Autumn leaves failing, their pale hues blanket the wounds wrought across the land. The children of nature mourn. The tattered meadow, trodden paths of armed advance, beckon soothing rain. Gentle tears from heaven fall Brother Noto Shimatsu was instructing the young acolytes from Mt. Jima Monastery in the finer principles of natural landscape gardening on the fateful autumn morning of September 23, 3028. The heavily overcast skies were soon penetrated by DropShips bearing an advance Steiner Recon unit (this unit has never been identified). Bother Shimatsu ordered a hasty return to the confines of the monastery where he alerted the Yorii Planetary Garrison based some forty kilometers away near the city of Sabu. Several minutes later, members of the 12th Sun Zhang Academy Cadre (Student Corps) met and engaged the Lyran invaders amongst the rolling hills and carefully crafted landscape at the foot of Mt. Jima. By late afternoon the battle was concluded, and Steiner forces withdrew from the decimated meadows. As the enemy DropShips peeled from their landing zones, the overcast skies gave way to a soft and soothing rain, a gentle comfort to the defiled monastic gardens. It lasted for five days and five nights. In disbelief that anyone could destroy the work of centuries in harmony with nature, Brother Shimatsu composed the poem above. For his service to the Draconis Combine in alerting the planetary garrison to the impending assault, he was awarded The Watcher of the Dragon's Eye. Under his tutelage, acolytes from Mt Jima Monastery have laid the groundwork which will eventually return the grounds to a state of harmonious splendor. The frail Brother Shimatsu destroyed his health with this tireless labor. On March 23, 3029, Brother Noto Shimatsu was laid to rest on a hill overlooking the majesty of the vast gardens. As the ceremony ended, nature expressed her sorrow with gentle rains - rains that again lasted for five days and five nights. Back to BattleTechnology 8 Table of Contents Back to BattleTechnology List of Issues Back to MagWeb Magazine List © Copyright 1989 by Pacific Rim Publishing. This article appears in MagWeb (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. Other military history articles and gaming articles are available at http://www.magweb.com