[center] [h1][b][color=f72f39]Alexander Kherol[/color][/b][/h1] [h1][b][color=f72f39]The Last Ascendancy Commander[/color][/b][/h1] [/center][hr] [center][h3]Terror Belli - Decus Pacis[/h3][/center] [hr] [color=f72f39][b]Every 1st Fleet soldier has an Admiral's plaque in his pocket[/b][/color] 2370 AD Planet Wasa, Rau’ve’s Space Dock #3 Days had passed after the battle of Wasa. The cleaning up had finished. The unfortunate casualties of war had been laid to rest with full military honor, and the prisoners of war already sent home to Ascendancy homeland. His victory was so complete that Alexander needn't waste time nor risk potential dangers with chasing down the Rau've survivors. The enemy carriers and dreadnoughts had been destroyed, the rest were mere flies within his palm. He preferred to let his fleet have some respite and let the other commanders reap the fruits of [i]his[/i] labor. Literally at their fingertips. It should be simple enough for them. [color=f72f39]"Does it hurt my friend?"[/color] The admiral today wasn't in his flagship. He was in one of the heavy cruisers that led the attack that lured the Rau've into the decisive charge: the flagship of Commodore Lan Ficelle. She firmly executed his orders, carried it out perfectly even under intense bombardment, her ship on fire and she personally was hit by shrapnel, now needing a surgery to remove it. To Alexander's amazement, Lan was actually injured much earlier in the battle, as her ship was focused. She just kept it in her and continued the fight without anyone realizing it until the battle was almost over. What a soldier! He knew she's a great commander, but she's also the bravest of them all. [color=fff257]"No, I'm alright."[/color] She laughed it off, clearly not being able to move her shoulders around. [color=fff257]"Only the first five times or something."[/color] [color=f72f39]"Is it true though?"[/color] Alexander joked back. He'd expect no less. [color=fff257]"I lost count."[/color] She said as she patted the patched up wound. [color=fff257]"Well, this will heal in a few weeks or so. What's more important is if the Rau've fleet can recover before that."[/color] [color=f72f39]"The rest of their space forces are now stretched thin because they pulled enough forces to stop the breakthrough here, so I'm pretty sure they're now desperate."[/color] He said. [color=f72f39]"You can rest assured until we arrive at their capital. By then you'll lead the way in!"[/color] [color=fff257]"Haha, I thank you for your generosity."[/color] [color=f72f39]"It's my only way of compensating for not being able to promote you. You have grown a lot since we met in the Grand Academy."[/color] He could only send recommendations to his beloved President for her promotion. And of course, given the nepotism and oligarchism of the Ascendancy, it was never going to pass, and might end up hurting her in the long run instead if he kept nagging. The only other way would be being Grand Admiral, where it is a special rank in which the bearer is pretty much given full reign of whatever and whoever is assigned to their army. [color=fff257]"Oh believe me, you'll be Grand Admiral really soon."[/color] Lan quickly slapped and gripped her friend's shoulder. [color=f72f39]"Haha, I truly hope so."[/color] Alexander laughed. [color=f72f39]"But the rank is now full. There will be no more than six at the same time, and all personally appointed by Emmanuel himself. I doubt they'd create a seventh."[/color] [color=fff257]"Oh, don't you know?"[/color] She asked. [color=fff257]"Grand Admiral Phillip just got sacked from the 13th Fleet, and its command was given to Admiral Quasi."[/color] [color=f72f39]"When was that?"[/color] [color=fff257]"Just a week ago. I don't think they have decided on a new one yet. With this victory, the press is gonna sing you praises, and that Civvy Minister would have to cave in or they'd face a public backlash."[/color] [color=f72f39]"They don't already care about that to begin with. I don't think-" [/color] [color=fff257]"Or international humiliation. Especially in wartime. If they want to appear strong militarily, they have to put in place a strong military leader."[/color] [color=f72f39]"I won't hold my expectations too high though."[/color] Alexander shrugged, before pointing at her again. [color=f72f39]"You'll still march first into Brassica though. Ladies first, am I right?"[/color] [color=fff257]"Oh you just want to see the back of my neck, don't you? You have a weird fetish my guy!" [/color] She said as she slapped his back again, and this time as hard as possible. Not much growing on this front though. But a woman's intuition was not to be underestimated.[hr] 2 days later. [color=0b4cb5]"It's official Alex. You are now a Grand Admiral of the Ascendancy of Man."[/color] She was correct. Not bad for a son of an engineer and accountant. [color=0b4cb5]"There is a ceremony you'll attend this weekend. We can depart for it the day after tomorrow if you wish."[/color] Carina explained. [color=0b4cb5]"Also, since now you're officially Grand Admiral, you can choose to promote anyone you like. If you do it now, they'll also attend the ceremony."[/color] [color=f72f39]"Oh really?"[/color] Alexander remarked. Guess the Ascendancy really wanted some political points. [color=f72f39]"Well, then tell them to prepare a lot of plaques, because I'm going to change this army upside down. Starting with you."[/color] [color=0b4cb5]"M-Me?"[/color] His aid-de-camp was perplexed. [color=f72f39]"Yeah you. From now on, you will not only be an aid-de-camp, but my flagship's captain. You'll also bear the rank Captain."[/color] [color=0b4cb5]"Isn't that a rank skip? I-I don't know if..."[/color] [color=f72f39]"You were one of the best in the academy. It'd be a waste if you're just stuck handing me papers."[/color] [color=0b4cb5]"...Thank you then. I'll do my best."[/color] Like mother like daughter, she was quite refined. But inside what she was suppressing was the excitement. Command of a military warship! A battleship no less. Being a bit humbled for a few years weren't so bad if this was the result. [color=f72f39]"Now..."[/color] Alexander pulled up a list of all of his officers and very quickly crossed out a variety of profiles. [color=f72f39]"These people are out."[/color] [color=0b4cb5]"That's...like half of your army officers. I don't know if doing it in mass would be a good idea."[/color] Carina said as she sat right next to him, observing. [color=f72f39]"These people are all spoiled brats of the nation. I mean look at this."[/color] He pointed at one entry. [color=f72f39]"The first to abandon the destroyed ship in the Ponin Incident. Son of, oh look at that, a multi-millionaire CEO of a ship-building corporation that has ties with Emmanuel. Get that piece of shit out of my army."[/color] [color=0b4cb5]"Be careful, you're gonna anger a lot of them. You need ships and equipment too. I'd suggest just send them over to people like Berkeley or Laguna."[/color] [color=f72f39]"Sure. They'd either become real soldiers or corpses in no time. Fine either way for me."[/color] He made that note on the side. [color=f72f39]"Now let's discuss my subordinates. I shall need...five key generals by my side, promoted to General and Admiral respectively."[/color] [color=0b4cb5]"That's fair."[/color] Carina wasn't surprised by this. An Ascendancy fleet isn't that populated, but considering that the more troops a higher ranked official had to take command, the poorer his or her performance will be. Any military organizer should know this. And the five men and women chosen are honestly quite colorful by all standards. But a quick glance over their service records, they're some of the most talented and diligent servants of the Ascendancy, most of whom were unfortunately unrecognized, for obvious reasons. [hider=The Bravest of the Braves] [center][img]https://img.roleplayerguild.com/prod/users/a296dab5-1ad1-4585-92a0-68afac589c0a.jpg[/img][/center] [b]His first was obviously his Commodore friend Lan, now Admiral [color=fff257]Lan Ficelle[/color] Now at 36 years old, Lan was born to a struggling dyer and an alcoholic. Her home life wasn't great, her family in constant disarray, frequently abused by her father, but courage already ran through her veins back then. She took the earliest chance possible to run away from home to join the army, determined to find some semblance of order in her life again. Lan didn't have much education, lacked restraint and hot-blooded, the army quickly assigned her to frontline duty. She was sent into multiple missions, mostly to put down revolts here and there. Always the head of her peers, she was fierce, knows nothing of danger and always accomplished her tasks almost to perfection with her superb tactical instinct. She received glowing reviews from her superior, and so she was allowed into officer training, something not many people with such a self-made background could achieve. Yet the academy was too slow for her, she was soon back on the field, preferring to learn her ropes with actual combat experience, fighting against revolts and border skirmishes against the Rau've. During the early days of the war, she led the vanguard of the 1st Fleet against the Rau've fleet. Her success was mixed, but one could not deny the amount of guts she had. Even more impressive yet concerning was her actually being wounded over 11 times already: 5 times as a foot soldier, 3 during officer training, twice during the Ponin incident, at two different occasion, once early on in the war, and the latest a few days ago. Needless to say, as a field commander, she was even more experienced than Alexander himself. [/b] [/hider] [hider=The Old Guard] [center][img]https://img.roleplayerguild.com/prod/users/89e26912-1b4c-477b-9f35-55cd70f67bfe.jpg[/img][/center] [b]The second man with the special privilege was an obscure one. Admiral [color=92278f]Faro Anton Weinheber[/color] A man of old-school noble descent, but a stern disciplinarian and a fiery man of action, Faro joined the army when he was only 22, and has been at it for [color=92278f]OVER 50 YEARS[/color]. That would mean he is well into his late seventies. He worked his way up the ladder from an ordinary ship gunner, to captain and then to rear-admiral. His rise to prominence clearly wasn't quick, as the Ascendancy was pretty peaceful until recent times, but his patience and diligence never meant he was off-course by any petty means. Over 5 decades of experience was one hell of a gem to pass over. His only yet fatal mistake was his politics. Faro is a staunch republican, and didn't mind showing disdain for the Ascendancy higher ups in his later years, leading to various conflicts amongst the elites. After feuds with Emmanuel over his republican politics led to his demotion, and now he served as a training instructor at the Grand Academy in the Core Worlds. He was still going strong apparently, even as he was approaching the ripe old age of 80 - even though humans commonly live longer than 100 years old now, not showing any discouragement from his fall from grace. Furthermore, Alexander was under his tutelage and owed much of his knowledge to this man. Not many would pick him as a general, not to mention Chief of Staff to Alexander, but the newly promoted Grand Admiral was confident with his odd choice. It's time for the Old Guard to take up the baton again.[/b] [/hider] [hider=The Dashing Tankman] [center][img]https://img.roleplayerguild.com/prod/users/1539cee0-d81c-4969-a335-148d974693d9.jpg[/img][/center] [b]The third is General [color=f7976a]Antony Mura[/color]. 40 years old. Doesn't look like so in any shape or form. Antony was born to a hotel owner, and would be destined to inherit their family's business, but he grew bored of administrator's life and joined the armed forces. He was put in the Armored Department, was initially in the recon team, riding hoverbikes, but his physiques and...style did not ensure a long career in that aspect. He stood over 6 feet in height, styled in his curly locks and always was fancy, either on his own uniform or on his vehicles. It made him too recognizable. That and also his tendency to act not like scouts, for example chasing down a tank himself with basically nothing against it, made him unsuitable. He was transferred out into the armored division, leading mechs and tanks into combat. This is where he found his elements. Fearless and daring as a tank commander, he still looked splendid as ever. He didn't have a lot of combat experience in this new role, but he still rose steadily through his ranks. His early 3 months of the war was the most spectacular, however, as his Armored Corp repeatedly broke through the enemy defenses, paving the way for his fellow ground troops to finally collapse the Rau've. He was made targets of snipers more than once, yet somehow he made it all out unscathed. There's jokes among those he served that his dazzling appearance blinded the scope. Nevertheless, Alexander found him potentially useful for any ground operations that he might need to do in the future. A man of his brand at least.[/b] [/hider] [hider=The Iron Fist] [center][img]https://img.roleplayerguild.com/prod/users/8515702a-974f-4c6e-b95f-ec5a804248af.jpg[/img][/center] [b]The fourth is General [color=f26522]Annette Picton[/color]. 29 years old. Born into an upper-class core-world landowner, Annette was a lot more orderly and calm-headed, unlike the rest of the other generals. She jumped straight into officer's training via some family connection. However, she still performed well and very consistently as a commander, if a little unspectacular. She usually is very cautious and, although would join combat if ordered to, would prefer to be given reserve role, something that fits as counterbalance to a group full of eager commanders. That was not why Alexander chose this woman as a general, however. Her elements was still her background as a landowner's daughter. She was splendid at civil military administrations. Shrewd, strict, yet fair, she always ensured those under her was in top shape, well-paid, well-trained and at the top of their spirits. She is also incredibly efficient at counter-insurgency. Her greatest achievements would be during the Ponin Incident, she completely prevented a revolt by initiating a splendid propaganda campaign to root out the rebels and calm the concerned crowd, cutting off vital support for the rebel forces. This combination, while not spectacular, she would be indispensable in his campaign against the Rau've. War, after all, is not always at the frontline.[/b] [/hider] The fifth and final... [color=0b4cb5]"Wait, Kotaro?"[/color] This was the most surprising bit. [color=0b4cb5]"I know the guy's smart, but he doesn't have enough experience commanding a large fleet contingent just yet."[/color] [color=f72f39]"...That is true."[/color] Alexander admitted, probably because some personal biases on his side. [color=f72f39]"He does have some training in the academy for it though, but he's still mainly focused as a flotilla commander to individual fighting."[/color] [color=0b4cb5]"You don't wanna come off as a hypocrite right off the bat. Make him Rear-Admiral or something for now. He'd need to prove his worth first as fleet commander before anything."[/color] Alexander didn't object. Of course, his loyalty would be vital in case any issues arises throughout the war, something in which will inevitably happen, but so that his meritocratic philosophy remained consistent, it'd have to do. He had lived with him long enough. He'd get there soon. [hider=The Holy Arms] [center][img]https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/skiesofarcadia/images/6/63/Ramirez.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20080321052004[/img][/center] [/hider]