- Pronouns
- Him/Mr
[X] Stay with Zairman in his rooms. You're feeling a little off-kilter from all the revelations, and, well, damn the rest. You trust Tymur implicitly, and if you let your hair down too far, who gives a damn anymore?
As much as I'm typically in favour of the Always Professional All The Time vote, consider: Zairman just dropped his actual name without a hint of hesitation, which speaks volumes about his trust in Orr. Likewise, Orr does implicitly trust Zairman, enough to lay out the Sundowner encounter openly, and frankly the rumours about her and Zairman have started themselves anyhow.
(And Takamachi could kick up some amazing drama later . We could very well make the papers once more.)
Also, managing a polycule is fucking hard, and you guys want to add that on top of being an officer? Are you nuts?
EDIT2: I suppose the simplest way to say it is that with the QM's warning that this is an Important Vote, I am somewhat leery of starting a relationship with someone in our command and on the front lines. I don't want to or intend to send Zairman out on a suicide mission, and I don't think Orr would either even if they aren't in a relationship, but this is still a death game war simulator and we've just recently gotten a reminder that we are entirely capable of making a mistake and fucking up our brigade badly. I would rather not run the risk of that happening, or maybe just unlucky dice rolls in an op, and have a bad situation spiral into something worse because Orr is in command and emotionally compromised since they have a significant other MIA behind enemy lines.
We don't need the risk of officer drama further down the line.
I'm not sure what to point at specifically to justify, but I feel that Takamachi's drama would be "more smoke then fire". And also amusing for us, the readers, to read.On one hand, yeah, Takamachi would be in the position to throw a great shitfit over Orr sleeping around. On the other hand, I don't think she'd actually do it. It'll make more sense soon, but like... Takamachi is good at the whole 'interpersonal relationships' thing. It'll make more sense when I introduce Miseriecord in the next 2-3 updates, I think.
I'm not sure what to point at specifically to justify, but I feel that Takamachi's drama would be "more smoke then fire". And also amusing for us, the readers, to read.
And officer drama is where the thread gets about 75% of its cues for regiment reforms/upgrades. Ideally we would be fixing these things ahead of time, but our viewpoint character is often focused elsewhere.
"Your uniform is different, Orr-sama," Silica said, blinking and slipping back to an honorific. "It's, uh, shocking. When did you get a sword?"
"I shouldn't have a sword," you groused, but as your hand fell to fix your straying bayonet frog, you blinked. "I shouldn't have a sword?"
Pulling the blade out, you blinked as the entire sheathe slipped the frog easily. It was plain metal, with a pair of stamps at the top near a band where you could tie a ring directly to your belt and do away with the frog entire. The first stamp was a simple Warden angel, wings spread, with the date 734 below it. The second stamp, though, was what made you blink.
"A Caovish Reminder: Officer's Blade"
Jammed up inside the band, though, was a scrap of newspaper. Sitting down on the floor, you teased it loose, before blinking. An item description? In this game?
[A Caovish Reminder] is the cololiquism among Velian units from south of the Bulwark for death in a knife-fight or stealth attack. During the Breaching, many Nevish Alliance Corps units were presumed to be broken, and taken into custody as prisoners of war by green Colonial units. While normally respectful of their imprisonment, the proto-Wardens whom were captured by The Atrocities- special warfare units of the Colonial Legions- would frequently find weapons and enact mass revolts against their captors. Revolts that were started, in most cases, with very deliberate knifings to the back or to the delicate air-hoses of filtration masks. When Guards units came in to pick up the prisoners, they'd find armories trashed, dozens of dead, and every special weapon destroyed or so thoroughly booby-trapped as to be useless: anyone who tried to use them would receive a Caovish reminder.
Well. That was a flavor text. Putting the paper in your pocket and the sword in its frog, you stood up and looked at Silica.
"Uh, Colonel Orr, your hat isn't level," the petite sergeant said. Picking it up, you glared lightly at the kepi, before dusting the top off and pursing your lips at the front. A blank silver pin, flanked by a pair of artillery shells. A cute way to denominate you were an artillery officer. More importantly, there was also a rank insignia over it: a crossed sword and baton under the Warden angel device, with a single four-pointed star. A voice in your brain whispered, with the knowledge of System Assist: General.
Digging through it, you quickly started realizing this might, may be, a little over the head. Aside from the fact it completely changed how your personnel file was set up, it also meant this rank was assigned to you in perpetuity: unlike being a Colonel, it didn't go away if you left your regiment. That was a frightening thought, abandoning the 15e, so you didn't think about it. More importantly, however, it gave you an independent brigade staff: persons who were made officers with rights and privileges forthwith who didn't need to be part of a regiment.
Basically? It meant you had feudal free-roaming officers. Most of the "privileges" of being an officer were tied up in the nicer uniform, but there were also some other factors that were worth noting: officer's system assist in communications, the fact you could open regimental records and handle the regimental- or brigade- colors, and most importantly auto-access regimental stockpiles. Brigade officers, though, could apply this across the entire brigade's component regiments. You'd need to pick them with care.
The most critical part of becoming General Orr though, that the book laid out? Your actions were a matter of public record. Not just in shady newspapers or by word of mouth: no, your movements and deployments would be tabulated, and kept in the Cuttail Station Public Library, along with the usual anonymized statistics on various regiments. Every thirty days, it would update, and people would be able to track your rough activities and the regiments under you. It was a form of celebrity, almost, if it also wasn't a massive liability.
We did personally lead a brigade worth of regiments to conquer a Victory point, with us being dead during the conquest. Though we don't know how relevant that is besides the fact that we had fulfilled the four conditions somewhere between death and respawn. Might the Bright's Medal be one of the conditions? Though if so, then it probably means the other regiments that had gotten said medal did not meet the other conditions for one reason or another.The problem was 'distinguishment', since you weren't sure what would distinguish an officer. Was there some metric, tracking the 'honor' and acts you'd done? What did your file say, if you looked into it?
General Orr Melanie, CO: 15e High King's Own Flying Artillery. Brigit's Medal with Gold Wings, White Angel with Oak Leaves x3, Order of Light, Morgen's Crossing Campaign Badge with Honors, Weathered Expanse Campaign Badge, Northern Cross 3rc, White Lotus
Thank you computer, but what did that mean?
- Brigit's Medal: Captured a Victory Point as a Regimental Officer
- Gold Wings: Dead at time of Victory Point capture
- White Angel: Captured a city
- Oak Leaves: One awarded per city
- Order of Light: Complete 4/4 conditionals to receive Brigade Command
- Morgen's Crossing Campaign Badge: Fight in Morgen's Crossing
- With Honors: Be involved in the capture of the Victory Point
- Weathered Expanse Campaign Badge: Fight in Weathered Expanse
- Northern Cross: Visit all Warden-held hexes.
- 3rc: Third Class, visited VPs only.
- White Lotus: Command a King's Own Regiment
...One thing I wonder. Is what was the conditions to become a general?
Field command vs command in the backlines I guess.I'll give you a hint: you qualified, Hooker didn't. What's the major difference in how you conducted your operation versus how he conducted his? More importantly, three in the four conditions are part of your "fruit salad", the medals list. The fourth condition- that you were in command- isn't something that can be impressed into a medal.
I thought about it. Then thought about it some more, then waffled for a bit before finally deciding not to stay with Timur. Everyone needs downtime alone. Orr is no exception. Also, managing a polycule is fucking hard, and you guys want to add that on top of being an officer? Are you nuts?
I think right now Orr needs to actually open up to other people a little, and for that she needs to accept at least a little emotional closeness. Closing herself off like she has been is going to lead to get breaking down sooner or later, and for that she needs someone to lean on. Isolating herself won't help.We don't need the risk of officer drama further down the line.