Code Orange: A Life of Loyalty

Stage/Turn 07: Courting at Camelot

a.t.b. 2007

The wave of carriages was like an avalanche; roaring along the immaculate white roadway (itself looking like solidified snow) that lead from the Institute down a mountain slope before crashing down upon the complex.

Jeremiah stepped out from his coach as its driver opened the door before turning to offer a hand to Monica who, with a blush and an unsteady nod, took it as she hopped out from inside.

As her feet landed on the road her distracted demeanor seemingly caused her to become unbalanced; one of her feet slipped backwards and she fell forward with a gasp, grabbing onto his chest to prevent herself from falling, "I'm so sorry Marquess Jeremiah, I wasn't paying attention and…oh dear I, oh dear", she squirmed both verbally and physically.

He was about to tell her it was no trouble but he could not bring himself to emit anything but a high-pitched squeak, Lord Kruszewski was fidgeting in his arms as she scrambled to further endow her apology, meanwhile their bodies were pressed together and he could feel her warm and tender chest pleasantly rubbing against his own…no, he was a gentleman, he couldn't dwell on…that! He needed to find a way out of this predicament…fast!

"All cadets! Assemble in your assigned formations! Posthaste!", Lady Ernst's barked commands sounded like a message of salvation to him as the Countess released her hold on him; the two had become close friends over their first year at Colchester, unfortunately he still found any remotely intimate situation with a female awkwardly difficult.

As they took their places among the cadets the Marquess noticed his companion staring at the her feet with a somewhat dejected look, one he assumed to be a result of the Viscountess' presence as the two had never connected; he had come to notice Lady Dorothea shared a strict adherence to authority with Lord Monica but the former's battle hardened severity was in stark contrast to the compulsively genteel politeness of the latter.

"I need not remind you of the great privilege you've been given this day", the instructor boomed as she paced back and forth before them like a commander before their army, "What you see before you is the headquarters of the Advanced Special Envoy Engineering Corps (ASEEC), the institution which develops the finest weapon of our Empire; the Knightmare Frame".

"We have been allowed to attend an exhibition of the prototype schematic for the first fifth generation Knightmare, now all of you will proceed-", Dorothea gave a intimidating glare rivaling Lilicia's as Monica's hand shot aloft, "Kruszewski, you'd best have a good reason to interrupt", she sneered.

"Forgive me, my Lady", the Countess bowed shyly, "But I believe the ladies of the Warrick Palace Society are also attending today and that we've been invited to accompany them if we so please…may we?", she trembled out.

The veteran instructor gave a dismissive sigh indicating she didn't care if Monica chose to spend the excursion with the Society, personally Jeremiah was ecstatic in lieu of the Knightmare Frame lecture but he had been somewhat torn as Lilicia would be among the visiting noblewomen.

He and his sister had both been very occupied over the past year; a Colchester cadetship was as stringent as they come and she had matters of both the Society and the House of Lords to juggle, as such they rarely met in person (although the little Marchioness regularly phoned the Institute's dormitory where most cadets, including him and Monica, resided).

Their Class A entourage filed into the lobby of the facility (which was situated within Colchester property as the academy had a Research & Development branch whose cadets often served as interns here) where they were given a gracious greeting by a group of young ladies; Lilicia was among their numbers and she, on sight, skipped over to them excitedly. Even knowing that it had been quite some time since the two had met the Marquess was surprised to see his normally serious sister so vehemently cheerful…but as his sister neared it appeared that she barely noticed her brother, rather, Lilicia flung herself into an embrace of Lord Kruszewski, "Countess Monica! After talking for all this time we finally see each face-to-face! We've so much to discuss! To plan! To-", an extremely uncharacteristic, girlish squeal escaped amidst her bubbly spiel.

At this point the pair were hopping up and down with each others hands clasped (an act which Jeremiah, due to their mutual excessive formality, could hardly imagine either of them doing) when they observed his lost, dumbfounded expression, "Oh, it's been a while, hasn't it brother?", the Marchioness spoke in an earnest, if blandly nonchalant, manner.

He was still in the dark as to how they knew one another, yet alone became so close, which Monica attempted to rectify, "Marquess Jeremiah your sister and I have been in correspondence for some time now but we'd yet to actually meet, that is why I wish to go along with her tour group today".

Despite still wondering how the two came in contact in the first place and why his sister made no remark on Kruszewski's use of his first name (as his noble class was superior to hers) the Marquess retained only one persisting problem with the situation; "But Monica (he was briefly startled that Lilicia wasn't bothered with him not using a formal title) if you go with my sister you'll miss the new Knightmare-", his whining ceased as Lilicia stamped up to him.

"Knightmare! A machine! It's worthless to be thinking about such things at a time like this Jeremiah (a first name in public again! What was happening to her!)…oh, yes that's right!", she skipped back (skipping…her!) to her fellow Society ladies then returned pushing along a curious-looking girl with her face pointed down slightly in a nervous fashion.

"You said you wanted to attend that lecture, didn't you? This is my elder brother; he'd be more than happy to take you along I'm sure. Oh! Our entourage is moving off! See you at the meeting afterwards you two!", as the two bafflingly enthused women moved off the Marquess was left with the purple haired girl, "Thankyou for letting me come along Marquess Gottwald; my name is Cecile, Cecile Croomy, pleased to meet you".


At Lady Ernst's behest they filed into the complex's conference area; a rectangular room abounding with a sleek chrome surface whose seating was composed of wide lounges in hollowed-out trenches across the floor.

Jeremiah stepped down into the empty font-most trench as he wanted the best seat he could for what waited them, Cecile seemed similarly pleased at this decision and he could now make out a childish excitement pervading through her nerves as he helped her down to be seated to his right.

Dorothea herself descended into a seated position on his left side triggering a nervous glance from the Marquess which she met with one of praise and responded to haughtily, "Well Gottwald, good to see one cadet paying due attention to the weapons which will shape our future, frankly some of you waste the privileges afforded by your high birth…Kruszewski for example".

The instructor shifted to stare at the girl to the right, "And who might you be girl", her imposing tone prompted her younger addressee to tremble out, "C-Cecile Cr-Croomy, from the Warrick Palace Society, ma'am", Ernst's menacing face weakened, "Croomy…your parents are the Co-Directors of ASEEC aren't they? It'd certainly explain why you'd come here rather than stay with those infernal socialites", Dorothea wasn't a Society fan it seemed.

Croomy nodded happily but as she moved to discuss her parents the Viscountess leant her head to the front of the room where he noticed the translucent wall light up, revealing itself to be translucent before data flew across its electronic surface to form a vaguely humanoid schematic.

A melodious sing-song type voice pervaded the room from beyond the wall screen, "I am a genius Asplund and geniuses do not allow themselves to be late to opportunities to flaunt their genius because of a lowly simpleton who cannot finish his blasted pudding! Get out there now you insufferable oaf!".

An automatic door camouflaged against the wall swished apart as a bespectacled young man with a mop of silver hair tumbled through it, his lab coat (sporting the same design as Jeremiah's cadet uniform; indicating he belonged to their R&D branch) sporting a brown smudge on the collar.

The spluttering man plopped a bowl containing some manner of wobbly desert onto a table which had raised nearby after a brown-skinned woman pressed some non-visible switch on the wall with the same hand she'd just used to bat aside her flowing light-blonde tresses, "Lord Lloyd Asplund, ladies and gentleman, aspiring scientist and son of an Earl no less…it's sad that this is what passes for nobility nowadays", she huffed.

"Rak-shata", this Lloyd continued to cough, "A great mind needs great sustenance, besides the RPI-13 is really just a slightly re-tooled RPI-11 to allow for anti-Knightmare capability for dealing with those Glasgow facsimile's the EU and the Federation have been cooking up; it's really quite a dull thing".

The Knight of Seven rose, turning behind herself to face the rows of cadets, "Well you've been introduced to Lord Asplund", her commanding manner mixed with a hint of sarcasm before she gestured to the woman behind her, "This is Rakshata Chawla, also an R&D cadet, who hails from the Militarized Zone of India on 'exchange'", she spitefully worded.

India was one of the territories comprising the Chinese Federation who Lilicia had told him to have been in a state of passive revolution ever since their subjugation; dealing weapons and supplying military/scientific personnel to several other powers (Britannia included) in their bid to secure the stability with which to become independent without fear of reprisal.

The Federation allowed these practices as not doing so would violate the trade rights afforded to their territories (which formed a bulk of its economy due to the Chinese state itself bearing a strict trade policy) and deprive them of the economic boon said trade beget, which (alongside the sheer mass of its standing army) maintained its status among the three superpowers.

"You two are to present the prototype, begin then", Dorothea's snarl was met by a bored drone from Asplund, "Well it's designated RPI-13 but they've taken to calling it Sutherland now after a generous funding for it's design by that Duke of Sutherland. ASEEC's so dependant on public funding, it's no longer the golden age when royal patronage allowed the Ashford's to make such wonderful progress!", he flamboyantly finished.

During the Lord's presentation his compatriot, Chawla, had contorted into a distasteful expression directed at the instructor, "Enough! Now, a marvelous idea (she indicated herself, paying no mind to Lloyd or any of the other developers) was to rework the connection between the Yggdrasil Drive and the Landspinners for this model; I doubt any of you can grasp the effect this produces?", she appeared to derive pleasure from Ernst's agitated silence.

Jeremiah himself was straining to find a valid answer when Cecile's petit, inquisitive voice piped up, "Um, I think it would enhance the unit's speed; more Resonance would generate more thrust. Actually it'd be more maneuverable altogether: turning, jumping, all it needs is a pair of wings!".

"Well it seems like you've got more competition Rakshata", the Earl's son hummed, "Competition? From a little girl? And what do you mean 'more'? Don't tell me you consider yourself competition to me Lord Pudding, I'll be taking the Second Prince's Camelot grant undoubtedly", the Indian woman retorted as the Marquess found himself captivated by the Frame before him…one day, he thought, he'd stand astride that machine as a great Knight.


Jeremiah finally reached the restaurant area where the cadets from the lecture were to meet with the Society ladies and the cadets accompanying them, Croomy had been chattering away with the two presenter cadets and when he once moved to politely coax her away her elbow shifted uncomfortably close to his crotch…he was unsure if this was deliberately done on her part but he had no desire to try again and find out.

Lilicia and Lord Monica moved over from one of the tables to meet them, "Well brother, thankyou for taking the young lady here along", 'young'…his sister was only a year older than Cecile herself, that's more like the Lilicia he knew, "Yes, thankyou, I hope we meet again soon my Lord", the girl curtsied as she returned to the noblewomen at the tables.

A moment of silence crept over the three of them until the impatient Marchioness nudged her Countess friend, "Come now Monica, just as we discussed, go ahead and ask him…Oh, that's right, I'll give you two some privacy, good luck", and she bounded away like Cecile beforehand leaving him again confused and Kruszewski rooted to the spot with terrified anxiety.

"I…that is to say…well-", he was distracted from her stutter by a familiar voice from behind, "Jeremiah, I'd begun to think you weren't coming back from that lecture", he turned to find Princess Cornelia and her attendant (now 17 and hence a Lord), Guilford, come through the doors.

"Kruszewski", the Second Princess acknowledged his companion who seemed both relieved and dispirited at being interrupted, "Now to the point; Lady Marianne is here running a re-activation test of the Ganymede and I've been invited to attend-", she cleared her throat uncomfortably, "I know we share a great respect for the Empress so-", she cleared it again uncomfortably, "-would you care to join us", she rushed through.

"Your Highness!", the recently dubbed Lord stepped forth in exclamation and only then did the Marquess observe the eyeglasses set atop his nose, he certainly hadn't had them when they last met mere days ago, "I'm supposed to escort you there; he needn't come, I'm happy to accompany you myself!".

His eyes met the royal attendant's prompting him to grimace as if he had let slip something which others may interpret as being…forward to the Princess, the man also realized Jeremiah was staring at his spectacles which caused him to snap them from his face and into his breast pocket.

"No need to worry Guilford, I'm sure they'll allow me one guest", Cornelia's rebuffing looking somewhat humiliated, "Yes Princess Cornelia, of course", the invited Marquess had grown tired of being confused today; since where these two overcome their animosity…and become friendly!

"Well, you'll come will you not?", he definitely wanted to (how often did one get the chance to see 'The Flash' in action) but turned to excuse himself from Lord Monica's presence, "No, go right ahead Marquess…we can speak anytime", she said, apparently sensing his intentions, and he thanked her.

By the time he got his wits about him (the royal strode at such a thundering pace that both him and Guilford occasionally broke into a jog in order to keep up) Jeremiah found himself in an enclosed balcony overlooking a large cube-shaped chamber in which a group of white-clad staff huddled around a crouched Ganymede…he threw himself up to the window in excitement.

"Ah, Second Princess Cornelia! Your presence is an honor, Your Highness". a later-middle aged mustachioed man with gray-strewn blonde hair bowed, "Milly! This lady is a Princess, remember the manners we discussed!", he instructed the girl looking out the window beside Jeremiah.

This man and girl shared a definite familial resemblance he noticed (much like the one between the Gottwald heiress and her mother) as the latter gave an annoyed sigh as she moved over and curtsied, "I'm Milly Ashford, your presence is a-", she seemed to forget her assigned line much to the man's discomfort, "-honor, Your Highness", she remembered triumphantly.

"Lord Jeremiah this is Lord Ruben Ashford; President of the Ashford Foundation, Lord Ashford this is Marquess Jeremiah Gottwald; a cadet in the same session as myself", Cornelia introduced them (he knew much about Lord Ashford from his studies of Marianne and Knightmare's).

The Ashford Foundation was an organization created by the Ashford family (pioneers of the lucrative engineering field in Britannia) which operated both as private contractors in this sector and a prestigious school for aspiring engineers, it was in the former capacity that they created the emergency survival cockpits for the Britannian military; the devices which had come to be recognized as the first generation of Knightmare Frame's.

The Rosenberg Institute (which co-operates with the armed forces as its developer of weapons technology and is the parent body of all other Britannian scientific divisions) created the Special Dispatch Guidance System Division (SDGSD) to convert these into weapons and, with the Foundation's co-operation, fitted them with Factsphere's and mounted them on Landspinner-equipped legs; hence the second generation Frame's.

"Lord Ashford!", he both bowed and saluted, "I'm a great admirer of your work; the Royal Panzer Infantry (RPI), which we aspiring Knights all hope to be a part of, exists only because of your Foundation's creations", Lord Ruben gave a refined laugh, "You flatter me my boy, most would say the Foundation's in a tight spot as of late; what with Rosenberg re-branding SDGSD into ASEEC and seemingly taking over our market with their whole fourth generation mass-production series nonsense".

An ambitious, borderline sinister, smirk cut across his lips, "But society forgets the Ashford's were once common mechanics, just look at us now! We've been bestowed Lordship. Our patron is the Empress herself. And once we have the results of this simple test we'll begin a perfection of the very machine which solidified our reputation as the finest scientists of our Empire. The world will know that there is no height our family can't climb".

"Gramps!", the girl Milly whined from below Ashford, "You said I could take photos of the Empress lady and her robot to sell to the newspapers, right!", this embarrassed her apparently profiteering grandfather, "Milly, dear, my friend Dr. Albert is here helping like always and he brought his granddaughter Nina along; don't you want to go play with her?".

"But Gramps you promise you'd share some of the money with me and last time I tried to play with Nina she was too busy reading and when she stopped she got all scared and started crying just cuz I told her she-", Ruben gave a boisterous cough to drown out the end of Milly's crossed-arm pouting, "Very well, very well, take all the pictures you want dear…", he knelt down and whispered something the Marquess couldn't hear, "Make sure you get a good one when the Lady poses, it'll earn a pretty penny".

Mechanical hustle and bustle came from down below prompting all of them to edge over to the window, the Knight of Six rose into the air atop the Ganymede's left hand where she gracefully outstretched her right arm (she had been a good sport when Ashford asked her to pose it seemed).

A click and a flash came from Miss Milly's camera beside him and, gazing at his idol in a skin-tight pilot suit of purest white adorned with patches of deep purple and sparkling golden regalia standing up on high angelically with her raven hair framing her kind face, the effervescent bubbling in his heart lead him to decide that he would most definitely buy one of those pictures from the Ashford's afterwards…no matter what the price may be.