Novus Ordo Siderum
11 Apr 2022User319792
Coral and the man in the black suit were already seated in front of a holofac when I entered my Captain's quarters, both looking toward me with eyes the size-around of canon shells. Orion glanced toward me and, via holofac, quickly blurted, "Cadence, I've got some good news."
Coral gulped and her eyes slowly made their way toward Orion who, smiled and beckoned me. I squinted, remaining absolutely still. In the days since Orion's last briefing, I'd received notice after notice from the suits about other pilots in the organization. Some had mentioned the term sequential sequestration, but their accounts didn't describe anything like what Coral had described to me. All in all, someone in a suit had thrown the hammer down: the organization was gutting itself and distributing its innards to powers, Federation, Alliance, Imperial, and Independent alike. Orion began and I inched my way toward my seat, keeping my left side toward the three and eyeing each of them from the corners of my eyes. Captain Green's repair crew made sure it didn't look as though I were readying myself for a fight, having made the decision to conduct various repairs and tests on the thrusters as we sat just outside of Colonia.
"As I'd mentioned, the organization has been cleaning house and a decision came down from The Zero to include you and Coral in the organizational restructuring."
Coral glanced over to me, again, and I could see beads of sweat collecting at her hairline. The man in the black suit looked away and toward the ground, biting his upper lip and burying his chin into his neck.
"I assume they've already been briefed?"
Orion looked toward the two and, seeing them avoid my gaze, rolled his eyes and waved them off.
"It's good news, Cadence. As I'm sure you know, you've had a tendency to rub certain KN's the wrong way, and there are certain K-double-N's that have been adamant about your need for increased controls, but The Zero disagrees."
I stared at Orion's holofac, thinking nothing of the mention of The Zero. He continued smiling and, as I glanced toward Coral and the man in the black suit, he started again,
"There's going to be a bit of a shift in the way we're going to be doing things, and its been determined that since I'd already been assigned to Coral's realignment, I would be in the best position to ensure that the transition goes smoothly. The organization will be dissolving the company..."
When the words left his mouth, I felt a popping in my ears and heard nothing but a single beeping tone for a few moments. As his voice grew clearer he explained that concerns surrounding our relationship with the Imperial Diplomat were being taken in by The Emperor and it had been decided that any continued relationship with the company, as it had been known, could leave the organization exposed to misapprehension surrounding our relationship with Her Empire and The Lords of Restoration.
"... in any further dealings with Her Empire, the mere mention of the Lords of Restoration will not be met with... warmth, Cadence, so you may want to avoid the discussion altogether.
"As for your work, with the decision to dissolve the company came questions as to whether we'd split you and Coral up," Orion gestured toward the man in the black suit, " and he thought it might be more important to keep you two close for the time being and KN Council happened to agree."
Novus Ordo Siderum- or The New Order of the Stars, in the commons- was to be our official designation from this point forward. Coral had been avoiding eye contact with me and I poked her on the shoulder, raising my eyebrows. She nodded her head without meeting my gaze; the organization had a name. I'd been aware of the phrase, from our training with the man in the black suit, and had assumed it was just a motto that the organization had used. My suspicions had been confirmed when the man in the black suit sent over the script for our original advertisement. It hadn't occurred to me that the confirmation of my suspicions was what Orion would refer to as a "typical KN conclusion," and I'd made a note to myself to speak to Coral about it, turning to Orion again,
"So, what does this mean for me? Am I no longer responsible for the organization's front-facing activities?"
The man in the black suit looked toward me and a smile crept along the corners of his mouth. Coral looked toward Orion and squinted.
"Coral will be taking over, in terms of the organization's front-facing activities and alignments, Cadence. You'll be free to conduct your activities at Coral's command."
The last three words echoed in my ears. I looked toward her and we finally locked eyes. She blinked and I knew I was finally free. Since Orion had begun briefing us on the organization's continued investigations and negotiations with the Empire, I'd noticed Coral's increasing interest in me. As I'd wandered from my quarters to the observation deck, through the laboratory, into the hangar, and through the rest of Nain Incorporated's decks, she'd watched me closely. She'd been approaching me with greater care in the recent weeks, and while it wasn't unwelcome, I hadn't availed myself to her counsel. I'd spent days upon weeks looking outward from the portholes and viewing areas, doing little other than bear the weight of the organization's relationships. When Orion passed along the order to recommission the Fleet Carrier, I did little other than pass along the order to Captain Green, electing to recommission the carrier, simply, Novus Ordo Siderum.
In the days that followed, that feeling of freedom disappeared beneath the mountain of work that arose with the need to manage the changes, from re-registering with the Pilot's Federation to delivering briefings to the crew- who seemed far less concerned about the rebranding than the organization's restructuring and where that left them. I assured them that the vessel would remain under my command and Coral, who stood to the side as I delivered the news, seemed to have taken the weight that had burdened me upon her own shoulders. Orion's news had made it seem as though things were going to be changing but, in the end we were the same group of people with a new name painted on the side of our ship.
I tried calling out to Coral as she'd passed me on her way toward the laboratory and she did little other than flash me an exhausted smile before her head dropped into her increasingly slumped-over shoulders, her feet dragging the whole way. I felt a slight twitch in the corner of my eye as I watched her walk, and decided to take Drake into the ice rings to do some mining, before hopping in Cato and Cato Jr. for some free-flying as she prepared Novo Ordo Siderum's communications relay's for the live broadcast announcing the organization's presence to the galactic community, stripped of its facade. I'd made some adjustments to the graphics without telling her beforehand, to let her know that I'd still be taking pro-active steps to keep us moving in the right direction.