I048
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The MTA had been hit hard on the PR front before. Nothing was perfect, and they were a large organization. Things happened. That didn't mean the organization as a whole liked it when it happened. Their immediate remedy was obvious. They were in the process of slaying the sandmen. The race would be exterminated in all internal nations and the CFA would handle the external. This did not negate the failure they'd publicly displayed.
In another point and time this failure would have gutted the Rim Guardians as an internal institution. They were directly responsible for pushing for the intervention, and had spent a lot of personal favors into intervening. The public failure would have been lain at their feet and they would have lost significant clout, ultimately leading to their dissolution as a faction due to that and other factors.
This was not that point in time. Here the 'Third Rate Trash' had put on a better showing than the MTA. Humanity still loved underdogs. The fact that several pilots had thrown themselves into the fray was almost more of a black eye than the loss. The factions pushing to abandon the outer rims therefore had resistance and couldn't just casually push through their agenda. Politically, abandoning the very people that had thrown their lives away trying to help would have compounded the bad PR.
Bad didn't mean they weren't still still pushing for it, it just meant they had to be more formal and 'neutral' about it. The wealth disparity between the core and the rim was immense. The MTA lost money every second of operation outside the core, and while it could absorb it due to various factors, simply administrating it all was a strain that the organization carefully concealed. Economically it made no sense to bother with anything but the core. It was a net drain with absolutely no economic benefits.
All of this led to an official meeting between MTA officials through conference call several days after the 'incident' as they were calling it. Bubbles, as a Senior was attending it. She was one of the lowest ranking members there. The highest was an unknown amount of Star Designers, though they were not expected to speak.
"The most up to date reports are now available, spend a moment to analyze them before we start. All logic speak will be strongly discouraged for this meeting." The meeting began by a high ranking official.
"Query, why?" Someone asked.
"Non-designers are attending, and official records have significant trouble notating it without Master input." The official said in a rather bland voice as he appeared.
Full conferences with MTA officials involved full body holograms with high fidelity. They were just one step away from attending, and were the preferred method of internal conversation. The Star Designers naturally weren't shown.
"Judging the reports and estimating the timeline the sandmen will be purged in a year. What is our official response?"
"Our official response is that the MTA has begun the process of exterminating the aliens. Deflect further inquiries."
"Ignoring it will make the public reaction worse. We're already getting push from the First Rate nations."
A small sound stopped conversation and the official in charge spoke up then. "I will remind you all that we will be opening the Red Galaxy to the public shortly alongside the next generation technology reveal. This will dominate the news enough that everyone outside the Komodo Sector will forget."
"The CFA won't. In fact they're suspiciously silent. They're probably plotting something!"
Bubbles restrained herself from commenting on that. They were quiet obviously gloating in their corners, but also letting the MTA pretend they hadn't gotten their teeth knocked out. A few of her new CFA contacts had told her quietly that the Sandmen were proving to be more dangerous than expected and the organization didn't want to fall into the same pitfall that the MTA had by underestimating everything.
"Of course they are. This entire thing could even be a plot from them! They have too much presence in the sector. Did they interfere?"
"Clarify."
"Planet 70021-G309, claimed by the CFA on their extermination run."
"I am the point of contact there." Bubbles chimed in as neutral as she could make it. "The claim was valid, and all the proper forms have been filed. They have acted within previous treaties to the letter."
"That you can see."
The woman took a moment to identify the speaker. He was a prominent member of the Primal Human faction, the main group that focused on people in the core. He was also a massively classist asshole. Master Asger.
"My reports on their actions are in our unrestricted database." Bubbles replied back without emotion. Showing any emotion at all here would be a serious breach of conduct and possibly torpedo everything in the sector.
"Dispute reports outside of this meeting time." The official in charge interjected.
"Then we move onto promising designers and resource allocation. Do we really only have two?" Asger asked the room.
Bubbles refrained from cursing him out. She knew what he was implying. "Promising designers means promising. Not just designers that have ascended early." She pointed out.
Another master responsible for the local scene chimed in, Master Willix. "Some sectors only have one. Some have none, some have a dozen. We keep the classification barrier intentionally high, chance changes everything, and even then most promising designers can be disappointments."
"Yes, like Master Jeanne." Asger agreed.
Oh he was really pushing it now. Bubbles tried to formulate an argument before the main official interrupted them all. He looked as bored as always, but the urgency he did it implied that the Star Designers listening had input something.
"Master Jeanne is in good standing with the MTA, despite her public statements. Please refrain from implying that she is not." The man said immediately.
There was a beat of silence. The other MTA people didn't exchange glances or mutter, but that sort of potent and immediate statement meant many things. Jeanne was a bit of a local legend with the MTA officials in the know. A specialist in fire, she'd risen to master quickly, and just as quickly torched her personal reputation by publicly stating the MTA should burn. She'd done the equivalent of spraying graffiti on a prominent landmark and the running off into a hut in the middle of nowhere. The only reason she wasn't dead from the insult was because she was both a master and because she was so far away no one wanted to expend the effort.
"This is a new change." Someone stated neutrally into the quiet.
"Several concessions and conversations have happened off record, and she's indicated that Star Designer is close." The official offered to the group.
"Her arrogance hasn't changed at least. Does anyone really believe she has had a sudden change of heart? For that matter, Star Designer on a Third Rate budget?" Asger wasn't able to completely remove his emotion at that, but no one called him out on it.
Bubbles found herself torn on how to feel. Jeanne was not the sort of woman to change her convictions. Every time they'd interacted Bubbles had felt like the woman was a barely leashed fanatic. The fact that the MTA was helping her advance felt wrong and right at the same time. She also did have to agree that achieving Star Designer in a Third Rate nation felt like a stretch. You needed a lot of money.
"I am admittedly unfamiliar with her. Are there restrictions on contact?" Master Willix asked.
"There are no restrictions, and more Star Designers are always needed, even those not fully aligned with the MTA." The official said neutrally.
Asger obvious had words to say about it, but he moved on rather than dwell on something a higher official had so firmly declared. "We are getting outside the meeting parameters. We need to review the two promising designers before we make a decision on resource allocation. The candidates are Ves Larkinson and Bolt Silica."
"Based on behavior analysis, Ves will be heading to the Red Galaxy once it is open. Bolt will stay." Master Willix gave her input neutrally. "I will be handling Ves and judging his potential before attending to my own experiments. Senior Bubbles?"
While that was a reasonable stance, it made things very hard for Bubbles. How to spin this? If she didn't do it right she was going to get thrown into another sector along with half the local resources. Even just retaining her current position would take a good reason.
"I concur your assessment. Bolt recently expanded his family, and might have a second child shortly. He has been cautiously amendable to working with the MTA but focuses more on his home and would categorically refuse to join the MTA formally." Bubbles reasoned out very carefully. "I would judge that further direct interaction will keep him aligned with us while encouraging his growth in ways acceptable to the MTA."
"Such investment needs to be balanced over the contributions he's expected to give, especially in light of the poor showing of the nations involved in the Sand War. Masters from Third Rate nations have not historically been worth investing in and our very recent history proves it." Asger replied back.
Poor showing? He was using that excuse? Bubbles felt a flash of genuine anger there. Third Rate nations were frequently very stupid, but that sort of statement so recently after the incident was exceptionally bad taste. Furthermore Master Jeanne had practically singlehandedly handled one front. Unfortunately the attitude was held by half the people attending and most of them found Jeanne's abilities a negative rather than a positive.
"Has everyone reviewed the promising designer's current profiles?" The leading official asked before continuing. "Master Asger's arguments have been made and considered. The decision is that forces do need to be drawn down in the Komodo Sector due to unforeseen expenses but not eliminated. The meeting is now on what forces should be retained. Keep in mind sector budgetary constraints that have just been sent to you."
Bubbles took a mental breath as she spoke up then. "I will volunteer to handle direct management of Bolt Silica and other possible potentials in the sector."
"Placing a simple Senior in charge an entire sector is inappropriate. It is not out of the question to have a master manage multiple sectors. We have already have a list of those available." Asger immediately objected.
"I wouldn't dare have a master take their time from their important duties like that." Bubbles replied back with a hidden irritation. She knew what that game was, assign the sector to a core focused master and then make it seem completely worthless. "I am here, I am available, and I am willing."
"Willing doesn't mean that you are able to handle the vast responsibilities." Asger said. "Master Willix, would you be able to do this as a compromise? You are already familiar with things."
"My current duty is to evaluate and shepherd Ves Larkinson. As you know this is a delicate task depending on the designer. I would be stretched and limited if I was forced to split my time." The woman replied back and glanced at Bubbles. "Is Bolt still currently living under CFA aegis?"
"He will be until the CFA winds down." Bubbles confirmed. "A year after the last Sandman is confirmed dead."
"Then I believe Bubbles will be acceptable. With the CFA presence and her current familiarity she can gain experience in a relatively quiet time and we need more capable liaisons." Willix said with a small nod of her head.
Asger gave a small grunt of displeasure but ceased arguing that line. "We will need to see progress from Bolt though. After that one part of dubious value he's only shown novelty mechs. Have him participate in that war between Seconds."
See progress from him?! What more did he want, the man to piss Phase Water? Bubbles scowled. He was trying to get Bolt killed most likely. If the sector lost the only potential it'd be far less of a priority.
"We do not order designers. If Journeyman Bolt Silica wants to join or avoid any wars it is up to him. Arguments have been made, and the decision is that Bubbles will be promoted to the management of sector talent." The official's voice was very firm before he continued with a slightly more pained voice. "Now onto the forces assigned."
Bubbles didn't blame him for that tone. This part had been pleasant compared to what was going to come. Here was where the knives came out. Even those not interested in the sector would have an opinion and want a slice. It wasn't going to be fun to say the least.
In another point and time this failure would have gutted the Rim Guardians as an internal institution. They were directly responsible for pushing for the intervention, and had spent a lot of personal favors into intervening. The public failure would have been lain at their feet and they would have lost significant clout, ultimately leading to their dissolution as a faction due to that and other factors.
This was not that point in time. Here the 'Third Rate Trash' had put on a better showing than the MTA. Humanity still loved underdogs. The fact that several pilots had thrown themselves into the fray was almost more of a black eye than the loss. The factions pushing to abandon the outer rims therefore had resistance and couldn't just casually push through their agenda. Politically, abandoning the very people that had thrown their lives away trying to help would have compounded the bad PR.
Bad didn't mean they weren't still still pushing for it, it just meant they had to be more formal and 'neutral' about it. The wealth disparity between the core and the rim was immense. The MTA lost money every second of operation outside the core, and while it could absorb it due to various factors, simply administrating it all was a strain that the organization carefully concealed. Economically it made no sense to bother with anything but the core. It was a net drain with absolutely no economic benefits.
All of this led to an official meeting between MTA officials through conference call several days after the 'incident' as they were calling it. Bubbles, as a Senior was attending it. She was one of the lowest ranking members there. The highest was an unknown amount of Star Designers, though they were not expected to speak.
"The most up to date reports are now available, spend a moment to analyze them before we start. All logic speak will be strongly discouraged for this meeting." The meeting began by a high ranking official.
"Query, why?" Someone asked.
"Non-designers are attending, and official records have significant trouble notating it without Master input." The official said in a rather bland voice as he appeared.
Full conferences with MTA officials involved full body holograms with high fidelity. They were just one step away from attending, and were the preferred method of internal conversation. The Star Designers naturally weren't shown.
"Judging the reports and estimating the timeline the sandmen will be purged in a year. What is our official response?"
"Our official response is that the MTA has begun the process of exterminating the aliens. Deflect further inquiries."
"Ignoring it will make the public reaction worse. We're already getting push from the First Rate nations."
A small sound stopped conversation and the official in charge spoke up then. "I will remind you all that we will be opening the Red Galaxy to the public shortly alongside the next generation technology reveal. This will dominate the news enough that everyone outside the Komodo Sector will forget."
"The CFA won't. In fact they're suspiciously silent. They're probably plotting something!"
Bubbles restrained herself from commenting on that. They were quiet obviously gloating in their corners, but also letting the MTA pretend they hadn't gotten their teeth knocked out. A few of her new CFA contacts had told her quietly that the Sandmen were proving to be more dangerous than expected and the organization didn't want to fall into the same pitfall that the MTA had by underestimating everything.
"Of course they are. This entire thing could even be a plot from them! They have too much presence in the sector. Did they interfere?"
"Clarify."
"Planet 70021-G309, claimed by the CFA on their extermination run."
"I am the point of contact there." Bubbles chimed in as neutral as she could make it. "The claim was valid, and all the proper forms have been filed. They have acted within previous treaties to the letter."
"That you can see."
The woman took a moment to identify the speaker. He was a prominent member of the Primal Human faction, the main group that focused on people in the core. He was also a massively classist asshole. Master Asger.
"My reports on their actions are in our unrestricted database." Bubbles replied back without emotion. Showing any emotion at all here would be a serious breach of conduct and possibly torpedo everything in the sector.
"Dispute reports outside of this meeting time." The official in charge interjected.
"Then we move onto promising designers and resource allocation. Do we really only have two?" Asger asked the room.
Bubbles refrained from cursing him out. She knew what he was implying. "Promising designers means promising. Not just designers that have ascended early." She pointed out.
Another master responsible for the local scene chimed in, Master Willix. "Some sectors only have one. Some have none, some have a dozen. We keep the classification barrier intentionally high, chance changes everything, and even then most promising designers can be disappointments."
"Yes, like Master Jeanne." Asger agreed.
Oh he was really pushing it now. Bubbles tried to formulate an argument before the main official interrupted them all. He looked as bored as always, but the urgency he did it implied that the Star Designers listening had input something.
"Master Jeanne is in good standing with the MTA, despite her public statements. Please refrain from implying that she is not." The man said immediately.
There was a beat of silence. The other MTA people didn't exchange glances or mutter, but that sort of potent and immediate statement meant many things. Jeanne was a bit of a local legend with the MTA officials in the know. A specialist in fire, she'd risen to master quickly, and just as quickly torched her personal reputation by publicly stating the MTA should burn. She'd done the equivalent of spraying graffiti on a prominent landmark and the running off into a hut in the middle of nowhere. The only reason she wasn't dead from the insult was because she was both a master and because she was so far away no one wanted to expend the effort.
"This is a new change." Someone stated neutrally into the quiet.
"Several concessions and conversations have happened off record, and she's indicated that Star Designer is close." The official offered to the group.
"Her arrogance hasn't changed at least. Does anyone really believe she has had a sudden change of heart? For that matter, Star Designer on a Third Rate budget?" Asger wasn't able to completely remove his emotion at that, but no one called him out on it.
Bubbles found herself torn on how to feel. Jeanne was not the sort of woman to change her convictions. Every time they'd interacted Bubbles had felt like the woman was a barely leashed fanatic. The fact that the MTA was helping her advance felt wrong and right at the same time. She also did have to agree that achieving Star Designer in a Third Rate nation felt like a stretch. You needed a lot of money.
"I am admittedly unfamiliar with her. Are there restrictions on contact?" Master Willix asked.
"There are no restrictions, and more Star Designers are always needed, even those not fully aligned with the MTA." The official said neutrally.
Asger obvious had words to say about it, but he moved on rather than dwell on something a higher official had so firmly declared. "We are getting outside the meeting parameters. We need to review the two promising designers before we make a decision on resource allocation. The candidates are Ves Larkinson and Bolt Silica."
"Based on behavior analysis, Ves will be heading to the Red Galaxy once it is open. Bolt will stay." Master Willix gave her input neutrally. "I will be handling Ves and judging his potential before attending to my own experiments. Senior Bubbles?"
While that was a reasonable stance, it made things very hard for Bubbles. How to spin this? If she didn't do it right she was going to get thrown into another sector along with half the local resources. Even just retaining her current position would take a good reason.
"I concur your assessment. Bolt recently expanded his family, and might have a second child shortly. He has been cautiously amendable to working with the MTA but focuses more on his home and would categorically refuse to join the MTA formally." Bubbles reasoned out very carefully. "I would judge that further direct interaction will keep him aligned with us while encouraging his growth in ways acceptable to the MTA."
"Such investment needs to be balanced over the contributions he's expected to give, especially in light of the poor showing of the nations involved in the Sand War. Masters from Third Rate nations have not historically been worth investing in and our very recent history proves it." Asger replied back.
Poor showing? He was using that excuse? Bubbles felt a flash of genuine anger there. Third Rate nations were frequently very stupid, but that sort of statement so recently after the incident was exceptionally bad taste. Furthermore Master Jeanne had practically singlehandedly handled one front. Unfortunately the attitude was held by half the people attending and most of them found Jeanne's abilities a negative rather than a positive.
"Has everyone reviewed the promising designer's current profiles?" The leading official asked before continuing. "Master Asger's arguments have been made and considered. The decision is that forces do need to be drawn down in the Komodo Sector due to unforeseen expenses but not eliminated. The meeting is now on what forces should be retained. Keep in mind sector budgetary constraints that have just been sent to you."
Bubbles took a mental breath as she spoke up then. "I will volunteer to handle direct management of Bolt Silica and other possible potentials in the sector."
"Placing a simple Senior in charge an entire sector is inappropriate. It is not out of the question to have a master manage multiple sectors. We have already have a list of those available." Asger immediately objected.
"I wouldn't dare have a master take their time from their important duties like that." Bubbles replied back with a hidden irritation. She knew what that game was, assign the sector to a core focused master and then make it seem completely worthless. "I am here, I am available, and I am willing."
"Willing doesn't mean that you are able to handle the vast responsibilities." Asger said. "Master Willix, would you be able to do this as a compromise? You are already familiar with things."
"My current duty is to evaluate and shepherd Ves Larkinson. As you know this is a delicate task depending on the designer. I would be stretched and limited if I was forced to split my time." The woman replied back and glanced at Bubbles. "Is Bolt still currently living under CFA aegis?"
"He will be until the CFA winds down." Bubbles confirmed. "A year after the last Sandman is confirmed dead."
"Then I believe Bubbles will be acceptable. With the CFA presence and her current familiarity she can gain experience in a relatively quiet time and we need more capable liaisons." Willix said with a small nod of her head.
Asger gave a small grunt of displeasure but ceased arguing that line. "We will need to see progress from Bolt though. After that one part of dubious value he's only shown novelty mechs. Have him participate in that war between Seconds."
See progress from him?! What more did he want, the man to piss Phase Water? Bubbles scowled. He was trying to get Bolt killed most likely. If the sector lost the only potential it'd be far less of a priority.
"We do not order designers. If Journeyman Bolt Silica wants to join or avoid any wars it is up to him. Arguments have been made, and the decision is that Bubbles will be promoted to the management of sector talent." The official's voice was very firm before he continued with a slightly more pained voice. "Now onto the forces assigned."
Bubbles didn't blame him for that tone. This part had been pleasant compared to what was going to come. Here was where the knives came out. Even those not interested in the sector would have an opinion and want a slice. It wasn't going to be fun to say the least.
