Monday, December 22, 2014

Page 920

--donation bonus day (Page 1/3)--
Zeff didn’t know very much about Sanko, but that wasn’t especially surprising. Promotions within the Vanguard tended to work that way. As servants moved up through the ranks, their identities became increasingly concealed so as to protect any uninvolved family members or friends from Abolish. Naturally, the promotion from captain general to field marshal was the most dramatic, which was why none of the field marshals had last names. Sanko was undoubtedly not the woman’s birth name, either, and given her age--likely pushing two hundred years, if not more--there would not be many people left alive who knew what her original name was.

But it was easy enough to see why she was called the Gargoyle. She wore a gray mask with a grotesque devil’s face on it, bearing stubby horns at the top and long fangs around the open mouth. It hid everything but her pale lips and large eyes, which were so darkly blue that they almost looked purple.

If she had hair, it was concealed beneath the hood of her uniquely black overcoat, which she chose to drape over her shoulders like a cape rather than wear properly. Beyond that, however, her uniform was no different than the average member of the Vanguard’s ground forces--simple brown-on-white camo.

All-in-all, one could be forgiven for assuming she was a man. Only the subtle curves in her uniform offered any real visual clues.

“Octavia Redwater,” the woman said in two voices.

And her audience of Rainlords shifted uncomfortably as they realized that she was already using pan-rozum.

Octavia kept composure well enough. “How’ve you been, you old crone?”

Sanko responded with quite a long pause, perhaps not appreciating the Red Lady’s attempt at affection. But she did answer the question eventually. “We have been fine.”

Why are you using pan-rozum already?’ said Wendy, apparently unafraid of asking the question everyone was thinking.

“Merely a precaution,” said Sanko. “For the unlikely case in which you intended to ambush us upon arrival. Do not take offense.” It sounded more like an order than an apology.

Wendy wasn’t through asking questions. ‘Why have you come alone? Shouldn’t you have a security escort with you?

“We did not come to fight. And we will not be staying long. We must return to Korgum as soon as matters here are settled.” She started walking for the airfield office’s exit, and the Rainlords made way for her, soon falling in behind.

12 comments:

  1. attempt [at] affection

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  2. I can't remember the command structure of the Vanguard anymore. Can anyone explain it to me or point me to where it was explained in-story?


    Typo:
    "And we will not be[ing] staying long."

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  3. High Commander: Sermung
    Field Marshal (five-star): Sanko, the top eight
    Captain General (four-star): Parson
    General (three-star): Salazar (before she quit)
    Lieutenant General (two-star): Harper (but he's nonstandard)
    ~~~
    ~~~
    Captain: Bartholomew Erickson
    Lieutenant: Adam Leroy
    Corporal: Dunstan Rofal
    n00b

    There's probably a few I've missed, and those are just the army rankings. If you look at Wikipedia's "General officer" page there's a list of military ranks right there, but I'm not sure if the Vanguard skips or adds any.

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  4. We will not being staying long ...shouldn't it be "not be staying long"?

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  5. Garovel mentions the top four ranks on page 523.

    And fixed, thank you.

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  6. Thank you very much. :)

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  7. Thanks for the link. :)

    Are all Vanguard people we've seen so far in the army division? I would imagine that all servants capable of unaided flight should be in the air division.

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  8. 200? I would have thought that the top 8 would be older than that. Maybe Sanko is the youngest. I can think of reasons they'd send the youngest for this mission.

    Although if Lamont is the same age, it's pretty stupid for him to be trying to stage a hostile takeover from a 600-year-old. Not only is success unlikely, it would also be a huge downgrade in the Vanguard's ringer, especially since Sermung has been known to personally fight Dozer from time to time.

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  9. That's a fairly accurate assumption. Also, Parson Miles has been described as wearing an "airman's uniform."

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  10. Oh, that's right, totally forgot about that. And something about his plane being shot down. I didn't realize that until now because I forgot about the different divisions.

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