Aaron Carnick
| Full name | First Commander Lord Aaron Carnick |
|---|---|
| Pronouns | he/him |
| Species | Human |
| Origin | Lukyr Prime |
| Affiliation | Royal Brigade · LPRMP — jurisdiction over the Lukyr Prime Royal Military Police |
| Role / occupation | First Commander |
First Commander Aaron Carnick is the senior-most officer of the Royal Brigade on Lukyr Prime, with authority over the LPRMP and the power to invoke emergency protocols unilaterally. He is a central government figure during the Zet crisis — approving the investigation, declaring a planet-wide emergency, recruiting Lucas Taldo for Project Chimera, and ultimately conspiring with Kaiser to remove Qyvin Warpine from power after the Emperor's conduct becomes impossible to defend.
Physical Appearance
No physical description established.
Personality
Carnick presents a formal, composed front in public and professional contexts, but the later chapters reveal a more complex inner life. He takes personal responsibility when things go wrong — even when the fault is shared — and does not deflect blame to subordinates. He shows genuine care for the people under his command and for individuals like Lucas Taldo whose wellbeing he has no obligation to consider. His leadership style is pragmatic: he delegates operational control to field agents while supplying resources, negotiates with subordinates over implementation, and prefers legal and diplomatic remedies over violence.
Beneath the institutional calm, Carnick holds increasingly heterodox views about the government he serves. By the middle of the crisis he openly acknowledges that the population's discontent may be legitimate, that systemic change is overdue, and that he regrets not seeing this sooner. He is genuinely ambivalent about Zet — he opposes its methods but finds its stated values and public actions difficult to dismiss. This ambivalence does not translate into inaction; Carnick continues to pursue the government's counter-Zet strategy while privately doubting its justice. Whether this ambivalence represents a principled evolution or political exhaustion is not resolved.
His relationship with Ribo Mire is warmer than a professional one — Ribo's father was a close academy friend — and this affection subtly shapes his willingness to negotiate with Ribo over matters such as Lucas's involvement in Project Chimera. By Chapter 28 the philosophical gap between them has grown enough to cause Ribo discomfort.
Background
Carnick was an academy peer of Captain Mire, Ribo Mire's father. Their friendship included vigorous philosophical debates — including arguments about whether people in power are more intelligent than those outside it — and Carnick hosted extravagant birthday parties that the young Ribo attended. The two men last saw each other at Captain Mire's funeral, roughly ten years before the story's events.
How Carnick rose to First Commander and how long he has served in that role are not established. His connection to Kaiser predates the story and its duration is unknown.
Relationships
- Ribo Mire — son of Carnick's academy friend; professional subordinate and informal ally throughout the crisis. Carnick negotiates with him over Lucas's involvement in Project Chimera and discusses philosophy with him on the palace balcony. By Chapter 28, Ribo finds communication with Carnick increasingly difficult.
- Lucas Taldo — civilian programmer recruited for Project Chimera despite his role in creating the crisis. Carnick treats him with genuine concern, takes personal blame for the lie that surfaces in the throne room, and ultimately tells Lucas never to appear before Qyvin again.
- Kaiser — shadow government operator whom Carnick knows as "Frederick Korough." Carnick addresses him as a close friend and uses first names; Kaiser internally finds this presumption grating but tolerates it. Their communication predates the story; by Chapter 37 they are jointly planning measures to contain Qyvin, and by Chapter 38 they co-author a legal appeal to unseat him.
- Qyvin Warpine — the Emperor, to whom Carnick reports and advises. Carnick has direct palace access and is present at major decisions, but by Chapter 37 considers Qyvin "no longer trusted" after the Paulo execution, and by Chapter 38 is actively working to remove him.
- Anne Cyra — LPRMP field agent operating under his jurisdiction; a capable subordinate whose work Carnick enables but does not micromanage.
Story Arc
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Chapter 9 — Emergency Declaration: Carnick's office receives a delayed escalation request for the Zet case from Ribo Mire and Anne Cyra — delayed because a subordinate dismissed it without forwarding it. Once informed by a colleague, Carnick grants the request, apologizes for the lost time, authorizes Emergency Protocol I-856, and issues a planet-wide public service announcement mandating network monitoring and device inspections. The announcement is legally grounded in the Independence Act of 7631 and is immediately controversial: critics call the emergency powers a rights violation and note that the administration was already unpopular before the crisis.
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Chapter 10 — Office Visit: Carnick schedules an in-person meeting at the LPRMP office with Ribo, Anne, and Lucas Taldo. Ribo, who knew Carnick in childhood, is visibly anxious in preparation — rearranging the office obsessively — while Anne finds the role reversal amusing. The visit marks the transition from remote authorization to direct engagement.
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Chapter 17 — Project Chimera Recruitment: Carnick personally greets Lucas at the palace entrance after summoning him ahead of schedule. He leads Lucas through the main palace into a quieter section and reveals that the Emperor has expedited a secret project — Project Chimera — and wants Lucas on the team. Lucas has an immediate and severe panic attack; Carnick responds with genuine concern, calls for a nurse, and uses the time to speak with Ribo, who has arrived from the Records Agency. The two have a disagreement about the degree of Lucas's involvement; Carnick resolves it before Lucas recovers. When Lucas regains composure and asks to proceed, Carnick expresses surprise but accepts. He also clarifies that he did not order Ribo's Records Agency investigation, suggesting the command came from elsewhere in the Brigade.
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Chapter 20 — Throne Room Audience: Carnick invokes his emergency powers as First Commander to interrupt an ongoing throne room session, bringing Lucas to brief Qyvin Warpine on Evitr's departure and Project Chimera's status. He warns Lucas beforehand about Qyvin's social expectations and manipulability. When Qyvin confronts Lucas over a contradiction between his earlier sworn statement and his current role, all three men are expelled. In the hallway, Carnick takes explicit personal blame for failing to catch the discrepancy, judges Lucas's original lie as understandable, and believes he can recover his standing with Qyvin. He advises Lucas to avoid Qyvin going forward.
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Chapter 25 — Imperial General Assembly: Following the release of Zet's Manifesto, Carnick convenes an emergency assembly with Qyvin, all four Royal Commanders, and 43 ministers. He frames the manifesto as slander and demands each ministry develop AI countermeasure plans by end of day. He faces direct criticism of his competence from multiple ministers, deflects with vague promises that the Brigade's work will speak for itself, and dismisses the corruption evidence as either already known or fabricated. When an Ecology Minister attempts to raise the shooting death of Minister Ulira, Carnick immediately cuts off debate, checks something on his tablet with a visibly shaken reaction, and dissolves the assembly on grounds of an unproductive atmosphere. The meeting ends in fear and distrust, with ministers unwilling to cooperate.
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Chapter 28 — Philosophical Conversation: On the palace balcony, Carnick discusses Zet's increasing public boldness with Ribo. He reflects on old debates with Ribo's father about whether those in power are more intelligent, then makes a series of surprising admissions: that the population's discontent may be valid, that the government's failings are systemic rather than personnel-specific, and that replacing individual officials has not produced change in a thousand years. He acknowledges that Zet seized a genuine opportunity and that, on the day in question, it has done more visible good than the government. He closes by telling Ribo that the public network is about to be switched back on — significant operationally — and returns inside. Ribo is left unsettled by the exchange and troubled by the growing communication gap between them.
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Chapter 32 — Rylt-Warpine Proposal: Caleb Rylt-Warpine sends Carnick a formal letter invoking the Transparency Clause of the Cooperation Act, proposing the government explore cooperation with Zet. The clause legally requires a written response. Carnick discusses the letter with Ribo and reads the move as political maneuvering — Rylt-Warpine increasing his palace influence while maintaining deniability. Whether or not the proposal reflects genuine conviction, it is the first time any minister has placed a formal cooperation case on official record, forcing Carnick to justify his confrontation strategy in writing.
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Chapter 37 — Paulo's Execution: Carnick witnesses Qyvin interrogate Paulo Duwirth-Warpine — whom Ribo immediately identifies as a fall guy — and sentence him to death. When the Royal Knights refuse to execute the order without invocation of the King's authority, Carnick intervenes to explain the legal requirement. Qyvin bypasses it entirely by personally shooting Paulo. Carnick vanishes from the throne room by a route Ribo cannot account for. Shortly after, he sends a private message to Kaiser, identifying Qyvin as unreliable and proposing that they discuss preliminary measures to ensure continued order. The message is signed as between friends.
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Chapter 38 — Conspiracy and War: Carnick meets Kaiser in his palace office to plan options for stopping Qyvin. He has been assembling lawyers and judges but lacks time. Assassination has crossed his mind, but he fears that young Pyvus would inherit and the Great Houses would take out their anger on him. He surprises Kaiser by expressing genuine ambivalence about Zet — acknowledging the government's failure to rule properly and finding Zet's stated values difficult to dismiss. Kaiser pushes back and Carnick retreats. Their conversation is interrupted by 122 Elder Star–class combat vessels from nearly all Great Houses surrounding the palace. In the throne room, Carnick argues against war with the Houses, but Qyvin cannot be reasoned with. When Kaiser provokes Qyvin and Qyvin uses Sylvian powers to immobilize him, Carnick moves to intervene — but the Houses open fire before he can act. Amid the evacuation, Carnick and Kaiser co-author a legal appeal to the Royal Courts seeking to unseat Qyvin on the grounds that his public statements about Rovin Warpine and Toven create a logical paradox that renders him unfit for rule. Both men sign the appeal; it is later forwarded to Zet by an anonymous courts employee.
Open Questions
- What specifically is Project Chimera, and what was the extent of the disagreement with Ribo about Lucas's role in it?
- What data on his tablet shook Carnick during the General Assembly?
- Is Carnick aware of Kaiser's broader operations — the Records Agency explosion, the torture-killing of Jace Windes?
- Does Carnick know Kaiser by any identity other than "Frederick Korough"?
- How long has Carnick been communicating with Kaiser, and under what circumstances did the relationship begin?
- Is Carnick's expressed ambivalence about Zet a principled shift or a form of political hedging?
- Will the legal appeal to unseat Qyvin succeed?
- Will Carnick side with Zet if the government continues to fracture?