz, do the customers of dis piece of shit of a place a favor n' throw away their food before they catch some disease. Mendez, yo' could teach dis moron his place." The fourth member remained guarding the doors.

Mendez, the one with the club, smiled and approached the man who was trying to pull back while the thug gently struck his palm with his baton. It was clear what he was going to do. Meanwhile, the other thug threw the tray of some boys, who were running out of the place, to the ground and then approach Kyle's table. When he went to take Viter's tray the boy caught him by the wrist.

"Oi! We've a reckl-!" He didn't say anymore because Viter's left fist crashed into his face sending him against the wall spitting a bloodied tooth.

Kyle jumped on his chair to land near the man and the three other thugs. "The one with the scars is mine!" Grana screamed on top of her lungs.

"Neg!" Stated Kyle, forgetting not to talk in clanner. "He is mine, you would keep the one with the weapon and the door guard if you want." Grana, seeing that she had most adversaries than Kyle and Viter, smiled.

"Bargained well and done." She said as she hurled herself over the one with the baton who was looking at the scene with such horror that it looked more as if Kyle and his friends had entered the place with three omnimechs.

Kyle stared at the leader. The man came out of his initial shock and smiled. "Look, look, look, three kids playin' clanners ta scare us." He raising his hands giving Kyle a smug smile. "Yo' r' not the first that try dis trick with us, and yo' gotta not be the only one ta make his ass swallow his words." He produced a long combat knife with steel knuckles from his back. At that moment the first of the bandits flew over one of the tables and hit the bar falling like a sack of potatoes while Viter shakes his hands and sat again to enjoy the fight and his food. "What the fuck?"

"We are not freeborn that pretend to be trueborn to frighten you, surat, we are trueborn who pretend to be freeborn to eat here." The boy stated with pride.

"Clanners or not yo' r' kids, I'm goin' to teach yo' a less-" He didn't finish the sentence. He was a bandit, scum, not even Kyle would call it a freeborn. It was something below even the excrement of a surat. So he didn't waste time in rituals or formalities, just as he would not offer a circle of equals to a cockroach he would step on. Kyle attacked without limitations.

Kyle connected a punch in the thug's face, giving at the same time a knock with his left hand to the area of the nerves of the wrist of the hand that held the knife. The second blow was so strong that the only thing that prevented the gang-member from screaming louder for having been hit such a sensitive spot was the one which broke his nose. Still, that rat knew how to take the blows, he backed himself up while he held the knife high between them and brought his free hand to his face. He opened his mouth to say something, but before any syllable could come out of it Kyle had thrown himself on the knife arm with both hands in front of him. The next thing he heard was a loud crackle followed by a shriek articulated by the bully when his right arm was bent in the middle of the forearm about four inches from the wrist. But Kyle didn't finish there, he took advantage of his prey shrinking from pain to hit his already shattered face with his knee, then Kyle kicked him with the sole of his boot in the solar plexus throwing him against the wall. Then he approached the panting body and snatched the knife from his now loosely clenched hand. Kyle pondered it, realizing that despite the unorthodox handle the blade was of military-grade quality, a second before he also removed the sheath and started putting it on.

"This knife is good, too good for scum like-" The fourth member of the group tried to attack him. Grana was taking her time to leave the owner of the baton as broken as she could and had forgotten his other prey. Kyle hit him in the stomach with the knuckles of the knife and the guy folded over. "Grana! Stop playing or I will take charge your other prey."

The girl jumped over the spoil she was crushing and grabbed her other opponent, who was still cringed by the blow, by the neck of the dirty shirt and forced him to look up at her. Kyle felt a slight chill when he saw the psychotic smile Grana gave his next victim. If there was something she liked more than scars on men, was giving them new ones.

"Grana." Kyle said putting his new knife in the holster. "This place is to eat, please do not stain it with more blood."

In response the guy flew out through the door with Grana jumping behind him. A couple of minutes later his three companions were lying unconscious next to the girl's second disfigured thug.

Kyle looked at the owner, he was sure that they could never go back to that place and it saddened him that he would not be tasting his food again. He left the money they had taken on the table and turned to his companions.

"Viter, Grana, we are leaving!"

"Neg" She almost jumped. " I am not finished with my food yet."

"Now Grana! We have to get out of here now!"

Kyle sat on his cot while Viter made a sign indicating that the jumpsuits had been destroyed. He laid back, more relaxed but tired. He hoped they wouldn't be discovered but they had been impulsive and careless. Then Grana had wanted to throw a Trial of Possession for the knife. Kyle told her he would oblige as soon as they could fight without suspicions because surely the knife would give them away. It had taken nearly half an hour, and a strong headache, to convince her. Besides Grana "The Surgeon", as her companions called her and not because of her love for precise military operations, made him felt somewhat uneasy with such instrument to "make" scars. Even though Kyle and Viter knew how to control her, and even what her weaknesses were.

Grana walked over to Kyle's bunk. A couple of companions turned away. Only Kyle and Viter socially interacted with her, the rest staying at a distance because, despite the training regime, the girl was a dangerous sociopath. It wasn't fear, it was sane caution. Calling her psycho was a mistake, psychopaths do not feel empathy for their victims, but Grana enjoyed watching her preys suffer. She only respected something, strength, that's why she was always with both boys.

"Stand up stravag!" She kicked one of the legs of the litter. The other sibko's members got up anxious to see a fight. Kyle looked up at the girl.

"What do you want now?"

"You already know; I want the knife! What you told me before was only to confuse me, quiaff?" Viter facepalmed annoyed when he heard that.

"Neg" Kyle stand up. He heard several companions whispered wondering what Grana was talking about. "Grana, I have won against you in all the combats we have disputed, I do not need to lie to you as a freebirth to keep what is already mine."

"Liar!" The girl roared. "I am tired of Viter and you treating me as if I was a stravag." Some of the companions chuckled, and Grana shuddered with pure rage.

"That is not true. But if you want to fight so badly so be it. As the challenger, what kind of combat do you want?"

"We will fight an un-augmented combat here!"

"Choosing the combat's place is my right!" Kyle shouted.

"So choose." Kyle stared at his companion as he cursed silently. There was no point in trying to hide, Grana had already shouted her intentions.

"So be it! We will fight here, declare your Batchall." He walked to the center of the barracks ready for combat.

"My name is Grana, from the Vickers bloodline, now I've seen fifteen years, I challenged you for the possession of the knife you got today." Kyle frowned and wished he could respond with a spheroid insult to Grana. "The combat will be un-aug-"

"What are you doing, cubs?" Instructor Selvin's voice resounded from the now open dorm door.

"I was challenging him!" Grana turned to him.

"I already realized that! Stop right now, you stravags!"

"I am not a stra-"

"You may not be, but you are acting like one now, cadet." He used a neutral tone like he was teaching a lesson. Kyle cursed under his breath, that was the problem, Grana wasn't a stravag, but she behaved like that when she let her rage emerge. "Now stop this nonsense and come here right now. Cup Viter you too." Hearing that, Grana and Kyle exchanged a concerned glance. When the three cadets approached the instructor, he made them follow him.

After a while, they were in the office of the saKhan Marco Hall, with an overwhelming knot in their stomachs. Selvin had remained outside, but inside were the proper saKhan and the Star Colonel Evantha Fetladral in person, leaning against the wall opposite to the room's windows with her huge arms crossed. Her expression was threatening. A saKhan, and an Elemental warrior who could have been one if she had wanted to. Two of the most important members and warriors of the clan. Kyle tried to swallow, but his throat was dry. Even Grana didn't dare to raise her head.

"Are they our three tourist?" The saKhan spoke in a soft but abrasive tone, even the unconventional term he used didn't fade the tension. The Star Colonel moved away from the wall and nodded.

"Aff, my khan, these are the only cubs of the Clan that respond to those names." Evantha said. Kyle looked up at the elemental. Stravag! Kyle told himself. We use our names. We are stravags!

The elemental approached the boys.

"Cubs I will ask you a simple question: Why did I receive a complaint about three wolf cubs outside Wolf City, assaulting freeborns in a restaurant in Old Connaught?"

Grana clenched her fists and took a breath, but Kyle stepped forward before her. Grana may have been too impulsive, but both she and Viter were acting under his orders, and a Wolf in Exile assumes his responsibilities even if these ones led him to damnation.

"It was all my fault, Star Colonel! I forced them to obey my plan to go to Old Connaught and try spheroid food."

"Cadet Kyle! That is not what the Star Colonel asked. We will discuss each other's responsibilities later." Hall said. "Why are there four freeborns in a hospital assaulted by three wolf cubs?"

"They were attacking the restaurant, my saKhan. They were four bandits pestering and assaulting the freeborns that were there. They tried to attack us, we only defended ourselves."

"Ha! What did I tell you?" Laughed Evantha looking at the saKhan. "These bandits were four thugs of one of the local mafias. The Duke Morgan Kell, the father of Khan Kell, has been trying to break them down for years without luck."

"I understand they were the Duke's prey, but I am not apologizing! They were bandits! They were scum!" Grana spat. Evantha smiled.

"Good, that solves a half of my question, but the other half still remains. Agreeing that what you did with the bandits was the right thing to do. What, in the name of Kerensky, were you doing there?"

"It was my fault, Star Colonel, I convinced them to go to the city and try their food and see how they lived."

"You just said that you forced them to obey you." Marco countered.

"I- I do not- I-" Marco rapped his knuckles the desk making Kyle stop.

"It seems that you are fast taking responsibility for your and your partner's mistakes. If you three want to eat and know how the freeborn live, we can help you. As soon as the Khan Kell finished spooking with the Old Connaught's authorities we will decide what to do with you.

"Neg!" Kyle said not even knowing what he was doing. "My saKhan, the responsibility is all mine, if you are going to punish someone do only to me." Hall looked at him in confusion.

"Cadet Kyle. Are you willing to face this punishment alone to save your companions?"

"I, my saKhan- I- they followed my orders, no- there is no honor in letting my decisions- harm them."

"Neg!" Viter take action. "I am not going to run away and leave my pack brother alone."

"M- me neither!" Grana said without looking up, but trembling with rage. Hall turned his head slightly to the right as Evantha planted himself in front of them with his arms crossed, they both stood for a couple of seconds staring at them with hard but serene gesture, finally the saKhan pressed a button on his desk.

"Did, my Khan, hear that?" The door behind the boys opened.

"Aff." A voice rang out behind them as the door opened. The three didn't even dare to turn around. "It seems our three heroes want to fall together." A figure appeared in front of them. It was the Khan Phellan Kell, along with Marco Hall he was the most powerful person of the Clan. He wore a jumpsuit with the scarlet stars on his shoulders. Around the waist of the jumpsuit he wore a belt with a arm holster, the boys had heard about how he carries the gun ever in the cockpit of his machine, always prepared, as a Wolf must be. The Khan removed a hearbug from his right ear before beginning to speak. "Do you know boys that you have done to the police forces of Old Connaught? I just finished an hour long holovid call with the police chief, he was blaming you of all from all crimes committed in the city since the Kerensky's Exodus. He wanted me to order you out of Wolf City to allow him arrest and judge you as adults on the charge of assaulting innocent citizens-"

"That is false!" Kyle burst out suddenly before realizing his mistake.

"That is false. What?"

"That is false, my khan. They were attacking the owner of the establishment, the other freeborns and us."

"Aff, I know that." He waved his hand to someone behind them. "I hope you do not interrupt me again. I know it is all a lie, my cousin Christian has been saying weeks ago that the chief is corrupt. The Duke, my father, and I were not sure what to say until I heard Arthur's testimony." A man come from behind the boys, was the owner of the restaurant. He had a couple of bruises and was tremendously scared by his own presence there. He looked at the kids for a second and then to the Khan. "Please Arthur, tell me what happened after the boys left."

"Yes- I mean- Can I say yes, or not say aff to a clanner is a lack of respect my Lord Kell? Sorry! I mean a member of-"

"Relax, Arthur. I am Khan Kell here, not the duke's son. And talk as you want, we do not need clanisms to understand you. Please, tell us what happened"

"Oh- y- yes, K- Khan Kell." The man cleared out a little before starting. "Shortly after the boys left, the police showed up, even the chief appeared. After this, one of his men took my statement, then the chief took me away and started to insist that I was wrong, that I had to say that the boys had started the fight. He said that my judgement was cloudy. But I couldn't do that, the boys had helped me. I don't know what would have happened to me if the boys weren't in my restaurant. I didn't know who to speak to, so I tried to contact you through your father, the Lord Duke, using a friend who still works in the manor kitchen to tell you the truth." The khan nodded.

"I have known Arthur for a long time. He worked in the kitchens of the Kell manor but then decided to open his own business. I was saddened to know that he was going through pressures from mafias and franchises. I know he would not lie and when I was told that a man named Arthur Leng had tried to contact the Clan, I did not hesitate to speak with him." He patted the man shoulder with a smile.

"My lord- I mean- Khan Kell, I-"

"Speak freely"

"Khan Kell, please, these guys didn't do anything wrong. They were very polite with me, they prevented the thugs from destroying the local and saved me and my clients from them."

"I know Arthur, but putting that aside aside these guys went out of Wolf City without permission and for that, they will have a punishment." The Khan locked at the three. "For two weeks you will receive only half-rations, I think you have eaten enough for a while. Also, I will double your duties, and I do not want a tenth less in your instructor's evaluations. I hope you have it clear, quiaff?

"Aff , my Khan!" Answered the three at unison.

"We should whip them, too." Evantha spat. Arthur let out a muffled moan as Phellan looked at her smiling.

"Have you read their codex? Whipping one of them? You would break an electro-whip before they let out a scream. No, these guys already took lots of lashes without a real reason and that did not break them but I hope this at least makes them dent."

"That is to be seen, but as the Khan wishes."

"I do not consider it necessary neither, Star Colonel. I think that suffer a little hungry for a moment of gluttony is more appropriate, quiaff?" Marco Hall added.

"Aff. She answered in a cold tone.

"Good. Everything is settled then." The Khan nodded at Evantha. "I think we can allow the the cadets return to their barracks."

"Khan Kell. I-"

"Tell me, Arthur."

"I think I should thank the guys for what they did, maybe escape from Wolf City was wrong- but they help me-"

"Aff, you have reason in that." Evantha looked displeased by the Khan answer. "Please, do it."

The man turned to the three young wolfs. "H- hi- sorry, I don't know how to- I should have thanked you before for what you did, you saved me from a beating- or worse." A pair of tears ran down the man's face, Kyle felt uncomfortable. "No one moved a finger for an old man who only had a dream before the reality tried to destroy. I'm really grateful- I- that people that think you are monsters are wrong, you have shown me more honor than many of us. Thank you, from the bottom of my heart. keep being- If you finish your training- No, when you are warriors come to my restaurant, whether it is still standing or not, I will prepare you whatever you want."

[Flashback end]

I wrote this chapter because I want to wrote that last part about Kyle's past. Before doing it I read the Way of the Clans... and discard almost everything. I suppose that someone would argue with me, but if the sibko systems is like I read in that book the Clans skills advantage is bullshit, utter bullshit. Kyle sibko uses a different training regime that the book, because in the book the Jade Falcon cadets spend more time fighting between them with fists or receiving insults and beatings by the trainers than training with a battlemech. They only pilot a battlemech just before the end of their training. This doesn't have any sense! Nineteen years being almost feral childs and one year to learning how to pilot a Mech... yes... The best training in the stravag universe!

Fenrisulven13: Well, you don't know the ZnT plot so you're going to have a surprise about some things you said.

Silly-Scare-Crow: Hehe! I suppose you aren't sated yet, I hope I could help you.

Alpha 12: Thanks, but I don't think so. My beta has a big part of the merit.

See you on the 31st century's battlefield, mechjocks ...