Melissa
Evening drew to a close but it was a nice, lazy weekend, and the Gaoians aligned their local rhythm with the human calendar. It was close enough, after all, and everyone needed a break from the daily routine. Why not share?
Still. Melissa’s curiosity wasn’t quite sated. She made a Hot Pocket for each and prepared more drink. While she worked she asked, “So what about the modern era? After all your armies disbanded, didn’t that cause problems?”
“Until First Contact, no. We were humming along fine. But after…”
Excerpt from “Modern Perspectives on Conflict”
—by Father and Stud Kureya, 266th Loremaster of Clan Highmountain
Everything changed when the Dominion made first contact. Clans like Whitecrest and Firefang took immediate advantage and their fortunes increased drastically almost overnight. Whitecrest in particular went from a niche provider of Clan espionage, intrigue, and personal protection into the premier security provider of the Gao. But they didn’t start with a full paw of tools, owing to Gao’s relative infancy in space. They had much to build: intelligence networks, safehouses, communications networks. And they had other Clans to draw upon: One-Fang for ships and stations, Firefangs for pilots both combat and commercial, Longears for surveillance systems…
What about Stoneback? They were warriors still, but the modern era had little use for vast armies of swift, disciplined, rage-born and overmuscled walls of teeth and claws. Tactics and technology favored the approach used by the modern military Clans: hit hard, hit fast, and hit once, and if one was a Whitecrest, avoid detection as well. The Stoneback’s long history of massive, organized, long and brutal military campaigns no longer made much sense. What armies would they face? Who would even try?
While yes, brute force has its uses, and yes, the occasional workhouse rivalry or Clan feud might spill out of control, such things were not terribly common. Stoneback still provided small Claws and full Fangs of assault troopers for the very occasional threat that needed smashing in the most violent, thorough, and personal manner possible. But that was a specialized service, one rarely sold, and one kept on the books and in active training mostly out of caution. By the present era their focus had shifted almost purely into labor, engineering, and genetic preservation, with their ancient ties to Highmountain as strong as ever and their rivalry with Ironclaw filled with friendly and boisterous competitions.
None of that required great numbers and that left them a Clan with a large cadre of Associate members, a modest set of Officers, a much smaller Brotherhood, and a tiny pawful of sanctioned Studs. They were one of the few Clans still using the old degrees in their complete form and they did so to great effect: Stoneback Associates earned and kept their status through pure merit and were strong and clever at any task they were given; Officers were some of the most sought-after engineers and technicians for both civil projects and extremely high performance, deeply skilled labor, and on top of all that were level-headed and intuitive leaders of both Clanless and their fellow ‘Backs; full Brothers of the Rites were many things, including captains of industry or peerless warriors on the Claws of Stoneback, and all had true mastery of their chosen specialties; and the Clan’s Studs were in constant demand for all of that, along with access to their unrivaled genetics.
When the most valuable service a Clan offered was their Studs—specifically, recruiting tip-offs about their offspring and the females they’d paired with…well. Stoneback recruited the very best cubs for themselves, and left the second picks to the others.
Life was good and they were content with the new order of things, free to revel in themselves and their work. But history has never stood still. Given the advent of the Humans, the Dominion-Celzi war, the Hunters, and everything else? Gao might once again need the power and rage of the Stonebacks in battle.
Associate Fiin
“Do you think we’ll ever be that big again? As a Clan, I mean?”
“No.” Tyal stood up to clean up the mess. “It’s a really hard quality thing, finding people who meet the standards. Maybe that’s elitist of us? Yeah. But that’s the thing, we really are elite. You’ll learn just how much as you get into training.”
“That feels…”
“Yeah.” Tyal understood completely. “I know. The trick is to remember that what we do is in service to the Gao as a whole. The other Clans don’t always keep that first and foremost in their minds, but we do. We’ve gotta.”
“Why?”
“Well…in that history? There’s a trick to it. We Stonebacks, we really are different. We were never tamed by the Females and that right there is the biggest and deepest secret between us. It’s why they let us get away with all the shit we do, like running around on fourpaw, saying and doing whatever’s on our minds, getting into playfights with all these puny little males looking to make a name for themselves…I mean, think about it. You’ve met Daar, right? He’s this big friendly goof who can say and do things nobody else can and that’s more or less true of all the Stoneback Brothers. Ever ask yourself why?”
“No,” said Fiin truthfully. “I really hadn’t.”
“It’s ‘cuz we’re the only living examples of what Gaoians really are.” Tyal paused, chittering to himself. “Well, maybe that’s not fair to our silverfur friends. It’s probably better to say we’re ‘throwbacks’ from an earlier time. That’s a human idiom, by the way. Pretty obvious now that I’ve said it, huh?”
“…Yeah. Why? Why do they treat us special?”
“Well, that’s ‘cuz that original Oath between Great Father Fyu and Great Mother Tiritya is still in force. We’re the Female’s sworn protectors ‘cuz they know that Gaoian males, we ain’t civilized at all. We’re violent killers at heart and we’re covetous, too. Why do you think they don’t like the old love tales very much? How would that play out when only one out of every six cubs born is female?”
Fiin nodded slowly as he processed that.
“That’s why our Rites are so utterly, ruthlessly hard and dangerous. It’s why I hadta be so rough on you. This kinda thing would…imagine if every male knew that, in the old days, we were one to one and we all kept a mate. Would you wanna see a society like that? See us slide back to the old days?”
“No,” said Fiin emphatically.
“Me neither, I love the Females too much for that. So you keep this secret, Fiin. You prove your trustworthiness over time? Well. Only the most disciplined and capable initiates are allowed to earn their way towards Brother of the Rites. Weakness in character CANNOT be allowed. You think you’ve got what it takes? Think you’re good enough to learn the true history of the Gao?”
Fiin nodded without even realizing he did.
“Heh, we’ll see. Now sleep, you’ve got a long road ahead of you.” And with that, Tyal found a comfortable spot on the floor, curled up with a pile of blankets and pillows, and immediately fell into a deep slumber.
He drifted off on a final, half-formed thought: Maybe the Highmountains were right.