NDC Cadres and Cadre Structure

In the New Dusk Conclave's culture, a Cadre is one of the largest-scale cultural and civil organizations. A cadre is, at its heart, a collection of citizens all working in the same broad set of fields. Cadres play a large role in Duskerian society, with a cadre's reputation or overall standing contributing in large part towards the treatment or status of an individual.

Cadres formed in the NDC during the initial years after the nation was founded. With very little leisure time, citizens found themselves and their immediate families gathered more often into the groups they worked in. These working groups soon became the basis of the cadres of the NDC, with laborers increasingly socializing exclusively with other laborers, scientists with other scientists, and so on. Soon, this social structure became stratified, and began to become a part of not just social life, but also play important roles in the functioning of the nation.

In NDC society, there are six Cadres. While no Cadre is officially more important than any other according to law, by and large, there is a reputation that goes along with each Cadre, and the most visible Cadres tend to get the most attention, resources, and clout.

The list of Cadres, in order of their societal standing, is such:

1. Warrior Cadre: The NDC was founded by soldiers, and soldiers defended it during times of strife. The warrior cadre is seen as the most honorable and respectable by most of the NDC's citizens. While all jobs are viewed as equal, Warriors tend to be viewed as more equal.
2. Scientist Cadre: The Scientist Cadre draws its roots from the research and development teams of the now-reformed Section 6. Scientists work in many fields but are widely respected for working to improve the technology of the NDC.
3. Administrator Cadre: While not as glamorous as Warriors or Scientists, the Administrator cadre is indispensable to the daily functioning of the NDC. From fleet resupply to mining efforts to civil construction and upkeep, the Administrator cadre organizes these efforts and ensures that little is wasted.
4. Merchant Cadre: Crucial to keeping the wheels of the NDC turning, the merchant cadre works hand in hand with the Administration cadre. From trade with the outside world to the moving of supplies to the operation of the nation's businesses, little happens in the NDC without the merchant cadre there to handle goods.
5. Technician Cadre: Essential to keeping the machines that allow the NDC to thrive and defend itself running, technicians are the oft-forgotten workers who keep the lights on and the vehicles running. Aside from performing maintenance on civil architecture and machinery, technicians often serve alongside the Warrior cadre, servicing their warships and vehicles.
6. Laborer Cadre: The workers of the laborer cadre are the unsung heroes of the NDC, doing often unpleasant and dirty work in order to support the NDC's civilization. While their work is invaluable and without it the nation would be undone, the laborer caste is often forgotten when the spectacle provided by Warriors and Scientists looms large. Typically manages or works alongside robots and low-level AIs, such as Machine Intelligences.

The NDC's cadres are not monolithic organizations. Just as the general citizenry is organized into cadres based on their overarching professional field, so too is every cadre organized into clans. Each clan within a cadre represents a specific job within that Cadre. A clan might be anything from “Farmhand” to “Baker” to “Aerospace Pilot” or “Starship Gunner.” While moving between cadres is extremely uncommon, movement between clans within a cadre is fairly common, coinciding with a change of job.

Not all cadres have the same number of clans. Due to the variety and specificity of military work, the Warrior cadre has the largest number of individual clans, numbering easily between 50 and 70. On the other hand, despite having a similar or greater number of individuals within it, the Laborer cadre has relatively few clans, due to heavy use of automation limiting the number of job types that need doing.

Finally, clans also have component organizations. Branches are the local portion of any clan that is present at a location. Often, a branch will exist for different stations, cities, and/or star systems. These branches are the components of a clan that interacts with the various communities of the NDC, and as such serve as the public face of a clan.

The Cadre Council is a monthly meeting in which all six of the cadres meet to discuss and resolve issues of funding, resources, and other matters. The council is conducted for 3 days out of the month, with representatives from each cadre attending, with 1 representative per component clan of every cadre attending.

The Cadre Council has several roles in the governance of the NDC. The first of these roles is to draft bills which, if approved, are sent to the nobility and council for approval and to be made into laws. The second is in drafting budget proposals which, if approved, are also sent to the nobility and council like bills are. Finally, it serves as a forum by which the cadres and their respective clans can discuss important issues.

For the first two days of each session, proposals for action, funding, bills, or other items are discussed in an open forum, and on the final day, they are voted upon. Any item that is approved by 2/3 of the council is then sent to the main governmental council for further consideration. While cadres normally vote as a single group, so as to maximize their voting power, it is not uncommon for representatives so inclined to vote against the rest of their cadre.

Synthetics, such as clones or AIs, are typically born into, and consider themselves part of, a 'cadre'. Non-Synthetics are able to join a Cadre when they're able to show sufficient skill proficiency by entering into an apprenticeship program.

Cadres are part family, part trade guild. It's common for people of the same cadre to refer to each other as brother, sister, or some other traditional family term based on age and closeness. Master and apprentice terms are also frequently used when referring to someone who has more or less practical job experience.

At the local level, this manifests itself as loose guilds and unions based around the work that needs to be done and typically led by whoever is considered the most skilled or oldest. On the faction level, there is no true unified leadership for any given cadre. The leadership of various guilds within a cadre may meet from time to time, as needs arise. In some cases, the local cadre members may collectively make a decision without the current leader/s, such as if they feel that leadership are no longer fit for the position.

Regardless of origin, most members of a Cadre proudly wear a patch on their uniforms denoting the Cadre they belong to. These patches originated as simple uniform markers in the NDC's cloning facilities and have since grown to represent entire trades.

Some species that are particularly well suited and inclined towards certain 'trades' have found themselves as honorary members of one or more Cadres. While not afforded the full status of being born directly into the Cadre, these species find it much easier to 'fit in' and gain acceptance.

A non-clone who has proven themselves to be exceptionally talented may be 'adopted' into a Cadre. Such an individual is treated as a full member of the cadre and receives a set of patches, with the right to request more.

Cadres follow a predominantly merit-based ranking system that takes into account seniority, proficiency of craft, and ability to help improve the skills of others within the Cadre. Each rank is expected to grow the skills of those below them and, as such, mastery of the lower levels of craft are considered prerequisites for a higher rank.

Most Cadres follow the following rank structure:

• Grandmaster - Absolute masters of their craft, as recognized by their entire Cadre. Wields immense authority inside and outside of their Cadre. No more than six Grandmasters are allowed per Cadre and each is expected to have a different focus within their craft.
• Master - True paragons of their craft, entrusted with growing the skills of dozens or hundreds of other Cadre members. While there is no hard cap on the amount of Masters a Cadre may have, they are still rare.
• Adept - Excellent craftspersons who are mastering one or more elements of their craft. Adepts also act like lieutenants for the Masters they train under, learning how to do the Master's craft by assuming portions of their responsibilities. While Adepts do not require oversight or review of their craft, they have proven themselves worthy of a Master's time and actively seek feedback so that they can become Masters themselves.
• Expert - A truly skilled craftsman who is proficient enough to operate independently. Their work is trusted and requires little to no oversight by others. Experts are trusted with challenging jobs, leadership roles, and developing those of lower rank. Experts are the second largest group within a Cadre, typically acting as leaders of small groups.
• Journeyman - The most 'junior' rank that is capable of operating with minimal oversight. Journeymen are allowed to travel and hone their craft, but are still relatively junior within the eyes of the Cadre itself. The rank of Journeyman can last for several years. Once a Journeyman has developed their skills to the point where they can reliably teach others all that they have learned, they are likely ready for the next rank. Journeymen make up the bulk of most Cadres.
• Apprentice - An individual who is still learning their craft such that they are not ready to perform the craft unsupervised. An engineer would have their designs reviewed by a Journeyman or higher, a soldier would be undergoing field training, and so forth. Apprentices benefit greatly by using this time to observe their higher-rank trainers in the field.
• Novice - An individual learning the absolute basics of their craft. Simple lessons such as how to use and hold a tool, Cadre social norms and expectations, and so on are typically the focus at this level. Varia tend to skip this rank, as they will have learned these lessons before leaving the cloning facility.

Moving up in rank is determined by an evaluation from one's peers and those of higher rank. There is little point attempting to game the system. While being well-liked is certainly considered, Contribution and quality of craft tend to be the most important determining factors.

Higher rank does not always mean more authority for a given group of Cadre members. This is especially true for those serving in the military or civilian structures such as a business. This can lead to some interesting predicaments, such as an individual having to assess their employer's craft.

It is possible for an individual to go down in rank if the majority of their peers think it appropriate.

While all cadre members have a 'same team' attitude, this doesn't stop them from comparing their work against their peers. This manifests itself most strongly between various local Cadres/Clans, who compare production numbers, kill counts, and other metrics as a matter of pride.

Cheating is extremely discouraged. As Cadres are not playing games, but doing work, padding numbers or taking shortcuts have very serious consequences for the overall effort.

At the regional level, rivalry among Cadres/Clans is discouraged. The one exception would be occasional competition meets, such as mock battles, repair drills, science fairs, and the like. These competitions are one of the few ways, outside of work, to earn (or lose!) significant Contribution.

In most cases, cadre membership is a lifelong matter. Cadre members are even allowed to remain in their cadre even after retirement or if they are too injured to work anymore. Even in cases of poor performance, other members of the Cadre will step up and do what they can to assist the struggling individual.

Only when all other options have been exhausted will the local Cadre's Clan leaders consider expulsion of an individual. The act of expelling a member is deeply shaming for the entire Cadre. It is proof that the Cadre was unable to perform part of their jobs adequately. This shame lowers the entire Cadre's social standing and tends to linger for quite a long time.

Reports of Cadre members at risk of expulsion having lethal accidents are substantially higher than those in normal standings; whether this is due to poor skills on the part of the deceased or foul play is uncertain.

Alex Hart created this article on 2020/05/11 20:40.

Approved by Syaoran on 11/5/2020