Four-Brand Rank
"So, please explain what these ranks mean, Sir?"
"Ah, you're a Solar, not one of the Terrans?"
"I'm from the Solar System, yes, I was born on Sol III..."
"Impressive! I bet your speciesmates in the terran meritocracy are all fanboys."
"Err, I guess?"
"Well, I'm cutting you some slack because of it, because here, I don't normally take that kind of guff... I'm a Four-Brand Officer, equivalent to a Four-Star General, according to the books we have that survived the dying of the light... and therefore accorded respect."
"Sir. I do not know how to address you, please do not take it as disrespect."
"Sir, and General are acceptable, the rest doesn't really make it through the translators anyways. The Gethan have particular ideas about what constitutes military rank."
"General-Sir, thank you for receiving me..."
"Receiving you?"
Adian was handing him an official latter. "My credentials, as ambassador of the Solar Confederation, to the Gethan Alliance."
"Then I guess I call you Excellency, and Sir, not the other way around."
"Let's skip the excellency, I think of excellent things as food, and would much rather not think of food, especially around the Vrinti."
"Ahah, such a fine joke, yes, that is wise, their idea of food is not quite ours."
"Let's just table the issue of titles, at least, for the moment, and tell me about Gethan Alliance operations in the region."
"The Gethan hold this system, we have for centuries, even before the Meritocracy moved in, although we never settled the planets, we always held the outer asteroid belts as more valuable, resources, you know. The Terrans moved into Thallax two years before what's called the dying of the light, in their culture."
"Yes, I know, I recently discovered it's also a significant date, for us."
"What? Why was I not told of this?"
"I only recently discovered it, and it is still... classified, but, from what I can tell, this dying of the light is when the exchange of free information between them and us was severed. A rather poetic name, for what amounted to a massive cyberattack, by the Tlalor."
"Oh."
"Ah, you're a Solar, not one of the Terrans?"
"I'm from the Solar System, yes, I was born on Sol III..."
"Impressive! I bet your speciesmates in the terran meritocracy are all fanboys."
"Err, I guess?"
"Well, I'm cutting you some slack because of it, because here, I don't normally take that kind of guff... I'm a Four-Brand Officer, equivalent to a Four-Star General, according to the books we have that survived the dying of the light... and therefore accorded respect."
"Sir. I do not know how to address you, please do not take it as disrespect."
"Sir, and General are acceptable, the rest doesn't really make it through the translators anyways. The Gethan have particular ideas about what constitutes military rank."
"General-Sir, thank you for receiving me..."
"Receiving you?"
Adian was handing him an official latter. "My credentials, as ambassador of the Solar Confederation, to the Gethan Alliance."
"Then I guess I call you Excellency, and Sir, not the other way around."
"Let's skip the excellency, I think of excellent things as food, and would much rather not think of food, especially around the Vrinti."
"Ahah, such a fine joke, yes, that is wise, their idea of food is not quite ours."
"Let's just table the issue of titles, at least, for the moment, and tell me about Gethan Alliance operations in the region."
"The Gethan hold this system, we have for centuries, even before the Meritocracy moved in, although we never settled the planets, we always held the outer asteroid belts as more valuable, resources, you know. The Terrans moved into Thallax two years before what's called the dying of the light, in their culture."
"Yes, I know, I recently discovered it's also a significant date, for us."
"What? Why was I not told of this?"
"I only recently discovered it, and it is still... classified, but, from what I can tell, this dying of the light is when the exchange of free information between them and us was severed. A rather poetic name, for what amounted to a massive cyberattack, by the Tlalor."
"Oh."
Type
Civic, Military, Commissioned
Form of Address
Sir
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