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Petals of Titanium -- My Life as a Mecha Setting Bridge Bunny Quest

Voted best in category in the Users' Choice awards.
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[X] Attempt to explain to them both what kind of long range patrol mission you have just survived
[X] Try to get the attention of some of the other crew members from the Rose who might be in the room
[X] Call the Lord Secretary racist

I care little for what form retaliation takes, so long as this racist git doesn't walk away happy.
And let us be honest, we are on speaking terms with the Protagonists. We are either going to be dead or a war hero long before insulting secretaries kills our career.
 
Angelform said:
[X] Attempt to explain to them both what kind of long range patrol mission you have just survived
[X] Try to get the attention of some of the other crew members from the Rose who might be in the room
[X] Call the Lord Secretary racist

I care little for what form retaliation takes, so long as this racist git doesn't walk away happy.
And let us be honest, we are on speaking terms with the Protagonists. We are either going to be dead or a war hero long before insulting secretaries kills our career.
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In this case, please only vote for one item. Otherwise I'll have to disregard your vote.
 
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[x] Try to get the attention of some of the other crew members from the Rose who might be in the room

(EDIT: Persuaded by MooseHowl's post.)

[ ] Attempt to explain to them both what kind of long range patrol mission you have just survived

We've lost a number of crew members including two mecha pilots, both Anja's brother Ito and Ensign Song.

My second choice would be to try to get our crewmates to back us up, but while that might convince the Lord Secretary to back down there's greater risk of blowback against Captain Andre since we'd be facing him as members of the Rose.

Calling the Lord Secretary rascist (classist?) is tempting but I don't know if the room would take our side since the bar's clientele is described as high class.

Simply backing down and trying to cover for Anja feels unsatisfying.

Gazetteer said:
Kim looks a little startled, and Mosi can't help but privately feel the same. Oppression, mass arrests and other horrors are all over what little news they get out of Saturn, along with terrifying quotes from high-ranking officials in the rogue system. "What about Duchess Song making that public declaration to stamp out subversives?" Kim asks. "The other Electors who backed her? That talk about uncooperative Saturnians being jailed?"

"It didn't go anywhere," Olivette says. He scratches his shaved head with a slightly awkward expression. "Their pretender. The Empress here -- the Imperial Electors picked her because she'd be staid and calm and ease off on that sort of thing. To ease tension in Jupiter and elsewhere. After the Civil War, though, the ones that were left standing lost their taste for that. They want a crack down, they're afraid of the Saturnians, and of… subversive elements in the general population." Olivette gave a self effacing smile at this, showing no teeth. "For once, their Pretender has grown a spine, though. And Princess Daystar has been agitating against it. Complete deadlock. The Songs can lead whatever highborn rabel they want and make whatever statements they want, but things aren't budging unless something gives there."
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Huh, so that's Song's background:

Gazetteer said:
Song, Suyin: An ensign who pilots a mecha and is stationed on the Titanium Rose. Green, but highborn, and her family is very important and powerful.
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Would this be a valid write-in?
[ ] Attempt a non-charming apology that makes your displeasure clear while not directly saying anything he can actually object to.

I dunno if it is a good move, particularly since North is drunk, but it was my first thought.

A charming apology might work on the Lord Jerkretary, but seems to me like it might actually hurt our relationship with Anja.
 
mistakenot said:
[x] Attempt to explain to them both what kind of long range patrol mission you have just survived
- [x] We lost two mecha pilots, Anja's brother Sub Lietenant Ito and Ensign Song

My second choice would be to try to get our crewmates to back us up, but while that might convince the Lord Secretary to back down there's greater risk of blowback against Captain Andre since we'd be facing him as members of the Rose.

Calling the Lord Secretary rascist (classist?) is tempting but I don't know if the room would take our side since the bar's clientele is described as high class.

Simply backing down and trying to cover for Anja feels unsatisfying.
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Mention of deaths on the patrol can be assumed to be incorporated into that option as is.

anowack said:
Would this be a valid write-in?
[ ] Attempt a non-charming apology that makes your displeasure clear while not directly saying anything he can actually object to.

I dunno if it is a good move, particularly since North is drunk, but it was my first thought.

A charming apology might work on the Lord Jerkretary, but seems to me like it might actually hurt our relationship with Anja.
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This is not really a thing where you can have your cake and eat it too. Either you're trying to smooth things over with this guy, or you're trying to stick up for Anja somehow -- I do not feel that under the circumstances this write-in would produce a meaningfully different enough result to be interesting. Sorry!
Adhoc vote count started by Gazetteer on Sep 3, 2018 at 6:58 PM, finished with 1558 posts and 17 votes.
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Adhoc vote count started by Gazetteer on Sep 3, 2018 at 6:59 PM, finished with 1558 posts and 17 votes.
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[X] Back down and attempt a charming apology on Anja's behalf to get her out of trouble

I don't think blurting out anything about our mission is a good idea, even in an area like this.
 
[X] Back down and attempt a charming apology on Anja's behalf to get her out of trouble
 
Gazetteer said:
This is not really a thing where you can have your cake and eat it too. Either you're trying to smooth things over with this guy, or you're trying to stick up for Anja somehow -- I do not feel that under the circumstances this write-in would produce a meaningfully different enough result to be interesting. Sorry!
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Fair enough.

[x] Attempt to explain to them both what kind of long range patrol mission you have just survived
 
Gazetteer said:
Mention of deaths on the patrol can be assumed to be incorporated into that option as is.
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Thanks, edited.

If we "apologize", would that involve mentioning deaths as well?

Karnax626 said:
...it tempts me.

[X] Back down and attempt a charming apology on Anja's behalf to get her out of trouble
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Zaealix said:
I'm torn between apology and getting backup from the Rose to prevent problems.
My trouble is if this guy gets cruel we're going to want the force multiplier.
On the flip side, he miiight back down?
If his last name is Song that's not likely and I'm concerned about that.
Here's what I think:
[X] Back down and attempt a charming apology on Anja's behalf to get her out of trouble
If we seriously get it from both sides I expect we might just do the equivalent of taking our ball and going home. And honestly I'm thinking this guy isn't Song- he's just an offended noble. Assuage his pride, and get out of a place where he can do us harm without reprisal, because we know he's not going to sink to a 'commoner's level' with witnesses/ justification for putting us in our place.
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If we want to stick up for Anja but without causing trouble for her, perhaps explaining what we've been through is worth a try? It would feel better than just rolling over, at least.

NuclearConsensus said:
[X] Back down and attempt a charming apology on Anja's behalf to get her out of trouble

I don't think blurting out anything about our mission is a good idea, even in an area like this.
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That did occur to me, but I trust North isn't going to say anything that's a secret. And we are among officers and other aristocrats.

Night_stalker said:
Plus, well, bringing up a sob story, when we're the lowest ranked person in the room is ill advised.

Don't be like this guy.
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That story's about a jerk trying to get away with smoking in a restaurant just because he's in the military.

Being singled out due to racism/classism while you're grieving in a bar is a pretty different situation.
 
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[X] Call the Lord Secretary racist

Not racist against Saturnians, mind (although he certainly is). Against the Navy.

Because it doesn't matter where you come from, once you're in the Navy that's your primary identifier, and whatever he may call himself outside he's currently a civilian in a Navy bar insulting a Naval officer who just came off a stressful, bloody combat tour. He should consider himself lucky if he makes it out of here with beer-stained clothes and an assortment of bruises.

If he still insists on that apology, tell him he can have it, but only if he first apologizes to each and every person in the bar who just came off a combat tour for causing a scene while they were on leave. And then maybe to any and all Saturnians he comes across for being such a racist prick he couldn't keep his piehole shut even in circumstances where he was unequivocally the intruder.
 
mistakenot said:
If you're saying we should back down just because the Lord Secretary is more powerful than us, that may be a valid argument but it's quite different from the moral of the story you linked.
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The moral I got from that is, if you're in a setting that's high class and has at least one Capt in attendance, you should focus on keeping your head down and not drawing attention.
 
Night_stalker said:
And? He's a Lord Secretary, we're a LT. Here'a s hint, we're so outranked it's not even funny.
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"Lord Secretary" sure doesn't sound like a military rank to me. If this was an ordinary bar his position might matter, but since it's not the only rank he has that matters is "civilian".

Also he really shouldn't have pulled this in a place where "I was on leave and totally shit-faced" is a legitimate excuse for pretty much anything that isn't a felony.

Really, if we have to apologize it should be to the Lord Secretary's escort. It's not his fault that his boss asked him to walk the local office's dog and said dog proceeded to shut all over the carpet. Preferably we apologize in those words too, or something similar that makes it clear we're sympathizing with that captain for being shackled to such an utter twat.
 
I feel like Anja might react poorly to us just kowtowing to him, and I'm not really a fan of that either. My first thought was to go for the attempt to explain one, but it occurs to me that it's attempt to explain, and, well, we're a couple cups in at this point. The charming apology option is likewise attempt a charming apology.
I think I'll vote for:
[X] Try to get the attention of some of the other crew members from the Rose who might be in the room
since it's the one that seems the least hindered by our drunkenness.

Okay, I guess call him racist is the one that's technically the least hindered by our drunkenness, maybe even boosted by it. But that's the intentionally torpedo this option so I'd still rather not. :p
 
Night_stalker said:
The moral I got from that is, if you're in a setting that's high class and has at least one Capt in attendance, you should focus on keeping your head down and not drawing attention.
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That's not the moral of the story. The rude customer would have been morally wrong even if he were an admiral. The only difference would be whether he could have gotten away with it.

If you think "keep your head down" is the safest thing to do, I won't argue that. But that's a far cry from arguing that standing up to bullying is morally wrong.
 
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