96 M1 - Term: 2 to 3, Break

Attendance at Fortescue Military Academy M1 Y:2142

House Thoth, Squad Leader, Squad Zero

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

Term: 2 to 3, Break

Daedalus Operating Capital: -1,660,000 bitcreds

<break>

"That was awesome," Barran congratulated Mace. Somehow, she had managed to take out two cadets before going down, but it wasn't a close contest, she barely took the second one out before being hit with two railgun rounds.

"Not really," Mace replied. "Daedo and Axelzero had ripped them up, it only took one shot each."

"Yeah, but still," Barran grinned at Mace. "I'm glad you're on our side."

Mace raised an eyebrow, "Who says I'm on your side?"

She walked off leaving Barran to contemplate the reply, it took him a few seconds to come to the conclusion that she was playing with him.

"What now?" Axelzero asked Vannier.

The match versus the Middle Inter-Academy Squad (M3IAS) was over, and although they won, the M3IAS only had one surviving cadet at the end, it was a close call.

Siderus approached Daedo. While Vannier explained to the rest of the squad what they were doing for the next few hours.

"We're going to the Marais box," Vannier called to Daedo and summoned him with a hand.

Daedo looked at Siderus who nodded.

"I'll walk with you," Siderus said.

"Ok," Daedo answered, "The Marais are nice people you could probably come in if you wanted."

Siderus shook his head, "I need to spend time with my squad, I have nearly as many duties as you." Siderus was not only a zero squad leader but also Shu house captain and the leader for M3 in general due to his position at the head of M3IAS.

"Ok. We don't have time for a debrief right now, we can do it when you visit the Daedalus practice arena," Daedo stated.

"That's not what I wanted to discuss with you," Siderus said in a serious manner. "It's obvious to me that we're not the best eight, not without you as tactician. I want to change your mind. I want you in the Inter squad."

"We've discussed this already," Daedo replied.

"And, we're discussing it again," Siderus stated. "For someone so good at analysing why can't you see this? It's bloody obvious!"

Daedo thought while they walked. He didn't want to leave his squad to join another, not for a minute. They were like family, and if he joined the Inter squad, by himself, it would feel like cheating. The whole scenario was illogical. He was acting in an illogical manner. The fact that he felt this way and was overriding logic was disturbing to him.

Daedo simply said, "I'll think on it. We can discuss this next week,

"Good," Siderus said succinctly. "I better be off. See you next week." And with that, he ran in the opposite direction.

Picard floated back to walk with Daedo.

"What did he want?" She asked genuinely.

"The usual," Daedo obfuscated.

They were walking up an arena hallway towards the Marais box. All the exo matches were finished. The so-called all-star match was the last item on the agenda. Cillian Marais said they would stay in the box for at least another hour discussing the matches or just socializing with friends and business associates. He had invited the squad to visit if they wanted.

Picard was about to ask another question when she was interrupted by an adult.

"Oh, it is you. Hi," the tall young woman said.

Daedo continued to walk but proper conduct required he answer an adult politely, "Hello Miz?"

"Miss," she said enthusiastically, "Fafner. I believe you know my little sister."

"Yes, if she's in Gaumont's squad? Thoth squad one, is that who you mean?" Daedo answered and asked.

The young lady nodded. "I don't want to hold you up," she said when walking beside him and Picard while leaving her friends behind. "But I wanted to know if the rumours are true."

Daedo paused for a moment before continuing to walk. The Marais box wasn't close enough to escape.

Recognising his reluctance while not knowing the cause Miss Fafner explained, "The rumour about your squad going to Svarski."

Daedo stopped and looked at her. She was tall, but only when compared to him, she was probably average height, with dark hair and pale skin. She looked old for a sister with someone his age, she looked somewhere between twenty and thirty-five, he wasn't sure.

"I haven't spoken to anyone from Svarski. Let alone held talks. Where does this rumour come from?" He asked before deciding to keep walking quickly in the direction of the Marais box.

"I don't know, everyone is talking about it. You aren't leaving us are you?" Miss Fafner asked.

"So what if we do?" Picard said aggressively. "It's not like its any of your business. And this Academy has hardly given us stellar treatment."

Daedo held out a hand to Picard and touched her arm, she responded through comms.

Picard: sorry. The whole thing just makes me angry sometimes.

Daedo: you can say what you like, but I'd prefer it if we said very little to outsiders.

Picard: agreed. I will keep a lid on it in the future. I can give them cold stares though, right?

Daedo: that would be ideal.

Their AIs had become adept at accepting thoughts, translating and sending to the recipient AI and that AI converting for its host. This communication was continually being improved through combat practice and general comms. They would have great difficulty communicating this way with an outsider. But within the squad, it was akin to telepathy.

The young woman waved her hands in submission at Picard's onslaught as a crowd began to gather behind her because the pair had stopped moving again.

"I didn't mean anything by it. I'm sorry," Miss Fafner said apologetically.

"Where's the loyalty these days?" An older man gave his unwanted opinion.

Daedo: we need to get out of here. If we try and set them straight, we will be arguing for millennia.

Picard nodded to Daedo before striking back. "Exactly," she stated emphatically, "Where is the loyalty these days?" She immediately grabbed his hand and pushed her way through the crowd to the Marais door which was fifty metres up the corridor.

Picard: sorry. Had to do it.

Daedo: I've never seen you back down from a fight and didn't expect you to start now.

Picard: but I did! I had so much more I wanted to say.

Daedo chuckled at Picard. She was always focused and serious which made the times when she was funny stand out that much more. Which led him to some self-introspection, he was just as focused and serious, but never funny.

The robot attendant to the Marais box let the two cadets enter while stopping a couple of adults who were following at a close distance.

Picard and Daedo immediately headed over to Cillian who was summoning them.

"You made it," Cillian said kindly in the way of introduction. With him was his friend Andre and Colonel Martin. "Let me get Sophie and Jeram," Cillian said hurriedly.

"That was some match," Andre commented.

"I think congratulations are in order," Colonel Martin said kindly. "It was an excellent display of teamwork, tactics and skill against a much more experienced opponent."

"I wasn't sure what was going to take place when they replaced the M3 final as the main event, but it certainly lived up to its billing as an all-star match," Andre added.

Colonel Martin leaned towards the cadets, "You can speak now," He said kindly with a little dash of humour in his voice.

"Sir, it was excellent training," Daedo answered seriously.

The adults including Cillian and Sophie, who just arrived, burst out laughing. Daedo was unsure what was so funny.

Cillian put a hand on Daedo's shoulder and said merrily, "Only you would think such a nail-biting match was excellent training."

Daedo looked at Vannier who shrugged.

"It was good training," Axelzero stated.

And the adults burst out laughing even louder.

Colonel Martin waved the other adults quiet, "You put on an excellent display, one worthy of an Inter-Academy match. Forgive these ingrates they don't understand your perspective."

"Hey!" Cillian protested, "We do. We do. We invested heavily into Daedalus for their latest venture, and we believe it will have an excellent outcome. Don't we Sophie?"

Cillian's wife and the CEO of Marais industries nodded, "We are very keen to build a strong working relationship with Daedalus which is beneficial to us both."

Andre looked a little concerned at the remark. "These cadet's could write their own ticket. Have you thought about where you could go next year?" He asked.

Cillian darkened at the comment and was torn by its implications. While he wanted to advise the cadets and support them, he didn't like it when Andre made such a statement out of the blue. Cillian looked at Sophie, who nodded imperceptibly and then back to the cadets.

"Sir," Vannier replied matter-of-factly, "We're focused on getting results this year."

"I work with quite a few companies, let me know if I can be of assistance," Andre offered.

"What do you mean Andre? Shouldn't you be advising them to stay at Fortescue as a supporter of Fortescue Academy?" Colonel Martin made an accurate yet mischevious comment.

"I mean; Academies like Templars, or regional academies, or even a tier two and maybe even a tier one academy would give them scholarships and grants towards their research projects," Andre explained.

Cillian was unhappy but said nothing. However, Sophie was not so shy.

"Daedalus can certainly write their own ticket, but why stop there?" She said ambiguously.

The group, including Daedo, wondered what she meant.

Cillian wanted to change the subject from Academies, "Daedalus needs to focus on the next six months. Need I remind everyone that there is much riding on the result." He looked towards the cadets.

"You will always have my support and any support that Marais is able to give. Isn't that right Sophie?" Cillian said.

Sophie nodded but diplomatically added, "Where it is prudential. Even if I am CEO, there are rules for executives of a company that I need to adhere to."

"There is something I wanted to ask you about," Daedo ventured, it was hard getting a word in edgewise with the adults going off on tangents.

"Go on," Cillian said eagerly. "This is also something that we wanted to propose and since this get together had morphed into a business meeting lets talk about it now. Are you cadets good for time?"

Vannier, Mace, Axelzero, Barran, Picard and Kang all nodded.

"Let's move over to the booth," Cillian said, as there were plenty of eavesdroppers standing around sipping drinks.

"Ah sorry Andre," Sophie said blocking him from joining the group, "This is a Marais Daedalus meeting."

"What about Colonel Martin? He is sitting with the group?" Andre ventured.

"Colonel Martin is an official advisor to Daedalus. You are not," Sophie said with very little tact.

Andre looked upset, however, took the rejection in his stride. He moved off to a vacant corner with Sophie watching him closely. She suddenly turned to join the group in the booth with Jeram at her side.

"What is it that you need Daedo?" Cillian asked.

Daedo felt bad asking for this, but he felt it was necessary.

"We need a VTOL for the break. I am sorry we didn't place an order months ago, but I have been so busy I didn't think ahead," Daedo announced the usual waiting time for a Mech carrying VTOL was three months. They were made to order and didn't grow on trees.

Barran immediately stood and cheered, "Yes!" He did the trademark single Barran fist pump in the air. Not letting it go he turned to Vannier and said, "Whumpa!" Mimicking the sound a VTOL makes when it takes off. And then he continued to look each cadet in the eye from Picard to Kang and exclaim, "Whumpa!" Each time.

"We get it," Picard said sounding annoyed.

"Do you want to borrow one, rent, or purchase?" Sophie asked.

"Whatever method works, we need one for the break," Daedo said.

"Why?" asked approximately six people at once.

"Two unrelated travel needs. One is a confidential trip to northwest Africa, which I can't explain the purpose just yet and the other is for the Svarski pro league invitational in Japan," he announced.

"Japan! I told you. Japan," Barran said excitedly.

"Tell me about the pro league," Cillian said excitedly. "Are you competing?"

"Yes, we can submit one or two entries, but we would have to work our way through the qualifying rounds and the only way the timelines work is if we prepare the mechs here and fly them across," Daedo stated. "Plus I need the VTOL for Africa, so it makes sense."

"And you are doing all of this in your three-week break?" Jeram asked astounded.

Daedo nodded.

Vannier, Axelzero and Picard quickly looked up dates and messaged for parental permission to attend Japan.

Vannier: a little warning would be nice.

Daedo messaged the entire squad.

Daedo: sorry. I only worked it out when looking into the sale that Barran made, and I have been busy, so I forgot to bring it up.

Picard: If I can't attend due to the short notice you are going to regret it next time we spar.

Axelzero: ditto. Except I will get Picard to beat you for me.

"Do we have a demo they can use?" Sophie asked Cillian.

"Depends on the requirements and they will need an international licensed pilot, you can't fly to Japan with an AI pilot alone," Cillian stated.

"How long does it take to get a license?" Barran asked grinning.

"I think you need a thousand simulator hours for the international," Cillian said.

Barran quickly added up the hours between now and the Japan tournament. "Damn its only two hundred and ten hours until the tournament!"

"You need to sleep as well Barran," Picard pointed out.

"I know what he is going to be doing every moment of spare time now," Axelzero opined.

"We need a pilot, ok," Daedo said.

"I can pilot," Jeram offered.

Sophie looked at her son, he was only in M3, but he must have clocked up the hours due to his parent's company's main product.

"With permission, you may," she stated.

"I think it's a great idea," Cillian said. "That brings me to the proposal I had for Daedalus." Cillian looked at Sophie who as angry that he undermined her with their son's permission. "With permission," he added submissively.

Sophie sighed and nodded bringing a massive grin to Cillian's face.

"There is this business thing that Sophie normally uses, but I am aware of. Its called a memorandum of understanding. It's like a contract, well it is a contract, but it's more to do with companies working together for mutual benefit." Cillian said.

"That is almost accurate," Sophie qualified, "You will need to have your own experts review and advise you. Otherwise, I will not sign."

"Who's side are you on?" Cillian asked his wife.

"The ethical side," she replied.

It was Cillian's turn to sigh, "Anyway. It's like a sponsorship initially, but there is something in it for Marais Industries. First, I want to put Jeram in charge of Marais-Daedalus relations. He is almost your age, and I think you will get along famously. It will be good for him as well."

"Next; the details will be in the MOU but here is a paraphrased summary. Daedalus are experts in designing and building mechs, exos and weapon systems. All your patents are around these technologies aside from your AI. And Marais industries are experts in building carriers whether they are for personnel, exos or mechs. These carriers are both planet based, and we have been developing an interstellar division for two years."

"What I am proposing is not a merger. It's not even a non compete. It's more like we work together and in the beginning, we will be of much more help to you than vice versa with all our contacts and contracts. Don't get me wrong, we see the potential in Daedalus, that is why we want to partner with you. It's not all about being charitable, there is a benefit in it for us as well."

Daedo: Axelzero this falls into your area. I do like the idea.

Axelzero: agreed it is a good idea. The devil is in the detail, and we are in debt to them for 2 million as well. I can't let that cloud our judgment.

"Sir. Mister Marais," Axelzero said formally, "We like the principle of this proposal and will study the MOU in detail before responding."

Sophie nodded her appreciation of the answer.

"Good good," Cillian said. Still excited, "And you just call me Cillian. Alright?"

Axelzero nodded and smiled before responding, "Yes sir. I mean Cillian."

Sophie finished looking up inventory, "There is a class four in service, we gave the client the loan model. If you get it fixed and get the loan model back Cillian you can loan Daedalus the class four until a permanent unit is available."

Cillian smiled, "The class four can carry eight mechs, will that do?"

Daedo laughed before answering, "I think two would suffice."

Barran: what's happening in Africa?

Vannier: yeah! What's happening.

Axelzero: I know.

Picard: How come you know?

Kang: who is piloting the mechs in Japan? I hope you don't expect me to.

Daedo: enough! We can talk about Africa and Japan when we're back in our quarters.

"Let's talk about next term," Colonel Martin changed the topic. "What are your strategies for avoiding relegation?"

"Do we have twenty hours spare?" Sophie asked.

"I can send you our plan Sir," Daedo informed Colonel Martin.

"Do that. Your mech team, do they need a skirmish?" Colonel Martin asked.

"That would be awesome!" Several cadets exclaimed at once.

"It would be very helpful Colonel Martin," Daedo replied formally. "I will check their calendar. Are you able to accommodate us before the first round?"

Colonel Martin nodded and grinned evilly, "Any time."