Lord Admiral

> ***“The position is one that everyone envies, but few actually desire to have… Admirals may know how to deal with enemies in the battlefield, but only Lord Admirals have the notion of what it is like to appease a council of rivalring glory seekers. That is the dividend between great warriors and great leaders…”***
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> **- Admiral Albert Emerald Chamberlain, 2291 -**
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  Founded as a powerful position in the Navy of the old British Empire, a Lord Admiral’s role in the Imperial Royal Navy is not only much grander, but also much more powerful than it ever was. The title is a rank that can be indicated by the Admiralty and bestowed with approval of the Emperor of the Eternal Empire, allowing for greater control, management, coordination and evolution of the Royal Navy. A Lord Admiral can stay in office officially for as long as the Emperor desires, but it is traditional for older Lord Admirals to simply retire once their conditions become too critical or a great conflict is resolved, passing the torch to more cunning admirals of the armadas. Once the position becomes vacant, the title can run for one year without a named recipient, as by doing so with more time could become a detriment to the entire Navy’s management capabilities. Additionally, a Lord Admiral can also be forcefully removed from his role; Let it be by dying in battle or being voted out by the Admiralty and Emperor, being a Lord Admiral is by far one of the trickiest positions to maintain within the Empire, and so it is usually carried out by the best and best alone.

  The position was first founded in 1792, as **Queen Victoria II** ascended into power and became known as the first “*Queen Admiral*” of the British Empire. Ever since, the title has been passed down through the eras as a symbol of skill, respect and power, one not to be mixed up with the Imperial authority, however, which still holds the position in a tight leash of order.

## **The Role, the Power**

  As much as the title might suggest otherwise, a Lord Admiral is not necessarily expected to uphold the most skill once it comes to fighting a battle. The position encompasses much more than that. Being a Lord Admiral requires insight in strategic, doctrinal and tactical warfare all combined, mixing into a combination of both active warfare against enemies in battlegrounds and strategic command of squadrons, fleets and armadas to traverse in systems where the most damage can be dealt. The Lord Admiral is set to coordinate logistical works, working together with Rear-Admirals and commanders of *Royalty Ships* to aid and supply the fleets as they rampage through enemy territory. The Lord Admiral is set to determine the commissioning of designs into the fleets, choosing, as the commander-in-chief of the naval forces, which type of ship will receive upgrades, be decommissioned or be built; A role that is also aided by the summoning of the Royal Imperial Admiralty. The Lord Admiral is set to ally his forces with the Imperial Army, protecting it and escorting its forces as they clear planets from Xeno resistance, taking any kind of tactical or strategic decision that might be key to the outcome of a planetary siege and the security of Army and Navy lives in battle.

  Overall, Lord Admirals act as Supreme Commanders at the top level of the command structure. Having other officers overruling an order coming from the top may suggest either insubordination, weak leadership, extreme fanaticism or all the following… Rarely does a Lord Admiral answer to Admirals or Field Marshalls as equals, usually enacting his/her authority with personal legitimacy.

  Likewise with the Admiralty as a whole, the position also has a clear divide between Moderation and Fanaticism, something that was extremely common during Empress Victoria’s rule of the nation. During certain periods, moderationists or fanatics would assume control of the post, which inevitably that can be seen during the preludes to many great wars the Empire partook in. As long as one of the groups possesses the Lord Admiral in its faction, that group has the upper hand in the enacting of their own agendas. As soon as the roles are changed, the other group begins to steer the country away, until that also becomes old news.

  And so the cycle went… Until Emperor Daniel Lavoie put an end to the incessant dispute within the admiralty...

## **Lord Admirals Through the Ages**

Acting as the leaders of their respective time-frames, here is a list of the Lord Admirals responsible for guiding the Imperial Royal Navy to modernity: