I only meant to stay out one night...I didn't think I'd be stepping into a whole new world....
This is fan fiction mashup of two of my favs...all credit of brilliance goes to CL Stone for her amazing Academy characters and Andrea Hosts Touchstone...
An alert buzzed through the Interface dragging me from sleep. Please, I needed at least another few kasse to catch up. Our squad had been running Ena missions non-stop and was truly overdue for a well-earned break. Orbs rotation had been especially brutal. Thankfully, Nathan's combat sight has warned us of the unusual ionoth that was powering up for an elemental attack. The alert buzzed again, leaving me no choice but to answer.
"Yes, Tsee Blackbourne. Can I help you?"
"Tsen Lee, I am sorry to wake you, but I need to bring you in-channel. Auditory only. I will link any visuals to you directly."
"Okay, let me just..."
"Two joden, Tsen Lee." Tsee Blackbourne ended the transmission.
Always the economy of time with him. I sighed and pulled on the nearest clothing, then activated the enhanced lenses on my eyes. I could have had nanocytes correct the vision permanently, but these lenses had bonus features that came in handy during particular missions. I grab a cup of klavi juice and activated the link from my squad captain.
"...and furthermore, we need to ascertain whether or not Stray 1052 poses any threat to any KOTIS staff that has come into contact with the subject," Tsur Buble declared firmly.
Whoa! This was serious if the Council was meeting. I had missed quite a bit already. He said 'stray' and 'threat'. It must be the same one that was discovered in the dhura mission in Muina, but the messages I had received from Jessica about her painted the girl as sweet and shy, doubtfully capable of violence. Could she have some sort of contagion or brought in a parasitic Ionoth, which could spread and do much damage before discovery. The last Ionoth infestation on Unara was a disaster that took almost a Taren year to clear up.
Ista Phillips piped in, "My staff have been thoroughly tested and are taking precautions, but this phenomenon has only occurred once. We need to see if we replicate it in the controlled environment that the Setari training facility provides."
Tsur Buble responded, "I agree, but our Setari numbers are too low to risk. Even with increased numbers of Kalrani moving up in training, the recent losses to Squad Three were a terrible blow, especially to morale."
Everyone is silent, remembering the two lost lives. Tsur Buble is right. The Setari are hurting now. Tsee Blackbourne and Ista Green had trained with those two as Kalrani. The Honoring Ceremony had been very personal for our squad.
"If I may," Isten Rose interjected. "While our records from the Lantarens are woefully meager, we have surmised that they had more psychic talents than those currently in Taren repertoire. Just like the lost city of Kalasa, which could hold a wealth of information if we could just find it, we only can gleam hints from the documents available to us." Isten Rose, a noted historian and anthropologist, communicated through text only. As a young girl she had been in an Ionoth attack, and her throat almost completely ripped out. It was a miracle that she survived, but nanocytes had been unable to repair her vocal chords. However, she was able to communicate through the Interface just fine.
Tsur Buble asked, "So, you believe this girl might have an undiscovered talent?"
"Yes, we believe so," answered Ista Phillips. He continued, "Our best hypothesis is that she is able to enhance the abilities of others. We need to test the limits of the enhancements and for any distortions. Tsee Blackbourne and Tsen Lee, we feel your squad is best suited to attempt these tests for a few reasons. Your squad has a wide variety of talents to test, Ista Green's presence for monitoring and any needed medical attention, and because of the dynamics of other squads...yours has the most potential to adjust positively."
Ha! He means because we don't have any female members who would be threatened by a new girl in the mix. Actually, the most successful squad structures had been single gender, single gender with one exception, or even pairs of opposite genders. Though the team with all females and one male imploded pretty quickly. I still believe Tset Williams was at fault, but no one can say for sure. She's been reassigned to her brother's Fifth Squad and things seem okay for now. First Squaf, led by Tsee Anderson, and Second Squad, led by Tsee Toma, have both been successful with all males and one female member. Maybe it could work for us. Although, I wonder...
"Will Stray 1052 be designated as a Setari member?" Tsee Blackbourne asks before I can. This why we work so well leading our team, thinking alike.
"No. We need to conduct those tests. We will temporarily assign sponsorship to Fourth Squad as a whole. Is everyone in agreement that the subject will be tested for a possible enhancement talent?" Tsur Buble poses and receives affirmative answers from the group. "And Fourth Squad, you agree to conduct the tests and adopt sponsorship of the individual?"
Together, Tsee Blackbourne and I respond on behalf our squad, "We are willing, and we will obey."
"This meeting is adjourned. Tsen Lee, please stay in-channel. There's been an emergency in your family..."
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******* A/n: I hope all the exposition hasn't been too much. It is a whole new society to describe. Also to help with the rank and titles: Tsur = General Tsee = Captain (squad leader) Tsen = First Lieutenant Tset = Second Lieutenant Ista = Doctor-medical Isten = Ph.D. in field of study Tsa = Mr. / Mrs. / Ms.
