Joe “Sparky” Sparkouski, lead journalist and editor for the Interstellar Enquirer is coming to a Tau Station Mission near you! Sparky is your man on the streets -your eyes in the stars! (don’t think too hard about that one).
This issue: UNAUTHORIZED! Biographies the big-wigs don’t want you to know about.
In this week’s edition of the Interstellar Enquirer, we take a close look at the main man in charge of the feared Tanegashima Fleet, Admiral Yukio Hukon.
I was privileged to receive a first-hand account of a meeting with the reclusive Admiral Hukon from my friend, colleague, and ship-spotting enthusiast, Sheridan Cosmo. If you’re not yet subscribed to his blog, give it a look: Ship Spotters.
Sheridan and I studied together on København. He won’t mind my saying that he is a disgruntled, disagreeable, and argumentative man; short, stocky, and very hairy with a beard that should legally be forced to stop growing. The man has a wicked sense of humor and a penchant for anything that traverses the stars. He described the Admiral in these words:
“If the universe does ultimately confess to having been designed with some sort of symmetry in mind, then the Admiral and I are two points on the absolute opposite ends of a particular spectrum. Whereas folds of fat overflow from my standard issue ship dockers belt, just under the frizzled ends of my beard, Yukio Hukon is tall and slender and made up entirely of muscle and right angles. Were it not for two, dark and distinguished eyebrows one could be forgiven for mistaking the man for an android. His uniform is immaculate, his manner studied. The man’s speech is courteous, yet concise. My opposite in a nutshell.”
After that nugget of a description Sheridan veered off into some long-winded tribute to the Tanegashima’s flagship the “Tonchō” and I tuned out.
The comparison to an android is not without foundation. The Admiral is an incredibly meticulous individual with a pale face that shows little emotion. I came across the recording of a speech he made to a graduating class of cadets. It’s the first time in my life that I’ve ever experienced such a strange blend of inspiration and boredom. The man’s words are riveting, his delivery is deadpan and robotic.
“Fall down seven times, get up eight.”
The quiet figurehead of the nomadic corporate pseudo-state: the Yasutsuna Corporation is a man who speaks from experience. If the stories are to be believed he was born on Taungoo, the only child of a fungus farmer and a nurse. Information on the Mesh has been edited, redacted and I have not been able to locate anyone who knew the man as a child. What is known is that he studied at the University of Tau graduating top of his class in Astronautics.
He then continued his studies under the Gaule banner at the University of Nouveau Limoges where he graduated with honors in Astronautics and Industry. It wasn’t long before this star pupil garnered the attention of corporate scouts. Yukon was offered employment at both HWT and Benevolent Dynamics, opting for a job with the latter.
He quickly rose through the corporation, starting as a design engineer. Maxim Piaf took the young star under her wing personally, and it looked as though he was being groomed for high management when fifteen cycles into his employment at BeDyne he suddenly handed in his resignation.
Rumors abound of an affair with the chief executive, but those venomous whispers remain unconfirmed. Whatever the reason for his departure Hukon’s storyline goes black for several cycles at this point, only to reemerge at Yasutsuna as Admiral Kiro Atawo’s first lieutenant.
He would be instrumental in redesigning the fleet’s battle configuration, pairing Tanegashima’s bulk cruisers with swarming nets of small flyers: the dreaded remora swarms. The Remora 767 is rumored to have been designed by the man himself. A skilled pilot in his own right with direct connections to both Consortium and Gaule dignitaries as well as most of the higher ups in corporate circles, Hukon is not your standard company or military leader. Rumors also have it that he is trained in the ancient art of Kenjutsu, or “the way of the sword”.
Will this mysterious man, with one of the largest star-fleets in the galaxy under his direct command subject the rest of us to “the way of the sword” shortly, or will the Yasutsuna board continue to cherish profits ahead of political ambition and keep their Admiral in check?
Time will tell.
Time always does.