Plan to move
"Cadet Shepard, step forward!" Jane did so, and while the ceremony wasn't large it was important. Most important of all, her dad was here. She was his estranged daughter, and while they hadn't really spoken besides a few messages since the time in the hospital, she hoped that this moment would make him proud of her. Anderson was also here, watching his investment.
"Cadet Shepard, the reviews of your records as well as your training are, after thoughtful consideration, more than sufficient, and as such the Europa United Forces have submitted your application to the Interplanetary Combatives Academy. You are hereby ordered given your new duty station orders and permitted five days leave before depature. Congratulations." The officer, someone whom Shepard only ever glimpsed in passing, shook her hand while his left passed the papers to her. Immediately after he snapped to salute and then marched back to her seat and promptly sat.
She allowed her mind to drift while watching the other cadets recieiving their orders, each here officially joining the Systems Alliance military which, due to the restrictions placed on them by the Turians, were quickly looking to turn their non-militia forces into the most elite fighting force the galaxy could find. A lot about Shepard, the world and humanity had changed in the short five years since that day in the streets of Dublin, the first time the girl had ever been in a true battle against an overwhelming foe.
Shepard now knew what it was like to lose comrades, something many of the other cadets could not claim. Sheppard also knew the pain of taking a few mass accelerated rounds into the stomach, the fear of a Knightmare plowing into the building you were hiding in praying the enemy wouldn't find you, and most importantly Shepard now understood, or so she hoped, what her dad had meant when he taught her how to defend herself and when he told her he feared for her.
Shepard didn't want to waste her life. She now understood what she needed to do, and she'd see it through. She'd make her dad proud, and she'd make herself someone worthy of admiration. Gone was the glory obsessed child, and instead she was a Jane Shepard forged and ready.
While Shepard sat reflecting on her life and everything that had lead to this point, the ceremony came to a close. Jane and her fellow cadets stood, saluted for the Anthem, and then gave a final salute to the officer as he left. Then their instructors dismissed them with a shouted command, certainly more for show to the relatively small audience of family and other associates than anything else. Thus free, Jane made a beeline for her father. She planned to either salute smartly or jesture for a polite handshake, instead she struggled to stay standing as the man threw himself into a hug with her.
"You fucking brat. You never called, left me worried about you for years, and next thing I know, you're going to go off to the villa for special forces training?" The hug tightened and Shepard's self defense instinct tried to kick in. "I am so proud of you. I am pissed to no end with you, but I am so proud."
A chuckle came from behind her dad. "I think your daughter should be allowed to breath, no point in us sending a corpse in her place just because daddy wanted a hug." The older Shepard then awkwardly released his daughter. Stepping back, the man cast a apraising look over his daughter.
Jane could feel her lip tremble, tears rolling down her cheeks, and then threw herself back into her father, hugging the man back now. She never said it, never really registered it, but she missed her daddy so terribly, and until now never allowed herself to realize how much missing him hurt her. "I love you, dad."
The laughing from Anderson returned. "Just like a Shepard, too much hugging, too much action, never enough words. You all get into so much trouble because of that, hopefully I can break that habit with you."
"T-thank-you for everything Captain Anderson." Jane responded, forcing herself to let go of her dad, through he seemed reluctant to break off their second hug. "But I mean I'm not even through the N training, why come here to my cadet graduation?" The fiery Shepard asked.
Anderson looked downtrodden for a moment before returning his gaze to the father-daughter combo. "Things have been getting a bit more rough lately in the galaxy."
"The Britannians or the Batarians?" John Sheppard interjected from beside his daughter.
"This time both, again. After the Turians gave the Systems Alliance permission to start colonizing the Skyllian Verge, the Britannians started to throw their expected fit. Honestly, if their Prime Minister wasn't so level headed and their Emperor didn't stay out of politics they probably would have instigated a war over that by now. But the Batarians, as you both should know, aren't taking too kindly to seeing human colonies out in the Verge. I don't know how, particularly since their interests should technically contradict one another, but ever since the Batarians have withdrawn from the Citadel, they and the Britannians have formed an entente, and if rumors are to be believed they might even form an axis. You both are more or less soldiers so the details might bore you but, needless to say, it's bad."
Jane quickly followed Anderson's thinking and voiced her oppinion. "It's because of the Terminus Systems isn't it? Batarian is already the de facto dominant language out there, and while Omega might be the core of the Terminus economy, if the Britannians and Batarians form a bloc of any kind the Council fears that the Terminus will rally behind them."
Anderson gave quite the smile to the two Shepards. "You almost hit the nail on the head there. You should be proud of her John, because if she survives training this girl might just become the poster child of the Alliance's next generation. However Jane, it's a little more than just that, since Britannia is embedded in Alliance territory, still even sharing a number of worlds with us besides Earth. We become the focal point of Batarian aggression as they're most likely going to try and keep the technologic exchange, and trade routes they and the Brits have open for as long as possible. And with our territory sandwhiched between the Batarians and the Britannians, if hostilities with the theorized axis were ever to occure, the Turians would be obliged to focus their forces here, or the Council would have to grant the Systems Alliance the rights to expand our military beyond the levels we had before the first contact war, which in turn would only embolden our two rogue states to expand their own military powers even more."
Jane felt engrossed. There it was, her likely destiny, the future where she'd prove herself to the galaxy. Serve her people, and pay back everything she owed to her father and to Anderson. Jane needed to know more, how was the fleet deployed, did the Alliance know what the trade routes between the two rogue powers were, what technology were they sharing? However, before Jane could push the topic further, her father interjected.
"Well that's not a topic for now, today we celebrate! My little girl is going to become a N7 and show the galaxy what it means to be a Shepard!"
EC
Kallen sat at her desk, frustrated as her search was aggravating, feeling more and more like it was a waste of her time. She couldn't submit her morals to the modern trend, she wouldn't surrender her dream for the sake of convenience... But because of that her prospects were looking more grim each day.
While she blinded herself to it, Lord Michele Manfredi had been correct in his assessment of the future. Kallen was one of many, many hopeful Knights and there just were too few sponsors and Nobles willing to support one. Knightly Orders logically became popular, however the majority of them were little more than the weapons of political parties to engage in field combat with one another. Kallen swore she'd be a great Knight, and as a Knight for justice, she couldn't be tempted by such easy choices which compromised her code.
Kallen glared at her screen once again. Two prospects were showing on the screen now. One were calling themselves the Glinda Knights, as apparently one of the Princesses wanted her own cadre of Knights, 'to fight terrorists'. The other was strange, an offer from a noble she'd never heard of in her life, a woman whose husband her step-mother hadn't tried seducing behind her father's back, to serve serve as her personal head of militant arm for some sort of... Science project? Kallen figured she'd reject both offers out of hand, and now it was just how to write the rejection.
A knock on her door brought Kallen out of her focus. Quickly she stood, reattached her sheathed blade to her belt, and went to the door to be greeted with the sight of a maid. "Lady Kallen, we have a visitor. Lord Stadtfeld and Lord Manfredi request your presence in the Drawing Room." The alien maid, an Asari of all things, told Kallen before raising from her bow.
Kallen still couldn't figure out why this alien was willing to work as a maid for her father, and the sexual reputation of the Asari honestly kept Kallen on edge around it. "Who are we entertaining today?" Kallen asked, unsure of who her father, someone rapidly gaining a reputation for eccentrically enjoying alien company and business, was meeting with. Let alone a meeting that required both her mentor and her to be present.
"It's a Valak Kahrm representing a Batarian interest group, as well as an Anto Korregan claiming to represent a separate private enterprise which is invested in the current dealings." The maid explained, but with her tone the truth of the matter was clear, father was being used as the middleman for a high level diplomatic move.
"And Mother?"
"Had to delay her return from her trip to the Cuban estate her business party was located at." At this Kallen groaned, she was waiting until she could walk with the gait of a proper woman rather than the bow legged walk of her true nature. Why Kallen's father ever thought of marrying the woman was beyond her. She despised everything that woman represented, everything wrong within Britannia that woman wallowed in.
"Right, I should get going." Kallen stated, feeling somewhat awkward, before swiftly walking away. She hastened to join her father and mentor in their meeting, though once she reached her destination, Kallen moved with practiced gradual motions opening the door almost silently. In the Drawing Room Lord Stadtfeld and Lord Manfredi sat with their postures relaxed and across from them a pair of Batarians sat with far more relaxed postures. Immediately her father took notice and welcomed her warmly.
"Ah Kallen, good you made it. Allow me to introduce Valak Kahrm, a contemporary of mine in business, and Anto Korregan, a local representative from a region we are looking to expand our business to." He informed his daughter, gesturing to each in turn. "And my friends, this is my daughter, future Knight of Britannia and heiress to the Stadtfeld name, Kallen."
As the two aliens looked Kallen over, Valak had his head tilted to the left in a strange posture, while Anto Korregan tilted his head to the right giving off a feeling like the Batarian was judging her, particularly her butt with how at least one pair of his eyes seemed to linger.
"And what type of business do we have with Batarians? I doubt our state is so pressed for laborers that we need slaves." Kallen asked, the thinly veiled insult hanging in the air as she rudely planted herself into her seat arms, crossed eyes locked into a hard glare at Anto.
Valak seemed to take the insult in stride, while Anto glared at Kallen. Valak responded, his calming hand stopping her father from making a rebuke. "We have been primarily trading in necessary resources and technologies with one another. Our vested interst with Anto and his superior with our joint venture involves a system known as the Sahrabarik System. There is a large cache of element zero there, alongside the potential for a drastically increased market to sell in."
Sahrabarik system, Kallen would have to look that up later. "Still, I find myself at odds with my training regimen to become a Knight of Britannia and the current business at hand. Why have you come to us? Last I checked, the Hegemony has a severe issue with humanity." Kallen asked, calmly and politely but with a hidden edge.
Yet again Valak took this in stride. "Well young Stadtfeld, it is true that our propaganda has been taking harshly to humanity, but the Hegemony and Britannia have found kindred souls in one another. While our cultures are not neccessarily congruent, they are far more agreeable to one another than most cultures present in the galaxy. You pulled your nascent attempt at an embassy from the Citadel when it was revealed that an Asari executive from Illium was behind the Blood Pack assault against your Emperor. The attack which drove him to recluse himself until he is deemed ready to take the full reigns of your Empire. The Hegemony of course pulled our embassy out of the Citadel in protest to the favortism of the Alliance." The Batarian explained while leaning back into his seat and crossing his legs to present a comfortable but in control front.
"But I'm simply a businessman." The Batarian continued. "While our two states getting closer would be wonderful for my business, the current state of affairs is well enough. I get to start bringing new Britannian technology, particularly Knightmare tech, into the Hegemony while controlling most of the new tech. That's quite the personal profit right there."
Kallen could understand the motive, but shifted her focus on Anto. However, before she could continue her interrogations her father interrupted. "Kallen, enough. Thank you Valak for helping to restate your position for my daughter. Now Anto, clearly both Valak and I are set on setting up business with your employer, so lets skip any further posturing and talk about what her requests for business are." Lord Stadtfeld stated, while Lord Manfredi sat stoically.
Anto turned his head, that strange tilt still in place, to face the Lord Stadtfeld. "Yes. My...Lady has instructed me with the terms she's requesting for you to establish business within her fiefdom. Firstly, she insists on a fifteen percent of all profits made on st...on location. Secondly, she also demands an eight percent of all profits from any products made from our resources. Thirdly, she will also demand a tithe depending on the facilities you wish to establish for... executive considerations." Anto's strange pauses clued Kallen, and it was already clear there was a lot more to this, as it was obvious her father was serving as a proxy for one of the royals, maybe Britannia's itself. This Anto, however, he was only here because he was Batarian. Anto was representing some third party outside any Batarian national or buisness interest, someone who the Royals or Britannia itself wanted on their side.
Lord Manfredi joined the conversation. "My lord, Valak, I'd suggest accepting the deal as is. It seems more than profitable enough, so long as your mistress is willing to front the costs for establishing the facilities." Anto nodded in compliance.
Kallen had seen enough, and she silently excused herself to use the washroom. With steps that felt too stiff, she walked into the bathroom and then activated her omnitool. S-a-h-r-a-b-a-r-i-k she typed into the device. Immediately the device pulled up the relevant results, Sahrabarik system, containting the notable points of Bindur, Imorakan, the Omega 4 relay, and Omega station.
Immediately Kallen's mood dropped to a new low. Omega, a hive of scum and criminals ruled by a warlord with little care for honor. And her father and Lord Manfredi were negotiating with one of her representitives, perhaps on the behalf of the Royal government itself, perhaps even on the order of the Emperor himself.
Kallen felt her knees go weak, stumbling back into the sink at her side. There was a lot about Britannia Kallen did not agree with, the inherit racism of the numbers system, the disregard for those outside one's own social or political class, the rigid expectations and constant judgement... But this... Until now, all of those were just problems that could and were fading with time. But to make an alliance of any type with the Batarians while rubbing elbows with the worst scum of the galaxy... Kallen felt ill, the thought was too much. She felt dirty, like some whore rather than the knight she aspired to be. The knight whom she aspired to be was currently a sitting party, aiding in this conspiracy.
Vision blurred with tears, Kallen rushed to her room. She didn't care if she was going to just be a toy for some corporation to use to sell some new knightmare improvements, Marrianne the Flash had started that way and the woman was not only a Knight of the Round, but the former Empress and Mother of the current Emperor. Kallen could deal with any indigent start so long as she could distance herself from this plot her father embroiled himself in. Kallen would be different, she wouldn't involve herself in Imperial plots against the galaxy. When she became a great knight, she'd be known for standing for Justice, and against conspiracies and maniac schemes like this, pitting Britannia against the Galaxy.
Kallen took her seat infront of her compter, the two options before her. On one side yet another royal, someone she couldn't trust to not be part of this honor staining lunacy, whereas on the other the mysterious offer, the one from the noble with the initials C.C. Kallen chose the second offer. She chose to interview with and join the Black Knights.
EC
Susaku stared dumbfounded. He always knew that once they finished training the squad would be left to their own destinations, but he never expected that they would all be split like this. Currently Novina was hugging Ashley goodbye, as the two finally reconciled two years ago and became close. Now Novina was selected to serve on the garrison for Epyrus, a Turian colony world.
However what had dumbfounded Susaku wasn't neccessarily the division of himself and his friends, but rather Ashley and Novina's service choices. Novina had decided to sign on to the Turian's fighter core, despite having been one of the best Infantry candidates Susaku had ever met. Ashley meanwhile... Ashley's choices boggled Susaku. She put in perhaps more effort than everyone here, fought through injuries that would have seen others held back, mastering the Turian Kryost, the testbed Knightmare frame and giving even Susaku a run for his money in the simulators. Where Susaku in the Panzer-Hummel had reach and armor, Ashley had flexible armaments and mobility.
Now Ashley was, and there was no other way to label it, throwing away a promising future for an infantry garrison duty on Eden Prime. "Ashley, can we talk?" Susaku asked her, nodding his head to a private corner.
Ashley nodded back and walked with Susaku to the side. "I thought we agreed we were going to work up in the world, become citizens of the Hegemony and the Alliance." Susaku stated, the confusion clear in his voice. "Ashley, you deserve the best, everyone in our squad does, but you certainly the most. Why choose Eden Prime?" Susaku looked at Ashley, searching, confused, hurt.
Ashley just crossed her arms and looked at Susaku with a unenthused look. "So is this because I'm going infantry and not jumping into a cockpit like some wannabe flyboy, or because I'm a former Britannian walking the border staring across at the nationalist zealots that used to be my people?" Ashley's voice was accusatory.
Susaku looked away, embarrassment clear on his features. "Both, but mostly the first. No one is going to really trust you there. Also while you are tough, you're nowhere near as good as I am outside a Knightmare."
"And you're a freak of nature able to outrun automated turrets." Ashley snapped back. "Susaku, listen, my family is on Eden Prime, and quite a few of them are stuck on the other side of that border. There weren't any Knightmare openings in their garrison either, I-I just want to get them back."
"Ash, you can't throw your life away for your family. But look, I want you to make a deal with me, you and I are both signing up for Eden Prime's garrison duty, but when reenlistment comes. When reenlistment comes, we are both cross-training back into some Knightmares and we're both becoming lifers, got it?" Susaku stated, his eyes initially cold and lifeless, like there was something more there that he wasn't telling Ashley, only to brighten up as he offered her his deal.
Ashley looked at Susaku, contemplating his offer before smiling with a hint of mischief "Keep bending over backwards like that and people might think you and I are a item, which while I've seen your dick, it was when I changed that diaper of yours. So ew, gross."
Immediately Susaku turned red in embarasment. "It was one time, and it was because we both caught Gothin Rotavirus on that field exercise where Vinicus left us all for dead! I had to carry your ass back to camp after that!"
Ashley's smirk grew wider before she closed her eyes, clasping her hands before her "Oh Susaku my white knight, please please carry me." Ashley snorted as she started to laugh. "Right after I change your diaper, you big baby."
"Knock it off!"
"Make me, baby."
EC
Codex Entry: Turian Kryost Frame Knightmare
Developed after the relay 314 war in response to the display of Britannian Glasgow Knightmare prototypes in the final days of the war. Turian development teams found themselves significantly behind the renegade state in regards to the necessary technological base to develop independent frames, and for several years had to work with captured frames and Panzer-Hummels donated by the Systems Alliance.
However, only four years after the war's conclusion Turian Engineers developed a frame with the aid of Salarian scientists which is stated to outstrip all of it's predecessors. Following the Turian design philosophy of mobile hard hitting forces, the Kryost is given a wide array of armaments for nearly any combat scenario with an emphasis on effective ranged damage output. However, Britannian Knights mock the frame for not having choices for primary melee weaponry, although the Turian development team stated that with mobility and their versatile design, no Britannian Knightmare foolish enough to try and close into melee would be destroyed.
The frame supports four modular hardpoints for weapon installations as well as the two most notable pieces of equipment of any Knightmare, the land-spinner system and modular Electable cockpit. On top of these support items, the frame contains multipe fully functioning Kinetic barrier systems and a mass effect supported thruster system to allow the frame increased mobility over its contemporaries.
Currently, the primary armaments for the frame's military service are still in question, however the most popular to win is a dual missile launch system, long ranged battle cannon, and short range support autocannon system. While the particular weapons remain in question, this array tested well with Turian pilots.
A.N. It seems too predictable for an author to include a codex entry, however this frame needed explaining.
Also putting out there anyone willing to draw their frame, or just make ME-Code Geass fanart can easily take the place as this fics banner pic if they so desire.
A.A.N decided to be somewhat celebratory and put the chapter out before my proofreader finished for the forth of July, let we Britannians celebrate the Death of that Traitor Washington and his rebellion.
AAAN proofread version now out.