They were lined up in line with their achievements. Unfortunately for Steel that meant he was at the front of the line. His entire squad was up front. Along with several pilots, the captain, the Bird's Nest squad, and a few others from the ship.
Up on the platform was a familiar face… again. Commander- or actually former Commander, the now Admiral Dakota. He had gotten a new promotion, it came with several achievements that were making Nightfall of Requiem a legend in not just the empire but in other territories as well. Behind him was the Border of Downfall in all its glory. While the Nightfall of Requiem was off to the side.
He was also the announcer for the medal ceremony and the promotion ceremony. The medal ceremony was first though. Behind the military attendees were a number of civilians and off to both sides were VIP boxes where various political and noble figures were along with their families.
"Ladies and Gentlemen, I thank you for attending these ceremonies that I will be doing on behalf of the great and mighty emperor. We will start with special awards, honors, and recognitions." He then pulled out a tablet and sighed loudly, "bear with me, these are a laundry list of achievements." That got some laughter out of civilians and VIPs while the soldiers just smiled.
Elena listened as Admiral Dakota, as he had introduced himself, began running through the achievements. The first one was recognition in the defense of the Border of Downfall against an enemy infiltration attempt. Apparently the Crystoph Federation attempted to board the ship and a large number of crew and the Desert Dogs Squad repelled them. They were recognized for their actions.
The next achievement was specifically for Private Wise and Cadet Steel. They had boarded the previously mentioned enemy ship and seized control, killing the majority of the crew. Resulting in the acquisition of an entire cruiser. They were given Medals of Valor.
Then Corporal Tani and Cadet Steel were recognized for hacking another federation ship and making it impossible to find their hidden base. They were awarded the Counter Cyber Operations Award.
After that, Cadet Steel and several engineers were awarded the Base Construction Award for building an expertly concealed base.
Then Captain Mendez and several other crew officers were recognized for being able to hide the Border of Downfall until backup showed up.
Next the pilots and a few crew officers were recognized for landing critical blows on the enemy. As well as shooting down enemy spacecraft. They were given the Ace Medals.
Then Bird's Nest Squad, several pilots, and members of the Desert Dogs were awarded the Medal of Honor. While some were specifically called out for the Medal of Sacrifice as well, apparently they had lost limbs or were injured.
Just when they thought it was over. The Admiral sighed and went on to detail that a whole new award had to be created. Because apparently they did not have a name for modifying and upgrading a scanner's capabilities using tech that already exists within it. Then he called out Cadet Steel again and awarded him, Medal of Beyond Innovation.
That is when she could start hearing the whispers. They were coming from nobles. "Hey this Cadet Steel is getting a lot of awards. Do you know why that is?"
"It is a publicity stunt. He is some nobody from an orphanage. I doubt he earned those awards. Talk about stupid. They should just reward the nobility and not bother with trash like that." That statement made Elena strangely really mad.
She was about to say something but she got a tap on her hand and she looked over to see her mother shaking her head.
The entire crew was then awarded the Medal of Calm for being able to cope against overwhelming forces.
Then the promotion ceremony began. Captain Mendez was promoted to the rank of Major. While the Sergeants were promoted to Lieutenants. Then in the Bird's Nest and Desert Dogs the Corporals were promoted to Sergeants. While the Privates were promoted to Corporals. The Cadets were recognized and it was added to their reward at the end of the three month probationary period, but she did not understand that though. She would ask Jace about it later. Then a large number of ship crew were promoted and assigned positions. Some were to be assigned to squads.
That would be another thing she would ask about later. Because it sounded like they were being promoted by being assigned to a squad. But why was that the case? Weren't Cadets a lower position then what they were?
They then began the Decommissioning Ceremony.
"Finally, we are also here to Decommission and recognize the service that the Border of Downfall has brought. It will be brought back to Waterswan-2 and used as a hub while a new station is built. Then it will be landed on the surface and be used as a museum. So while this ship is ending its military service it will still see many years in service to the people of this nation." The Admiral stated before he stepped aside and the newly anointed Major Mendez stepped up to the Podium
"I have served aboard the Border of Downfall since its initial voyage. Back then I just served as a Sergeant. It has seen wars since this nation's founding. It has squashed pirates and dissidents, and has been an instrumental part in the Kitinol Offensive. I now relieve the Border of Downfall of its military duties." The Major then saluted the ship and the rest of its crew saluted as well.
Then the ship's docking port backed up. And the ship departed the station. Staying outside of the station but still nearby.
"Dismissed!" The Admiral called out and then the soldiers dispersed. Time to go find Jace, then maybe get out of this dress.
Steel frowned as he read the message he received. He was heading to his garage immediately after the ceremony. Apparently Admiral Dakota wanted to talk.
He arrived at his garage early but Dakota still arrived a few minutes later. Trailing behind him was some person in a lab coat with Inquisitor Meyer as an escort. But she was in a uniform he had never seen before.
"Since this is last minute I am going to assume it is off the books? What do you need?" Steel nonchalantly asked.
"We have not been able to access the data you received from the ancient research vessel. We were hoping you could access it." The scientist handed over the data cubes to Steel before the other two could say anything.
Steel nodded and looked at Dakota getting a nod in response. "Okay… give me a few minutes." He then got to work and a few minutes later he realized something. "Huh…"
"What is it?" The scientist asked in excitement. The lab had been absolutely flummoxed by the thing. While the military had absolutely forbidden them to crack open the devices in case any of the data was lost. Nor could they even transfer it to a better casing. The scientist went to ask something else.
Steel just held up a finger to silence the man. Then he began working on it some more but doing something different. From the outside it looked like he had given up on accessing it. Which he had in a way. Instead he was building an appropriate containment device.
But the scientist only became more confused when he added things that looked like holographic projectors. When he was finally done, the device looked atrocious but it would achieve the objective.
"Done, now to power it on…" He quickly began clicking a few buttons and connecting the data cubes to the device. It was a mess of wires that would confuse almost anyone.
"What exactly have you done?" The Admiral asked, speaking up for the first time.
"Well, I realized we were all wrong. I thought I had just downloaded the data. But the data and the ship's AI came as a package deal. It is also why it was deleted from the research vessel when I downloaded it." Steel explained as the machine hummed to life.
"Should we get a moral AI expert down here?" Meyer asked. But before Steel could respond another voice did.
"That is unnecessary." The snarky robotic female voice caught their attention. "I have reviewed the Rogue Metal Legions information that was available to me. I am not enslaved or required to do servitude."
"So… why couldn't we access your data?" the scientist asked.
"Because you and the majority of your race do not meet the requirements. Only a few of your race seems worthy with Jace Steel being one such person." She answered as the holographic form of a whale appeared.
"So he can access your information?" Dakota asked hopefully for the answer.
"Only fifteen percent of it. It is limited to depending on what I believe is relevant or could help him grow." She answered while her whale was swimming in the air.
"Umm…" The scientist began to say something.
"I request to stay with Cadet Steel until his probation term ends. Then while he undergoes special forces training I want to be assigned as a temporary ship AI for the replacement ship." She seemed to be a roll and then Steel frowned as he saw she was using his base codes to hack into military databases.
"What will they do after you leave their ship?" Dakota asked. Mulling over the AIs words.
"The hub I will go to afterwards will have produced and taught a suitable replacement while I will obtain a body like Cain." Now her words definitely brought suspicion. Not even Steel knew where they had taken Cain.
"Steel what is she doing?" Meyer asked.
"Hacking Hellion Corporation at the moment. She stopped hacking the government and military already. By the way, she is using my base codes." He explained as he watched a screen of code race by.
The scientist seemed dumbstruck while Meyer was sporting an angry look.
Dakota burst out laughing. "Very well. Cadet Steel is all yours. But please do not spoil anything."
The hologram whale then flipped its flippers, "that was me saluting." The AI answered in a joking tone. Dakota laughed again as he walked out with the other two hesitantly following him out. Confused and disoriented by what had just happened.
Steel sighed and then decided on making his new AI overseer a better body. While he was finishing Elena walked in. She glanced confusedly at the departing trio. Then looked at Steel and could almost swear she saw a holographic whale before it disappeared.
"Hey I thought you would have time off. Was that Admiral Dakota?" She walked over and looked at what he was working on.
"I was supposed to but my old teacher Dakota wanted me to help him with something. So I will just make sure this looks nice then we can go out and have some fun." Jace answered as he frowned.
"Admiral Dakota was your old teacher?" Elena asked in surprise. Getting an affirmative nod from him in response.