[SoNE Freebuild] Inspection

[Kodan Black]

I'd been assigned to inspect a garrison outpost, one of those jobs I understood the importance of but it wasn't one I looked forward to. Being an officer meant getting jobs you didn't want to do sometimes, though at least this one kept me out of some swamp or jungle. And despite being generally mundane it offered a chance to relax a bit and sleep in a bed.

I knew what my reputation was. I hadn't sought it out, but you hear it from little comments or joking with other officers where the jokes contain a bit of truth. I wasn't one of those pedantic officers who insists on everything by the book. I didn't seek to get anyone with infractions and things like proper spacing of tools wasn't something I was concerned with. However, safety items, those were always big for me. Fire equipment being in the correct location, emergency medical supplies readily available, and things like that were not to be glossed over. In a situation where those items were needed seconds mattered and could have a decisive impact on the outcome. Lives could be lost in the blink of an eye.

As I arrived I was greeted by the commanding officer, a man by the name of Jamison. He seemed a competent fellow and from initial appearances looked to run a good posting. Everything looked clean and maintained. As we began our inspection I began to wonder why he was here. We all end up somewhere for a reason, I was inspecting his outpost because my commanding officer felt it was our duty to maintain proper postings and he wanted those under him to be responsible and know what we should do if we wound up in command of a base. So why was this officer Jamison here?

His files were in order, brief and to the point with all the necessary information. He was clearly a bit fatigued though not overly so and though I'm sure they had prepared for my "surprise" visit (I cannot ever remember being stationed anywhere that we didn't know at least a day in advance of an inspection visit so I assumed they knew of my trip) it didn't seem that he was worried over it. I started to piece together why he was here as he began to make note of shortages. Being an outpost outside of a capital city meant that he was further down the requisition line and being a good and competent officer this meant that he was often annoyed by the lack of spare parts and other items vital to keeping an Empire facility at 100% readiness. He had several vehicles down for maintenance as he awaited parts currently. There was a particular emphasis on how he had stressed this in his reports but that he was still short.

It was clear that his superiors had grown weary of his complaints, a failing in many officers sadly. They wanted to believe in the cause so much they preferred blind allegiance and did not want to hear any variation from that narrative. The Empire was always right, so you could never show it was wrong in any way and if you tried it was you who had an issue. Those are the sort of officers that get a lot of people killed because suddenly there is an attack and all those reports outlining the problems are only proven correct. I let him know that I would include the issues in my report but that I wasn't in a place to assure him of improvements. There was a visible easing within his demeanor and I believe the simple acknowledgement that I too saw the issues made him feel better. I had a lingering annoyance that a good officer was being kept at a low priority posting simply because he was bold enough to point out problems.

On our way to review his men we paused to view them from an observation station. There was good discipline among his soldiers and their uniforms and armor were clean and worn with pride. I got the sense that they understood they were fortunate to have him in charge and that they would fight hard for him should it be needed. I intended to try and praise Jamison in the hopes that he would be moved to a more important command. It worried me that a lesser officer was at a more critical posting simply because they knew to keep their mouth shut. We officers should want what was best for the Empire even if that meant owning up to the problems.

 

Please judge

 

[Cody Startale]

A great build, but even more impressive, a fantastic read. The writing was spot-on and engaging, and I found myself instantly hooked and interested in the characters. Very life-like. Hope to see more of that in the future!

[LucasLaughing]

Here's a very late comment (to go with our late freebuild judging)!

I agree with Cody - your writing and story are great; they really give us a feel for what kind of officer Kodan is.

I like the low ceilinged corridor - it feels very imperial, but still has enough details to be interesting.  I also like the curved bits in the second scene.

My only feedback is in the second scene it might have worked better to have the wall details/greebles on the upper floor, since the troops on the ground floor are kind of competing with the detailed wall so it feels a little bit cluttered (IMO).  Great scenes overall, though!

[Kodan Black]

Valid point about the second scene. I'm one of those people that gets an idea in their head and then builds it. And THEN worries about taking pics. Only rarely do I think through the implications of my build on how it will photograph. Certainly something to work on in my process. I was actually trying to make the bottom cluttered and busy and then keep the top clean and sparse to focus more on the 2 overseeing officers. A bit of a separation between the worker bees and their machines and the managers type viewpoint. Always good to get feedback!

[Shadows of Nar Eurbrikka]

Judges have awarded you 3 XP!