Quoted By:
>Tell them you'll make them proud
You dance a few steps backwards and meet each of their eyes in turn.
Your voice carries the unmistakable ring of TRUTH to it as you smile and place one hand above your chest and uphold the other in the ancient gesture of the most sacred of oaths.
"By the blood, by the creator, by the stars and skies and all the names of my ancestors I humbly swear to bring honor upon this house or may my memory be striken from the record of all".
They can't help but feel a twinge of satisfaction as their shared surprise morphs into beaming pride. You're going to show them. You're going to show them ALL what you're truly capable off.
[CLASS C-11 READY FOR DEPARTURE]
The voice of the principal sounds over the intercom and breaks the moment. Your mind flickers through what you know of his habits, the layout of the place and the size of the crowd.
95 seconds to spare. Not bad.
Your mother draws a thin blade from the elaborate weave of her hair and opens a thin cut in her hand, then presses the bloodied palm to your face.
"The blood endures".
You let yourself feel the full brunt of joy, embarrassment, pride and longing, crying freely as you give them one final hug, careful not to wipe the rapidly-drying mark off your cheek.
At the terminal your class - or rather, the part chosen for this assignment - is already quite agitated, many of them bearing a marking similar to yours.
>Speak to Traya Synn, the comms expert and probably the least likely member of this mission. Sure, her scores are amazing but she always seemed like such a homebody it seemed odd she'd even wish to undergo the journey
>Speak to Ramon Kess, the guy who just plain never seems to shut up about space and adventure and - both comfortingly and worringly - the people he intends to kill out there.
>Speak to LLena Ash. You'd never been very close - her being more interested in exploring the tunnels underneath your school complex with her posse of equally misfit girls - but she's capable at navigation and seems to have the most well-rounded knowledge of what you're about to undertake
As you arrive you find your ship to be
>A small, lithe, aerodynamic hybrid vessel capable of both atmospheric and space flight
>A blocky craft of medium size, meant to mainly orbit and only come down in dire circumstances [This option increases crew size]
>A massive behemoth only reachable through shuttle or orbital elevator. [This option increases crew size massively]
