Energetic Voiceover: "On this episode of Hotline, Karen Kale sits down for an unprecedented face-to-face meeting with none other than Her Excellency, Lady Akagi Sumeragi of Great House Sumeragi."
Karen: "Thank you for this meeting, Lady Akagi."
Akagi: "Thank you for having me, Karen." (smiles pleasantly)
Karen: "The honour is mine, Lady Akagi."
Karen: "Perhaps let's begin the interview with your opinions on the state of affairs these past few years?"
Akagi: "Well, that depends on which state you're looking at, doesn't it? For example, politically we're in a stable period with no major upheaval, save for the recent Ascension to heaven above for Her Late Majesty Empress Kensei. Economically speaking, the Empire as a whole is in good health: the budgets are being passed, the deficit is minor and controllable, social spending and stimulus packages are being regularly applied to tangible effect. And yet, for Hibiscus Energy, the last five years have been the most difficult, most challenging years of their existence."
Karen: "How so?"
Akagi: "They were working on something that sounds simple, but was treacherously difficult in execution." (removes phone from her jacket and taps the back)
Akagi: "Building a better battery. Specifically, a battery capable of powering a space ship. Well, a small space ship." (chuckles lightly)
Akagi: "We're not at the level of interstellar transport. Yet. But what we have is aimed more towards interplanetary travel and the orbital littorals."
Karen: "And thanks to this battery, Hibiscus Energy recently posted a 20% jump in revenue, directly attributable to the launch of the E-Cap. This is despite initial market analysis decrying the product as a white elephant, citing that existing reactor technology is safe and compact enough as it is. So how did Hibiscus Energy do the impossible and prove them wrong?"
Akagi: "Well, the first thing to do is to never listen to someone who tells you no. It's an unofficial motto of Great House Sumeragi." (smiles charmingly, audience chuckles)
Akagi: "The second thing to do is to understand why are people saying it's impossible. Is it because of physics? Is it because of orthodoxy? Is it just because it hasn't been done before? People said that powered flight was impossible - until it was. People said it was interstellar travel was impossible, they said there was no way to move between the stars - Karen, we live in an Empire of five hundred inhabited star systems. So what we did - what my people did - was they went and they studied the reasons why people told them it was impossible. They looked at the physics, they looked at the history of batteries - because batteries aren't a new thing, they're a mature, ancient technology- and the first thing they did was that they established the limits of the box. And then they started pushing the box outward, bit by bit."
Karen: "And because of this drive to do the impossible we are all much better off. Now let's talk about your role in the Privy Council. For those who are unaware, what are the duties of the council?"
Akagi: "Ah, a small clarification, Karen, it's the Regency Council. Though it's an understandable mistake to make, since the Regency Council is effectively the Privy Council with representatives of the Imperial Family and the Five Great Houses. What we do is, to put it poetically, we stand in the gap for the Empress until She's of age to formally ascend to Her throne. It's a solemn duty - we're temporary caretakers of the Empire for Her Majesty, and to say it in the vernacular, we need to leave it in better shape than when we got it."
Akagi: "What I do, what all of us in the Council do, is we bring our different perspectives and viewpoints to the table, and we come to a consensus, and we keep the lights on and the meter running, and we advise and aid Her Majesty in whatever way she may need. Ruling this Empire of five hundred stars is a challenging task, particularly for an innocent young maiden, and so it falls to us to provide Her Majesty with wise counsel."
Karen: "With such an important task, surely there has to be some disagreements in regards to what actions to take?"
Akagi: "Disagreements are an inevitability in life, Karen, but it speaks to the maturity of the Regency Council that we can work through disagreements and come to a consensus. It's a useful skill at all facets of life, from inside the household, to the palace, to a boardroom. Even my company's not immune to disagreements: when we first began the battery project - this was a little while before I came onboard - there were serious disagreements on the direction of our battery project. Some people wanted to focus on the consumer electronics sector, some people were wanting to completely replace warship naval reactors..."
Karen: "I see, now let's move on to the recent spike in pirate activities across the empire. Despite the best efforts of the Imperial Navy, many worlds have fallen victim to pirate raids. With many in the Senate blaming the glacial response of the Imperial Navy on bureaucracy, what is your view on the increase in pirate raids and the Imperial Navy's response?"
Akagi: "Well, Karen, I feel that relying on the Imperial Navy isn't a viable longterm solution. I'm not judging the Navy, it's simply a matter of resources: the Navy has to patrol five hundred systems across our Empire: it takes months to travel from one end to the other. The Navy can't be strong everywhere. The only viable long term solution is for the local systems to increase their strength, which is why I see the Naval Forces Realignment Act as a key element of that solution. There are thousands of ships in the Mothball Fleet that are just floating idle in space. Imagine if we could release those warships to local ducal forces. When every system is stronger, they're better able to fend off pirates in their space, and instead of trying to be strong everywhere with penny-packet deployments, the Navy could better concentrate their strength for responding to requests for assistance. It's really a no-brainer, and I can only wonder why it's taken so long for this idea to come to fruition…"
Karen: "Though many in the Senate support the bill, there are some who feel that the bill should have gone further. Perhaps even to the extent of splitting up the Imperial Navy among the various sectors as independent commands. What do you think of this point of view?"
Akagi: "Well, I think first we need to acknowledge the elephant in the room: the Imperial Navy's sector commands are de facto independent commands - the realities of interstellar travel mean that it's nearly impossible to micromanage the Navy from the capital. That said, splitting the Imperial Navy is a bridge too far. The mindset of the Imperial Navy is that it patrols and guards all the Empire, allocating ships to regions as needed - say there was a need for more ships in 4th Fleet's area of operations, you could reassign ships from 13th Fleet with minimal fuss, because the ultimate "owner" of those ships is the Imperial Navy. Going to a more static model, of independent commands, means less responsiveness on the strategic scale - you'll find the forces will be less motivated on operations because they aren't defending their own homes, assuming you could even get outside help. There's a difference between independent commands on their own, and independent commands under the umbrella of the Imperial Navy."
Karen: "I see, so you are not in favor of splitting up the Imperial Navy?"
Akagi: "Not at all, Karen. What I want is for all parties to grow stronger. I believe part of the problem is that the Imperial Navy has spent too long carrying the security burden, and doesn't realise that many ducal forces are willing and able to pick up the slack. We need to be working together, as partner forces, which is very much how I operate with my company."
Karen: "Pardon me?'
Akagi: "I am the supermajority owner of Hibiscus Energy, within the company my word is law. But I find that I have better results out of my people when I approach matters as a partner, not a ruling tyrant. They do the science and engineering, I do the PR and raise capital, we work together and help each other, and that, I believe, is the greatest thing I've achieved at Hibiscus Energy, even greater than our batteries. We're going to revolutionise energy storage and that's no mean feat, but we've built something wonderful here at Hibiscus and I want to protect that for as long as I can."
Karen: "I see. Now, moving on to a different topic, can you share with us any idea of how active the Regency Council will be in ruling on behalf of Her Majesty Empress Meigyoku?"
Akagi: "We'll be as active as we need to be, Karen." (smiles charmingly)
Akagi: "But on the whole, our intent is stability. We want to ensure that there's no major upheaval, that consumer confidence remains high. When the political and economic situation is stable, it allows businesses to prosper, research and development to flourish - Hibiscus would have had to make serious decisions about its future if we were trying to develop the E-Cap in a state of uncertain stability. Thankfully that wasn't the case, and thus we can not only bring this new product to market, but do so in the knowledge that the market isn't under undue strain and can actually buy our E-Caps. Karen, the revolution in energy storage has only just begun! Space travel has remained skewed toward a select few, because reactors are specialised technology that required skilled personnel to maintain and operate. If I wanted to take my yacht out for an afternoon cruise, it would take two hours to get things ready before I could cast off. But with an E-Cap powered yacht, I could just go to my dock, turn the switches on, and be on my way. Karen, I can bring spaceflight to so many more people! And there are just so many more possibilities for these batteries. We've been talking to disaster response agencies and humanitarian NGOs, and we have discussed the possibilities of scaling down this tech into portable units. Imagine being free of mobile reactors, when you've got smaller, more portable E-Caps that can power a displacement camp, or a whole town! Of course, the Imperial Army, Imperial Marine Corps and the Imperial Police Force have also expressed interest in seeing what we can do with these batteries-"
Karen: "I-I see, that's quite fascinating indeed-"
Akagi: (leans forward enthusiastically) "I never expected to ever be interested in batteries but it's such an amazing, interesting subject, with all the history of batteries and the breakthroughs Hibiscus Energy has achiev-"
Karen: "I see, I'm sorry to interrupt you, Lady Akagi, but let's take a quick break for commercial. We'll continue when we return."
Akagi: "Of course, Karen. I'm just so excited, we're living in amazing times-"
Akagi is a Kitsune in this setting right? If I'm remembering correctly then I like to imagine the increasing rate of tale wagging as she gets more and more excited about batteries at the end.
Hrrm...
Sounds like Sumeragi is one of those types that's going to lose their shirts if things erupt.
Problem is, they're picking at the very problem with that whole 'reduce the Navy!' idea of theirs...
It's why I wanted Open- it lets the results stand and be declared. As I see it?
We are THE CROWN, we say jump they say how high, and okay sure that thing earlier made waves, but first step to NOT getting blindsided by a revolt is knowing there's a problem, and everyone's acting like there isn't one which tells me...
Corruption. Which we arguably already knew via Salt-meister. But what I want is to basically make it first and foremost in people's minds that something's gotta give...
Of course, I also don't claim to know the political way to handle this sort of thing either.
Akagi is a Kitsune in this setting right? If I'm remembering correctly then I like to imagine the increasing rate of tale wagging as she gets more and more excited about batteries at the end.
Karen Kale thought she was just getting a vapid ojou-sama for a softball political talkshow, but IT IS I, DIO FOXTHOT ELON MUSK! And I'm here to SELL YOU MY AMAZING E-CAPS! BUY MY BATTERIES!
If I hadn't come down with the flu and lost my voice I'd have tried to voice act this, but well 1) I'm not so good with female voices and 2) I can't beat Mai Nakahara anyhow
With Akagi and Maggie I wanted them to have a bit more dimensions rather than their Azur Lane inspirations (and even then while Azur Lane Akagi's first impression is "thirsty yandere who is y a b a i" she has layers to her).
And yes I too am amazed I managed to update so fast Don't worry things'll probably slow down a little.
Going forward we are going to see a bit more sidestory being dropped to flesh the world some more from other POVs as we move on to the next phase/season of the story, and after the next main update & vote, I'll do a postmortem of the choices so far and how things could have gone.
While foxthot Elon Musk is fine I think you missed a great oppurtunity in not having Kagerou Imaizumi as the profile pic. Or you could make that character Hibiscus head engineer maybe.
Surely there must be more than just foxes and humans. Give wolfgirls, tanukis and catgirls.
[X] Overt Investigation
Legitimacy (and some feathers for Ahri's cap, too) are what we need right now, plus we've enough red flags draped across our many tails already. Going Overt helps reassure any watchers that we're still at least nominally aligned with HIH Meigyoku of sorts, and hopefully helps to explain what the frak we were doing in Egon earlier.
Getting caught trying to undermine a Great House's holdings at this point, when furs so ruffled all across the board...?
[X] Yes, involve IRG in the investigation
Again, legitimacy, and gives us a Big Stick to rap peoples' knuckles with. Ideally they'll be kept in the loop with minimal action needed from them so as not to kick off a panic, but excluding them is a no-no.
Silly Princess, you want the IRG to bave more access to your movements, at least until they let you off of the Gitmo list.
===================================
I highly suspect that dorky geeks and gap moe are major facets of Foxchan waifu culture.
Addendum: @Whiskey Golf , how sizeable (est.) is Princess Yui's fanbase? What kind of -dere or -moe fans does it mostly consist of?
@Librarian vote closed 12 hours ago. Just saying...
Yui's fanbase is sizeable. She deffo has more fans among the coreward civs than the Navy. Mostly girls who would like a cool oneesan type figure like her, or your usual legion of horny dudes wanting to bang an imperial princess
she doesnt have the same level of navy grassroots supprt as Salt Admiral has, but well, part of why 13 fleet was split up was to remove a potential powerbase for her...
Again, I wanted Open for a reason. Namely so there's actual imperial oversight instead of people basically swiping all the Crown's guns to start their own wars with. As I understand it, that issue might be the blasting fuse to everything blowing apart but if we DON'T do something, we'll lose our power to Foxthot Elon Musk up there swiping our ships and sticking her tailswag tech to match our golden fleets but bigger, badder, and with black spikes of villiany to boot.
For those unfamiliar, Sword pf the Stars had a ship type that's essentially limpet escorts latched onto a larger mothership for FTL purposes, dedicating their own hulls to combat and combat alone.
They can go up to literal Battle Riders, as in Battleship (Battle)Riders.
Sorry, he tells you. Sorry. As if that one word makes up for ruining your plans!
You growl in frustration and throw the cloth against the table. By your mother's standards, this would be a terrible tantrum, but fuck her, she's not here, and this is your apartment, you'll act however you damn well please in your own abode.
Damn Johnny and his sense of duty! You had things all planned out: you were going to bring him here to your decadently luxurious apartment, you were going to make an exquisite dinner for him, give him a taste of what it would be like to live in the lap of luxury, you were going to do things to him, sexual things, and work your claws deeper into him-
"Sorry Maggie," he told you apologetically (and doesn't that do things for your ego, a Fleet Admiral apologising to a mere Captain). "I know it's the New Year, but I had to take the duty. It's okay, take the night off, you need a break from me. I'll see you after the holiday."
Unbidden, an angry snarl escapes your throat. Damn that Johnny worming his way under your skin. He's just your target, there's nothing special about him at all. How dare he ditch you for his duty! How dare he piss you off this way!
You look at the glass table: your angry reflection glares back at you. You close your eyes and take a deep breath. Focus. Control. You'd never have let yourself get so worked up before. Johnny's just a target. You're honeypotting him to turn him into your asset. You need to stay on top of things. You're not some blushing secretary trying to snag a husband. You're so much more than that. Nobody rejects you: you're the one who seduces targets and tosses them aside once you get what you want.
I want Johnny.
That little thought flits through your mind; you ignore that inner voice. But fair's fair: as far as assignments go… well, as a lover, Johnny has clear gaps in his skill and experience. But he's also been the most personally tolerable of all your targets. As honeypot assignments have been, this has been your most pleasant experience.
A low bar to clear, to be sure.
You take the cleaning cloth, crumpling it into a ball, noting dispassionately how your grip turns white-knuckled. You were meant for so much more than this, yet an accident of birth relegates you to playing errand girl for the Main House. You're a cadet branch member, Ri-Sumeragi, and don't you forget it. How can you serve the Main House today, Ri-Sumeragi? Who next shall we have you whore yourself out to, Ri-Sumeragi? Your career isn't important, Ri-Sumeragi. You were born to be a honeypot, Ri-Sumeragi. Go seduce the Third Star Lord, Ri-Sumeragi. What have you done for us lately, Ri-Sumeragi?
Welcome home, Maggie.
Damn that Johnny! You shake your head to dismiss that memory of his voice, but it's like an airlock's been opened: more memories flit through your mind, flashes of sound and sight and smell. Little, insignificant things-
-Johnny bringing you breakfast in bed-
-Johnny making a late night snack as you work your way through a mountain of reports-
-Johnny pouring you drinks and hand-feeding you hors' d'oeuvres after you spent the night socially managing his party-
-Johnny massaging your feet as you lie on his couch-
-Johnny holding your hand for the first time-
-Johnny kissing you again and again and again-
You shake your head, march to the kitchen sink, and repeatedly splash your face with ice cold water. Get a grip, Amagi, you tell yourself. You're not some lovesick schoolgirl.
Really, Maggie?
"Get out of my head, Johnny," you snap. It takes you a moment to realise you spoke out loud to a figment of your imagination. Wonderful. Your boyfriend's not only ruining your composure, he's turning you senile, without even lifting a finger or being physically present.
You take a deep breath, and another, and another, and settle yourself. Fine, you decide. If he's not coming here tonight, you're definitely dragging him here tomorrow morning, once he gets off duty. Same plan, delayed execution, no plan survives contact with the enemy, et cetera et cetera. Time to Improvise, Adapt and Overcome. You're still going to get your claws into him, one way or another.
And, well, let's be honest. Your apartment needs cleaning anyhow; you haven't been here in months, not since you moved in with Johnny.
-=-
You give yourself a final inspection in the rearview mirror. Perfect. Your outfit is stylish, just the right balance between being demure and tilting your man. What did your boarding school roommate call it? Being thotfully proper. He'll never be able to resist your charms.
You pull up as Johnny exits Admiralty House; his eyes light up as he spots your car and recognises you. You take a moment to admire his dashing form. He wears his uniform well; getting him those bespoke tailored uniforms was an excellent use of your operating funds, worth every crown you spent on him. He truly looks and behaves like the Third Star Lord should. He waves at you, and you smile and wave back to him as he walks briskly to the passenger door.
"Good morning, Maggie," he says cheerfully, and his face is unreservedly happy to see you. He really should work on his poker face more, he's an open book to you, but, well, you work with what you have.
"Good morning, Johnny," you reply, as he buckles in. "How was your night?"
"Not as fun as yours must have been," he says wryly. You keep wearing your pleasant smile: you spent yesterday and last night cleaning your apartment and preparing the dinner you were going to cook him; now all that's left to do is to bring him back to your apartment, take the meat from the fridge and put it into the oven to slow roast, and spend the day working your claws into him (and his manhood into you).
"I really don't see how you couldn't have gotten out of being the duty officer," you say, letting a little crankiness seep out. Your man needs to be reminded of his place sometimes. "You're a Fleet Admiral, since when does a five-star do the duty?"
"Lieutenant Commander Indra Wijaya had the duty," he says matter-of-factly. You place a face to the name - SWO, doing a staff tour at Admiralty House, up for a ship command, on the promotion list for Commander. "But he's got a family and two young children. I'm a bachelor. So I swapped with him, it was a no-brainer."
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…
He glances in your direction, as you ignore the turnoff to the route to your apartment. "You missed your turn. Maggie, where are you taking us?"
"Home," you say firmly. "We're going home."
Johnny simply nods quietly, and reaches his hand out. You take it, letting it rest in your lap. He squeezes your hand.
Who honeytraps who, I wonder.
Also, if main house is full of traitors and branch family was vital in preserving current rule, guess who's new main house?
Don't worry things'll probably slow down a little.
