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The original was posted on /r/hfy by /u/KamchatkasRevenge on 2024-11-04 20:40:18+00:00.

Observer Wu pulls a few sheets of paper from a case and reviews them for a moment.

"Ah, I see you've run into the consequences of galactic computer systems."

Wu offers Jerry a sour look.

"It'd be more problematic if most of the electronic intrusions we deal with weren't just women seeking out crewmen's contact information. I have been propositioned some seven thousand times since leaving Cruel Space."

"Only seven thousand?" Jaruna barks with laughter. "Some of those thirsty bitches are getting off their game it seems."

Wu gets a slightly shell shocked look for a moment. A sort of thousand yard stare that simply couldn't be acted. Jerry felt for the poor man to a degree. He'd been exposed to things that the Human mind simply could not be prepared for in advance.

"Quite." Wu grimaces. "It certainly has confirmed the sheer volume and variety of life in the galaxy if nothing else. As well as confirming the story of the initial hack of the Dauntless itself."

Jerry nods solemnly. "Mrega?"

Wu shudders. "To think that unicorns were so... unlike the Western myths and stories my granddaughter enjoys."

"Being avatars of serenity, beauty, chastity and pretty much everything good and fair in the world?"

"Precisely, Admiral."

"I know exactly how you feel. I had a Mrega stalker who recently decided she wanted to have a 'learning experience', a pirate admiral by the name of Noral Sparklehoof. She uh."

Jerry can feel himself get a bit green around the gills, remembering some of the obscenity he'd been exposed to by the deranged Admiral Sparklehoof. She made some of the most perverted and degenerate corners of the internet back home look like a convent of exceptionally chaste nuns who considered staying up after nine pm to be a grievous sin against god.

"Frankly there's nothing to say about her that's fit for even rude company, never mind polite company... and I have a policy about not speaking ill of the dead if I can avoid it."

"I unfortunately feel I understand... and note that the late Admiral Sparklehoof did not survive her lesson in manners. I'd like to have you recount that narrative to me later on. Moving on to the present matter however... Admiral Bridger, in addition to your promotions, I have been informed during the course of my interviews with the human men on Serbow, my discussions with Admiral Cistern, and in my discussion with the Empress of Serbow, that you are one of three Undaunted men who have become nobility within the Apuk Empire, and are the most senior of the three in both our sense and their sense. Is this correct?"

Jerry nods. "That's correct, I have the honor of being an Imperial Prince Consort, having married the Imperial Princess Aquilar'Victae Twice-Crowned." Jerry brings the back of Aqi's hand to his lips, making the dignified princess blush slightly.

"I see... and what does the title of Prince Consort mean among the Apuk, and what is the distinction between an Imperial Princess and a Battle Princess?"

Jerry looks over to Aqi. "Would you like to take the floor, darling?"

"Of course."

Aqi rises and offers Observer Wu a curtsy, which he returns with a bow from the waist.

"I am, as my husband so wonderfully introduced me, Imperial Princess Aquilar'Victae Twice-Crowned, I have the honor of being a daughter of her majesty, the Empress of Serbow and her colonies. So I am what my husband has termed to other humans a 'proper princess', in the Earth sense of the term, and indeed the sense that most of the rest of the galaxy uses the term, being the daughter of a monarch. I am also a Battle Princess. I further hold the rank of Princess Colonel, and command the 87th Expeditionary Legion of the Imperial Armed Forces, embarked aboard this ship as part of our alliance with the Undaunted."

That it was also the Empress giving some official excuse for the Princess to come along with her husband was left unsaid, but Jerry got the sense Observer Wu had intuited it anyway.

"My husband's title, Prince Consort, is shortened to Prince for daily use. The consort signifier simply means that a relationship's issue is not in contention for the throne. In this case because I have resigned my claim to the Imperial throne. I was low in the line of succession simply as a matter of age, being younger than my elder sister, the Crown Princess, by several centuries. Like the Cannidor, the Apuk are also naturally quite long-lived."

"Yes I see, does the consort title get applied in any other situations?"

"Of course, my mother, or any other titled ruler's sister wives will generally hold a courtesy title one rank down from the noble lady they are connected to and carry the title of consort. Only a true born heiress or heir may succeed the throne, be it of the empire itself or any of the other smaller nations that owe fealty to my mother. For example, Undaunted Marine Sergeant Jake Honda recently became the Count of Vynn by marriage. He does not carry the consort title. If any women join his marriage with Countess Vynn, they will, unless they have a more significant title like battle princess, be entitled Baroness Consorts."

Wu nods slowly, considering that. "Ah yes, this makes my interview with Daiki Koga make more sense. He is the Baron of the Tier barony, but his second wife was simply 'Princess', not 'Princess Consort'."

"Because Princess Teri'Fwus is a battle princess and that title takes priority in social circumstances, in the terms of the peerage however, her title would be either a 'Lady Consort' or 'Dame Consort' depending on the particular traditions of the Tier clan."

"I see. Thank you for the explanation, your highness. I must however return to my main line of questioning for Admiral Bridger."

"Of course. Please contact my secretary if you have more questions."

Aqi resumes her seat with a smile, lovingly wrapping herself around Jerry's right arm with a serene smile on her face.

"Admiral, do you feel that your new position has compromised you in terms of obeying orders from Earth?"

Jerry pauses for a second, really thinking through that whole set of questions

"No. Not any more than the last time you asked that question."

Wu gives Jerry a pointed look.

"I was speaking generally, now I am speaking specifically about your connection to a powerful stellar nation. Care to explain your reasoning? Becoming alien nobility must come with certain strings attached, no?"

"Of course it does Observer, but strings attaching us to the first species to formally reach their hands out to us is no weight on my shoulders or the shoulders of Humanity. Sure the Empress could turn on us one day... but we already have singularly lethal troops on their home world. You've met the sorcerers. I doubt they and their wives would take such dishonorable behavior from the Empress lightly. That act alone, inviting Humans to live on the Apuk cradle world... Well. Immigration is one thing, but we have a Human colony on the birth world of the Apuk. The Empress, my mother in law, has expressed her desire to bind her people's fate and the fate of Humanity together quite tightly. She believes this will benefit her people in a wide variety of ways. One doesn't do something for nothing after all."

"Indeed. What is one of the major benefits as you see them?"

"I suspect you've heard some, if not most, of this directly from her majesty if you've spoken with her, but one tangible benefit is military cooperation. As Jaruna said just before, the Apuk fight as an army of individual heroines. Very little complex organization like we or the Cannidor prefer, and surprisingly little use of technology beyond full on artillery in the sense of equipping individuals among the ground forces. Admittedly, that's an easy call to make when each individual can be very potent even without training."

"So how does partnering with us help change that?"

"I believe I can answer that more directly, as I have in fact discussed this with my mother."

Aqi sits up a bit, smoothly reentering the conversation.

"In short, militarily speaking we admire your tactics, the esprit de corps of the men and women of the Dauntless is unmatched save by the most elite troops in the galaxy. Each man and woman is monstrously potent, my husband among the most dangerous of them in his own right for conventional combatants in the galactic sense. My mother has been pushing for change and reform within the Imperial military for several centuries now. The Apuk are a stubborn people, slow to change, by partnering with humans we hope we can jump start that process and try to be more like the Cannidor in the sense of using more modern weapons and technology, in addition to our natural gifts. I wrote an analysis of the Talasar Spire incident, which you should have the Undaunted report on, that pointed out some of the problems our own troops would have had in that situation, and will forward it to you. We would have prevailed, but many civilians likely would have been killed by the pirates before we could rescue everyone."

"...A very frank answer, your highness. Would you be willing to share another benefit your species gains from partnering with humanity?"

"Beyond the social benefits of increasing the opportunity for women to find marriageable men? Men who find Apuk maidens rather appealing on the whole so far?" Aqi arches a brow, holding in a giggle. "Really there's lots of potential benefits. The Apuk are slow to change as I mentioned, a consequence of our l...

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