The Reluctant Vassal's Guide to Living in the Frontier (with some Treason)

(Awaken Solarium (Wolf Escort): 81 +14 (Learning) +13 (Wealth) = 108)

Progress: 4/6. In Progress.

"Wow, you already have a working prototype?!" Hifumi exclaimed at the sight of the test ship in the hanger of the Solarium Forge. "Do you think we could go for a ride? I would quite like to partake in a ride!"

The guide frowned. "I'm not sure that's a good idea, it's currently still at the experimental stage. If anything were to go wrong, it'd be our heads."

They raised an eyebrow and rapped their knuckles against the power armor they wore. The Prism was slightly ashamed to admit it had been too easy to forget the excitable guest was still a Brilliance Knight who could probably handle themselves. Maybe they could even help out in an emergency, their solarium circuits superior to whatever smaller and minor augments the Prisms were limited to.

Still, Hifumi felt the need to dangle one last bit of bait and cast the line. "I think that if I could stress what it's like to Her Majesty, I could perhaps persuade her for some additional budgeting to the project!"

"I'll make some calls," the guide finally mumbled.


(Commission Ship (Corona-class): 99 +14 (Dorothea) +7 (Wealth) = 120)

Progress: 8/6. Completed!

HMS Coral Queen has been commissioned in Kingsdream.

You stepped through the hallways of your first cruiser, idly placing your hand casually here and there to plant additional physical observation bugs, just in case the information virus you had already infected the ship with was deleted somehow. But well, if they had a reason to purge their own operating system files, they probably had a bigger issue on hand than your little strings. That was also assuming that they hadn't also erased or blocked your backup vectors installed in a myriad of different adjacent networks.

Sometimes, your childhood hobby of meddling with digital kitchen schedules came in very handy.

By the time you reached the bridge, your hidden pocket was empty so you could focus entirely on the meeting ahead. When you walked through the last door, the gathered officers all immediately stopped in place to salute the Solar Queen, many of them bearing the annoying faces of admiration and awe. Tragically you were not spared of the treatment either from the most senior among them, the captain looking ready to kneel before you and Dorothea surely about to do the same. So hastily but not too quickly, lest they suspect, you waved for them to stand down. "Return to your duties and pretend I'm not here. I simply wished to see the brave crew one last time before returning to Andernia."

The tension left their shoulders and slowly, they obeyed though not without backwards glances to no doubt burn your image in their minds. You grimaced inside and wished they did really take your command literally, was that too much to ask for? Shrugging that off, your attention turned to what seemed to be the end of a conversation between the new captain and your retainer.

"…so we will be in your care then, Lady Dorothea," finished the officer. They inclined their head slightly. "I look forward to working closely with you in the name of House Iris."

"Welcome to Battlegroup Rampart One. In the name of the mother sun, we carry the will of Her Majesty," the Lycoris Knight swore. A final handshake between the two, then the captain turned to focus on the activities on the ship bridge. Even though Coral Queen was just holding orbit above Kingsdream, her maiden voyage demanded all sorts of tests and measurements be tracked for maximum efficiency. The fact that she too was first of her class made it only more critical, meaning that their full attention was concentrated on this effort.

It meant that you and Dorothea could talk in relative privacy without any of the others eavesdropping in. She looked at you now with a prideful expression, looking quite excited for what was likely her flagship for the moment. "Your highness, you truly honor me by giving me command over such a majestic vessel. I confess it isn't quite as grand as that which bore us to our new home, but it is nonetheless a far cry from those smaller ships we were working with. I don't mean to imply that our destroyers are no less inferior though!"

"Certainly, especially Wisteria. She has quite a colorful reputation and crew to her already, one that I think wouldn't be out of place in His Late Highness' own time." You bowed your head slightly and the motion was mirrored by your knight. The brief moment of silence allowed you to carefully craft your next words of platitude to continue leading Dorothea on. "But we cannot afford to look backwards. We must look forwards."

"I agree. Forwards, to the future that we want!" She emphasized energetically. You smiled and made to turn away, only to catch the briefest moment of hesitation that flashed over Dorothea's face. Immediately, alarm bells rang inside your head and you reversed your motion, tilting your head in a silent question that your retainer eventually noticed. "...but what is it you wish, my lady?" She gently asked.

You pretended like you didn't notice her shift in honorifics. "What do you mean? Is the prosperity of House Iris not enough?" You tested, hoping that this wasn't a moment of fraying loyalties. Maybe you would have to pull on some backup strings if Dorothea wasn't up for the task.

"No, not at all!" She stressed, washing away those doubts. But there was still some internal conflict that she decided to elaborate on. "What I mean to ask is what you actually wish for the military, Lady Violet. Meager as it may be now, we are on the cusp of actually having something that would give us actual might that could be used for a variety of purposes. Such as the campaign we might soon be volunteered for.."

"I haven't yet made my mind yet on that."

"But your actions as of late suggest a strong buildup towards that ambition." Your silence was all the answer she needed and the Lycoris Knight looked towards the others, towards the officers, towards the brave soldiers she would be taking responsibility of now. "I just want an answer to those questions now, especially since it's not just my life now. I would gladly still give my all to House Iris. But now, with these new comrades of mine, I have to ask too for them for what they fight for. What they will die for."

That was a rather...introspective development for Dorothea, born from finally having so many subordinates beneath her. Fragile ones too, unlike the Brilliance Knights, and those without the very same oaths of devotion and zealotry that could take root in those bless4ed in solarium. It was an interesting worry for the normally unhesitating Lycoris Knight, but one you couldn't say you disliked. It felt like she was taking her command seriously, caring for each and every life that she was now burdened with.

You supposed she did deserve some answers from your own lips on what it all meant, along with your intents. "Our armed forces are..

[ ] [Meaning] "...a sword of faith, illuminating the way forward through the stars."

[ ] [Meaning] "...a shield of knowledge, protecting our history and people no matter what."

[ ] [Meaning] "...a lance of enlightenment, bringing forth our will to our foes near and far."

[ ] [Kelon Campaign] Contribute nothing.

[ ] [Kelon Campaign] Contribute a tithe of the following:
-[ ] Supplies
-[ ] Units (List units)
-[ ] Characters (List characters)

[ ] [Kelon Campaign] Contribute the deployment of a battlegroup.

- Been a while since we had a character decision moment, let's actually remember those.
- Tithes are basically partial investments that you can choose to contribute any combination of the following, but let happen in the background. However, the battlegroup option is for you to get hands-on involved and take on a commanding role among the other contributions. Note it automatically assumes you will deploy a battlegroup which involves the character, units, and supplies that it is associated with.

"Our armed forces are to be a torch of truth, to illuminate the world around us," you told your retainer, letting slip any sort of coy pretend to address the issue honestly. "The universe is a dark place, quite frankly. Were the stars not to exist, there would be nothing to illuminate space and all that inhabit. Everything would be shadowed, the blind leading the blind to nowhere, a natural state of distrust and ignorance we could never overcome by ourselves.

"Yet we need not too, because the sun is there. The stars are here, and they banish the darkness, allowing us to see and realize the path before us." You smiled gently at the seeming enlightenment dawning on Dorothea's face. "So hold that torch up, bring forth the radiance of the star's blessing, and show that we will be that very light if need be for humanity to see the way forward."

"Your words, I will carry them to close to my heart!" The Lycoris Knight vowed excited. "I see now how we are to act in this upcoming campaign, and any others! Let all bear witness to our resolve to be the stars who show the journey before us!"

It seemed like your little talk had done the trick, so you politely withdrew, letting the mask slip back on. You did really mean what you said, about how the armed forces were to be the torch to light the galaxy. But what you didn't mention was that as did the light grow brighter, so too did the shadows deepen. That was where you wanted to be, allowing others to bask in the radiance while you worked your strings. It was what you wanted and desired.

Hopefully, you really didn't have to step out of it anytime soon.


"So did Her Highness tell me and I saw, for the first time, the grand plans in motion she had for us all! To lead the way forwards herself, carrying that beacon of bravery and courage for us to follow behind. Can we really call ourselves servants and soldiers of House Iris if we were to shirk from the challenge so?

"I say no, and I hope that all here agree with me! We are the chosen who shall follow this chosen path set by Her Highness, and see that her vision of light be brought to the rest of the galaxy. Just like how the Solar King would cut open the path for the Stellarch in the past, we shall find the way forwards for our allies of the present. And I see for us more work ahead, to take on whatever challenges come our great journey of the future.

"All this and more will be revealed in time with the great torch set alight by the Solar Queen. For she intends to make a statement- that we will be the ones to drive back the darkness, together!"

- Recorded Speech of Lycoris Knight Dorothea on the eve of the Kelon Liberation Campaign, later known as the Torch War.


Alert: Wartime Economy active!

Resource Stockpile: 60 -16 (B-R1) +28 (Resource Income) = 60/60

Create a plan that you and your aides will execute over the duration of the cycle. Each person will have a general order that they will attempt to carry out at your command. Orders can be repeatedly taken by multiple characters for greater progression, but characters will be locked in the order until it is finished. Many actions will require a target.









- So after some number crunching and looking at the values, I think that I need to make Resource stockpile income halved during war economy to actually have it be something to worry about. Having the raw number means battlegroup consumption is just an absolute write-off, which is not intended. Maybe have it be halved during war economy- representing the increase price of everything when a conflict is breaking out- and then full during peacetime- allowing you to rebuild your stockpiles quickly.
- This cycle's actions were resolve first, then it should go to the setup for the Torch War campaign. Dorothea and the others are right now traveling to the assembly point for that.
- I'll try to drop the Third Senate Primer sometime soon, we're due for that. Going to be interesting topics then.