3
Amaris City
Von Strang’s World
Periphery
3 September 3049
Unaccustomed unease plied Timur Malthus’s flesh, drawing out goose bumps and standing the hair on the back of his neck, despite his ruthless will to suppress. Was I wrong to request inclusion on this bid to face and destroy the descendants of the hated Vampire Von Strang? Such self-doubts were anathema, yet they skittered as bugs across his consciousness.
A ribbon of lightning forked down from the terrible storm not ten meters from his Night Gyr, Jade Kite, each strike splintering into the ground in a display of unparalleled power, fueled by the terrible crosswinds buffeting his BattleMech. For long moments, the lightning illuminated entrenchments of this sacrilegious place—he refused to say “Amaris City” out loud—and he witnessed swarms of Elementals finding breaches in the heavy fortifications for the BattleMechs of Turkina Keshik to exploit.
His Night Gyr was fully grounded against such acts of nature, but the sheer ferocity pulled a smile of respect onto his face. Despite the heavy glare protection of his forward viewscreen, such scintillating brilliance at close range left streaks of afterimages for long moments before they faded back into the murky depths of the storm.
“Khan Crichell,” Star Colonel Mila’s comm echoed in his ear, “we have breached the last entrenchment in the inner city and are approaching the palace.”
“Turkina Keshik, press forward, and erase this stain on the honor of the fallen Star League!” Khan Elias Crichell responded on open comms, his arrogance practically shouting at every word.
That unease once more plucked. They had chased these barbarians across the planet for hours, worked their way through the pass, and then fought these ragged, stravag cowards in hit-and-run ambushes as they pushed through the city’s surprisingly robust defenses. While Jade Falcon warriors expected no honor from such Periphery filth at the edge of the Inner Sphere, even the most open-minded of Timur’s warriors were shocked at the lack of honor. Striking from ambush. Fleeing at first contact. They all, along with this city, deserved defeat.
Thus far he had kept toward the rear of the formation, wishing to participate but not wanting to deprive the warriors of the Keshik their due honors. Despite his relative inactivity over the last hour, sweat stung eyes and trickled down his face and chest. There is something … even for these savashri warriors. This is too—
“My Khan!” a voice shattered his contemplation. Timur recognized the voice of Zil, an aerofighter pilot. “A large force is moving up behind you from the outskirts of the city. It is a trap!”
As though mimicking the earlier strike of lightning, a particle projection canon stabbed out from the night, hammering into the rear of his Night Gyr, slagging off a torrent of molten armor.
The unease vaporized as action demanded response, and he understood the source of all that unease. It had been too easy. Foot pedals quickly rotated seventy-five tons of anthropomorphic tank, and Timur cut the Panther in half with a precision strike of paired PPCs.
How they had managed to stay off the Keshik’s radar, Timur could not know—perhaps the fortifications ran underground—yet he found himself at the center of a storm every bit as dangerous as the one they had struggled through. A huge force bore down, significantly outnumbering the Turkina Keshik.
Yet the cry had gone out from a quick-eyed aerospace pilot, so they were not caught totally unawares. And we are Jade Falcon. I am Jade Falcon.
He pushed the Night Gyr forward, weapons blazing.
The battle stretched into the night.
***
Timur Malthus stood alone next to his khan as they looked out a viewport, their DropShip boosting to orbit and leaving Von Strang’s World behind.
“A victory,” Timur spoke unconvincingly. “It was a close thing.” Like a viper in the grass, the words fell into the silence that stretched for long minutes. He wished away his admission like it were poison on his tongue. He never backed down from a fight, and now, as Operation REVIVAL was underway—the Clans returning after centuries to restore the rightful Star League—this time would be no different.
“The truth can never be known” Elias Crichell finally responded.
Timur blinked in shock, turning towards Elias, the disgusting realization washing over.
The powerful eyes of his khan burrowed like their genetically engineered falcon namesake. “You are a saKhan now,” he continued, voice like an autocannon slashing away Timur’s defenses. “And your honor must at times be set aside for the greater good of the Clan. Our warriors can never know that descendants of the vile Von Strang, in broken, hand-me-down BattleMechs, at the edge of nowhere, almost took the pride of our Touman by surprise. That the fight was closer than it ever should have been. Our crusade will end before it has begun.”
Timur slowly nodded as understanding blossomed, unclenching his fists. He swallowed back bile and nodded in return. For the glory of the Falcon.
NIGHT GYR “JADE KITE”
The scientist caste of Clan Jade Falcon had high hopes for the Night Gyr as they began production. A test bed for several design innovations, this seventy-five-ton OmniMech was expected to coalesce into a powerful and unusual model that would lead the Falcons to become ilClan during Operation REVIVAL. Unfortunately the innovations never amounted to much more than oddities, such as the heat sinks that converted excess heat into light. Despite the scientist caste’s disappointment, the Night Gyr is a powerful heavy OmniMech. Trading out the speed of the seminal Timber Wolf for more firepower—making it somewhat slow for its weight class—the primary configuration, with its twin extended-range PPCs and Ultra-class Autocannon 10—along with a brace of medium pulse lasers—packs the punch of a light assault ’Mech.
While all Clan leaders lead from the front, Timur Malthus exemplifies this trait. As aggressive and sharp as any raptor from the moment of his Trial of Position where he defeated his first opponent in under a minute, vanquished his second, and almost defeated his third. This aggressiveness and superb tactical skills earned him the respect of his warriors, along with the watchful eyes of Jade Falcon leadership as he worked his way up the Touman. When Elias Crichell rose to khanship right before Operation REVIVAL, he promoted Galaxy Commander Timur Malthus to saKhan and gave him command of Gamma Galaxy, a.k.a. Jade Falcon Galaxy.
Any warrior facing Timur and his Night Gyr, Jade Kite, should know to be afraid.
Written by Randall Neil Bills
