Approaching the Commanding General
Whiskey Golf
Being of Editing & Technical Assistance
- Location
- Chained to my desk
[X] Plan: (not) A Coup!
-[X] Short duration
-[X] Thorough Vetting
-[X] Request IRG assistance
You consider your options. In a perfect world, you'd want to spend as much time as you could on this, and have Daniel be as thorough as possible, but the reality doesn't allow for that. You remember what Chief Petty Officer Mahathir told you: "LT, you can have it good, cheap, or fast: pick two."
"Daniel, let's not spend too much time on this," you say. "I want us to be quick and thorough. I realise that means that you'll have a smaller candidate pool to give me, but I can live with that. Perfect is the enemy of good enough."
"Understood, ma'am. What about requesting assistance?"
"I'll reach out to the IRG for assistance."
"Are you sure that's wise, ma'am?"
"Not completely, no," you reply, sighing. "I'm torn between trust in the institution and trust in people. As an institution, the IRG appears more stable than the Navy, but we have personal connections in the Navy, people who we are, at the very least, reasonably sure of."
Daniel gives you a searching look, remaining silent.
"My instincts say to trust our people. But at the same time, I think we need to make inroads with the IRG. If I don't start building relationships within the IRG, when will I have relationships within the IRG? Besides, we're Fleet, we see things from a Fleet perspective. Having an outside perspective to challenge our viewpoints and biases can only be helpful."
"We'll owe them a favor," warns Daniel. "And they will be able to influence the candidate pool, and have a glimpse into our activities. I'm not completely comfortable with that, ma'am."
"I understand. It's a bullet we'll have to bite," you say. "Thank you for your counsel, Daniel. I've made my decision. Now we need to see it through. I'll speak with Major Nakahara about IRG assistance."
"By your command, Your Highness."
"This is a little irregular, Your Highness," says Major Yui Nakahara. Your young IRG liaison officer looks discomfited by your request.
"I believe you said that the IRG could provide me with assistance up to a RAGTF, within reason," you say mildly. Major Nakahara makes a valiant effort to maintain her poker face, but your request has surprised her, and you know she's trying to find the polite words to ask you "Why do you think we will help you form a power base? Do it yourself!"
"I believe I would need to raise this with my superiors," she says, stalling diplomatically. "This matter is beyond my authority to give an immediate answer to Your Highness."
"Of course," you agree graciously. "Act as you must, Major."
Major Nakahara returns the next day with news: the Commanding General of the Imperial Royal Guard wishes to meet you.
You go to her.
The Commanding General does not cut a physically imposing figure. General Tarisa Manandal, Baroness Alkahest, is a slight, slender woman, shorter than you are, just barely taller than Ahri. But what she lacks in physical height, she makes up with an imposing gaze, radiating command authority. She stands as you enter her office, striding towards you, her steps precise, measured, smooth. This is indeed the woman who fought for the chance to enter the exosuit corps despite not meeting the height requirements, who raised the finance for her personal power armor suit, customised to fit her slight frame. She's fought her way up the ladder by being competent, by being better than her peers, by navigating the internal politics of the IRG. Like Fleet Admiral Chew, she's not a woman to be trifled with.
"Welcome, Your Highness. Thank you for seeing me."
"The pleasure is mine, Commanding General."
You exchange pleasantries for a few moment, before you're steered to the purpose of your visit. General Manandal cuts right to the point. "You've requested assistance from the Guard in expanding your private intelligence team, Your Highness. That is a little… unexpected, shall we say."
"My liaison officer suggested that the IRG would provide me with assistance up to a RAGTF*," you say mildly. "Has that changed, General?"
"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?"
How will you answer the Commanding General?
[ ] 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.
[ ] 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.
[ ] 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.
[ ] Write In? A different approach may yield a different result.
* A Royal Aerospace Ground Task Force is one of the IRG's crown jewel formations, comprising a heavy naval task force of warships, mated with assault transports and dropships. This allows a RAGTF enough firepower to force entry to an opposed system and secure orbital superiority to deliver a reinforced combined arms battalion planetside, deploying light infantry, mechanised infantry, tanks, power armor troopers, gunships and aerospace fighters to an AO.
-[X] Short duration
-[X] Thorough Vetting
-[X] Request IRG assistance
You consider your options. In a perfect world, you'd want to spend as much time as you could on this, and have Daniel be as thorough as possible, but the reality doesn't allow for that. You remember what Chief Petty Officer Mahathir told you: "LT, you can have it good, cheap, or fast: pick two."
"Daniel, let's not spend too much time on this," you say. "I want us to be quick and thorough. I realise that means that you'll have a smaller candidate pool to give me, but I can live with that. Perfect is the enemy of good enough."
"Understood, ma'am. What about requesting assistance?"
"I'll reach out to the IRG for assistance."
"Are you sure that's wise, ma'am?"
"Not completely, no," you reply, sighing. "I'm torn between trust in the institution and trust in people. As an institution, the IRG appears more stable than the Navy, but we have personal connections in the Navy, people who we are, at the very least, reasonably sure of."
Daniel gives you a searching look, remaining silent.
"My instincts say to trust our people. But at the same time, I think we need to make inroads with the IRG. If I don't start building relationships within the IRG, when will I have relationships within the IRG? Besides, we're Fleet, we see things from a Fleet perspective. Having an outside perspective to challenge our viewpoints and biases can only be helpful."
"We'll owe them a favor," warns Daniel. "And they will be able to influence the candidate pool, and have a glimpse into our activities. I'm not completely comfortable with that, ma'am."
"I understand. It's a bullet we'll have to bite," you say. "Thank you for your counsel, Daniel. I've made my decision. Now we need to see it through. I'll speak with Major Nakahara about IRG assistance."
"By your command, Your Highness."
- 女王之天命 -
"This is a little irregular, Your Highness," says Major Yui Nakahara. Your young IRG liaison officer looks discomfited by your request.
"I believe you said that the IRG could provide me with assistance up to a RAGTF, within reason," you say mildly. Major Nakahara makes a valiant effort to maintain her poker face, but your request has surprised her, and you know she's trying to find the polite words to ask you "Why do you think we will help you form a power base? Do it yourself!"
"I believe I would need to raise this with my superiors," she says, stalling diplomatically. "This matter is beyond my authority to give an immediate answer to Your Highness."
"Of course," you agree graciously. "Act as you must, Major."
Major Nakahara returns the next day with news: the Commanding General of the Imperial Royal Guard wishes to meet you.
You go to her.
- 女王之天命 -
The Commanding General does not cut a physically imposing figure. General Tarisa Manandal, Baroness Alkahest, is a slight, slender woman, shorter than you are, just barely taller than Ahri. But what she lacks in physical height, she makes up with an imposing gaze, radiating command authority. She stands as you enter her office, striding towards you, her steps precise, measured, smooth. This is indeed the woman who fought for the chance to enter the exosuit corps despite not meeting the height requirements, who raised the finance for her personal power armor suit, customised to fit her slight frame. She's fought her way up the ladder by being competent, by being better than her peers, by navigating the internal politics of the IRG. Like Fleet Admiral Chew, she's not a woman to be trifled with.
"Welcome, Your Highness. Thank you for seeing me."
"The pleasure is mine, Commanding General."
You exchange pleasantries for a few moment, before you're steered to the purpose of your visit. General Manandal cuts right to the point. "You've requested assistance from the Guard in expanding your private intelligence team, Your Highness. That is a little… unexpected, shall we say."
"My liaison officer suggested that the IRG would provide me with assistance up to a RAGTF*," you say mildly. "Has that changed, General?"
"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?"
How will you answer the Commanding General?
[ ] 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.
[ ] 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.
[ ] 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.
[ ] Write In? A different approach may yield a different result.
* A Royal Aerospace Ground Task Force is one of the IRG's crown jewel formations, comprising a heavy naval task force of warships, mated with assault transports and dropships. This allows a RAGTF enough firepower to force entry to an opposed system and secure orbital superiority to deliver a reinforced combined arms battalion planetside, deploying light infantry, mechanised infantry, tanks, power armor troopers, gunships and aerospace fighters to an AO.