The stated mission of the 6th Division bothers me not so much because I doubt that it's a good idea or that the TSAB would be willing to try it, as because I don't think that it's a persuasive enough concept to explain even a fraction of the resources we've seen made available to it.
There seem, to me, to be three main possible explanations for this.
First, there's the thought that mage-rank is the driving factor behind the personal influence of individual officers within the TSAB and Midchildian society. I don't think that that's likely.
Second, there's a chance that the 6th Division's physical plant (danger room, delivery aircraft, etc.) actually is in line with what the TSAB provides to a relatively minor new office, and that the toys that the major players get to work with are just that impressive. In other words, like EPU's IPO and WDF, they're so well-funded that the resources allocated to Hayate are chump change.
Third, there's my personal pet theory. Which is that Hayate's reasons and the TSAB High Command's reasons are not at all the same. Sure, the unit's mandate is such that it'll spend most of its time doing things like investigating wierd happenings, running PR gigs, supporting disaster relief ops, and the like. But the TSAB has specialist outfits to do all of those things, and they could probably be more cost-effective within their field.
What they don't have are units whose green FNGs can fight at B-rank and whose senior personnel range from S up - who are commanded by the girl I have a very strong hunch is the most powerful mage alive.
The 6th Division draws its paychecks for the same reason that a strategic missile submarine or ballistic missile silo do. Everything else is about keeping its people sweet and sharp, Just In Case.
Incidentally, I'd bet that Hayate and the others know all this and don't care. It's not as though they'd be doing anything they wouldn't be anyway if things turn really bad, and in the meantime they get exactly what they want.
Ja, -n
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"I'm terribly sorry, but I have to kill you quite horribly now."
There seem, to me, to be three main possible explanations for this.
First, there's the thought that mage-rank is the driving factor behind the personal influence of individual officers within the TSAB and Midchildian society. I don't think that that's likely.
Second, there's a chance that the 6th Division's physical plant (danger room, delivery aircraft, etc.) actually is in line with what the TSAB provides to a relatively minor new office, and that the toys that the major players get to work with are just that impressive. In other words, like EPU's IPO and WDF, they're so well-funded that the resources allocated to Hayate are chump change.
Third, there's my personal pet theory. Which is that Hayate's reasons and the TSAB High Command's reasons are not at all the same. Sure, the unit's mandate is such that it'll spend most of its time doing things like investigating wierd happenings, running PR gigs, supporting disaster relief ops, and the like. But the TSAB has specialist outfits to do all of those things, and they could probably be more cost-effective within their field.
What they don't have are units whose green FNGs can fight at B-rank and whose senior personnel range from S up - who are commanded by the girl I have a very strong hunch is the most powerful mage alive.
The 6th Division draws its paychecks for the same reason that a strategic missile submarine or ballistic missile silo do. Everything else is about keeping its people sweet and sharp, Just In Case.
Incidentally, I'd bet that Hayate and the others know all this and don't care. It's not as though they'd be doing anything they wouldn't be anyway if things turn really bad, and in the meantime they get exactly what they want.
Ja, -n
===============================================
"I'm terribly sorry, but I have to kill you quite horribly now."