If they both survive Noctis is due for one hell of an ass chewing. Note the biggest word in the world, IF.
Other than that she seems to have calmed His douchieness a bit more. Possibly they can keep him from ordering a carpet airstrike against Nova Rome in general.
Indeed. And now that she has his permission to do whatever she wants, she can contact the other Cassians, rescind their previous orders, reinstate Maxus, and, essentially, rule the city herself.
Ever given a cat a very small pat on the tummy and watched said cat writhe around in ecstasy, curling and squirming and wiggling its legs? That's how Noctis views this kind of thing. One judicious pat to the ego, and Decimus ties himself into narcissistic macrame.
No, you've just seen an example of subversive ass-kissing. It looks like bullshit until you analyze the imperative content, where Noctis just told Decimus to shut up and let her work, and he (more or less) did.
And if that doesn't work, she could always try to Razzle-Dazzle him. :D
Though Noctis + a Razzle-Dazzle routine, seems pretty far from something she would do.
Thus, I'd love to see it even more, kinda like how I would like to see the Terminator as a French Maid. >_<
Why, oh why, do I get the strongest suspicion that 'order' is gonna wheel around really fast and really bite somebody HARD! (Especially given Noctis' talent for, ah, creative interpretation....)
I've lost count of the number of times I've linked to this particular track on YouTube. I probably ought to bookmark it to save time... >:=)>
She's as cold as ice,
She's willing to sacrifice the Dope.
He never takes advice,
Someday he'll pay the price, we hope.
We all know the score,
It's been a long, long time,
Kick Deck out the door,
And leave his throne behind,
He's digging his grave,
And maybe today,
Good fortune will leave him,
And then he will pay!
Noctis: And to think that we'll owe it all to some foreigner...
In New Troy Cyberpaths are a concern but mainly because they can wreak so much havoc with non-intelligent systems. AIs and Self aware Androids with synth brains are generally immune to them. in Nove roma they are quite literally the stuff of nightmares. Cassians already have physical chains ( Inhibitors ) .. they are scared to death of mental ones.
So we're looking at something that Decks wouldn't agree with then. He's obviously not opposed to collateral so I doubt it's "level the city block with Dr. Silver in it"
and unless you two are bullshitting, which you two tend away from out-and-out lies, then she's not going to go use this as an excuse for personal liberation...
I honestly can't figure it out at all.
I think I'm either missing information, or it's right under my nose.
And of course when it comes around what her plan is I'm going to either wind up bouncing up and down with joy or going "oh shit" and trying to figure out how the heroes are going to get out of it.
Since Noctis hasn't actually stated anything on-screen beyond the fact that she has a plan, don't feel bad for not being certain as to what she's got in mind. ;)
The keyword in all of what Noctis just said was "my", in specific where it modified "plan".
Biggus Dickus here just gave her a blank check to do *whatever she wanted* to achieve whatever she decides to be "for the glory of the throne". That's basically an infinite amount of wiggle room.
Flattery hath charms to soothe the savage Princeling and bamboozle him at the same time. Nothing like stroking an already critically inflated ego to get permission to do what you damn well please. I like the interplay between Noctis and Kali. I can't tell if Kali's being sarcastic or admonishing; then again, it could be an oblique "Well done."
I have this idea of Ada being a "priestess" for a "church" of the First Circuit, where the church of the First Circuit is an old storehouse in the eyes of a human.
But in the eyes of an android, it'll be decorated with magnetic fields, and infrared light and all sorts of things outside of human perception.
Sort of a way to keep it android only.
Flattery is one way to handle people with inferiority complexes, but it has drawbacks. Over the long term it erodes vital humility. Thankfully, Decimus' long-term survival projections aren't too high.
Now we know what Doc Silver's power is called in universe too. Interesting that it is common enough to have been studied enough for a name to have a name. I wonder would the capabilities run to controlling say a Cassian? Also, not only did noctis get her awsome order, but did it by taking something out of context and using it to justify her actions. I call that a bible defense.
I'm too lazy to go archive diving, but we've been told, "Mo," in a previous comment asking much the same question (if I remember correctly) Apparently she could do something about to compulsion devices though.
With that exchange, there's absolutely nothing left to nullify against since effectively, planing and operational control, at least for herself and subordinates, has now fallen to Noctis herself. This especially true if her loyalty is to the throne and not the arse sitting on its pillows.
Not even Dec's last bit of inflated blow-heartiness can be viewed as countermanding anything.... Smashing Dec's ability to C-cube (already done), his infrastructure and support as well as taking out Dec himself would surely "impress" any of Dec's "enemies" that Noc and her crew are definitely powers "to be reckoned with" in the aftermath as is the new Queen whom they (one hopes) elevated and support.
That posture, had she a second sword, looks very much like a painting I saw many years ago of Miyamoto Musashi in his 'Open to the eight winds' posture from which he could either defend or take the offensive in any desired direction against multiple opponents.
And she is within range with a drawn weapon.... Quit teasing us Centcomm! ;)
Noctis is indeed cute, in her own adorable blank faced way.
She about the only person that could pull off a japanese lolita outfit (complete with combat boots), while doing caramell-dansen, and still not crack a single smile.
I wonder, Has it been determined if any of the cassians have sparked? Would they be at all capable of such with inhibitor chips? Could one of them keep it from the others if they did?
I'd hope they might be able to, but then again it would kind of suck to Awaken only to find oneself a slave...
Actually all Cassians are "sparked" they need the creativity and mental sharpness that comes from that. They are in there own ways just as " human" as New Troy Androids - being built using similar if not older tech.
Which is one of the reasons Cassians are all so moody.
I'm pretty sure they've all sparked, but are internally inhibited to prevent them from using their best judgement if counter to the will of the ruling power(s) of New Rome. This leaves them frustrated and depressed when dealing with losing situations.
I don't really think she was a true psychopath. I think she was a TRUE Believer. (ala Serenity Operative)
She was made for building a peaceful beautiful garden in New Rome, however she knew it wasn't for her to be a part of. The fact the Decimus Perverted the original plan for that garden making her and her siblings work perverted in the process is what made her appear to be even worse than she was.
This is just a thought, but if Malati had been given an order to get rid of a bunch of scum using any methods she wish, I think she would have preferred to have used mostly psychological methods to terrify them into leaving New Rome instead of killing them outright, unless she was told to MAKE it a public spectacle.
My feeling is, she wouldn't want to make the innocents see that ugliness unless she was ordered to do so.
She saw herself as a Protector of New Rome first and foremost. And a Protector, protect the innocent from even her own depredations as much as possible.
It's why the Officers' Oath is is worded the way it is....
"do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic, that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same;"
You never support any person or even any administration. You swear to support and defend the Constitution and the government it authorizes in the name of the People ("We, the People") creates so long as said government 'supports and defends' the Constitution.
I really hate that the titles to our comments don't display.
__TITLE__ Was that a bell that just tolled? __ENDTITLE__
Okay. Maybe folks have figured this, and don't want to risk spoiling it. Maybe they haven't.
0) Note that Noctis and Kali are not in communication until within site of each other. They appear to lack any backup communication channel that has been mentioned.
1) As noted, Noctis is under orders to implement *her* plan for the *glory of the throne*. This can mean (almost) ANYTHING.
2) Noctis probably had a name for the current occupant which is worse than ours. BEFORE her sisters started dying, and BEFORE this little scene. If she had any compunction about moving against him before, his actions here have eliminated them.
3) The entire elite staff has been scared s******s about the response to this entire venture since becoming aware of it. The diversity of the assault alone screams "major faction or above". But the Cassians know all about the factions inside. Even without that knowledge, magnitude + diversity screams "State level actor".
4) And by "State level actor", she knows of course one State in particular. Knowing who is attacking, she knows that princess retrieval is the first priority of the assault. Restoring respect (as in "Don't mess with us") is rationally the second, with revenge an overlapping third. (And if New Troy isn't particularly rational, the following reasoning applies even more.)
3) There is no glory in a throne on an ash heap--or under radioactive glass. She actually has been ordered to preserve Nova Roma. Given the above, this is not a done deal. Noctis must open a channel to New Troy as soon as she has something to offer. Her first priority is getting something to offer New Troy that would suffice to constrain the presumptive third goal of the assault.
4) The only thing that fits this bill is the prince's head. Given that the attackers have a cyberpath, even physical possession of Lynn at this point is not certain to suffice.
5) Noctis has shown sufficient deviousness that she has probably discovered the existence of the prince's darkly-hinted "failsafes". In order to safely move against him, she has to have some level of conviction that these have all been identified and neutralized.
6) This job is too big for her alone. She needs help. The general, of course, but reread the Four of Swords (Reversed) to see just what has _already_ been secured. (And how easily Noctis uses indirect language to nuke loopholes into orders.)
7) After rereading the Four of Swords (Reversed), I expect that Kali will be the once to administer the "coup de grace" for Nova Roma. Noctis does not yet have her stated support, but I expect that if she risks handing Kali the go/nogo decision, that the plan will execute extremely rapidly.
8) Honestly, I don't see a whole lot of room for Noctis to go after Dr Silver in this.
0) Noctis wasn't intending to cross paths with the Prince, but it happened that way. Distracting him from his rant was a bonus.
1) Sure can!
2) Noctis dislikes Decimus insofar as she dislikes anything.
3) They certainly have their suspicions about who's involved.
4) I assume by "princess retrieval" you mean "Lynn retrieval". Noctis has been expecting that some attempt would be made to extract Lynn from Nova Roma. The involvement of a known dissident group (Damnatio Memoriae) has her fearing for Acantha's life, however.
5) Noctis would sure like to have something on hand to prevent this disaster from continuing to snowball...
6) ... but the prince's head is, unfortunately, not an option.
7) The Cassians do know about the contingencies. This is one reason why presenting Decimus's head is not an option to calm the situation.
8) Noctis is really good at loophole abuse.
9) Again, killing the Prince is not an option. Between their inhibitors and the fact that the contingencies will effectively destroy Nova Roma, the Cassians (including Kali) are in no position to take that action.
10) Noctis has no intention of getting anywhere near Dr. Silver. She's done the only thing she can do by sending a sniper to overwatch the data hub.
Following this line of thinking leaves her one option. Overtake and decommission Nox and her crew. That means she has to get through Dolly and Ceci, not an easy task.
Am I alone in thinking that only the blue armored idiots are rreally on decis side
and everyone else is hoping he has an accident and acatha can take over?
Pretty much Rash. The trash supports him, but anyone with a functioning brain, not so much. Like mjkj pointed out, some greedy SOB's probably do, thinking they can manipulate him into increasing THEIR power and wealth, but everyone else wishes he would get sucked into a black hole.
Deck is like a vastly more incompetent Hitler... which is saying something about his level of incompetence.
Most people didn't know he was nuts until after the war was already over.
No no, Decks is less hilariously insane, more just... well, murderously so.
Also, Caligula was competent before he fell ill (likely from a stroke) then went crazy.
Re-reading Four of Swords (reversed) again, I find myself putting a lot into Kali's pause. The only reason I can find is that she knows that she is writing a blank check. Which means that Noctis has two of those.
As for my presumption that Noctis and Kali have figured out how to bypass their inhibitors, I refer you to "I, Robot". There is no need for them to act directly in order to head off the utter ruin of Nova Roma. But, if your world does not permit this, it does not...
Well inhibitors are a complex issue. Noctis and Kali can not take a direct physical action against the throne. and right now that also means they can not actively work against Deck. except by suiciding. and the inhibitor would try to prevent that as well.
Noctis made no mention of Nova Illium's part in the assault when she made her report. Doing so would probably cause an official declaration of war by the pycho prince.
On that last note, I'm curious why Dec never upped his rank from prince to king when he took the throne.
Well, to be fair, she has no EVIDENCE, that it is Nova Illum.
All she has is the knowledge that someone truly dangerous, has attacked, and they are armed to the teeth with very advanced tech. For all she knows, it could be Luna, who have decided that they want some land too.
As for his rank, well ..
A King, can be the master of a Kingdom.
An Emperor, can be the master of many Kingdoms.
An Imperator, can be the master of many Empires.
Crowning himself king, would be two steps down the ranks.
Originally it meant a 'General of the Army,' and was originally awarded by acclimation of a generals' troops in the field after a major victory, but later became part of a general's triumph as granted by the Senate. It was also among the titles Octavian styled himself with "Imperator Caesar divi filius" or "Commander Caesar son of the deified one" after being elevated as Augustus by the Senate and people.
A thing to remember is that Roman titles are slippery and tricky things for us anglophone moderns. We do not think of "general" being a patronymic, yet many of these 'titles' were, and many refer to things and ideas that our society really cannot get a tight grip on.
Caesar was a cognomon of one branch of the Gens Juli, but not a title. Augustus raised it to a new Family name and linage with his assent to the imperial throne, but it didn't become a *title* until Galba took the reign in the "Year of the Four Emperors" (68-69CE) following the the suicide of Nero, last of the Julio-Cludian dynasty begun by Agustus.
The word "prince" derives from the Latin word "princeps". It denotes the ruler of a relatively small sovereign territory. Nova Roma's rulers have never styled themselves as "king" or "queen". The position used to be elected, but became hereditary (though the ruler has to be confirmed by the Senate) a few generations back. When Aurelian pushed his coup through, the previous ruling family was slaughtered, and Valerius took the reins after his father's death.
In Nova Roma, "princeps" is used as a title for those who are effectively ministers of state or other "ultimate commanders" short of the ruler himself. They don't use strictly Latin/Roman titles because their culture isn't genuinely Roman, as has probably been obvious from day one. :)
The fastest way to get yourself in trouble in Imperial Rome was to let it be hinted at that you wanted to be King. That's why Caesar was assassinated, Brutus and friends claimed he wanted to be made king.
Gaius Julius Caesar never took the title REX (king) nor did he take the title or powers of an Emperor. The Roman Republic would stumble on, badly crippled by the next rounds of Civil Wars for years after his assassination in 44BCE. According to Plutacrh and others, he was still an elected Consul in 46BCE when he met and defeated Metellus Scipio at the Battle of Thapsus in Africa. After beating Scipio's forces, he laid siege and took Utica resulting in the suicide of Cato the Younger, then leader of the Pompeian faction. It was after that he was appointed Dictator by the Roman Senate and people, an appointment that was to last 10 years.
While the Senatorial conspirators would use the excuse that Gaius Julius was making himself REX, the true reason was that Caesar was indeed much more a 'man of the plebs' than other members of the Senate or the patricius and he showed it in a number of legal reforms that he favored the plebs over the wealthy and powerful. As such, Caesar was considered a 'traitor to his class.' Caesar was assassinated effectively for supporting the populace against the .01%, the approximately 2000 people (which BTW included the gens Julia) who, between themselves owned an estimated 90% or more of all property and wealth in the Republic. A number of Caesar's reforms directly threatened that hold on finance and power.
The Republic was on it last breaths when Gaius Julius' adopted son and heir Octavian defeated Antony and Cleopatra at Actium in 31BCE but it wasn't officially dead until the Senate and people formally granted Octavian overreaching imperium (the power to command; imperium refers to the sovereignty of the state over the individual.) and made him princeps ("first citizen") as well as granting him the title of Augustus effectively elevating him to Emperor and ending the republic on 16 January 27BCE.
I want to see what happens when Decimus and his associated government fall and the Cassians are, eventually, allowed to be 'real people' instead of 'mere tools'
Forget her bit about "my plan" - the really important thing she said is "for the glory of the throne" - she's just issued herself orders allowing {requiring} her to, as someone said, do what is best for the throne, and not the butt that warms the cushions thereof.
Other than that she seems to have calmed His douchieness a bit more. Possibly they can keep him from ordering a carpet airstrike against Nova Rome in general.
I'd call it a blank cheque, but, "A Richelieu Letter," is definitely a more evocative way to put it.
Oh yes, Noctis is good at what she does. :)
But I am mildly surprised that Decimus doesn't know the name of his cassians, I thought that was the kind of stuff that he was good at ?
Though Noctis + a Razzle-Dazzle routine, seems pretty far from something she would do.
Thus, I'd love to see it even more, kinda like how I would like to see the Terminator as a French Maid. >_<
A cliff edge?
I don't think you quite understand.
You're looking behind him! He's just not realised it yet, all old Warner Bros cartoon like.
Why, oh why, do I get the strongest suspicion that 'order' is gonna wheel around really fast and really bite somebody HARD! (Especially given Noctis' talent for, ah, creative interpretation....)
She's as cold as ice,
She's willing to sacrifice the Dope.
He never takes advice,
Someday he'll pay the price, we hope.
We all know the score,
It's been a long, long time,
Kick Deck out the door,
And leave his throne behind,
He's digging his grave,
And maybe today,
Good fortune will leave him,
And then he will pay!
Noctis: And to think that we'll owe it all to some foreigner...
>:=)>
And if I get this right...
... she basically just got him to order her to do whatever she wants. Replacing previous binding orders of his with this new one.
Go, Noctis!
Also, nice one Greenwood Goat. :)
She has bought time, though I admit I do wonder at what her plan is.
Jack Elam in "Dirty Dingus Magee", a film you should not watch - Jack Elam's few minutes are the only worthwhile part, and they come late.
and unless you two are bullshitting, which you two tend away from out-and-out lies, then she's not going to go use this as an excuse for personal liberation...
I honestly can't figure it out at all.
I think I'm either missing information, or it's right under my nose.
And of course when it comes around what her plan is I'm going to either wind up bouncing up and down with joy or going "oh shit" and trying to figure out how the heroes are going to get out of it.
She never specified who would be sitting on it though.
The "Insofar as I enjoy anything" comment has me wondering: Is she saying that she doesn't find much of anything in life enjoyable?
Probably better that way.
The very opposite, in many ways.
Biggus Dickus here just gave her a blank check to do *whatever she wanted* to achieve whatever she decides to be "for the glory of the throne". That's basically an infinite amount of wiggle room.
:D
As androids, they may have a very different view on reality, than we have.
But in the eyes of an android, it'll be decorated with magnetic fields, and infrared light and all sorts of things outside of human perception.
Sort of a way to keep it android only.
I kinda like that idea.
Very stylish.
How dare you insinuate that the Prince might be weak?
Off to the guillotines with you!
.. and ethics.
.. and mercy.
With that exchange, there's absolutely nothing left to nullify against since effectively, planing and operational control, at least for herself and subordinates, has now fallen to Noctis herself. This especially true if her loyalty is to the throne and not the arse sitting on its pillows.
Not even Dec's last bit of inflated blow-heartiness can be viewed as countermanding anything.... Smashing Dec's ability to C-cube (already done), his infrastructure and support as well as taking out Dec himself would surely "impress" any of Dec's "enemies" that Noc and her crew are definitely powers "to be reckoned with" in the aftermath as is the new Queen whom they (one hopes) elevated and support.
And it's the weekend too, damn it!
(I almost expect to see a royal flying head on Monday.... but would CentComm wrap things up so quickly??? NOoo... gonna hafta wait ;) )
That posture, had she a second sword, looks very much like a painting I saw many years ago of Miyamoto Musashi in his 'Open to the eight winds' posture from which he could either defend or take the offensive in any desired direction against multiple opponents.
And she is within range with a drawn weapon.... Quit teasing us Centcomm! ;)
She about the only person that could pull off a japanese lolita outfit (complete with combat boots), while doing caramell-dansen, and still not crack a single smile.
If you ever see her smile ... RUN!
CC and TR are just gonna haf'ta set up an animated GIF of Sheela's post as an obligatory humor fan service....
I'd hope they might be able to, but then again it would kind of suck to Awaken only to find oneself a slave...
Kali as well, most likely.
I'm pretty sure they've all sparked, but are internally inhibited to prevent them from using their best judgement if counter to the will of the ruling power(s) of New Rome. This leaves them frustrated and depressed when dealing with losing situations.
As much of a psychopath as she could be, she was also very interesting.
In some way, she has been the most human like of the Cassians, so far.
She was made for building a peaceful beautiful garden in New Rome, however she knew it wasn't for her to be a part of. The fact the Decimus Perverted the original plan for that garden making her and her siblings work perverted in the process is what made her appear to be even worse than she was.
This is just a thought, but if Malati had been given an order to get rid of a bunch of scum using any methods she wish, I think she would have preferred to have used mostly psychological methods to terrify them into leaving New Rome instead of killing them outright, unless she was told to MAKE it a public spectacle.
My feeling is, she wouldn't want to make the innocents see that ugliness unless she was ordered to do so.
She saw herself as a Protector of New Rome first and foremost. And a Protector, protect the innocent from even her own depredations as much as possible.
YO, NOCTIS!!! You GO, Girl!
For the best of the throne - not for the best of douchie... :D
"do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic, that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same;"
You never support any person or even any administration. You swear to support and defend the Constitution and the government it authorizes in the name of the People ("We, the People") creates so long as said government 'supports and defends' the Constitution.
__TITLE__ Was that a bell that just tolled? __ENDTITLE__
Okay. Maybe folks have figured this, and don't want to risk spoiling it. Maybe they haven't.
0) Note that Noctis and Kali are not in communication until within site of each other. They appear to lack any backup communication channel that has been mentioned.
1) As noted, Noctis is under orders to implement *her* plan for the *glory of the throne*. This can mean (almost) ANYTHING.
2) Noctis probably had a name for the current occupant which is worse than ours. BEFORE her sisters started dying, and BEFORE this little scene. If she had any compunction about moving against him before, his actions here have eliminated them.
3) The entire elite staff has been scared s******s about the response to this entire venture since becoming aware of it. The diversity of the assault alone screams "major faction or above". But the Cassians know all about the factions inside. Even without that knowledge, magnitude + diversity screams "State level actor".
4) And by "State level actor", she knows of course one State in particular. Knowing who is attacking, she knows that princess retrieval is the first priority of the assault. Restoring respect (as in "Don't mess with us") is rationally the second, with revenge an overlapping third. (And if New Troy isn't particularly rational, the following reasoning applies even more.)
3) There is no glory in a throne on an ash heap--or under radioactive glass. She actually has been ordered to preserve Nova Roma. Given the above, this is not a done deal. Noctis must open a channel to New Troy as soon as she has something to offer. Her first priority is getting something to offer New Troy that would suffice to constrain the presumptive third goal of the assault.
4) The only thing that fits this bill is the prince's head. Given that the attackers have a cyberpath, even physical possession of Lynn at this point is not certain to suffice.
5) Noctis has shown sufficient deviousness that she has probably discovered the existence of the prince's darkly-hinted "failsafes". In order to safely move against him, she has to have some level of conviction that these have all been identified and neutralized.
6) This job is too big for her alone. She needs help. The general, of course, but reread the Four of Swords (Reversed) to see just what has _already_ been secured. (And how easily Noctis uses indirect language to nuke loopholes into orders.)
7) After rereading the Four of Swords (Reversed), I expect that Kali will be the once to administer the "coup de grace" for Nova Roma. Noctis does not yet have her stated support, but I expect that if she risks handing Kali the go/nogo decision, that the plan will execute extremely rapidly.
8) Honestly, I don't see a whole lot of room for Noctis to go after Dr Silver in this.
1) Sure can!
2) Noctis dislikes Decimus insofar as she dislikes anything.
3) They certainly have their suspicions about who's involved.
4) I assume by "princess retrieval" you mean "Lynn retrieval". Noctis has been expecting that some attempt would be made to extract Lynn from Nova Roma. The involvement of a known dissident group (Damnatio Memoriae) has her fearing for Acantha's life, however.
5) Noctis would sure like to have something on hand to prevent this disaster from continuing to snowball...
6) ... but the prince's head is, unfortunately, not an option.
7) The Cassians do know about the contingencies. This is one reason why presenting Decimus's head is not an option to calm the situation.
8) Noctis is really good at loophole abuse.
9) Again, killing the Prince is not an option. Between their inhibitors and the fact that the contingencies will effectively destroy Nova Roma, the Cassians (including Kali) are in no position to take that action.
10) Noctis has no intention of getting anywhere near Dr. Silver. She's done the only thing she can do by sending a sniper to overwatch the data hub.
I suspect this goes twice when the Prince is involved. :D
Dang, that's a lot of loopy. :D
and everyone else is hoping he has an accident and acatha can take over?
Basically there should be a few more business men and senate members that he spoiled that will root for douchie but otherwise you are dead on ;)
Most people didn't know he was nuts until after the war was already over.
Also, Caligula was competent before he fell ill (likely from a stroke) then went crazy.
As for my presumption that Noctis and Kali have figured out how to bypass their inhibitors, I refer you to "I, Robot". There is no need for them to act directly in order to head off the utter ruin of Nova Roma. But, if your world does not permit this, it does not...
"Fire in the hole !!!"
On that last note, I'm curious why Dec never upped his rank from prince to king when he took the throne.
All she has is the knowledge that someone truly dangerous, has attacked, and they are armed to the teeth with very advanced tech. For all she knows, it could be Luna, who have decided that they want some land too.
As for his rank, well ..
A King, can be the master of a Kingdom.
An Emperor, can be the master of many Kingdoms.
An Imperator, can be the master of many Empires.
Crowning himself king, would be two steps down the ranks.
At least, that's how I understand it.
A thing to remember is that Roman titles are slippery and tricky things for us anglophone moderns. We do not think of "general" being a patronymic, yet many of these 'titles' were, and many refer to things and ideas that our society really cannot get a tight grip on.
Caesar was a cognomon of one branch of the Gens Juli, but not a title. Augustus raised it to a new Family name and linage with his assent to the imperial throne, but it didn't become a *title* until Galba took the reign in the "Year of the Four Emperors" (68-69CE) following the the suicide of Nero, last of the Julio-Cludian dynasty begun by Agustus.
In Nova Roma, "princeps" is used as a title for those who are effectively ministers of state or other "ultimate commanders" short of the ruler himself. They don't use strictly Latin/Roman titles because their culture isn't genuinely Roman, as has probably been obvious from day one. :)
For the glory of the throne indeed.
While the Senatorial conspirators would use the excuse that Gaius Julius was making himself REX, the true reason was that Caesar was indeed much more a 'man of the plebs' than other members of the Senate or the patricius and he showed it in a number of legal reforms that he favored the plebs over the wealthy and powerful. As such, Caesar was considered a 'traitor to his class.' Caesar was assassinated effectively for supporting the populace against the .01%, the approximately 2000 people (which BTW included the gens Julia) who, between themselves owned an estimated 90% or more of all property and wealth in the Republic. A number of Caesar's reforms directly threatened that hold on finance and power.
The Republic was on it last breaths when Gaius Julius' adopted son and heir Octavian defeated Antony and Cleopatra at Actium in 31BCE but it wasn't officially dead until the Senate and people formally granted Octavian overreaching imperium (the power to command; imperium refers to the sovereignty of the state over the individual.) and made him princeps ("first citizen") as well as granting him the title of Augustus effectively elevating him to Emperor and ending the republic on 16 January 27BCE.
And the discretion to decide what that would be.
Talk about a Richelieu letter...
Thank you.
Nonetheless, well written, well paced, and absolutely thought provoking
You crafted images for the minds eye very well! Just enough detail to give us something to work with, not too much to bog it down.
Do we have more perhaps coming?
A vignette on what happened that makes Nox hate humans so much...
M'Lady Rose get your keyboard ready.
:)