Sidequest: Voltron Origins: Allura (Part 1)

Posted on Fri Dec 8th, 2023 @ 6:25am by Lieutenant Alisha Reno

0 words; about a 1 minute read

Mission: Operation Tokyo Return
Location: Earth (Tokyo, Japan)
Timeline: Before Myogi leaves Earth Orbit

Alexis Silverstar was beaming a wide smile as she rematerialized on the public transporter pad in the square in front of the Tokyo Grand Hotel, which shared a half-kilometer squared street-front with several other skyscrapers and the first floor businesses and shops that went along with them on the Japanese main thoroughfare. She considered going to the hotel to check in for the evening, but her luggage had already been transferred according to the notification she'd received, and that meant that they'd have already taken them to her suite. Instead, she turned away from there to the Nakajima Building with that same smile, nearly bouncing as she entered the building of the company that now owned the rights to one of the more 'original' anime series that had been rebooted over the centuries.

"Konnichiwa!" She said to the receptionists, who were standing behind their desks and who gave her a bow, "I'm here for Project Nikkei-so." It was a code name for the movie, something that had become more common throughout time so as to keep fans and the like in suspense of what was actually coming out."

"Of course, Miss Silverstar!" The taller of the two women said respectfully, clearly prepared for her arrival and she gave a hand gesture off to the side, "You are expected and Producer Kimigawa is waiting for your arrival in his office." She came around the desk to escort the moviestar to the elevator in the fashion of the day, pressing the button for the top floor. "Good day, Miss Silverstar." She bowed as the door slid closed.

Alexis waited and looked outside as the elevator shot up on antigravity in an outside-looking chute. This was definitely one of the best views of downtown Tokyo that she had ever seen as she made her way to 116th Floor. As she exited, she was met by a secretary already in a deep bow of greeting, which Alexis returned in a shallower response. "Miss Silverstar, Mister Nakajima is waiting for you, if you'll follow me."

The pleasantries took nearly twenty more minutes, apparently the senior VPs of the company were there solely to show her how important they thought she was and she had greeted the middle-aged President of the Nakajima Corporation along with the Director of the film project in short order. A contract made of old-fashioned paper had likewise been placed on the table, but Alexis made no move to read it, because that would have been a sin of massive proportions.

"Miss Silverstar, we of the Nakajima Corporation were approached by Miss Yasmine Jhaal from the FES after she was consulted by one of our talent scouts for a potential lead for this project. Apparently, Miss Jhaal was impressed by you, though she didn't inform us of how until after we agreed to hire you for this part. Rest assured, Miss Alisha Reno, your secret is safe with us. Everyone involved in Project Nikkei-so has been required to sign ironclad Non-Disclosure Agreements to ensure the secrecy of the Project until such time that we go public. Certain parts, including your true identity carry punishments that are truly frightening. I assume that you've read the contract and had your agent do the same?"

"Yes, Ah have." Alexis/Alisha stated, "And Ah must say that Ah'm very happy with the terms you've offered to me, plus your intention and integrity involvin' my real identity. For my part, Ah'll do my part to keep anyone who doesn't already know or need to know from findin' out." She paused for a few moments, "And while Ah have no issue with the contract and will sign it regardless, Ah was wonderin' if Ah might be able to make a few additional requests? One of them is a bit off the rocker, but please rest assured that none of these would change my mind about signin'."

"Of course, Miss Silverstar," Kenichi Nakajima gestured to the Producer, "I shall let you make your requests to Haruto Yamashita. He has sole say over everything involved in the Project."

"Domo arigato.(Thank You)" Alexis said with a smile and turned to Haruto, "First off, sir, Ah was wonderin' if Ah might be able to keep at least one of the costumes to take back with me post-production? Likewise, Ah would like to be able to call my girlfriend on a consistent basis. She's already gonna be missin' me terribly and Ah promised her Ah'd keep in contact. Third, if there is any way, Ah'd like to have a screenin' for a particular starship that Ah'm assigned to, as you know Ah'm a Fleet officer and Ah'd like to treat them to somethin' like this if Ah can. Lastly..." Alisha explained the last thing in some detail, "That's the one Ah was talkin' about as bein' overboard and if the answer is no to anythin', Ah can handle it."

Haruto's voice was deep, but seemed gentle. His reputation, however, was anything but when filming, "Actually, for most of those, there shouldn't be much of a problem. Once the film is finished to MY satisfaction, we could even use your ship as a target audience for a pre-release review. As for costume, we can arrange for at least two of them to become yours at the end of filming, plus we have arranged for some parting gifts to be available after we're done in sincere thanks for your participation, especially should this be successful. As for comm calls, while we have every intention of this being a closed production, we can make those arrangements, however there will be a member of our communications team to monitor all calls. Included in your own Non-Disclosure Agreement is that clause that allowed you to reveal what part you are to play in Nikkei-so to one Jane Sinclair, but you are not allowed to go into more than superficial detail with her. She will also be required to sign an NDA with severe penalties, but I don't think that will dissuade her from signing it. Miss Sinclair is a well-known public figure."

"As for the last." He smiled broadly, "We have yet to cast many of the other major characters, pending the reception for this movie. We are taking a risk with you, Miss Silverstar, because of what happened those years ago. We happen to agree with MIss Jhaal and her conclusions, but public perception is... Fickle. But, if things go the way we expect, your last request may be possible. We can at least indulge in an aspect of it as a teaser in case we go with it, assuming things line up properly with people in the right places."

That actually surprised Alisha and now she had her own secret she HAD to keep from certain people, just in case. Without hesitation, she picked up the old fashioned fountain pen and dipped it in the ink before scrawling her elaborate signature onto the paper contract. "Ah suppose then, that the next question is when do we start?"

The two men looked at each other with grim smiles, then looked back at her, "Tomorrow morning we fly down to a location in the Amazon rainforest. We will spend a day or two shooting a few scenes down there before we take the Azure Wind to our primary filming location." The name of the luxury cruise liner that could travel well past Warp 9 told her just how much money and influence they were putting into it, "We have a compressed schedule to keep things from becoming known about this project, we expect to have sixteen hour shooting days in order to get everything done."

Alexis nodded, smile still on her face, because she did expect this sort of thing to a degree. Those would definitely be long days and she still intended on doing her own stunts, "Then Ah'll be sure to get a good night of sleep after studyin' the script for the rest of the day. May Ah take a copy back to the hotel with me?"

"Of course." Kenichi agreed, "Your credentials as both an actress and in Starfleet are impeccable and a secure copy will accompany you with an escort to your room." The two men bowed to her as Kenichi gathered the contract very carefully, where it would go into the archives in a very deep sub-basement. "We will leave you at this point, Miss Silverstar, because there is another person who would like to meet with you in private. My secretary will escort you out once you are done with your conversation here with our other guest."

THAT wasn't normal. Especially as the two men left her in the President's own office, while another door opened and another woman stepped in with a slight limp, a shaking head and a white streak in her hair that was starting to grey.

"Good morning Lieutenant Reno," Captain Azalea Martine, Starfleet Intelligence, stated with a grin, "Good to see you back in showbiz. You see, along with doing this, we need you to perform a mission..."

**********
Mission Post by

Alexis Silverstar
Movie Star

aka

Lieutenant Alisha Reno
Intelligence Officer
USS Myogi

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