Commandant of the Schola Progenium

Michael was again surrounded by friends and family, and telling a story. Indeed, we join them mid-story, as it were.
"I was trying not to discombobulate on the spot, as the Regent of Terra, the most powerful person in the Imperium, was trying to articulate just what he wanted with me."
"What is in this drink, Michael?" Stacey Sr. was sniffing her rather powerful drink.
"Amasec, the Single Malt Canadic Whiskey variant, directly from Terra, from the Grains'plains hives, as it were."
"I thought Terra no longer had any agriculture..."
"And it no longer does, but it does maintain an industry key to all industries of transformation of fine agricultural products: red tape..." His tone was acid. "Similarly, there is no dairy industry left at all on terra, but cheese transformation facilities of high quality and even higher price, still remains at the top of certain hives."
Her daughter , who had asked for a much milder bubbly wine, and was sipping it, and getting quite merry. "You haven't said what the Regent wanted yet." She sounded petulant.
"Michael Goldenrod, Lord-General Commissar of the Officio Praefectus, I would have you elevated to the dignity of Commandant of the Schola Progenium, your predecessor, Lady Commissar-General Simone Thanh rated you highest among her deputies, and the position is key if we are to continue to maintain training of many key troop types."
"My lord, I'm... I'm without words."
"So that's how you got named to be my replacement?" Unknown to the others, she was the one doing the most damage to Michael's bar, having latched on to a White wine, whose label was quite unreadable, but apparently Francic in origin and ancient. "My, this is quite the wonderful libation, Michael, I definitely owe you. Such flavours..."
"I'm afraid whatever wine that was, I won't be able to replace, Ch...u d'Y.. I can't make heads or tails out of it."
"A tragedy, and make no mistake, I've been entertained by the palace, sector governors, lord-inquisitors, Lords of Terra, lord-general militants, and the like, nothing quite matches this sweet wine that has honeyed, citrus and peach notes, accompanied by an unctuous mouth feel."
"Well, I'm certainly glad I'm repaying some of the favor you did me."
"What favor?" Her gaze was hooded. "I never evaluated you above Carmine, for instance..."
"But at the time, she was a full-time Inquisitor, so not competing for the job..."
"Well, you let me leave with that bottle, and I'll call it even, this is heavenly stuff."
"No one's had the gall to try it, since we couldn't read the label, no one except you, so go right ahead."
She purred. "I'm not sure I don't owe you, even. This is great stuff." She was wondering if the rumors were true. Iulivit and Jeannissa had demurred, but Stacey and her mom were here, how did Michael always seem to be surrounded by such beautiful women as Stacey? She herself had been a young thirty-two since her warp accident, forty-two years ago now. But time lost in the warp meant she was only seventy-four to Michael's ninety-with-juvenat, in real terms, and looked like the second youngest person in the room, after Stacey, whose twenty-nine meant she'd soon retire from her athlete career, her and her mother being that rarest of pairs, accomplices who'd retire from a career out in a far segmentum to Terra, to enjoy the finer things, it was said.
"Go back to the story though, what did he say next?"
"Michael, we need more Adepta Sororitas, we need more Tempestus Scions, more Commissars, if you will accept the task, I will make it official."
I demurred. "Great Lord, I'm hardly the best at numbers..."
He laughed then, a great booming laugh that could only come from such a giant of a man. "You've done ok with your own family, and I hear you work well with the Mechanicus, Logistician Marsha Narvik especially."
"Marsha? Well of course, I've known Marsha since I could walk, what's she got to do with this?"
"She's handling the Segmentum Solar's part of contributing to the Indomitus Crusade... I hear my new Fabricator-General considers her a sort of right arm, although, with the mechanicus, they can have more than one..."
"Ah, yes, they do add arms at times, so Marsha is doing well in her new job?"
'"Losses are extensive, in the crusade, but that is to be expected, we are far along our lines of supply, and often outnumbered, but that we are able to hold ground and fight is a credit to those supporting our fighters, for indeed, without them, what would our forces do?
It's not something you can expect of a soldier to fight without ammunition, or a working transport, or rations, or a thousand other things. Your friend..." He paused, I'm sure I was blushing at the moment. "And the rest of our civilians and industry are a critical component, and so are our training facilities. Sadly, I've had to leave this neglected too long..." He looked preoccupied, even a little guilty.'
"Leave what neglected, Lord?"
"The forgive me, 'lesser lords', I've assigned people to the spots in the upper chamber of the Senatorum, the 'Adeptus Terra' as some call them, but didn't get around to the lower chamber, which are less prestigious, but still vital to our war effort. The Commandant, the Lord Marshal, those are well-regulated offices, I didn't need to worry about them rising in rebellion, but I should have filled vacancies..."
"Milord, you do not need to make excuses, the monumental task of preserving the Imperium is self-evident in scope..."
"You are wise and kind, Michael. I still did not discharge this duty speedily, and come onto this late, will you take up the gauntlet? Much lies fallow in the furrows between the Adeptus Administratum and Adeptus Ministorum, and nowhere as much as in the Ordo Munitorum they co-administer."
"If you will have me lord, it will be an honor."
"Now, now."
"I'm sorry?"
"You've earned this... But also, this is not a reward, if anything, you will be hated by your fellow commissars, especially those senior to you in date of rank..."
"That's all of them lord, i was breveted in place of Lord-Commissar-General Thanh quite unexpectedly..."
"You were, and the successful conclusion of that campaign didn't let you do much front-line fighting... But crucially, you and yours were key in getting those troops reassigned, rotated, replenished. Warmaster Macaroth retired, as you know, but he was effusive as to the contribution the 22nd made to the end of the Crusade. First Lord Executor Gaunt, another man spare with praise as any, lavished it on the conduct of the 22nd, and especially the Fusiliers, who rescued the Van Doos in the very last operation in the Crusade..."
"I can claim no credit, but I have forwarded many commendations for the individual units and guards personnel..."
"Michael, do you know how many of those were challenged by higher authority?"
"No, Lord, I do not."
"Not a single one, I even have letters from one of the surviving theatre commanders, Urienz. He calls into account some of the others, but not you, not Brad Lemmensholtz, nor Rajiv Templeton, and especially not anyone in the Van Doos Royal Canadic Regiment. He claims the 22nd was robbed of glory by Lugo, by Bulledin. At any rate, your file could hardly be more impressive in that campaign. Only one other Captain-Commissar earned a Triple-Skull, also in the 22nd."
"Carmine is also a dear friend, and her recovery is a miracle only the Emperor could have engineered."
"Did you really tell the Regent that?" Carmine's mien could only be qualified as bemused.
"Yes, the 22nd's chief medical officer said so in his reports, I just repeated what he said... It's amazing you made it."
"How important were the Van Doos to the success of all this?"
"Slightly more important than the Fusiliers, to be honest, Great Lord."
"Why is that?"
"There's more of them, when they're at full strength Lord. Five battalions to our four."
"Oh, that is a factor?"
"Of course Lord. And they are mechanised, where we are not."

Type

Religious, Military