43 M1 - Term: 1, Round: 5

Attendance at Fortescue Military Academy M1 Y:2142

House Thoth, Squad Leader, Squad Zero

M1 Rank: 1/1275, Tier 3 M-Rank: Null

Term: 1, Round: 5

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Barran-M stood just outside the M1 Thoth Squad Zero quarters. The entire squad were collected in the communal area waiting in expectation.

Axelzero had recovered fully, the first aid spray wasn't up to the task of repairing the break, but the medical centre fixed it in minutes. The cadets later found out there were medical staff and facilities at the arena. They attended for all matches. It was a rookie mistake to take Axelzero down to the Middle Academy medical centre.

"Permission to enter," Barran-M asked politely.

Before Daedo could reply, Barran yelled, "no!" and laughed at the look on his sister's face.

"Granted," Daedo said ignoring Barran.

There was a vacant seat at the head of the communal table which Barran-M correctly assumed was for her and took it. The squad all sat after she did. Despite being in their quarters, there was a protocol to follow. Part of their studies and induction informed them of how to act in front of senior cadets. Especially ones with rank. Barran-M was the squad leader of U1 Thoth squad zero. She was literally Daedo's counterpart in U1.

"We have much to discuss," Barran-M began and spread her hands. A display appeared in the centre of the table. It was a document with the title meeting agenda.

Squad Zero was quiet. They were like fish out of water. Barran-M was organised on a completely different level. They didn't keep notes other than recording their tactics meetings or plans they had for their tech innovations. Not to mention Myrmidon was able to regurgitate any piece of information that Daedo ever needed. But the agenda was a nice touch to keep a meeting on track.

"I can tell from your silence that you are all anxious to find out what I came to chat about," Barran-M continued. "There are two very separate items. Both of which came to me in the last few days."

"Let's knock off the non-Academy item first," she said. It was first on the agenda. "Barran corporation, and more precisely, my Father the CEO and even my grandfather the chairman, are aware to an extent, of what you have created in Daedalus. When Brice was asked to report on his expenditure, which was impetuous even by his standards, his report stated it was an investment of a lifetime. The high proportion of his disposable trust fund used and this statement forced the trust manager to do some digging."

Barran received some looks. His bravado and reality were unsurprisingly twoseparate and different things.

"After the first report from the investigation came through to Brice's trust fund manager, it was forwarded to his manager in turn, then to my mother and lastly to my father." She looked at Barran and said as an aside, "you have outdone yourself this time. That is quite an achievement."

"In summary, the amount of activity in patents and inventions was impressive. Which brings us to the first item we need to discuss." Morganne Barran paused for effect.

"Barran Corporation would like to support Daedalus," she began. "They sent me to begin a discussion so you wouldn't be spooked. But it is that important to us that my Father would have come."

Barran slumped in his chair. He mouthed the words, leave me alone, to no one, just the adults who were not attending the meeting.

To Morganne Barran's left sat Daedo and to her right sat Vannier, across from Daedo. The squad zero members lined the table away from her in their own order. Next to Daedo was Mace, then Picard and lastly Gaumont. On the other side was Axelzero and then Barran. The end of the table was attached to a wall, which was used for utensil storage or a display. The table was large enough for twice as many cadets as they spread out when studying.

"Ah. This is surprising," Vannier began looking at Daedo. "What sort of support was the Barran corp proposing?"

"In short, Services and Financial support," Morganne Barran replied. "It's sudden, so we wanted to give you time and space to think on things. There is no rush."

Barran stood, "bullshit there is no rush. You are just playing nice to ingratiate yourself. Next, you will want to have Daedalus tied up so no one else can swoop in and take it off you. Let me tell you, sis. No. The answer is no. Get lost. We don't need your help. And Father needn't worry that Barran Corp is missing out on something as I own nearly twenty percent. It's a massive stakeholding with only Daedo possessing more. And we won't let anyone else buy us either."

"You see why I didn't come and ask my family's company for help?" He bawled looking at Vannier, Axelzero and Mace.

"Unlike your families. Who gave heaps of help for free! My family looks for opportunity. How much can they gain? The next step would be Morganne becoming very friendly with Daedo! And you know what I mean by "friendly"!"

None of the squad had seen Barran unhinged like this. He was forever effervescent, confident and carefree.

Daedo did not want to commit to an opinion. There was clearly much more going on here than appeared on the surface, he merely nodded to Vannier.

Vannier cleared her throat, then waited for Barran to be quiet and sit.

Barran looked at Daedo who merely smiled shyly and nodded to his chair. Barran sat and looked down at the table, it was obvious he was still smouldering, but he remained quiet and made eye contact with no one else.

Vannier then added, "I think before discussions can even begin between Daedalus and Barran Corporation we will need to have our own internal conversation."

Morganne sent a quick text to her brother. I can't believe you would sink us singlehandedly like that. Thanks a lot, brother. This will be reported.

Morganne Barran seemed unruffled on the surface. Surely the derailment of the first item in such a dramatic fashion would affect her. But she merely moved to the second item.

"Let's move family business aside, put it in a box and lock it away," Morganne Barran began. "The main reason I am here is Master Nader invited me to review all aspects of your operations next term. And to begin with, I have to review your tactics and outcomes from your upcoming matches in M3 Tier One."

Barran moaned and mumbled, "no Master Nader, no."

"You may not know, but if you were to have a Mentor, it was going to be me. Master Nader believes a mentor would be counterproductive to your leadership development and I would have to agree. However, the Master thinks consistent reviews with recommendations could be of assistance. You can read the reviews and improve your methods, or you can throw it away as drivel. Entirely up to you," Morganne finished.

Vannier responded, "does Master Nader know about your conflict of interest?"

"I am certain she does now," Morganne Barran replied before adding, "maybe your Master expects you to deal with that as part of your training and growth."

"I have one question," Daedo spoke suddenly, making everyone jump.

"Hmm?" Morganne intoned turning to direct her gaze upon the diminutive genius.

"Does Barran Corp own any space on the Spiral?" he asked surprising everyone again.

After a moment's hesitation, Morganne Barran answered, "no. It is too expensive for the risk involved. It did not meet our ROI criteria."

Daedo gave Vannier a look which spoke volumes. No interest if they don't possess a berth on the spiral.

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Morganne Barran had left squad zero's quarters. Barran was stomping around speaking nonsensically, but his overall message was clear. Daedalus should stay independent. Barran Corp had nothing to offer us they just wanted to leach off our success.

Vannier sent Daedo, Mace and Axelzero a text while Barran was raging.

Vannier: At least we know where his loyalty lies. It would be hard for me to choose between family and Daedalus.

Axelzero: hopefully our families don't put us in that position.

Daedo: you won't have to choose. All I would ask is if your family wants to hurt us you stand in their way. And the same goes for the other way around. Stop Daedalus from hurting your family. Not that we would ever intend to.

Vannier approached Barran after he cooled somewhat and tried to console him.

"Thank you, Barran for protecting us. But don't be so upset. We can handle it," Vannier implored.

"You have no idea what they are capable of. And I hope you never find out," Barran replied sadly. He was showing a different side they had never seen. A vulnerability which never appeared even in the face of tremendous odds.

Daedo brought everyone together to continue the discussion and create a plan of action. Or reaction.

"We may get a few companies attempting to assist us with a view to taking us over. Especially if we are successful," Daedo predicted.

Mace added, "I think this is just the beginning. We should consider getting help. A business manager or similar."

A few nodded. Barran and Picard looked doubtful.

Daedo asked, "what do you think Vannier?" Between Mace, Vannier and himself they could figure most things out. However, this problem was way out of his comfort zone. Daedo would prefer one of Chief Albert's or Chief Vincent's problems any day.

Authors Note: Chief Vincent is the physics Chief.

Vannier looked as lost as him, "I don't know. If we had someone like Cisse or your Father. Someone we could trust. Then I would say yes. But this position is the riskiest to fill. If we choose the wrong person, we may as well give all our work away now."

"That settles it," Daedo answered. "Until we find someone we can trust with our lives, who trust us with theirs, we do nothing. We run it ourselves and resist all attempts to purchase shares. We will just have to raise any bitcreds we need to continue ourselves."

"What about taxes, licenses, tariffs, property related costs and other things I can't think of?" Gaumont asked.

"He is right, they could undo us as easily as a predatory company," Barran added.

"Then we get three accountants to offer advice, show us what costs we need to allow and what we should do. We analyse that information for consistency and apply. If there is one thing we can handle, its math. We just need to know the rules we are dealing with." Daedo said.

"Let's do that in the break between term one and two. We will have a couple of weeks to get everything in order," Vannier added.

"I have a concern," Axelzero raised. "Why did Master Nader invite Barran-M to inspect and review our work? And now that she knows there is a conflict of interest there will she allow it to continue?"

Daedo replied, "Master Nader often does things to test us. It's her way of forcing growth." The squad just stared at him, some aghast.

"It's like," he continued, "the obstacle course. Most obstacles are there to increase your strength, stamina, balance or coordination. Master Nader places obstacles in our path that have no purpose other than to make us stronger."

With that explanation, he received nods all round.

"Barran," Vannier announced, "let's go for a run together topside."

He nodded and smiled weakly. It was obvious she was trying to cheer and calm him. If anything it made him feel guilty for showing weakness.

Picard stood as well. She looked to Mace, Daedo and Axelzero and said the magic words "bo staffs?"

The trio stood without answering. That left Gaumont who looked between the two groups. Vannier smiled and waved encouragingly for him to join her and Barran.

Barran recovered some of himself and said to Gaumont, "you're cramping my style kid." To which he received four pairs of rolling eyes followed by relieved laughter from the entire squad.

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Each of the cadets held a short bo staff in a single hand. Picard and Mace were able to switch and use either hand. Where Daedo and Axelzero still had a long way to go. Part of their training was to use each hand equally, but they did have one dominant.

Mace paired with Picard while Daedo paired with Axelzero. The training was aimed at improving their core strength, balance, coordination, stamina and to train their bodies to move without thinking. The hand to hand training they did on weekends was purely for self-defence. Where it was possible to transplant bo staff combat techniques to a swordlance used either with a mech or exo.

The reason they used single handed short bo staffs was for this reason.

"I hate being the worst of the group," Axelzero said between breaths while sparring with Daedo.

"I was quite thankful when you decided to join. That used to be me," Daedo said truthfully.

"What are you doing in the holidays?" Axelzero asked changing the topic.

"Oh," Daedo looked thoughtful. "I will probably stay at the workshop and work on new projects." He didn't want to mention the reactor experiment with Cisse out loud. Especially considering the attention they were already drawing.

"What?" Axelzero said in concern. "Surely you need a break. You've been working nearly every waking moment since our orientation day."

"No I haven't," he replied.

"Yes, you have," Axelzero argued as they clashed bo staves.

"I've been playing melee combat in here, going for runs, hand to hand training on the weekend, going to the gunnery range and sleeping heaps!" He retorted.

"Those are training!" Axelzero stated.

"Yeah, but I have fun doing it. The only thing that's not fun is carrying extra weights through the obstacle course," Daedo explained.

"Is Math fun?" Axelzero asked.

"When it works it is," Daedo answered. He meant when he could form elegant or creative solutions. What wasn't fun was failing to come up with any workable answer with the complex variable in the cosmic constant problem.

"You are crazy," Axelzero yelled as she attacked Daedo with a vicious onslaught of blows.

Barely able to fend all her attacks off Daedo began to consider whether should he do anything else on the break.

"What are you doing?" He asked Axelzero.

"Spending time with my parents. Probably some shopping, going to the beach and most important of all relaxing! You do know what that word is don't you?" Axelzero lectured.

"No idea," Daedo said. "Is it something like lazy?"

That remark earnt him a vicious swipe, which he predicted and countered with a three-move combo.

Daedo switched with Picard and asked Mace the same question in between earning bruises from the white-haired assassin.

"I'm up for spending time at the workshop. My parents will want to see me, but they are normally busy and travelling. They should come to Nanterre and visit us I think," she seemed to be working through her plan to force her parents to come to Paris rather than go home. From what Daedo knew her parents travelled a lot between New York, Hong Kong, London and where they lived in southern France.

"We should go and see an Amateur Mech tournament if there is one on somewhere," Axelzero offered.

"Oh that's a great idea," Daedo replied.

"Depending on where it is," Picard added. Picard thought that international travel would put the cost out of reach.

Daedo: Myrmidon are you looking them up?

Myrmidon: way ahead of you. There's one in Germany at the end of the first week. It goes from Friday to Sunday. It's in Munich.

"There's one in Munich!" Daedo announced.

"Oh we have to go," Mace agreed.

"If we win the M1 tournament Daedalus will pay for everyone," Daedo decided, trapping Picard.

Axelzero and Mace nodded agreement, they caught on to exactly what he was doing.

"I'll let everyone know," Axelzero said excitedly.

"All we have to do now is win M1," Daedo said as he traded blows with Mace. She began to take it easy on him since the conversation started.

Picard managed to fend off Axelzero and send a back kick in Daedo's direction.