A young woman clears her throat and the amusement ceases.

“I am Commodore Domelch de Búrca. A rather empty title for now and, before I can properly take up my role, I am to build the Marwolv monitor fleet and command it. I will be the person to keep our skies clear and our heads safe from all threats that creep from the void. I will be working closely with Prefect Moggach and Logis Caird in my endeavours. ”

Commodore Dolmelch is a good looking woman with rare black, shoulder length hair and purple eyes. I suspect her ancestors came from either retired or defected ratings of previous vessels that visited Marwolv. She is rather short, at one metre fifty-eight, though I doubt she will remain like that for long as she is a cybernetics specialist and we’ve spent a lot of time discussing expanding the compulsory upgrades among all personnel with some input from Brigid.

“Thank you, Commodore Dolmelch. I am Prefect Luan Moggach, administrator of Goibhniu Yards, a Mandeville point void station, shipyard, and navy fortress for the Marwolv system. While these roles are essential, my most important duty will be to construct and secure the astropathic relay on Goibhniu Yards. It is through this marvellous technology and the hard work of Prime Sop’s Psy-Errants and psychic servitors that we will remain in contact with Magos Issengrund.”

Prefect Luan has two standout features. The first is her straight, blonde, waist length hair. The second is the red sash she wears under her breasts. It tightens up her body line more than the loose outfit normally allows, swapping out the martial style of her light green robes with a sharper, professional look, all without detaching her from the theme of the other civilian uniforms all while slightly disguising her remarkable chest.

The cumulative effect gives the impression she should be admired and taken seriously and I can’t help but be impressed by the way she is presenting herself. I expect a lot of her staff will emulate her and by the time I come back there will be some obscure hierarchy based on sash colours, gold stars, or something equally silly.

“It is a pleasure to meet you all in person. I am Commander Dougal MacCrane. My current role is to command the Stellar Corps on Marwolv. I am based at Dimpsy Fortress. My role will be expanding to all Stellar Corps forces throughout the whole system. I will be responsible for the heralds within Commodore de Búrca monitor fleet and remote bases as well as Goibhniu Yards.”

The two final individuals glance at each other. One is a man wearing a Mars red, civilian cut uniform and the rightmost individual is a woman in a Distant Sun officers uniform.

The woman says, “Mind if we swap and I go next?”

“Sure, go ahead.”

“Great! I am Logis Ronnat Caird. I am responsible for logistics within our system. My primary role is to facilitate the transfer of raw and manufactured resources between Goibhniu Yards and Marwolv, as well as the collection of comets and asteroids for processing. Should any civilian companies make it to space, I’ll also be responsible for their movements within the system and issuing their licences, like mining rights, for example. I’ll be based at Goibhniu Yards most of the time.”

There is a short pause and we all look to the final individual.

“I am Rune Priest Uurad Selkirk. I will be leading the Machine Cult in Magos Issengrund’s absence. It is my duty and pleasure to secure, through appropriate rituals, all machines and their spirits against mundane and arcane degradation as well as lead services on behalf of the Omnissiah for the glory of the Machine God. It is similar work to my counterpart, Arch-Deacon Buadhaigh, only my concern is the spirit of the tools we use, rather than the souls of those who use them. My main roles will be teaching and administration, ensuring everyone has access to the facilities, knowledge, and materials they require to perform the necessary rituals that keep the Great Enemy at bay.”

“Thank you everyone, for your introductions,” I say. “I doubt you will all meet face to face that often, but I wanted to make sure you all knew each other by sight. Long distance vox and noosphere communications are somewhat impersonal and it is easy to dismiss letters when you do not have a face or personality to match them to. I don’t want that to happen for my most trusted and essential personnel and, when I am gone, I do hope you continue to meet personally once a year.

“Now, while you all know why we are meeting, I am sure you are still wondering about why I chose a building site. It is noisy, there are no seats or refreshments, and it isn’t secure enough to have a secure discussion. I will not be able to direct you easily while I am away; a different approach is required. We are here at the agri-spire site so you can see, smell, and hear the scale that the Imperium works at and to witness the philosophy at work that I use in all my projects from simple work shift schedules to the mightiest of fortresses.

“People will live, work, and die within this spire. Some may never set foot upon the soil of their homeworld, plugged into grand machines, their whole lives an exercise to toil, dedication, and duty. Others will dance upon the luminescent grass and know nothing but the scent of spring grass and evening rain. Whatever path our citizens choose, I wish them to be content and productive.

“Our people must have meaningful labour and also, to use an ancient metaphor: bread and circuses. Food and entertainment. Consider this a primary guiding principle. Your jobs are not to oppress the people and extract every drop of blood and bone from tired flesh, but to educate, protect and encourage all who strive for a better themselves within the light of the Emperor and the scope of our laws.

“For those who fall behind or make mistakes, give them the help they need, give them a second chance. Do not give a third. Discipline is vital. As for those who shun our kindness, softness is not required. To borrow a favourite quote of mine. Your job is to walk softly and carry a big stick. This is your second guiding principle.”

If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

Erin laughs, “I think I’ll put that on the entrance to the fortress precinct, Magos.”

“No doubt that will lead to a perversion of the original spirit of the saying, but go ahead, Erin. That would be amusing. Are there any questions so far about how I wish everyone to approach their work?”

Everyone shakes their heads.

“No, Magos,” says Callen. “You were quite clear.”

“Excellent. Now you know how I wish for you to conduct yourselves, the third principle I wish you to adopt is how you go about projects, and the agri-spire is a perfect example. It has high defences, it will be self-sustaining and have a positive output when given an input. It will not, or rather, had better not, affect the biosphere: the spire is self-contained. The spire also follows the STC colony redundancy principles in its design as well as my personal addition of warp entity protection.

“I believe in doing something once, doing it right, and preparing in advance for all contingencies. Do not scrimp and save on costs to save one budget, just to wreck all the following ones with debilitating maintenance costs. I do not mind if projects take time to do right. That is no excuse to dally or chase that final one percent of performance for double the price. Be smart about it.

“If you are unsure about what, discuss options with your peers, run simulations, and delegate to experts. The whole system is highly interconnected so you all need to have a good idea of what each metaphorical mechadendrite is doing. It will be Aileen’s job to coordinate between the nine of you, but don’t wait for him to ask, volunteer information to each other and only each other. Information security is essential.

“It may be peaceful now, but there is no peace among the stars. We are at war. We are always at war and everything you do should keep that in mind. Every home, every mind, every soul must be a fortress. Fuck this up at your peril. Hold endless random inspections and audits with independent groups to keep projects on time, on budget, and properly executed.

“The enemy will do far worse than I if you mess up badly before I get back. To summarise: plan, prepare, communicate. Questions?”

Logis Ronnat Caird raises a mechadendrite.

“Yes, Ronnat?”

“How do you want us to arbitrate disputes between us or replace members of this small council?”

“Like the governor position on Marwolv, the term length is twenty years. Unlike the governor and his peers, who work on rotation from the elected minister of Marwolv’s primary polities, and later the spires, you are all working directly for me and can choose how many terms you wish to labour. I expect you to train your replacements, though they may not be related to you. This is not a hereditary position.

“Create a pool of replacements who have worked directly with at least three members of the small council. When a member is ready to retire, they may nominate a replacement from this pool. It will require a majority vote. Abstaining is not permitted.

“Keep at least thirty-six people in the replacement pool at all times. Each of you will be able to fill four positions, who, once they are in the pool, will stop working for the person who placed them there and be assigned to assist a different member of the council. I will maintain veto rights, though if you mess up badly enough that I have to use them, I will replace all of you, including the replacement pool, regardless of who is at fault.

“With regards to disputes, use a majority vote to decide. I will arbitrate if required, though it will be better if you can do so yourself as I will have a limited understanding of what is going on. Any further queries?”

Callen raises his hand.

“Yes, Governor?” I say.

“How will we be handling taxes and private enterprise?”

“I will maintain my monopoly on energy and within the spires that will also include other utilities like water and air. Everyone will receive the same universal stipend, regardless of status, the same as aboard Distant Sun and my other vessels. They will also receive an allotment of these basic resources equal to the value of the stipend, so long as they have not been demoted to a class two citizen while they are completing a criminal sentence. Again, this is the same as the fleet. Medical care and education will be paid for by me, though there will be an opportunity for private enterprise to sell me the required resources. Free medical care will not include augmentation unless there is a medical reason to do so.”

“Any use of resources, including living space, above that allotment will have to be paid for, so those who wish to run a private enterprise must acquire their energy, water, and air from me. This will function as tax which will be used to maintain services, security, and continue my investments in Marwolv.

“To facilitate this monopoly, I will also maintain ownership of all fuel collection vessels, advanced cogitators, and material synthesis technology. All civilian technologies may be licenced at low cost, which will become a second source of income. Manufacture of military hardware will not be outsourced.

“Wildlife is quite dangerous on Marwolv so private citizens may purchase moderate arms with the correct licence, another source of income for the state. Private weapons will always be genelocked and will have to be returned to my armouries after the death of the licensee. Protective equipment will not be so strictly managed.

“The final source of wealth will be leases. Those who wish for accommodation beyond the minimum provided by the state may lease larger spaces on the spire. Leases will come in increments of twenty years for a maximum of one hundred years. It will provide some stability to counter the ephemeral nature of our energy based currency.”

Callen frowns, “That is quite restrictive, Magos. It is the creation of wealth and the chance to pass one’s labours to their descendants that encourages people to work hard. With those measures you will have total control over all costs and that will stifle growth.”

“You are correct, Callen,” I nod. “The reason behind it is security. Millions of people can die within hours in a controlled biosphere like the agri-spire if there is a catastrophic failure of services. I do not need to create energy or water for profit and, as such, can afford to spend the required bytes on security and redundancy where a private enterprise will cut anything for profit and only meet regulatory minimums.

“Private enterprise requires minimal regulation to thrive and that is not acceptable for the industries I will maintain my control over. Unless you wish to perish, choking on your own hot air, you will have to find a way to sell this monopoly to the citizens. It is literally your job to do so.”

“Thank you for the explanation, Magos,” Callen winces.

“That’s what this meeting is for.”

“Magos,” says Domelch, “I would like to speak a little of the compulsory benefits you and I have devised for members of the small council.”

“That sounds like a fine idea, Domelch. I have rather talked all your ears off. Go ahead please.”