Much is spoken of the First Vitelian Empire’s most famous leader, the radiant and great Augustus Superbus. Most of it is praise by traditionalists, mournful pleas for his reimaging to come forth and divest Vitelia of its woes, especially by those who would consider him a Saint who enacted the Will of God. Yet those who called themselves Futurists considered a different aspect of him besides grandiose glory attributed to his reign and his Empire. Emperor Augustus was trained in the classical way by his father, Titianus Superbus, founder of the First Empire, and Augustus authored his chronicle on philosophy and rulership a long while into his famous reign, but that chronicle was also not what Futurists considered. Instead, they examined an apocryphal writing by Augustus, one made in his youth, said to have been written just before he was selected as heir to an empire. Structured as a poetic epic might be, Augustus was far from a talented poet at the time, were said writing indicative of his skill, but the words were those of a sort that led to any claims of authorship being denied and refuted by those who venerated his name most over the centuries. The poem was part of a collection, an entire story, though it had been long lost or never completed. The individual nature of the poem even lends credence to the widespread thought that it was a forgery merely attributed to a famous name, as it was discovered over two hundred years after Augustus’s death. It described an adventure of a man called Helgo, who was a compatriot of Sversk the Conqueror, though in braving the maelstrom alongside him, he was blown south while Sversk was blown north, Helgo eventually making landfall in ancient Vitelia, where he would form his kingdom. Helgo was, of course, fictional, as no records whatsoever record him, his voyage, or even being one of Sversk’s companions, but there is also little to imply that Augustus claimed him to be real either. All of that beside the point, interpreted from the remnants of the singular piece of the epic, the poem called Turris Somniorum described Helgo and his followers, numbering over one thousand then, coming upon a great and mysterious tower with a shining beacon at its head, which had been followed out of the Maelstrom. At the tower’s foot was a strange inscription, claiming that one who claimed the light at the top of the tower, would have their wishes granted, if only they could reach so high. All that was mentioned next, in the poem’s incomplete form, was how Helgo returned from the tower’s peak completely alone, and how the tower’s visage was a grim one indeed, but he needed no longer look upon its terrifying height.Such is the story wrote by a young Emperor to be, and the fascination of Futurists. They wonder themselves; is this Tower of Dreams, the Torre dei Sogni, something that the young Emperor knew one must conquer, no matter the time and place, if they are to forge a path into a greater era?-----
Modofumare, Vitelia. January 7, 1929It was in the dark of night, chilly enough that one might have thought there would be snow, but it was a dead, dry sort of cold, and no beauty of winter would be coming down from the heavens to anoint this city. So much the better. Di Avolo hated snow. Its tranquility offended his sensibilities. Velekam was a creature of chaos, and nature’s wintry machinations conspired to paint its portrait as a lie. Freezing rain better suited his idea of the world, even this place, which thought itself to be an experiment of socialist utopia. It was clean enough. Quiet enough. The order imposed on this city was one of force nevertheless, regardless of aspirations towards it being controlled by the collective of the proletariat.If any of the few he passed in the streets knew he was a noble of high standing, they might have spat upon him, but Di Avolo simply smiled at them and wished them a pleasant night politely, and none could help but smile back. Even the women who walked the streets at night with confidence they were safe, returned expressions that spoke of wondering if they should speak further, perhaps find dinner, so bewitching was that well practiced bow of his lip and twinkling of eyes, but Di Avolo was already covering an appointment for his evening.It was at an empty café. Closed, to those who followed the commands of signage, but those who looked further would have found a lonely man with a hot mug of memories, and Di Avolo already knew what he would find when he went through that portal as much as that man might have said that he already knew he was coming to visit him.Di Avolo entered, and bells jingled behind him as the door swung open and closed. The man at the counter did not turn around, and Di Avolo waited until the last chime of bell before he asked cheerily, “Are you the proprietor? You’d have more clients if you turned the sign about. The lights being on give a certain impression, you know.”The sound of a new voice got the blonde man to turn his head, then return it looking forward. “So,” he said with a sip of his coffee substitute, “You must be the much unspoken of Di Avolo.”
So he did know names without being told. “And you,” Di Avolo said back with a smile as he moved to seat himself besides, “Are Signore Cesare Fabius.” He sat himself fearlessly, intimately next to the man. “You are a difficult man to find.”A tired face aged beyond its years glanced back at Di Avolo’s smile. “You know very well why that is.”“The Autarch is looking for you. Not that he’s told anybody why, but I have my suspicions.”“Go on, then.”Di Avolo raised an eyebrow. “I would have thought you’d do or say something rash. I’m somewhat disappointed.”Cesare scoffed. “You came alone and dressed plainly. You aren’t here to act on anything. I don’t need to be a seer to predict that.”“Almost nineteen years ago. You remember back then? The final year of our last war against the Grossreich, and a bloody year it was. I recall you were captured in an Imperial offensive. You practically vanished, though. Fealinn was uninterested in making exchanges, and gave little information on who was held captive. You may as well have been dead.” “This is a history lesson, then.”“Eight years ago, some months on that, you and a number of other prisoners of war were plucked from a Fealinnese mining camp. The men who would become Revolutionary Premiers over Vitelia’s east and west both took a band of fighters out to attack this camp, and freed you in the process. Ten years in captivity…it changes any man, doesn’t it, let alone one slaved to break stone. You were mentally handicapped for years. Only a couple of years back, I think, did you enter the stage again. You’ve a significant place in this commune, yes? Though it seems to not be one publicly boasted of…”“Do you need to talk if you’re going to speak of what we both already know?” Cesare wondered out loud without looking at Di Avolo.Di Avolo chuckled. “Please, Signore Fabius. I know that you recognize rhetoric, even if you were not the most famed speaker of the Young Futurists. I am laying out my points so you do not demand evidence for what I’m about to say. This curious thing that I cannot help but notice. Everything in your shared history with Signore Leon and Signore Bonaventura, they indicate you are all precious to one another, yes? Would you not be family, practically? They are godfathers to each other’s children, recognized by the Cathedra the world over…Where are you, in this relation? There’s even a spare woman to neatly tie all of you together. Yet you never married, never sought an affair…Are you a homosexual?”Cesare smiled incredulously. “Did you come out all this way to ask that? Are you trying to solicit me, signore? I would have never taken the likes of you to be a secret admirer.”
“I would not be so evasive about it. I merely test you.” The real noticing had been for something else. “For all your camaraderie, all your closeness, all that you all sacrificed for each other, why, if you had walked in instead of me, you’d carry a limp. You were trusted enough of Signore Bonaventura that he placed in in charge of his security. Surely more. Yet you did not move to assume his place when the attempt was made on his life. Now, after he has woken back up, you are a particularly desirable person to seek out again amongst those who trusted you most…curious, isn’t it?”Cesare sipped at his barley coffee, eyes half closed in their glance to Di Avolo. “I’ve lost any appetite for games of power. Perhaps they want me to join them again. If you don’t say what you think you’ve noticed, then I’ve no comment to make save for blind speculation.”That brought the teeth out in Di Avolo’s smile. “You said yourself that I need not speak of what we both already know.” Silence and stillness. “I investigated your mental asylum records. The attendants there said you had delusions of foresight. A few were forthcoming enough to say they noticed, though, that what you could coherently predict was disturbingly accurate…for a very brief period of time.” He leaned in close as though to whisper, even though nobody was around. “I’d like to propose an arrangement to you. I could fulfill whatever material desire you have, no matter what it is.”Cesare turned his face fully to the nobleman. “I want for nothing, as should be in Utopia.”“As it should be? Oh, but we do not live in your future yet, Signore Fabius.” Di Avolo said, “Utopia itself may want for nothing, but to gain it, now, that requires much more, doesn’t it? You know that what I’m saying is true. You want for much indeed…and that price must be completely justifiable, for what you have already paid to try and bring about your Future…”-----
Student, officer, soldier, rebel. Adventurer, Revolutionary Premier, father, warlord. You, Palmiro Bonaventura, have been many things and have gone many places in your quest to bring about the Dawn of the New Era, of Utopia. At this moment, you act as Legato of the Aurora Legion. Patron, commander, and ideological leader all in one. Such was seen as a necessary title for an armed force which sought to bring about the world of the future, fighting against obstacles to it. For now it was a mercenary force, though most of the Legion’s members reinvested their gains into the Legion or accepted rather little pay, having faith that you would not abuse the fruits of their labor.Of course, you had and would never. For that would be to go against your own dream. Nevertheless, times were still admittedly those of preparation, of building up, for the Legion’s current battle was not for a Revolutionary cause save for in abstract. You had gone across the sea to find employ in Caelus, the Caelussian Federation offering much pay and chance to prove yourselves for having to cross an ocean to reach it, leaving the homes of all those in the Legion behind for the time being.Also left on the old continent were your firstborn daughter Vittoria and eldest son Lorenzo, both engaged in higher education. Vittoria attending the Azure Halls of Lapizlazuli in learning humanities and principles of the Revolution and the World, just like her father, while Lorenzo was in far off from anywhere Naukland learning engineering. The rest of your family had come along with you to Caelus, including the son of your friend Elena, Benito Giarno…since he was your child by her, even if you had done nothing to knowingly conceive him. She had remained behind, for her own reasons.As for your Legion, it was divided between two parts of Caelus. The northernmost country of Domensgrepp hosted your 3rd Battalion, made up of neophyte Vitelians, though two of its companies had gone south in exchange for two companies from your expedition before to the secretive underground. In Petrekora to the south were your other two battalions, the 1st and 2nd, though the other had been dubbed the Mobile Battalion for its motorized and mechanized makeup, both in different operations.Word had come of the supposedly ordinary and easy campaign 1st Battalion was meant to embark on having some exceptional circumstances. For reasons of security, you’d heard naught of what said circumstances were, though it had now been some days since their operations concluded. Merely the mundane had passed vaguely along. The same was the case for the Mobile Battalion- you hoped to hear from both soon. Not the least because they engaged in war of greater scale than any they’d fought before, a risky but necessary step in the Legion’s place in history.
An encouraging tone was present with 1st Battalion’s surreptitious comms. You had to wonder how the Mobile Battalion was doing, but your present active business was with 3rd Battalion. If only you could get some correspondence with your older children, you’d feel less uneasy about this fog of ignorance that had been spread over your life and its works- especially since Vittoria remained in Vitelia- but it would surely clear up soon…right?Back to 3rd Battalion and your business with it, though. Your present role was to help keep the peace in the northern Federation nation of Domensgrepp, where there was no shortage of unrest from decades if not centuries of bad blood, both between Domensgrepp and the Federation as well as between its own rival clans, each of whom had gripes with another from having failed to defeat the ascendant leader of the Federation when they might have stopped it. Now they were a conquered people, and understandably did not want such an identity no matter the benefits of the Federation. Why would the mighty Federation hire mercenaries to keep peace in its own lands? Well, for one, Petrekora was taking up more attention than they would want to admit publicly and there wasn’t much in the way of spare troops, and the Domensgrepp Nauk themselves, while possessed of a strong military and reserve forces used for territorial duties, was averse to policing its own people. That was where you came in. Help to keep tensions down and violence from escalating…through clever use of appropriate force in the right place. While being an asset that was easy to clean up if you failed, considering how easily your cause could be divorced from the motives of the Federation. One way or another, you would serve their grand purpose. Acceptable; as long as they also served yours. It was the beginning of the year of 1929, a new year, and in the midst of the bitterest winter you’d ever felt…even if the locals considered it relatively mild. Many things right now could command your attention, but nothing demanded it. 3rd Battalion had been called upon to help quell expected rioting and protests in the regional capital of Eigansbrand- a supposedly simple task, but many of 3rd Battalion were untested in the field, so a lot could go wrong even with something relatively simple. Especially considering that few knew much of local culture and language besides the most basic things. You could go along to lend your considerable experience and help prevent the worst from happening in case of a disaster- but the worst would still likely not be devastating.
There were other things that you could rightfully attend to, after all. You could continue collecting information and administering from the Legion’s post in Andersenshaven, its new base freshly built and garrisoned with a token force able to prevent troublemakers from interfering. Here, you could spend time with family, as well as potentially investigate happenings from the homelands, though you’d be taking a rather passive role.Alternatively, you might look south to the rest of the Legion. An important communique implied a surprise was sailing north, after the conclusion of western operations in Petrekora. Meeting the 1st Battalion mission in the middle was advised- apparently, something had happened that had caused that campaign to wrap up quite quickly indeed. It was undoubtedly a matter of resources and money- and thus presented the opportunity for investment and reorganization.Yet, there were further horizons to look to. The Aurora Legion’s Mobile Battalion, by far the highest investment of new technologies and assets, was taking part in battle still. You could take a flight down south and investigate its fortunes directly, perhaps even take field command once more- but an active front was dangerous, and your wife wouldn’t like you doing that.>Sending your newest Battalion off without oversight was a poor idea for a leader- go there and ensure that they succeed- and that they know you are a leader who watches out for his men. (Command 3rd Battalion’s Eigansbrand Operation)>The Legion knew how to handle itself. You were Legato, not General- and that meant you had other things to handle away from the domain of the soldier. (Remain at Andersenshaven and take care of personal matters)>What surprise might 1st Battalion have journeying up to you? What surprise might it be that it had to be kept so under wraps when it came to telegrams? Curiosity compelled you to investigate… (Handle 1st Battalion’s new developments and acquisitions)>The Legion’s Best had been thrown into the teeth of Petrekora, and you’d not yet heard anything good or bad- that would have to change. It was time to place yourself near another war, perhaps even within one again… (Check up on the Mobile Battalion)>Other?
Hey all, just about on expected time, but I don't necessarily have everything ready for every route, so it'll be a couple days before I call voting and get started proper. In the meantime I'll be glad to review or answer anything people need cleared up since it has been a while.
>>6461043>The Legion knew how to handle itself. You were Legato, not General- and that meant you had other things to handle away from the domain of the soldier. (Remain at Andersenshaven and take care of personal matters)Got to use the first vote to make sure the wife and kids are alright.The eternal anti-deadbeat rhythm hammers away, even now.
>>6461043>The Legion’s Best had been thrown into the teeth of Petrekora, and you’d not yet heard anything good or bad- that would have to change. It was time to place yourself near another war, perhaps even within one again… (Check up on the Mobile Battalion)So we're doing ten threads of epilogue now? Five threads of interlogue then another skirmish?
>>6461055+1 Your kids will never remember your work, only whether you were there or not.
>>6461043>What surprise might 1st Battalion have journeying up to you? What surprise might it be that it had to be kept so under wraps when it came to telegrams? Curiosity compelled you to investigate… (Handle 1st Battalion’s new developments and acquisitions)Settle it whilst it's fresh in people's minds
>>6461043>What surprise might 1st Battalion have journeying up to you? What surprise might it be that it had to be kept so under wraps when it came to telegrams? Curiosity compelled you to investigate… (Handle 1st Battalion’s new developments and acquisitions)
>>6461043>What surprise might 1st Battalion have journeying up to you? What surprise might it be that it had to be kept so under wraps when it came to telegrams? Curiosity compelled you to investigate… (Handle 1st Battalion’s new developments and acquisitions)Old Blackhand isn't prone to overexaggerations, what mysteries has he brought with him from Petrekora?Yes, I'm a little biased towards our boys in the 1st, sue me.
>>6461043>>6461043>The Legion knew how to handle itself. You were Legato, not General- and that meant you had other things to handle away from the domain of the soldier. (Remain at Andersenshaven and take care of personal matters)The new boys can handle themselves and I want Palmiro to actually spend some time with his family. Besides, collecting information and resources seems the best use of our skills right now. Altough, the skirmish does make me want to pick the meeting with 1st Battalion...
>>6461043>What surprise might 1st Battalion have journeying up to you? What surprise might it be that it had to be kept so under wraps when it came to telegrams? Curiosity compelled you to investigate… (Handle 1st Battalion’s new developments and acquisitions)>>6461045>In the meantime I'll be glad to review or answer anything people need cleared up since it has been a while.Where do we know Di Avolo from? Who is he?
>>6461043>>What surprise might 1st Battalion have journeying up to you? What surprise might it be that it had to be kept so under wraps when it came to telegrams? Curiosity compelled you to investigate… (Handle 1st Battalion’s new developments and acquisitions)
I forgot to do my usual spiel of my xitter (@scheissfunker) where I post pictures and announcements and stuff and also the Rentry where you can find past threads, which is https://rentry.co/PanzerCommanderQuestAt some point I will have the quick reference in some state of readiness.>>6461056>So we're doing ten threads of epilogue now? Five threads of interlogue then another skirmish?Something like that. Though I think we can crunch it down to two and then have the skirmish be me forcing you to make your children fight each other.>>6461455>Where do we know Di Avolo from? Who is he?He's popped up in the intros to Revolutionary Man threads. You in character do not know him- as for who he is, who knows? Perhaps somebody important, but to what degree isn't a certainty.>>6461055>6461071>6461326You have these things called a wife and a children, as well as an army. Well, your wife seems intent on making an army anyways.>>6461056Some sort of Panzer Commander Quest.>>6461106>6461160>6461227>6461294>6461455>6461619>6461640What's a skirmish anyways?Funny that the thing I did the most preparation for and wasn't sure how to work out turned out to be on the chopping block. Updating.
Of everything that could claim your attention, you wouldn’t have anticipated it would be 1st Battalion when you had sent them off. Their assignment, after all, was meant to be of little difficulty or consequence. The best guess you had was it being a sideshow or distraction for the other two offensives occurring at the same time, meant more to sooth Roxolani pride (the member of the Federation whose pride was most bruised thus far by the upstart Petrekoran rebellion) than to achieve a strategic objective.Yet. The claim of exceptional events and consequences had piqued your curiosity. What could possibly be waiting, when you journeyed south to meet 1st Battalion’s special delivery in the middle, at sea, where a meeting might be as secret as possible?You hired a flying boat pilot to make the special trip. Finding the small convoy that Lieutenant Colonel Schwarzehand had told of heading north would be little trouble with their exact heading and a frequency of communications given, though it would be a few days of effort, even with assistance from staff personnel. Yena and the children had been hoping you might stick around what had become the new home away from home- but your business was pressing. Even staying back, you wouldn’t be sure how much of a holiday it’d really be.On the tenth of January of 1929, you directed the Nauk flying boat pilot to make a water landing near enough to a pair of vessels, one flying the distinctive Red and Yellow of the dawn, for them to send a launch to pick you up. He was only happy to oblige- you’d paid handsomely for fast and personal service.Said vessel flying the red and gold seemed like a large transport ship- the cranes on it one of an auxiliary, a resupply or maintenance ship, or a tender of some sort. Though for such a ship, it was very heavily armed, what was surely a cruiser sized main gun affixed to its bow, anti-aircraft guns bristling wherever they could be mounted. For a cargo ship it was very fearsome, and only made you wonder more what such weaponry might be defending.It was certainly big enough, you noted as it got closer and a motor launch was lowered over the side to pick you up. It came to the flying boat, and you saw the familiar large bodied form of your 1st Battalion’s long time commander at its head.Lieutenant Colonel Schwarzehand had been around you for a long time, though you couldn’t be sure of exactly when he first might have come under your command. In Gilicia at some point, the former Black Coat imperial terror trooper had become one of your soldiers. Then he had come seeking either adventure, compensation, or perhaps fulfillment of some debt you knew naught about in helping to free Vitelian prisoners from the clutches of the Fealinnese. Then he was there upon formation of the Legion. His men joked that he was chasing after your nubile eldest daughter, adult that she was now, but you highly doubted such slander.
The reports coming from him in particular had been another curiosity. Jeno Schwarzehand was a dour, curmudgeonly scowler of a man, and never one to tell tall tales or seek attention in any way save for how he might apply the baton more firmly to motivate troops to exceed themselves. Something remarkable, described by him, would have to truly be brow raising.“Signore Legato, Bonaventura.” he called to you with stiff posture and a firm salute, one mirrored by a trio of what you recognized as 1st Company troopers behind him, clanking in their imposing heavy armor, freshly cleaned and polished as though they’d spent every minute before you arrived making themselves look even more without peer. “Didn’t think you’d meet us in the middle, boss.”“I had time,” you said as you took his heavy hand and let yourself be pulled over to the launch. “Domani will be properly tested without me watching over his shoulder, just as you proved yourself in higher command at Stonebreaker.”“Let’s hope he doesn’t face a Stonebreaker.” Schwarzehand said with tight lips. “Boy’s green as your wife’s head. Be surprised if he’s even seen blood.”“He came recommended from a fellow veteran of the worst war we have ever been a part of,” you reassured the man. “Mere peacekeeping doesn’t match what the Mobile Battalion has been doing. Or 1st Battalion, for that matter. Which brings us to whatever you have to say that can’t be said over telegram..?” “Yeah.” Schwarzehand nodded to one of the launch crew, plainly clothed 6th Company if you had to guess. “Take us back over. Best tell amongst our own.”“What is this?” You had to ask as the auxiliary transport loomed over. “On loan?”“Nah.” Schwarzehand said. “It’s ours. Crew too. The men called it L’Alba Prospera. Bit starchy for my liking, but hell, they were the ones who earned it.”“Is this the surprise, then?” It was quite impressive. Not a prize you expected.“Only the first of many.” The Lieutenant Colonel jerked his head to the small ship to the transport’s two o’clock, a frigate by the size of it. “That too. Though that’s not as firmly ours. The Feddies want to negotiate over it or something, though the men took it fair and square. For now, it’s our escort.”He really did have a lot to tell, then.
So he did, when you were finally aboard the L’Alba Prospera, a huge proportion of the crew and guards flatteringly waiting to see you before you went to the bridge with Schwarzehand. The seemingly uneventful Roxorient Campaign had turned into something else entirely for the Aurora Legion. Whilst the Federation was tight lipped about what they had your men do, the pay that was now clearly seen spoke to the importance of it. While the Federation Army did not recognize what was done, no such obligation was extended to the Legion in spite of any vague warning of it being Federation business. A full report was ready for your hands- though not for general release.You read through the thick sheaf of papers quietly. Personnel logs, combat records, extremely detailed accounts of movement and actions. “I recognize some of the names here,” you told Schwarzehand. “They’ve been around some time, haven’t they?”“Yes, Legato.” Schwarzehand said. “It being a special mission for volunteers drew out people with the most to prove.”The number of volunteers had been quite substantial, too. Enough to rather drain First Battalion- and limit its operations, much to the consternation of the captains of the companies. Though their contributions were never meant to be critical, it turned out the Federation had still not quite accounted for the resilience of even a tertiary front. The reports detailed a risky airlanding operation to seize an unknown important objective, and a mysterious enemy that turned out to be one you could hardly have predicted. Sky Pirates- a potential foe you’d expected on the seas, not Petrekora. Why they had come around and what they were even doing even now remained a mystery, besides that they had come to retrieve something that the Federation wanted.After that, the Federation not having gained what they expected from the Legion’s intervention (which did not go to plan, yet still went very well), the next mission that was given to what was now referred to in operations logs as the Special Task Force was to land behind enemy lines and capture a harbor being used for evacuation- to cut off these Sky Pirate interlopers from their route of escape.“Could Sky Pirates not simply fly away? Perhaps with flying boats? I’m sure they have them.”“Not that simple, boss, they were in deep outside their usual territory,” Schwarzehand said. “Besides, they were getting around with…something else. That and the Federation had too much flying around all over for them to risk a big slow flying boat.”The Sky Pirates were not encountered in the night assault on the harbor- this battle being where this very ship, as well as its escort, were captured. Field testing of a Federation combat drug had taken place in this battle as well- to devastating effect.“How effective was it?” You asked warily, thinking little of chemical augmentations.
“Extremely,” Schwarzehand said, “The side effects are pretty bad, though. Turned our rookies into monsters, but people come down off it hard. Easy to overexert yourself and hurt yourself bad. Easy to fight through injuries without realizing they’re doing you in. I’d criticize it but I don’t know if we’d have won some parts of these battles without it. Things were close. Maybe we’d have pulled through without.”The Federation was likely to charge a high price for its secret drug if they knew how good it was. Best not to become reliant. The night assault won, however, the Sky Pirates had come again…with a deal. One that you had to frown at the implications of.“So.” You said, setting the papers down a moment, “We’re seeking to trick the Federation, then. Is there any chance that this has been discovered?”“Maybe.” Schwarzehand admitted. “But even they didn’t seem to know what they were looking for. They thought to the very end that the Aeropirates had turned around and gone somewhere else. They had no reason to think we ever met with them. I don’t think they really knew what they were geared up with either. They call themselves Free Folk, and they’re awful sneaky. Even their tanks.”Yes. Their tank, that was mentioned. You did have to make a point to see that, since equipment had been part of the deal for working with them. The oddity of your own Subterranean Armors might somehow be exceeded…Then came the last operation for the Special Task Force. A raid using the captured ships from the port assault to storm the headquarters base for the whole of the Petrekoran Roxorient front. A critical point that, if it was taken and held, would prove an irrecoverable disaster for the Rebellion’s attempts to delay in the west, as they had little strategic choice but to do.The risk had been enormous. If any of the operations had encountered catastrophe, then First Battalion, the core of your experienced line infantry and a capability built up painstakingly over years, could have been utterly eviscerated. Yet the payoff for the risk had been a lucrative one. Not even a month past, any budgetary expansion was an unthinkable extravagance. Now, the Legion had obtained an actual boatload, boat included, of wealth and war-making materiel. All that you lacked was a source of manpower to utilize it with…so your potential for proper expansion of numbers and business was still static. Perhaps it was not such a bad thing to have sums at the ready for a future endeavor that would offer more opportunity than anything short term, but considering the scale of what had happened, it couldn’t be helped that you wanted to hurry.
Moreover, the event was making waves where it was permitted to be discussed. The Federation at large would definitely hear of the Aurora Legion now if it hadn’t before- and Petrekora would know them well too as an enemy to be accounted for, if the Mobile Battalion somehow hadn’t already placed you as such with whatever they were up to. “Since then, 1st Battalion’s been taking it easy.” Schwarzehand said as you finished reviewing operations. “Don’t know if it was the brightest idea. Ended up working out anyways. I left Captain Ponte in command to come up here. In case of an emergency he has my staff.”“The casualties over the course of all this?” you had to ask, not counting them up in total as you were reading, feeling a need to know before you turned the page to read it.“Very few, all things considered.” Schwarzehand let a little pride into his mean tone. “From the operations, and what the rest of the battalion was up to, the crap in between and the little stuff since…some of the guys might say they didn’t lose anybody at all. Don’t be quick to believe them, if only we were so lucky, but they did do real, real good. Our casualties of wounded and killed barely broke three digits for the whole battalion, not just the STF. One hundred and twenty-four, only a third of those fatalities. Not counting minor wounds that you walk off in a week.” One hundred and twenty-four was no small number, but for a battalion of over thirteen hundred, it was indeed light casualties for an involved field operation, especially considering that two companies were new to combat, and oftentimes blooding a freshly trained unit against a capable foe was a huge gamble.“So the battalion is still combat ready,” you concluded.“Perfectly able, Legato, but we’ve been sitting on our butts for now. We’ve got a base and a bunch of loot. Sitting on top of it like chickens and eggs.”Said loot was the next thing to review and catalogue, starting with the mundane.
Over the course of what the Federation called Operation Osennyayaanoch (Autumn Night or something like that- it had been called November First in pre-planning) the Legion’s 1st Battalion had been steadily reequipping itself. Much of the Special Task Force’s members had been using their share of the large sums of pay to outfit themselves with advanced federation equipment, and with the logistical pains that the limited amounts of western ammunition carried in supplying repeated battles, practically all of 1st Battalion had reequipped itself with either Federation equipment or Petrekoran captured weaponry, which both used local plentiful sources of munitions. It wouldn’t have surprised you if the Mobile Battalion had done the same in their own endeavor, though their ammunition was even more exotic and specialized than mere rifle bullets.One of the main items of interest when it came to captured enemy equipment was the large amount of T-8 and armored cars that had been seized by the Legion in their special operations. Twelve T-8s (two platoons and change) and sixteen armored cars. Whilst it would have been very exciting a year past, these days, when the Stijder had been proving their worth and were so immensely superior in almost every way, it was not so much a windfall to have these tanks that the Stijder company could obliterate with little effort. Or, for that matter, any other part of the Legion with anti-tank capabilities, for the T-8 was a machine made to equip forces that relied on mass of metal and men, a perfect design for what it was made to do, which was to be built quickly and cheaply and to not be demanding of maintenance nor large numbers of expert crew. Armed with a four-centimeter gun and a machine gun mounted to the weapon (not even an initial allowance in the design, such was a Petrekoran modification), it was certainly capable of dishing out punishment at least. The armored cars were of a general type called a B-L2, and armed with but a single heavy 12.7-millimeter heavy machine gun in its turret, though its six wheels made it decent at off-road travel. Both sorts of vehicle were merely bulletproof, and far from brawlers.
Granted, they were still armored vehicles and very imposing to any who lacked means of fighting such, and only an idiot would underestimate them, but you wondered if they were the right way forward for the Legion, especially when they were already outdated in terms of fighting ability. One could equip a new armored company anyways, but there was the alternative of forming a training cadre. T-8s were, amongst their other practical but boring qualities, apparently very easy to learn to operate. Compared to the Stijder, whose crew required Subterranean physical augmentations to properly operate their incredibly complex contraptions, a T-8 was so simple to operate and learn on that it was like teaching the operation of a plain utility truck. A useful tool for educating those who would move on to other things…Alternatively, they could simply be sold, washing your hands of any need to support the operations of yet more specialist units and freeing budget for other things.>Waste not want not, lacking or no it was still armor, and the Legion needed to expand. Plan for a new armored company. The metal and guns would be good for a long time to come.>While this looted materiel wasn’t something to be used to fight for the future, it could still be used to prepare. Form a training cadre- any future mechanized forces would have a base of trainees to draw from.>These vehicles might not have been the best or most modern armored fighting vehicles in their current forms, but perhaps they could still find use as something else. Keep them for the parts they are.>This quantity of equipment was valuable to somebody- but not you. The best thing to do was to find a buyer and cash in steel for silver while it was still the sort of equipment in demand.>Other?Before any talk of the more exotic materiel…and people was had, there was apparently a pressing decision waiting to be made. Something of particular excitement amongst First Battalion.Personnel assignment. “As far as I’ve talked it over with the others. You know, First Battalion’s officers, the Special Task Force people themselves,” Schwarzehand itched at his back and stretched with a grit of his teeth, a loud pop coming from his shoulders at his greatest extension. “We’ve got three general options. One. We reform the Special Task Force mostly as it was when it was in its last op, roughly two company strength. An old fashion demi-battalion formation. We have the leadership for it. Emrean War stock. Platoon leaders and assistants. Potential ready to step up for the extra duties. Plenty of the STF guys would be happy about that, but there’s a big problem with the idea.”“Being?” You could already presume, but wanted to hear it from the man who had commanded the lot.
“It’d gut First Battalion,” Schwarzehand said, “The STF is made up of a lot of the most effective soldiers of their companies, especially First Company. Volunteer ops tend to draw out that sort, but while they were away, coordination and execution suffered. Carving out First Battalion’s best and leaving behind the rest, well, First Battalion won’t be happy about that, especially the captains, because you’ll have to replace everybody who got taken out with completely new people. Now, a Demi-Battalion like the STF could probably do just about anything, as they’ve shown, but the rest of the Legion suffers for it. Elite units aren’t the most popular with their own people for a reason. You’d have to ask if we want to make it so clear that we’ve got a favorite, best unit, considering what our ideals are, boss.”“I understand. However, if it is a necessity, I should expect my captains to understand. Elites have their place, and so do linemen. I know that well enough. What is the second alternative? To have a company rather than a demi-battalion?”“Yeah, that exactly.” Scwarzehand hooked his thumbs in his pocket with a singular nod. “We take the STF people and some others who’ve proven themselves elsewhere in other ways, and form a unit with a special designated purpose, not just a group that has the most and best toys. A single company, and it’d hollow out First Battalion a lot less, and since we’d draw from everywhere, no unit would feel left out. We’d have less positions to give out deserved promotions to, but it’d be cleaner. Neater. Less of an imposition on the rest of the Legion. Less demanded of the Captains.”“The third option, then?” Though if one option was a twin company force and the other was a single company, the last choice would be…“No new unit. Everybody stays in their companies. A few people might feel unappreciated. After all, they’d like to advance in importance after pulling this off. But,” Schwarzehand rocked on his feet. “I’m still battalion commander after this. Most people aren’t gonna rise in ranks anyways even with a new formation. Not like the unit won’t expand more sometime. Thing is, keeping First Battalion’s proven squad and platoon leaders in their units keeps it good, and after this, keeps them getting better. Nothing changes, but nothing becomes a problem.”>Form a demi-battalion Special Task Force. If they’d done well in the past, they’d do well in the future. Even if it might cost 1st Battalion’s effectiveness in the short and long term.>Cutting out the hard core of 1st Battalion seemed foolish, but having a small elite force could be very useful. Form a Special Operations Company rather than a demi-battalion.>1st Battalion needed its best, it had been built up for far too long to toss away its organization too haphazardly. Keep things as they were- better opportunities for reorganization would come.>Other?
>>6461901>While this looted materiel wasn’t something to be used to fight for the future, it could still be used to prepare. Form a training cadre- any future mechanized forces would have a base of trainees to draw from.We have to consider logistics and training. A good manpower base will keep us fighting longer.>>6461902>Cutting out the hard core of 1st Battalion seemed foolish, but having a small elite force could be very useful. Form a Special Operations Company rather than a demi-battalion.Let's give ourselves room to grow, without taking too much away from the Battalion.
>>6461901>While this looted materiel wasn’t something to be used to fight for the future, it could still be used to prepare. Form a training cadre- any future mechanized forces would have a base of trainees to draw from.Gotta prepare for the age of Panzer.>>6461902>1st Battalion needed its best, it had been built up for far too long to toss away its organization too haphazardly. Keep things as they were- better opportunities for reorganization would come.Don't worry fellas, your service will be recognized. But best not go cutting up battalions again after the mess last thread.
>>6461901>While this looted materiel wasn’t something to be used to fight for the future, it could still be used to prepare. Form a training cadre- any future mechanized forces would have a base of trainees to draw from.Training Montage~>>6461902>Cutting out the hard core of 1st Battalion seemed foolish, but having a small elite force could be very useful. Form a Special Operations Company rather than a demi-battalion.
>>6461901>Waste not want not, lacking or no it was still armor, and the Legion needed to expand. Plan for a new armored company. The metal and guns would be good for a long time to come.A training unit does sound good, but training for…what, exactly? There’s no non-moleman armor on the roster or in the pipeline in the immediate or middle term, is there? A tank’s a tank, anyway, even if it’s light. Nobody without adequate AT is going to look over a trench lip and say “no big, guys, it’s just a T-8 rolling towards us”. A light/recce company could do the mobile bn. some good.>>6461902>Cutting out the hard core of 1st Battalion seemed foolish, but having a small elite force could be very useful. Form a Special Operations Company rather than a demi-battalion.The (demi-)battalion-scale deployments of the STF were in large part enabled by copious, multi-domain Federation support. We can’t replicate that for our own purposes, so anything more than a company is probably overkill.>>6461897>what if the Kalashikov SMG had a bastard child with the M1?
>>6461902>While this looted materiel wasn’t something to be used to fight for the future, it could still be used to prepare. Form a training cadre- any future mechanized forces would have a base of trainees to draw from.>Cutting out the hard core of 1st Battalion seemed foolish, but having a small elite force could be very useful. Form a Special Operations Company rather than a demi-battalion.If it expands in future perhaps we can give STF members priority for promotion or whatnot
>>6461902>These vehicles might not have been the best or most modern armored fighting vehicles in their current forms, but perhaps they could still find use as something else. Keep them for the parts they are.>Cutting out the hard core of 1st Battalion seemed foolish, but having a small elite force could be very useful. Form a Special Operations Company rather than a demi-battalion.
>>6461902>While this looted materiel wasn’t something to be used to fight for the future, it could still be used to prepare. Form a training cadre- any future mechanized forces would have a base of trainees to draw from.>>Cutting out the hard core of 1st Battalion seemed foolish, but having a small elite force could be very useful. Form a Special Operations Company rather than a demi-battalion.
>>6461901>Waste not want not, lacking or no it was still armor, and the Legion needed to expand. Plan for a new armored company. The metal and guns would be good for a long time to come.>>6461902>Cutting out the hard core of 1st Battalion seemed foolish, but having a small elite force could be very useful. Form a Special Operations Company rather than a demi-battalion.
>>6461905>>6461906>>6461911>>6461926>>6461995Set up the infrastructure for an Armor School Cadre. Next you have tanks, you'll have people ready to use them.>>6461913>>6462069A light unit to accompany the specialist one. Surely you can't entirely make up your unit of mystery machines.>>6461958Find some other use for these things. They have suspension and propulsion after all.>>6461905>6461911>6461913>6461926>6461958>6461995>6462069Form a new company with a special purpose- plenty of them are too special to just slot back into the line anyways, aren't they?>6461906Back in the battalion with you, we don't need another unit so soon.Updating.
“A Special Operations Company,” Or, as it would be shortened to, OS-1C. “A compromise. We advance those who are stifled, and in their place others can rise. We create a new asset, while better preserving the old. I want a list of those who you think most fitting so that we can review the candidates with the men for platoon leaders and company command.”“I’ll have that passed along.” Schwarzehand whistled sharply to an adjutant. “Take what the Legato wants down. It’s nothing we can’t transmit openly. We already have the shorthand commands laid out.”The basic structure of OS-1C was yet to be determined, but you already had an idea of what it would be. The diversity of skillsets, dispositions, and individually procured equipment meant that one could make anything from the clay offered- or simply have a small unit with just about every capability individually demanded, able to have a great effect on a field wherever they went, or to execute a small operation that it was unnecessary to have anywhere near the total numbers of the Legion for. They couldn’t fight a war by themselves, of course, but as part of a line, they could have a decisive local effect.Or in a place with no line at all, they could bring a surprising amount of a war where it wasn’t expected. Armored transports, anti-air and universal guns, quiet weapons and a deluge of motorcycles, marksmen, armored assault troops. 1st Company would miss the amount of plate that would be divested of it, but you had the materials to replace such once your artisans got up to speed again. It wasn’t certain if 1st Battalion would find itself on a frontline in this war again anyways.
From the bridge, you and Schwarzehand went to the hold of the L’Alba Prospera to review the armored vehicles that had been procured, both intact and put together from disabled field captures. In the past, when the Legion had gotten armored vehicles in much the same way, few actually knew how to competently crew or operate the vehicles they’d taken. That could no longer stand. With these machines, you planned to set up a Training Cadre for armored materiel. Yes, these vehicles were still useful, but you planned to get better ones- and for those who crewed the better machines to not be unfamiliar with vehicles like them when they did. Losses could be more readily replaced, new units could be formed more easily, and to be true, more training and replacement personnel would be necessary the more the Legion grew. The ship was moving north to 3rd Battalion anyways, so you’d select one of the new battalion’s units to form up according to your plans. Even if you still needed actual instructors…Unless you took up that duty, of course. At least the first go around.“While we’re on the clerk’s side of things,” Schwarzehand said offhandedly, “The Federation’s offer for that frigate is that we buy it at a generously reduced price, as they put it, and they attach a hired crew to the ship that transfers to us, like with this transport here. Else we’d have to find and hire our own crew anyways. That or we can sell the thing back to them as they’d rather we do. Though not for that big an amount. About the same as we’d be paying to them.” “Generous indeed.” You said with a blasé resignation. “Debate over the terms of salvage and expedient field claim of materiel I take it.”“Ships are expensive. The Federation lost a lot of ships against Petrekora, I heard. Not from their main armada, but all their friends near Petrekora itself. They want to cheapen the recompense. Though. A ship is pretty expensive. The transport is worth it. The frigate? Don’t know about that. Another thing we need to crew, another thing that needs to be maintained, another space in harbor to rent. Not like it’s enough to build a fleet around.”Though it could be the vital start of one. “We’ll decide that later when we have all the numbers readied for the Legion.”“Yes, Signore Legato.”
The new, secret weapons were hoarded at the very back of the cargo area, away from where inconvenient eyes might question what was behind the partition of crates and pallets of supplies. They were not as interesting to think about as much as what was with them though. Weapons were merely tools, and even if the aspect of the new armored vehicles that made them fly could be deciphered, like the Stijder, actually creating more was presently beyond you even if the materials to do so were accessible. They might be so however, if you had a significant representative of the Free Folk…“Hey!” Schwarzehand snapped, not in a loud call but a sharp attention-getting bark nevertheless. “Sky Carrot! Sound off!”Sky Carrot?“I am here.” Came a voice that was some sort of New Nauk accent you hadn’t heard quite like. It had a sort of archaic, formal shade to it, like what might be seen in the initial instances of its use before it became standard over half the continent. Not quite Imperial- it had an Emrean aspect to it, somehow. Somebody from the Emerrach? Quite a long way from where any Sky Pirate made their presence known. “What is it? Here to bother me about dress standards?”“The Legato Palmiro Bonaventura is having a meeting with you like I told you, brat,” Schwarzehand said, “Now stand to!”“It’s quite all right, Lieutenant Colonel,” you said quietly, “I’ve had a teenaged daughter and another will be teenaged soon. I’m well used to haughty young women.”“There’s an image to uphold, signore.” Schwarzehand grumbled, but he let you ahead of him.Carrot was certainly accurate. The sky pirate lass looked to be a woman…close to Vittoria’s age, who would be nineteen this year. Perhaps only a couple of years older at best. She wore the uniform of the Aurora Legion, true enough, but rather like one who had come from Sosaldt, with a defiant scowl on her face like she was no such woman. It was a contradiction with how her blouse was only buttoned in two places in a way that sought attention. An immature defiance that softened to curiosity upon seeing you, which made you wonder just how this person could apparently be so skilled and deadly.
“Greetings. I am Palmiro Bonaventura,” you said with a nod of your head, eyes on hers. They were a rather startling blue, as rich in hue as her head was orange. “Patron and leader of the Aurora Legion, whom fights to bring about Utopia. What is your name, miss…?”The scowl returned. “Nobody has called me it despite telling them, so I wonder if I should bother.”“Many of the Legion go by a name they have selected rather than one they were born with. Introduce yourself how you wish to be called.”The sky lass frowned, contemplated. “The name I have chosen for myself is Meeresrand. I am born and raised of the sky, and my father was an ascendant. I am a Windcaller of the Order of the Lopen Hemelschild and have trained to fight for the heavens since my childhood. As a Windcaller, I am trusted to send for those whom are warden over the Free Folk and their dominion. And I am here to learn of your cause. Of what world you seek to remake, and how.” Her words had been more carefully picked than she seemed accustomed to from how stiff her pace had become. A fire was being kept to its coals.Your eyes flicked to a familiar pamphlet by what must have been where she made her bed. “You are more familiar with me than I am with you already, it seems. Though that is only a summary, an introduction. Theory.”“Theory is easy.” Meeresrand said, “Words are malleable, but action is not. The actions of your Legion have left me puzzled. You make allegiance with the Federation, an enemy of all that I and my people stand for, yet you help us when the Federation would have rewarded you handsomely for us. That made me uncertain, and curious. Too much so to return with the others. A few of us joined you, surely sharing my uncertainty. The small hope. I wish to see if we may have common cause…or not.”“I’m afraid we won’t be turning to fight the Federation while we are employed by them,” you felt the need to say.
“No, I more think of the…long term. Just as you,” she looked to the pamphlet you regarded, “Clearly do not wish to make war upon the world the moment you have a weapon in hand, simply because you are able and willing to battle.” A sharp curl of her lip as she looked down. “I admit I am prone to impulse. I came to the world below upon such winds. Yet an important victory for the Free Folk was not found in a rush of brash resolve. I am unready for the cause I was ready to die for.” A defiant flashing glance back to you. “So I am here. As an ally, not a servant. I am sure you have many questions. I cannot answer everything, and nothing in regards to whence I came from or what our mission here was. I am oathbound to not answer questions or requests only rightfully addressed to our Queen and Protector. But I will try to be…courteous.”There were a few important things you already knew from the post-operations brief. One was that the Free Folk, though far from a singular organized entity, did have a loose sort of unity particularly when it came to recognizing friend or foe. Through means you didn’t need to dwell on rather than accepting it had to do with this woman in front of you, the Legion would not find itself harassed or attacked with her near, which would have been a primary concern on any journey through the seas here or back to Vinstraga. The other was regarding the machines behind her, rounded and treadles, though possessed of something that even now seemed to make them rest lighter on the ground than they should have, not being powered. They made a mockery of physical principles, and could even float just above water, so long as they were near enough to a coast for whatever esoteric reason. The Halobates, the tanks were called, influenced more by aircraft forced to walk than land vehicles made to fly.>What do you ask of this representative of the Free Folk? Keep in mind that being too prying of society or origins is unlikely to bear fruit.>Other things?
>>6462185>What does she think of Palmiro's Theory and the Legion's cause. She read a bit of it, so at a glance, what is her honest opinion.An answer to this might give us just a personal opinion, but it might also tell us something about the society she came from, without needing to ask directly. >What makes her politically against the Federation? Is it simply the Free Folk being enemies of the Federation or are they aligned with the separatist nations in particular? We can't ask what her mission was, but we can ask what she, if not the Free Folk in general might think about their current relationships with those on the surface. >How many steps of authority is she away from her Queen. If she can't speak for her Queen who DID she speak for if anyone besides herself and the few other Free Folk she has with her?>How do the Floating Machines Operate?We have the brief, and I can't think of anything to ask that we don't already know or wouldn't be too prying, so hearing an explanation in her own words is all we'll get from her probably, but even that can be insightful. >Does she know about the History of the surface? Of Caelus, of Vinstraga, of possibly the Subteranians or the Nief'Yem? Hearing our history as she knows it might tell us a thing or two about the Free Folk without needing to ask about it.>Ask how long Meeresrand planned to stick around?How long does she think it would take to get a measure on our men and their morals?Be sure to call her by her proper name. Be respectful. If Palmiro is anything, he's respectful of weird people from strangen places.
>>6462194+1
>>6462194Supporting
>>6462194Good calls all around. Supporting.
>>6462194This
>>6462194>>6462260>>6462291>>6462304>>6462330A bevy of background queries.Updating.
>>6462566How many Free Folk do we have along with Sky Bitch, enough for a platoon or is it like a squad or two?
>>6462692I'd like to know, too. Are they just going to vaguely float around outside the org chart or are they being folded into OS-1C?
If she was to try to be courteous, you would return such. A suitable stack of crates caught the eye- you sat on it rather than keep all parties at attention. There was no reason not to introduce an air of the casual. Especially considering your first query was one of opinion.“Lieutenant Colonel,” you addressed Schwarzehand, “Leave us be, if you may. I’d like this to be one on one.”“Are you sure, boss?” Schwarzehand narrowed his eyes at the woman who was your audience, “She doesn’t seem like a threat, but I don’t know what’s going on in that head of hers either. Or if anything is going on in there.”Meeresrand reddened as you dismissed any worry. “She could have gone back with the others if she wished to, yes? She has no reason to do anything but appease us.”“Certainly dresses like she wants to.” Schwarzehand stepped backwards. “Alright. I’ll be up on the bridge when you’re done. I won’t tell the missus I left you alone with a girl who thinks every waking second is a trip to an Emrean beachfront.”The ginger girl crossed her arms tightly and shut her eyes with a scowl, deigning to not speak her feelings aloud rather than wait until the footsteps quieted. “Hmph. Nobody has mandated otherwise, not even you, so why even mention it? Do I make a show of objecting to eyes laid upon me?”You cleared your throat to direct her attention back to you. “Miss Meeresrand, was it? Alright. I have some questions. Firstly. My pamphlet,” you pointed to the dog-eared paperback bundle. It wasn’t a long read, at twenty-five pages, you had to hope it was well perused, especially with little else to do on a ship. Its title, L’Aurora, was plainly printed in black upon green, much like a standard military instructional. “What did you think of it? Of the Legion’s cause that follows such? Give me your honest opinion. I am an academic and welcome different perspectives to refine our drive towards Utopia.”Meeresrand turned around and picked up the pamphlet, letting it fall open in one hand and eyes flicking across it like a student reviewing at the last moment. “Unity and Strength, those are the pillars of Utopia?” The Legion had some people her age, but it made you feel nostalgic to see somebody of the age that once would have been one of the Young Futurists to consider your decades in the making manifesto. “The Free Folk would see this as antithetical to their cause, if it were applied to them. We are a people, but made up of individuals. Strength in unity without individualism is against our nature. We would be bound to the earth otherwise.”
“It is not so much individualism that is troublesome,” you corrected, considering the Legion’s own quirks, “But that which brings down the whole. Utopia requires all of its members to know and understand it in general, to put their efforts in one direction to the future. I have seen many good things undermined by short sighted egos or surreptitious plotting. The Free Folk do not see the value of the individualism of a traitor, do they?”Meeresrand put a finger to her neck, like she was used to tucking it there when thinking. A scarf, perhaps? “I suppose not. A traitor to the Sky would simply desire to return to the earth, however. We would not try and keep them. The Free Folk, if they do not belong, wander elsewhere. Would that be allowed in your society of the future?”“The few that desire such would find their place,” you said. Though some would argue that no opposite to a Revolution could be tolerated to exist. “But a divided people would not make up a Utopia. The Dawn’s Light is that of the will of a united people, not disparate wills seeking escape. I imagine a very scant few would seek to leave ideal society once it was achieved.”“People of the Free Folk would say they already have Utopia,” Meeresrand said haughtily, “But it is true that they found it apart from the rest of the world. I would not expect one bound to the earth to quite understand it…yet if one utopia is no threat to the other…”“I do not believe mine would be to yours, no. Though one may learn from the other.”The Sky Girl pursed her lips. “I know of your Utopian theory. My father ascended from Emre. He fought against the Revolutionaries, seeing their vision of the future as contrary to his own even if he had no loyalty to the Reich. He was eccentric, I heard, and the few true allies in ideology he had, fell against his brethren. So, he went to the only place his spirit was told would have him.”That was a very vague statement. “He fell in the Emrean War?”“What? No. He…became of us.” There was something there she didn’t want to elaborate on. So be it. “I remember little of what he spoke upon. He and my mother were not together for long. His spirit remained flighty. He resented that Utopia might callously destroy what beauty came before it, or what could be said to not be of it.”“I am a man of history and discovery,” you said, “I would think of no such thing.” “We will see.”
“What of the Federation then?” You asked. Considering your long talks with Representative Stjerner had taught you much of the Federation’s inner workings, its good and bad, and how the Domensgrepp politician was still a true believer in it, at least in it being a good thing for his troubled country. “What makes you their enemy? Is it legacy, or do you align with separatists and rebels in general, since we found you aiding Petrekora?”That was easy for her to answer, as she flicked her hair back and tilted her hips before putting her hands on them audaciously. “The Caelussian Federation,” she said with a practiced touch of venom, “Oppose every part of what the Free Folk stand for. They are a ravenous, all-consuming monster, who see the world’s peoples and nations as feed for its infinite appetite. They play at placation, but their true goal is to force the world to its knees before it. The only just order the Federation sees, that its hidden leaders see, is submission under a one world democratic republic, one where the power and wealth of its core drown the will of any other folk. They hold us in contempt because we reject their aspiration to a nightmare.”“You are pirates,” you had to point out. “Is that not part of it?”“We would not fight them if they did not come looking to fight.” Meeresrand snapped defiantly. She would hold no other opinion on this, you could quickly tell. To her, this truth was unquestionable. The passionate fire of youth burning out other possibilities where compromise might be had. “We have no place for their market dominations, their meddling in affairs and demands for recognition and tribute of their oh-so-glorious existence. We are out of their reach, and that is torturous to them. So we fight. Though we do not make common cause haphazardly. Many would do as the Federation would given the chance. Our expedition to Petrekora was of…” She cooled again as she measured her words. “Mutual benefit. Not a true binding allegiance, beyond that of two travelers around a fire in a winter night. The moment they demanded any more of us than we might stand to benefit, there was no need to linger.”“Alright then.” You let it drop, seeing no reason for a probe or debate. She laid out her grievances well enough even if they were painted in broad strokes, though the latter part of her justifications implied a mercenary bent to the cause of the Free Folk. Which, the Legion, at least presently, were indeed swords for hire. “What is a Windcaller to a Queen? Are you an authority?” She would be awfully young to be one, though perhaps Free Folk did things differently. “How many steps removed are you from her, and if you do not speak for her, whom do you speak for?” This was getting around the fact that it seemed very odd for a people so focused on individualism and free will to kneel to a monarch.
Meeresrand touched at her neck again. “A Windcaller,” she said quietly, “May summon the Queen, or her Blade, with a song to the skies. It is not leadership, but responsibility. My brother was the one who commanded the brethren of the Lopen Hemelschild. I merely commanded the Halobates in battle and advised my brother. Though I suppose he listened to me some of the time…”“Wait. You claim no authority, but the Queen may come to your summons?”“She may elect to.” Meeresrand said hesitantly. “Queen Velecacia does not venture far from her home, and certainly not without cause. Her person is too precious to risk thoughtlessly. There would have to be an exceptional circumstance.”Whether that would be of relevance to you or not was something you had to think about. Certainly not something to demand yet. Though you thought of one small thing. “How old is your queen?”Meeresrand answered reflexively. It wasn’t something of importance. “She will be forty-one years of age come April. Her birthday is…something I always enjoyed.”So this Velecacia was only slightly older than your wife. How long had she been queen, you wondered. That might be prying too much. It brought up questions of predecessors and heirs. Risky information.Next then. Concerning the Halobates themselves. This woman didn’t strike you as an engineer- and not just because of her manner of dress, but perhaps she knew something of them. The Research team would have to investigate these machines whether she liked it or not, if it was a practical endeavor. An advance clue to their operations could tell you if such an investment of time and effort would be worth it.“These Halobates tanks.” You walked over next to one, eyes sliding off its beetle-like form, rounded unlike any tank you’d seen. More like a graceful custom automobile than a war machine. “They float above the ground. How do they do this?”Meeresrand shrugged. “They have small aircraft engines which push them off of the ground, and they float on a cushion of air under the skirt on the bottom. They do not fly without a core which aids that process, which counteracts the machine’s weight and makes it easier to move. The core’s strength falters the further it is away from the sea. More detail on any of that, I do not know. I only know how to manipulate it, not the principles of its function. A swordsman is rarely a smith.”
The core was clearly the most important part then, because it seemed materially impossible for it to move in the way she said just looking at it. Even aircraft benefited from larger engines and the lifting effect of wings. This merely pushed off the ground, its armor assuredly made it heavier than any plane.Not that you were a technical sort either. “Fair enough.” This next question would tell you more indirectly of the Free Folk than the words themselves would say. “You Free Folk come from all over, don’t you? How much do you know about the world below, of Vinstraga and Caelus? Or of Subterranean people, or Nief’yem?”“I know nothing of the last two at all.” Meeresrand squinted. “Subterranean peoples…?”“All in good time. What you do know, then.”“What anybody would know. The Shattering, the Reich, the Emrean War. The Federation’s rise from the Heavens breaking upon it. Zhantao is on the other side of the world. Hvrgullites are gold and the people south of them are black, and you never see them because they only come out at night.”So, in other words, she was no historian or anthropology hobbyist. The intricacies of what happened below must rarely reach the Free Peoples. Where they chose to involve themselves directly seemed more based upon if there was a clear object of interest, then…“One last question then.” You could only think of one more at the moment. “Do you know how long you plan to stay with the Legion? If you are only measuring us, you must wish to go home sometime.”“…I do not know.” Meeresrand admitted. “This is the first time I have made this sort of decision. This will soon be the first time I have been away from home for so long, and it will only be longer after. I do not know what to expect…” A wistful frown, a reconsideration wrote upon her lips. “But I have made my decision, and only a cowardly child would run from the path they decided to go down just because the night was dark upon it.” It seemed more spoken to herself than you. She looked up suddenly, when you were about to excuse yourself.“What is it?” You asked.
“I have a request.” Meeresrand said. “Sitting about like a statue or a painting is dull. I would like a command.”“That is usually something earned before being awarded.”“Not in all cases. If you make something anew, for example. I would be best at utilizing the Halobates, but one of your men has claimed authority over such, so…” Meeresrand sniffed bitterly. “Something of similar sort would be ideal. I would be of little use as a scullery maid, and I would like to spend my time preparing for a future instead of waiting for it to happen to me.”“You would like command of your tanks back, I take it.”Meeresrand grit her teeth. “I would be able to do the most with them, yes. Though I understand if I may not lead the unit, I would at least do best in my own machine. I believe I am more skilled in the use of armor than any of your men that I have met.” A bold claim. Perhaps even a true one.>She was probably the most effective operator of the Halobates- it made little sense not to employ her using her greatest skill…even if those tanks might not see active service outside of testing any time soon.>This woman was not a surface tanker, but she was familiar with armor. Maybe it would be for the best to place her within the new Armor Training unit on its formation? Then she would not be restricted to these secret weapons.>Maid it was then. Sorry, but she couldn’t be spent on a frontline for how valuable she might be, and logistics was always in need of extra hands. And young women, according to their requests.>Other?Also->Do anything else aboard the ship?
>>6462692>>6462727>How many Free Folk do we have along with Sky Bitch, enough for a platoon or is it like a squad or two?Not many, only ten counting her. Really only enough for informational and advisement purposes as a group, not their own unit, unless you rolled them back into the Halobates.
>This woman was not a surface tanker, but she was familiar with armor. Maybe it would be for the best to place her within the new Armor Training unit on its formation? Then she would not be restricted to these secret weapons.Get her in on our plans for Improved training!
>>6462763Specifically, the new training Cadre we plan to form
>>6462756>This woman was not a surface tanker, but she was familiar with armor. Maybe it would be for the best to place her within the new Armor Training unit on its formation? Then she would not be restricted to these secret weapons.Probably best to stick her in as the 2IC, or as a platoon lead to see how well she stacks up, if she can handle a unit we can send her forward and turn the tank back over to her once the current tranche of trainees becomes service ready.It might also be worth it to see if the local militia would be interested since you need far less than a HMG to deal with rioters and so could well serve as an ace in hand to hold onto should things get spicy.
>>6462756>>This woman was not a surface tanker, but she was familiar with armor. Maybe it would be for the best to place her within the new Armor Training unit on its formation? Then she would not be restricted to these secret weapons.Honestly a training unit with sufficient manpower can be used for combat if need be, so she might even see some action. T-8s and armoured cars could be useful for peacekeeping duties up here in the snow.
>>6462756>She was probably the most effective operator of the Halobates- it made little sense not to employ her using her greatest skill…even if those tanks might not see active service outside of testing any time soon.She's the most experienced hovertank operator we have. It would be a waste to send her back to training for tracked tanks.
>>6462756>She was probably the most effective operator of the Halobates- it made little sense not to employ her using her greatest skill…even if those tanks might not see active service outside of testing any time soon.A training pipeline for vehicles we don't have, administered by someone with theoretical familiarity of their employment? I respect the interwar Italy larp, but we really shouldn't. Besides, it's gotta be us who does the first training cycle. That's going to be fun.
>>6462756>Other?If she wants a command, she may enlist in the tanker program we intend to start, and like any other soldier of the future with ambition she can earn her way to an officer's position. That's the way it's done, giving her a revolutionary handout just because she says she's a good tanker would surely be showing the same unwanted favouritims as making the Special Task Force into an elite unit. If not, she will don the maid outfit and be forced to learn some manners.>Do anything else aboard the ship?Did we inspect the infantry weapons directly or did we just read Blackhand's notes? I don't know if'd be necessary, but shooting some of the new guns ourselves to get a little acquainted with them is not the worst idea if we're looking to reequip the whole Legion eventually.
>>6462812I might be retarded because I've been looking at my write in and I can't tell if the second option and it are the same. Maybe it is, and in that case just count this vote for that option.
>>6462812Dunno about that yet, the Caelussian gear is definitely sweet but once we're back in Vitelia ammo is going to be a problem again.
>>6462823Ammunition is probably the easiest to get a production line going for when we return to Vinstraga, so I personally wouldn't worry too much about it. A bigger problem is going to be making the weapons themselves if we decide to use them as standard equipment since I don't expect the Feddies to part with their blueprints, but we could probably reverse engineer them if we put in some effort.
>>6462763>6462790>6462800>6462812Shove her in the familiarization unit. If she makes her way up it'll be from a place everybody saw it happen.>>6462803>6462807Best to put the right tool to work in the right place.I'll call the vote in about four hours and update from there.>>6462874Frankly speaking your artisan and research team isn't suited to mass producing new weapons, more making small numbers of originals or modifying existing ones. Mass equipment procurement for infantry is only really practical by doing it the same way even national armies do- buying it. None of the Federation stuff you're using is a secret weapon, it's a lot cheaper to buy it than trying to invest in the equipment and skills to make an appreciable amount at a decent rate.Hopefully I didn't obliterate my cookies and formatting perms by accident.
>>6462756>She was probably the most effective operator of the Halobates- it made little sense not to employ her using her greatest skill…even if those tanks might not see active service outside of testing any time soon.The Halobates is a very limited item, might as well give it to the person most capable of operating it. She should definitely be spending her time training personnel on it during testing for redundancy though. If she wants to go to the armor training program I do think she should have to work her way up, I don't particularly like the optics of her jumping the ranks.
At this later than anticipated.>>6462964Another for putting her in the place where you found her.Writing.
>>6462874>>6462941With a relatively small amount of Fed weapons we're likely to end up with (under a thousand, at the absolute most, I'm guessing), it might be plausible to convert them to a new world caliber and pull an MP41(r) sort of deal. Hopefully there aren't roadblocks with Fed ammo being weirdly proprietary with strange rim/case geometry or the stuff back home being loaded too hot. Alternatively, we could try and get a Twaryian connection to source ammo that way. If these weapons are mostly going to be concentrated in OS-1C, then having extra sorts of ammo won't gape our logistics like what happened to interwar Italy with the 7.35/6.5 thing.
>>6463059>it might be plausible to convert them to a new world caliberThat would be another alternative, yes. Though doesn't the shape and caliber of the ammunition change the performance of a weapon? I am admittedly from the nation of Nogunsia so I don't really know all that stuff to well, and while I don't expect us to go hard on that type of ballistics calculations in this quest retooling a weapon like that sounds like it could have some consequences too it's performance.
>>6463062Yes, of course. The example I brought up of the MP41(r), which was a retooling of the PPSh-41 from 7.62mm Tokarev to 9mm, is instructive. They did it by rebarreling the guns and installing an adapter that allowed it to use MP-40 magazines. This had a slight impact on the rate of fire, but the weapon was completely usable and, more importantly, within the standard logistical pipeline as far as SMG ammo was concerned. The MP41(r) wasn't super popular, though, because the captured PPSh-41s could natively take 7.63 Mauser from German stocks with no effect on performance. That's beside the point, though, since we are not going to be so lucky.
On one hand, this woman was an expert in something completely unique and foreign to your men. Nobody would be a better operator of the Skimmers than her. However, the principles of the Legion did have to be respected even in this regard. Meeresrand was not as proven as she might think, and certainly no ideologue that matched the Legion’s own beliefs, at least not yet. Maybe she could return to command of the vehicles she’d given some time, but for now, she would grow to know the Legion better from the place most her age found it. Besides, placing her in the upcoming armored training unit would be good for her in several ways, including familiarizing her with a broader scale of equipment, and testing her outside of frontline situations. Any notes on her by Legion observers indicated she was a personality of the battlefield, not the camp nor the storeroom, and that simply lacked balance.Admittedly, nostalgia made you yearn to put yourself in particular charge of the first round of armor training. Perhaps that was something you’d have to be responsible for no matter what, though you’d have to review your material before you could call yourself a proper instructor of tank operations again.You weighed your options, and informed the Sky Warrior of your decision promptly.“I have a unit that will be equipped with seized armored assets,” you said, “A novice company to be trained in the maintenance, operation, and employment of armored vehicles. This unit will need people with experience. A place there is the best I can offer you at this moment. Do well there, and we’ll see about where you advance afterwards.”That didn’t seem to be what Meeresrand wanted to hear, and lips drooped. “I…do not know how to instruct.”“Then you will learn,” you said confidently. “The Legion is not made up of bold individuals acting alone. If you wish to be one of us, then you will learn to operate as we do. Alongside plenty of others. If that is unacceptable, then our logistics officers would appreciate a young woman to be their maidservant, complete with proper attire.”“Proper attire..?” Meeresrand blinked hazily. She probably did not know any sort of proper, professional attire.“Do you accept?”“I. I do.” Meeresrand refocused. “Very well. I will…try.”“Good. Though. Speaking of proper attire,” You pointed to Meeresrand’s open fashion. “That sort of dress distracts men from where their attention should be. Some women of the Legion choose to wear their uniforms a certain way, yes, but one in a position of leadership should have their charge’s welfare in mind. Cover your chest or cover your navel. Have some care. How old are you, anyways, to dress yourself so…”Meeresrand sputtered incoherent syllables in protest before forming. “I am twenty years of age, and an adult!”
Judge Above, she really was only a little older than Vittoria. “Plenty old enough to know how men can be made unwise, then. Next we speak, I will not have heard any complaints from Schwarzehand nor other superior officers regarding state of uniform. Are we clear, young lady?”Something in your tone had cowed her where Schwarzehand found obstinance as she shrank back. “Yes, yes. I understand. Judge Above. Surely your men can control themselves, I merely…”Yes, yes. You had daughters. They wanted to be attractive, the eyes and appetite of men sated the ego of the western woman, and Meeresrand’s Emrean blood was showing strong enough there. Yet there was a way to not overcompensate as a default, a lesson good to learn while beauty was still youthful.You’d already said what needed to be said and discovered what you could. With a nod, and a salute until it was awkwardly returned, you left to return to the bridge. There were a few other things to discuss with your 1st Battalion Lieutenant Colonel.-----“You’re back, then.” Schwarzehand stood and saluted. “Was she trouble?”“No more than my eldest might be when she’s in a mood.” You missed Vittoria. It had been a long time, and even now, she was by far the most alike you in spirit of your children. Vitelia was an uncertain place when you left it, and uncertain times were… “I have granted her a position as a senior advisor in the Tank Training unit we discussed forming. Amongst 3rd Battalion, combat experience of the modern day, let alone future tactics exploited with swift machines, is practically unknown.”“Let’s hope it doesn’t get to her head.” Schwarzehand sighed before sitting back down and splaying out his legs, putting his thick hands behind his head. The stout metal stool he sat upon dutifully withstood the abuse placed upon it. “So then. Next on the list. We’ve got money to move, assets to claim. If you want, weaponry to inspect.”“We’ll do the latter next. I’ve read enough to need a break before moving to juggling numbers.”Until your money situation as of recent operations was figured out, the evaluation of weapons in your own hands was a formality, but best to get it done ahead of time. The vast majority of the weapons of the Aurora Legion lineman were from the last great war. Suitable enough for many, but the war for the Future required a far greater advantage and not so stale a mindset as complacency.
You went with the Lieutenant Colonel to the bow of the ship with a selection of weaponry, though the focus was on Petrekoran capture and Federation procurement. Shooting into the surf, you were hardly searching for flying fish to snipe rather than getting the general feel. The bolt-actions, by your measure, were not significantly superior to the old Luci or Stachel rifles you already had, besides having a different round and greater recoil in their more powerful loads. National pride, fond familiarity, or was it because bolt action weapons had little further improvement to be made since the turn of the century? You’d see with the automatics.The Petrekoran machine gun was not particularly satisfying. It felt like an outdated weapon, and Schwarzehand confirmed it. Serviceable, but you could do better. It was, to be fair, a superior machine gun to the standard BRN-06/15 automatic rifle for the reason that the BRN was not designed as a light machine gun at all, but surely one could do better at a mass replacement.The Caelussian M-10-2 machine gun, by comparison, was no debate whatsoever. Stable, easy to run, and of satisfying rate of fire along with a durable and simple mechanism. The top loading magazine was apparently a change from the original Twaryian design that used a rather clumsy (if proven) flat drum. The Federation, fond of saving effort on good ideas, had bought the rights to the gun at substantial price and, without risk of objections, improved upon the weapon. Schwarzehand advocated clearly for replacing each and every one of the BRN-06/15s with it as soon as possible…but you did have concerns for the different ammunition. Say what one would, Vitelian ammunition was not hard to get back home, and neither was Imperial. Federation munitions, however, were not so common the further one got from the Federation’s principle client and friend on the Vinstragan continent, Twaryi.Then came the subject of the automatic. The troops liked them very much- you were neutral on them. When you had Schwarzehand demonstrate the M-3-3 self-loader, the blast from the muzzle brake was startlingly potent, and when you tried shots yourself you saw your Lieutenant Colonel no more pleased to know that experience.“This weapon is quite loud[//i],” you felt the need to say first and foremost. “The recoil is greater than our Stachellungo self-loaders as well. Heavy in the hands.” Were it not for the muzzle brake the recoil would be a bear indeed, rather than just noticeably harsher.“It’s built tougher and meaner.” Schwarzehand said, “Definitely not a gun for new soldiers, but our people who care for them have high praise. These are a newer variant, I’ve heard. Old ones were bad about wandering upwards with their grouping.”
What could the reason for that be, you thought as you toyed with the machinery. It was certainly resilient in feeling. “The Federation cartridge is more powerful than the Vitelian one. Does that serve our troops well?” The Vitelian standard was 6.7x52mm Lucian. Caelus used 7.6x63mm Federal. An appreciable difference even if both were rifle calibers, neither of which were more or less pleasant to be hit by than the other. “It’s a very straight shooter, Legato. Rather complex, but no more so than our macaroni blasters. Plenty of the troops acclimate just fine, especially when they know they don’t need to conserve ammunition anymore.”“We’ll be wanting for a new source once we are outside of Caelus, however,” you mused. “Unless we secure supply contracts with Twaryi, or are very diligent with reloading our own rounds.”“Your decision, boss. Though it never hurt nobody to have a lot of choices in reserve.”Or, you thought, thinking of how this gun might feel in another, more familiar and comfortable caliber, you could have your artisan troop look into caliber conversion- a gamble of a proposition, but one of tolerances and relatively minor adjustments rather than inventing something anew. The problems with moving to a smaller, less powerful cartridge were far fewer than moving the other way around after all.By contrast, a pair of mysterious Free Folk weapons were secretively opened from a locked case, and it was explained that rather than using the ignition of powder to drive a bullet forward, these guns used compressed air to drive a round at surprisingly lethal speeds. There was a rifle and a carbine version, of markedly different forces and surprisingly equivalent to their conventional cousins.“I have heard of airguns and their usage before,” you said, “Our own heavy mortars are pneumatic. These are rather unlike anything I know.”“Don’t know how they made them, and I get the feeling they don’t know either,” Schwarzehand huffed, “But they’re battle tested. Practically works of art.” It did feel like holding a far more complicated machine than most guns. Brass fittings already gave the guns a look more like clocks than weapons. Reproducing these would be a challenge…if they didn’t already work off some esoteric oddity like the Skimmers did. “The Sky Pirates say you treat it like your child and it won’t disappoint. It’s certainly a quiet killer. Give it a try.”It was a far cry from quiet, but the odd thudding sound would be difficult to hear from far away, especially in the din of a battle. There was something strange about how it fired too. As though the internal machinery was somehow being supported by something else within to augment the energy applied to the shot.A curiosity. Perhaps useful for something special. Not something to consider for any mass adoption.
You had your fill of small arms. There was another particular subject to view on the deck though. The view of it to near seas, that is. The frigate. Dubbed the VKF Sinyiamezt, it was a Petrekoran vessel that had been taken in bloody close combat by the Special Task Force, and later used in a disguised assault on Petrekoran Roxorient Command along with other captured vessels. There was a dispute of ownership there- though the terms of mercenary contracts taken stated that loot seized in battle was property of those who captured it, to motivate further usage without Federation direct support, it hadn’t been considered that four warships would be taken, worth vastly more than might be assumed. So a dispute had been had- one resolved in one way by allowing the Legion ownership of the L’Alba Prospera in exchange for giving over a minesweeper and a disabled destroyer. The frigate had gone unmentioned, the Federation unwilling to deal further with Schwarzehand and 1st Battalion in such odious combat seizures. It wasn’t a particularly impressive ship. The bow of it had a decently impressive gun, perhaps a 10 centimeter, and there were small arms positions that might be used as well as a bow equipped with torpedo and depth charge armament, but it was still quite small, assuredly not very tough.“That seems anemic even for a frigate,” you said. “But neither of us are paying for the cost of construction either.” A very brief look at costs told you that the price of even a small and relatively lightly armed warship, in Caelussian equivalencies, could cost as much as a company of T-8 type tanks- and demanded about as many if not more men. “Yeah.” Schwarzehand’s mouth remained in a rigid downturn as he scratched his wobbly chin. “With how much we need on land, Legato, I don’t think anybody is feeling enthusiastic about procuring a navy. It’s such a little boat. Our men took it and others so easily when they were caught off guard. Doesn’t do good at hauling and storing like this big boat does.”It was still a seaworthy ship at least, and if there was any intent of having a proper independent fleet it had to begin somewhere. That it was doing escort duty wasn’t a dismissive act- it was plenty able to ward away opportunists of its own strength. The investment would still be disproportionate.Back to the bridge. It was time to bury your nose in papers once more.While compensation for northern operations and those of the Mobile Battalion besides for maintenance hadn’t come in, a substantial bounty had been paid out for the daring decapitation strike and the conclusion of high intensity Roxorient operations. A kingly sum for any one person or even a small group, alas, a mercenary organization made up of thousands at this point could only see it swallowed all too quickly.>Budget increased by 20.> Aurora Legion Budget- 30/50
Awash with funds as you were, there were two primary things to get out of the way. The first was the fate of the appropriated frigate, the advantages and disadvantages of keeping it now well reviewed…>Divest yourself of the small ship. The Federation was willing to pay for it, and sell it you shall. (Gain +5 Budget)>Keep the vessel. Even if you will have to figure out the solution of a crew- to be necessarily solved with cash, as well as the troubles of other maintenance… (Investment of -5 Budget)>Other?The other matter was deciding what of the Legion’s myriad needs and opportunities to tackle first and foremost. The most potentially pressing was the question of recruitment and manpower. While the Legion had seen a substantial increase with the addition of 3rd Battalion, now you were coming into a rare problem for military units- an excess of materiel, and another reality of being unable to replace casualties. For now, this wasn’t a problem. No disasters had occurred where the Legion was reduced to non-operational strength in any of its components, but fortunes could turn quickly. Were you to trust in your fortunes and not wish to expand too hastily (there were volunteers simply set aside to wait upon your return, after all), a solid investment would be in equipment. The Federation was only too happy to sell armaments to just about any buyers, and right now, you were very close and could avoid the usual costs of shipments. As the Caelussians also seemed to be actively innovating and seeking new testbeds for conflict even before the Petrekoran debacle, their military industry was far more dynamic than war-weary Vitelia. Alas, if you sought western developments though, you would be better left setting aside the funds for your return. Unless you set out feelers to start preparing Vinstragan assets for use upon return…or even before, though they would be out of your ability to administer.Attempting to do both of these at once was advised as unwise. Reorganization and expansion became more difficult the larger an organization got, so it was best to focus on one over the other, though certainly not to the point of abandoning one goal.>Focus first upon matters of manpower and replenishment. No army could be had without fighters…>The Legion was big enough to not need major expansion soon- but it did need to keep up with the times. Handle the matter of equipment and re-organization of units around such.Also->Investigate or handle anything else in regards to management?
>>6463346>Divest yourself of the small ship. The Federation was willing to pay for it, and sell it you shall. (Gain +5 Budget)>The Legion was big enough to not need major expansion soon- but it did need to keep up with the times. Handle the matter of equipment and re-organization of units around such.This is an era of warfare where tactics and equipment trump raw manpower.
>>6463346>Divest yourself of the small ship. The Federation was willing to pay for it, and sell it you shall. (Gain +5 Budget)>The Legion was big enough to not need major expansion soon- but it did need to keep up with the times. Handle the matter of equipment and re-organization of units around such.I suppose regarding manpower now that we have the L'Alba in an emergency we could send it back west to pick up reinforcements? We do have recruits in Sosaldt, getting them to say Vynmark or the Southern Cities shouldn't be that hard presumably.Or maybe after developing closer relations with the locals we can unlock some level of indigenous recruitment.
>>6463367+1
>>6463346>>6463384Also on the ammo topic:-Would Archduchy 7.5 mm rounds be able to be loaded into a gun chambered for 7.6 Federal, or is the case length and such too different without wildcatting it?-Another potential solution to the recoil issue could be getting our artisans to reduce the powder loads, which should be within their capabilities I assume?
>>6463367SupportingHopefully we can benefit from Federation economies of scale price-wise compared to equivalent Vitelian gear
>>6463346>Keep the vesselMostly to flaunt the prestige the Legion acquired taking the port and the ships, but also in case we need to make a less than friendly exit from the old world. Who knows what could happen in six months, the situation could be wildly different and any extra space to carry Legion men out of here is good to have,>The Legion was big enough to not need major expansion soon- but it did need to keep up with the times. Handle the matter of equipment and re-organization of units around such.Don't really want to make a recruitment ground here, we'll handle expansion once we return to Vinstraga. If I recall we had basically promised to go to Wezkatinbach once we returned, we could make our recruitment then.
>>6463346>Divest yourself of the small ship. The Federation was willing to pay for it, and sell it you shall. (Gain +5 Budget)>The Legion was big enough to not need major expansion soon- but it did need to keep up with the times. Handle the matter of equipment and re-organization of units around such.About three battalions makes the Legion a regiment or so. A good spot for a re-org before it sprawls into something like a brigade and becomes unwieldy as all hell.
>>6463367>6463384>6463406>6463434>6463573Get rid of the boat, use the money to get better toys.>>6463571Keep the boat.Updating, since things seem to be pretty firmly in one direction and the next thing will require more detailed thought. The next update will be rather short, but I'll keep the vote open until Tuesday because it'll probably be worth further discussion or inquiry.>>6463407>Would Archduchy 7.5 mm rounds be able to be loaded into a gun chambered for 7.6 Federal, or is the case length and such too different without wildcatting it?The Archduchy's chosen rifle caliber is pretty close to the Federation's, but it's not quite close enough when it comes to overall length to be a simple swap out. It'd be easier than other calibers to make small modifications in favor of though.>Another potential solution to the recoil issue could be getting our artisans to reduce the powder loads, which should be within their capabilities I assume?Plenty within their capabilities, even though they'd be doing a lot of work when the recoil isn't unmanageable, just harsh compared to what people are used to with Vitelian guns, and mostly only problematically so with the repeated fire of the self-loader.
The Federation could have their frigate, you decided easily. As Schwarzehand more or less said, best to invest in the main aspect of the Legion, and a single frigate could not participate in naval operations to the equivalency the Legion could as a land unit. The costs were better off spent on other things- and the savings and lump sum both would allow for greater budgetary flexibility on terra firma.Which you would need, given the determined objective of shaping up the Legion when it came to equipment and organization. It was already the size of a regiment in manpower, though far from standard as two battalions could be described as infantry with the smaller Mobile Battalion practically an independent operator on its own. Not that the Legion needed to lose its colors in becoming strictly uniform, but at the very least each unit would not be found incapable of doing a particular task, and they would be able to work in concert with another another rather than simply alongside, especially in regards to command structure. Vitelia’s structure traditionally made the Brigade the core of the greater organized force, the Division, but such a bulky (and frankly unwieldly) organization ill suited the Legion, it not being a conscripted mass clumped together out of hasty necessity. With the shape of an infantry regiment core on the horizon, it felt best to begin looking at the Legion in the shape it would take in the hopefully near future.Which meant focusing on the procurement of materiel rather than manpower. The Federation’s warmaking markets did not lack for ability nor desire to provide, even in these times of a hot war. It was a good time to be a weapons manufacturer to say the least. Not so ideal a time to be the consumer, but the Federation had plenty of scale and competition with itself so that prices didn’t seem overly predatory. Even so. With the arrangement to divest yourself of a ship, you would be near doubling available budget for the Legion. That meant a few significant changes could be made…or particularly decisive equipment put in the hands of your men.After all, the sum of paydays to be made off of Federation employ had only just begun to be tallied. This increase was for one front- the other two had yet to pay out. Perhaps some greed and ambition would serve you well…but perhaps, ensuring the success of the other two fronts in the first place would be more prudent than rushing forward too quickly, in regards to short term augmentations and preparations.
>Current Aurora Legion Budget and Expenses- 30/55>Note: You do not have to spend all of the budget. It may be wise to save a healthy amount in case future on the spot opportunities or necessities crop up.>While it wasn’t a glamorous augmentation, it would be a necessary one to coordinate three battalions or anything larger. Begin procurement and assembly of an Advanced Headquarters Company element to coordinate between Battalion command units, as well as directing support to constituent units. Dedicated regimental logistics, medical, signal and self-defense assets would not be cheap, even in their limited number for this unit, but they would be well worth to be properly centralized. (11 Budget)>Larger and more powerful equipment would be an inevitability if the Legion was to remain an imposing force for long. That meant a heavy maintenance and transportation unit was better formed sooner rather than later. With more and more armored materiel coming into your possession, ways to move damaged or disabled vehicles would prevent many problems and expensive sacrifices. (12 Budget)>While the Legion was far from poorly equipped, they were not excellently equipped either. This would have to change, since you had access to the vast stocks of the Federation, and could pay the price to bring at least portions of it into the cutting edge. (4 Budget for each company infantry fighting equipment level upgrade.)>Battalion assets had to be standardized. 1st Battalion’s Mobile Headquarters, Engineering and Logistics troops had all been donated to the Mobile Battalion, and 3rd Battalion had their own Engineering and Headquarters support units now. It would be for the best to replace such invaluable support. (Add equipment for an Engineering troop and Headquarters/Signal troop to 1st Battalion for 5 Budget Each)>The Mobile Battalion was designated such for its complete motorization. The same capability had to be extended to more units. The battle for the Future could not be won if its fighters were only as swift as their feet could carry them. (Cost of 5 Budget for each Company motorized)> There was room for expanding the capability of the Legion’s battalions in new ways. The Legion ever seemed to lack for organic heavy support- perhaps it was time for a Towed Regimental Artillery Battery, to supplement the heavy mortars with long guns. (8 Budget for guns of 12cm caliber) (Mobile Infantry Guns of 7.5cm caliber have been captured in sufficient numbers to organize a battery of, their support to make them properly mobile only costing 3 Budget)>Other? (Budget will be negotiated)
>>6463610>>+1 Maintenance and Transportation Unit(12 Budget)>+1 Engineering Troop and HQ/Signal Troop for 1st Batt. 5 Budget Each (10 Budget Total)>+1 12cm Artillery Battery (8 Budget)
>>6463610>>While it wasn’t a glamorous augmentation, it would be a necessary one to coordinate three battalions or anything larger. Begin procurement and assembly of an Advanced Headquarters Company element to coordinate between Battalion command units, as well as directing support to constituent units. Dedicated regimental logistics, medical, signal and self-defense assets would not be cheap, even in their limited number for this unit, but they would be well worth to be properly centralized. (11 Budget)>Battalion assets had to be standardized. 1st Battalion’s Mobile Headquarters, Engineering and Logistics troops had all been donated to the Mobile Battalion, and 3rd Battalion had their own Engineering and Headquarters support units now. It would be for the best to replace such invaluable support. (Add equipment for an Engineering troop and Headquarters/Signal troop to 1st Battalion for 5 Budget Each)>The Mobile Battalion was designated such for its complete motorization. The same capability had to be extended to more units. The battle for the Future could not be won if its fighters were only as swift as their feet could carry them. (Cost of 5 Budget for each Company motorized)
>>6463610Judge above, the need for more money never ends.>Larger and more powerful equipment would be an inevitability if the Legion was to remain an imposing force for long. That meant a heavy maintenance and transportation unit was better formed sooner rather than later. With more and more armored materiel coming into your possession, ways to move damaged or disabled vehicles would prevent many problems and expensive sacrifices. (12 Budget)> There was room for expanding the capability of the Legion’s battalions in new ways. The Legion ever seemed to lack for organic heavy support- perhaps it was time for a Towed Regimental Artillery Battery, to supplement the heavy mortars with long guns. (3 Budget for 7.5cm battery)>Battalion assets had to be standardized. 1st Battalion’s Mobile Headquarters, Engineering and Logistics troops had all been donated to the Mobile Battalion, and 3rd Battalion had their own Engineering and Headquarters support units now. It would be for the best to replace such invaluable support. (Add equipment for an Engineering troop and Headquarters/Signal troop to 1st Battalion for 5 Budget each)HQ/Signal Troop (5 Budget)Advanced HQ is a important but can wait for now, it doesn't seem like the Legion will be operating as a whole this contract. The heavy maintenance unit would be good for the Mobile Battalion since its probably going to take some losses and we don't want the Feddies getting their hands on anything sensitive.>>6463613Can't afford that plan, it'd be 60 Budget total
>>6463610This looks like an interwar British battalion in terms of complexity. That's not a good thing >While it wasn’t a glamorous augmentation, it would be a necessary one to coordinate three battalions or anything larger. Begin procurement and assembly of an Advanced Headquarters Company element to coordinate between Battalion command units, as well as directing support to constituent units. Dedicated regimental logistics, medical, signal and self-defense assets would not be cheap, even in their limited number for this unit, but they would be well worth to be properly centralized. (11 Budget)This is uh, desperately needed considering how slipshod this must all come off as to an actual commander in the field. >Battalion assets had to be standardized. 1st Battalion’s Mobile Headquarters, Engineering and Logistics troops had all been donated to the Mobile Battalion, and 3rd Battalion had their own Engineering and Headquarters support units now. It would be for the best to replace such invaluable support. (Add equipment for an Engineering troop and Headquarters/Signal troop to 1st Battalion for 5 Budget Each)> There was room for expanding the capability of the Legion’s battalions in new ways. The Legion ever seemed to lack for organic heavy support- perhaps it was time for a Towed Regimental Artillery Battery, to supplement the heavy mortars with long guns. (8 Budget for guns of 12cm caliber) (Mobile Infantry Guns of 7.5cm caliber have been captured in sufficient numbers to organize a battery of, their support to make them properly mobile only costing 3 Budget)The 7.5 cm support guns, it's all else we can afford on this plan, and that's a size that should suffice for the conflicts we find ourselves in.
>>6463610Supporting this >>6463613 except for the artillery being the 7.5cm guns
>>6463610>>6463633Support
>>6463616Supporting these options. Without the upgraded Headquarters we may not be able to field the full might of the Legion decisively, but we do not really need to do right now.
>>6463616>Can't afford that plan, it'd be 60 Budget totalThere's only one battery and one general maintenance and transportation unit. Also, the Engineering Troop and HQ/Signal Troop are only going into 1st Battalion. Not sure where an entire extra 30 Budget is going.
>>6463877Should have phrased it better but essentially 30/55 Budget means we have 25 Budget to spend, not 30.
>>6463886What? How does 30/55 mean we have 25 budget to spend
>>6463610>Advanced Headquarters Company (11 Budget)"Administrative Staff: Battalion Grade" is shockingly grim. We simply cannot afford not to do this if we're planning on ever using the Legion's battalion in a mutually-supporting combined arms manner, to say nothing of how important unfucking this is for prospects of future expansion.>Battalion assets for 1st BN (Add equipment for an Engineering troop and Headquarters/Signal troop to 1st Battalion for 5 Budget Each)HQ/Signals, please.>Towed Regimental Artillery Battery (8 Budget for guns of 12cm caliber) (Mobile Infantry Guns of 7.5cm caliber have been captured in sufficient numbers to organize a battery of, their support to make them properly mobile only costing 3 Budget)Discounted 7.5cms are the right call. 12cms, aside from being expensive, might be overkill for regimental artillery. 10cm and up strike me as divisional assets and we're not there yet.I tally this at 11+5+3=19 Budget total. I think keeping something for a rainy day is a good idea, especially in case our expensive mobile unit manages to get itself a little banged up in the fighting it's doing now.
So the general different seems to be whether to go for Big Rigs or Big Boss.>>6463613>6463616>6463642>6463704Break out the Wreckers.>>6463614>6463633>6463654>6463975The Administrative Upgrade, preemptively.I'll either need a tiebreak within the next 12 hours, or I'll roll things off at that time.
>>6464394+1 to admin upgrade
>>6464394I'll give a +1 to admin too
Thankfully there were no consequences for oversleeping.>>6464416>>6464626The Admin Expansion it is.Writing.
After review, you determined that above all, the Legion needed to be well organized and ready for expansion and exploitation of opportunity, even at the cost of some other capabilities. So, preparations were initiated to expand the administrative staff and capabilities to a dedicated company, able to manage the affairs of an entire division, and well preceding organizational needs for the foreseeable future. Along with that, 1st Battalion’s missing support troops would be replaced, and a battery organized made up of infantry guns that they themselves had taken in operations. Not the most imposing artillery, being of 7.5-centimeter mountain guns, but well within their scope of needs and operations. A dedicated heavy mechanized recovery and transportation battalion had been high on your list of needs to acquire- but for now, it was too much of an expense when combined with other needs.>Aurora Legion Budget- 54/55Of course, new formations could not be staffed with imaginary friends, and there were not nearly enough new combat-unfit personnel to round out even simply organizing the planning for the administrative expansion. So it was just a necessity for the 4th and 5th Company of 3rd Battalion’s stay with 1st Battalion to be made permanent as it was completely cannibalized to ameliorate other personnel shortages. It wasn’t as though 1st Company was still in active combat anyways, and it provided a clean excuse to slot the 4th of 3rd properly into the battalion structure, with no more confusion regarding who was 5th company of whom. There were still significant shortfalls in personnel count for 1st Battalion’s unit strength, but for now, a balance was found for day-to-day needs. Plenty for them to do besides play on the beach now. The costs would be well worth it, though- the Legion had plenty of room for further expansion now, once you returned to your manpower sources.Though it brought up the question of potential short-term solutions, as you and Schwarzehand reviewed personnel assignments and who could be sent where.“Know just who to put for this artillery battery.” Schwarzehand flicked the pages in his hand. “We’ll see if he takes it. Old Emrean, probably chafing a bit from being stuck under his junior in Fifth. See how a captaincy charms him, leaves less competition for the OS-1C lead.”“Old?” You questioned.“Our age.” Schwarzehand snorted. “Old for a soldier, boss, not old for a man. Old for a second lieutenant certainly. Knew his way around heavy weaponry. Still adaptive. Uncontroversial choice.”
“I see no more appropriate candidates,” you said, reviewing who else might take lead on such. “Prior skill and employment will be vital. Are there others from the special assignment who could find promotion appointments in our new units?”“Mostly. Ones who aren’t fighters through and through. The mobile HQ lead has to go to Di Vialta and his upper echelon though. Compensation for us ripping his company out from under him. Make him feel important. Though we could stand to fill out our posts better.”You leaned back on the stool, pushing against the wall of the ship’s bridge behind you. The view outside was naught but blue. “Are you suggesting we send this ship across the sea again? It seems a risk.”“Talked with Sky Bitch. Said she could convince some people to give a route.”“What a useful ally for you to catch.”“She’s still a bitch.” Schwarzehand scowled. “No, though, because we don’t know too well what might be waiting, and if we need this boat back here, it’ll be a long time sailing back and forth. I was talking about taking on some of the Vinstragan mercs over here.”“I thought we were the most prevalent of them.”“Definitely the biggest amongst them by far. If we wanted to, we could try our hand at poaching some of their people. Might help patch up our needs. Only there’s no guarantee they’ll be of the right ideals. They’ll know how to fight, certainly. But they’ll be sure to be mercenaries first and revolutionaries last when the going isn’t their way.” Schwarzehand’s expression carried the dark expression of weighing a choice he’d rather not take, but would be hard pressed not to.It didn’t sound very good to you either, but it would be the sole source of manpower you might find without active outreach locally. “Costs and expected numbers?”
“Depends. We could take on a few hundred while staying within our means, which would fill our shortages and then some, and sure, they’ll bitch about lower pay, but after the Roxorient op, boss, we’re renowned. Plenty of mercenaries will eat shit if they think they’re getting the best deal in the long term. We’ve got a rep as winners. That means drawing the unscrupulous sorts though. They’d want to be more set up as an alliance than anything. If we ran them through a coffee filter to weed out anybody we wouldn’t want permanently, we’d have a lot less. Won’t take much effort to grab at least. We already have a few asking questions.”Hm.>Reach out to everybody who is interested. You can’t be too picky right now, and even a few hundred would still be a small minority of the Legion as a whole. (Large recruitment rolls with bonus)>Maintain ideological purity, but reach out nevertheless. Anybody you could get would be better than nobody, as long as they were a Legionnaire at heart and not a looter. (Small recruitment rolls)>There was no need to risk compromising the Legion. You’d accept some difficulties for now.>Alliances, he said? Those might prove useful in adding to your strength without having to expand organizational capabilities or even directly paying, since they would simply share contract availability. Reach out to the interested companies, since they could be kept at arm’s reach…>Other? (Anything more in depth than sending letters to people from the same continent as you or meeting with them is unavailable because focus has not been directed to them.)The rest of the voyage back to Andersenshaven was spent organizing procurements, drafting appointments, and reviewing plans. Everything was in motion before you sailed to dock back at the northern city where your headquarters was on the 20th of January of 1929…ah, your youngest son Giacomo’s birthday had been on the 13th. Oh well, he was only one year old, anyways. You’d make it up to him when he was cognizant. While you stood and thought about how you’d forgotten a child’s birthday having been so busy, Schwarzehand, upon going ashore with you, was completely repelled by a winter cold he had never experienced. “Judge Above,” he shivered, “What sort of hell is this place? Down in Petrekora it’s a nice fall night at coldest.”“I told you that it was cold.” You replied dispassionately. “The numbers were negatives, not positives. Though you won’t be staying long anyways.”“Nah. Think I’ll stay where it’s warm instead of freezing my ass off just walking out for breakfast.” His blubber was not the shield you assumed it seemed. There was plenty to review upon your return- you could not go back to your eagerly awaiting family quite yet. A telegram was delivered to you upon your return, marked urgent, from Captain Dulechamp of Fifth Company.
Unsure what to expect, you opened it and found a query regarding new administrative staff organization, and that a “general poll” of the “fighting fit” of the Legion had demanded that the new uniform standards for any female administrative staff would mandate the length limit of skirts to be fifteen centimeters above the knees.Urgent indeed. You sighed and crumpled the paper in one hand to throw into a bin.The other was from your Research and Artisanry units, who learned of the potential of L’Alba Prospera and had already anticipated its arrival being of use to them. Construction of properly circumspect laboratory and storage space had been difficult, but if they were permitted to move all materiel, supplies, and workspace to the newly acquired ship, they could resume research and development projects immediately. That would mean, of course, the ship would be unavailable for other uses or be allowed to go other places for transportation duties beyond relatively light loads, but it would ensure a permanent stash and development area for your secretive assets…>Allow the usage of the L’Alba Prospera as a Research and Development and Factory Vessel. As an Auxiliary it was already well suited to such purposes.>You needed that ship for other purposes. The R&D crews could make do ashore- they’d have to get used to doing such elsewhere anyways.>Other?Those two only happened to be the most recent- much had happened while you were away, and it was time to catch up on it all. Though you could only place your attention on one thing firstly…>The next section after some brief administrative resolution will be a Perspective Shift. You may only personally influence events in one place to the degree that who you take over may be able to. The other events not selected will play out with relative unpredictability, without your ability to touch upon them.>A detailed report on the first serious operations by 3rd Battalion- handling the riots just northeast, in the regional capital of Eigansbrand. (Night of the New Aurora- Major Domani and 3rd Battalion)>From your most lavish unit, an extended brief on the recent actions of the Mobile Battalion in Operation May Three- and the surface debut of the Stijder Tanks in the Wars of the Old World… (Operation Spring Rain- Captain Von Trocken and the Z. Stijder Company)>Word from home, from Vitelia- regarding monumental changes that had taken place recently, and matters that may require your attention- or be beyond any ability to change by your hand anyways… (Rise of the Dual Consulate- Vittoria Bonaventura)>Westwards from Naukland, a rare place with easier access to communications to Caelus than others, your eldest son had much to share about his social and school life… (Best Laid Plans- Lorenzo Bonaventura)>Other? (Within reason and relevancy)
>>6464689>Maintain ideological purity, but reach out nevertheless. Anybody you could get would be better than nobody, as long as they were a Legionnaire at heart and not a looter. (Small recruitment rolls)>Allow the usage of the L’Alba Prospera as a Research and Development and Factory Vessel. As an Auxiliary it was already well suited to such purposes.>From your most lavish unit, an extended brief on the recent actions of the Mobile Battalion in Operation May Three- and the surface debut of the Stijder Tanks in the Wars of the Old World… (Operation Spring Rain- Captain Von Trocken and the Z. Stijder Company)Despite the skirmish there's been a lack of Panzer Commander action for a long time, we need to fix that.
>>6464688>>Maintain ideological purity, but reach out nevertheless. Anybody you could get would be better than nobody, as long as they were a Legionnaire at heart and not a looter. (Small recruitment rolls)>Allow the usage of the L’Alba Prospera as a Research and Development and Factory Vessel. As an Auxiliary it was already well suited to such purposes.>From your most lavish unit, an extended brief on the recent actions of the Mobile Battalion in Operation May Three- and the surface debut of the Stijder Tanks in the Wars of the Old World… (Operation Spring Rain- Captain Von Trocken and the Z. Stijder Company)
>Everything was in motion before you sailed to dock back at the northern city where your headquarters was on the 20th of January of 1929…ah, your youngest son Giacomo’s birthday had been on the 13th. Oh well, he was only one year old, anyways. You’d make it up to him when he was cognizant. Oh, that's not a good sign...>>6464688>Maintain ideological purity, but reach out nevertheless. Anybody you could get would be better than nobody, as long as they were a Legionnaire at heart and not a looter. (Small recruitment rolls)Ideological Purity is the most important thing.We Must Maintain The Revolutionary Agenda.>>6464689>Allow the usage of the L’Alba Prospera as a Research and Development and Factory Vessel. As an Auxiliary it was already well suited to such purposes.>Word from home, from Vitelia- regarding monumental changes that had taken place recently, and matters that may require your attention- or be beyond any ability to change by your hand anyways… (Rise of the Dual Consulate- Vittoria Bonaventura)We really should make sure the Vitelia front is ok, at least to see how the political situation is going.I worry about 3rd Battalion and Lorenzo more personally, but if we can only influence one it should be back home.I'm sure Von Trocken will do fine on their own.
>>6464707You know what, I think you're right.>>6464696>>6464688I'm switching my last to check-in with Vittoria. (Famous last words before someone screws the pooch)
>>6464688>Maintain ideological purity, but reach out nevertheless. Anybody you could get would be better than nobody, as long as they were a Legionnaire at heart and not a looter. (Small recruitment rolls)>Allow the usage of the L’Alba Prospera as a Research and Development and Factory Vessel. As an Auxiliary it was already well suited to such purposes.>Word from home, from Vitelia- regarding monumental changes that had taken place recently, and matters that may require your attention- or be beyond any ability to change by your hand anyways… (Rise of the Dual Consulate- Vittoria Bonaventura)
>>6464688>Reach out to everybody who is interested. You can’t be too picky right now, and even a few hundred would still be a small minority of the Legion as a whole. (Large recruitment rolls with bonus)>>6464689>Allow the usage of the L’Alba Prospera as a Research and Development and Factory Vessel. As an Auxiliary it was already well suited to such purposes.>Word from home, from Vitelia- regarding monumental changes that had taken place recently, and matters that may require your attention- or be beyond any ability to change by your hand anyways… (Rise of the Dual Consulate- Vittoria Bonaventura)
>>6464688>>6464689>Maintain ideological purity, but reach out nevertheless. Anybody you could get would be better than nobody, as long as they were a Legionnaire at heart and not a looter. (Small recruitment rolls)>Allow the usage of the L’Alba Prospera as a Research and Development and Factory Vessel. As an Auxiliary it was already well suited to such purposes.>Westwards from Naukland, a rare place with easier access to communications to Caelus than others, your eldest son had much to share about his social and school life… (Best Laid Plans- Lorenzo Bonaventura)
>>6464689>Maintain ideological purity, but reach out nevertheless. Anybody you could get would be better than nobody, as long as they were a Legionnaire at heart and not a looter. (Small recruitment rolls)>Allow the usage of the L’Alba Prospera as a Research and Development and Factory Vessel. As an Auxiliary it was already well suited to such purposes.>A detailed report on the first serious operations by 3rd Battalion- handling the riots just northeast, in the regional capital of Eigansbrand. (Night of the New Aurora- Major Domani and 3rd Battalion)>You may only personally influence events in one place to the degree that who you take over may be able to. Short of soulbinder shenanigans, I don't think Vittoria will be able to influence events to the degree the other ones can.
>>6464689>>6464688>Maintain ideological purity, but reach out nevertheless. Anybody you could get would be better than nobody, as long as they were a Legionnaire at heart and not a looter. (Small recruitment rolls)We're not hurting for replacements so much as to let just anyone in. Hell, based on the skirmish roster, there plenty of scoundrels in the ranks as it is.>Allow the usage of the L’Alba Prospera as a Research and Development and Factory Vessel. As an Auxiliary it was already well suited to such purposes.I'd rather we kept our options open and used it as a general-purpose vessel, but given that we have a lot to hide in the current theater, this will have to happen.>From your most lavish unit, an extended brief on the recent actions of the Mobile Battalion in Operation May Three- and the surface debut of the Stijder Tanks in the Wars of the Old World… (Operation Spring Rain- Captain Von Trocken and the Z. Stijder Company)Please. Let us command panzer. I beg.
>>6464689>Maintain ideological purity, but reach out nevertheless. Anybody you could get would be better than nobody, as long as they were a Legionnaire at heart and not a looter. (Small recruitment rolls)>Allow the usage of the L’Alba Prospera as a Research and Development and Factory Vessel. As an Auxiliary it was already well suited to such purposes.>Word from home, from Vitelia- regarding monumental changes that had taken place recently, and matters that may require your attention- or be beyond any ability to change by your hand anyways… (Rise of the Dual Consulate- Vittoria Bonaventura)
>>6464688>Maintain ideological purity, but reach out nevertheless. Anybody you could get would be better than nobody, as long as they were a Legionnaire at heart and not a looter. (Small recruitment rolls)>Alliances, he said? Those might prove useful in adding to your strength without having to expand organizational capabilities or even directly paying, since they would simply share contract availability. Reach out to the interested companies, since they could be kept at arm’s reach…We can do both, can't we? Recruit more soldiers of the Dawn, ally with those with more mercenary convictions who want to get on the winner's side>>6464689>Allow the usage of the L’Alba Prospera as a Research and Development and Factory Vessel. As an Auxiliary it was already well suited to such purposes.>From your most lavish unit, an extended brief on the recent actions of the Mobile Battalion in Operation May Three- and the surface debut of the Stijder Tanks in the Wars of the Old World… (Operation Spring Rain- Captain Von Trocken and the Z. Stijder Company)Panzer Commander at last.
>>6464819Since it seems it's between tanks and daughter swapping to:>From your most lavish unit, an extended brief on the recent actions of the Mobile Battalion in Operation May Three- and the surface debut of the Stijder Tanks in the Wars of the Old World… (Operation Spring Rain- Captain Von Trocken and the Z. Stijder Company)
>>6464694>6464821>6464851>6464860Nostalgic command of a panzer captaincy.>>6464707>6464714>6464724>6464770>6464824Firstborn in the Homeland.>>6464775The Mosshead Candidate.The vote'll be open for four more hours before I call things.
>>6464689>>Word from home, from Vitelia- regarding monumental changes that had taken place recently, and matters that may require your attention- or be beyond any ability to change by your hand anyways… (Rise of the Dual Consulate- Vittoria Bonaventura)
>>6464977One more for Daughter Commander.I'll start updating, but for recruitment rolls, give me 3 sets of 1d50, they'll all be added up together.>>6464851>We can do both, can't we? Recruit more soldiers of the Dawn, ally with those with more mercenary convictions who want to get on the winner's sideForgot to address this, but no, since the former is basically trying to covet away their men, which would make plenty of contractors who aren't strictly independent wary of working with you. They don't want to get eaten up after all.
Rolled 29 (1d50)>>6465047
Rolled 30 (1d50)>>6465047
Rolled 32 (1d50)>>6465047
Rolling very close to the middle average huh?
>>6465067Perfectly balanced. as all things should be.
Got sick and slept all day, otherwise this'd be out earlier.You shifted the message from home to the top of the lot. What was happening in Vitelia was a complete fog bank to most everybody of the Legion, including yourself. You’d directed your cousin to provide you information, but the telegraph wires over to Caelus went from practically nowhere beyond the Reich; even a dedicated individual would find regular communications difficult. So anything communicated would have to be of particular importance.That in mind, you opened the envelope…yet it was not from Antonia.-----Lapizlazulli Outskirts, Vitelia, January 8, 1929You are Vittoria Bonaventura, eighteen years old, a student at the Azure Halls of Lapizlazulli studying the philosophy of the Forthcomign Dawn. Yet you were also somebody else. A person few other people knew or could recognize as a part of you, and by their recommendation, it was best that few more ever did. That was your true talent, though. Learning certain arts of the esoteric had come far more naturally than any other academics did, to your chragrin. A piece of your mother that had overtaken your father, you guessed, even if neither could see as you a few of your siblings did.Right now, school was supposedly out for the New Year, as a standard period of rest for students in the tradition of the city of Lapizlazulli, but that wasn’t the whole truth. The students weren’t on holiday, but any on an arrangement with the Revolutionary Leagues for free schooling (as you were) had been called up as reserves to help police the city. The Revolutionary Governor Pescatore had mobilized all the regulars for some unspoken purpose, and tensions were like they had been back before the Leagues’ supposed unifications of the East of Vitelia. Something was going to happen soon, everybody couldn’t stop chatting about, but nobody had a good idea of what.
Though you thought you might have a clue. One you’d never have expected, the other night. Auntie Lena had been home (not your biological aunt, but she was not so close to the family as Elena Giarno), her harsh cough a forewarning of her presence. It was some long term, difficult illness to do with an old wound. You’d considered what you might do about it… but when you had learned the particular art, you’d also learned it was of little use for wounds that were so old, or illnesses so entrenched. So said, and well demonstrated, your master Zeitgeist.“Vi,” she waved from an armchair in the living room, no fire lit despite the winter. The house, big and empty of people as it was, was often cold these days. “How’s your day t’day?”You itched under the neck of the faded red jumper that was the garb of the League Militant in this season. It was cheap in all ways, only serving to mark that you were affiliated with the Revolution in Lapizlazulli. It was too large, but at least that served to even out your shape. Still, you yearned to get it off, only hesitant in shedding the meager warmth provided. “Boring as it could be,” you answered her. “Are you gonna be back long? We could go out someplace tomorrow. Could skip, not like anybody’s keeping track.”You were Father’s daughter- considered a possible spy, you’d heard, in spite of the supposed friendly words the Governor and all affiliated with him had to say in public, and thus kept away from anything important. For the better. You had better things to do than chores for the Leagues.Elena coughed and shook her head. “Nah. Sorry kid. Got a job to do. Just stoppin’ here for th’ night.” Another hacking choke, and she beat her breast in frustration.“Should rest longer,” you said with a pout. “Is it that idiot important? Dad lets you here however long y’want, just sit back an’…wait for things t’ get better.”“Nah.” Elena insisted. “Don’t worry ‘bout me, Vi. I’ve almost got the money to get a doctor in the Reich. They got medicine there we don’t know the likes a’.” “Really?” You asked doubtfully. Their medical science was more advanced than most of the world, but what wasn’t that believable was that Elena had met with somebody and gotten a price quote, even as much of a wanderer as she was. She’d had this for years, she claimed, and she’d given up on it being better.“Really. Somethin’ like nothin’ before.” She leaned forward. “You have dinner yet, Vi? I’ll make y’ somethin’. Let me look in the pantry an’ see what y’ got…”“Oh, that’d be great.” Elena could cook. You could not. The hardest part of living alone without any of your family here was constantly facing how you barely knew how to make pasta. Mother had expected you to learn while she was away, but it still wasn’t enough motivation.
Not like you were catching a man so early anyways. It was much too soon, no matter what Mother thought. She was a kind of woman unfathomable to you, who couldn’t imagine life without Father. Great as he was, you knew that someday, maybe sooner than any would like, he could be stolen away. It had happened multiple times in your life already, and it wasn’t a safe bet to think it couldn’t again.Elena was going in the morning, and that’s when, after you asked where she was going;“Interres. Tolvidaria. I got deliveries t’ make.” She hauled her pack over her shoulder and gave you a look of wistfulness. You wished you had her freckles- it would make you look more like a maternal figure you could actually admire for her loyalty, her strength. “Stick around home a while, Vi. Things are gonna get shook up soon. Don’t tell nobody that. Should go for the better fer everyone.”She didn’t elaborate, and you thought about what she’d said all day before going home early and finding a confused looking courier at your front door.“The former Premier is not here?”“Hasn’t been a while,” you said, warily. “I’m his eldest and I’m watching the house. What do you want?”“Er, there’s… a lot of letters here,” the man took out a paper bag and practically dumped his whole satchel into it. “All for your father, Miss Bonaventura. From all over. They came to the post at the same time. It’s a little weird…we checked them, they aren’t anything dangerous, just…weird. All paid for.”“…Okay.” You frowned. “Alright, I’ll take them.”“Have a good day, signora,” the courier said as he made his exit, much more relaxed with the weight of mystery lifted from his duties.…They were addressed to Father, yes, but he wouldn’t be back for perhaps months. These had all been delivered at the same time, all from…the Auratus. That new province only relatively recently made Vitelian. From people whose names you didn’t recognize whatsoever. At first, curiosity compelled you to only open a few, just to see what the fuss was.
The few opened was enough to make you open even more, because each letter claimed to admit to not knowing father personally, but they were compelled to write a message, in pieces. Each directed to an unknown other claimed piece, an overall message spread throughout several dozen others, redundant in case any piece did not find its way forth. You grew more cautious- yet more curious, as you went on. What could this possible be to be so secretive? Father might not have been in power, and had been obstructed from regaining any anyways. The message was not even one of threatening a coup, or asking for support for their own causes. You double checked it…and the message was as cryptic as could be, when assembled.“I have found the secret to sainthood. Come to where I was when I passed on. Let us help each other seize the Future as we once might have dreamt to.”Your mouth felt dry, your breath short. Master Zeitgeist had told you of such things. You had encountered this phenomenon…but never had they been so bold. This…may be a restless spirit.One whom, in your duties as the sorceress Remiel, could not ignore, if it was behaving like this.Yet. It was not the business of Vittoria Bonaventura, was it? Protocol dictated by the Lords of the Mountain demanded you summon your master to destroy it…but Zeitgeist was his own creature, difficult to get the attention of, and prone to doing things his own way at times decided by his whimsy. You did not have to do this…out of duty to your tutor, at least.After all. Curiosity pulled you in multiple directions. Auntie Lena was going to Interres for some reason that seemed consequential, and though you were but one rather unimportant, not politically powerful person, perhaps there was something you might be able to do. To help, to save her maybe, if it was a dangerous job she was doing. You were, as a person, nothing like people might assume.While you were accustomed to going out on your own as an adult woman, it was true that these days, it wasn’t necessarily wise to do so no matter who you were. So if you wanted, it might be prudent to bring friends, though the only one you truly trusted was…also unusual.
Your best friend was a girl named Elicia, another student of the Azure Halls, even if she was technically your senior there. She was tall, voluptuous, and beautiful in just about every way possible which made just about everybody jealous, even yourself. She was awfully naïve in some ways too, though that was because, despite what might be assumed from looking at her, she was only fifteen years old, your brother’s age. Considering he was a prodigy in a few ways; Elicia was certainly smarter than people even thought now. She was at least a better student than you.The thing that made her potentially more helpful than a fifteen-year-old with knockers about four times the size of yours would otherwise be (she deliberately seemed to forget that men would be interested in her body at her convenience) was that she was not who she said she was. Elicia, in truth, was Crown Princess Edelina von Halm-Auric of Halmeggia, the neighboring country, the golden-eyed bloodline whose ancestry reached back to when their progenitors had driven the Dhegyar from their lands. Her eyes were disguised with contact lenses these days, but when she unveiled them to you once, there was no mistaking what she was.Nor what she was able to do. Like you, she was unusually sensitive to the esoteric, though she did not study it as you had. If you should go north, she would be one of the few who might even perceive what you would have to seek out- and if you went to try and interfere in Interres, perhaps her political pull could be of use…>Chase after Elena. Whatever she was doing, you couldn’t let her do it alone. She was mother to your half-brother, friend to your father, was loitering about Lapizlazulli being marched about so important?>You needed to go to the Auratus and see what the source of those letters was. Never mind that they wanted Father and not you- he was not equipped like you were to examine whatever this was.>Other?Also->Involve the Halmeggian Crown Princess?
>>6465620>>You needed to go to the Auratus and see what the source of those letters was. Never mind that they wanted Father and not you- he was not equipped like you were to examine whatever this was.and>Involve the Halmeggian Crown Princess? [Yes]It's time for the very fun magic show
>>6465620>“I have found the secret to sainthood. Come to where I was when I passed on. Let us help each other seize the Future as we once might have dreamt to.”How much do the older kids know about Chiara? Bonetto would get the reference but I doubt Vi does.>You needed to go to the Auratus and see what the source of those letters was. Never mind that they wanted Father and not you- he was not equipped like you were to examine whatever this was.Much as I'd like to help Elena, this sounds like something only a soulbinder can solve.>Involve the Halmeggian Crown Princess?Sure, especially since Halmeggia is just over the border from the Auratus. Also I don't mind seeing more pre-Luftpanzer Elena
>>6465620>You needed to go to the Auratus and see what the source of those letters was. Never mind that they wanted Father and not you- he was not equipped like you were to examine whatever this was.We let our dear daughter be a double wide hip witch for a reason.Hope Elena will be ok alone.>Involve the Halmeggian Crown Princess?Sure. Genuinely why not?
>>6465627>How much do the older kids know about Chiara? Bonetto would get the reference but I doubt Vi does.They know vaguely of the people Bonetto fought alongside, particularly those that came along to reunions. They'd know plenty about Chiara considering, well, how many of the next generation are named after the same person.
>>6465620>You needed to go to the Auratus and see what the source of those letters was. Never mind that they wanted Father and not you- he was not equipped like you were to examine whatever this was.>Involve the Halmeggian Crown Princess?[Yes]
>>6465620>You needed to go to the Auratus and see what the source of those letters was. Never mind that they wanted Father and not you- he was not equipped like you were to examine whatever this was.>Involve the Halmeggian Crown Princess? [Yes]
>>6465629+1
>>6465626>>6465627>>6465629>>6465657>>6465769>>6465770Unanimous going on Ghost Stories adventure with the Golden Eyes Gal.The joke's been made plenty of times before but you could describe a bunch of plot notes and characters and then ask somebody to guess the title of the story and what it is would be the last thing they'd guess.Updating.
>>6465833The other side is true, I thought I was getting into panzer commander but it’s really World War Wizard: The Prelude On a serious note, couldn’t resist the opportunity to discover the canon event that makes the princess want to stay as far away from magic as she can (and keep the spell book out of her brother’s hands). And betray her family…
Auntie Lena had taken care of herself as long as you’d been alive. Did she really need your help? If you were right about her, then no, she didn’t. This other thing though…that was something only you could deal with. Something that filled you with a burst of pride for a skill so long nurtured yet seemingly superfluous, so much training and danger and aimless tasks, but now, here was a task where you were the only one with any power. Elena…could make do, you were sure.Could you do this alone? Maybe, but you didn’t want to. If you were to adventure, it wouldn’t be like spending lonesome evenings about the house. You wanted somebody along. Also, you supposed, for the safety in numbers. Vitelia wasn’t as safe as it once was, and you knew of somebody who was hardly ever unguarded- somebody who could not be trapped by politics as you might be in the journey to the Auratus, where this voice from the past spoke from.Besides. Edelina could sense as well as you could. She was one of the few people besides your tutor and master that could even perceive what was out there. So you went to the city and to her place of residence, the temporary stay for her that she had called home through most of her university schooling. A place that let few in without a call from the telephone outside first.Edelina had rented out an apartment (rather, her three escorts had done so) on the cliffs of Lapizlazulli, a graceful three-story complex of rounded painted plaster walls and gardens that was the envy of any home from the outside- but seemed rather cramped on the interior, and not particularly modern. A picture in miniature of Vitelia, but much like everything else about Edelina, a source of much envy. You wondered if her people couldn’t shake the feeling that a princess should ever live outside of something that could be called a castle or manor. Fittingly, it was called the Castella del Brezza del Sud, a mouthful of a name but fitting for the place above the sea it commanded, hardly ever hot even in summer, maybe too cold these days.The Halmeggian Princess’s two manservants and one maidservant were always wary of you, but Edelina was ever happy for visitors, especially those she could be most open with. She found secrecy exhausting, and depressingly routine. Once, she had compared herself to you by saying how your father was practically king of this side of the country- a point you had to annoyedly correct her on, given how it contrasted every single one of you and Father’s principles.If only it were true, in hindsight.
By nature of the gaps in your knowledge, the princess had to be told an abridged version of what your theory was regarding the letters. What the true identity of the thing was, was not so simple, but you told her a tale of a restless spirit, haunting the Auratus and requiring investigation. In truth, you could probably purge it immediately if it were an Ember- a sort of duplicate husk of an entity that grew out of the residual presence of the deceased rather than an actual soul.“We don’t have school anyways,” you told Edelina, though she wouldn’t need convincing as much as her minders, especially since from their point of view you’d be a pair of silly girls going hunting after ghost stories. “We can go somewhere new for a change. See what’s up there?”Edelina smiled sweetly at you, but squinted in skepticism. “I do not think that the Gepte is much good for tourism after years of war and decades of tension and skirmish, but if you wish to go, I will come along even to the Edge of the World.”The Edge of the World, if you could see it, was actually not so dangerous, more mysterious and beautiful than the dread it inspired of most people might suggest. “Well, it’s just the edge of Vitelia and Halmeggia. We both could learn something from it, couldn’t we?”That track of education made the butlers reluctantly accept the impromptu holiday- one of the men would remain at the apartments while the others came with you two for safety. It mattered little that you had a gun, amongst other things difficult to convince the normal person of the value of…but four people were difficult for random toughs to interfere with, too. They also had a different idea of what the merits of a trip to the Auratus was too, under the impressions that you were sure most Halmeggians had, especially when expecting the same opinion from their future queen, but Edelina was gentle hearted, and open to compromise and sacrifice.“At the very least,” her eldest butler said curtly, “The forces of this governate occupy the whole of the route, their allies the destination. There shan’t be unreasonable risks.”Should you tell them what Elena told you? Yes, they were undoubtedly spies of a sort, but the present situation…you did dare to ask after that statement.“Pescatore’s forces all went north, to Crovicci,” the maidservant said, her voice cool crystal. Rehearsed, like explaining a natural phenomenon to a child. “He is closely linked with the Augustan faction of the Vitelian Royal Army. All indications imply civil unrest and escalation of tensions to be happening decidedly elsewhere from the provinces of the Revolutionary Proconsuls…”Auntie Lena didn’t seem so sure. What she was referring to must have not been a matter of armies, then..?
By that night you were waiting at the city’s newly expanding train station for the last train out. A quiet journey, and a luxuriant one, in spite of Pescatore’s government railing against gaps between poor and rich and all having the same treatment. You weren’t fool enough to think it was plain hypocrisy- the company that owned many of the East’s rail networks had links high up with the Augustans. Pescatore would have to be an idiot to deny them their upselling of private cabins and fine dining. Besides- was Utopia really a place where nobody could have the nicest things? Father didn’t make it sound that way.When you and Edelina had some time loitering by yourselves, you in the red jumper that showed your allegiance, her in a long coat and sash that did little to hide her shape, you could speak more on things left out of earshot of elders.“I confess,” Edelina said, “I do not know how much use I will be. I know not of mystic matters as you do, even if the Presence and its mysteries is the privilege of the Crown to bear the responsibility of knowledge of. Such knowledge is seen as able to be abused by…those who have not grown enough.”“I think you’ve grown pretty plenty,” you prodded a finger at one of those mountains and she laughed like she’d been tickled. “Seriously. Is every woman in your family like this?”“Goodness, no.” Edelina put a hand to her chest. “Alexandra asks me if she will have to carry such weight, with fear in her eyes. I can reassure her with pictures of our ancestors, with the sight of her mother.”“So the King doesn’t have the monarchial milkers?”“Judge Above, do not call them that,” Edelina groaned. She had to know you'd heard far worse. “I hope such is not all people think of when they see me. I fear they have been getting bigger still…”Unimaginable. “Why not? You’re not full grown, and it means you’ll be even pretty prettier than you already are. That might already be awful helpful, yeah?”Edelina flashed you a sad look. “You speak as if you have no beauty yourself, Vi.”“Compared to you?”“I love your blonde hair. Your eyes. The strength of your body. You are very Vitelian.”“Blonde is normal. Your blood red is not. Like a ruby in flame.” “Blonde is not normal for Nief’yem.” Edelina interjected.You grit your teeth and snorted at that, no retort prepared. “Besides,” you rubbed your hip, and you had the same feeling about it as she had her chest. “I have a fat mountain goat ass. Same source as the eyes.”
Edelina turned her gaze to her own rear. “Our hips are around the same size. Do I have a, erm, fat mountain goat posterior?”“It’s the right size with how the rest of you is big,” you sulked. “Balanced.”“Regardless of what you say,” the princess said with melancholy that a voice as lovely as hers could not help but force sympathy with, “It is a sad world if I am the only one permitted to be beautiful. You are allowed to be so too, Vi. Can we not agree to that? It is against Utopian principle for beauty to be the sole property of a single pinnacle…and I am no such pinnacle anyways.”“Oh shut up,” you punch her arm, even her skin alabaster like a sculpture of eld. “Who is, then?”“Have you seen the lady upon the covers of the last few months of Nou/Coup” Edelina gained some energy back, her eyes shone “The model for the autumn? She is so narrow, but the way they dress her makes her so graceful, fabrics so delicate and carefully crafted just for such a form, and they could not hope to look so on a body like mine. You could wear her shirts, however...”“I haven’t,” you weren’t so into such things, “Do you have those mags with you?”“They are in my luggage. We can get them out, I am sure.”When her servants returned the two of you were chattering about clothes of all things. You were ashamed to say it was more engaging than you expected it to be, lasting all the way onto the train.-----
It was night on the train, moving northwards, and though you wouldn’t be disembarking from this one through several stops, neither you or Edelina were quick to sleep, instead helping yourselves to the odd service of Espresso Della Notte, rich coffee made with beans who had been made to lose the charge they normally gave to the senses. It was the best you’d ever tasted- Ydela would have loved it, considering her quiet nature. The countryside was dark to most, and there was little reason to look outside it. With it opened at the train’s slow and steady night pace, however, both you and Edelina could catch glimpses of the other, the benign forms of life whose times upon this world were brief and bright and harmless. A world invisible to most- and in the dark, to people such as you, some otherwise normal things emitted their own shows of the light of vitality, a glistering over the world so subtle that one might have mistaken it for a reflection of the clear night above were it not cloudy and blackened below for it. The chill of New Year’s winter air was worth the sight, which glass concealed when peered through.Funny to think so many boys you knew would cut off their arm to sit where you were now. Some of them thought you were fond of women in the same way they were- they were wrong, of course. You liked men. It was just that you didn’t like them enough to trade your sorcery away for. Master had warned of how your Presence was irrevocably changed through an act most your age thought innocuous, especially amongst the Revolutionarily inclined…Edelina stared silently out into the night. You had her ear for whatever you wanted…though maybe you’d be better off respecting the quiet and pondering something particular yourself.>Talk to Edelina about anything? You have the rare private ear of royalty, rarer still one inclined the same way politically as you for the most part. (What about?)>Think to yourself on present affairs of the country-minor as you might be in them. (Of what nature?)>Review with yourself matters of the Esoteric; you were about to have a close encounter after all, and mistakes could have unknowable consequence. (What to review? Though your knowledge is not great…)>Other?>You may choose as many as you like for this vote, so long as a subject is written in.
>>6466015>Talk to Edelina about anything? You have the rare private ear of royalty, rarer still one inclined the same way politically as you for the most part. (What about?)Chat about how she views Halmeggia's current state of affairs with all the unrest on its borders, this should be near the beginning of when things start going downhill until the present day.>Think to yourself on present affairs of the country-minor as you might be in them. (Of what nature?)Who seems to be winning in Criovicci at the moment to the outside world? Meanwhile as the East fights amongst themselves, how does the Autarch in the West react?>Review with yourself matters of the Esoteric; you were about to have a close encounter after all, and mistakes could have unknowable consequence. (What to review? Though your knowledge is not great…)Review our knowledge how to exorcise such phantoms, what spells work best?
>>6466015>>6466021+1
>>6466015Supporting >>6466021
>>6466015Think of spells to make the bust grow
>>6466015Talk about boys, have her parents been looking around for another royal match for her?
>>6466015Think of spells to make the bust shrink
>>6466231+1
