Mandat de l'impératrice des Cieux - Imperial Princess Troubleshooter Space Opera Quest

[Whiskey Golf]

Alright, so let's talk about the Egon System Investigation, which has been a matter of concern for the questers. We're going to be looking at this from several aspects (this is also going to stray a little beyond Egon itself into how we dealt with the aftermath):

Military: kinda overkill, but in terms of military result, it was utter domination. TF Soyeon had enough firepower to hit the pirate base, and the numbers to set cordon and prevent any pirates from fleeing. Leaving Daniel behind to do his intel magic got Yui the investigation leads for Malusial and SA-Caledfwlch, Konnie was able to stomp the pirates hard, and the marine detachments from the all the ships involved + VSS's troops, plus a couple of Rabid Foxes with Major Ueda's IRG team rolled up the resistance inside the pirate base fairly quickly, before the pirates could really dig in.

On the other hand, it led to ramifications in the political aspect. (I did say the smaller your force, the more discreet it was...) Like, as I've said before: this is the equivalent of the US 7th Fleet sending a carrier battle group to go do fact-finding in San Francisco. I really did not expect y'all to choose this. This was not optimal for getting a perfect run.

Political: Well, we know what happened: Yui brought a goddamn invasion fleet to Egon, 4th Fleet leadership thought Yui was invading and launching a coup and Kanda in all his paranoia got tilted, Konnie and Himeno nearly came to blows... That said, here some good decisions were made; choosing to Disclose to Kanda and Johnny has served to relieve his suspicions, and he is no longer paranoid that Yui sus. He's also weak to Yui making moccachino for him, just the way he likes it. Not gonna lie, this was an area where you could have chosen poorly and gotten penalised for it, but it went about as well as could be. Choosing to Probe Kanda Gently was the right choice, building up from the softening of his attitude after going Disclosure; if y'all had decided to aggressively probe him you'd have gotten his tail up and annoyed him and he'd have been less forthcoming that what we got. Instead of a heart to heart conversation (one where Yui held Shiki's hand and squuezed it at least four times, the utter deviant), you'd have gotten a lot of stonewalling and deflection. (As opposed to a mostly sincere conversation, albeit influenced by Kanda's salt and biases.)

So let's talk about some other possibilities:

Had you all chosen [ ] Small Task Force or [ ] Medium Task Force , we'd skip the issues with 4th Fleet and Kanda's complaint would never happen, because he wouldn't have gotten tilted by a cruiser squadron (4 CL) or a cruiser group (4 CA + 8 CL). I should note that I had Konnie allude to her preferred choice in the narrative:

"Cruiser task group," says Konnie unhesitatingly. "One heavy cruiser squadron, two light cruiser squadrons, a dozen ships max. Small enough for me to escape notice, but with enough juice to take on pirates and win. Even if they have actual warships, I'd put any one of our cruisers against two of theirs at least, and it's not as if we have dozens of pirate vessels just hanging around looking to pick a fight.

Click to shrink...

I don't think anybody picked up on that at the time, though. Maybe I need to be more explicit in the narration when I'm evaluating whether a choice was good or bad.

Small TF would have meant that Yui would have left 2 CLs in Egon to investigate and taken 2 CLs to escort her back to Jinko-sei; this means that the joint IN-VSS force is hitting the pirate base with 2 IN CLs, 2 VSS DDs, and 3 VSS armed merchantmen, which is yikes. The senior CL skipper would try to YOLO and eventually succeed, but VSS and IN take damage, at least half the pirate ships escape and by the time the pirate base is secured, they've managed to destroy evidence, so the only investigation lead you'd get is Malusial. Still, who knows: We might well meet the the Duke of Malusial's daughters, Lady Siti Nuratago binti Zekhar-Curchille and Lady Siti Nurtakao binti Zekhar-Curchille, some time in the future...

Medium TF means 4 CA, 8 CL, 1 BC (Konnie's flagship Kongo). Returning to Jinko-sei (2CA 2CL)and leaving Konnie's stay-behind force means that she'd have 1BC 2CA 4CL assault force and 2CL guard force. Note spreadsheet below to compare force levels:



The Med TF's pirate base subjugation force is indeed smaller (this isn't counting VSS' 2 DDs and 3 armed merchantmen as partner force tho). It's not overwhelming firepower, but it's still enough to deal with the pirates and seize the base (and you don't tilt Kanda), and you'll still get the Malusial and SA-Caledfwlch leads. There's a chance one of the pirate ships slips away, but it's slim and anyhow VSS is alright to mop up any stragglers.

I should think it goes without saying that you made the right decision to leave Daniel and Konnie behind in Egon to investigate. If you left either of them alone, or done a complete pullout, you'd be coming back straight away to the capital with an incomplete picture of the situation. (I'll let you all imagine how badly that could have played out.) It's also a good thing nobody voted to confiscate VSS's weapons; best case, Lee Bashkan would have gouged Konnie and Daniel more for VSS' assistance (as it was, ITL he charged them a reasonable price with a reasonable profit). But eh, that's not really a big deal.


"Whiskey what if we had taken the Medium Task Force overall?"

Ah, roads not taken. So, you'd have sidestepped the problem of Kanda getting tilted and demanding satisfaction explanations. Reports would have been made to 4th Fleet, Konnie would have been asked to keep her task force in Egon till Himeno got there, and then when Daniel got back to the capital and reported the results to Yui, you'd have gotten the option of joint investigations with 4th Fleet's intel people, looking into Malusial or SA-Caledfwlch. (You may assume that right now, 4th Fleet are not sitting on their asses and are in fact doing their own investigations.)

Tl;dr: Military overkill triggered political consequences, but just about managed to salvage the situation, helped by how Egon was, as I always saw it, the tutorial arc of this quest. It was something of a wakeup call, to give the readers a taste of consequences, intended and otherwise, to their actions. In the absolute worst case if y'all had managed to really screw things up with Kanda, Johnny would have stepped in to mediate and talk him down, but Candy wouldn't be talking to Yui for a while, and if you'd chosen to reach out to Navy friends for assistance with your intel team, Kanda would have told you to go piss up a rope.

And to think this all started with the reasoning of "we need to be careful, better be fully prepared..." Danger, risk and opportunity comes in many forms.

I should also note, by the way, that we are no longer playing with a safety net. Y'all fuck up means you gotta deal with the consequences of your actions.

 

[Whiskey Golf]

So, if we look back at this vote, and the one before, and at the last couple of story posts and sidestories...

I'm gonna level at y'all, I really did not see this coming. After the bits I've written where I talk about personal loyalty, after the whole Loyalty sidestory, even the Himehajime sidestory...

You blink a few times; the cool winter air is getting to you, even inside your heated car. You turn to look at Johnny's profile, how he sits in your car, staring out the window. You remember how he treated you the first say you met, the way he treats all his subordinates, how he could never do them dirty, from the lowliest sailor to his royal niece and his best friend.

This is a man I could follow, you think. This man…

Click to shrink...

So, an idea that I have been trying to get across is that of personal loyalty. Yui's bio blurb talks about how her fleet is loyal to her, I've talked IC and OOC about how she emulates Johnny in building personal loyalties. Konnie threw herself on her sword and deliberately lost face to cover for Yui and Ahri (but mainly Yui). Flashback Memory!Masatada talks about how Johnny's loyalty would be unbreakable if Yui was Empress because he loves her, and people will follow Johnny where he goes because loyalty is a two-way road.

You remember what Daddy told you: "Loyalty is a tricky thing. Loyalty to an idea, loyalty to a person… take the Dowager Empress. Hyung was loyal to his oath as a naval officer, even though he hated your royal grandmother. Loyalty to the Empress as an idea. Salute the rank, not the person. But that loyalty could've been weakened, if the right person got to him. But that wouldn't happen if you were the Empress, because Hyung's loyalty would be unshakable. Loyalty to his oaths, loyalty to the Empress, loyalty to you, because he loves you. He would walk into hell for you, and thousands of his people would follow him, and their people would follow them. Loyalty flows both ways."

With your own eyes, you've seen it in action, the way Fleet Admiral Chew builds relationships and inspires loyalty. Yes, you think. You need to help develop that for Ahri. By showing her as she is, a girl who's made mistakes but is trying to learn, a girl out of her depth, a girl the opposite of her martinet grandmother, you hope to build a more personal connection between her and Uncle Johnny. If you can keep him on Ahri's side, you can be sure that a good portion of the Navy will remain loyal to Ahri, at least until he retires.

You make a mental note to explore ways of keeping Fleet Admiral Chew on duty and in his position. For the Empress' sake.

Click to shrink...

IC, Yui herself is trying to build personal connection/loyalty between Johnny and Ahri, and knows that if Johnny is loyal to Ahri, a good chunk of the Navy will be loyal to Ahri because they follow his lead.


...And then we come to the vote on whether to get IRG or Navy assistance for the investigation team, and y'all chose the IRG because it looks less sus than the Navy. Despite having zero friends and connections in the Guard.

Ngl I very confuse. I dunno, either I'm really bad at conveying ideas in my writing, or y'all are looking at things from a different mindset than I am lol >_>;;

I do find it interesting that despite the things I've tried to seed about personal loyalty, about personal connections, the voters have chosen to place their trust in institutions instead of people. I dunno, maybe that's the whole Western liberal democratic social paradigm: the institution is bigger than the person. But we're not in a liberal democracy, this is a feudal space empire.

In a way, the most recent vote was an experimet of sorts. I wanted to see whether this trend of emphasising the institution rather than the person would continue. I figured it was a 1 in 3 chance y'all would go for the institution vote... but y'all did, again.

Anyway, I'll just peel back the curtain a little on the current vote:


So, to sum things up, this vote was once again a matter of approach, between the personal and impersonal. It's on a sliding scale between appealing to Tarisa Manandal, and appealing to the Commanding General of the Imperial Royal Guard. Let's look back at the votes:

[X] Appeal to her patriotism. House Manandal has served the Empire for over a dozen generations; you joined the Navy out of the same duty that drives your father and uncle. Use this common ground to gain her goodwill; it might be compelling enough to preclude the need to trade favors.

Click to shrink...

This approach is all about appealing to Tarisa Manandal, the girl who joined the Guard out of duty, who's carrying on her family's legacy. Over a dozen generations all in uniform: that's a really strong family tradition, a really strong sense of duty and patriotism. With this approach, you're presenting yourself as a patriot, just like her, someone who appreciates her service beyond a simple platitude, someone who wants to build that same sort of legacy. It's telling her, "I'm doing this for the same reasons you are." Had this vote won, well, there is still more work and conversation to be done, but you have a good chance of not needing to do any favors to get IRG assistance. This would be setup for getting Tarisa into your orbit as a friend. She'll still do her due diligence, of course, but she'll be thinking, "If she's telling the truth, then she really isn't a threat at all." What you're saying here is "Help me build my power base because I will use it to serve."

[X] Appeal to her personally. She's a serving military officer, like you: she swore the same oaths to obey your Empress and defend Her against all enemies. You're acting for Her Majesty's sake, surely that means you both want the same things: you're both on the same side. You're dealing with her woman to woman, your favor will likely be of the same nature.

Click to shrink...

This approach is appealing to General Manandal, the soldier who is loyal to her oaths. You're presenting yourself to her professionally, one officer to another: apolitical, sworn to the same oaths, serving Her Majesty. This is reflected in how you would owe that favor to General Manandal: you would be trading on your reputation as a naval officer, as a commander, on the people who can vouch for you. It's a good thing that your Uncle Johnny is also Fleet Admiral Sir Yonatan Chew, Commander Fleet Operations, the 3rd in Command of the Imperial Navy, a guy with a pretty solid rep. (Good thing also he swept your fight with Kanda under the rug.) What you're saying here is "Help me build my power base, because we're on the same side, our goals are aligned."

[X] Appeal to her pragmatism. She rose to lead the IRG without being beholden to any one faction, purely focused on doing the duty her Empress expects of her. It's in the IRG's interest to assist you: they'll get a close eye on your activities and access to the intelligence you develop. The IRG's professional favor to your team will be repaid in kind.

Click to shrink...

Of the three approaches, this is the least personal. You're appealing to the Commanding General of the Imperial Royal Guard, and by extension, the IRG as an institution. This is you acknowledging that you understand the IRG's position and you know how the game is played, so you're appealing to the self-interest of the institution. You know that some factions of the Guard see you as a threat to Ahri, you're aware that what you're doing can be seen as establishing a power base (which literally was the reaction of your IRG liaison and the Commanding General), so you choose to appeal to pragmatism and self interest. It's why the the favor you will trade will be owed to the institution. What you're saying here is "If you help me build my power base, you can put your people right beside me."

(In a way, from a certain point of view tho, pragmatism is, emotionally, the safest option. You don't need to get to know the person, you can just keep things impersonal and professional. But I digress.)

Make no mistake, you're never going to get out of trading favors. At this level, that's just how things are done: a favor for a favor. But by presenting yourself as a Patriot in the same mould as Tarisa, there was a chance that she'd be so moved, have such a positive reaction to you being exactly her kind of person, only interested in service, that she could have said yes, no favors needed.

But, I mean. There's nothing wrong with presenting yourself as a pragmatist towards the Commanding General of the IRG. And the conversation isn't over yet. But you've definitely made things harder for yourselves by reaching out to the institution that has no ties or connections with you. The Navy might have looked sus, but you'd be reaching out to friends, allies, people who already trust you, so you wouldn't need to justify yourself to them. And hell, maybe your sempai who was on FADM Chew's staff with you wanted you to take on a promising young kouhai for your staff, as your favor to her...


Tl;dr: none of the options were bad per se, just different in presentation and approach.

 

[Whiskey Golf]

I mean... y'all want critique, I give you critique. So I wanted to come back to this and talk about the write-ins:

[]Write In
-[] Cards on the table.: We lay out what our current issues and "orders" are as well as a summary of what intelligence we already have and explain that "These are what we are doing at the Empress's request"
edit: also, if she wishes to confirm this with the Empress that can be arranged.

Click to shrink...

[]Write In
-[] Be Blunt: "I started a very concerning investigation after the empress read some online conspiracy I sent someone to look just so I can use the whole thing as a lesson on why what random foxes on the internet say shouldn't effect her ruling now we are going down a rabbit hole of a seemingly dangerous situation. I need all the help we can get to protect this nation and the Empress."

Click to shrink...

I want to touch back on these two plans : the danger with these plans is not just that the IRG takes over your investigations and shuts you out, or hands you an investigation team with a few operators slipped in with the analysts, ready to headchop you: there's another danger here, and that is that by being so open about Ahri getting Qanon'd, it raises red flags. It will make Manandal suspicious. Here she is, she's just the head of the IRG, she's not close enough with either the Empress or the Heir Presumptive to be privy to these sorts of things... and yet the Heir Presumptive is telling her that the Empress got Qanon'd? In their first private meeting? Where Princess Yui is asking for help building her power base? That's suspicious as all fuck. The immediate reason that springs to mind: you're trying to establish that the Empress is unfit to rule so that you can legally softcoup her. Why else would you start talking about these sorts of things?

"Whiskey, you never said anything about that!"

Actually, I did, but people didn't notice:

I mean, if you know more than the QM about how the proposed plan would go wrong:

By all means share with the group. I'm keeping an open mind, what are we all missing?

Click to shrink...

That's one outcome, but not the only outcome. I'm not spoon-feeding here. I would direct you to this exchange:

Or the possiblity that she interpretates your words as the empress is unfit to rule and is mentally unstable.

You do not have the full measure of what the chibi is thinking.

Click to shrink...

A very good point, yes. Reminder for the thread that even when Yui was briefing her navy buddy Shiki and her mentor/uncle Johnny about the Egon investigation, she pointedly avoided saying that she was sent there because the Empress read conspiracy theories on foxthot 4chan.

Click to shrink...

Like, I really dunno how did people overlook this part. I certainly wasn't drawing attention to it because I didn't want to influence the voting too much, but I mean, you have a poster raising a possibility and the QM agreeing that he's made a very good point. But if you missed that, you missed that.

So, since we're already here, let's go to plan @Always Late :

[X]Coyotes and Wolves
-[X]Personal loyalty to the Empress: Her Imperial Majesty has privately requested that this investigation be made, as the matter of military weapons getting into the wrong hands is a significant priority to her. However, it has become much larger than was anticipated, and she needs loyal, capable people at this earliest, most tenuous date of her role.
--[X]Bait the hook: If the General wishes, a personal, private meeting can be arranged to address her concerns about our "influence".

Here's the problem with this write-in: It doesn't answer Manadal's question. Yes, her question was literally "Why should I help you?", and on the surface this write in answers that, but it's not answering her true question. Now okay, sure, there needed to be some reading between the lines there, but I mean...

"I will speak frankly, Your Highness. It's one matter to be assisting Her Majesty's Vicereine on Her Majesty's business. It's another matter entirely to be assisting the Heir Presumptive in establishing her power base. The Guard protects Her Majesty the Empress. Against all foes, foreign, or domestic. Near or far, Your Highness."

"I resigned my office as Imperial Vicereine," you say, stalling for time. Manandal gives you a flat, unamused look.

"You are Vicereine, Your Highness. In thought and deed, if not word. If you want the Guard's assistance, I need to have your measure. Why should I help you?"

Click to shrink...

So let's break this down a little:

- She sees your actions here as establishing your power base.
- She's reminding you that the Guard protects the Empress from threats near or far, and is implying you could be one of those threats.
- She wants your measure. She wants to know you.
- What she's really asking is "Why should I help you form your power base?"

(Also she has no patience for bullshit.)

The way this write-in is framed, what you're saying here is effectively "You should help me because I'm following the Empress' commands and you're loyal to the Empress". Here's the problem: that does nothing to address what Manandal wants answered: building a power base. Best case, you look like someone who can't read between the lines and understand what she's asking, oblivious to the fact that you're establishing a power base. Worst case, she takes this as Yui deliberately trying to deflect and not answer her question; you're talking doing this investigation for the Empress, ignoring the issue she raised that you're building a powerbase. And bringing up the private meeting with Ahri is just raising suspicion. She hasn't said anything yet about Yui's influence on Ahri, but in a preemptive effort to show that the IRG doesn't to worry about Yui's influence over Ahri... Yui is showing her influence over Ahri. Why would you preemptively offer something that was never asked? Why are you trying so hard, is it because there is cause for concern?

So yeah. How we present ourselves to the CG, with this write in, is problematic. With the default options on the other hand, you're presenting yourself to the Commanding General as a patriot, a military officer, a pragmatist. Those are things she understands and can work with.

Had this write-in won, Manandal would have reiterated her question again, making the point that she's unsatisfied with your answer. You could recover from that, but it would definitely have weakened your personal standing with her (and she'd consider you less than reliable, if not sus).

Here, have a write-in. I'm not voting for it till I'm sure it gets some support, since atm, avoiding "Oh shit the DM asked "are you sure about that?"" is priority one, but here.

[]Appeal to the Mutual Threat (Those Sumeragi Fuckers Are Up To Something): The simple fact of the matter is, the Great Houses are gearing up for war. Sumeragi in particular seems to be eyeing the throne itself, and the Navy is partially compromised and stretched thin as is. Necessity demands that you make certain any intelligence force you assemble be loyal to the Empress first and foremost, as well as limit any information the Great Houses could acquire on the formation of such.

Click to shrink...

So this write in is on the face of it also okay, but it runs into the same problems as the Personal Loyalty Coyote & Fables write in, which is that great, you're answering the Commanding General's stated question of "why she should help you" but it doesn't really answer her question of "why should I help you build your power base?" She'd again reiterate her question, and you'd have a chance to answer and recover.

It's a subtle but significant difference that is the difference between Manandal thinking "she's deflecting, trying to hard and avoiding the question, why is she doing this, what is she hiding?" and "you get the situation, but that's not what I asked, get to the point."

-[]Also, Ri-Sumeragi is fucking chew and you have pictures.

EDIT: Made the joke optional.

Click to shrink...

Yeah this would have been vetoed anyway, because nobody knows that Johnny and Maggie are an item. And anyhow, as I've alluded to in the past, while the affair is scandalous, Johnny has a contingency to reduce the fallout if their affair leaks, which is something that I'm going to touch on in the next Salt Thirst side.

I know people skip over the salt thirst sides, but fuckit, I like writing Johnny and Maggie and I also use them as glimpses to to seed thoughts and ideas about the world. Those who have eyes, let them see. It's not all salt thirst.

...that said, if anybody has pictures, it'll be Johnny. Maggie gave him a choice between photographing her "impromptu" photoshoot as she devolved from being dressed to wearing only her tails and a smile, or playing alone with his guns in his room

 

[Tiny_Dic]

There's a fundamental misalignment between what Whiskey Golf wants to convey through the story and how you perceive it, Always Late.

One of the core themes of this quest is the strength of mutual understanding, of genuine interpersonal relationships and how they can support someone in great need, and to help them better themselves.

Likewise, the chief struggle in this quest isn't warfare nor politics. It's conflict resolution.

Being able to communicate both what you intend and what you want articulately and honestly is key to facilitating the creation of new bonds, as well as to buttress existing ones. Conversely, misunderstandings can arise from failure to communicate well, which can damage those same bonds and prevent new ones from developing.

No one in this quest can read minds. All they can read is behaviour and spoken words.

Our issues with Shiki arose from miscommunication - not informing each other, not understanding each other, looking at things solely from our perspective - and it was resolved with him and Yui sitting down and talking honestly with one another, not as two admirals or rivals but as friends, which is something that they should've been doing from the beginning.

The same thing is happening here with Yui and Manandal. Manandal doesn't distrust us, she just doesn't trust us yet. In order for her to trust us, she needs to understand us, which she currently doesn't. And to do that we need to communicate our goals and intentions to her, and the fact that she and Manandal share those goals - that is, you both want to protect the Empress's rule. Hence the three vote options focusing on three identity aspects that Manandal and Yui share.

They both share a lot of common ground, which could lead to a strong mutually beneficial relationship if only they could just communicate with each other using that, instead of trying to play one another.

I think that's why the write-ins didn't quite work. They communicate intent, but not goals. They try to use persuasion to sway her to our side, but without a foundation of mutual understanding persuasion won't work.

From Manandal's perspective, this comes off as not only a refusal to communicate with her in good will, but also an appeal to the Empress's authority to force her compliance while obfuscating our true motivations. Our refusal to engage with her implies something other than mutual goals.

Obviously we as the players knows that's not what's happening nor what we want, but that doesn't matter. Once she has her first impression of us, it will colour all her future interactions with not only us, but also our group.

We have one chance to land a good first impression. Think how badly that could've gone, if we instead left her thinking that we're aiming to install ourselves as ruler.

It's not a matter of realism, of applying realpolitik. It's about mutual understanding.

Fortunately for us, Whiskey Golf is a fair, if firm GM.

Do you understand why it was so dissonant for us to read that you want to disregard the rules and establish your own, to say that this whole quest is like 'fully anime Warhammer' ? That's not understanding. It's denial of understanding, a refusal to understand. It comes off as dismissive.

Now, I don't think at all that that's how you intended it to be perceived. In fact, I don't think that was remotely your intention at all.

I think I sympathise with you, Always Late. It isn't easy to look pass your own social and cultural filters. What comes naturally to others and is taken for granted by them isn't a skill that we're both good at. It's all too easy to use your own shorthands to describe things without considering how others perceive them, or that your own perspective already deviates significantly from others.

I suppose that we both don't grok communicating with others very well.

Yeah, it is hypocritical for me to be all highfalutin this when I myself didn't even think to look at the issue from other perspectives until Whiskey and ckk185 brought it up.

But I sincerely hope this helps you to understand what went wrong.

 

[Whiskey Golf]

"I can't believe you. You're the Third Star Lord, a grown man, a blooded admiral with a chestful of medals. Surely you've outgrown such primitive superstitions."

"I'm Chinese. Some things, you just can't stop doing."

"Do explain this to me again, Darling," she says, her voice and expression as flat as ever. You shrug. It's not your fault she's unsatisfied with tradition.

"Maggie please, we've been over this before. The explanation isn't going to change no matter how many times I say it."

"Perhaps, with enough repetition, you might actually convince me of the value of this primitive superstition. This time."

Her words and tone are as dubious as ever, but Maggie's arm is linked with yours, her tails brush idly against your arm and she's pressing her body against yours as you walk along her private beach. You might be losing this debate, but you still feel like a winner.

"It's because you like hearing the sound of my voice, isn't it?" you chuckle teasingly, and Maggie sniffs haughtily.

"Don't flatter yourself too much, Johnny. I'm holding the knife, and you aren't."

"As My Lady commands," you drawl airily, ignoring her elbowing you. "It's nothing really complicated. You carve your name into an orange, you go to the sea and you throw the oranges into the sea. If the orange is swept out to sea, it means your destined spouse will come from far away. If the orange floats back to shore, it means your destined spouse is close by."

"You're far overdue to leave these primitive superstitions behind and embrace modernity, Darling," she chides. "And am I right in assuming that you've taught this superstition to the Prince of Akasha?"

"Why, yes, I did indeed teach this superstition to Masa and help him throw oranges into the sea," you agree. "I'm just spreading the tradition that I was taught. Of course by that time he'd already met Sasha and Yui was on the way, so it's a good thing the oranges came back to shore..."

"Of course. But now I must wonder about Her Majesty's mental state."

"...that was a pretty big leap in logic to go from me to Her Majesty."

"Darling, you've obviously taught this superstition to little Yui, and we both know dear Ahri hangs on her every word. Of course they'll be standing on a beach of their own, throwing their oranges into the sea. I fear for the Empire's future: our Empress has fallen under the influence of primitive human superstitions that we noble foxes have outgrown."

"And yet here you are, beside me," you say, eyebrow raised meaningfully. "Why are you putting up with my primitive superstitions then?"

"Well, you've already abandoned one primitive superstition, you can abandon another. You really should tell your mother you're an apostate."

"That's different. No, really!" you protest, in response to her dubious gaze. "You can stop being Jewish, but you can't stop being Chinese."

Maggie just arches an inhumanly beautiful eyebrow at you. You shrug helplessly, and stop at the water's edge. You look down at your feet, at another subtle reminder of how different you are. You're wearing a new pair of quick-dry hiking boots, something that can take any terrain, any punishment, and give you a few years of good hard use. Maggie's wearing designer heels that cost two months' of your pay as a new Ensign. You can afford to get your shoes wet; Maggie can afford to replace her shoes.

You cast your gaze to your footprints, and sigh. It's unfair - even in heels, walking on sand, Maggie's steps are so much more graceful than yours. If you were a lesser man, you'd be resentful and jealous at how your girlfriend is so much more perfect than you, but you've had a long time to come to terms with that.

Besides, she's a goddess. There's no point in a mere mortal like you being jealous of her divine perfection.

"Johnny," you hear, her voice all annoyed and tired of your nonsense. You look up, and sigh - the moon is out, its rays shining on her. The red high collared silk qipao she wears flatters her body, with a calf-length skirt and dangerously high slit, terminating between her hips and her ribs. Water sloshes against her feet, and you realise you've stepped too far into the surf: the tide's coming in.

She's beautiful, she's always beautiful, but there's an ethereal glow to her tonight, and all you can do is sigh in wonder at her.

"Johnny," she repeats herself. "Stop woolgathering and throw these oranges so we can go inside."

"Sorry, Maggie."

"Don't be sorry, just start throwing already."

"We need to write our names first," you say mildly. You reach for your pocket, but she stops you, her hand closing on yours.

"I'll do it," she urges , something unreadable in her royal blue eyes. Your eyes widen as she displays to you a ceremonial dagger in its sheath, black and crimson in the colors of Great House Sumeragi, inlaid with gold and platinum. In her hand, it's like a brush, as she carves your name onto an orange, then does so again for her own orange. You give her a raised eyebrow.

"A knife is a more suitable instrument than a mere pen," she says, acting put-upon. You just sigh. Now you're finding her Sumeragi hot take posturing endearing. You have it bad. Worse than bad, given how you're smiling fondly at her.

"Thanks, Maggie," you say, taking your orange from her. "Let's throw together? On count of three."

"Johnny, this is a primitive superstition with no tangible evidence that it will bring about the desired result."

"So you won't throw oranges with me?"

Maggie sighs and takes your free hand, intertwining her fingers with yours, and gives you a look.

You throw your orange, Maggie following suit moments later. The two oranges splash into the water together, and you nod in satisfaction.

"Alright, we're done, we can go n-"

"We should just watch to see what happens to the oranges," says Maggie softly. There's something in her voice, an uncertain wavering in her tails.

"Of course."

You wrap your arms around her and she leans back against you; you breath in the scent of her tails, of her hair, of her.

You stand there, watching, waiting, listening to the waves and your own heartbeats. Maggie emits a soft sigh, and relaxes in your arms, and you hum as you see it; the two oranges, bobbing on the waves, being brought to shore by the tide.

Maggie doesn't say anything, she just stretches and steps forward. You release her, as she takes your arm. "Alright, Johnny. I've indulged your nonsense enough for one night. My feet are wet, we're going inside."

"Sure thing, Maggie."

You cast a quick glance back, to the oranges, and turn your eye to her tails, shifting happily as she walks ahead of you, a new spring in her step. You smile indulgently. So much for all that talk about outgrowing primitive superstitions.

You lengthen your pace and come beside her, wrapping your arm around her. You smile at her, and she smiles back, and presses her sheathed dagger into your hand. You nod, no words necessary, and slip your hand into your pocket, depositing the dagger alongside her panties-

Wait, her panties? In your pocket?

Oh goddamnit Maggie. When did that happen?

"Finally, Darling," she laughs. "I was beginning to wonder if you would ever notice."

"I always notice you," you say weakly, stung by her teasing. "It's the other stuff I'm a little blind to."

She laughs again, a clear, bright, beautiful sound, and kisses your cheek. Her smile is warm and fond and loving, and you feel as if your heart would just burst open.

She's right. It's just a superstition. There's no way oranges thrown into the sea can foretell your future. It's just a random variable in a sea of randomness, it means nothing.

You kiss her, and you think of those two oranges, washed up on the beach.

She's right. It doesn't mean anything.

But you hope anyway.

 

[Whiskey Golf]

​

Kensei 5
(26 years ago)


It begins in the waning light of candles.

Five there are, forming the sign of the gogyo-boshi. Moku. Ka. Do. Kin. Sui. Each one illuminates a small patch of well-worn yet well-kept tatami, enough to seat a single champion.

One for every blade that will cross in this chamber, within these halls, where the four shoji walls always seem just out of reach in the dark beyond those tiny lights, where the tangent between real and unreal is axed, the hypotenuse of physical and digital crossed. Each blade in conflict with one another. Each warrior complementing one another. One of five will emerge dominant today. And the tide will turn the next day. And the day after that.

As it ever has been, so shall it ever be.

But though the sages speak, the sword decides where the tides shall land. So it is with Hayakawa Meguri, who sizes up her foes from her vantage of Moku, the East, the Spring, the First - a position she has held for nigh a hundred such encounters.

At Ka and Do stand faceless armored silhouettes, black-and-brocade Imperial Guard exosuits grim against the molten red glow of the plasma blades - one mounted at the end of a long staff, and the other matched in the other hand by a smaller twin. Kin's champion is armed in the style of the ancients of Wa: smaller curved blade in one hand - still half a time longer than an odachi - and a backup sidearm in the other. She smells rather than sees the fourth warrior at Sui; a well hidden form does little to disguise the stench of pyrogel.

All good choices in arms. But she prefers things old school. A single blade is tucked by her side, as yet unreadied.

She bows. As do they.

Then she sidesteps, allowing the snaking fire that passes to warm her chestplate. Her hand touches the hilt of her blade-

-then she takes two more steps back, two cracks filling the empty air where she once stood. The long candle of Moku all but disapparates, its flame wiped out in an explosive burst. And in the darkness that prowls ever on, four reddened blades turn towards her like the fangs of bloodhounds.

Ah. So that is how things will be. Gekokujo. Wise, if dishonourable.

Good, Meguri hears Father say. As he always would. Mercy is unbecoming of the Guard, daughter. The only dishonor is failure.

Her fingers tighten around the sheath of her own shin-odachi, six shaku of iron and death. Then her armor's back-mounted thrusters fire, the world shriveling as she falls upon the ring of burning teeth.

Her weapon roars aflame right out of the gate. Steel meets steel even before Ka - the naginata user - can fire their own thrusters. Her two-handed strike staggers the hasty upraised guard, and the leg-sweep that follows shatters it. Her blade is there to catch her opponent's neck - its stumble now a tumble.

She ducks almost flat to the ground, another gout of flame passing over both her and the now headless body.

Divided loyalties, Meguri thinks. The best kind in a wild fight.

Her blade comes up at the first sound of movement from southernmost Kin, even as she springs forward again to put herself between the hybrid combatant and the dual swords of Do. The atmosphere has changed now. She can smell it in the air.

The dual blades come whistling through the air toward her head. She repels one first, then the other. Then with a twirl, she kicks the armored figure away. Her other hand whips around to-

-Kin freezes but Sui does not-

-send her blade whizzing past the cutlass-and-pistol-toting warrior, even as another gout of flame bursts forth from the stubby Guard-issue Foxfire Cannon.

There is a shriek of metal as the sword melts its way through gun, arm, shoulder, armor and flank, the slick stenches suckerpunching her nostrils.

Kin fires her jumpjets with a cry, gun upraised. But Meguri's free hand flicks up, scabbard in hand, striking her foe in the chin before she can truly gain speed. Summoning all her augmented strength, she catches the other warrior in a tackle, the momentum carrying them both forward.

Right into the path of the teeth-chattering explosion.

Meguri feels her armor coolant systems sweat, barely keeping the vulnerable metal and flesh insides of her exosuit from welding together as she bathes in the heat wave. But only for a moment. Kin goes limp against her, weapons clattering to the ground.

She drops again, grabbing both just as Do catches up, swords raised and ready to let rip.

[Coolant Purging]

Pillars of steam leap between the two of them. It does little. It does enough. The pistol can be fired, and does. Again. Again. Again. She hears a curse, and a clattering noise-

"Meguri-ojou."

Meguri doesn't turn.

That sound comes from without.

Within, her sword is already moving.

The blade catches that of her final foe mid-strike as they burst through the steam smokescreen. She twists under them, sliding the plasma edge between the plate that separates the bicep from the shoulder.

It is a short road from there to the heart.

Her last opponent falls, the spray of ichor from their form entwining with the candle-smoke trails for a moment before painting the wall.

Meguri studies the carnage in silence for a few moments.

Then she bows, holding it briefly. Then she rises, and makes a waving motion with her right hand.

[Simulation End.]

The chamber dissolves into motes of dying light all around Meguri, but her shoulders are steeled for battle even as she turns. Her opponents in the gogyo-dou had anonymity as their shield, not that it availed them any. But some challengers thrive off familiarity, and some battles confound the sword-arm.

"Hiyoko."

The person she has turned to face is challenger and battle both. But then again, Hiyoko Rochefort Taniguchi is used to being many things. It shows in her garb, how she effortlessly navigates the modest black and white laced frills reminiscent of an Old European maid and the brocades that line the Imperial Royal Guard haori.

Meguri likes to think that it has at least a little to do with the underlying motif that runs through them both: the five headed Mother Dragon, ancient seal of their branch of House Hayakawa since they swore themselves to The First Empress, all those years ago, and whose call to serve in turn the Taniguchis have honoured for just as long.

"Ojou-sama." Hiyoko certainly enjoys humouring that sentiment. "Tojiro-dono has sent for you."

"It's still early in the day," Meguri murmurs.

"House Himura has yielded," Hiyoko says, her account of the victory marked in death-march time, "as has House Iverness. Tojiro-dono's warriors have the floor."

It is all Meguri can do to not sigh.

"Well then, Hiyoko," she says, "lead on."

====

Being outside her uncle's door is another battle all on its own.

The shoji door that separates them is but bamboo and washi. But at this moment, she would rather charge the brazen gates of Urakimon alone than enter in.

In her memory's eye, Father scoffs. Really, Daughter. Such cowardice. Did you forget?

We are the hounds of the Empire. The hand of the Empress.

In times of peace, we are her shield - in times of war, her sword.

She takes a deep breath. Yes. She remembers. She has heard those words countless times at the knee of her teachers. At the end of many days and nights, each a road of blades, broken calluses and bruised bones, they used to ring in her ears. Now they are but an ache garnished with the dust of tears.

If the two retainers keeping watch outside Uncle's room notice Meguri's turmoil, they make no comment. If anything, they look uncomfortable on her account rather than at her expense. What a terrible countenance must she have, she thinks.

Meguri steals a glance at Hiyoko.

...O wretched maid, who hides a smile! All the worse that she herself wishes she could let slip one of her own. But now is not the moment to reveal such weakness.

One attendant cracks the door just slightly open, and peers inward. His eyes hide his relief. His shoulders do not.

"Tojiro-taisa will see you now, Meguri-ojou."

She nods to Hiyoko, who takes one step back. Then, she slides the door open.

"Ojashimasu." She steps through. "I am here, Honoured Uncle."

"Honoured Daughter." Hayakawa Tojiro sits in immaculate seiza on the tatami, several holoprojections from his personal infosphere - a roiling array of machine aperture and projected light - hovering before him. All of them familiar, and one most recently so. "I watched your battle. It was a fine victory."

"As befits our house," she replies evenly.

"So it is. And as there, so here. The floor is ours. The rebels on Tancred V are ours to excise."

"That gladdens me."

"I trust you have been briefed on our plan."

Aye, yes, she thinks. Our plan.

Our plan, where in some unknown universe, Hayakawa Meguri would suggest not one, not two, but five manned strikes from Tancred V's orbit into the crawling chaos of its industrial megacity, Carravalo, deep into its undercity levels. Five full fireteams to circle and root out rats scattered throughout a nest four thousand square kilometers all around, and Empress only knows how deep into the red earth of that planet.

A universe where she has not even let the thought of changing such a perfect scheme take shape. Nevermind having sent seven iterations of such changes up to headquarters - surely not!

But no. This is a fine errand, and fitting. On the one side, traitors and criminals, guilty of wanting a mote more than the meagre scraps from the table of abundance. On the other, the Empress' finest: sword and fire, implacable, inexorable, uncaring.

"Hiyoko apprised me as we walked." Those thoughts were a bad move - it is harder now to keep any inflection from her voice. "It will bring glory to our house."

"Aoi will deliver the drives you sent back to your quarters. The use of seven strikes her as wasteful, if you must know."

And it could be eight, right this moment, if she so chooses. In the fold of her jinbaori is a small drive that contains yet another alternative. That contained yet another alternative. It will -would- save lives, theirs and that of the "enemy" - if those who may as well have been unarmed children before the Empress' best could be considered an enemy of any sort.

But it would be less glorious.

Her grip almost cracks the plasteel casing, her face immovable. Her uncle chooses the moment to cross blades with her once more. His twin golden eyes grind at her defenses, testing. Probing. Then the pressure fades. She passes again, if barely.

So much left to learn, daughter, she hears Father chide.

"You will take the second Echelon," her uncle says simply. "Honour my brother's memory, Honored Daughter."

He turns to meditate upon the map once more.

"I will," Meguri replies. This conversation is over.

Bowing again, she steps back, sliding the door open with her hand as she exits, never presenting her back to him. The attendants part to let her pass.

Outside, Hiyoko does not wait for her to shake her head.

"This way, ojou-sama."

As on their homeworld, so on his flagship, the Strident Truth, does her uncle keep his offices close to the briefing rooms. On the same tsuri-dourou-lined corridor, in fact. It is a useful affectation in more ways than one, not least of these the fact that the walk does not let her stew in any further thoughts for too long. Hiyoko seems aware of this benefit as well, choosing to say nothing - at least until the sound of boots clicking to attention brings Meguri back to the present.

"It seems you're expected," her maid says, the ghost of another smile on her face.

Meguri scratches the back of one of her secondary Shiba ears for a moment, then steels her expression.

"And I shall live up to those expectations."

"No doubt you will," Hiyoko reaches into her sleeve, retrieving a fur brush. "But permit me to burnish your image a little."

The silence is a companionable one as the maid puts a few of her mistress' errant hairs back in their rightful place, before sliding the brush soundlessly back into its hiding place.

"I'll be right back, Hiyoko."

"I will be waiting, ojou-sama."

Stepping over the threshold with a hiss of the shoji screen-panelled blast doors, she looks each member of Second Echelon square in the eyes as she enters.

"At ease, warriors."

Kenneth Morikawa. Seventh cousin, seven years, four months her senior. Made leader of the branch house in Kensei 3 by Father. A dour, scar-faced veteran of many campaigns, he is without reproach. But he is loyal to the House. And Hayakawa Meguri is not the House.

Quentin Ross. Her senior in Father's dojo. Very handy with a cannon in his right arm - and generous with tongue-lashings for those fool enough to hit him with that particular pun. But among southpaw sword-arms of neither birth nor choice, she would be hard pressed to find one more reliable.

Hojo Yukie. From the dojo back on Himawari. Bright eyes. Raven hair. Ambidextrous. Nearly as good as her on the tatami, despite being a year younger...but not the best transition to exosuit combat. Perhaps a blade uniquely balanced for her diminutive size would make a good gift to celebrate her graduation. If she returns. It is poor form to assume victory before the fact.

Ellen Noah. Bid in from House Yulianto a month ago, almost to the day. Meguri has sparred only twice with the small mountain of muscle, but even so, many know terror in the form of an armored fist from the former Volga Belt rough. Meguri, for her part, knows respect. She indicates this with a nod, which Noah returns with a deeper one - but not before a smirk.

Miles Okonkwo. Him, she's never met. The Guard is a big place, after all. But his amber gaze is unwavering as it meets hers. A good sign - but first impressions are a hazardous port in a storm.

Each of them is a responsibility, and it rests on her shoulders like lead as she takes her place at the head and between the two rows of tables that line the tatami floor.

They sit moments after she does, each sinking into seiza perfectly, almost without sound, their faces lit only by the toudai wick lamps that stand watch next to each table.

"Let's begin."

- 女王之天命 -​