Conquer Club

who or what decides on going 1st. now i thought it was the 1 with the lowest rank, but obviously not. i set up a 3 player game. (does not matter which map) i am a private and i am playing 2 sargents, but i am last to go.
WHY

i think it is random who goes first,

but i am not sure about it.

It is random.

When you play in real life, you throw dice. Highest scoring player goes first, play continues to the left. Why should it be any different online?