- last post: 01.01.0001 12:00 AM PDT
I realize the scene where General Strauss strikes Ackerson might seem more, shall I say "fanservice-like", but there was more to it than that.
If you recall pgs. 98-106 of 'First Strike', where Lieutenant Wagner returns to Earth, and speaks with General Strauss, Colonel Ackerson, and Admiral Hood about the glassing of Reach, than the scene gains more credibility.
Throughout the entire scene in the books, there is a fair amount of tension between General Strauss and Colonel Ackerson. Admiral Hood is more in the backround, but I figure he's not too crazy about Ackerson either. You'll recall that Colonel Ackerson does seem to carry some form of authority, as he shuts General Strauss off mid-sentence with nothing but a glare. I'd imagine the Colonel is quite high-ranking within ONI and Section III, despite the fact of his military assimilated grade of a mere full bird Colonel.
While I'm not saying General Strauss's physical response to Ackerson's cowardice and idiotic actions was more a enacting of a personal vendetta, Strauss obviously felt he was justified in striking him. Whereas the General's anger may not have been present previously, obviously the situation before him must have caused him some duress. By all rights the only reason they know of how the Flood found Earth was because of him sending the Frigate with some of his S-III's to the ruins of Delta Halo. Granted the Flood already learned of Earth's location when Gravemind was inside of Honor Without Mercy, which the Arbiter informed the Master Chief of.
Also, I realize there was some question over Admiral Hood responding "Aye aye sir" to General Strauss's order to eliminate Ackerson's frigate.
Terrence Hood holds the Naval rank of Fleet Admiral, which nowadays means he is the highest ranking officer in the entire navy. Certainly this more than likely wouldn't be very different in the time when Halo takes place.
As for General Strauss, since the books never specifically identify exactly which facet of the military he's involved with, I'm imagining it to be Commandant of the Marines, whose role nowadays is typically filled with a two-star General. The Marines are one of America's most useful military facets these days, just below the Air Force and Special Forces. We've seen however, that in the Halo universe, the Marines play THE most vital role of mankind's armed forces.
While it is considered common these days for people to assume that the Marines are just another compartment of the Navy, they are indeed their own separate military organization. They have their own Air Force, and while they may often need to hitch a ride with the Navy sometimes, the Navy has oftentimes in the past shown its reluctance to be associated with the Marines (Guadalcanal 1942 anyone?).
As such, the Marines I believe in the Halo universe, have become integrated with the Navy, so much so that the two are near indistinguishable. This explains why Admiral Hood replied to General Strauss's order with an "Aye aye sir" a term typically used mainly in the Marines.
The Commandant of the Marines, and Fleet Admiral of the Navy are more than likely equal positions. General Strauss I'd imagine is a 4-star General, which is the highest ranking a soldier in the army can receive (unless we're talking about General MacArthur). I'm assuming this because when he is first introduced, it is typical in novels to state the full rank before simply dropping the title down to the normally accepted rank. Since I didn't see a Brigadier, Lieutenant, or Major-General title appended to Strauss's name, I assumed his 4-star rank, and gave him the title that comes with it.
Since General Strauss and Admiral Hood are on equal footing, it still may not seem likely that the Admiral would respond with an "Aye aye sir" to a direct order. Because of this we should do a little breakdown of the situation.
Repairs are being done on the MAC guns and the Orbital Defence Grid continuously, and I doubt the Admiral is getting much sleep, as he oversee's the repairs. They have to be on a near-constant alert because no one knows exactly when the Covenant are going to return, with a much larger force than before.
With all of this on his plate, Admiral Hood has got to be pretty stressed, and now add to that the arrival of an unidentified frigate, and when he goes to ask for advice, everyone keeps mentioning that there's Flood aboard. Admiral Hood more than likely wasn't able to get a full debriefing about the whole situation on Alpha Halo before, but he definately learned about what occurred on Delta Halo. He knows what the Flood are, and what they are capable of. A frigate loaded to the gills with the little bastards is enough to set anyone's mind off on a wild tangent of different scenarios.
As a soldier for the majority of his life, Admiral Hood has more than likely been subordinate to many different people, and has had his fair share of encounters with higher ranking officers. So he knows when you get an order from an officer, you respond with a 'yes sir' or in regards to the Marines, an 'aye aye sir'.
Lifetime soldiers are notorious for always needing to know exactly who's in charge of a situation, and Admiral Hood is no different. He's in control of the Navy, but he went to General Struass and the other members of ONI and Section III for advice on what exactly he should do in that situation. Left on his own he more than likely would have simply sent out a squadron of Longsword fighters to dispatch the frigate anyways.
When he first contacted General Strauss, he would have assumed that both the General and Colonel Ackerson were in charge there. With Ackerson's own admittal that he is responsible for the chance that the Flood are on board the Frigate, he is lowered down a peg in Admiral Hood's eyes. When Strauss struck Ackerson and ordered his arrest, that put the nail in the coffin; Ackerson was discredited and Strauss became the sole officer in charge.
General Strauss issued a direct order to Admiral Hood, and because of the direness of the situation, he responded with the Pavlovian response all soldiers/sailors/marines pertain to. Admiral Hood was given an order from the officer in charge, and as such he replied with an "Aye aye sir."
....there, I think that about covers the problems anyones had so far with the chapter.
If you were ever wondering why it takes me so long sometimes to create chapters, than this is why. I have to consider every damn sentence with as much disgusting forethought as I just wrote out up there.
Edit
Also, for those sticking around, later tonight I will more than likely post another long list of questions and musings about this story, so check back later and you should hear from me again.
[Edited on 5/12/2005]