Garrison Proud

Fame

Katie Holt, the daughter of renowned scientist and communications technician, Samuel Holt. Her brother, Matt Holt, was a recent graduate from the school where their father had studied and was now working: The Galaxy Garrison. Matt was considered an exceptional student and gained quite the reputation, ultimately following in his father's footsteps. Katie admired both of the men in her life and had hoped to follow their example and continue the family business. Which is why she was visiting the academy she sought to enroll in, where Commander Iverson, a man easily twice her petite figure, had kindly agreed to give her a tour. He guided her through many of the school's facilities and equipment and ultimately assured her that his door would always be open for her, or anyone else, who might need it.

"Thank you very much," she said with a smile, "to be quite honest I've been somewhat intimidated, this being a techno-military school and all about the stringent rules and enforcement, specifically with female students."

"Of course not," said the commander placing a hand on the young woman's shoulder, "Here, at the Garrison, we seek equality with all our students. I'm sure your father would appreciate knowing you can count on my support during the entry exams."

"Iverson," a young man called out from the other side of the hall as he approached the two, his gaze focused on his wristwatch. "What are you doing here? You have a flight simulation class in 10 minutes. You know how the students get when we aren't there on time."

"General Shirogane," exclaimed the commander while saluting his fellow officer, " I was only accompanying this young lady to the exit, she is a potential recruit."

Katie couldn't help but notice the brief look of bewilderment on the so-called 'General Shirogane's face.

"In that case, I will accompany her" he declared as he stepped to her side, " after all, it's important to teach those cadets by example and they seriously need a lesson in punctuality"

The commander softly glared at the young man, but kept his silence. With a quick salute he dismissed himself and hastily made his way to the classroom.

"Right this way," the young man gestured as he began to walk alongside Katie. Truthfully, she already knew the way to the exit; after all, she had been here many times with her father, but this was the first time she came on her own. She wanted the news about applying to the garrison to stay a secret, so that if she were to be accepted, she could surprise her family with the news.

Katie smiled, lost in the thought of her family brimming with pride, she had almost forgotten the intimidating stranger alongside her, that is until, he asked her a question:

"What's your name, miss?"

"K-Katie Holt" she stuttered nervously.

"Holt?" the general paused for a moment and curiously looked at the young lady before presenting a soft smile, and boy did he have a beautiful smile, "I see. You're Samuel Holt's daughter, right?"

The young lady nodded timidly whilst lowering her head. Her father was well known throughout the school but the fact strangers already knew about her before she had a chance to introduce herself felt rather strange.

"That explains it," continued the general, speaking more for his own thoughts than for the conversation at hand.

"What do you mean?" she asked curiously. She was intrigued by how differently this person was treating her as opposed to the majority of the people she met with throughout the day.

"Well, you see, maybe I shouldn't tell you this, but you'll soon notice if you hope to enroll here," he explained as they continued walking, "Commander Iverson isn't exactly friendly with the cadets, especially new recruits. You're pretty fortunate that your father is a very influential person around here or else it'd be a very different narrative."

Katie found herself offended by the general's comments. She was perfectly capable of proving her own worth without hiding behind her last name. This 'General Shirogane' was starting to irritate her, which showed in the tone of her voice, "I'm not looking for preferential treatment just because I'm a Holt. I don't know who you think you are, but you're wrong if you think I consider myself lucky for being treated differently than the other recruits."

"Ah, that's not it," the young general began as his cheeks were tinted pink. It was then that Katie noticed his change in attitude: he was just like everyone else. The realization in the truth of his words struck her. Everyone treated her differently as soon as they discovered the importance of her last name which only added fuel to the fire, "what I wanted to say was...:"

"You've made your point" she interrupted as she quickened her pace, "I know the way out from here, I can go alone."

General Shirogane stood perplexed as he watched the young lady storm off. With such a highly ranked position, it was rare that anybody treat him as she did. The young lady had made quite the impression on him and without noticing, a smile began to grace his lips. Before she was out of earshot, he yelled out, hoping she could hear him: "Miss Holt! I hope to see you again soon!"

Katie felt the blood rush to her cheeks and without looking back, she made her way to the quickest exit. The rest of the day proved hard for Katie to concentrate on anything else, her mind kept returning to the General's words. If her father wasn't such an important person at the Garrison, everything would be much different.

"What's wrong Katie?" asked her father during dinner, after all he couldn't help but notice her less than animous state, "You've barely even touched your dinner."

"Nothing really..." she responded, distracted, "Dad, do you know a General Shirogane?"

"You mean Shiro," replied her father as he added another spoonful of mashed potatoes onto his plate, "of course I do, don't you? He's a former student of mine and was in the same class as Matt. He used to come here often and play with you on a daily basis until a couple of years back when he was assigned to the Kerberos mission. Why do you ask?"

"She must've seen him on TV," interrupted Matt, "They recently did a segment about him now that he's an instructor at the Garrison."

"Really?" their father said with a smile, "You must've saw his name or thought he looked familiar, right Katie?"

"Right! That's what it was," she responded nervously. The truth was she barely remembered a Shiro. Her father was right, he had been a former student of his which felt rather strange, now that he was a full-fledged pilot.

"Why did he come on TV again?" she asked her brother, obviously forgetting that she had supposedly seen the news segment.

"Well, he's always been considered some kind of prodigy," Matt failed to notice the unusual nature of his sister's question just as he failed to notice the sparkle in her eyes, "The youngest general in Galaxy Garrison history, being only 27 years old!"

Katie had to admit, this 'Shiro' character seemed pretty damn extraordinary. She understood how difficult it was to climb the ranks, people would often wait years or even retire before they could be promoted. Oftentimes, only the children of other high-ranked officials would be privileged enough to earn such titles.

"What's he like? Personality-wise." her curiosity was getting the better of her.

"Personality-wise," Matt took a moment to think about his little sister's question and then responded with a rare tone of admiration in his voice, "Shiro is kind, he always knows what to say and do, he's an innate leader, and more than anything, he is someone who would never leave a comrade behind."

With her brother's words in mind, Katie excused herself to her room, vexed by general who had invaded her thoughts. She wanted to blame him for everything he said, but deep down she knew that his words rang true. The Galaxy Garrison would never accept her on merit alone. She was a 17 year old female of rather petite stature, barely reaching 4'9", and clearly had issues with obeying authority. Although in reality the girl was surprised at how little she remembered of the boy who spoke of planets and shooting stars and that came to bother her in a particularly special way. Finally she decided it was best to leave the topic alone and decided to go to sleep, but sleep seemed to evade her. Finally, she got up and searched underneath her bed for a small wooden music box that her father had given her a long time ago which she always used when having difficulty sleeping.

The music box's melody soon filled the bedroom with soft tunes that pulled her to sleep. Soon enough, her dreams took flight with mysterious colorful sentient lions and spores containing binary code.