Promotion Review Board for Commander Duquette on-board CNS Concordia
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Re: Promotion Review Board for Commander Duquette on-board CNS Concordia
by Casey Sat Sep 29, 2018 2:43 am
Casey smiled. To any casual observer it would have appeared to be a genuine, warm smile. To those who knew why he was being asked such questions, the motive behind them, it would be clearly a wry, ironic smile.
Nor did he allow himself to be goaded by the bait offered by Admiral McBane. That every man in this room – himself included – had his own agenda, Casey had no doubt. There was nothing sinister in this thought. Every sophont is an individual, and even those with like-minded goals will have different ideas on how they should be accomplished. However, this Admiral over Psi-Core had different goals than any of the other generals, and of them was the only one likely to benefit by Casey’s death.
“Admirals, you wish me to digress but little regarding this. But allow me this anecdote. My father taught me of one of my ancestors, Jan Hus. Just as my father died a heretic, so was this man burned at the stake for heresy. As he burned, he exclaimed that ‘truth is more important than life’. This was the DuQuette family motto - Quod verum est quam vita majorem – and only became understandable to me as I gained more experience in life in the Imperium.
“You have offered me legal counsel. This, on its own, is a remarkable statement to be made by a review board. That I am here, in front of this board, serves as witness to the investigation conducted by Naval Intelligence that I have done no wrong that needs punishment. Were it not so, according to Naval regulations no such hearing could take place. I have cooperated fully with the Intelligence investigation into Warren. Of an independent investigation being conducted by the Psi-Core I have no knowledge. Still, I will answer the questions – accusations even – without legal assistance.
“Warren was a man of extraordinary abilities, in engineering, robotics, computers, and physiology. We needed his abilities. At the time we came upon him and he offered us his assistance, we had no outside help, no official sanction. Even after I received a commission in the Intelligence Bureau I was frequently left to my own devices to obtain and crew a ship. That we would accept his skillset should come as no surprise to any of you.
“A pirate and a murderer you call him, for so he was. When we first arrived in Keening he was arrested for his outstanding warrants. However, he was inexplicably released to serve with us. Whatever his crimes were, the Colonies seemed to believe that Warren was better serving as a member of our crew than serving a prison sentence. You say that you are in possession of his confidential files. You must also know that I was never in possession of such documents, and only had a rudimentary knowledge of his past actions and his particular psychology.
“Under my command he was of exceptional use. He instantly proved his value in freeing Callin from his arch nemesis, Lyra. Even Colonial Intel believed him worthy and selected him to join us on the exploratory mission to Object X, the military assault on Zhatnos, and many other missions. Such a stamp of official approval was not lost on me, and he continued to serve the Colonies under my command with distinction for some time. I think I need not provide you with the details of the number of times he afforded us invaluable assistance in the completion of our missions on a number of systems.
“As he served with me, up to a certain point his indiscretions and legal violations could be attributed to a certain childlike curiosity when it came to electronics and robotics. He fought with Fibonacci and was damaged for it. I believe that the evidence will likely show that his downfall was not due to his former master Fibonacci, but due to the hellish influence of Nyarlathotep. Whether he was infected early on when he was attacked on Object X, whether he was taken over by Nyarlathotep’s AI spawn VEGA, or whether it came at some other point, his mind succumbed to this ancient and evil god.
“You state that I knew full well of the evil that Warren was capable of. This is false. Had I known that he would have killed thousands of military personnel, I would have demanded that he remain in the brig. Had I known that he would have conducted an orgy of blood, violence, and death with that vampiric spawn of the stars I would have dispensed with him entirely. Indeed, after he eschewed our attempts to have him return to us following the creature’s attack, I knew that he had gone over to the other side. The was no remorse – only regret at what might have been – when we contacted one of Muscatelli’s capos to inform him of Warren’s designs. Given the magnitude of the danger that they are in, it is a pity that they were unable to kill him.”
Casey turned to Admiral McBane and unwaveringly returned his gaze. “Sir, you have called me a coward. This is a very serious accusation, and not one to which I am accustomed. My tactical analysis of our actions on New Detroit were included in my report. You have asked for brevity, so I shall succinctly repeat this analysis.
“That we were confronted with a denizen of unknown god – or “entity” as Intel likes to call it – is not disputed. The laws of physics of our universe do not apply to such beings. In our worlds, even the most resilient of foes are susceptible to overwhelming physiological damage. This is not true of this tentacled horror. Through our investigation we discovered perhaps the only known way to destroy such a beast. This information was passed on to higher authorities. I had expected that my team would be selected to carry out the final assault. This expectation was natural, given our history of fighting and defeating these horrors, and the knowledge that we had of our opposition. The assignment never came, and neither the required equipment nor the hoped-for reinforcements were provided.
“Although I am adept at multi-tasking and frequently take on more assignments than most other intelligence officers, I cannot do everything. I cannot solve all of the problems of the Colonies nor of Humaniti on my own. In this case, I was forced to acknowledge the fact that this was an enemy that would have to be killed by others. Warren had gone to ground; the beast had stopped its voracious feeding. Without the anagathic necessary to defeat the beast, had we attempted to flush out Warren we not only would have been unable to defeat him and his creature, but we would have potentially forced him into the open, causing the deaths of more uninvolved civilians and law enforcement. This is the reason – not cowardice – that made it necessary to abandon our hopes of attack and return to Keening.”
Nor did he allow himself to be goaded by the bait offered by Admiral McBane. That every man in this room – himself included – had his own agenda, Casey had no doubt. There was nothing sinister in this thought. Every sophont is an individual, and even those with like-minded goals will have different ideas on how they should be accomplished. However, this Admiral over Psi-Core had different goals than any of the other generals, and of them was the only one likely to benefit by Casey’s death.
“Admirals, you wish me to digress but little regarding this. But allow me this anecdote. My father taught me of one of my ancestors, Jan Hus. Just as my father died a heretic, so was this man burned at the stake for heresy. As he burned, he exclaimed that ‘truth is more important than life’. This was the DuQuette family motto - Quod verum est quam vita majorem – and only became understandable to me as I gained more experience in life in the Imperium.
“You have offered me legal counsel. This, on its own, is a remarkable statement to be made by a review board. That I am here, in front of this board, serves as witness to the investigation conducted by Naval Intelligence that I have done no wrong that needs punishment. Were it not so, according to Naval regulations no such hearing could take place. I have cooperated fully with the Intelligence investigation into Warren. Of an independent investigation being conducted by the Psi-Core I have no knowledge. Still, I will answer the questions – accusations even – without legal assistance.
“Warren was a man of extraordinary abilities, in engineering, robotics, computers, and physiology. We needed his abilities. At the time we came upon him and he offered us his assistance, we had no outside help, no official sanction. Even after I received a commission in the Intelligence Bureau I was frequently left to my own devices to obtain and crew a ship. That we would accept his skillset should come as no surprise to any of you.
“A pirate and a murderer you call him, for so he was. When we first arrived in Keening he was arrested for his outstanding warrants. However, he was inexplicably released to serve with us. Whatever his crimes were, the Colonies seemed to believe that Warren was better serving as a member of our crew than serving a prison sentence. You say that you are in possession of his confidential files. You must also know that I was never in possession of such documents, and only had a rudimentary knowledge of his past actions and his particular psychology.
“Under my command he was of exceptional use. He instantly proved his value in freeing Callin from his arch nemesis, Lyra. Even Colonial Intel believed him worthy and selected him to join us on the exploratory mission to Object X, the military assault on Zhatnos, and many other missions. Such a stamp of official approval was not lost on me, and he continued to serve the Colonies under my command with distinction for some time. I think I need not provide you with the details of the number of times he afforded us invaluable assistance in the completion of our missions on a number of systems.
“As he served with me, up to a certain point his indiscretions and legal violations could be attributed to a certain childlike curiosity when it came to electronics and robotics. He fought with Fibonacci and was damaged for it. I believe that the evidence will likely show that his downfall was not due to his former master Fibonacci, but due to the hellish influence of Nyarlathotep. Whether he was infected early on when he was attacked on Object X, whether he was taken over by Nyarlathotep’s AI spawn VEGA, or whether it came at some other point, his mind succumbed to this ancient and evil god.
“You state that I knew full well of the evil that Warren was capable of. This is false. Had I known that he would have killed thousands of military personnel, I would have demanded that he remain in the brig. Had I known that he would have conducted an orgy of blood, violence, and death with that vampiric spawn of the stars I would have dispensed with him entirely. Indeed, after he eschewed our attempts to have him return to us following the creature’s attack, I knew that he had gone over to the other side. The was no remorse – only regret at what might have been – when we contacted one of Muscatelli’s capos to inform him of Warren’s designs. Given the magnitude of the danger that they are in, it is a pity that they were unable to kill him.”
Casey turned to Admiral McBane and unwaveringly returned his gaze. “Sir, you have called me a coward. This is a very serious accusation, and not one to which I am accustomed. My tactical analysis of our actions on New Detroit were included in my report. You have asked for brevity, so I shall succinctly repeat this analysis.
“That we were confronted with a denizen of unknown god – or “entity” as Intel likes to call it – is not disputed. The laws of physics of our universe do not apply to such beings. In our worlds, even the most resilient of foes are susceptible to overwhelming physiological damage. This is not true of this tentacled horror. Through our investigation we discovered perhaps the only known way to destroy such a beast. This information was passed on to higher authorities. I had expected that my team would be selected to carry out the final assault. This expectation was natural, given our history of fighting and defeating these horrors, and the knowledge that we had of our opposition. The assignment never came, and neither the required equipment nor the hoped-for reinforcements were provided.
“Although I am adept at multi-tasking and frequently take on more assignments than most other intelligence officers, I cannot do everything. I cannot solve all of the problems of the Colonies nor of Humaniti on my own. In this case, I was forced to acknowledge the fact that this was an enemy that would have to be killed by others. Warren had gone to ground; the beast had stopped its voracious feeding. Without the anagathic necessary to defeat the beast, had we attempted to flush out Warren we not only would have been unable to defeat him and his creature, but we would have potentially forced him into the open, causing the deaths of more uninvolved civilians and law enforcement. This is the reason – not cowardice – that made it necessary to abandon our hopes of attack and return to Keening.”
Last edited by Casey on Sat Sep 29, 2018 4:35 pm; edited 1 time in total
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Re: Promotion Review Board for Commander Duquette on-board CNS Concordia
by Agent Tash Sat Sep 29, 2018 3:31 pm
Vice Admiral Masonpack suppresses as wry half mouthed smile when Commander Duquette tears into Rear Admiral Mcbaine, but only replies. "Commander, you shall refer to Rear Admiral Mcbaine as Sir or Admiral Mcbaine. And I will add that a commander may not seek satisfaction from an admiral no matter the grievance."
He sighs and leans back heavily in his chair. "I think you've given us much to consider Commander. If you will please wait outside, we will send your you shortly. Dismissed!"
He sighs and leans back heavily in his chair. "I think you've given us much to consider Commander. If you will please wait outside, we will send your you shortly. Dismissed!"
Agent Tash- Posts : 283
Join date : 2014-03-01
Re: Promotion Review Board for Commander Duquette on-board CNS Concordia
by Agent Tash Sat Sep 29, 2018 5:48 pm
Several hours pass. Eventually a Lieutenant Commander attache brings Commander Duquette back to the review board. His keen emphatic instinct tell him immediately there has been a bitter argument in the room, and tempers are still high, even if the admirals faces give nothing away. The only emotion you detect is a sense of vague self-satisfaction from Rear Admiral Mcbaine.
Casey's eyes instantly note rolled parchment sealed with wax in the hand of the vice admiral.
"Commander Casey Duquette, stand attention to your orders" commands the admiral in the clear tones of a line officer accustomed to command. He breaks the seal on the scroll, unrolls the document and begins to read.
"By the right honorable Admiral Francis Hummel, Commander of the Colonial Confederate Fleet, and vessels employed and to be employed in service to our Union.
Whereas Casey Duquette has distinguished himself in service and defense of the Confederation.
You are hereby required and directed to assume the rank of Post-Captain, and to take upon you command of what posts and vessels are assigned to you; willing and requiring the officers and company of said vessels to behave themselves in their several employments with all due respect and obedience to you their commander; and likewise to observe as well the General Printed Instructions and what Orders and Directions you may from time to time receive from any superior officer for the Confederate Military Service.
Hereof nor you nor any of you may fail as you will answer the contrary at your Peril. And for so doing, this shall be your order.
Given on-board the Concordia, in port. 238-1130.
The Vice-Admiral looks up from reading the orders, rolls the paper up, and holds it out for Casey to take.
"Captain Duquette, your first orders are to gather what officers and crew you trust, and report to Commodore Martin to be assigned your command. Your more explicit orders, are to clean up the mess you left on New Detroit. All other mission assignment are to await a successful outcome there. The completion of this mission was the ultimate condition of your promotion."
"For all that, congratulations Captain Duquette. Dismissed."
Casey's eyes instantly note rolled parchment sealed with wax in the hand of the vice admiral.
"Commander Casey Duquette, stand attention to your orders" commands the admiral in the clear tones of a line officer accustomed to command. He breaks the seal on the scroll, unrolls the document and begins to read.
"By the right honorable Admiral Francis Hummel, Commander of the Colonial Confederate Fleet, and vessels employed and to be employed in service to our Union.
Whereas Casey Duquette has distinguished himself in service and defense of the Confederation.
You are hereby required and directed to assume the rank of Post-Captain, and to take upon you command of what posts and vessels are assigned to you; willing and requiring the officers and company of said vessels to behave themselves in their several employments with all due respect and obedience to you their commander; and likewise to observe as well the General Printed Instructions and what Orders and Directions you may from time to time receive from any superior officer for the Confederate Military Service.
Hereof nor you nor any of you may fail as you will answer the contrary at your Peril. And for so doing, this shall be your order.
Given on-board the Concordia, in port. 238-1130.
The Vice-Admiral looks up from reading the orders, rolls the paper up, and holds it out for Casey to take.
"Captain Duquette, your first orders are to gather what officers and crew you trust, and report to Commodore Martin to be assigned your command. Your more explicit orders, are to clean up the mess you left on New Detroit. All other mission assignment are to await a successful outcome there. The completion of this mission was the ultimate condition of your promotion."
"For all that, congratulations Captain Duquette. Dismissed."
Agent Tash- Posts : 283
Join date : 2014-03-01
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