Vice Admiral

Vice admirals are most often promoted from Commodore to replace retired, removed, or incapacitated Admirals or vice admirals. Most often they were the commodore of the admiral or vice admiral being replaced, although this is not often the case.   Additionally, as the Sparnell Confederation's holdings grow, Sparnell Fleet Command or the Fleet Admiral may decide an additional vice admiral is required. In this case a promising commodore will be selected by Fleet Command. In these cases the new vice admiral begins with a much smaller fleet, often only one to three ships with minimal crew, and will be required to negotiate their way toward a larger one through cooperation with their fellow admirals, often with assistance from their original admiral or vice admiral.

Promotion to vice admiral allows an individual to lead up to two fleets, depending upon the strength and quantity of their ships and their personal strategies. Those with smaller fleets typically choose to combine all ships into a single fleet, serving as Ship Captain on their flagship while their Commodore takes the role of Executive Officer. One their fleet grows large enough they will typically split it in two, with their commodore commanding the primary attack fleet while the vice admiral leads the secondary defense fleet. In this way they can remain closer to Sparnell and its politics, increasing their chances of attaining the rank of Admiral.   Vice admirals are also the lowest rank permitted to Claim new recruits to join their fleets, including retaining the services of a TAG. A vice admiral is also permitted to retain a secondary TAG-in-training, although once this TAG's training is complete they will need to choose which TAG to retain. Surviving surplus TAGs are most often traded away to another admiral or vice admiral in an effort at diplomacy, or else retired through Soul Shatter if they have lost the trust of their admiral.

A vice admiral may be removed if they lose the support of the majority of Sparnell Fleet Command. While not as common as cutthroat Sparnelli politics would suggest, this has happened often enough to set precedents on when Fleet Command will begin to consider removal. Most common occurrences include:

• a vice admiral managing antagonizing the majority of Fleet Command, due to open handed attacks against others or other inept politicking,
• a vice admiral's Family losing favor due to the unforgivable actions of one or several Family members, particularly if Fleet Command feels no suitable sanctions have been imposed upon the Family members in question, and
• treasonous behavior, from either the vice admiral or their Family.

The Fleet Admiral can also remove a vice admiral from their role at any time for any reason, although this power is rarely exercised due to the political implications.   If the vice admiral's Commodore is not implicated in the reasons for dismissal, they will be promoted to vice admiral and take command of the fleet. In cases where the commodore is also implicated, they will also be removed from command and a commodore of Fleet Command's choosing will instead be promoted and awarded the fleet. Similar measures are taken in the case of a vice admiral's retirement or incapacitation.