Landing Zone
Colony of Autumn's Frontier
Western Continent aka "Westeros"
Northern Hemisphere, Planet EE-L4
The last few days sure coulda gone a helluva lot better. On one hand, the visit to the colony by the King and his court had achieved everything that Fred wanted it to: their contract for the lease of Autumn's Frontier had been extended for the next five years, with The Company™ gaining additional mineral harvesting and land use rights. Sure, it cost a little gold and a few goods here and there, but those were peanuts and glass beads compared to the real estate value these lands would have once the main colonization wave hit in a few years (well, all things permitting).
On the other hand, though, this whole business of Brandon Stark's fall had put a huge dampener on everything. No, the kid himself would be alright for now – he'd just been put in a medically-induced coma and would be shipped out on the next outbound Valkyrie to the Horizonte. That didn't mean the Starks were any less devastated by this event though – especially Lady Stark, to whom Bran musta been the favorite or something, from what Fred gathered.
The King and the Halfdude seemed decent enough and pretty courteous to the Starks throughout the whole mess. If only the same could be said for the rest of the King's family – seriously, what fucking assholes. Fred half-wanted to give that little shithead prince another piece of his mind, maybe plonk a few laxatives in his wine when no-one else was looking. The good news is that the little prick at least seemed to respectfully keep his distance from The Company™ these days, ever since his little "joy-ride" on the Cat. Ha! God save him when Fred planned to pull his next big "publicity stunt" for the King...
You see, the King had graciously extended an invitation to Fred to head on down to the capital with them for further negotiations on which lands throughout the other Seven Kingdoms might possibly whet The Company™'s interests. These natives were all greatly impressed by the things they had to show, and The King wanted to them to bring the same changes to the capital that they had seen in Winterfell. Fred was eager to accept (more land? Why not!), but he didn't quite fancy a thousand-mile trek on filthy backwater mud roads with these people. Instead, he had a better idea… and he was certain that his next major stunt would blow these locals all away like nothing they had ever seen before…
"So, WHERE is this mighty DRAGON-SHIP of YOURS?" inquired the King, as he and his entourage stood at attention at the edge of the colony's designated landing zone.
"Valkyrie 02 is due any minute now," said Daniel. "But for today, you guys will be taking the Falcon. We're only waiting for the Valk because someone important is arriving. Your Grace."
"Well, Daniel," said Fred, "I guess the colony's in your hands now. Take good care of her 'til I get back, will ya?"
"We'll lay off the antics until you get back, sir," said Daniel. "But you sure you'll be fine? Hawthorne's offered to assign a couple Marines to…"
"Nah, that won't be necessary. I'll be just fine," insisted Fred. "Besides, I won't be alone."
As if on cue, a massive rumble shook through the sky, like rolling thunder. And there it was: an enormous delta-winged construct of gleaming white-and-black titanium hyperalloy and carbon nanotubes soaring into view, leaving a brilliant blue streak of ions behind it that, at least at night, could probably have been clearly seen for hundreds of miles in every which way.
He was only 24, but he'd worked at The Company™ long enough to have seen probably a hundred Valkyrie take-offs and landings by now. But ever since landing here on EE-L4, ever since getting to know the locals, he found himself trying to view each new shuttle arrival and departure with the same wonder and shock as the natives of this world...
"OTHERS TAKE ME!" exclaimed the King, struggling to make himself heard over the thunderous roar of the engines and the gusts of wind and dust thrown up as the shuttle came to a hovering standstill over a patch of ground just over a thousand feet or so from their position.
Even though the King and his party had been told prior what to expect, there was no question of the raw impact the sight and sound of the Valk was having on these people. Several men among the party even fainted. Even that ugly stone-faced dude that followed the Prince everywhere (what was he called again? The Bulldog? The Rottweiler?)... yeah, even he was wide-eyed and nearly foaming at the mouth at that moment in time.
Now that Fred thought about it, everything about the Valkyrie must have been shocking and completely otherworldly to these locals – not least of all, its size, its speed, the noise it made, the fact that it was built completely of metal… oh yes, and the fact it could, you know, fly.
Not that manned flight was something completely unheard to these people, since from what Fred had heard, their old ruling dynasty used to employ dragons as mounts before they went extinct. But none of these people had ever actually seen a dragon. And in any case, the beast that now gracefully maneuvered itself into landing position before their very eyes – now that must have been something completely out of context to them. A dragon, at least, was a living creature - like any bird or insect, but larger, of course. The shuttle, on the other hand, was a mass-produced machine of cold, dead metal and glass, given form and life by human hands - to a primitive people like the Westerosi, such power was the domain only of Gods.
Everything took less than a minute. The mighty delta-winged form of the Valkyrie had extended its landing gear and touched down on the ground. The massive engines were quickly powered down, and three HULK units began advancing towards the ship to assist in offloading cargo. The massive rear cargo ramp of the Valkyrie, larger than any castle's portcullis, began to lower, and two figures emerged from within. It was hard to see them at first – two small figures like ants against the massive bulk of the jumbo jet-sized shuttle. But as they drew closer, Fred and his fellow onlookers could make out the form of a man and a woman striding up to their position.
The man was your typical UN inspector-type – 30-something, bookish-looking, dressed in a clean and well-pressed business suit, though he also wore a fluorescent yellow safety jacket on top of it. The woman, on the other hand, was something else entirely. She stood a full 6'3" tall, long black hair tied up in a neat and tidy bun, and with enough of her figure visible under the utility flightsuit-and-belt combo she wore to suggest that she could knock out most men with a single punch. That, and there was something slightly "off" about the way she moved and carried herself physically. Of course, Fred himself knew why, but decided not to tell the others.
"Good to see you, Fred," said the man, "you too Daniel. I trust things are going well?"
"Good to see you too, Steve," said Fred. "Welcome to EE-L4… err, I mean Westeros. Planning on staying a while?"
"I'm afraid this'll only be a short visit," said Steve, "the situation over on L5 gets worse by the day, and the Brass wants me there nearly 24-7 to keep an eye on things... you know, authorize the occasional air strike if things get out of hand." He laughed.
"So I heard," said Fred. "Allow me to introduce you to His Royal Majesterial Highness, King Robert of the House Baratheon … First of His Name … eh, Lord of the Realm, King of the, uh, Anglo-Saxons, and the First Men, and all that jazz…"
"Your Excellency," said Steve, stepping forward to extend a hand to the King. "Stephen Lynn, I'm with the United Nations Administration for Space Exploration & Colonization, or UNASEC for short. It's an honor to meet you. I look forward to discussing the many wondrous things we at the UN can do for your realm."
The King returned Steve's courtesy, though it was clear that his attention was really focused more at the other newcomer (and admittedly, not without good reason too)...
"Greetings, Director F. Kovacs and Monarch R. Baratheon," she said, stepping forward, "it is a pleasure to meet you both in person. Director J. Teller sends his warm regards, and regrets that he cannot be here in person."
"Gentlemen, allow me to introduce you to VENI…ah…" Steve paused as he stole a glance at the King and the other locals, and quietly debated whether he really wanted to take the time and effort to explain everything about the nature of this newest travel companion to these backward locals. He settled on the easier course of action. "Veni-ah. Lady Venia, a noble courtesan to the House of Teller. Um, yes. Lord Teller sends his regards, and has instructed that she will accompany you as a personal diplomatic aide."