2156: COMMODORE E. RAMMAGE COMMAND LOG
A transcript from the command education logs of Commodore Earl Rammage, for the woefully uneducated Lt. Max Allard.Unit Overview
The Gold Collars, or Command & Security, Goldies if you're Enlisted, descended from Board members and high level military who joined The Conglomerate of Gaia during The Flag War. They are the elite leadership and security arm of the CGM Militia, trained in tactics, history, interpersonal communication and Conglomerate Policy; as such include few, almost no Enlisted.
Two major sections exist, the Army Collars and the Naval Collars. The Naval Collars can, with time and prestige, eventually apply to become Lord or Lady Admirals of the Fleet, the most lauded position in the Militia, elligible to become Directors on The Board.
Field Marshals are a war-time deployment from the Generals, and only appear during active incursions of considerable size.
Kinda intimidating, Sir. Goldies pomp and swish through the ships like they're God's gift, guess they paid enough to earn the laud in their minds at least.
That textbook you leant me broke my desk... ah... but it's alright I fixed it!
... send a maintenance request to the Silvers when we're done. Your time is better served studying what you missed out on, than fixing your own shite desk. A laud and pomp you're going to have to learn, if you want to survive more than a week with that gold on your collar. I won't lie, Allard. You're only in that shirt collar, because you needed a team to keep the ship functional, and it's beneath my officers to take orders from a slick-sleeve, and no Enlisted would take orders from a newb without pips. Between the repair crews and the Assets? We took a rare chance on you.
I never in a hundred tin pins entertained the idea a DeeBee would become an officer, but here we are. Earn that gold on your shirt, or so help you I won't shed a tear when you get pitched to Davy Jones.
Founding and History
Every Militia requires leadership. Heck, every group over a half-dozen needs a leader, or things eventually crack and fall to shreds. We are that leadership, educated for the specific purpose of Security and Command.
We send people to survive and others to die, calculate the probability of incursions and plan ahead of the enemies at our ankles. Without us, the entire Militia falls apart in conflagrations mostly self-inflicted by bickering, backstabbing or the inevitable delusion of one who thinks they're capable beyond their means.
This is why Officers from the other shirt collars, upon taking leadership positions, take off their old colours and join the Gold. To be a leader is to be a separate person than the rest of the crew.
Out of blind luck and AD-001's adamance, you belong to us, now, Allard.
Motto and Tradition
All but the rarest of Gold Collars purchase commissions out of specialized programs in higher education. They're singled out by age 14, set into their paths after the Conglom's educational assessments.
Few Golds come across leadership through grit and service in outside shirt collars, but it has been known to happen in the higher ranks, or lauded NCO's.
Honors
Commendations mean performance bonuses for the individual and the people under their command. When a Gold is praised, their entire team is praised. When a Gold fails, they shoulder the burden alone.
Combat Doctrine
Memorize the faces of your soldiers and crew. They are your responsibility, as the Conglom's safety is your responsibility.
Make their sacrifices and successes count.
Singled out from their teens, offered scholarships and entry, the Command Academy programs are highly aspired to, and rigorously maintained to promote top quality. Sink or swim, underperform and you're out in the wash.
For those who enter Command through another branch, distance training or Sponsor-Tutorship by one of the Upper Golds is the only way, which is why you're here sipping my whiskey and taking notes. I'm your Sponsor outside my better judgement, kid.
Outside you, my problem child, few Golds came through Enlisted Training. Maybe ten out of twenty million active service people. The odds are slimmer than a blade of grass next to a building, and are purely meritocratic.
Communications.
Interpersonal Counselling.
Tactics.
Investigative & Policing.
Data Analysis.
Logistics.
Navigation.
Operational Structure
Commissioned Officer Ranks
Field Marshal / Lord or Lady Admiral of the Fleet
General / Admiral
Lt. General / Vice Admiral
Major General / Rear Admiral
Brigadier / Commodore
Colonel / Captain
Major / Comander
Captain / Lieutenant Commander
Lieutenant
Ensign
Something doesn't compute, Sir. You're a Commodore. You're in charge of a Fleet Group, of the CGM Ithavoll, our support ships and supply chain... Why aren't you a Rear Admiral? Seems way too much responsibility for a Commodore.
You know those monsters in the basement? The ones you promised humane conditions and rights to?
The Ithavoll and her crew are meant to be a secret project. Hidden among the hundreds of ships in each Fleet. So, I took the rank of Commodore to fly under most radar.
Being in Command is having two feet on separate continental shelves. Your left foot is firm on the Conglom's orders and the desires of the Board. On protecting our citizens and our rights to prove our collective worth. Your right foot is pushed into the soil by the weight of your crew and what benefits their continued lives. Yes, I technically took a demotion to run the Asset Project. I did it to protect the Conglom, to ensure my crew is hidden from our enemies, so we can complete our assignment: create Conglomerate Bio Machs solid enough to win the war for our planet.
I think that's worthy of a missing pip.
Recruitment and Selection Process
Recruitment for the Gold Collars starts in mandatory Assessment Exams. Students from poorer circles have the option of proving themselves in academic and social circles. Scholarships exist, we want good people. You Re-Cyke kids might not think you've got options down there at the docks of Rindahl, but the Conglom promotes people who help themselves. Work hard, be good to your classmates and you have a chance of a life with a higher income contract than you could fathom in the techno boonies.
From the Assessment Exams, we cycle the children through. Most folk who purchase a Reproduction Voucher put future educational investment funds into the purchase, which gives their children a fair and free ride.
Getting into the Gold Collars is as much about someone's ability to see the value in each of their future 'employees' as it is about tactics and bottom line results. We are about motivation methods, and you'll notice the Medical Corps wear Yellow Collars, this is purposeful to remind everyone doctors and counsellors are a separate but necessary chain of command. If you're too cruel, take too many risks with lives, good luck being more than a Lieutenant, no matter who your family is or what commission they paid for.
Adie... ah... Lieutenant Fridley, she... her parents bought her commission didn't they?
Lieutenant Adelia Fridley's family could have purchased her a commission to Lt. Commander with their wealth. But, kudos to the girl, she knew she wanted a career, where her underlings respected her. Almost impossible to be more than a desk jockey working nothing but Conglom Policy Statements if your crew can't see you as a leader worth their salt and pepper.
Fridley knew she had to earn advancement, not buy it. The commission did get her here though, not some half-baked ship captained by a skeeze bucket who washed out of Command Academy in third class.
How a young woman with epic pedigree and a bright future shacks up with a DeeBee on the second year of his Debt Reclaim Contract: Naval is beyond me. Oh don't blush, half the crew hears you two banging it out. Knock her up and I'm throwing you overboard. Got it?
Uniforms & Dress
GC's and officers are given special privileges on ship/base. We have our own Gyms, Officer's Club, Captain's Table and Officer's Mess on an exclusive basis. In order to dine in the Officer's Club or Mess, a Goldie must change out of the daily work jumpsuits and into Dress Colours. It's another way to distinguish ourselves, but also a training asset for junior officers to learn the etiquette and business savvy they'll need upon leaving the military for Conglom careers.
The senior officers deserve time to decompress away from the people they have to lead, and thus can't be completely open with at all times. Being overly friendly with the crew, it creates issues. We keep fraternizing to ourselves. Uniforms cost extra. You can tell a Jr. by the quality of their clothes, how many dress slacks and shirts they have. Naval officers are the future elite, who will lead the Conglom. It's like... prep school for corporate execs. We ought to dress like it.
Open that garment bag. Uniform's for you. Proper Dress, a couple of shirts. Do not wear them for day work, I don't want grease and scuzz on your silk shirts. Keep them tidy, there's a lint brush in the pocket. Send the Dress Uniforms to the Officer's Laundry when you need it. Don't know, ask Letopaxa or Fridley. I guessed on the shoe size based on Doc's records. You're an officer, and need to act like it or this entire scheme goes bust. No more tin tables with the other DeeBees. And don't make me regret bankrolling your pips and skips. What, why're you quiet all of a sudden?
I, um... thank you, Sir. I... this is all for me? There's a watch in... 'Lt. Max Allard'... I don't understand, why are you... thank you, Sir.
Training Facilities
Academy
Congratulations, Lt. Take the win, and you'll pay your debt back eight years early. Each Conglom city has multiple higher educational options depending on the person's investment portfolio and capacity to handle debt. The Skylight Command Academies are the same as the higher level business schools meant to house the Elites and their children for future Board posts.
We scholarship up the brightest and most psychiatrically stable students from GaiaForge Institutes, and in order to keep your spot, a prospect has to continue to perform academically and in their extra-curriculars.
Notable Operations
Amazon Top 300 Cyberpunk + Genetic Engineering Sci-Fi
"I never thought science fiction could be so beautiful."
AI meets gene-splicers, when the Idless & the Conglom fight to define Lieben and thus, the world. Seven decades later, Aderastos sets the human race against its’ next stage in evolution, if he can survive long enough to rescue his fellows, and Max.
Will Lieben help, or hinder?
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