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The Secrets' Crusade

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@Snowfire, i have a quick question. Must the leadership of the vessel be one or the other? Couldnt they share main authority and simply co-lead the mission? they certainly both have the knowledge and experience for it, and working together has often shown greater results than separation.
 
[X] Jane Cyneburg – A talented commander in the FSN, who has been on detached duty with the Ministry of Security since the founding of the Trailblazer program. She has led multiple Trailblazer missions, including the first one. She possesses perhaps the greatest understanding of the needs of a covert operation on this scale of all humanity.
 
@Snowfire, i have a quick question. Must the leadership of the vessel be one or the other? Couldnt they share main authority and simply co-lead the mission? they certainly both have the knowledge and experience for it, and working together has often shown greater results than separation.

I figure it like this: One has the skills and experience for military and intelligence work, while the other has the experience in Practice and the uninvolved. I understand that we are looking for a top leader in this mission, one who has the ultimate authority for calling the shots, but i really feel that having just one or the other taking sole command will result in a bad situation in the future. After all, humanity has gotten where it had by this point in working together as one. Practice'd individuals like Amanda know this best; putting together Amanda and Jane's knowledge in command seems best to me. Yes, in emergency situations, i imagine jane would take over until the situation is resolved, and scientific or Uninvolved shenanigans would turn primarily to Amanda. Still, this does not mean they cannot lead together.
 
justinkal said:
Well, knowing that all four of Amanda + Mary + Iris + Adamant are involved says a ton about the gravity of the task.
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They don't know about the Adamant's involvement, but just those three on their own are rather leading, yeah.

Vortex279 said:
@Snowfire, i have a quick question. Must the leadership of the vessel be one or the other? Couldnt they share main authority and simply co-lead the mission? they certainly both have the knowledge and experience for it, and working together has often shown greater results than separation.
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The problem is that there is need for someone in the command chair when a make or break decision has to be made. Amanda and Jane are really the only options for this given their command experience, but whilst they'll certainly lead their own segments of the mission, they can't share overall authority without time lag existing. If Jane were a Unisionbound, then that wouldn't be a problem, but she's not. So the mission needs a singular shot-caller.

justinkal said:
The point is who is the one responsible for making the tough calls.
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Mission make-or-breaks in moments of time pressure, yeah. Amanda will have broad authority within her own specialisation spheres regardless, just as Jane will have the same within her own.
 
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Ah, so you are focusing on the time distinction. I guess in that case I can see why there is a need for a specific.

[X] Amanda Hawk – Although by no means practiced in covert missions, you have had more than a decade of command experience, and you were the person that the Uninvolved came to first. You are also the means for the Adamant to enter the systems hidden by the Shiplords. And you know from long experience that Practice can open doors that none but a Potential can truly understand.

[X] On Wings of Starlight: The first test of Adamant's FTL drive to a destination beyond standard range limits, to confirm its functionality.

I do wonder one thing though. Why aren't we treating this like an Admiral on a ship with a Flag Captain? The Admiral leads outright the entire operation, making the major descisions, while the Flag Captain runs the ship, making the smaller but no less significant ships operational choices. That way, we could have our cake and eat it too! Lol
 
Vortex279 said:
I do wonder one thing though. Why aren't we treating this like an Admiral on a ship with a Flag Captain? The Admiral leads outright the entire operation, making the major descisions, while the Flag Captain runs the ship, making the smaller but no less significant ships operational choices. That way, we could have our cake and eat it too! Lol
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You are. This vote is essentially choosing who gets to be Admiral.
 
[X] Jane Cyneburg – A talented commander in the FSN, who has been on detached duty with the Ministry of Security since the founding of the Trailblazer program. She has led multiple Trailblazer missions, including the first one. She possesses perhaps the greatest understanding of the needs of a covert operation on this scale of all humanity.

[X] On Wings of Starlight: The first test of Adamant's FTL drive to a destination beyond standard range limits, to confirm its functionality.

It just seems appropriate to move on to testing the drive after the shakedown. As for the mission leader it seems to me that precisely because there are so many ways Amanda can contribute that it may be best for her not to take too much onto her plate.
 
[X] Amanda Hawk – Although by no means practiced in covert missions, you have had more than a decade of command experience, and you were the person that the Uninvolved came to first. You are also the means for the Adamant to enter the systems hidden by the Shiplords. And you know from long experience that Practice can open doors that none but a Potential can truly understand.

We are Admiral she is flag captain.
 
something else to keep in mind is that Amanda can also communicate with Iris at very high speed, thus resulting in a very tight OODA loop
 
In addition to what Coda said, I feel like this just fits in with what we've seen of Amanda's character over the years.

[X] Jane Cyneburg
[X] On Wings of Starlight
 
[X] Jane Cyneburg – A talented commander in the FSN, who has been on detached duty with the Ministry of Security since the founding of the Trailblazer program. She has led multiple Trailblazer missions, including the first one. She possesses perhaps the greatest understanding of the needs of a covert operation on this scale of all humanity.

[X] On Wings of Starlight: The first test of Adamant's FTL drive to a destination beyond standard range limits, to confirm its functionality.

Amanda won't be doing a whole lot of commanding when she's deep in Speaking or Trancing.
 
[X] Amanda Hawk – Although by no means practiced in covert missions, you have had more than a decade of command experience, and you were the person that the Uninvolved came to first. You are also the means for the Adamant to enter the systems hidden by the Shiplords. And you know from long experience that Practice can open doors that none but a Potential can truly understand.

[X] On Wings of Starlight: The first test of Adamant's FTL drive to a destination beyond standard range limits, to confirm its functionality.

//
Our time-pressure situations will most likely happen in a sitation where Amanda either needs to do some Practice bs or break off. There won't be time to communicate the options, therefore it needs to be Amanda calling the shot.
Dito in a situation where Iris calls out 'they detected us' and someone has to make the 'continue or flee' decision.
 
Snowfire said:
They don't know about the Adamant's involvement, but just those three on their own are rather leading, yeah.
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Also, Aya was an option. She didn't get selected, in the end, but certainly that means Amanda has talked it over with her. She won't know the details, but she'll know far more than most.

What Aya learns, Nei is bound to find out. They've both got a good head on their shoulders, so they won't spread the information randomly, but certainly everyone close to them will know that something is up.

[X] Jane Cyneburg – A talented commander in the FSN, who has been on detached duty with the Ministry of Security since the founding of the Trailblazer program. She has led multiple Trailblazer missions, including the first one. She possesses perhaps the greatest understanding of the needs of a covert operation on this scale of all humanity.

We had a long period of Amanda being the leader of humanity. Putting her in charge of the mission would effectively be a return to that, and I don't really... feel like it. Besides that, I'd rather let her focus on her own side of things; there may not be time to split our attention.

[X] On Wings of Starlight: The first test of Adamant's FTL drive to a destination beyond standard range limits, to confirm its functionality.
 
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Snowfire said:
You must now decide who will assume overall command of the Adamant's mission, once you leave Sol.
[] Jane Cyneburg – A talented commander in the FSN, who has been on detached duty with the Ministry of Security since the founding of the Trailblazer program. She has led multiple Trailblazer missions, including the first one. She possesses perhaps the greatest understanding of the needs of a covert operation on this scale of all humanity.
[] Amanda Hawk – Although by no means practiced in covert missions, you have had more than a decade of command experience, and you were the person that the Uninvolved came to first. You are also the means for the Adamant to enter the systems hidden by the Shiplords. And you know from long experience that Practice can open doors that none but a Potential can truly understand.
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I'm not even sure this is the right question. I mean, it's obvious that the original intent of the mission's setup was that Amanda should have strategic command, while Jane should have tactical command. This is slightly complicated by the fact that Amanda herself is a stronger tactical asset than almost the entire rest of the crew combined, and the winning plan of MAXIMUM FRIENDSHIP chose to bring along basically Amanda's entire Heartcircle, so in a crisis she, and they, can act so much faster than a Potential who doesn't have a Unison device that poor Jane will be essentially standing still.

It's for this reason that I have to pick:

[X] Amanda Hawk – Although by no means practiced in covert missions, you have had more than a decade of command experience, and you were the person that the Uninvolved came to first. You are also the means for the Adamant to enter the systems hidden by the Shiplords. And you know from long experience that Practice can open doors that none but a Potential can truly understand.

[X] On Wings of Starlight: The first test of Adamant's FTL drive to a destination beyond standard range limits, to confirm its functionality.

Tayta Malikai said:
In addition to what Coda said, I feel like this just fits in with what we've seen of Amanda's character over the years.

[X] Jane Cyneburg
[X] On Wings of Starlight
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I'm not sure that's even true at all. I mean, just last update Amanda saw an opportunity to interfere in a test that, if she were following the proper chain of command, she should have kept her sticky fingers out of, and we voted for her to jump. We did the same during Second Contact, where we has Amanda jump in when she detected the Shiplord nanovirus infection, before that when we chose to have her carve out a SCIENCE fiefdom for herself rather than carefully subordinating herself to the new President, and before that when we voted to have her intervene during the Restoration of Mytikas rather than letting Vega's Harmonic Circle do their jobs.

The theme is clear: while Amanda is not a particular fan of the power or accolades associated with being in charge, she is not shy at taking the reigns when she feels she can do a better job, even when it is not her job to do so. Is it somewhat hypocritical of her? Sure, but it's also very, very human, especially in this new breed of more-empathic Humanity 2.1 that we're seeing in this Quest.
 
[X] Amanda Hawk – Although by no means practiced in covert missions, you have had more than a decade of command experience, and you were the person that the Uninvolved came to first. You are also the means for the Adamant to enter the systems hidden by the Shiplords. And you know from long experience that Practice can open doors that none but a Potential can truly understand.

[X] On Wings of Starlight: The first test of Adamant's FTL drive to a destination beyond standard range limits, to confirm its functionality.
 
[X] Amanda Hawk – Although by no means practiced in covert missions, you have had more than a decade of command experience, and you were the person that the Uninvolved came to first. You are also the means for the Adamant to enter the systems hidden by the Shiplords. And you know from long experience that Practice can open doors that none but a Potential can truly understand.

[X] A Family Farewell: Amanda, Mary and Iris bid their family and closest friends goodbye, as they prepare for the journey ahead.
 
[X] Jane Cyneburg – A talented commander in the FSN, who has been on detached duty with the Ministry of Security since the founding of the Trailblazer program. She has led multiple Trailblazer missions, including the first one. She possesses perhaps the greatest understanding of the needs of a covert operation on this scale of all humanity.

[X] On Wings of Starlight: The first test of Adamant's FTL drive to a destination beyond standard range limits, to confirm its functionality.
 
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