This is something I’ve never done before: the next section of ‘Empress Crusade’ will be told from a different perspective. Specifically, that of the President of the Gulf Shore States. His internal voice is the one we shall hear and we will see Faustina and her army through his eyes. I am very curious to see how she comes across… self-confident? Pushy? Crazy as a rat in a coffee can?
Let’s go see!
From her personal mistake of going on recon nearly by herself in unknown territory, it is now pointed out to our genius that she has done the same thing to her entire command, putting thousands of lives at risk.
Her other family, in the form of her god-mother and her sister-in-law’s father, take Faustina to task on this point to make her older. At least there is some good news at the end.
General Hartmann gets some human intelligence back and is told that for the safety of her army, she needs more. Time to get back to the scifi elements of my future history. It’s just been difficult to do in her current low-tech environment.
With nothing else to do but wait for her centurion, Chesney, to return with some human intelligence as to what the local situation is, Faustina takes a tour around her army’s line before a short nap. A bit of a transitional scene.
Okay, she made it out without a slap or spanking. Barely. Still, Faustina got the dressing down she well deserved. But will it take? We’ll see. In the mean time, they all realized they are scores of miles into unknown territory facing an unknown potential enemy. What they need more than anything else is intel. Senior Centurion Chesney then makes an ill-timed appearance.
A surprise for Faustina and rather than being pissed off she nearly gets pissed on. Time to beat a quick retreat to base… where her legates have been wondering where in bloody hell their General and Empress disappeared to… I’ll bet USD10 that Gibson spanks her.
The young general is able to push her boys forward in the night but grows increasingly concerned that they are pressing further and further into the unknown. Once to a temporary laager, tired herself and not thinking too clearly, Faustina makes a foolish decision.
Not about to get her army trapped in place for a week or even for days, Faustina proves her earlier guess correct: her boys were going to pay for their days of easy marching. On the heels of a 45-mile day, they must cover another 25… and the rain from the hurricane is starting to fall…
I like an episode arc that starts in sunshine and ends in clouds. It guarantees further action. Under the fold, the empress meets with a diplomatic embassage of rump Louisiana, trying to find out what is going on between them and the Gulf Short States, who she and her boys are on their way to visit. At the end, Ryland startles Faustina very badly… something I’m still seeing and will try to wrap up Thursday.
Faustina has a short meeting with her legates but makes time to be informal with her cousin, Ryland. For a kid genius, who usually are monomaniacs and burn out early, Ryland is surprisingly perceptive. I wonder if being a mutt is a factor? Or her mother’s close relationship with the machines of tribe Tohsaka? We’ll likely find out later or sooner.
I have written a little past this but have to go make an early dinner for my family. If not too drunk to write more, maybe I can get another update ready to later.
machciv 