[Book Four] Chapter 11: Visit

[Book Four] Chapter 11: VisitChapter 11: Visit

Life at Celeste Academy was going well.



By the end of the first day where the students had to explore the complex, many friendships had been born. They all complained that Rick was batshit insane for doing that but very few would say that they didn’t have any fun while participating in that little game. Some were found out to be lazy or felt it was below them to participate and simply let the others do the work. Rick took a nasty pleasure watching Kahlee speaking to them through the coms and giving them a reprimand that would be put in their file. All of those students were put on a list ‘to watch out for’. There was no reason for Rick to waste money on those kinds of people.



The students had found the multi-floor cafeteria rather quickly and from there spread all around. By the time the map was completed they had one hour to spare before dinner. Since that was the case the entertainment area was opened and students could use their free time wherever they wanted. Classes would start in the morning half an hour before the new group of lower year students would arrive for their own orientation. Once every year got a round of ‘make your own map’, the oldest students were already familiar with the academy’s layout and helped the youngest to acclimate. It was a bit weird to see a fifteen year old and twenty one year old sharing a school but nobody really cared. Not when younger students were sometimes students of upper years.



Rick had created a VI that would keep watch on any rules infractions, contacting security quickly to deal with any problem. With fifteen thousand students, conflicts were bound to happen. It was rather rare though as most students, if not the totally, were focused on studying. They were not any students after all but the best. After six months spent living at the Academy the mid year exams were at hands and teachers were secretly betting on the ranking.



Rick and Tali’s employees were doing good work in whatever field they were working on. Some proposed internships for the oldest students to give them work experience and to be used as assistants, who would be credited accordingly for their participation for any projects they worked on. Some students complained that they should be paid for their assistant work and Rick took it personally. He was very clear when he told them that it wasn't happening because the budget didn’t allow it (which was a lie), after all free tuition, lodging and food was more than generous enough and that they would not get a better deal anywhere else. Most admitted that it was true and relented. A few greedy ones persisted and refused to keep working. When Rick advised Kahlee to simply expel them, she had been against it believing that it was too harsh a punishment and instead barred them for any work with a teacher or employee, their vacants spot being taken by other students willing to do the work. Since she was the headmistress and had full authority Rick let her do as she wanted, just like he had promised her when he offered her the job. He did however take note of those students and gave their name to Miranda, expressing that he didn’t want any of them in the company.



Liara had the time of her life teaching, something she never imagined she would enjoy so much. However she would have preferred if some students didn’t try to flirt with her. She couldn’t wait for the next semester where she would be allowed to take her students for a few days to some actual ruins and show them the ropes of working in the field. So far she had been one of the most popular teachers of the academy though Rick believed that half the reason was because she was hot as hell in her teacher uniform. It never failed to arouse him and the times she had worn it during their lovemaking had been wild.



Another teacher that was well liked by his students was surprisingly Javik. The contact had been difficult at first but his training was effective. He was fair and didn’t push anyone farther than what they could do. The protheans actually loved the job. He was still enjoying combat but there wasn’t the urge to live behind it, just to teach. Sharing stories after each class about what he went through was the reason why the cafeteria was now closing at 2:30 since all the students stayed to listen to them.



Mordin was driving his students completely nuts with how quick he was talking but they never complained because he was the real deal and because he never hesitated to stop the class when someone had a question or needed him to repeat something. Rick was sure that secretly he enjoyed teaching but was using his students as guinea pigs for some sort of experiment by tormenting them. Since he was not part of the staff he didn’t report anything and just observed. No one was being hurt after all.



Eve too had found great joy at teaching krogan culture to the young ones and giving some headbutt too to the most problematic. Never to a non-krogan however, they just got punished in another way. She enjoyed the exterior of the school every time she didn’t have class. Most of all the park since trees and grass was not something you would find on Tunchanka for the time being.



All in all most people at Celeste academy were just happy to be there.



Expect perhaps Adam and Arianna. The both of them missed their father a lot. Especially Arianna who was a daddy’s girl. Her father was elsewhere working and she didn’t like it, despite Jane’s best efforts to fill the void of Rick’s absence. The little redhead didn’t have any fit or had any tantrums, she was just less peppy than usual and sometimes down right sad.

Rick was away a lot because he was working on the holo series he had talked Jane about nearly two years earlier. Thankfully the first season was done and he was now home.



Exiting one of the elevators leading to the hospital area, Rick ran as fast as he could towards room 723. Around the door he found his family waiting patiently.



“You got time, the baby is not quite there yet.” Jane said as she stopped him with a hug.

“How mad is she?” he asked worriedly.

“You may need another hand.” she joked and released her brother.



He nodded and entered the room and heard Ashley scream and breath loudly. Quickly he went to her side but got a weak punch to the face.



“You’re late!” Ashley yelled.

“I am.” was the smart reply he went with. He certainly wasn’t going to say that since their baby wasn’t there yet he wasn’t.



Taking her hand in his he waited with her and endured her bone crushing grip. After a quarter an hour passed a doctor came in to check on the situation with a nurse.



“It’s time, the baby is ready.”



Gripping her husband’s hand even harder, Ashley followed the doctor’s instructions. Take a big breath when he told her to and push when he told her to. Between screams, curses were yelled at Rick whose support was unwavering. Some nasty ones were heard but he knew that it was the pain talking not her so he didn’t care.



“Come on! One last push!”



Gritting her teeth, Ashley gave everything she had one last time and pushed, letting out a scream that sounded more like a roar in Rick’s ears. When the doctor slapped their newborn son’s butt making him cry. Rick, who was holding his breath, let it out all out. The doctor presented the umbilical cord for Rick to cut, which he did, then handed the baby to the nurse to wash him before going back to Ashley and checking if everything was alright.

Meanwhile Rick was kissing his wife’s temple and whispered to her.



“You did it lover. We have another son.”

“Where is he? I want to see him.” she asked, exhausted.

“The nurse is cleaning him, here.” he said as the nurse came to them with their son rolled into a blanket and laid him on his mother’s chest.

“Did you already choose a name?” she asked.

“She did.”

“James Jeff Williams.” said Ashley and the nurse wrote the name in the file. “He has his grandmothers’ hair.” Rick said, looking at his son. “I didn’t think you would go for it.”

“I wanted to surprise you. When the doc said he inherited your mother’s red hair gene, I just knew I wanted it for him.” she replied with a smile.

“And the eyes?”

“Blue.”

They looked at their son happily for a few minutes before the nurse took him away to the nursery. Rick stayed with Ashley until she fell asleep and left the room.



“So?” Jane asked.

“I’m the proud father of James Jeff Williams.” he answered with a stupid smile.

“JJ?”

“Her choice, not mine. I don’t dislike it though.”

“How is she?” Kahleed asked.

“Everything is fine. There wasn’t any complication and she’s sleeping now.”

“You still have your hand?” she joked.

“Surprisingly, yes. I really thought she was going to break it. Where are...”

“Dorothea is babysitting Arianna and Adam. Sandra is with her mothers. There was no point for them to come, they’re too young.” replied Jane.

“I feel bad that her family wasn’t there.”



Abby, the only one of her sisters living in the Celeste, had left for Earth for Sarah’s graduation a day earlier. Ashley wasn't happy she couldn’t go because her due date was so close but Rick didn’t care and he asked her to stay on the ship. He has been right as JJ had been born a week early from the estimate that had been made.



“Not your fault.” replied Jane in sympathy.

“How about you show us our newest nephew?” Kahlee said, changing subject to change what was on his mind.

“Good idea. I haven’t seen him long enough.”



Asking a passing nurse for the direction of the nursery they went to see the new addition to the family.





____________________________________________________________



“I didn’t even feel the change in clips in my hand, I couldn’t realize when it happened.”

“What do you think? Is it worth the increase in cost?” Rick asked Hackett.

“Definitely.”

“With its shape and size, soldiers could carry a butt load of them and freeing space for things, like more medi-gel or some more rations or whatever.”

“Can I try reloading?” asked Jane

“Of course.” he said and brought her a small smatched with six plates in it. “You just have to push the plate against the opening and the gun does the rest automatically.” he said as he demonstrated again. “If you want to unload the clip without shooting, turn the gun to the side and push that button.” and did as he said, the plate being expelled from the bottom of the gun into his waiting hand.



Jane nodded and put the satchel around her waist. She made the gesture of reaching for a plate then put it in the gun multiple times before saying that she was good to go.



“Do only one reload of two, I don’t have many plates in stock here.”

“Okay.”



Once again she took a stance and the glass walls were brought up along the targets. She began shooting and when it was time she flawlessly reloaded the gun when the first clip was ejected and did it again for the second. When she depleted the two plates, the test ended.



“I admit, I’m very proud of what Tali and I came up with.”

“You should, it’s simply amazing.” replied Steven.

“The rate of fire is basically endless as long as you have clips on you.” commented Jane.

“Want to test the others?”

“You bet I do.” she replied with a smile.

“Steven? Want to give it a try?”

“I will not say no.” The Admiral agreed and took the gun Jane handed him with two plates.

“I can also add mods if you want.”

““Really?!””

“Yes. It’s one of the reasons why I made the clip smaller, to have more space for more mods.”

“Noooo! You didn’t!” Jane said after gasping in realization.

“Of course I did.” Rick replied with a smirk.

“YES!”

“Did what?” inquired a confused Hackett.



Rick didn’t answer and went back to the case on the table. Removing the top which contained the plates he pulled out a small gun with a blue ribbon enveloping it. Coming back towards the pair, he offered it to Jane.



“That’s your second birthday gift that I told you to wait a bit for. I finished it three days ago. You can use four different types of ammo mods. Incendiary, Piercing, Warp and Disruptor.” he explained as he gave it to her.



She took it and removed the ribbon, putting it in one of her pockets and inspected the gun. It was completely black with the edges of the reloading opening white and with the iron sight in a deep blue color. On the side of the barrel was written in silver the words ‘Lion’s roar’. Finally a small screen was on the left side of the gun indicating which mod was in use.



“You can change the mod by simply tapping the corresponding symbol or via voice activation. I recorded multiple samples of your voice so it would work only for you. ”

“I can’t believe you made me Dredd’s gun.” she said with mirth in her voice and stars in her eyes.

“I’m a bit lost here.” said Hackett. “What’s a dreads gun?”

“Dredd is a fictional member of the law force in a dystopian world. His gun has multiple functions, like normal fire, rapid fire, explosion round, incendiary round. While the gun is fictional too and its technology obsolete, the idea of having multiple types of ammo in one gun was appealing, the problem so far was the space the mods took. Only one or maybe two at most could be put in one gun. With the new thermal clip and Tali and I downsizing the mods we could put four in the gun. That’s something that Jane wanted ever since she saw Dredd’s gun in action.”

“Thank you!” she said in a bone crushing hug then took some plates and went back to stand in the red circle.

“... That happened.”

“I don’t understand either. Anyway, there is another circle over there to shoot, have fun.”



Hackett walked into the second red circle and the protective glass surrounded him. Hence began the testing session for both alliance soldiers.





____________________________________________________________





After testing all the weapons Rick invited Hackett to join him and Jane up to their home where he found Hannah and Anderson already present with the former rocking her newest grandson in her arms. The admiral took a seat and the drink that Rick offered him and shared his experience with the two other Admirals in the room. Jane went to see the children in the kitchen to check on them while Rick showed the footage of the new thermal clip to illustrate Steven words and Anderson and Hannah were impressed.



“That won’t be cheap.” said the woman.

“A bit more expensive than the normal thermal clip.”

“I meant the contract.”

“There is no contract for now.” Rick said.

“What do you mean, there is no contract?” his mother asked.

“I currently do not intend to sell the manufacturing rights to anyone but to sell finished products.”

“That would definitely be expensive.” commented Anderson.

“Yes. I was generous with the first thermal clip when I could have asked for a hundred times more, partly because I didn’t have the reputation and the capital to do otherwise.”

“But now it’s different.” noted Hackett.

“Yes. I have the reputation and the money but also lots of expenses. The school for one, my employees for two and I cannot take that decision alone either. Remember, I’m only Co-CEO and Miranda owns thirty percent of the company so she has a say in it too even though she’s only the vice-president. I will have to consult her and Tali to make a decision about what type of contract we will draft. As I said, I’d rather sell finished products, that way no species gets above the other military wise but if they decide not to then we will sell the manufacturing rights.”

“First the energy, now weaponry, you really intend to take control of the Galaxy by having a monopoly of everything.” Hackett said.

“Yes. I wish people were responsible enough for me not having to do that but sadly...” he let the rest of his sentence hang in the air as there was no need to finish it, the three Admirals understanding clearly what he was saying.



It was at that moment that Jane came back from the kitchen and wondered why everyone was so silent.



“Did someone die?”

“No. It just really dawned on them that I’m getting control of the Galaxy and nobody here like that, myself included.”

“Oh.”

“You can say that again. Anyway, let’s bring up the mood, I have good news.”

“You have more to show?” questioned Steven.

“Yes but it’s nothing military or tech. It’s rather entertainment.”

“Entertainment?”

“Oh, so the rumors about you doing a Holo series were true.” exclaimed Hannah.

“““Holo series?”””

“About what?” Kahlee wondered aloud.

“The war against the Reapers. Starting with Eden Prime being attacked. It’s a... historical show following the Normandy’ adventures. Of course not all of them are in there, most notably some secret missions from the Alliance. Nothing highly classified is mentioned or shown. Things like ruining Dalatrass Linron however...”

“We’ll need to check it first.” Hackett said.

“No, you want to check it first. Big difference, but I will give you early access, providing you don’t share it with anyone or worse release it.”

“You could be arrested for treason.”

“Yes but good luck finding me in the Terminus with the fastest ship in the Galaxy in my grasp. I’ll also probably get asylum offered from other species, so... I don’t see that happening. But don’t worry, as I said there is nothing highly classified in it. At least for the first season.”

“First season?” inquired Anderson.

“Our whole chase of Saren, ending with the battle of the Citadel. Season two is dealing with the collectors and season three the war. The last two are where hot stuff is happening, I’ll send you the script so you can veto certain things or not.”

“I don’t like this.” Hackett said with a frown.

“That’s life. Anyway, here is the trailer for the first season.”

“You already filmed everything?” exclaimed Jane.

“Yep.”

“I hope Christina did a good job portraying me.”

“Christina ?” Hannah questioned.

“That’s the actress I met around.. Ten months ago? She’s really nice.” Jane said.

“She did really well in my opinion.”



Rick activated his omni-tool and turned on the big screen on the wall. Everyone turned their head to have a good look, and played the trailer. Of the first season.



The first image was of the verdoyant world of Eden Prime leading to a traveling of the camera to an excavation site where the prothean beacon was discovered by archeologists. The camera follows the beacon being transported to the colony space port when the music which was so far enchanting and idyllic began to change to a more serious, worrying and dangerous one. As the camera slowly looks up towards the sky, a gigantic black ship breaks through the clouds and lands. As Geth began to invade and kill the colonists the music speeds up very short cuts showing the normandy flying in an a mass effect corridor at fast speed as if it was in a hurry before going back to the geths then back to the a close up of the Normandy. It’s repeated two more times and the scene cuts to some gun fight, showing what one could only understand as Jane and some teammates, fighting a horde of rachni then some geths; the environment changing every time something in the fight obstructs the camera’s view. There is a short fight between Jane and Saren, the maddening landing on Illos, Rick and the five soldiers that were with him readying themselves to welcome Saren and his geths in the council chamber. It finally ends with Jane breaking the Council Tower elevator, landing on the tower and turning around along with the camera behind her shoulder, to see Sovereign taking control of the Citadel just as the music reached its climax.



For a moment no one said anything until Jane turned towards her brother.



“That was good.” She exclaimed.

“Thank you.”

“Did you compose the music?”

“No, I didn’t have the time, so I picked music that I thought was fitting and in the public domain. This one was composed by Basil Poledouris, a composer from the twentieth century. He’s the one that made the music for Robocop.”

“Ha, I see the resemblance in how epic it is but I don’t remember hearing that one in the movie.”

“That’s because the music is not from Robocop, but the movie Conan the Barbarian. It wasn’t on the list I gave EDI because it’s not that interesting of a movie despite being cult but we can watch it if you want.”

“I’d like that.”

“Jane is right, it’s really good.” Hannah said as she was brought out of her thoughts.

“It’s different from the usual series or movie trailers we see nowadays.” added Kahlee.

“There are twenty episodes of roughly an hour each. The schedule is two episodes a week.The first airing is actually Saturday of the next week on the extranet.”

“What?! It’s too short a time to check it!” Hackett said.

“You have twenty hours to watch and two hundred eighty eight hours to do so. And again, you can’t do anything about it.”



The admiral couldn’t do anything but grumbled unhappily at being powerless.