Strat-3 Chpt-14

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==Strategos (A Great Captain Roberts Tale!!) - Part 3 - A Light In The Black - Chapter 14 - We Gaze into Maelstroms==
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===Need for a Clanner===
"I'm not sure she's going…
…to work out." Amanda confided. "Maybe it's my own issues again?"
Admiral Foster looked up. "You know, normal people at least ask to come in, quiaff?"
She shrugged, "Open door policy. I need a Clanner, Sir."
"Say again?", asked Foster.
"I need a Clan officer who can translate 'Clanner weirdness' into regular people-speak." she clarified, and dropped the signed noteputer on his desk. "I followed instructions. She's joined the Privateers, and I'm giving her the CAG slot on Evanescent like you told me to. But sir?"
He gestured, and she sat down across from him, "I'm not sure she isn't going to get herself killed with that 'eager please' thing!"
"Johnny." he said.
"I'm not gonna sleep with her!!"
"Not what I mean. John had that same 'eager to please' you are concerned over," he told her. "Everyone on your 'A' team is at least a little bit… has rough edges. That is what you are comfortable with. So naturally, when you get someone sincerely wanting to impress you, you worry. It translates as doubts about their ability to survive."
Amanda nodded. "I guess so…"
He sighed. "I wish all my officers had that trait-the one about seeing red flags whenever they're being praised, instead of basking in it. It's a trait that is one of the reasons you're one of my favorites-your quest for glory is inevitably about helping others, rather than your own image… She will be fine, if she was not, you would not have presented the offer regardless of what I told you to do."
"So it's baseless?"
"Somewhat," he said, reaching into his desk and bringing out a bottle of something fizzy and red, along with two low cut tumblers. "Every officer has to eventually deal with an eager-to-please subordinate they have doubts about. Sometimes, those doubts are confirmed. Most of the time, they are not."
"How do I tell the difference?" Amanda asked.
"Live combat," he told her. "It is the sole and only true test of ability, of 'rightness of fit'." He poured. "I got lucky, my gut feeling about YOU turned out to be right… but then, I had more to work with than you do."
He pushed one glass to her. "How are you doing in the Slush pile, as you call it?"
She winced. "I… sir, I'm not…"
"Ah." He nodded, "You can not have them compete, and you lack the life experiences to evaluate their careers based on files, and you doubt your abilities in the interview."
"Yes, sir." she nodded.
"You had a feeling about John, quiaff?" he asked.
"Yes, sir."
"Apply that nose. Figure out a test of character that will work and apply it, you have nearly two months to work it out." he told her. "Choosing subordinates when you have the choice is a critical command skill, and it can only be learned by experience."
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===Getting to Know the Crew===
"You didn't…
…do anything wrong, Saya," Lori explained. "Sam is…unusual. He is one of the 'first' people to sign on with the Evanescent, but his ways do take getting used to."
"So he is a tech, that does not-"
"He is the Chief Engineer, and Samuel is more than a tech." Lori clarified. "A 'Tech Caste' would fix your fighter, maybe install equipment at your direction. Samuel makes new options, like a Scientist is supposed to. He did not mean to be rude or show disrespect, his mind is simply… elsewhere."
“Right. Chapter 4 of Why Yeh’s journal. I need to take that to heart in this situation and adjust my thinking accordingly. Politeness is often the first casualty of real war.”
"What an interesting idea." A protomech warrior with a stripe of black hair that almost reached her collar walked up, then sized Saya up. "Trina, I'm the Point Commander for the Protomechs. You're the CAG now?"
“I am. This is a lot of new territory for me that I am going to have to adapt to, but I must give my all to do so.”
"You started interviews for replacements, since we just lost our driver to the Tenebrous?" Trina was… rougher than most Protomech pilots, and up close Saya could see she was near her 'end date'. The point where built up toxins usually kill those with extensive EI implants.
“Yes. It is a challenge for sure. I am finding even the old SLDF manuals I studied whenever possible are not entirely applicable to this situation.”
Trina reached into her undersuit pocket, and pulled out a square pad of paper. "These guys, talk to them. I know Herve from my time in the Regulars. He's a good shuttle jock, and they're presently unassigned. You'll find them in the brig."
“Desperation and war make strange bedfellows but they are still often found together. Also from chapter 4.” Saya shook her head.
"Bedfellows? That's Carlos over in gunnery," Trina told her. "He's as big aroun-"
"Stop it, Trina, you're not freaking her out," Lori snapped. "She's a Goliath Scorpion and can probably swap coupling stories that would make YOU puke."
“Coupling while under the influence of necrosia is only recommended if you have a really good constitution. But if you do, well…” Saya chuckled.
"Drinking contest, Marine Bay, nineteen hundred, bring a spare liver," Trina challenged. "You'll need it, Flygirl. Get my shuttle pilots out of the klink."
“You do realize I have a good 20 kilos on you, quiaff?”
"I have a decade of practice on you?" Trina challenged back. "Anyway, since Lori spoiled my fun, welcome to the crew…and that list? Those guys can land a shuttle anywhere you want, even under fire, and we'll need them. The Skipper told me to get with YOU about it. She won't move on that without the CAG supporting it."
“Very well. We seem rather short on other options, so I shall arrange the appropriate meetings and get them working for us instead of wasting in a cell.”Satisfied, the Protomech officer stalked off to 'Marine country'.
"Trina does that to everyone sooner or later. She pushes boundaries," Lori explained. "You didn't flinch, so she won't do it again."
“We understand one another. She is still Clan enough for that.”
"Trina is still Clan enough that she goes after Elementals for 'sparring practice'." Lori laughed.
“Based on your reports that seems to be the sort of people we need. So if she recommends these pilots, I shall bring them into our crew.”
"Let me see her 'list', if you will, CAG?" Lori held out her hand.
Saya handed over the list.
Lori studied the names, then pulled out a PADD, and logged onto the station's systems. "Wonder of wonders, they really are unassigned… How did Billie Siegel let these four go?"
“Perhaps she arranged it knowing how short of qualified pilots we are,” Saya reasoned.
Lori nodded silently, then, "Let's go fetch us some Shuttle jocks… before Larry sees who's out and available!"
“Seyla.”
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===Making a Wager===
Sixty-six…
…had decided she would hand carry all the information that she had gathered from all possible sources to Acton Howe herself.
The revelation of someone listening in on their HPG communications demanded it.
Clan ways gave her the pretext she desired for gauging the Loremaster.
The Go board between them would impress any master of the game for the positions of either side.
“You certainly are impressive and demanding.” Acton took his turn.
“Thank you. Solid move.” 66 studied the board.
“I think you will find I have set up an unwinnable end game for you. But you knew that did you not?” Acton smiled.
“You are correct. You may call me Sixty-Six or Agent Sixty-Six.”
“This matter of the enemy listening in on our HPG traffic needs to be resolved, and soon. I hope the data you brought will be of some use towards that end.”
“Agreed, and between what Kolossus recorded, my own passive surveillance, and now incorporating your own data I do believe we now have all we need to find where the weak points in our communications are.”
The holo projector lit up with a map of the Outworlds, the Wastes, and even deeper out in the periphery.
Highlighted on it were the worlds the Sons of Plunder had struck since the start of the war. An additional highlight further refined it to successful attacks on convoys.
“The most enlightening detail was the attack on the Goliath Scorpion Seeker mission. It seems unlikely they would come completely unannounced. Which leads me to believe their HPG message was not forwarded. The only stations where such an interception would be possible is on the periphery border of the Combine where Clan HPG networks have to rely on automation due to being too far from any particular Clan’s holdings.” Sixty-Six highlighted another area of space.
“Because if they were manned stations we would have noticed a sudden shift in routine reports. Or when we rotate crew, we would have found Sons of Plunder pretenders. Assuming of course, they even managed to take the station sufficiently by surprise that no alarm would have gone out.”
“Extrapolating from that data, the time, locations of attacks, Kolossus’ records, and my own data I am now confident that these four stations have been compromised and the Sons of Plunder main area of operations is thus somewhere in this region.” Sixty-Six changed highlights.
“It still does not tell us where their home base or other major facilities are but it certainly gives us a new area to focus our efforts on. Now another game. This time do not hold back for my sake.”
“The list of humans I let get away with calling me Sixty-Six or Agent Sixty-Six is quite short. I may have to devise a new social method of acknowledging extraordinary humans.”
“Then I offer this. If I defeat you without you holding back this time I shall demand you accept being called Juanita Pujol Garcia.”
Sixty-Six accessed her historical archives momentarily.
“Derived from Juan Pujol Garcia, or GARBO, quite possibly the most effective double agent for the Allies of the mid-20th century global conflict. You’re on.”
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===The impression of given by the company they Keep===
"They didn't skimp…
… on the escorts." Jane mused. "Did they?"
"Ma'am?"
She was looking out the windows of the traffic control station at Alpheratz, as the arriving Thazi Confederacy delegation hove into view.
"Carrack… huh, unarmed model," the Station officer noted. "Rare bird…and is that…"
"That is a Tracker class Surveillance WarShip. I don't care if your systems insist it's a merchant vessel," Jane noted. "Warships are extinct? Hardly."
She turned to saKhan Lankeneau. "Neither class of those-Carracks or Trackers were in the attacks were they?"
"No," he shook his head. "They were not."
"Well, I guess President Avellar was right to seek possible ties. These guys can keep a centuries old ship running when nobody even thought they could tie their shoes, don't you think?"
"That remains to be seen, Madame Drillson," he told her.
"Too right. How long before I can speak with Henri Mitchell in person?" she asked, referring to the dignitary reported to be aboard that convoy.
"Two more days at safe transit speed." a crewman answered.
"Well, it gives me time to bone up. You look shocked, is there something I need to know before I'm in a room with this guy?"
"We…did not know they had a warship, never mind three compact-core ships with Warship potential." Lankeneau admitted.
"Great, incomplete information seems to be the paradigm, doesn't it? You didn't know about the descendants of the 9th CAAN until a half crazed girl started smacking hornet’s nests, and now we're behind the eight ball on a foreign contact who might actually have a navy to contribute..." She sighed, and shook her head.
"What is the…cause of your distress?" Lankeneau asked suspiciously.
"This is going to be more Helena's kind of thing, than mine. I was regretting she isn't here," Jane stated. "but I am here. I expect Acton Howe has a lot to answer for regarding why you didn't know they were running around in compact-core ships with warship potential, but that's not My Job. I will be in my offices on Alpheratz, or close to them, for the next few days while my staff digs through everything we might know about the Thazi Confederacy from the old days, before your Clan arrived. And I'll be back up here to meet our guests in two days-hopefully better prepared than I am."
"You think it was missed, quineg?" the saKhan asked, carefully avoiding calling her 'Lady Cameron'.
"No, but clearly something was missed, and eventually, the voters are going to want an accounting. So getting in front of this is a good idea before you have to deploy brute-squads to handle the protests."
He joined her walk back to the station's shuttle bay. "You seem to have a dim view of that."
"I have a dim view of civil disorder, Khan Lankeneau," she corrected him. "I may have missed the worst of the Succession Wars, but that was being locked in a cell, and then trying to play 'foundation'... But I'm pretty sure most of my past discomforts can be traced directly, rather than indirectly, to such things. The easiest way to stem civil disorder is to be ahead of and addressing problems before the public realize there is a problem. WE have a problem with the Intelligence Services of the Raven Alliance. Loremaster Howe may be overloaded, the civil branch may be incompetent or corrupt or both… but that is for Mitchell to address on the civil side and for the Khans to deal with on yours."
The shuttle bay's doors opened, and guards came to attention. "You surprise me, a Clan official."
"In my role, he would be on his belly begging for permission," she interrupted. "I'm a civilian, and I read your people's book. It must stick in your mouth with a taste of ashes to have to compromise with a civilian government, doesn't it?"
He glowered, but he also nodded."Your ancestors found it so uncomfortable they left me in a cell." she told him darkly. "I'm out, Kerensky is dead, you're back, because Uncle Aleks didn't have the answers after all. Remember that."
"You were familiar with him."
"He was my replacement father, just like he was for Ritchie." Elizabeth said grimly. "I suspected then that he wasn't exactly father material, but unlike Helena, I was old enough to remember our dad on his bad days, not just his best days… and that goes for Uncle Aleks, too. It came with being the Spare: I had to learn the same things. The difference is, Ritchie didn't pay attention to the same lessons… and it cost everyone. I can't really judge him, saKhan Lankeneau. I made worse mistakes. Mistakes that as 'Jane Drillson' I won't make again."
"First of those being your aversion to replacing Avellar." he intoned.
"Bingo. Absolute Rulers collapse more societies than anything else including plagues. Sometimes the collapse is fast, sometimes slow, but I've experienced it first hand-nothing is more corrupting than taking shortcuts. I'll be on the planet if you need me."
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===A Evaluation of Fitness of Duty===
"The bone has grown…
…back together." Dr. Randolph was a Clan Medtech, but Amanda insisted on using the respectful term-when she wasn't saying things like "Barber" or "Carpenter", anyway.
"And my cognitive?"
"Excellent in the test, Director Roberts." he confirmed. "Your Psych eval shows you still need some work."
She groaned in frustration. "Catch Twenty Two, isn't it??" she asked.
"Was that YOU or was it Desmond?" Dr. Randolph asked.
"Me… I think."
"Did you actually read a 20th century novel about bomber pilots?" he asked.
She frowned. "No…"
"Then we know it was Desmond or at least, the AI's influence on your thinking." He explained. "I am not testing Desmond's fitness, Director Roberts. If I could make you deactivate him and test only YOU, that would be ideal, but you cannot retain function without the AI's assistance, so that option is out. TRY to maintain Distinction?"
"It's… sometimes kinda difficult." she admitted.
"I know." The doctor shuffled some papers on his screen. "I see no outbursts of anger recently, no irrational losses of control have come up for you. I'm going to lower your risk status enough to assume moderate duties in Shore service until our next examination date. At which time, we'll review your mental state and physical fitness again."
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===Fighting the Medical Board===
"Well? What did…
…the Doctors say?" Lori asked.
"I'm still beached." Amanda scowled. Then, in a mocking, nasal tone: "'The Patient shows troubling reliance on her implant for even basic things'. Then he scolded me because he 'Wasn't here to test the Desmond unit for fitness'."
"Tough break, will you get released by the time the ship's ready?" Lori asked.
"I don't know… You know what though?"
"What?"
"I bet Helena Cameron doesn't get this kind of shit from HER doctors!!"
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===Mutual feelings about their Medical Care===
”Now Helena…
… I believe we were talking about your nightmares when we last spoke. Are you still having them?”
“Sort of. They have changed. I still see the Fat Man. I still know it is Amaris, but somehow it is less scary? Honestly I am not sure what the right word is. It still makes it hard to sleep but I am sleeping. More than I did centuries ago. I can actually almost get a full four hours now before the nightmares wake me up.”
“I see. And does Simon lend a hand with this?”
“Oh boy. Me and Simon have been one and the same for so long that we’re almost like sea water. So I bet he does but that is kind of his purpose. I’d be an absolute emotional roller coaster without him right up to the point I die from toxic build up.” Helena scoffed.
“Hmmm… And things are going well between you and Leon? Is it still a healthy relationship?”
“Leon’s great, Doc. He makes me feel like a teenager with her first crush but still is emotionally mature enough to stimulate adult me too. And there’s this thing he does…” Helena giggled.
“Honestly Helena, I am not sure what to put down on your evals. You clearly still have deep seated traumas but because you and Simon are so interwoven I can not tell if you are really dealing with them or not. How do I know you are not using him as a crutch?”
“Simple. Leon. The reason I call my AI Simon is because he is so much like my Dad. We think it is because he was factory fresh and I had more of a connection with my father than anyone else. I WAS a Daddy's girl when I was little...” she smiled. "Also, Simon doesn't exactly approve of Leon, so there's at least SOME separation there."
“That sounds… remarkably healthy. For the time being, I'm going to maintain the hold order until we can revisit this topic with a bit more information. You're cleared for intersystem transit as a passenger, but until the Neurologists can give you a thorough workup, you're not to engage in… 'navigational exercises'." 
“I’ll never get my last Pathfinder qualification at this ratem, but fine Doc. Foster needs me riding a desk not gallivanting across human space anyway and as much as I hate it he’s right that is where I am the most help right now. I bet Amanda’s Doctors don’t block her like this.”
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