so Aura became a Merc? quite a step down...most Merc companies dont exactly have the capital necessary for up to date equipment unless they r very good and get government endorsement, and even then, they tend not to maintain their equipment tot he same standard as professional soldiers.
Blueblood hiring mercs, and has been at least spreading rumors about replacing the Guard with them? NOT good. Doubly so if he's hiring the likes of Aura.
Still feel bad for Aura. Diamond Tiara basically made her life living hell, and ever since she's been capable of getting some payback she's just been the idiot-ball antagonist for this series.
6563160 It depends on the period and the economy. Equestria is so schizotech and vague on military matters that any given writer can drop it into any given American/European period, although I don't think I've seen anyone do American Civil War or Napoleonic/post-Westphalean. But we have seen (This Platinum Crown) Renaissance settings where mercenaries were the primary source of military engineers and artillerymen, both being *exceedingly* capital-intensive aspects of their milieu. On the other end of the spectrum you have Equestria’s Changeling Queen and the Abyssal Empress, where we're clearly in the equivalent of late Victorian/Edwardian period complete with dreadnaughts and large tax-and-trade-fueled professional navies, and mercenaries are only a factor among pirates and criminals. Given the deliberate modern aspects of the military culture in this particular fic, I'd wager that we're looking at the current contemporary situation, where various factors have been driving western militaries towards professionalization in general and mercenary group reformation in particular in the American context. Especially SS's point about the parasitization of the PMCs on government-operated training programs.
Blueblood. Also, the return of Aura, as insufferable as ever.
so Aura became a Merc? quite a step down...most Merc companies dont exactly have the capital necessary for up to date equipment unless they r very good and get government endorsement, and even then, they tend not to maintain their equipment tot he same standard as professional soldiers.
Nice chapter, but there's a minor thing you may want to edit.
That should be "as".
Blueblood hiring mercs, and has been at least spreading rumors about replacing the Guard with them? NOT good. Doubly so if he's hiring the likes of Aura.
Still feel bad for Aura. Diamond Tiara basically made her life living hell, and ever since she's been capable of getting some payback she's just been the idiot-ball antagonist for this series.
6563160 It depends on the period and the economy. Equestria is so schizotech and vague on military matters that any given writer can drop it into any given American/European period, although I don't think I've seen anyone do American Civil War or Napoleonic/post-Westphalean. But we have seen (This Platinum Crown) Renaissance settings where mercenaries were the primary source of military engineers and artillerymen, both being *exceedingly* capital-intensive aspects of their milieu. On the other end of the spectrum you have Equestria’s Changeling Queen and the Abyssal Empress, where we're clearly in the equivalent of late Victorian/Edwardian period complete with dreadnaughts and large tax-and-trade-fueled professional navies, and mercenaries are only a factor among pirates and criminals. Given the deliberate modern aspects of the military culture in this particular fic, I'd wager that we're looking at the current contemporary situation, where various factors have been driving western militaries towards professionalization in general and mercenary group reformation in particular in the American context. Especially SS's point about the parasitization of the PMCs on government-operated training programs.