00010-Kagomine Aiguillette of Distinction
"Ballista Kneecole McKibbins-Zim!"
"Kon Strassole, you have something for me?"
"I have orders for you, came over the jade banks."
"Orders? Hand them over, this is irregular."
"What do you mean you can't honour my chit?" "I'm the second assistant quartermaster, only the quartermaster and the first assistant's have authorization to open the safe." "The safe? I'm getting something from the safe?" "Red Leathers, or purple silks, either one." "An, Quinton, you asked me to come forthwith?" "Ah, yes, Zim, Officer McKibbins here has a chit that I cannot cash for her, and her orders say for her to get to it at first light." "Ah, yes, I know just the thing. He touched his communicator to the safe, who opened immediately. Remind me to let the duty authorization open the safe, it's standing orders now." "Oh." "And to review with you the process for auditing the safe, we'll be doing it each shift now." "Why?" "Because, my young assistant, Meihomei has ordered us to, she saw that Sixth Fleet, and this ship, in particular, were doing good things in unusual numbers, and ordered us to be vigilant for theft. Here, Zim McKibbins, your Aiguillette." "Elemental fists of fury!" "What? You didn't know? It's your tenth year in uniform, hardly a surprise by now." "How come I have one, and every Telbun has had one, but Telbun Mariwolfe does not?" "Because you get them for a continuous 10 years in a particular service. She's switched services so much, she keeps resetting the counts. You should not tease her overmuch about this, she may be... sensitive over it." "Aye, Zim-Q." "How come she called you Zim-Q?" "I'm the senior Quartermaster on the ship, that's what the rank is called." "But you report to her!" "Aye, she's the ship executive officer, plenty of that to go around. She's smart enough to call the navigator 'maps', the helmsman 'tiller', the flight deck boss 'planes' and the like too. A good XO knows her crew, and she knows more than most." "Why?" "She's a double-dipper, she was a Kon, like you, before she flagged up. So she knows what it's like to take the orders she gives. When she assigns someone crows' nest in a storm, she makes sure the doctor follows up, too." "And she's only been in the Navy ten?" "She was a border guard Kon before. Assigned to coastal duties." "Oh, so doesn't count, either." "Exactly, quite a few transfers prevent some people from wearing the Aiguillette. Which makes some cases of them pretty impressive." "Do you get a second one, after 5 years or something?" "No, for every year after the first, a small ring of wire is added to the loop holding the thing. So hers is the smallest you're seeing today. I've seen Marhamat Dandelion's aiguillette. It's impressive, and impractical, gold's too heavy to be handed out like that." "He spent how many?" "Twenty-eight years as a lifeguard Kon, then switched, in the same service to officer, where he spent 12. So he's got twenty ropes, like Zim McKibbins, then 2 for each year, so he's at an even hundred. His are platinium, not gold, thank heavens, he'd probably need a holder for them if they were." "Still heavy, she grunted when she lifted hers." "They all underestimate the weight, and, well, some of the weight is symbolic, I mean. She was noticed by Meihomei every year, for ten years."
It is at Meihomei's instruction, and pursuant to the relevant regulations, that Meihomei's Navy Nessuna of OPM directs you to stores at the beginning of the first shift of this new day. You are to present the chit which was printed with these orders, to the Quartermaster, who is to issue you the item.""Anything good, Zim?" "No idea, just got seven bleeding shades of urgency for me to get an item from the Quartermaster."
"What do you mean you can't honour my chit?" "I'm the second assistant quartermaster, only the quartermaster and the first assistant's have authorization to open the safe." "The safe? I'm getting something from the safe?" "Red Leathers, or purple silks, either one." "An, Quinton, you asked me to come forthwith?" "Ah, yes, Zim, Officer McKibbins here has a chit that I cannot cash for her, and her orders say for her to get to it at first light." "Ah, yes, I know just the thing. He touched his communicator to the safe, who opened immediately. Remind me to let the duty authorization open the safe, it's standing orders now." "Oh." "And to review with you the process for auditing the safe, we'll be doing it each shift now." "Why?" "Because, my young assistant, Meihomei has ordered us to, she saw that Sixth Fleet, and this ship, in particular, were doing good things in unusual numbers, and ordered us to be vigilant for theft. Here, Zim McKibbins, your Aiguillette." "Elemental fists of fury!" "What? You didn't know? It's your tenth year in uniform, hardly a surprise by now." "How come I have one, and every Telbun has had one, but Telbun Mariwolfe does not?" "Because you get them for a continuous 10 years in a particular service. She's switched services so much, she keeps resetting the counts. You should not tease her overmuch about this, she may be... sensitive over it." "Aye, Zim-Q." "How come she called you Zim-Q?" "I'm the senior Quartermaster on the ship, that's what the rank is called." "But you report to her!" "Aye, she's the ship executive officer, plenty of that to go around. She's smart enough to call the navigator 'maps', the helmsman 'tiller', the flight deck boss 'planes' and the like too. A good XO knows her crew, and she knows more than most." "Why?" "She's a double-dipper, she was a Kon, like you, before she flagged up. So she knows what it's like to take the orders she gives. When she assigns someone crows' nest in a storm, she makes sure the doctor follows up, too." "And she's only been in the Navy ten?" "She was a border guard Kon before. Assigned to coastal duties." "Oh, so doesn't count, either." "Exactly, quite a few transfers prevent some people from wearing the Aiguillette. Which makes some cases of them pretty impressive." "Do you get a second one, after 5 years or something?" "No, for every year after the first, a small ring of wire is added to the loop holding the thing. So hers is the smallest you're seeing today. I've seen Marhamat Dandelion's aiguillette. It's impressive, and impractical, gold's too heavy to be handed out like that." "He spent how many?" "Twenty-eight years as a lifeguard Kon, then switched, in the same service to officer, where he spent 12. So he's got twenty ropes, like Zim McKibbins, then 2 for each year, so he's at an even hundred. His are platinium, not gold, thank heavens, he'd probably need a holder for them if they were." "Still heavy, she grunted when she lifted hers." "They all underestimate the weight, and, well, some of the weight is symbolic, I mean. She was noticed by Meihomei every year, for ten years."
Components and tools
At its base, an aiquillette is a length of twisted gold, silver or platinium cord. When Kagomine speak of 'the aiguillette' they mean the military award: twisted gold(army, border guard, special forces), silver(navy, life guards, fly force, space force) or platinium wire(any of the previous that earned a merit), sized so the gold wire wears one pound per rope, which comes at a minimum of 20 ropes per award. Two ropes are added per year of meritorious service(an officer who doesn't get at least mentioned in dispatches once a year does not count, and starts again from the beginning of the year next year, but does not start from zero like someone switching services does).
A very senior officer's "braids" or "ropes" as they are colloguially known, are looped over themselves and hang behind any medals, presenting an impressive backdrop.
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