Blue Star Enterprises

Alexander deftly landed the shuttle in the assigned area. He had been surprised to learn the UEC headquarters were located where the UN had once been. He supposed there was some long-standing significance to having that as its location.

The land around the building wasn't owned by the US anymore, or the NAA either. It was considered STO land and thus neutral ground for the world leaders to congregate on.

He had seen the massive crowd and bevy of reporters as he came in for a landing, and he was not looking forward to being accosted by them.

Katalynn appeared completely unfazed by the attention their arrival had sparked.

Alexander supposed she was used to it. "I wasn't expecting our visit to draw this much attention," he admitted.

"Nor was I," Katalynn replied. "They shouldn't even know why we are here."

"You think someone leaked our agenda?" Alexander asked in confusion.

"I don't see how," Katalynn replied as she finished unbuckling and got up from the co-pilot's seat. "Our people wouldn't have done that, and we didn't specify the reason for our visit. It's possible they figured it out through context, but even so, the reception feels a bit much. Maybe if we could hear what the reporters were saying over the shouts of the crowd, we could get an idea."

"Hmm," Alexander paused in thought. "I can't do that myself, and audio filtering wasn't high on the list of sensors when I built the shuttle, but the augmentation suits should be able to filter out the noise."

The pair headed back to the passenger area, where the guards were all waiting and ready. Agitated would probably be a better word since there were thousands of people outside the temporary barricades that the UEC had erected.

"Sergeant Galloway, please hold still for a moment. I want to adjust your suit sensors."

The man grunted and turned toward the door, allowing Alexander full access to the power cell and electronic components on the back.

Galloway wasn't one of his normal guards, but he was one of the few people aboard Grace who had actually been to Earth, so he pulled the man from leading the strike team temporarily to help facilitate ground operations and keep anyone from getting an itchy trigger finger.

Normally, a special tool was required to pop open the back panel, but Alexander simply extended the tip of his finger and slotted it into the security clip.

There was a soft whir as the security bolts disengaged and the panel popped open and slid sideways on two arms.

An area off to the top left contained a second panel where the field emitter was located. but Alexander didn't need to access that. He simply plugged his finger into an access point below a small screen and ran through the data in his mind-space.

It took less than a minute to make the adjustments.

"Ok, use the targeting computer within the FE rifle and aim at one of the reporters. The suit should be able to record any vibrations coming through. It won't be able to parse them into actual words, but I can send the recording up to Grace or even Valkyrie to let their computers handle that."

The man double-checked that his weapon was set to safe before lifting it and aiming at the oblivious reporter. It was a good thing they were doing this inside the shuttle, or he was certain the civilians wouldn't take too kindly to having such a deadly weapon pointed their way.

"It's working," Galloway confirmed a moment later.

Still connected to the suit, Alexander extended his other arm and connected to the shuttle. The hidden comm node instantly transmitted the data to Grace's computer, and Alexander input his command credentials and instructions.

A very distorted audio recording came back, and Alexander played it through the shuttle's speakers.

"-historic meeting- -Harlow's defeat-," some words weren't clear at first, but the computer was quickly improving upon the result from the base code that Lucas had written for him back when he was looking for evidence against Sorin. It was doing an amazing job considering the suit and weapon sensors were nowhere near as powerful as the facility sensors on Eden's End.

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The reporter continued. "In only momen- -get to meet the people responsi- -ending the pirate threat. You can see their shuttle has just landed. What we know so far is that the shuttle is owned by a company called Blue-"

"I think we heard enough," Katalynn interrupted.

Alexander nodded, and Galloway lowered his rifle. Alexander reset the code, which was easy since the original version was hard-coded into the suit to help prevent hacking or data modifications. On a power cycle, it would default to that set of code no matter what.

As Alexander was securing the backplate, Katalynn continued. "I suppose this turnout is our fault, then. I would have figured that Harlow's death would have long since left the public eye. Apparently, I was wrong."

"I assumed as much as well," Alexander said as the locking bolts re-engaged on Galloway's suit. "Should we head out and greet our fans?"

***

Frank Young had been nominated to greet their guests, however, he didn't know why he had been chosen. There were far more qualified individuals in the council who could have greeted their arrivals. He suspected it was because of his lack of experience. If he screwed it up, they could point to that as an excuse.

He sighed internally as he stood near the landing pad, watching the shuttle come in. He rarely dealt with corporate upper management, but he had done it a few times in the past, and he recognized the shuttle as far more advanced than any of those smaller corporations he had worked with.

It was the effortless way the shuttle seemed to do everything, from hovering to deploying its landing struts to simply landing. Everything was smooth and elegant. Even the panels were seamless on the ship.

He glanced over at his own shuttle, which looked rather worn in comparison, even though the maintenance was up to date.

After what seemed like far longer than necessary, where Frank endured the screaming crowd and curious reporters all clicking pictures, the shuttle ramp finally descended.

Frank straightened and increased the smile he had held on his face, straining his already sore jaw. He held that smile even when fully armed soldiers strode down the ramp of the shuttle. He had been warned to expect that.

Frank did note the two separate color schemes, though, and wondered about that for a moment before a woman descended the shuttle ramp.

Frank had met plenty of powerful women in his time, and they all tended to have an air of confidence and power. The woman striding toward him made those women look like children playing at power. She gave off an aura that demanded respect, and he wouldn't lie; he felt a bit intimidated by it.

Her appearance was also a shock, since he had expected a man given the name Chairman Rush provided for them. Then again, he had seen people with stranger names.

He was about to head over and meet her halfway when he nearly stumbled as the last individual stepped off the shuttle.

One glance at the shuttle and the matching outfit the thing was wearing was enough to tell Frank that his early conclusion was incorrect. That was the Alexander Kane that Chairman Rush had told them to show the utmost respect to.

Frank swallowed hard, doing his best not to shiver in fear as the massive robot strode toward him along with the imposing woman.

It took him a moment to realize the crowd had all grown silent as well. Even the reporters seemed unsure as to how to handle the situation.

Before anyone could figure out what to do, the eight-foot-tall-headless robot stopped in front of him. A holographic face smiled down at him. "Greetings, I am Alexander Kane, CEO of Blue Star Enterprises, and this is my guest, Lagertha Katalynn Char of the Asgardian Union. Who might you be?"

The thing's casual and friendly voice was so incongruent with the utterly terrifying robot it inhabited that it broke Frank from his stupor.

"Uh, Oh. Frank Young, council member for the NAA."

The holographic face raised an eyebrow. "I didn't think we were important enough to have a sitting council member come to greet us in person." The robot extended his hand, and Frank reached out by instinct before he could stop himself.

The moment of panic Frank felt when he thought his hand was about to be crushed was quickly washed away as the robot gripped his hand gently but firmly. He had greeted plenty of people who used handshakes as a power move, either by gripping as hard as they could or pulling the handshake toward themselves to unsettle their opponent. There was none of that here, and he was glad for it. Frank was pretty sure there was nothing he could do if the massive robot decided to pull him toward itself or crush his hand like meat paste.

"Well, Mr. Young, shall we head inside? We have a lot to discuss."

***

Katalynn wanted to smirk at the poor councilman's shock, but she schooled her face and scanned the area for threats. Just because she had guards didn't mean she would be lax in her own security.

There were a few suspect individuals in the crowd, but none close enough to attack them. She had to admit that the Earth Council had done its due diligence in securing their arrival. There were police wearing body armor and stun sticks at the end of every barricade.

She also saw a few armored vehicles with riot control devices on the roofs.

Katalynn was concerned about those because those weapons could be turned against them to devastating effect, but she trusted her people to be able to disable them quickly if it came to a fight. She also suspected those would not affect Kane, making him the true trump card if violence broke out.

It was almost a letdown when the flabbergasted politician nodded and motioned for them to follow him into the building without anything happening.

She motioned for one of her guards. "Two of you remain outside and keep an eye on the shuttle and our exit route," she said quietly.

The man nodded and jerked his head toward the other rear guard. They peeled off and returned to guard the ship.

Knowing Kane, that probably wasn't necessary, but it made her feel better. When Katalynn glanced over at Kane, he had a slight smile on his face. She wanted to scowl at him, but she stopped herself with a reminder that she wasn't on Asgard. To her, this was enemy territory, and Kane was far more in his element.

She did take a bit of pride in the fact that her political lessons, the few they had, seemed to have taken root, however.