Estate Arrival
Remove References to Council (Done) After 5 hours of interogation and 1 hour of travel
— — 2155 Early Night, 34 Ashidihi, 3 Cresoukim, 2469, 10th Age — —
Rework to include Kaewer’s injuries and exhaustion from interrogation. Reflect the Lateness of night too (Done)
Change Tone to Have Maran Escaping (12/31)
Do I keep pulse net issue going? - Probably not?
Kaewer let herself shlump into the Jirvaerka air skimmer, a slow weary deflating of exhausted muscles and bones that left face pressed against the armoured window.
“You okay there, chirufu?” Her dad asked from behind her. He’d finally shown up almost six hours after letting the never ending flow of interrogators into her hospital room. It been hours of polite introductions and quiet “One more time, for the record, Lieutenant”s from what seemed like every security agency on Iraka and probably a few from off planet too. She was pretty sure she’d been talking an investigator for the Ministry of Agriculture or something equally irrelevant when her dad had come in to growl at people.
“Debriefs are more fun when you’re not the primary subject of them,” She mumbled into the window.
“I know for a fact that this isn’t the first time you’ve been on the horns,” Her dad said with a chuckle.
“It’s not like it ever gets fun,” Kaewer grumbled as the convoy of skimmers slid into the air. “This is probably the worst one I’ve been in. I mean, stars! I was the primary target of what is either the most audacious and pointless terror attack in the Imperium’s history or one of the most ill-advised ransoming attempts in the galaxy. Do you know the last time the Vanished Court tried anything like this on a core world? Much less on Iraka?”
“Just after you were born actually.” Kaewer scowled at the window. She could hear the smile in her dad’s voice. “If I didn’t know better, I’d wonder why the Vanished Court seems to hate you so much in particular.”
“Ha. Ha. Ha. Oh! Did you know that the Trip-I agents refused to believe my story about getting cut off the Pulse Net?”
“Oh, really? And how did that go over?”
“I don’t think either of them had really heard someone swearing in cana when they were serious.”
“And?”
“Oh, Jinde called Uncle Rowan the minute those (toothless carnaven) (clanless carnaven) started treating me like a hysterical flower in the frost. I think he was expecting something like that to happen because he showed up only a few minutes later.” Kaewer pulled herself away from the window to see her dad watching her with a suspiciously nonchalant expression.
“Oh, you (fire spreader)! You expected it too!”
“You’re a spoiled princess and a grunt. If there is any force in the galaxy capable of breaking something, it’s you. Of course they weren’t going to believe something as ridiculous as a Pulse Net hack spanning all of Iradath.”
“I’ll have you know I’m an officer,” Kaewer said with a disdainful sniff. “I leave the grunting and breaking of indestructible equipment up to my subordinates now.”
“I’m not sure Kidorlus officer is much better in the minds of the professionally suspicious and endlessly polite security agent. You’re all brutes who might be be simply mistaken or easily led to violence.”
“Yeah, well, uncle Rowan sorted them out. Also, I’m pretty sure the room wasn’t as soundproofed as the hospital advertised. The rest of the investigators were very polite. Even the CSM ones.”
“Ah, about that…” Aroven grimaced and glanced out the window. “Rowan was on the case already, the Pulse Net disruption took down a significant portion of the Matagin Crossing area’s infrastructure but it was Council Security Ministry intel that provided the key for us to crack open Marán’s cell.”
“The Council Security Ministry shared intel with you? Did I die? Is this the realm of the ancestors? It’s certainly not what I was expecting.”
“I’m going to leave that for your mom to explain. Let’s just say the last couple of days have been interesting.”
“Oh that’s not ominous or anything,” Kaewer muttered and made a face when her stomach grumbled. “Changing subjects, did Fecivina clean out your snack stash?”
“I am the head of the Jirvaerka family,” Aroven Jirvaerka drew himself upright and sneered down his nose at his daughter. “I own the vehicle, and the Guard who manage it. They would not dare to touch my snack stash.”
“So mom found it?”
“Yeah,” Her dad said deflating. “On Relasanhi. I haven’t had time to replace it yet.”
“If you just had a stasis unit installed, no one would care that you had snacks here.”
“But then I wouldn’t get to have the fun of hiding snacks in the nooks and crannies of the skimmer.” Kaewer giggled and winced as her partially healed wounds protested.
“Still not a fan of this partially healed life but I’ve missed you, papa.”
“We’ve missed you too, chirufu. I’ve missed you,” Her dad said, placing a gentle hand on her good knee. “We’re glad you’re home, present mess aside.”
“I wanted to surprise you,” Kaewer said with a grin. “This isn’t what I was aiming for but…”
“Yeah,” Her dad snorted. “This does seem to be the way of things for us.”
—— 2202 Early Night, 34 Ashidihi, 3 Cresoukim, 2469, 10th Age — —
“Hey, chirufu. Time to wake up, we’re landing.”
“Wha’s? To arms? I’m up,” Kaewer grunted and groaned as she was pulled out of the fog of poor sleep by her father’s voice. She blinked rapidly and shook her head to clear away the cobwebs.
“Easy, you’re not in the fleet right now,” Her dad said with a soothing tone. “We’re on final to the gate complex. I figured you’d want to see the Estate as we came in.”
“Oh! I do! Thanks, dad.” Kaewer shared a smile with her dad as she turned to wipe her face print off the window. The skimmer’s cabin darkened, her dad killing the lights to give her a better view. Even if it was the middle of the night and the estate would be bathed in darkness, it was still going to be her first view of home in over a decade. She didn’t want to miss that.
“What in the stars is that?” Kaewer demanded as the skimmer turned and brought the gate complex into sight. After millennia of war, and the persistent dissident and terrorist activity in the Imperium, Great House estates were small fortresses of security. That included preventing air traffic from overflying the heart of their Estates, to prevent ‘unfortunate accidents’. That included family air skimmers, after a couple poignant examples of why exceptions were a mistake. So instead a small forward landing compound next to the main ground gate had been built and fortified behind the main security line. In Kaewer’s memory, gate complex had been had been designed like a firm but polite security checkpoint that did its best to obscure it’s nature as a tool of paranoid security.
Polite was the last word Kaewer would’ve used to describe the landing compound now. The pleasant buildings had been transformed into a fortified compound with soldiers — actual Imperium Kanashin, not merely House Guard — just visible in the suddenly harsh light of the landing pad. Kaewer could make out the silhouette of a Glacier APC-S hunkered in the shadows near the main gate’s ground road, its heavy bolt cannon sweeping the area with directed menace. Two other obviously military trailers sat on the outskirts of the compound, their strange oblong shapes tracking the air skimmer. Kaewer frowned as she watched those trailers, there was something familiar about their movements and shapes. She called up the enhanced image suite of the air skimmer, pulling up a night-vision, zoom and digitally enhanced vision of the trailers.
“Are those Kanashin and Katabatic ADS’s?” Kaewer squeaked as the night-vision enhanced image appeared in front of her. Those certainly looked like Katabatic trailers but that was ridiculous. The Katabatic Air Defense System was the Kanashin and Army’s current air-to-ground defense system, loaded with hundreds of bleeding-edge missile spheres each. They were the sort of hardware deployed to active warzones, not placed for the security of private citizens, even well-connected ones.
“The daughter of a former Vinalmi and current head of the Imperium navy was just captured by a cell of the Vanished Court that crippled a core element of the Imperium’s infrastructure. We didn’t know what they would do next and the Vinalmi felt it was necessary to send a message.”
“You peeled open an underground bunker filled with the surviving elements of an entire Vanished Court cell and their mercenaries. That’s sending message.” Kaewer jabbed a finger out the window. “That is a platoon of mechanized Kanashin with heavy anti-air support in a fortified position. You put that somewhere to secure an modest town in a warzone.”
“Okay, so Caedmon might’ve overreacted a little bit but it was necessary to project strength and authority. This whole situation has had international implications.”
“You also think this is related to the Duke’s visit?”
“That’s part of it, yes. We had to demonstrate to the arriving UDF delegation that we weren’t take the Vanished Court’s actions lightly.”
“You’re not saying something,” Kaewer said, turning a glare on her dad.
“I’m not tell tales out of turn, your mom is waiting at the main house so you’ll get your answer soon.”
“I guess I should just be glad he didn’t mobilize the Ancestral Watch Legion,” Kaewer muttered as the skimmer settled into final approach and she could see the hulking silhouette of a second Glacier APC in the shadows of the gate.
“Dropping Kidorlus from orbit tends to cause more problems than they fix, they do have a habit of creating spectacles when arriving.” Kaewer snorted and tapped her palm against her upper thigh shoving it upward in her father’s direction. Their chuckles lasted until the skimmer rocked as it settled into ground mode and slipped into the reinforced hangar. A fully armoured Kanashin knocked on the window. The two Jirvaerka House Guard riding with them in the skimmer, Staff Sergeant Jinde and his senior Lieutenant Chatura, stiffened as they took in the Imperium marine. They were both out of armour, wearing only the light-weight comfortable House Guard uniform with its integrated harness designed to stop low Total Energy Output and Impact Strength, TEOIS, weapons fire and only carrying their pistols. If the the kanashin was a threat, they’d have to rely on their charges to stop them because their weapons would only scratch the marine’s armour. They both relaxed noticeably as the kanashin moved away from the window and settled into a watchful but relaxed guard at the closing hangar door. Kaewer and Aroven waited while their guards slipped out of the armoured air skimmer and cast a professional suspcious gaze at their own secured hangar. They only moved after the two house guards nodded and Jinde wrapped the all-clear on the window.
“Vinlor, Lieutenant,” The kanahsin said, coming to attention. “I wanted to introduce myself. I am Staff Sergeant (Carnaven Name 1), (Kanashin Company 1). I’m the XO for this platoon under the command of Lieutenant (KCL Name). I’ve meet with Vinialar Silviana and Captain Chivin already.”
“It’s good to meet you, Staff Sergeant,” Aroven said, greeting the military formality with a warm grin and genial tap of his brow. “I apologize for sucking your platoon into such a… political situation as this.”
“It’s nothing sir,” (Carnaven Name 1) said with a roll of their shoulders. “For the chance to serve the Falcon and Grey Blade of the Imperium directly, my people would happily put themselves in far worse situations.”
Aroven chuckled and slapped (Carnaven Name 1) on her shoulder, “We’ll see if some of that luster wears off after a few days of hanging around. We’re a fairly boring bunch on average.” Kaewer tried to muffle her snort but from the amused tilt of (Carnaven Name 1)’s head, she’d clearly not succeeded.
“Yes vinialor, I suspect we’ll see,” (Carnaven Name 1) said, her own tone admirably neutral. “Now, your ground skimmer is waiting for you if you’d follow me.”
“Of course. Lead on, Staff Sergeant.” While air skimmers were capable of operating in ground mode, they were slow and clumsy compared to the purpose-built ground skimmers. There were variable ones but they were never as good in either role and were expensive enough that even Jirvaerka wealth balked at the idea. Add on the additional armour and defense systems Jirvaerka family vehicles mounted and it became cheaper and more sensible to have dedicated skimmers.
The waiting ground skimmer was wrapped in the same dark green and bronze as the air skimmer and bulged in odd spots that spoke of its own defensive systems and armour. Jinde and Chatura waited until their charges were safely inside the skimmer before joining them. Both Guards somehow seemed to fade from attention, a skill Kaewer had never understood, as the skimmer accelerated out of the hangar. Kaewer let out a contented sigh as the skimmer left the fortified gate complex and raced along the broad and pleasant curves of the main road as it wound through the carefully ‘unmanaged’ native Irakan forest that made up a large percentage of the Estate’s holdings. Even in the dark, with only some light from the city and stars above, the forest’s shadows and curves were familiar to her. She’d grown up playing and training in this forest and it’s enfolding canopy was as much home as the buildings they were headed towards. She wished the ground skimmer’s windows could lower for her to smell the evening air of her home but settled for enjoying the vague view beyond the window.
Eventually, the skimmer hummed quietly out of the forest and into the clearing surrounding the main Estate. The Estate had been built in an Era of war that’d savaged the whole Drailleon Empire and it’s construction reflected it’s birth. Built on a large hill in the middle of the forest, the first impression was always of an ancient bulwark of civilization against the primeval. The Estate was a fortress built to repel an army and had, at one point, been an integral part of the city of Iradath’s outer defensive line. These days that defensive line extended out past the Irashi system’s asteroid belt but the Estate’s walls had not fallen into ruin. The mage-raised defensive wall of granite still stood twenty-one feet high on the downslope side and the defensive wards layered into them nearly hummed as the ground skimmer slid into the gate. Kaewer knew that sleek automated turrets and sensors bristled where once armed Guards had patrolled. The fortress remained a fortress, even all these millennia later, though now it faced different enemies. Beyond the wall, stretching in great curving patterns across the hill lay the beating heart of the Estate, the main compound. Built in the style of it’s time, the main compound lacked the rigid lines and ornate stiffness of the Fifth and Sixth Age more common with older estates. Instead, the (great house) sprawled across the hill, winding and spiraling around the natural folds of the hill. It was made of local materials, local stone and wood that’d been replaced at least a dozen times over the millennia. Kaewer could see the courtyards and covered walkways as brightly lit gaps in the arcs of wall. The whole thing managed to loom at barely five stories tall. In the dark, it was hard to tell what was part of the (Great House) and what were attendant buildings, especially after all the years of expansion. It was also hard to see the natural elements and winding paths that made the whole estate seem as if it’d grown from the hill naturally. Only the heavy squat cylinders around the edge of the (great house) stood out, their profile the most unnatural beyond the defensive walls, a legacy of the Ascension Wars.
For Kaewer, it was the shape of home and she grinned as the ground skimmer slid up to the driveway in front of the main (great house) and into the pool of light waiting there. A tall, ebony-haired draiker with muted golden skin waited amidst a small sea of dark pine green and bronze uniform. Silviana Jirvaerka didn’t exactly look worried as she waited for her husband and daughter to arrive but Kaewer could see the tautness of suppressed tension in her mother’s silhouette. Her mom must have been a wreck, if that much tension could be seen from a moving skimmer several hundred feet away. The ground skimmer grounded on graded gravel and both House Guards slipped out to nod to their comrades and open the doors for their principals. Kaewer smiled at Jinde as he held open her door with a flourish and scooted out of the seat with as much grace as she could muster. Her personal bodyguard had to help her pull herself upright with a discrete helping hand on her elbow as exhausted everything pulled her back into the comfortable seat. A harsh, raucous cacophony filled the air as she stood into full view and dozens of winged shaped suddenly filled the shadowy edge of night.
“Emerald Rust has returned!”
“She’s unharmed.”
“Star Silver has brought his hatchling home.”
“Welcome back, Emerald Rust!”
Despite the hour, there were dozens of ravens waiting on the eaves of the (great house) and nearby trees and they all leapt from their perches to shout greetings as they filled the air with the sound of flapping wings. The feathered maelstrom crowded the airspace around the ground skimmer and Kaewer. Birds dove and swooped to get a closer look at her and tease the other people waiting. They found little sport among the waiting staff, guards or Kaewer’s parents. Everyone outside were familiar with the raven’s antics and knew better than to give them a target to play with. One guard, a salty old retainer, yawned at the two ravens dive bombing them. A recently familiar trio dove out of the chaos and Kaewer barely had time to put her good arm out before three red-streaked black projectiles dropped on to her and almost knocked her down. Pitch, Furigido and Imugemare nestled against her, crooning out their welcome with relieved tones apparent even to those without Kaewer’s power. Kaewer laughed and did her best to preen her three passengers with her injured arm’s fingers. Even healed, it was stiff and soar.
“It’s fine. You did amazing. The warning you bore definitely helped dad find me in time,” She croaked out to the birds. “I’m fine.” Kaewer laughed as her three ravens leapt to join their comrades, cawing out prideful boasts and taunts. She watched the birds play, calling out a jibe or two herself.
“It took you mere hours, not even a whole morning, to get caught up in a kidnapping that has shaken Imperium domestic and foreign policy to its core,” Her mom’s tone was stern, her body language stiff and serious. “Half a city blocks in ruins and assaults on Vanished Court holdings across the city. I swear chivlar, next time I’ll have them poddrop you, it can’t be any less disruptive. By the Stars, where did you learn how to find such trouble?” Kaewer stiffened, her smile fading into an expression of stubborn pique.
“I didn’t have to learn it,” She retorted and locked eyes with mother. “I was born with the gift. I got it from my parents.” The moment stretched, the signs and tension of a titanic mother-daughter argument mounting. Just before it grew unbearable, Silviana let out a snrk and both ialaran lost it. Giggling freely, they collapsed into each others arms. Silviana smothered her daughter with kisses in between her giggles.
“I am so glad you’re safe,” Silviana managed a minute later as the laughter faded. “When Oroda called with the ravens’ message, I got so worried. We started tearing down the metaphorical house to find you.”
“I was there, dad did a lot of non-metaphorical tearing down too,” Kaewer noted, a crooked grin fighting through tears.
“He was… motivated and felt a message needed to be sent,” Her mom said with a side long glance at her grinning husband.
“I think he had the perfect excuse to cut loose without getting in trouble. It was really karaide though,” Kaewer said, grinning as her dad stuck his tongue out at her.
“You wound me with your words, daughter dearest. I only did what I felt was necessary to keep you safe,” The accused retorted as he wrapped his arms around both ialar. “Besides, your mom is the one who threatened a foreign government for information.”
“I did not! The Conclave is private entity, not a part of the UDF’s government.” Kaewer turned an incredulous gaze at her mom. Silviana gave an abbreviated shrug and continued, “We knew that the Vanished Court had to be relying on mercenaries and the Conclave was refusing to share information with our investigation. I simply made my displeasure and resolution known to those contacts of mine in the UDF who could influence the Conclave’s decisions.”
“How did they respond?”
“They shared the information we needed but,” Silviana bobbled her head side to side. “These things are hard to gauge. The Union’s media is having a field day with it, of course. It’s safer to say that we don’t think we made any new enemies than that they took it well.”
“It’s so much fun being a part of this family,” Kaewer sighed, dropping her head against her mom’s shoulder. “My turn for debrief?”
“We’ve time for a bath if you want it. Frauck is on his way to help finish the healing but he was on the other side of Iradathka so he’s still an hour or two away,” Her mom said, absently resting her hand on Kaewer’s head. “A bath would help with that bone fatigue that a half-healing leaves you with.”
“Mmmm,” Kaewer lost the fight to swallow a yawn. “Debrief, meal, then bath.”
“I think you mean sleep,” Her father chuckled.
“I know what I said,” Kaewer defended. “Just because I’m absolutely going to fall asleep in the bath doesn’t make it any less desirable.” Kaewer threw a wave to the still circling ravens and let her parents bundle her toward the (great house) and into the equally welcoming crowd of Jirvaerka Staff. No one tried to get in between her parents and her but a number of them paused to rub her head or squeeze her hand.
“I’m glad to you are safe, vinialar. I am dreadfully sorry for what happened,” A disembodied voice met them at the threshold. (I need to add Criwas’ avatar here and Otter in formal clothing 1-1-24) (I also need to remove the pulse net issue)
“It’s good to be home, Criwas.” Kaewer smiled and turned face the spot where one the Estate’s AI’s monitoring cameras was. She liked to think it was the same courtesy as turning to face someone when they talked. “Did Uncle Rowan fill you about my current Pulse Net problem?”
“Yes, vinialar. I have create an isolated sub-network inside the Estate’s network for you to connect to. The connection is going to be slower, limited geographically and less visceral than a direct connection but you will be able to access most Pulse Net functions if you consent to me accessing your accounts for you.”
“Of course, I consent. Honestly, I’m surprised I haven’t give you access before. The lag will be annoying but any connection is better than this vacuum.” The lack of a Pulse net connection had been a constant itch at the back of her mind. She’d constantly felt herself reaching out for information or distraction and only run into the unnerving void that was still locking her out. It was a similar feeling to the moment of disoriented panic that accompanied taking the last step on the stairs that didn’t exist.
“You are visible to my systems, vinialar. The connection is secure and ready when you are.” Kaewer took a deep breath and nodded to the AI’s pickup. She found the local network nodes broadcasting her subnetwork and reached out cautiously, waiting to for the sudden, brain-jarring mental drop into the void but it never came. Instead, the connection became solid, the data feeling similar to the opening strains of a distant park concert, distant and muted but real. Scores of notifications crowded at the edge of her attention, missed calls and messages warring with queued information queries for her attention but she latched onto the Estate security feed. Unlike a proper L-Net or Pulse Net connection, she didn’t experience the expansion of her personal awareness but security feed settled into a comfortable groove in her mind that felt like she’d wrapped a soft blanket around herself. She drew in another slow, centering breath and pushed the data back into it’s usual mental channels, steadying herself until her immediate surrounded lost the half-muffled sensation that’d gained.
“You okay, chivlar?” Her mom asked, concerned face large in her vision.
“Better now,” Kaewer said with a small shake of her head. “Took me a second to organize everything.”
“If you’re trying to organize your thoughts, we’ll be here all night” Her dad said with a snort. Mother and daughter shared identical wry smiles and swiveled, bouncing not-so-light punches across both his arms. His yelp drew giggles from both ialaran.
“He’s an idiot but I’ll keep him anyway,” Silviana said, pulling her pouting husband in for a hug and kiss. “Still, he’s right. Let’s get you some ronchio and food so we can go over what happened. ”
“It’s either that or I spend the next three hours replying to my messages,” Kaewer said, rubbing her face. “I’m going to do that anyway so you might as well get me at my most awake.”
“You sure Mise is going be okay with that?” Her mom said with a smile.
“She’s already worked herself up at this point, a few more hours won’t kill me.”
“Honestly, I’m surprised they haven’t been calling me all day,” Aroven mused.
“Vinialar Silviana had me reach out to vinialan Miserakur and Talako. They understand the needs of the family. Plus, I’ve been feeding them regular, non-classified, updates, Vinialar Stakara as well. That has kept them mostly mollified. For now. ” Kaewer smothered a smile at Criwas’s put-upon tone. The fact that it’d taken an Act of Silviana to keep her friends in check wasn’t a surprise but smiling at the AI’s torment wouldn’t be nice. She yawned again and her dad clapped his hands.
“To the war room! Oroda will have ronchio and food waiting for us. Let’s get this out of the way before Mise tears through our dear Criwas and the House Guard to get to you.”
———
“Ryarugoom!” A voice like moving granite boomed as Kaewer yawned her way off the elevator.
“Oroda!” Kaewer shouted and flung her arms out to meet the hug. Both ialaran squeezed in a crushing bear hug until Kaewer let out a quiet squeak.
“I am so happy to see you safe,” Oroda said, loosening the hug with a suspiciously watery chuckle. She held Kaewer back at arm’s length and smiled. “When I realized just which feathered menaces had crashed into my kitchen my heart just about stopped.”
“I’m sorry about that, Pitch said it was his idea. He thought it was the fastest way to get attention.” Kaewer rubbed the back of neck. Pitch had been rather proud of his plan and she knew it would only grow in the telling when he bragged to the rest of the conspiracy.
“Well, he was right about that. Although, I nearly turned him into lunch before I realized what he was trying to tell us.” Oroda took a deep breath and pulled Kaewer back into a quick hug. “You came home in a very Jirvaerka fashion but it’s good to see you safe, chikar.” She let Kaewer go and cleared her throat, turning to the rest of the room.
“This isn’t the welcome home dinner I had planned but I know what a half healing will do to your appetite,” She said, her voice more even. “So I kept this simple but hearty with plenty of meat to fuel you up for Frauck’s healing. Besides, I doubt you’ve had anything decent to eat since leaving the Charcoaled Sun (is that a state secret?), so I bet you’d be happy with some decent ryajuerin and a good cider.”
“The passenger liner’s food wasn’t bad,” Kaewer objected but she was already moving to the folding table laden with food. (some Kae favs)
“I was a line cook on a budget liner in my youth,” Oroda snorted. “I know exactly what is in that (food dish).” Kaewer paused, a spoon full of (food dish) in her hands.
“Do I want to know?”
“Oh grow up,” Silviana said with a sniff and bumped her daughter with her hip. “You joined the Kidorlus, you should just be happy if it’s hot and not stasis worn.” Kaewer considered that and shrugged. She added another scoop of (food dish) to her plate, bringing the whole thing to near collapse.
“If you’re going to eat that much, grab some amab or you’ll never stay awake,” Aroven said, his own plate just as precariously filled. His own mug was full of bitter drink and Kaewer knew he barely sweetened the stuff. She scrunched her face up as she considered the pot of red-brown liquid.
“I’ll stick to my ronchio,” Kaewer said, making a face. “I’m not that desperate to stay awake.”
“I’ll get it for you, chikar,” Oroda said, stepping in quickly as Kaewer moved her plate to a precarious hold. “It’s steeped to the Vinialar’s preference so sugar?”
“If it’s made to mom’s preference, a splash of (juice) would be best,” Kaewer said, “She likes its scorched.” She took a better grip on her plate and moved to the large ring table in the middle of the room. She settled into on of the wonderfully comfortable conference chairs and keyed her Interface to join the shared AR space of the war room. There were already a number of newsfeeds open and filling the air with their chatter and speculation.
“WOW,” She said around a mouthful of food as a particularly headline floated by. She swallowed her bite and intoned, “The Sapphire of the Union’s Own Daughter Imperiled by Negligent Iradathkin Security?”
“That is (UDF Media Corp),” Silviana sighed. “They’ve never gotten over my choice to join your dad here in the Imperium and the way I had to lean on the Conclave did me no favors.”
“I’m just impressed by the bite they got into that headline,” Kaewer took a sip of her ronchio and grimaced. She added another splash of (juice) to the black tea and took a cautious sip. She decided she could live with it and turned her attention to her parents. “So, mom pissed off a bunch of the UDF and dad destroyed at least one underground structure. What else did I miss?”
“Ah-ah-ah,” Aroven said, flicking a finger and hiding the news feeds. “Your story first, then ours. Don’t taint it with extraneous data.”
“I’ve already been debriefed by the Virunos, the Trip-I, the External Affairs Institute, MoNI — twice —, the stars-born Eternal Watch and my own Kanashin Intel,” Kaewer grumbled. “I know Uncle Rowan forwarded at least two recordings of those debriefs to you, and mom is the surabai High Admiral. The MoNI and KIS reports are literally meant for her.”
“I’d rather hear the story from you than synthesized by my intelligence analysts. They’re very good at their jobs but we know you better than almost anyone else in the galaxy,” Silviana said. “I know you’re tired but the Vanished Court making moves like this on Iradahka is deeply concerning, especially with my father’s visit coming in a few days. Any information we can ferret out is going to useful.” Kaewer stared at her mom for a second and took another bite of (food). She nodded to herself, took a long sip of her ronchio and faced her parents with a straight posture.
“To the best of my ability to recall, these are the events that have occurred over the last (x) hours. Starting with my arrival at (Iradakan space port 1) and continuing through until my extraction by Aroven at approximately (time).”
——
