"My apologies, Lady Emory, we just learned of your ascension earlier today," Shepherd grunted, "I'm assuming you would like to change this to a joint mission."
"Due to the gravity of the situation, I obviously couldn't wait for your approval. So, I have already started the transition. Within the next two days, one thousand Witches and a Councilor will arrive at each of the outpost sites. Each of the commanders and subcommanders are also members of Clan Aurelias now, of which I am the Councilor. Lloyd, if he wants to return, will follow my commanders' orders without incident. In the next month, you will send twenty percent of the Collective army to each of the bases," Emory expressed boldly.
"Wait a second, you stole all my people, strong-armed my operation, rose to an equal position of power, and now, you just want me to capitulate?" Shepherd snarled, "Just who do you think you are?"
Emory clicked her tongue and furrowed her brow, "Let's get a few things straight, Shepherd. The outpost leaders were all hand-picked by me; your exam may have ranked them as the top performers, but we were training together before the Mantoan even came back to Proxima Centauri B. Officially marking them as part of my clan was just a formality. As for my position, they grabbed my hand and asked for help; I didn't seek out to lead them. At the end of the day, I'm doing the same for you. I could easily take my family and leave you to deal with this situation yourself. Is that your counteroffer?"
"No, I didn't say that," Shepherd grumbled, "I'm just frustrated that you didn't loop me in on your plan sooner. Fine, the operation stays under your command, for now. Is there anything else you'd like to discuss?"
"Yes, I'd like to talk about equipment. Have your groups started adding Mentha plants to the forging process as I suggested?" Emory asked patiently.
"The prototypes went with Lloyd's group," Shepherd responded peevishly, "Full production is starting now, though we're not sure if it will help yet or not."
Emory rolled her eyes, "That information came straight from our new allies, the Elandrian. You know, the group that's been fighting the enemy for a thousand years. Are you honestly telling me you don't trust their word?"
"This is a new alliance, as such, we don't know their true intentions yet," Shepherd huffed, "It would be foolish to take everything they say as fact automatically. You are still young; you have yet to lose your naivety when making deals with powerful groups. Even our own race hid secrets from the majority for hundreds of years."
"I suppose as long as you keep your opinions to yourself and add the ingredients, I don't care about your trust issues," Emory muttered.
Shepherd leaned forward, "Good. Now, is there anything else?"
"Not at the moment, though I am curious," Emory mentioned, "Do you plan to join us in the future, or will you be commanding from the rear?"
"When I move the army, I will be joining them," Shepherd glared as he stood up from his chair and extended a hand towards Emory.
"Thank you for your help, Commander Shepherd," Emory said as she too stood and shook his hand, "We'll talk again soon." A moment later, she vanished in a beam of blinding light. Shepherd waited until he was sure she was gone and then slammed his fists down on his desk in frustration, shattering it into pieces. A young woman slowly cracked open the door and peeked inside.
Shepherd yelled, "Get the High Collective assembled now!" She sheepishly nodded and quietly shut the door while he slumped into his chair and stared at the wreckage. Fifteen minutes ticked away rather slowly for him before a knock at the door interrupted his brooding.
"Sir, everyone but Liza will be here in just a few minutes," the woman shyly called from the other side of the door, "Should I send for new office supplies?"
"Please do, Alyssa. This desk just fell apart; it must have been poorly made," Shepherd replied gruffly. Of course, the desk was red-stained Brazilian walnut, one of the hardest woods in the Sol System. He rose from his chair and walked over to a floor-to-ceiling mirror to make himself presentable. His gelled back blonde hair matched the stunning white suit he was wearing. The thought crossed his mind to put on his armor, but he decided against it. After straightening his suit slightly, he walked out of the messy office and down a sterile white hallway to a conference room at the end of the hall. All six members were sitting anxiously in the room already when he ripped open the door, slamming it shut afterwards. Each of the high-ranking members slid down their chairs a little bit as Shepherd's anger permeated the very air.
He didn't even sit down as he spoke, "Betty, why didn't we find out about Miss Reiss until a little bit ago?"
"Apparently, it was a sudden decision," Betty replied cautiously, "They weren't supposed to meet for another week or so, but one of the Lords called for an earlier meeting. And it wasn't revealed until that meeting that Miss Reiss was suggested as a candidate for the Supremacy. With less words, the process moved much faster than ever considered."
"It still doesn't explain how the election happened yesterday, and we didn't even know she was on Earth!" Shepherd bellowed as his fist crashed into the table, punching a hole straight through. Everyone else's head lowered in a cowering response.
"I'm sorry, sir," Betty apologized without raising her head, "I will get more accurate information in the future."
Lloyd grumbled, "I still say we cut ties. No child has the right to go around chastising elders. I don't care who she is."
"I don't want to hear another word out of your mouth; your actions are the whole reason we're in this mess," Shepherd warned as he pointed at Lloyd, "You saw how strong she was the night we brought her into the circle. Hell, you saw her teleport your whole damn ship millions of miles across the cosmos. What in the fuck were you thinking?" Lloyd sunk into his chair even further, accepting his fate in the doghouse for now.
"Sir, I've begun analyzing the data packets from our new allies. What I have so far indicates a threat far larger and stronger than we anticipated. If we plan to make a difference in this war, we're going to need to increase our average power by at least twenty-five percent," Greg tried to change topics.
"And that brings me to you!" Shepherd ranted as his attention turned to Greg, "I scanned the first reports. How could our estimates be so far off? What were we basing our data on in the first place? It's no wonder that an eighteen-year-old child can come in here and make us look like incompetent fools!"
Greg paused before meekly saying, "We never expected this level of scientific advancement. We assumed a war-driven society given their pugnacious attitude. And we didn't know about the other two groups until very recently." Shepherd snorted and turned away from the others. In his mind, the blame was equally spread across all his advisors. Honestly, he himself was a little at fault as well for not training the army well enough since he was in direct control of them. But he would never admit this fact.
"Well, we're in quite a predicament," Shepherd grunted, still with his back to the group, "What are our options? Lady Reiss said she wanted twenty percent of our forces to each of the outposts in a month. That's ten million troops per outpost."
"While it may not be feasible to move them that quickly, her strategy is sound. Though we still don't know their full dropship capabilities, this should provide an adequate defense against any first wave they might send. Given her excellence in training programs, we could reach the necessary strength in a few months," Greg fairly assessed the situation.
"Combined with the troops from the Witch clans, we could be a force to be reckoned with in a year," Betty added lightly, "What is one more year in a war that's lasted a thousand years?"
Shepherd nodded as he turned back and finally sat down again, "A year is an acceptable timeline. But I want no more surprises. Nolan, call up our reservists. Greg, start cross-referencing all our known data with this new information from the Elandrian. Lloyd, you're going back to Temia; I need eyes and ears on our new partnership but be agreeable. Everyone else, help Nolan first then Greg. It's time for war." They all agreed solemnly before Shepherd stood up and left the room. Once he was gone, the rest filed out quickly behind him. He returned to his office, changed into his plate mail armor, and grabbed his greatsword from the wall behind the smashed remains of the desk. On his way back out, he stopped by his secretary's desk and informed her, "Route all emergencies through Jask. Any non-essential calls will wait until tomorrow. I need to burn off some steam."