Icarus Guild: The Renaissance Incident

WELCOME ABOARD THE LANZA AIRLINES! DESTINATION DEATH!

Lanza wished he had brought a camera along. Because the faces of all the squad leaders round him were absolutely priceless.
He was seriously thinking if he should just go and sit on that chair, when Arden’s surprised voice squeaked out-
“ You want to be Moderator? “,
“ Do you have a problem? Its not like I asked to be Superman or anything.”
“ I wouldn’t be surprised if you did. Moderator, my foot.”
“ Your foot is an adjective that would shame Medusa, Arden. Let’s keep it out of the discussion. “, Lanza snapped.
“ Are you going to lead us with that attitude? The Guild is not the Boy Scouts.“, Kai laughed.
“ I am not going to lead. We are going to work together.”, Lanza fixed his eyes on Kai, “ I thought that’s what a moderator is supposed to do?”
Zola patted him, speaking slowly, “ Lanza, listen. We all know you have got prodigious talents. You did especially well on the Rio case. But asking to be moderator is ........”
Zola trailed off.
“ Is what?”, Lanza pressed, “ Is it because I am underage? Under abled? Under equipped? Give me one valid reason why I can’t.”
The people in the room looked at their feet, trying to hide their faces. Lanza could feel them try and come up with a valid answer. Lanza knew he had the element of surprise on his side. He had to seal the deal. And fast.
Fortunately, it was Wallace who spoke up for him.
“ Lanza , there is so much more you have to learn. Believe me. But, the Guild does not seem to find a suitable counter to your....ah, proposal. I personally do not have any opinion on the matter. Just, let me ask you one last time. Are you sure about this?”
Lanza nodded, “ As sure as I will ever be.”
The stares were unnerving. Lanza felt his whole being under the scanner of a dozen eyes, excavating his pros and cons. But, somehow he stood his ground. He knew he could do this
Wallace mused, “ Well, what do you think Reno? You are the sole member of the Intel Squad as of now. Do you think Lanza is suitable enough for the job?”
Reno seemed to break out of some reverie.
“ Huh? What? Lanza?”
Lanza had to try hard to hold back the cusswords.
“ Just how many Lanzas can you find here, pig-fat?”
It wasn’t very wise, considering Reno’s opinion could be the final say on the matter. But Lanza was getting too annoyed for diplomacy.
“ I think he deserves a shot at it.”, Reno’s voice had the slightest hint of distaste.
“ And why, young Nevada, do you think so?”
Reno scratched his head, “ Simply speaking, Lanza is nowhere near an alternative for you yet. If we line up the Guild now, there would be no substitute for you. However, considering the circumstances of your resignation, it can easily be concluded that we need someone proactive on that chair. CERO or whatever the organisation is.......they have the Renaissance CORE. We need to take fast action Anyone more skilled or experienced would try and play safe on a defensive setting. Kai, for example, would surely try and shore up the Guild defenses. I am putting my vote on him, simply because he would be a proactive lead. And besides, he would need the Squad Leader's help in all aspects, anyway. It wont hurt to give him a chance”
There was pin-drop silence in the room when Reno stopped. His speeches tended to have that effect on others.
“ Excellently put. I think this should clear all doubts on Lanza’s election?”, Wallace coughed for attention.
Another soft murmur spread through the room. It was hard to convince them to be led by a teen.
“ All in favour? “, Elisa’s shrill but sharp voice drove through the silence.
A fair number of hands went up. Kai abstained. So did Elsa. But all other hands welcomed the decision.
“ Looks like we have a majority.”, Wallace smiled. Somehow that reflected off Lanza’s face, his features composing a grin of its own.
Lanza stepped forward, towards the raised platform Wallace had been standing on.
Wallace pulled him into a hug. “ Well done, my boy. Please try not to trash the Guild.”
“ I won’t”, Lanza curled back from the sudden show of affection. Sorry, physical contact was not his thing.
Wallace’s voice boomed,” I , Wallace Hearst, the thirty-first moderator of the Icarus Guild temporarily step down from my duties of the post. In the meantime, Lanza Cipher, first-in-command of the Scorch Squad, shall now take over my duties and preside over the Guild as the Thirty-Second Moderator, unless found to be in violation of the Icarus Principle.”
Wallace unpinned the golden star from his tuxedo. The Moderator’s emblem. The Star Medal.
“ Come”, he smiled at Lanza, pinning the star to his shirt.
And just like that, Lanza had become the Moderator of the Guild.


Lanza’s first thoughts on the black chair? It needed more cushions.
Wallace had taken his leave almost immediately, saying he had urgent work with the Rio branch. Lanza had been left with a slightly itchy butt and around seven people who were expecting his orders.
“ Well, what are your orders?”, Kai broke the silence.
“ I don’t know. Shouldn’t we all be working upon that?”, Lanza asked.
“ Some Moderator you are.”, Arden sneered.”, You don’t even know what we should be doing.”
“ Shut your trap, Arden.”, Keir snapped, “ Give him a break.”
Lanza tried to gather his thoughts in ordered rows. But, there was something about the black chair that got on his nerves. Darn, this was worse than some stage fright.
“ Lanza?”, Elisa’s concerned voice broke into his thoughts, “ Are you feeling alright?”
“ Five minutes”, Lanza stammered, “ Let’s all talk after five minutes, OK?”
“ Yea.”, Zola pursed her lips, “ Just......take care.”
He hadn’t been doing well for a first impression. Lanza was already starting to choke under the pressure. He watched as the others filed out of the room, leaving behind an eerie silence.
Elisa was about to leave, when Lanza stopped her.
“ Wait.”, he panted.
Elisa’s white hair was spilled over her face. Her sailor uniform fluttered silently from the wind.
“ Yes?”
“ Um, about that Sakyo case.....”, he started.
Lanza knew he was asking for trouble, but he had to get it off his mind.”
Elisa’s face paled, “ I am sorry. I was just trying to aim better and....”
“ NO!”, Lanza interrupted, “ It was none of um, your fault. So, Sorry. I said some pretty bad things back then. I didn’t mean to hurt you. Really.”
Elisa looked directly into his eyes, “ Did something happen? You are not someone to screw up over something like this.”
For a moment, Lanza was tempted to tell her about the nightmare. Maybe she would know a way out? Then he decided otherwise. She had enough troubles of her own.
“ Its nothing. So, I hope  you are not angry with me or anything.”
A soft giggle made him lift his eyes. Elisa was trying her best not to crack down from laughter
“ Really? What’s so funny?”, Lanza protested.
That earned him more of her cackles.
“ What? I am trying to sound serious here....”
Elisa rolled her eyes, “ Well, you are doing a pretty bad job at it. Get your sad bone out, Cipher. You have a job to do. “
It was exactly the sort of prep talk that he needed. Lanza gave himself one last moment of being pathetic. Then he jerked up on his boots.
“ Let’s go. We have a Guild to guide.”


Lanza drummed his fingers on the armrest as Arden and the others filed into the room.
“ It looks like all of us are here”, he brushed the dust off his clothes.
“ Keir is treating to her wound. She can’t join us.”, Reno informed in his matter-of-fact voice.
“ Its her bad luck, then. Unfortunately, we don’t have any more seconds to waste. Arden, what’s the status of the Guild defences?”
Arden shuffled through the tab in his hands, “ No major damage except in the Western Sector where Sakyo infiltrated. “
“ How long till it gets back up?”
“ Technicians are working on it. I would say two more days.”
“ Halve the time. I need all the big hands working on it. Zola?”
“ Yes?”
“ I hope you have tracers in the Heal Squad. I need the best of them working on that wretched cloth Sakyo had. Reno, you calculate the shortest route to Sakyo’s correct location as soon as you get the data. Any questions?”
Thankfully, nobody raised their hands.
“ Good. And now, we need to organise a Tactical Response Team.”
“ A TRT? Why?”, Kai was the first to ask.
“Good question, Kai. The TRT is going to hunt down Sakyo to the ends of the world. We can’t let CERO rest happy with the CORE.”
This announcement seemed to find agreement among a lot of the members. Not a surprise, considering how everybody wanted to kick Sakyo’s butt.
“ That’s fine.”, Elsa spoke up, “ But we can’t leave the Guild undefended.”
“ Believe me, Teta, we won’t. You , Arden and Zola would be staying behind to watch over the rebuilding process. The rest of the leaders, including me, Elisa, Kai and others would be chasing after Sakyo.”
“ Wait, Lanza! You seriously can’t be leaving me behind!.”, Arden moaned, “ I have these cool blaster add-ons you can test out with me in your gang. They are 100% flame proof!”
Lanza almost felt sorry for the big guy. But he knew he had to leave him behind.
“ Sorry Arden, not this time. We can test your gadgets later, eh?”
“ Wait up.”, Kai cleared his throat, “ Sakyo is probably on the other side of the continent by now. How do you even plan to catch up?”
Lanza stumbled on his feet. He hadn’t thought of that.
“ Leave that to me!”, Arden’s grin was as bright as a twenty-thousand watt bulb.
“ That’s settled, then.”, Lanza heaved a sigh of relief, “ Best of luck! Report back in half an hour.”
“ What are you going to do?”, Kai pondered, his hand on his bow.
“ Me?”, Lanza cracked his knuckles, “ I am going to try and find the pizza delivery button Wallace had kept hidden all these years. So, buzz off!”



It took a lot to surprise Lanza. And the fifteen feet wide airship in front of him fell under a lot.
“ How does this thing even exist?”, Lanza couldn’t even hide the awe in his voice.
Arden’s grin would have paled a nuclear reactor by its glow.
“ You Scorch Squad guys ain’t the only one with flashy weapons. What do you think about Valhalla 3.0? We spent more than seventy five percent of our annual budget on this baby. This gal's got Aerial Suspension, Thermal Stability with the X12F engine. We even got stealth rotors that go bam on infrared frequencies, we got mounted biometric locks for pests. Auto-clean panels and god, the jet hulls gives twenty percent extra mileage. This is a real ass whooper.”
Even without the nerd-speak Arden spat out, Lanza knew he was witnessing a state-of-the-art transport facility. Valhalla, Arden called it.
The entire airship had been dressed in gold panels. It was shaped like a sleek sword, a bit like one from those Star Trek flicks. The thrusters were supported by small rotors on the fuselage and Lanza knew they would help a lot in going the extra mile. But the most staggering fact of the ship was it was simply huge.
“ Gotta hand it to you, big guy.”, Lanza applauded, “ This is one freaking awesome ride.”
Arden’s beaming face was cut short by Reno’s appearance, who for some reason was in his pajamas.
“ We have got a seventy percent match on the CORE'S location. Approximate route feeds suggest Sakyo is heading towards Cairo.”
Lanza frowned, “ What does he want with mummies?”
Reno panted, “ Don’t know. But he has been making good speed. You need to start fast. And.......whoa, is that real?”
The last part was thanks to Valhalla. Lanza didn’t blame the guy for that gold-fish face he was making.
By the time, Lanza managed to get the other members of the crew on board, the sun had started to set over the Springdale skyline.
Kai was shouting out last minute orders.
“ I want a 24x7 watch on the RADAR. And where is the Artillery Division? We need all hands on the toys. “
Arden watched as the rest of his team carried out last minute checks. Lanza stood right behind him, watching the sun reflect off his shaven skull.
“ Don’t wreck my child, Lanza.”, he warned.
“ No promises. But I would try.”, Lanza assured him.
“ All set to go, Captain.”, Elisa gunned him a salute.
“ Good. Patch me up with the CrewCom. Evacuate surroundings.”, Lanza commanded as he went up the staircase.
Lanza watched as the last of the hangars were trolleyed away, leaving Valhalla ready to set sail.
“ All hands, prepare for take-off!”, Kai shouted through his mouthpiece.
The giant engines of Valhalla hummed into action as the slowly gained altitude. Lanza stared as the overhead glass hangers slides away to make space for flight.
Teta tapped his shoulder, “ Gear's ready to launch, Lanza. Your orders ?”
Lanza reclined on his leather seat, tapping his mic for attention.
“ Good evening, ladies and gentlemen. I heartily welcome you to LANZA Airlines. As you all know, we would be chasing after CERO mastermind Sakyo in this mission. I expect you all to cooperate with your skills an to uphold the honour of the guild. Oh, and try to stay alive while you are at it. “