Floseswin Ceasefire; Proper Terms

Fiction Portal Intergalactic Summit
21

First, let me simply point out that I haven’t said anything about the existence of such a plan. I’ve simply said ‘we don’t know, and not knowing, cannot assume’.

Further, if I had such a plan, it would be the height of foolishness to make the details of it public, wouldn’t it? I mean, even assuming such a plan exists, and it can work… telling you about it would pretty quickly change that second bit, wouldn’t it?

More importantly, though?

I don’t need one.

I certainly didn’t give any orders about a full anything[1]. And I’m not the one failing to carry out that order. So huddle in your well-provisioned failure. Every day you spend hiding behind your fortifications is a little more egg on Arrach Sarum’s face.

What ever happened to
Run and you shall be crushed.
Stand and you shall fall.
Kneel and you shall be saved.
?

Seems a lot more like
Run and you shall escape
Stand and we shall hide
Kneel and we’ll act like we actually did something.

1. Frankly, I’m not dumb enough to make public an order that doesn’t even allow for the possibility of partial success. I wouldn’t have imagined anyone in a position of leadership for any period of time would be! Which is just more evidence that this whole thing was the result of a knee-jerk tantrum by Lord Sarum over capsuleer collaboration. And that is why the continuing failure to make good on his ‘priority’ is particularly embarrassing: it doesn’t just show inability, it shows the initial order to have been a gross failure of judgment and nothing but pure hubris.

I don’t know about you, but I read Cardinal Chakaid’s involvement now as something of a no-win situation for Lord Sarum at this point. If things go well now, Khanid will make sure the public-facing story is that his Uhlans and Cyberknights turned the tide and saved Sarum from his own incompetence. If they don’t go well, Khanid can point to it getting this bad in the first place as evidence of Sarum’s gross over-reach and inability to manage his military affairs.

Think about that: Khanid will, no matter what now, be able to point to this showing House Sarum, easily one of the most militaristic Houses, and known for their martial strength… is a paper tiger. “The great House Sarum, arsenal of the Empire, couldn’t get the job done on a planet they already held.” It’d be like Tash-Murkon suddenly declaring bankruptcy.

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22

I have always seen the Floseswin imbroglio more as a test put forth by Lord Arrach Sarum: as to whether or not the 24th Imperial Crusade is up to the task of defending his Military Circuit in the Rebel Provinces. A limited deployment provides many incentives for those loyal in the Crusade who wish to see a return to the military reclaiming of the heathen.

23

‘Defending his Military Circuit’ is a very interesting interpretation of “the full reclaiming of the population of Floseswin IV.”

Tell me again what part of enslaving non-combatants involves ‘defense’?

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24

The reclaiming of lost souls is the defense of the interests of House Sarum in their military circuit of the rebel provinces.

25

So you’ve already moved your goalposts from ‘defending his Military Circuit’ to ‘defense of the interests of House Sarum in their military circuit’. Awesome.

Personally, I would’ve thought ‘not looking incompetent and easily-provoked into over-reactions with an aggressive and hungry King Khanid breathing down our necks’ might better defend the interests of House Sarum, but that’s just me.

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26

Holder politics is Holder politics. I just do the fighting and dying.

27

That’s a good first step. Second step is to do it away from everyone else.

28

So long as the rebels continue to exist, I will do so in their vicinity.

29

This mentality has led to the majority of unnecessary bloodshed in all of human history. So many people press the attack against others and refuse to let people exist and be themselves wholly separate of you and your aggressive little Empire.

I hope there is enlightenment in your future.

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30

Then perhaps don’t go opining on the purposes behind what the political class do.

I promise, as someone who deals with the politics of large organizations on a daily basis, they aren’t nearly so complex and subtle as they want you to believe. Basically, imagine the idiocy of pretty much everyone you know. Now imagine that idiocy is in charge of billions of lives, and that the people at the top are the people with the fewest morals to get in the way of their ruthless ambition.

Stupidity and naked lust for power. That’s basically the explanation for everything the people ‘in charge’ do.

31

Sometimes, bloodshed is necessary.

I find that a cynical view myself, and it is not one I would prescribe to myself. My own experiences with the Lord I serve have shown me that other virtues can guide those who wield power and authority.

32

You mean the one who isn’t near the top of the food chain? Like I said: Stupidity and the naked lust for power explain more or less everything the people in charge do.

33

Lord Arim Ardishapur, to whom I ultimately beholden to does not strike me as the man I would attribute either stupidity or lust for power to. Rather, a man of faith and conviction to admire and aspire towards.

34

Really? So you didn’t pick up on how he’s made his little play for the personal loyalty of all of the subjects of the Mandate, while giving himself another vassal, rather than just a servant? Tsk. Ekroz Salaf and his family will forever be devoted to House Ardishapur, even if the Mandate itself is given to another liege. Indeed, the entire Mandate is more likely to be… irked… at such a thing. Perhaps even to levels that are downright… Starkmanir.

And that, good sir, is how one defends the interests of one’s House: by shoring up its base of power.

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35

I suppose our perspectives differ. I see only an act of magnanimity on the part of Lord Arim Ardishapur in the Mandate that is the happy antecedent to the expansion of House Ardishapur patronage, and not the other way around.

36

That is because…

Edit: and let me be blunt (I know, it’s so unusual that I would do that!): IF this were nothing more than a gesture of magnanimity, of Arim Ardishapur saying ‘hey, Ekroz, I think you’re a good egg, lemme elevate you to a totally new spectrum of opportunity for your descendants’, without a single thought for how House Ardishapur would/could benefit from such a thing?

That’d be an example of stupidity. After all, he’s the Heir. His first responsibility is to look out for Ardishapur’s interests and consider how any action he takes impacts those interests.

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37

Quite so. The pursuit of power by Lord Arim Ardishapur is first and foremost a responsibility to the Family Dynasty, not some naked lust for power for its own sake.

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38

Do not mind this one. She is intent on painting any Amarr in the worst possible light to serve her ends. Those being, of course, weakening the Empire through manipulating the weak of spirit. She’ll see everything about us destroyed if she has her way. The only way to beat her is to prove acts have far more meaning than her empty words.

39

After a lifetime of being trained that it is his responsibility to seek power, do you really think there’s a difference in his mind?

You really don’t understand me at all, do you?

40

I know everything I need to.