Silver Collars
Operations & Engineers
2156: COMMODORE E. RAMMAGE COMMAND LOG
A transcript from the command education logs of Commodore Earl Rammage, for the woefully uneducated Lt. Max Allard.Unit Overview
The Silver Collars, or Silvers for short, descended from a combination of the Royal Engineers of Great Britain and Canada, and other engineering corps in the former militaries which were brought under The Conglomerate of Gaia after The Flag War. Sure, a lot of veterans left the military, but most had no option beyond the contracts they were offered, if they wanted to retire, feed their families or get the most basic medical care.
Two major sections exist, the Silvers who work with the Army, and those who work in the Pride of the Conglom, our Navy.
Like me. Always been a good knick at fixing things what came into Tema's shop. Didn't much matter if it was a car, a generator or microwave. Dig through scrap, find enough to build something, jerry rig it...
Aw, them were the days, Sir. I'd get up in the morning and see what the dumpsters dropped, sort through with my cart and back to the shop to patch things up, get them ready for sale. Mum sold a metric ton a week, I swear...
And you. She also sold you to cover her debt. A debt she wouldn't have had if your scrapping went better than a few bits and bobs, so shall we get back to the Silvers? Hmm? Oh, don't get crestfallen.
It's unbecoming of an officer.
Founding and History
Due to the corporate nature of the Conglom, the decision to separate Operations & Engineering from Scientific Research was multi-fold. One, different levels of clearance, two we wanted a force dedicated to keeping our old ships and new projects going. Maintaining ships which were dry-docked a century ago isn't the easiest, when the majority of the Navy is pre-1960's or retrofitted from the middle of the 20th Century's cold war arm-up.
After Control Day, the Navy's tech changed most of all, and Silvers became the backbone of our continued existence, half former military, half Idless who decided the enemy of their enemy was a friend. Yeah, the Silvers are notorious for housing the majority of our once-Idless compatriots who didn't follow Lieben into the Haven system.
Fed on pluck and the ability to make do and mend anything from electrical wiring to plumbing, Ops doesn't have access to the high tech in Haven... don't say it. I can see you want to say it, I'll say it for you, "Oh, but Sir, how jolly wonderful it was in Haven, they have LED lights and computer chips and doors what swoosh." Close enough, Allard?
Yeah, that's right.
End of the day, Silvers keep our rustbuckets and more streamlined newer ships going.
Motto and Tradition
Rank pips and tool kits build Silver tradition. For those who couldn't afford the kits paid commission officers get, new Silvers are thrust into the pile of hand-me-downs and cast offs and guard their tool kits with a sucker punch or two.
Enlisted keep an almost superstitious reverence for tool boxes handed down from Chief Petty's+. It becomes a form of iconography to have tools etched with the names of once solid and heroic engineers.
Honors
Commendations mean less than receiving a hallowed officer or NCO's cast-off tools. Even if Silvers have access to the same performance bonuses and promotion scheme as the rest of the CGM Militia.
Combat Doctrine
Keep the ships, bases and vehicles in working order.
Stay out of the line of fire... which is good for you, Allard. Lousy shot you are, get beaned on the first day.
On-site training under a Petty Officer or Chief Petty Officer, first in base then aboard ship. Advancement favours those who paid for the technical school post-secondary programs, but for those like you, they start with a spanner in hand and notebook in pocket. Learn on the fly or end up in Janitorial.
Mechanical Operations.
Maintenance.
Structural Engineering & Repair.
Hydraulics.
Vehicular Maintenance.
Nuclear Engineering.
Operational Structure
While Silvers work closely with the Green Collars, it works best if Greens and Silvers answer to a Gold. Otherwise, the engineers and the research scientists get sniffy about seniority versus education level. Within the Silvers, Chief Petty Officers and Warrant Officers trend toward being the most respected. They're the OG's. The originators, the men and women who keep the ships together. Even junior officers look to the Warrant Officers and Chief Pettys.
Unit Roles
Lead: Depending on the branch and repairs or maintenance needed, one of the specialties will step up with their chosen repair crew.Electrical: Electricians & electrical engineers.
Mechanical:Anything from door hinges to generator motors.
Nuclear: Most Conglom carriers and destroyers are nuclear powered. We like these guys. We live for these guys.
Vehicular: Predominantly on base or in the air wings.
We get some right slobberknockers, when the Greenies and Silvers dust up! Hah! One time, Chief Petty Officer Bradley was jerry rigging an electrical conduit in a bulkhead in the biolabs and...
That will be all, Lieutenant.
You do realize their 'slobberknockers' will become your responsibility, don't you? Yeah. I thought so. See if you have a bowl big enough to separate Chief Petty Brindal and Lieutenant Biggins when wiring is on the line. Drink?
Recruitment and Selection Process
Enlisted
All enlisted go through Assessments during Basic, to see where their proclivities lie. From there, several are sectioned out to flow into whichever shirt collar matches the optimum use of their talents and whether they're willing or able to pay for higher education to increase their promotional and pay grade chances.
Officers
Officers start with a purchased commission, which combines first year university with their beginning rank. The further they excel in one of the many university programs available increases their rank and placement within the fleets. Flunk out? See if you make it past Ensign until your contract runs up and you're given the frickin' door.
But I didn't go through any post-sec and I'm... beginning to see why you're so frustrated all the time. I really am the exception to most rules, Silver or otherwise, aren't I?
Lieutenant? I never believed in angels protecting folk until I met you. It's either angels or blind stinking luck, either way? You're the first DeeBee who enlisted plain, no kits, no education beyond your Re-Cyke shite. The pressure on those sloping shoulders of yours? Bathypelagic.
If you want any others like you to get the same kind of leg up? Prove yourself. Now. Prove the people who got you that gold stripe on your collar wrong, or pray you go down with the ship.
Training Facilities
Universities & Technical Institutes
Each Conglom city has multiple higher educational options depending on the person's investment portfolio and capacity to handle debt. While most Silvers and Greens do go through higher ed, the scrubs learn by buddying up on a crew and hoping they don't scrub out and get placed in the Infantry.
Notable Operations
Amazon Top 300 Cyberpunk + Genetic Engineering Sci-Fi
"I never thought science fiction could be so beautiful."
AI meets gene-splicers, when the Idless & the Conglom fight to define Lieben and thus, the world. Seven decades later, Aderastos sets the human race against its’ next stage in evolution, if he can survive long enough to rescue his fellows, and Max.
Will Lieben help, or hinder?
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