Update 11/5/17: Expanded the dialogue for Nero and Tactus to flesh the chapter out more, and redid Shiro's dialogue to account for the changes to his cover story.

Chapter 6: Icarus:

Hyperion

Luna

December 15th, 2840

Five weeks later, Shiro stood in front of the bathroom mirror in his quarters, adjusting his lancer's uniform and combing his golden hair. Tomorrow was the first day of the Summit, and Hundreds of Golden families both major and minor were landing their private ships at designated landing pads across the Citadel grounds. Mustang was in the other room changing from her morning workout into her formal attire. He took a deep breath to calm himself as he rehearsed what it was he needed to say. Mustang's father would be arriving shortly, and since the man was technically his boss, he needed to go down and introduce himself to the ArchGovernor of Mars.

As they walked down to the fields, they watched her father's ship touch down near the Citadel. Sticky, polluted wind bent the towering trees near the landing pad. Another vessel painted in the silver of House Bellona landed to the north as two young men who Shiro recognized from the HC videos as Darrow and Roque exited the ship. The two bantered as they walked towards the seven-story villa assigned to the Augustus household for the duration of the summit, joining the procession already making their way there while the ArchGovernor's Gray security teams did a sweep of the building. As the column made its way indoors, the Browns assigned to the landing pad begin unloading everyone's luggage from the ship.

Once everyone had entered the villa, Mustang gestured for Shiro to follow her as they walked through the front doors. Roque and several other lancers had left to attend a conference on history and economics, while the rest made themselves comfortable. Obsidian bodyguards trailed the high-ranking Golds of the house like shadows, while Pinks streamed gracefully into the villa, ordered from The Gardens by household staff who found themselves bored from three weeks of space travel and seeking a little pleasure and entertainment. Shiro and Mustang breezed past all of them as she led him upstairs to the second floor, headed for the room where she knew her father would most likely be: the study.

The first thing that Shiro noticed about Nero au Augustus was that, unlike most Golds, who were bred for physical perfection and looked like they had been carved from marble, his face looked like he had been chiseled out of solid granite. His long, bony fingers gripped the arm-rest of his chair like they were the only thing in the world that mattered. Shiro fought to keep a straight face as Mustang explained to her father the official version of how he'd come into her service. Though he fought to keep himself from making eye contact, he could feel the eyes of Nero and his chief Politico, Pliny, boring into him, trying to decipher who he was. When Mustang finished speaking, her father asked to speak to Shiro alone.

"Now that my daughter is not here to speak for you," the Martian ArchGovernor began. "I would like to know more about you Terranova. I don't mean your family history, I can research that easily enough. I want to know how a Bronzie orphan from Earth who never attended either of his planet's Institutes managed to convince my daughter that you should be a lancer for my House, rather than House Lune or the Bellona. What is it about you that made her think I would want you in my service?" Shiro took a deep breath, drawing on both his fake backstory and a small bit of his time in the gladiator arena for what would probably be the most stressful job interview of his life.

"I lost my arm when I was twelve," he began. "My parents' debts had started to mount up and they couldn't afford to have a Yellow reattach it. The best they could afford was a mechanical prosthetic at a discount from a local carver. When they died, their lands and property were seized, leaving me out on the streets with nothing but the clothes on my back. I lived by myself in the wilderness for the first few months after being evicted from our house in Norway. I spent that time hiking towards the nearest city, killing carved wildlife twice my size with my bare hands for food."

"Once I got to Oslo," Shiro went on. "I spent most of my time in the lowColor districts scrounging up enough money to survive. It took another year to save up enough credits for a cheap, one-room apartment in the lower levels of the city. Once I had a roof over my head I started doing mercenary work to earn more money. This past year I finally saved up enough to buy passage on a ship leaving Earth for Luna. I may not have come from an august lineage or graduated from the Institute, but I have been fighting for everything I have in life since I was fifteen years old."

Augustus and Pliny were silent when he finished, and though Shiro remained at attention, he could feel the Politico glaring at him. Great, Shiro thought to himself as he waited for Nero's response. Pliny whispered in the ArchGovernor's ear, sounding like he was both anxious and angry at the same time. More politics. Just what I needed right now. Mustang had warned him that Pliny was an ambitious creature, constantly undermining those he saw as potential rivals for her father's favor. And it seemed as if the scar-less man had pegged Shiro as a potential obstacle to his own ambitions. Finally, the two Golden men finished their whispered discussion and the Martian governor turned to face the former Black Paladin.

"While my daughter and I do not see eye to eye," Nero commented. "One thing which I will never dispute her over is her ability to recognize strenght and potential when she sees it. And that is something you have. I have enemies. They are strong, and they are many. Imperator Tiberius au Bellona, chief among them, has more than fifty nieces and nephews. He has nine children. That Goliath, Karnus, the eldest. Cassius, his favorite. His seed is strong. Mine is… less so. I had a son worth all of Tiberius's put together. But Karnus killed him. Now I have two nieces. A nephew. A son. A daughter. And that is it. So, I collect apprentices." Augustus paused, clearly still mourning his late son Claudius.

"I told this to Darrow au Andromedus after his graduation from the Institute two years ago," the man went on. "But his bloodfeud with Cassius au Bellona has become burdensome to my political and economic interests. Substantial revenue has been lost due to tariff increases to the Core, where much of the Bellona power base lies. Houses waver in their commitment to honoring deals made years ago at the trade table. As an act of reconciliation, I have decided to sell Andromedus's contract to another house. My daughter may serve the Sovereign's court, but I can see now why my daughter convinced me to hire you. You have the same rare breed of charisma as Darrow, without the baggage of bloodfeuds or other rivalries. As such, I will be upgrading your provisional contract and making you a full lancer of my house."

"Thank you, my liege," Shiro responded, kneeling to the floor, hating the deferential gesture as he did so. He didn't like the idea of bowing to someone like Nero, the man's Darwinist outlook on life reminding him uncomfortably of his time as Zarkon's prisoner. But, he also understood that the ArchGovernor's approval was essential to his continued employment. So, for as much time as was necessary, Shiro could swallow his anger and play along.

"I know you have spent a good deal of time with my daughter in the last several weeks," Augustus continued. "But make no mistake. As head of House Augustus, your loyalty belongs to me, not my daughter. Do I make myself clear?"

"Yes, my liege," Shiro replied, head bowed. "I live to serve."

"Good," Nero commented, finishing the discussion. "Now, I suggest use the next three days to acquaint yourself with my other lancers and bannermen before we return to Mars. You are dismissed. You are dismissed." Shiro nodded and thanked his new boss as he stood up and left the room. Once the door closed behind him, he wiped the sweat from his forehead and sighed in relief before another voice startled him out of his thoughts.

"Our ArchGovernor certainly has an intimidating presence, doesn't he?" Shiro turned to find a young man in the black pants black lancer's uniform, leaning against the wall further down the hallway with his shirt unbuttoned to expose his chest. He had skin that looked like honeyed oak, and a small scar across his right cheek marking him as a Peerless Scarred and graduate of The Institute. Shiro knew he'd seen the man of holos from Mustang's time in the Institute. But he'd been caught by surprise and for the life of him couldn't remember which of Darrow's lieutenants this man was.

"Slag intimidating," Shiro remarked sarcastically as he headed towards the speaker, catching onto the humor in the other man's voice. Clearly, the former Black Paladin wasn't the only one who found his employer intimidating. "There were times in there when I thought I was about to be stepped on like an insect."

"Don't we all," the other man replied with a laugh. "New lancer, I take it? A shame. I'm sure you're good enough for Augustus to find some value in you, but with Darrow being cut loose in a few days, I'm just sore Augustus decided to replace him already."

"Yeah, Mustang told me about that," Shiro replied. The man's eyes widened in recognition.

"So Mustang's the one who set you up with the job, eh?" The man replied. "Well, I'm sure Darrow won't mind your presence as much, then. Care to join me for a drink?" Shiro thought about it for a moment. Mustang had a meeting to attend with the Sovereign, so there was no way for him to tag along with her activities that evening. He could go and work out in the Citadel training rooms by himself, but since Augustus also wanted him to mingle with the rest of the household, he couldn't think of a reason to say no.

"Sounds prime, goodman," he replied, offering his hand before introducing himself. "Shiro au Teranova."

"Tactus au Rath," his new co-worker replied as they shook his hand. "Hic Sunt Leones."

Shiro's fake last name is a reference to Citra Terranova from the novel Scythe by Neal Shusterman, the author of Unwind.

Terminology:

Board of Quality Control: The eugenics council dedicating to ensuring the "purity" of Gold genetics. This involves enforcing real-life infant mortality rates via The Exposure, to ensure that only the Golds who are worthy and strong enough survive.

The Exposure: BQC practice where infants are left in the wilderness for three days to die. Only the ones who manage to survive are taken back to society and raised to adulthood.

jamField: A device that creates an invisible noise-cancelling shield that prevents any noise inside the field from being heard on the outside and deactivates any listening devices within it. Used by civilians for private conversations while soldiers frequently use it for stealth missions.

Peerless Scarred: The Golds who graduated from the Institute and are considered the strongest, smartest, and toughest of humanity. Named for the facial scar they receive upon graduation from the Institute.