The Eastern Steppes

The sun set over the foothills of the Eastern Steppes early at this time of year. The many-layered shadows cast across the landforms were massive, peculiar, and awe-inspiring to the average onlooker. The Steppes, which were a series of large plateaus next to and on top of one another, serving as the Temujai's homeland, east of the large island nation of Nihon Ja on the mainland, were a sight rarely seen by anyone except the Temujai themselves. They carefully defended their land with their advanced military forces, and most anyone close enough to see the Steppes in their full glory didn't survive long enough to ponder its beauty.

But Commander Or'kam galloped across the flat sand, ignoring the vista, the heat, and the dust. His mount, short and barrel-chested, didn't seem like much at first glance. But when he ran like he was running right now, he was unmatched. But of course, his horse was only a little better than much of the rest of the Temujai military, and even the common folk's breeding stock were significantly more valuable than some of the fastest horses bred by other countries' finest horsemasters. Except, of course, those cursed, good for nothing bastards who stole our finest stock years ago. Those cursed Atabi... Or'kam shook his head in anger as the hateful thoughts filled his mind. I must get there faster. He nudged his mount, Kama, and he felt the little horse bunch up his muscles and push to an even faster gallop. Now they were flying across the plateau at an amazing speed, and the large fortress that just moments ago had seemed far off was suddenly not so distant.

Within another couple minutes, Or'kam came thundering up to the main gate, throwing aside the flap of his lightweight cloak to show his shirt sleeve, revealing strips of colored cloth and badges pinned to it. These were his identification markings and colors that showed his rank as a Kaijin and a deputy commander. As soon as the guards saw his rank, they stood aside and allowed him through the gate without a second glance. His cloak fell back over his arm as he blew past the guards and started up the ramp. The large fortress was the foremost military base of the Eastern Steppes, sitting at the topmost level of the highest plateau. It was comprised of a series of low ceilinged box-shaped buildings that sat on separate levels of the plateau, with large moveable ramps connecting them. There were large defensive catapults and other large installations in the massive walls that went all the way around the fortress, the only way in being through the main gate which Or'kam had just passed through.

Or'kam slowed Kama as they neared the top of the ramp, which lead to the largest building in the fortress. He slowed to a stop just outside the door, and dismounted quickly. He glanced up as he heard someone approaching. It was a young boy, probably a resident in training. He hissed angrily, "Khüü! End irj!" The boy looked up and his eyes widened as he realized who was speaking to him, and then he became afraid as he saw the terrible hatred and anger in his eyes. The terrified boy came just as Or'kam had commanded, and he shoved Kama's reins into his hands, hissing, "Do not let go." The boy nodded timidly, and Or'kam whipped away with a flourish of his cloak and pulled the door open. He strode into the small inner room, not even stopping to remove his boots or clean off the dust from his clothing and hands like normal protocol would require. He brushed past the guards, who gave him puzzled looks, but seeing the marks on his arm, quickly turned away and stood at attention as he flew by. He pushed open the main doors and stormed down the long room. It had a low ceiling, and the walls were made of stones and hardened clay bricks, along with tar to fill in the cracks and waterproof it. There were beautiful woven cloths made of silk threads all over the walls and large cherrywood looms in the corner, where young girls sat weaving more expensive and extravagant tapestries. He was walking across a long cloth spread out on the packed stone, trampling dust all over it. Farther down the room stood a large table made of a huge flat piece of wood cut cleanly and polished until smooth by the hands of many who had used it a hundred years before. Across the table lay another beautiful cloth, depicting a battle between what Or'kam assumed to be the Temujai and some other foe. But as he approached the table, his eyes lifted from the tapestry to the man standing behind it, surrounded by a few other military officers. He wore ornate silk robes over lightweight leather armor, and a long saber hung from his belt. The other men with him wore only lightweight armor and sabers, and they all had stopped their quiet chatting to stare at Or'kam who had so rudely barged into the room. But Or'kam was so caught up in his anger that he almost slammed his hands down on the table, but he caught himself at the last minute, stopping a meter from the table. He bowed low with his fist across his chest, murmuring, "Sha'sham. I have something I must speak to you about urgently."

The robed figure replied mildly, "Commander, it must be very urgent for you to come barging in here in such a state. Please explain yourself before I have you removed." He shrugged off his robe and hung it on the back of a chair, and leaned over a map spread out on the table, peering serenely at Or'kam.

Or'kam clenched his jaw angrily at his words, but held his temper in check. "Sha'sham, I have urgent news on the matter we discussed earlier this year. We have received intelligence that the Atabi have not grown in number since the last time we dealt with them, they have sustained at their small number of fifty. There are a few retired ones, and a few have trainees, or apprentices as they call them, but they do not appear to be growing or strengthening. This means that we could attack at any time and we could easily overwhelm them - "

"Zogsookh, zogsookh, Commander." The Sha'sham held up his hands as he stopped the commander's explanation. "You must stop. I do not know why you are telling me this. Do you not remember that we discussed this long ago, and I said that it was no longer? Why do you think I would still care about a matter I have closed?"

Or'kam tried to press on. "Sha'sham, please just listen for another moment. We have a source that has told us something that will change our attack plan for the whole operation. All fifty of the Atabi, they all meet - "

"Zogsookh." The man slammed his hand down on the table, creating a loud bang. Or'kam was momentarily surprised by the outburst, and fell silent. The sha'sham stepped slowly around the table and stood directly in front of Or'kam. "I have already closed the matter. We will not be following through with this operation, no matter what new information we receive. I have decreed we will not attack, so we will not attack." He took another step closer to Or'kam, speaking more softly. "Or do you forget who I am? Yes, I am your father, but I am also the Sha'sham. You will not defy me, son."

Or'kam scowled deeply. "Please, Sha'sham, this information means we could launch a successful attack against the Atabi guaranteed - "

"Nothing is guaranteed in war, Or'kam. You know that. Now, stop this nonsense, and return to your training in north. I know you have graduated recently to the rank of deputy commander, but that does not mean you can defy me. Now go and do your job." He stiffly turned away, walking back over to the table.

Or'kam felt his fury building, and he spoke softly and intensely. "You forget what they have done to our people. They deserve to die." He took a menacing step towards the table. "Every single one of them. Especially those two that assisted the Skandians years ago, the old one and his apprentice. They stole our finest breeding stock, they ruined your campaign, they halted your streak in your youngest and most prosperous years... How can you forget something like that?" He had reached the side of the table, and stared down at his father.

But the man just stared back steadily. "Or'kam, I do not forget. I will never forget. But I understand."

Or'kam's lip curled as he hissed, "That does not have any meaning to me. Understanding does not cancel out all the money and men we sacrificed to get there, not to mention our personal hurt - "

"I understand their ways. And I have forgiven. To be a good leader, one must not hold grudges. I do not like them, but I do not wish to target only fifty men in such a well defended place as the Ara-land, or Araluen, as they call their country. We do not currently have the resources or planning to carry out that type of attack."

Or'kam rolled his eyes, and sighed loudly. "Ch'reen..."

"Sha'sham to you, Commander."

"I am not allowed to call you by your own name?"

"Not when you are in my army, and certainly not in a public setting such as this." The sha'sham gestured around him, drawing Or'kam's attention to his surroundings. Everyone in the room sat silently watching their exchange, their eyes wide and faces pale. He stepped in closer and spoke in a gentler tone. "Or'kam, we will not attack the Atabi. They are a force to be reckoned with, and even if we managed to kill one or two, the armies of the Ara-land would strike back at us in full force, which is something we don't want at the moment. Not to mention the rest of the Atabi would target us specifically. Maybe in the future we could plan something of this scale, but not now."

Or'kam's lips curled into a mocking snarl. "You are afraid of them. You are a coward."

His father stepped back, anger blossoming on his face. "I am no coward, I am not so caught up in my anger that I cannot see through to the logic on the other side!" He thrust himself into his son's face. "You need to go back to your job, and clear your mind of this useless hate. It will only serve as your downfall."

Or'kam spat in his face, "I will not rest, not while those Atabi are out there just asking to be massacred. This is the best chance we've had in decades - "

"Yavakh. Go, before I have you arrested for plotting and scheming." The sha'sham turned back around, the matter clearly closed.

But Or'kam had had enough. He spoke softly, but quickly, saying, "I will not. I will avenge the deaths of our ancestors and families, not matter what you say. When I return, I will be honored for wiping out the Atabi and you will be dishonored as a coward."  Then he turned and sprinted down the hall before anyone could fully absurd what he meant to do.

"Go, after him!" He heard his father scream, but he was too late. Or'kam was already out the door and mounting his horse.

"Go, Kama! Run like the wind!" He shouted as Kama went from a dead stop to a full out sprint, sliding down the ramp and flying out the gate before the guards could relay orders. But I will not go alone. He nudged Kama in the direction of his training camp. I will gather my followers, and then I will be unstoppable. And so they galloped off towards the sun, towards the Ara-land, and towards vengeance, for him, his people, and his cowardly father.

*************

Hey there! So what did you think? I know, it's probably a little vague and confusing since it's basically the background on the antagonist in this story, but it will all become clearer in time. But I will explain a few things here just to make this chapter a little more accessible.

First off, I bet you all are wondering what the heck a Sha'sham is, among other things. Just to let you know, I got these definitions straight from the RA books (Book 4, to be exact), so these are legit.

Sha'sham - a word in the Temujai language literally translating to 'leader of leaders'. It's a title for the overall leader of the Temujai people. Picture a tribal chief.

Temujai - a military-focused tribal people in the eastern part of the RA world. Flanagan is not exact on where exactly these people are, but they are thought to be based on the ancient Mongols, who lived in modern day Mongolia, which is near China.

Eastern Steppes - the homeland of the Temujai people. Supposed to be an ancient day representation of the Tibetan Plateau.

Atabi - the Temujai word for Ranger, literally meaning 'the green ones'.

Ara-land - the Temujai's word for Araluen

So there. Hopefully that helped a little. I did a lot of legitimate research, so this stuff should be correct. Please feel free to correct me, I want this to be as accurate as possible.

Next up is the language. Now since these people were based off the Mongols, the closest language on Google Translate to ancient Mongol was Mongolian... So yeah. It's all Mongolian, straight off Google. Here's the direct translation.

Khüü, end irj! - Boy, come here!

Zogsookh - Stop

Yavakh - Go

So, hopefully that makes some things a little more clear and easy to understand. I will be putting up a glossary here pretty soon with all these definitions and more for the whole story, because I want it to be easily accessible and understandable. I hope you all enjoyed the first chapter! Please tell me what you thought or ask your questions in the comments, and vote! Thanks for reading... And for your patience. I'll be posting Chapter two fairly soon, and this one will be a check up on how Halt and Will are doing. So stick around! ;)