Dawnhammer Origins: Angel One

Valeri

At ten years old, Valeri was one of the finest cadets Raptor Academy had ever seen. She was not the best pilot in the simulators, but she was already in contention with final-year cadets as a strategist and tactician. She memorized rosters of names, personal skill sets, equipment details, and other assets in order to deploy them for maximum effect.

Simulation scores for her command ability were so unexpectedly high as to be almost unreadable. Her unusual talents were a frequent topic of conversation among the senior staff. Unlike the rest of her classmates, Valeri was a ward of the Terran state. An orphan. She had been referred to as a number for the majority of her first six years, but had been allowed to choose a name to call her own when the recruiters asked her to come to the Raptor's Claw for training.

At first, her instructors thought she had chosen the name of a hero from the Great War as an inspiration. Admiral Valeri had selflessly sacrificed her ship and crew to end that war. It was reasonable for a young cadet to idolize such a person.

After only two weeks, the rumors began. Initially, the rumor had been a joke. People referred to her as the Admiral. At some point in her first year, the rumor became suspicion. Now, there were few adults aboard the station without opinions on the matter of Cadet Valeri and her name. The Headmaster of the Academy had even petitioned the Terran Bureau of Statistics for any records pertaining to her lineage, anything that might give them a clue as to whether or not the rumors might be founded, but there was little information to be had.

In the end, some people believed Valeri to be the Admiral's direct descendant. Some of the more spiritual types harbored thoughts that the girl might even be the Admiral's reincarnation. Whatever she was, though, the girl would be an excellent officer in any Terran Navy.

OnyxCorps, Pandora and the Wildcards had caught wind of her skills and petitioned Terran Command to test her. By law, she could train with any military she chose to and no authority in Terran space was allowed to prevent her from acting on that choice. Two years of mandatory military service were required of a Terran Ward, but the service could be paid for by anyone.

Jessica Robertson, representing OnyxCorps, leaned forward, put her elbows on the table and laced her fingers together. She stared intently at the woman opposite her. Whereas Jessica wore the traditional dress uniform of OnyxCorps, black and silver, Envira wore a riot of color in flowing garments that were common of Earthbound terrans. Briefly, Jessica considered how she would look in such regalia. She put the mental image away in annoyance and focused on the task at hand.

"You want ten pilots for a single cadet?" Jess asked in disbelief.

The room had white walls, floors, and ceiling. Even the table was pristinely devoid of color. Jessica had never seen a place so sterile. The contrast between the environment and Envira's attire was shocking.

"Her record speaks for itself, Mrs. Robertson."

"Envira, we've known each other since we were kids. Enough with the formality." Jessica was always slightly jealous of her friend's exotic beauty. Earthbound Terrans were the equivalent of genetic perfection. She had flawless olive skin, eyes the color of forest leaves, and soft auburn hair streaked through with chocolate brown swirls. The woman smiled and Jessica rolled her eyes at the perfection and symmetry of those ivory rows.

"Jess, then. This one's special."

"I can see that. We can all see that. But saying that one child is worth the services of ten fully trained pilots for two years? OnyxCorps is going to have to pay a small fortune to those pilots to get them to transfer."