ASO Chpt I1

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==Interlude: Kamea Arano - Aurigan Sentinels (BattleTech CYOA)==
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===Task of Cultivation===
Cordia City, Coromodir
Aurigan Reach, Aurigan Coalition
27th August, 3020
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"Things have turned out about as well as we could have hoped.” muses her father as Kamea joins her parents, her uncle and her best friend of a cousin to discuss the latest player in the Reach.
Elizabeth Nora is something of a mystery to Kamea despite the Arano heiress best efforts to research her after hearing the news about the battleship and its accompanying fleet of JumpShips and DropShips. She isn’t a total mystery, but there are too many blanks for Kamea to figure her out.
Torn between a minor family here in the Reach and a not so minor family in the Free Worlds League, Elizabeth Nora has threaded the needle of not being accepted by the nobles in either half of her family. Upon learning that, Kamea expected her to be resentful of being shown up by her younger sisters, but after the interviews with her family. She concluded that Nora was very good at concealing her true feelings or her initial assumptions are horribly off the mark.
Kamea suspects the former. If she had any younger siblings, she can’t imagine losing her rightful status in life to any of them and the Arano heiress can’t see how someone as naturally talented and bright as Elizabeth Nora could. It must sting to lose out on her rightful place as the eldest thanks to having the wrong father.
“I’m glad she made a good impression on you.” says her mother.
“A bit rough around the edges, but she has excellent potential to be a useful asset,” says Uncle Santiago, “She is a loyal, capable and ambitious young woman who has the right sort of ambition and is more than someone who just got very lucky. Miss Nora’s education is lacking, but that is easily remedied, especially according to several of her past teachers who note how much of a quick study she is.”
“I thought she had excellent grades at school and college?” inquires Victoria.
“She does.” replies Uncle Santiago, “I don’t mean to imply that her existing education has been poor, but she is lacking when it comes to her new status in life. Miss Nora is well educated for her old station, she lacks the knowledge that she needs for her new station even if she is actively trying to rectify that. The sort of expertise that the likes of us are taught whilst growing up.”
“Not that it stopped her from being polite and respectful,” says her father, “She clearly had no idea of proper protocol, but not once did I feel insulted or disrespected during our meeting earlier.”
 
“Indeed,” agrees Uncle Santiago, “Miss Nora was quite clearly out of her depth despite her best efforts to hide it, but she was no worse than I was expecting from a civilian commoner. Like Tamati, I found nothing offensive from her behavior even if I wouldn’t tolerate it from a serving member of the ACM or a fellow noble from the Reach.”
“You sound quite pleased with her, Sandy.” notes Kamea’s mother.
“I am and I wish to cultivate her as an asset.” answers Uncle Santiago, “She has great potential that can be used to the benefit of both our houses and the Reach as a whole and we are in an ideal position to nurture both that potential and loyalty from her.”
“Speaking of that ideal position, you’ll be pleased to hear, Kamea, that Miss Nora agreed to allow you and Victoria to sign up with her budding Aurigan Sentinels,” says her father as he turns his attention from his wife and brother-in-law to his daughter.
“Yes!” hisses Kamea in excitement as she thinks of the possibilities.
It won’t be the same as signing up with the ACM, but Elizabeth Nora’s mercenary unit offers far more benefits than it does drawbacks. She won’t be able to throw her family name about as much, but she’ll have the chance to see some real action. She won’t be able to prove herself as a MechWarrior in the ACM unless things have gone horribly wrong, but signing up with some father-approved mercenaries will let her show people that she is a true MechWarrior.
She’ll have a shot at piloting a heavier ‘Mech than the family Kintaro. Not that she has anything against it, but the ageing war machine isn’t an assault ‘Mech or even a heavy ‘Mech. Elizabeth Nora has found plenty of the latter with two companies of assault ‘Mechs and a battalion of heavy ‘Mechs. Which is more than what the ACM can muster up as the Reach’s military only has a battalion’s worth of heavies and a single company of assaults on a good day.
If she is lucky, they’ll take the odd contact outside the Reach and face some real opponents. Not just pirates or militias, but proper house regulars like the TDF or CCAF or even the AFFS. The Feddies have to be pissed at Elizabeth Nora right? She found everything in the Federated Suns so they must look at her and see a thief right? Kamea knows that she would be in the First Prince’s place.
Actually, maybe she should be hoping that the Davions don’t consider Elizabeth Nora to be a thief. While it would certainly get them some Taurian support, an invasion by the Federated Suns would be a total disaster for the Coalition. Perhaps Kamea will get her shot against the AFFS if the Taurians or Cappies hire them for a raid against the Feddies.
“I expect you to behave as well as you would if you had joined the ACM as originally planned.” warns her father and Kamea nods her assent as she expected nothing less, “I have also volunteered you to teach Miss Nora how to function in high society.”
 
“Excuse me?” replies Kamea as this is the first that she has heard of this.
“Miss Nora needs an instructor on the various parts of being a noble,” explains her father, “You should know all of that so I told her you would be a teacher to her. Consider your tutoring of Miss Nora to be a test of your skills as my heir and the future ruler of the Aurigan Coalition. It will show that not only do you understand your upbringing, but you can pass on the lessons you’ve learnt to others.”
 
“It is also an ideal opportunity for you to gain the friendship and loyalty of Miss Nora,” adds Uncle Santiago, “As I mentioned, she is a talented young woman with plenty of untapped potential and given that you are the same age as her, this is an ideal opportunity for you to secure a trusted subordinate for when you are the High Lady of the Reach. At the very least, you can get a loyal and capable hatchetwoman who wields military power where its nominal independence will allow for plausible deniability.”
 
“I agree with Sandy, my little bird.” says her mother, “You have an excellent chance to cultivate Elizabeth Nora into a loyal and trusted supporter of yours. It is not something to be wasted.”
“Consider it another test of your abilities,” says her father, “Take advantage of the proximity to Miss Nora that you’ll have and use it to cultivate a trusted ally. I can assure you that as High Lady, you’ll never have enough of those.”
 
“Of course, Father.” replies Kamea.
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===Analyzing Nora=== 
Before going to bed that night, Kamea makes sure to redo some of her research into Elizabeth Nora using the newest information on her. The meeting didn’t completely focus on Elizabeth Nora, but the woman had made enough of an upset that the majority of their attention was focused on her. Showing up in the middle of the Third Succession War with a working WarShip will do that.
Okay, Elizabeth’s somewhat impressive resume on paper has proven to have enough basis in reality that both her father and uncle were impressed by it. Elizabeth Nora is also enough of a patriot that rather than seeking out a suitable Successor Lord to support her, she came back to the Reach instead. She even had the Davions lined up as her preferred Great House to seek out.
She isn’t the sort to just hand away what she has found, but at the same time, both her father and Uncle Santiago made it clear that Nora was unprepared for the possibility of a title and landholding. Not things she sought out though Kamea doesn’t know why she accepted them so readily. Was Elizabeth Nora just surprised and actually wanted them or did she just accept the reasoning of the men?
And now Kamea needs to befriend her and basically make a loyal subordinate out of her. No biggie since she has made friends before like Victoria and Alexander. She needs to figure out what Nora looks for in friends.
Yet as Kamea looks into Elizabeth Nora both in the dossier that her father has compiled and what can be found on the planetary internet, the Arano heiress quickly realizes that her future employer is a loner. She isn’t anti-social, but after spending over an hour investigating her, Kamea is unable to find anybody who is more than a friendly acquaintance to Elizabeth Nora. At best, she makes friends at her current school or college and then loses touch with them once they no longer share the same classes.
 
It’s sad, but Kamea thinks she can work with that. She’ll be employed with her and between her social rank and tutoring status, the Arano heiress will be able to get close to Nora. From there, she just needs to get on friendly terms with Nora and make sure that the two of them stay in touch. If Kamea can ensure that an outside factor is keeping them together, then any friendship that she strikes up should last.
“Kamea,” says her mother, startling Kamea out of her thoughts, “I know you are an adult now, but you are up later than you should be.”
“Sorry, Mother.” replies Kamea, bashfully with a tint of defiance as she looks up to see that her mother has entered her spacious bedroom, “I was just looking into Elizabeth Nora again. I thought I had her figured out, but the stuff that came up in the meeting doesn’t fit my assumptions.”
“So you were reevaluating her in light of the new information.” concludes her mother.
“Exactly,” confirms Kamea, “Especially since everyone wants me to befriend her.”
“You know that is for your own good,” says her mother and Kamea sighs, “Regardless of what else she might be useful for in the future, the Aurigan Sentinels are looking to be equal to two understrength House Guards or one overstrength one. You want her and the firepower in her corner on your side, especially since unlike the actual House Guards, it won’t be beholden to the Founding Council to act.”
“Let me guess, Father is looking to use Nora and the Aurigan Sentinels to retrieve the Argo?” guesses Kamea.
“He is considering it, but he is waiting until Miss Nora has put enough of her mercenary unit together for it to be viable.” answers her mother, “For now, he is going to content himself with requesting a tour of the Myrmidon as the Argo’s sister ship. As for you, the information will still be waiting for you in the morning and you’ll have plenty of time to get on Miss Nora’s good side. Get some sleep while you can. I hear that won’t always be the case in the military, mercenary or not.”
“Of course, Mother.” replies Kamea as the older woman is right.
Perhaps a good night’s sleep will make things clearer for her in the morning.
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==Author's Chapter Commentary==
;Word from the Author: The first interlude from the perspective of Kamea Arano, set later on in the same day as Elizabeth’s meeting with her new bosses. In any case, the Arano and Espinosas have recognized Elizabeth’s potential and are trying to tie her closer to them and the Coalition with a side goal of setting her up to be a trusted subordinate of the future High Lady Kamea Arano. So just as Elizabeth is trying to use them, they are trying to use her. As for those wondering why they want to cultivate her, it is a mixture of all of those attributes that I decided to get for her in the CYOA and the fact that she has proven her loyalty by coming back home with her loot instead of running off to someone who pays better.
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