Standing up again, Bastion took a wine glass and hit it gently with a spoon to draw the attention of the nobles who were busy discussing and chatting away their time or engaging in some other merriment.
"Today has been a success, from henceforth, today shall mark the day we achieved victory over chaos and its forces. It may be a minor one but it shall be the first of many" Bastion announced as applause filled the room.
"Thank you, however, for our victory to continue, I will ask that everyone cooperates with me so that we can save our great land from the hands of the enemies no matter who they be!!" Bastion shouted as he raised the glass in his hand and immediately all around the palace he could hear screams
It sounded cringey to him even as he said it but sometimes cringey sentences like these were what was needed to bring the people together and from the reaction of the nobles in the hall he could tell that it worked just fine.
"Marshal?" Bastion called out as Draven stood up, Immediately he beaconed the man to stand by his side
"However i am sorry to leave you on this day on such a note, however, from this day hence forth. all men and women above the age of 18 shall report to the local barracks around them for not only registration but training… the invasion saw many casualties even with our quick response so even as we pray that the souls f our heroes rest in peace, we must also prepare ourself in order not to fall victim again" Bastion announced
There wasn't much to this announcement, it was something that he would officialize in future address to the people but for now, it was best to inform them as the iron was still hot. The totality of Mordaxian armed forces barely reached 50 billion but the planet needed more.
With his announcement came several murmurs from the crowd of nobles but that much didn't disturb him. They could whisper as much as they liked but they could never go against it. He had stayed for the event long enough so it was time to leave. After making the announcement, Bastion made a toast before leaving the room.
The festival continued nearly throughout the entire day but for Bastion, this was just the beginning of his work.
"So how many people are there?" he asked as he set down his coat over his chair and sat down.
Standing before him was Dresk, she was appointed as the head of the new Inquisition, it wasn't official as of yet though.
"We counted a total of 300 trillion people across the hives, however adult population numbered at 260 trillion" Dresk answered
"I see, that's really a lot of people, and were the sensors properly installed?" he asked again
"Yes, your Eminence, however if I may ask"
"Go on"
"Shouldn't this be the work for the bureaucrats, getting the Inquisition to do this seems to be a waste of resources we don't have"
"True, and also it's the Imperial Bureau of Investigation, but to answer you… It's simple. to stress test your coordination at scale, so how was it?" Bastion asked
Yes, he had disbanded the Inquisition and executed most of its agents leaving only some alive but he still needed an agency that could check the powers of every one in the government.
Thus the Inquisition was transformed into the Imperial bureau of investigation… They had the power to investigate anyone within the government but no right to execute so they had to work through other agencies that would be set up.
"It wasn't as efficient as the old ways but weirdly it was more thorough than usual, working through the Arbites seemed weird at first but it got the job done much faster and thoroughly than I thought" Dresk confessed
It was truly how she felt about this situation, despite the fancy name, the Inquisition was reformed and now had to act through several agencies, they no longer had the power to execute or judge as they pleased