by Skully
“The only problem with Fortescue Military Academy is Fortescue themselves,” Mace observed.
“You’re right, we don’t have an issue with the facilities, academics, cadets, tier or location,” Vannier replied.
“I have an idea,” Barran said. “If we can make Fortescue pay and they give us free rein on equipment and cadet selection, and if they don’t, we leave!”
“It’s a good proposal,” Daedo agreed. “The creds will help our goal, our tech gets put on display, and we get the practice we need. But, given everything that has happened up until now, what makes you think they would suddenly agree?”
“Because,” Barran said. “We would offer them a deal they couldn’t refuse. Not unless they are mental.”
“You could make a case that they are,” Axel-Zero said.
“Vannier, can you investigate possible Academies we can switch to?” Daedo requested. “Barran, if they don’t accept this deal. We will leave.”
◆◆◆
The cadets never returned to the Academy. They stayed at the workshop working on their academics, projects and training as usual. The main difference was they couldn’t participate in the obstacle course, Gauntlet nor the combined gunnery and piloting classes. They were no longer being monitored and assessed by the Academy other than coursework submissions.
It took over a week, but Barran finally nailed down a meeting with Yasmin, Karine and Xavier Fortescue. Xavier was husband, father and CEO of Fortescue group respectively.
Master Nader accompanied the pair from the workshop, “I trust you know what you are doing cadet?” she phrased the statement as a question.
“If they do not accept our terms, we will not be coming back to the Academy,” Daedo stated flatly.
Master Nader nodded once in acceptance. It seemed that fact did not worry her in the least and Daedo knew if they left the Academy she would also.
The autocar pulled into the familiar Academy grounds, and the trio made their way directly to the top level of the administrative building, the Lieutenant General’s floor. As soon as they arrived at the foyer, a Fortescue lackey showed them into the meeting room.
Karine was sitting with her helmet down, while her mother and father were quietly chatting at a window which had a view of the Academy grounds and topside Arenas. The Commander and LG were nowhere to be seen.
“Ah,” Yasmine said, “Xavier these are the cadets in question and their House Master.” Karine’s elegant mother said as an introduction as her husband turned to face them.
Xavier Fortescue was tall, thin and impeccably groomed in his high tech suit. He looked the very image of a top CEO, and his presence could be felt by the cadets as his eyes bored into them, uncovering every insecurity and flaw they possessed.
“Good afternoon gentleman and lady,” he said slowly, his tone and speech were commanding, but not like a military general. His charisma and self-confidence were the sources of his commanding personality.
“Sir,” the cadets said in response without saluting.
“Everyone, take your seats and let’s get started. I’ve made the effort to come here today to review the Academy and see you,” Xavier said as if he was ingratiating them with his majesty.
“I have reviewed the data from Yasmin, Karine and Academy personnel. The consensus is they would very much like you to stay if certain conditions can be met,” Xavier began.
“Excuse me, sir,” Daedo interrupted. “We haven’t come here today to listen to your terms. We have demands, and if they are not met, we will be leaving.”
Xavier looked surprised for a moment but indicated for Daedo continue.
“There is no point in going through a list of conditions, because I can tell you now, the answer is: NO. We will not be accepting your conditions.”
Yasmin leaned forward, “This is what Karine has been dealing with, hence the issues she has been having.”
“We didn’t make the issues, we are simply here,” Barran said angrily. He pointed at Yasmin. Karine and Xavier in turn. “All the issues stem from Fortescue’s lack of investment and innovation, and if it wasn’t for us, you wouldn’t have a chance of avoiding demotion.”
Barran paused a moment waiting for that to sink in, then savagely added, “Not without resorting to cheating.”
Xavier peered at the two cadets, he was angry only momentarily before he got himself under control.
“Very well,” he said after a minute of contemplation, “I will hear you out.”
Yasmin was outraged, “What?! You can’t bend to the will of these children. Their Master has filled their minds with delusions of grandeur.”
“I will listen to them and be the judge of that,” Xavier responded to his wife in a curt tone. She acquiesced immediately, and with a hurt look on her face she turned and looked out the window.
Barran stood, “Our offer is based on the premise that we can guarantee the Academy will not be relegated, with the possibility of promotion this year. We can only do this if the interference from Fortescue is removed from the equation.”
“We will decide what equipment is used by the Middle and Upper first teams and we will determine the method of team selection. Daedalus will prove the equipment with no legal ramifications.” Barran walked around the table confidently.
“We will sign a contract which enshrines all of these provisions, and if the Academy is relegated, we will pay Fortescue two million bitcreds.”
Barran let the statement sink in for a moment, and Karine asked a question before he could recommence.
“You don’t have two million bitcreds,” She stated confidently.
Barran reached inside his bodysuit side compartment and pulled out a shiny black card.
“I thought you’d say that,” he tapped the shiny black card, “We have two million bitcreds on this card. You can check.”
As they sat there bewildered by the fact, that Daedalus had a two million bitcred bank guarantee. Amidst the stunned silence, Barran continued.
“Oh, but there is a catch. If Fortescue Military Academy avoids relegation, you will have to pay Daedalus one million bitcreds, and if we win promotion you will have to pay us four million bitcreds,”
Barran added, “Oh and, you will need to pay us one hundred thousand bitcreds upon signing of the contract for material and other costs for the season.”
“That’s a terrible deal,” Yasmin said emphatically.
“We are confident your market research will show the real cost of relegation and the benefit of promotion. No matter what happens, Fortescue will benefit,” Daedo said.
“Can you pull it off?” Xavier asked. “Can you avoid relegation?” He was intrigued at the possibility.
“Yes. Easily,” Daedo replied meeting Xavier’s searching stare.
Xavier turned to Yasmin who did not look happy and then to Karine who was staring at Daedo like she wanted to skin him alive.
“Can you win promotion?” Xavier asked.
“Yes, but not easily,” Daedo replied.
Xavier stood. “I want to see the contract and the details on how and why you will avoid relegation. I will insist the two million bitcreds be placed into escrow, upon signing, and returned to you once relegation is no longer possible. Here are my contact details.” He flicked his contact to Daedo and Barran as he walked out.
Yasmin followed close behind her husband.
Karine sat at the at the table looking down. Finally, she raised her head slowly and looked at Daedo, a tear in her eye, “How dare you.” She said vehemently before she stood and placed both arms on the table tears beginning to stream down her face. She ignored the fact Master Nader, and the two male cadets could see her cry.
“He wouldn’t do a thing I asked,” she breathed hoarsely the words came out softly at first before becoming louder. “Not a thing!”
“They gave me no support, just bad advice. And you walk in here,”
Her words became louder, and by the end, she was screaming, “You ask for mi
llions of bitcreds, and all the power and he basically agreed!”
“How fecking dare you!” She screamed in rage. The words spewed out of her mouth in a geyser of spittle and spray.
Daedo looked at Barran and conveyed the message without saying a word. This is all on you.
◆◆◆
Daedo and Barran stood before the squad at the workshop where they had been holed up for the last week.
“What happened!” Axel-Zero pleaded.
“You two could have messaged us immediately, now stop teasing us,” Vannier added.
Daedo looked at Barran who then spoke, “Yep,” he said.
“Yep, what!” Picard exclaimed.
“They haven’t signed, but, Daddy Fortescue is going for it,” Barran explained.
Vannier sat down. “I don’t know whether to be happy or terrified.”
When Barran explained the change Xavier requested, Axel-Zero responded.
“If we have to put the bank guarantee into escrow, they have to do the same with the one million bitcred reward,” she said.
“That’s a good idea. Why not four million?” Barran queried.
“Do you think there is a chance they would agree to four million?” Axel-Zero said.
“Four million is a lot less to them than two million is to us,” Daedo observed.
“Okay, four million then,” Barran said.
“Good, I don’t trust them,” Axel-Zero said.
“This is not about trust Axel-Zero, this is business,” Barran said the last word in a strange and elongated manner.
Chapter 18
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, Round: 5
Daedalus Financial Position -1,700,000 bitcreds
◆◆◆
Siderus, Matthias, Deimos and St Claire met with Daedalus in the topside library. Daedo and Vannier were hosting the meeting, and the rest of the squad were in the next room studying or working on Daedalus projects.
“Thanks for coming,” Vannier began.
“And you are?” Matthias asked confrontationally.
Before Siderus could put Matthias in his place, he knew very well knew who she was, Vannier replied with a gentle smile, “I am Vannier, and I will be heading the selection of the Middle-Academy first team.”
“Err, the what you say?” Matthias asked. Daedo sat silently next to Vannier and received a puzzled and slightly hurt look from Siderus.
Vannier pulled up the pertinent section of the contract from Fortescue group, “As you can see in this contract Daedalus has been given the authority over equipment selection and team selection methodology for the Inter-Academy league- starting next term.”
All the M3 cadets peered closely at the contract while Vannier continued to speak, “You will be able to confirm with your House Master, the Commander and Lieutenant General as to the veracity of this arrangement.”
Ignoring her, Deimos stated, “It says here both Middle and Upper first teams. Are you in charge of Upper as well?”
“Yes,” Vannier answered politely, “We are.”
“How the feck did you pull this off? I gotta say, I’m impressed,” Matthias said.
“To cut a long story short, we can get the job done without cheating or gene therapy,” Daedo said the last savagely.
Siderus nodded solemnly before responding, “It’s unexpected, but not unwelcome. What’s the selection method?”
“Wait,” Matthias interrupted. “Little Miss was in charge for exactly three days before things went to hell! How long is this going to go on for?”
“If you read the contract, the term is until the end of the year or until the league ladder points disparity guarantee us number one or last spot. If Fortescue wishes to break the contract they must pay Daedalus two million bitcreds in addition to our bank guarantee being returned,” Vannier stated cleanly as if rehearsed.
“So,” Matthias speculated, “fat chance they will break the contract then. Two freaking million bitcreds is a lot of dough.”
“We have concocted a rather simple method which will yield the best result,” Vannier continued, “Siderus, you will lead a team and select seven cadets from the entire Middle Academy with the exception of cadets from M1TS0. You will choose cadets who will produce the best team, you will begin practicingpracticing daily with this team from tomorrow with one scrimmage against M1TS0 and one against the second team. The other three practices will be for drills set out by Daedo and yourself.”
“What the hell, who put him in charge?” Matthias protested.
Vannier tapped the contract, “Me!”
Siderus nodded.
“Once this team is known, we will select the second captain,” Vannier stated.
“Will Matthias be in your team?” Daedo asked Siderus, who nodded immediately.
“Deimos or St Claire?” Daedo asked.
Siderus shook his head.
Daedo nodded to Vannier.
“Deimos, you will be the leader of the second team, and same rules apply, except Siderus has first choice, you have to select from the remainder,” Vannier stated.
“This is rather arbitrary, isn’t it?” St Claire observed, being the only House Captain left out in the cold.
“That is a good observation, St Claire. Please enlighten me, what part of the Military or a top tier company is not arbitrary?” Vannier asked.
“Ha! she’s got you there, St Claire,” Matthias said maliciously. Other than not being the leader he was satisfied with his guaranteed position in what he thought was the first team.
“Moving on,” Vannier said, “We have much work to do, and we can’t afford to waffle in these meetings.” She stared at Matthias for a moment before continuing. “The team that will represent the Academy will be decided in the arena. It will be either Siderus’ team, Deimos’ team or Daedo’s. Everyone will receive the latest exos, railguns and top of the range weaponry per their loadout selection.”
“That means if M1TS0 beats my team in training they will be representing the Academy?” Siderus made a statement in the form of a question.
“Yes, and we will hold these selection matches as often or seldom as we choose,” Vannier stated.
“What happens if one of my cadets is underperforming and I want to take one from Deimos?” Siderus asked.
“We have full authority to make decisions over team selection,” Vannier said, “And we will allow any change which we think will give the Academy a better chance of winning. If that circumstance, or any other, occurs then we will make a judgment call at the time.”
“That’s hardly fair,” Deimos observed.
“We’re not interested in fair, we’re interested in results,” Daedo said to Deimos before turning to Siderus. “We have five weeks until the first match of the season, nearly all of my time will be dedicated to getting a viable mech ready for the Upper Academy. I’m relying on you for the exo matches. Get your team together, train your butts off and you will need to beat M1TS0, no excuses.”
“During the break, you can come to our facility in Nanterre for drills,” Vannier said, “and we can use the topside arena for practice matches.”
“And no gene therapy?” Siderus queried.
“We’re not stopping you undergoing legal procedures, but there will be no Academy delivered, let alone enforced schemes,” Vannier said sternly emphasising the word, no.
“Is that it?” Siderus asked.
Daedo and Vannier nodded once. Siderus stood and looked towards Matthias, “We have work to do.”
Matthias jumped to his feet and said sarcastically, “Yes boss,” then burst out with a short laugh at Siderus.
Before leaving, Siderus looked back at Daedo, “We’ll see you Thursday.” He was referring to the first practice match between the Siderus eight and M1TS0.
“I must say I am not happy personally, but, I think you are doing mu
ch better than the alternative,” St Claire said before taking his leave.
Deimos was the only M3 house captain left.
“Why me?” She asked.
“Each squad needs a tactician. They make a bigger difference than any other member,” Vannier said.
“After an exhaustive analysis, you and Matthias were the best tacticians after Siderus. You are both excellent leaders as well,” Daedo stated.
“But I’m basically second or even third string,” Deimos said.
“There’s no denying it. You can look at it a few ways,” Vannier said, “One, you have a chance to prove everyone wrong, to grab the cadets that Siderus overlooks and beat him with strategy and team building. Or two, you are playing your role to ensure we succeed. If you don’t want this role, we can always give it to someone else.”
“You make a good argument,” Deimos said, “You are much more advanced than I was in M1. I was still worrying if people liked me or if I was falling behind in Math.” She chuckled at the memory. “Vannier, you will be amazing by the time you are my age,” she said honestly.
Vannier moved towards Deimos, and they hugged spontaneously, as Daedo looked on in amazement wondering what the hell just happened.
Deimos stood, “I need to get moving as well. Do I have until next Wednesday to put my team together?”
“Unfortunately, yes. You will have to wait for Siderus to finalise his selection,” Vannier said and with that Deimos nodded and left.
Daedo sat alone with Vannier for a moment.
“This is a big task you’ve taken on. I mean we,” she said.
“The Middle Academy team is not the issue. If we just provided the gear and leave them alone, they will be fine. And if they can’t beat us, we will compete,” Daedo said.
“How do you rate a Siderus’ team with the cream of M3 against us?” Vannier said.
“Since we are using the same equipment, they should win nine times out of ten. Siderus doesn’t make mistakes I can exploit, and they are stronger, faster and more agile than us. They have three years of practice with gunnery, exo operation and melee combat compared to our six months. In a perfect world, wehave no right to beat them,” Daedo said.
