TNE Only: What if there was no Virus
- Thread starter Chuck Anumia
- Start date
But the Praetorian Guard (in collusion with members of the Imperial Senate) were the ones who assassinated Caligula and raised his uncle Claudius to the Principiate in his stead.
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Yes, but they took two years to do it. And if Robert Graves is right (not necessarily the case, I know), it was because Caligula made the mistake of humiliating the commander of the Guard. If Lucan treats his guards well there's no telling how long they'll let him get away with what.
Hans
Basically, never undermine your leaders unless you have replacements in the wings.
Putting Lucas Down
I would like to see his guards put Lucan down BEFORE he released "Virus".
Keep in mind, though, it wasn't Lucan, technically, who released Virus. Dulinor's forces hit Imperial Research Station Omicron (in Lucan's territory) where Virus was being developed, and accidentally released an unstable prototype version of Virus that infected Dulinor's ships. They carried it wherever they went.
The "developed" version of Virus, had the research proceeded, would supposedly have been much more "controlled".
I wonder about that and how it was "Supposed" to work?
Maybe. Maybe not. An imperium of a thousand years is falling apart before their eyes. The emperor is shooting people in his throne room. That's really the turning point to me. Up until that point, it's politics and rumor and maybe he's a bad emperor but he's the one we have, and to oppose him is treason. However, at the point where he's shooting people in the throne room, I as a member of the court begin wondering if I haven't tied my star to a madman. And, we're not just dealing with swords and axes - while there's fantastic technology to protect him, there's equally fantastic technology to remove him, and there's precedent for it. In fact ...
http://www.travellerrpg.com/CotI/Discuss/showthread.php?p=480215#post480215
<shrug> Bodyguards are not trained to judge their principal. They're trained to protect him. Sure, a bodyguard might develop qualms, but I don't think it's anywhere near a given that he will or that any qualms he might develop would make him act on them.
Hans
epicenter00
SOC-13
Something to remember is that the Imperium is based around the idea of feudalism, not nationalism. People owe their loyalty to another person, not "the state." You owe fealty to the Emperor, not to the Third Imperium. Lucan may be a freak, but by the time you're being vetted to join the Imperial Household Cavalry, you're marked as being very loyal. I suspect it's more like the famous case of the "frog in the slowly boiling pot of water" - Lucan wasn't a great guy one day, then shooting people in the Throne Room the next. His guards and so on probably were used to overlooking Lucan's legendary rages by then, and as the fortunes of the war became worse, the more they had to overlook. Looking at it from the outside, that seems ridiculous, but if you look at any number of historical examples people can get used to all kinds of things.
In addition, unlike Rome when it started to get bad, the Imperium isn't recruiting the its guards from Aslan, Vargr, or Solomani (or other non-Imperials). So I would imagine they're not quite as mercenary mindset.
In general, I agree. Loyalty is to the noble rank. However, The Aslan did serve in the Imperium Guard. There is no reason to assume Vargr did not. Afterall, Antares has Vargr, As do many coreward sectors.
IIRC there was an Aslan Regiment in the Guards, while there was no Vargr regiment that I can recall...
Only the best are chosen for the British honor guard to the Queen. In the movies "The Bodyguard" and "Man of Fire" we see highly trained specialists chosen for private bodyguards, which is not unrealistic.
I'd suggest, we really don't understand the training of the Emperor's Finest.
The various Domains are represented in the Imperium Guard. Antares would be one of the domains. It is an assumption to exclude Vargrs. Vargr's have bowed to Humaniti leaders in the canon.
I don't say they're excluded, just that they don't have their own regiment as Aslan do. I envision some of them serving on the coreward sectors regiments, even forming some whole subunits (to lessen the equipment standarization problems that interracial units have).
I recall one being mentioned, but the reference doesn't come immediately to mind.
epicenter00
SOC-13
Yeah, but I don't think they're extra-Imperial members who are mercenaries, like during Rome's later days.
People owe their loyalty to the Emperor and to the Imperium, which is assumed to be one and the same. The Imperium has some pseudo-feudal trappings, but it's not really a feudal structure. Subordinate nobles report to superior nobles, but they are not appointed by those superiors and do not swear loyalty to them. They swear loyalty to the Emperor and owe loyalty to superiors as representatives of the Emperor, not as feudal overlords. They don't risk losing their titles and holdings if they go against their superiors (unless they simultaneous oppose the Emperor), and if they obey a treasonous order from their 'overlord', they won't be able to hide behind "I was just following orders".
There's very little feudalism in how the Imperium actually works.
Hans
