Year 4 (Phase I) Results:
Knights & Days: 92+22=114 // Crit: 94+14=108 // Crit2: 71+08=79
There is, somewhere within you, a nebulous feeling of guilt at what you have managed to accomplish this year.
It is, of course, thoroughly eclipsed by the pride, satisfaction, and sheer, vicious
joy you feel at having managed to pull of an incredible feat of cunning and intellectual prowess. Well, you
and Jeanne, of course. But it
was a joint effort, very much so. You would, quite possibly, describe it as the alignment of heavenly bodies causing a single, perfect moment. You have no doubt that such an occurrence will never repeat itself in your lifetime.
Still, even after all of the work you and Jeanne did, you can only shake your head in disbelief.
"I'm honestly surprised this all worked, let alone that it worked so
well." You state bluntly, looking over the final tally.
"If there was one thing my time working to be accepted into one of the Euro-Britannian knightly orders taught me sire, it is that if you cannot make corruption work for you, it will invariably work against you." Jeanne states with a small, satisfied smile on her face as she leans back in her chair.
"I suppose that's true. Still, I wouldn't have thought that it would be possible to find fifty military trained men, all with good records and mercantile families wealthy enough to pay for a knightmare frame. Honestly, it's just startling that the overlap between the two groups could be so great." You admit openly, tapping the final stack of folders you'd just pushed through approval. There would be a few quiet knighting ceremonies you'd have to attend, but nothing too outrageous or even meriting the approval of anyone outside, possibly, your mother.
Marianne vi Britannia, though, had found the entire thing quite hilarious, so you doubted she'd mind.
It was, after all, perfectly normal for a royal or noble individual to bestow knighthood on an individual entering their service, especially one who had already provided military service to the crown. It just wasn't quite
normal for someone to spontaneously knight a full
fifty individuals who were completely without noble background themselves. That said, nobles also had a long and
perfectly normal and legal history of selling noble status... especially to those who were willing to pay a premium. It was just a bit
uncouth to do so
en masse as you were.
But that was the joy of being half-commoner by blood.
Anyone who would disapprove of the move
already disapproved of you simply by virtue of your existence.
So, to make a long story short, you and Jeanne had managed to negotiate a rather extensive system of...
financial contributions from various wealthy businessmen and women with children currently in the military. Although their background were diverse, they all had two commonality. Those being their complete lack of any claim to noble status and their
desire towards such. However, given Britannian laws regarding commoner purchasing rights of military equipment like KMFs, the vi Britannia household took their payments
directly in order to buy their 'steeds' to prove that they could be knighted and, therefore, own them.
In talks with Reuben Ashford to purchase the machines, though, he'd regretfully informed you that all of the next generation KMFs were taken by previous orders.
All he'd had on stock were a number of...
defective machines that, by imperial law, had to be disposed of in order to keep military secrets.
An imperial law you were, notably,
exempt from unless someone wanted to bother the Emperor himself with the matter. That would, needless to say, be the height of stupidity. Especially since the contract you and Reuben drew up was for the 'disposal of hazardous waste' and not a bill of sale.
It was then that you bought the
suspiciously small number of broken or missing parts for the machines, separately, through one of Reuben's manufacturers.
To top the whole thing off, your
mother had applied for a feudal grant on your behalf to 'repair and retrain broken and subpar forces for defense of imperial lands against brigands and pirates.' It was one of the ancient and, quite frankly,
medieval laws that littered Britannia's legal system. The end result of this entire mess was that you'd managed to
make money by raising an army. You... honestly weren't sure if you were the
only person in history who'd managed to do something like this, but you'd put good money on likely being one of a very, very few.
You flip through the last details of the entire affair, putting a few last signatures on things.
Then, you pause, and look to Jeanne with a raised eyebrow.
"I can understand Gino, but precisely why is
Nunnally's name on this list?" You ask intently.
[ ][NVB] Accept Nunnally vi Britannia as a Knight in your service, putting her in charge of 2nd Armored Cavalry Unit.
[ ][NVB] Reject Nunnally vi Britannia as a Knight in your service, insisting that she learn a measure of independence from you.
Rewards: Cost Ignored, Upkeep Cost gained as Income. (+300) Yearly Income from 'knighthood-sponsorships' from various companies and businesses. Knights equipped with Sutherlands, no need to modernize them from Glasgow units. 2 Knightmare Armored Cavalry Units function at Experienced (+10) to combat checks. Gino Weinberg & Nunnally vi Britannia(?) join as Squad Leaders. Jeanne Rowe's SL Progresses by (1).
Patrol Boats: 90+22=112 // Crit: 99+12=111 // Crit2: 77+11=88
You pinch the bridge of your nose and take a deep breath.
"Explain it to me once more,
please." You state at length, opening your eyes to stare at Jeanne. Your military advisor and, you'd like to think,
friend, stands at parade rest with her arms folded behind her back as she assumes to blank-faced expression of any subordinate delivering
questionable news to their superior.
"Thanks, surprisingly, to Dame Stadtfeld providing us with her father's contact information, we were able to make a series of very fortunate purchases of the newest models of coast guard vessels at extremely modest prices. Even accounting for the travel time, the fact that we were able to purchase them from Japanese shipyards ensured a much lower expense overall and less danger to the vessels themselves crossing large expanses of open water."
You nodded. "I understood all of that. As well as the fact that we were able to procure a number of individuals who were seeking transfer from coast guard units, but had been denied for various reasons. All good records, passing the vetting process, clean checks against OSI. A few of them were first-generation immigrants, but they'd passed FLAG protocols at four out of five or better."
"Yes, well, it seems that approximately two months after the crews arrived at their stations and began operating out of the base on patrol routes, a full pirate fleet was sighted on horizon aimed directly at New Caledonia. Apparently, word had gotten out that a prince and his subordinates had visited the area last year and the ruffians had hoped to either take you hostage or seize the large stash of wealth a noble personage no doubt left within his domain." Jeanne explained.
You nodded and flipped open the report to the page in question. "I see, now, if I'm certain of the course of events, then at that point the patrol teams held an emergency conference over radio. The thrust of the decision was whether or not they should hold position and pray for a miracle or fall back to the other side of the island and attempt to pick ships off in guerilla tactics. Apparently, at this point, a seaman on the
Jacob Smithson patrol craft put forward her plan."
Jeanne sighed. "Speaking frankly, your highness, I have no idea what possessed either the woman herself of such a crazy notion
or the crews of the patrol boats to go along with it. In these conditions and lacking the command of an officer, they should have fallen back. They were outnumbered ten to one by manpower and
five to one by hulls, all of which were frigates or better. It would have been insane to believe them capable of more than a harrying and distracting action."
"
Instead, though." You stated, turning another page in your report. "Seaman Greta Romano's plan involved rigging one of their patrol craft to explode by remote. She planned to detonate the vessel, which represented
one-sixth of their already-meager fighting power, upon first contact with the enemy, sinking it. After which, the remaining vessels would use their small size and greater speed to escape through shallow waters and hide in a rocky cove. Subsequently, they would then
abandon their vessels and, under cover of night, board vessels some three nights later after they had set their crews ashore."
Despite her normal behavior, Jeanne smirked. "Further, Prv. Romano commandeered as many base security personnel as she could to aide her in her plan. A plan that I would have hesitated to assign to
three times the number of special operations units with amphibious training."
You decided to summarize the rest of the matter. "Boarding the vessels in the middle of the skeleton guards' night shift, the various
patrol crews managed a coordinated and
nearly silent assault using hand-to-hand combat with knives, batons, and wrapped cudgels to keep the element of surprise throughout most of the operation. Over the course of three hours, the teams managed to seize control of eight frigates, two cruisers, and a single
destroyer. This fully compromised a
third of the pirate forces. At which point the crews detonated charges placed below the water-line on
another third of the vessels before opening hostilities with the remaining panicked pirate-controlled ones."
"That is, more or less, an accurate summary sire." Jeanne confirmed.
There was more to the 'battle' of course. After wholly and unequivocally seizing control of the situation, the originator of the plan, who had long-since taken control from her superiors, had been faced with the decision of what to do with the men camped along the shoreline or who had pillaged and raided what little bit of a civilian 'town' there was on the island which hadn't evacuated at the warning your forces had given. She'd decided to offer amnesty to any individual who offered her the heads of three of their former comrades.
Her superior/subordinates had all filled out reports stating that she had watched the ensuing massacre with a sort of quietly-satisfied glee. Even given the fact that the men who died that night would have almost certainly been fit for the firing line or the hangman's noose if they'd been captured, her methods were
extraordinarily brutal.
You picked up the final page of the primary body of the report. "Seaman Romano, after the pirates had finished turning on each other and barely a third of the two thousand men remained, reported to have
regretfully informed the remainder that, as an individual of no rank in Britannian Navy, she did not have the authority to offer clemency to combatants. As such, they would need to wait until her prince could grant such. Until then they were to be considered
hostis humani generis and, as such, given no quarter or consideration. She then ordered all vessels to open fire using
naval canons onto the remaining men, assuring them that she would get back to them in a timely manner."
Jeanne seemed to be struggling with her expression. "I... cannot say if I wholly approve of such tactics, sire. They are undoubtedly effective, however..."
"Bloody and cruel." You nod with understanding. "Still, all individuals who participated in the action are to be awarded the Stetson Naval Cross for Valor in Battle and full Britannian Citizenship under the Decarle Act for extreme risk to life and limb in the name of their lord and the empire as a whole. Commission the remaining ships under my flag and schedule resources to fully bring them up to standards."
"Of course, sire." Jeanne saluted, then bowed formally. "...and what of Greta Romano herself?"
You hesitate.
[ ][GR] Commission her as your new Admiral: A genius and daring mind such as hers would be a waste at any other level.
[ ][GR] Give her a choice of a pension or transfer with glowing recommendation, her conduct is unbecoming of an officer, even against pirates, but you still owe her.
Rewards: Action Costs Halved; Upkeep Costs Halved; 6 5 Naval Patrol Boats; Hostile Pirate Fleet Eliminated; Flotilla of Former Pirate Vessels Seized: 8 Frigates, 2 Cruisers, 1 Destroyer. +1000 one-time income from pirate bounties paid out. Potential Naval Commander Identified: Greta Romano – The Butcher of the South Sea.
Extend a Hand: 21+8=29 FAILURE
Towards the end of the year you find a stack of unsent mail that had been buried under the 'incident report' a few months prior. Pressing a hand to your face, you now understand why no one has returned any of your communications, even if only to politely decline. The year was simply too busy and you suppose
something had to fall through the cracks.
Results: You successfully file for a Letter of Marque, but accidentally lose the letters you were going to send. Action available again next year at no change.
Investment Opportunities: 52+18=70
You spend the entire year waiting for the other shoe to drop.
Finally, as the year comes to a close, you manage to believe that perhaps it simply
won't and you will get away with at least
one uneventful and mild success this year.
Also, you make some money, which is good.
Rewards: Start Investment Portfolio (+500 Income). Trait: Business Savvy+2 Stewardship.
