Daedalus

by Skully

  Krecke was waiting for Daedo outside.

  “Debriefing Sunday at 20:00 as planned,” Daedo stated. He was busy and didn’t want to discuss everything with Krecke now and again on Sunday night. There was also analysis of the data, comms and individual feeds.

  “I wanted to talk to you in person. I want to resign as tactician,” she said meaning the upper Academy Mech team.

  Daedo sighed. “You are the right person for the job. It’s the squad that needs work. The main issue is it’s not a squad at all at the moment.”

  “That is why I want to resign. You need a leader,” she stated. “Someone who can bring everyone together into a cohesive unit.”

  Daedo looked at her seriously and contemplated what she said.

  “You’re right. When you look at it one way. But with my way the team will be superior. With a tactically weak but strong leader, the ceiling of the team will be capped to individual skill and prepared tactics. With a strong tactician, you can achieve all that, plus adapt during a match. And the most important factor is the ability to adapt, because in my short experience not every match goes to plan. Even when including plan b, c and d.”

  Krecke wavered.

  “If I address the reason you want to quit and fix that. Other than fear of failure, there is no reason for you to quit,” Daedo finished.

  “Fine,” Krecke said. The look on her face conveyed she was not happy with his choice of words, but she acquiesced for now. “We will see how the debriefing goes, and I will assess. If we are able to fix all the issues, I will stay, but if we can’t, I will resign after round two.”

  “You are giving us two weeks to fix behaviours with at least six years entrenchment?”

  Krecke nodded. “The league will quickly get away from us, and an achieved short-term solution is better than a long-term one which will never be fulfilled.”

  Daedo sighed and mimicked Krecke, “Fine!”

  He ducked into the common area. He, Vannier and Barran joined the rest of the squad before heading back to the workshop with all their equipment.

  “They’re here!” Axel said excitedly.

  “You gotta see this,” Kang said grinning.

  Mace shyly pulled up a stream from Yuli, the ALN journalist who asked him questions today. Daedo’s mind immediately leapt to the conclusion this must be about him and the Fortescue team.

  The image was of Yuli sitting with words depicting scandal, shame prominently displayed behind her with a static picture of an old man, and some buildings in the background. “….from an anonymous source has been verified,” she said. The stream was live.

  “Oxford Military Academy: an institution in my homeland, an institution with an almost thousand-year-old history is central in what can only be described as illegal collusion with betting agencies.”

  Breaking News flashed behind her.

  Daedo looked at Mace. She nodded and smiled shyly.

  Chapter 35

  Attendance at Fortescue Military Academy M1 Y:2142

  Inter-Academy Round 1 Fortescue Points: 95 Rank: 8

  Tier 3 Daedo M-Rank: 155

  Term: 3, Round: 1

  Daedalus Financial Position +2,550,000 bitcreds

  ◆◆◆

  “We can talk in the carrier,” Daedo said while looking directly at Mace.

  The audio from the stream continued as Axel-Zero played it from her bodysuit audio with a small screen emanating from her arm display. Most of the cadets listened as they walked and boarded the carrier.

  Their exos were already loaded. The mechs and exos used by the other cadets would stay on campus for them to practice, but the Daedalus team would need to inspect them during the week to ensure the mechs were in good working order.

  Jeram continued to avail himself for pilot duties until Barran and Axel received licences. Both of the cadets were undertaking the necessary training, but it would take time before they had the necessary hours and could pass the tests. They could have taken the usual rented hovervan as it was a home game, but where was the fun in that?

  “…we received copies of the correspondence and data transfer from the anonymous whistle-blowing source. We waited until after today's match to confirm the information we received was accurate. The integrity of the ALN insisted on this at least because due to the sensitive and accusatory nature of the material we could not verify with the Oxford Academy Head nor with Lloyds Underwriters.”

  “The recipient of the data was the head of security from Lloyds Underwriters who are the financial backing and fiduciary controllers of several betting organisations which span the globe. Overall, these betting organisations represent over a billion bitcreds of turnover per year. They were listed as the largest gambling conglomerate by Forbes Online in 2140.”

  “The data packages sent from Oxford’s Head of Academy is, in our opinion, illegal. It contravenes the statutes in the Inter-Academy League Convention 2130.7 in regards to gambling, collusion with bookmaking entities and it also speaks to espionage by Oxford MA on its competitors.”

  “Now, viewers, let’s get to the crux of the matter. The item we tested this weekend to verify this leak. It is one of the many heinous items found in the correspondence and data packages, and it entails this weekend’s results. I am not an expert in betting terms, but one of the most popular apparently point spreads. An Academy such as Oxford, like all Academies can hardly give too many points away. They all fight hard to earn every point possible. But here, we have Oxford qualifying and quantifying the points they would earn this weekend and, if the team over performed, steps would be taken to... and, this is in their words, SHED points by holding back on important tactics, equipment or personnel.”

  “Given the massive amount of detailed information provided, we, here at ALN, never doubted its authenticity. This information would be impossible to invent. Now that we have it verified by events occurring after receiving the information we can say, beyond reasonable doubt, that Oxford MA and Lloyds are in breach of several Inter-Academy conventions.”

  “Before bringing in our legal and former head of Svarski Academy for comment, we would like to inform our viewers that all the information that was forwarded to us has been sent to the International Federation of Military Academies, the European Confederation of Military Academies and the EUDF Military Polizei.

  …

  Daedo looked towards Mace in silence.

  “They will think it was a leak from Oxford. They have no idea it was us, and we can continue to punish them,” she informed the group.

  Barran whistled and said, “Remind me to never mess with you.”

  Mace grinned evilly at Barran, “Every head rub will be paid back in full.”

  He screeched as if in pain and started counting the times he had rubbed her head condescendingly. His mouth moved ‘one, two, three … forty, Oh feck.’

  “They will check their own security and something like this will put them on high alert,” Axel-Zero opined.

  Mace shrugged. “It doesn’t matter, my hacks are well hidden. Even if they formatted all of his systems we are through their network now. All the information they collect makes it easy to hide and impossible for them to reset.”

  “So, you’ve got them by the short and curlies,” Barran grinned.

  Mace raised an eyebrow at the phrase.

  “What next?” Vannier asked.

  “We wait for the next opportunity to punish them, cost them money and the millions they stole from us will be lost many times over,” Mace said.

  “I like how you aren’t betting based on the intel and just hurting them. They will never suspect us unless they find your hacks,” Kang added.

  “Oxford is where Jensen attends?” Barran asked.

  Vannier shook her head, “Cambridge.”

  “Damn,” he said as if disappointed.

  Vannier started to laugh.

  “What’s funny?” Mace asked.

  “You are trying to punish Lloyds and in the process got rid of a corr
upt Academy head. We should celebrate that as well. Even if we have nothing to do with that Academy it is still a good thing,” Vannier observed.

  “Yeah, good point,” Barran said. “Now I am glad it isn’t Jensen’s MA. You just helped them get rid of a bad apple.”

  “I’m beginning to not like gambling,” Daedo said taking the conversation in another direction.

  Barran looked at him incredulously. “But you could make bank, with your math, statistics and stuff.”

  “It seems only the agency's win in the end. And what do they make? What do they do that helps the world? It’s just moving creds from one person to another and to the company. Nothing is made. It’s,” he paused, “worthless.”

  Barran was sitting next to Daedo and patted him on the shoulder, “Ah little Daedo is growing up and learning the world isn’t all chocolate shakes. You know people would have bet on your CyberMech matches. Heck, they were probably betting on our match today.”

  Daedo shook his head and sighed, “No more betting for me.” Turning to Mace, he added in a serious tone, “Destroy them.”

  After a short, surprised pause, Vannier replied, “Another will just take their place.”

  Daedo leaned back in his bucket seat and closed his eyes.

  ◆◆◆

  A screen displayed Humboldt 13 out of 60 and Seoul 8 out of 60, where the middle Academy scored a perfect 40 out of 40 for Humboldt and 34 out of 40 against the much tougher Seoul.

  “Those are the numbers, and they do not lie,” Daedo began.

  In attendance were two hundred and fifty upper Academy third-year cadets. Out of a possible twelve hundred, it was a small portion.

  Romulus stood and spoke loudly before Daedo could continue, “It’s proof you need to let us run things. This disastrous result is under your command.”

  Vannier bristled, she wanted to stand and dispute the claim, but out of respect for Daedo, she waited.

  “When forging the tritanium alloy structure, what is the first thing that is done?” Daedo asked to a bunch of blank stares.

  “Nice anecdote, but I hardly see how it applies here,” Romulus said forcefully. “We have all been through the fires of six years of training, competitions and challenges. If you give us the equipment and allow us to run it our way we will do what is needed.”

  Daedo looked at Vannier. He was tempted.

  She stood, “I am interested if the rest of the upper Academy agrees with you, Romulus, or merely stays quiet in fear of being shouted down by an overzealous and conceited idiot.”

  “Very well,” Daedo said before Romulus could begin shouting at Vannier. The effect of her words had given him pause, as he would have proven her statement. Daedo had to hand it to her, she was smart.

  “Blind vote; team captain Romulus or Daedalus. If Romulus is voted captain, he will be fired from the team entirely if the result is below twenty for any match.”

  “How is that fair?” Romulus asked incredulously.

  “We make the rules. When is war or life supposed to be fair? Deal with it!” Daedo replied.

  Someone scoffed, “Twenty points from sixty is hardly a high bar.” It was apparent Romulus’ support was not unanimous as he would have Daedo believe.

  Mace quickly had a cadet ID login for the blind poll. One which she would know exactly who voted which way, hardly blind. She placed data encryption logos and runtime on the captured votes, enough to fool the naïve masses.

  Within minutes the votes from the upper cadets in attendance were collated. Daedo has invited all upper cadets, but only these cared enough about the outcome to show. It was voluntary, so he was not concerned. He didn’t want the apathetic having a say; the resultant attendance was a form of self-vetting.

  “One-six-two in favour of Romulus captaining the team, eighty-eight against,” Mace announced before bringing up the result on the main screen for all to see. They had convened in one of the upper Academy auditoriums.

  Daedo nodded to Vannier. It was not surprising, and as long as the team achieved twenty points each weekend, they would achieve their goal without having to micromanage them.

  Romulus hardly looked happy with the result either. Eighty-eight against. It was not the mandate of confidence he was expecting.

  He stood and walked proudly from the hall without saying a word.

  “I guess he isn’t taking any more advice or direction from us either?” Mace asked.

  Daedo shrugged. It was a win-win situation for them. The upper Academy either achieved twenty points, pushing them past the .300 minimum while the middle would achieve at a much higher quotient. Or he would begin again with not only the legal authority but moral as well.

  “The only issue is that they don’t wreck our mechs and expect us to repair them on a daily basis,” Vannier said tersely.

  “Are we still going to work on weapons for them?” Picard asked.

  “We will continue to develop the weapons,” Daedo stated. “But we won’t necessarily hand over any innovations. They can use what they have.”

  “We wouldn’t want to make it easy for their bloated ego,” Vannier observed.

  Krecke sidled up to the M1 cadets. “Thanks,” she said directing the word at Daedo.

  “We didn’t do this for you,” Daedo replied. “The answer to my initial question is to break down the ores into a liquid using heat and pressure.” In reality, they would use variable pressures but why let physics get in the way of a good anecdote.

  She nodded. “I guess I can focus on biology again, at least for a while.”

  “Don’t get too cosy, this may only last one round,” Vannier said smiling sweetly. The statement sounded polite, but the words were ominous.

  Mace joined the pair as they walked back to their quarters on the other side of the Academy underground. “Is that what you planned?” She asked.

  “It was in my calculations,” Daedo answered nodding slowly. “If they can maintain those points as a minimum we don’t have to concern ourselves with them. That’s one less thing we have to worry about, and we can focus on more important activities.”

  “Development?” Mace asked.

  Daedo nodded once. “We are just getting started. There is so much we need to learn. We not only need to develop equipment but, ourselves, as well. In CyberMech I spent this amount of time just working on tactics and skills.”

  “All the weekly Daedalus reports are in,” Vannier observed. “Can we get an update on the Eye of Sahara tonight?”

  “Not tonight,” Daedo said. “I need to go back to the workshop and see Cisse.”

  Vannier looked slightly disappointed, “Okay.” She said hesitantly before adding a question, “Next week?”

  Daedo nodded. “Next week for sure. We are making good progress.”

  They entered their quarters where Axel-Zero quickly stood and asked, “Can I see the vid?” Not all the squad attended or watched a stream, they were busy with their own responsibilities and studies.

  Daedo walked straight through the common room into Master Nader’s office. Moments after he arrived, she came through a side door.

  “Inter-Academy going well?” she asked, and he wondered how she could not know.

  “As well as can be expected,” he answered before adding. “It’s good training.”

  “Managing the upper Academy cadets is probably the sharpest leadership tests you have faced yet,” Master Nader stated.

  Daedo could not tell if she was sarcastic with full knowledge of what just happened or if she was genuine.

  He merely nodded and changed the subject, “I’m ready for the new material, has it arrived?”

  “You know the routine,” Master Nader said flatly.

  Daedo apologised to Myrmidon as he shut him off from all sensors and his thoughts. Master Nader had her reasons for excluding Myrmidon, reasons which Daedo had not yet fathomed other than the obvious recording of the meetings.

  Daedo went through the new weapon designs again, the suggested improvemen
ts to the aurora shield, but most of all he wanted to review the troika reactor. The project was fast approaching the critical stage of the particle control breakthrough.

  Daedo had realised that when creating or annihilating antimatter that the key was particle control. It made all the difference between a negative and positive energy outcome. The only reason humans did not use antimatter was the energy needed to create antimatter was greater than the resultant energy.

  But this came down to losing most of the particles, not to mention anomalies in the process. With greatly improved particle tracking and control, the reaction would rocket into the positive side of the balance sheet quickly and massively.

  The first shipment of Arkernite was now sitting at their workshop. It was time to hand the new material and a few concepts to Cisse to move the process along.

  Daedo indicated to Master Nader he was done reviewing the documents. Sometimes, it took a few reads to get his head around some of the more complex or original concepts.

  Leaving Master Nader without another word he made his way back through the common room and towards the door to leave.

  “I’m coming with you,” Vannier stated.

  Daedo stopped. He could hardly say no without looking overly suspicious, and there was no real reason to deny her company other than the secret tech.

  Daedo nodded. “Sure,” he said.

  Vannier had donned her helmet and had one of their spy drones resting on her back.

  “Are you my security escort?” Daedo asked.

  “Among other things,” Vannier said smoothly. “Have you ordered transport?”

  Daedo nodded, “It should be at the topside open vehicle area by the time we arrive.”

  “I’m not going to ask why you need to go back and see Cisse,” Vannier stated as they walked towards the hovercar.

  Daedo smiled. Her tricks had little chance of working on him, but she knew that, so he frowned. What was she playing at he wondered?

  As they entered the hovercar, he responded, “I’m not going to ask why you need to tag along either.”

  Vannier laughed.

  She knew he could easily message Cisse unless it was something sensitive that he wanted to keep offline and in the protected environment that was her lab in the workshop.