The shuttle rattles ever so slightly as we skim across the atmosphere. Turns out the meeting for the operation is taking place in space, as the ground near the North pole is still very hostile.
We were all very thrilled when we were told that our entry would be done via orbital launchers. Nothing like streaking through the atmosphere towards certain doom to really set the mood.
Oh well, we will probably be fine. After all, I've got my entire squad to back me up.
“No! The color of the FAUDs has to be green!” Liv shouts at Stephen as they stand around a table with a bunch of designs on it. “To represent the renewal of the planet and all.”
“Liv right, optics are important.” Moxie chimes in, very invested in the color choice of the operation’s FAUDs. I don’t even know why they let us choose, the default colors are just fine. But alas, they left it up to us. “Green is really pretty too.”
“I am surrounded by a bunch of fools.” Stephen sighs. “Green sticks out so much against the terrain, red or orange would work better to blend in. We will be absolutely swarmed and do not want our supply units targeted.”
“Stop being such a spoilsport.” Liv says, poking Stephen in the side. “This is a big responsibility for us, we should try to make as much an impact as possible.”
“As much as I hate to, I must agree.” Violet says from her seat beside me. “Optics will be very important, and we want to show that we can organize a unified front. Green is a fairly standout color, and will help us spot our allies on the battlefield.”
Stephen sighs. “Green it is then I suppose.”
“Yipee!” Liv says, high-fiving with Moxie.
Violet turns to stare out the window and I follow her gaze. Hundreds of ships – riftliners mostly, but also many smaller ships – fill the orbit of Volea. It is truly a sight to see, each one carrying supplies to feed the warfront.
Though the military convoy is nothing compared to the swarm that will soon appear to engage in recolonization of the planet. The Empire really doesn’t waste time, I bet within three months the planet will be fully operational and have shipyards completed, ready to churn out supplies for the front lines.
“It is both beautiful, and disgusting.” Violet says quietly. She has been initiating conversation with me quite frequently since two days ago. Though any time I get anywhere close to talking about the end bits, she just calls me an idiot and ignores me. Not that I can complain, it is nice to hear her talk about anything, definitely beats being ignored all the time.
I turn to look at her. “Indeed. One day, let's make sure it is all beautiful.” I sigh. “But to do that, we must eradicate every single monster.”
“I suppose we must.” The edges of her mouth turn upwards in a smile. “Can not believe I have to work with an idiot to do it though…” She adds on in a mumble.
“Too late, you are stuck with me.” I smile as she sighs in defeat.
We arrive at the central command ship and the instant we step off the shuttle, we are met by a bunch of soldiers in very fancy attire. A bulky upper-stratum man with many muscles and an awesome beard steps towards us and speaks in a clear tone portraying a long time in military command. “Welcome, Asteria Squadron-172. I am Corporal Mark Vaas of the Fourth Division’s 119,412th Segment. It is a pleasure to work with your squadron.”
Stephen steps forward, assuming full commander mode. “Its a pleasure, we are ready to do whatever is needed.”
Vaas’ laughter fills the hallway. “My my, you definitely have the nerve and manners. Now let's go see if you have the skill, I am sure this will be a fun time.”
A few more words are exchanged, Vaas and the other soldiers freak out completely at Lucien and Bellaris’s presence. Then we are led through a bunch of hallways to the main command room.
To enter we are subjected to a whole host of security measures. From retinal scans, a full brain scan, basic medical check for any illnesses and even a full DNA sequencing.
To say the command room is complicated is the understatement of the century. The room is gigantic, easily one hundred meters wide and perhaps three hundred long. Thousands of people move between stations that display everything from full planetary maps – in greater detail than what Bellaris had – to galactic maps that must track supply shipments.
“It has been a bit of a quick setup, but we are now at full combat capability.” Vaas explains as we make our way through the room. We turn many heads as people realize who Lucien and Bellaris are. “All one hundred thousand of our assigned Dragon Guards are deployed. Supply lines are running nominally and there have been no major hiccups. Well aside from that strange phenomenon that wiped out the rank 2 hives of course.”
All five of us stare in absolute amazement, even Violet’s jaw is hanging open a little bit. I turn to Moxie, “just how big is the military exactly?” I ask. As civilians we didn't get very much info, but I bet as Dragon Guard we had some material on it.
She smiles. “About five trillion active soldiers. Ten divisions, each with half a trillion or so soldiers each. This entire thing is only a miniscule portion.”
The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.
My brain struggles to comprehend a number that big. The latest population census has the Empire at somewhere around six hundred trillion residents. I did read a report in the Dragon Guard 101 guidebook that there are currently around a hundred billion Dragon Guards in active service. Quite frankly, the numbers are so large that they don’t make any sense.
Good thing none of that really matters to us. We must simply look at the monsters in front of us, and slay them.
I take a side glance at Violet and she is perfectly composed now. But I can see her eyes darting every which way, trying to take it all in. Her typical scowl is on in full force. I walk a bit slower so that we are next to each other, but she immediately starts walking a bit faster.
We come to a group of twelve Dragon Guards that are furiously discussing something. They are clearly lower rank, cadets like us. Must be the leaders of the team we will be commanding.
“No, we should take a thirty degree approach vector. Think about the mages!” A brown haired girl says.
A wispy man with black hair interjects. “No, we need to think about the front-liners. They are the most important. We can’t afford to risk their lives.”
“Tsk, a few losses are to be expected. It is war after all.” Says a black haired guy with glasses and a real mean look. “Stop being such children, people will die no matter what approach vector we use. Best to do the easiest one.”
“Vime! That is not proper tactics.” A red haired girl says. “Don’t you remember Professor Dirge’s lecture before we left?”
“Pfft, that old quack? He can’t even win an argument with his wife, what business does he have lecturing us on tactics?”
Just as Vaas is about to intervene, Lucien puts out an arm. He motions to Stephen, who quickly gets the idea and walks forward. The rest of us hang back a bit and watch, this definitely seems like a leaderly meeting.
“So, what is the situation?” Stephen asks, butting into their conversation like it is completely normal.
The first girl jumps up. “Ooo, you must be the new overseer for our Regiment. Nice to meet ya, I’m Major Val, of the seventh battalion." She reaches her hand over the table and Stephen shakes it. “To put it simply, there are several areas we can drop down. But a few of them don’t have good vantage points for our mage artillery to give us covering fire, yet give frontliners lots of cover to charge in.”
Stephen looks at some of the reports. “Hmm, it does seem like quite a predicament. Our forces are fairly balanced too, so it's not like one should be more favorable.”
“We should just focus on the front-liners, they are more important overall. Mages are only so useful after all.” Viem comments.
“Oh shut up, you are only saying that because you are a front-liner!” Val throws back.
“Pfft, you mages are such cowards. If you are so important, why don’t you prove it here and now?” Viem counters.
“Now now, folks, let's not get violent. None of us want that, now do we?” Stephen says, trying to calm the atmosphere.
“Why should I listen to a first-year like you?” Viem says and I can see a vein bulge on Stephen’s forehead.
Stephen turns around, “Violet, could you assist me for a moment?” He motions for her to walk forward.
She seems perplexed by the question, but steps forward. He whispers something in her ear, I think I catch ‘punch’ and ‘not kill.’ Just what is he asking her to do?
When he finishes a large smile spreads across her face. Damn, I am going to have to ask him how to make her smile more. Without any delay, she walks over and stands in front of Viem. He is a bit shorter than her.
“What do you want, pig?” He snorts, not realizing the mistake he just made. I would wish for his safety, but he deserves death for insulting Violet.
Before anyone can react, Violet’s fist impacts his skull with a nice cracking sound. There is nothing quite like the sound of a jackass’s bones cracking, it creates a great sense of joy within me. Even more so since it is Violet administering the punishment.
Veim of course goes flying and lands against one of the nearby projectors with a thud, blood already leaking from his head. His glasses lie nearby, one of the lenses shattered. Meanwhile, Violet feigns shaking something off her hand and smirks.
She is such a badass, and that smirk of hers is so damn cute.
“Ahem.” Stephen starts, drawing attention away from Veim’s sorry state. “Now that we have that out of the way. We will be adopting a launch vector midway between the two dropsites. Thus both mages and frontliners have equal safety and risk. Any objections?”
He looks around at the ten Majors. All of them nod in agreement, not glancing at the person that is currently moaning in pain off to the side.
“Good, now that that is settled. Now, how about we do some proper introductions?” He smiles widely and I suddenly grow a bit scared of Stephen. I knew he was a good leader, but that maneuver was both efficient, calculated and powerful. I am thankful he is on our side.
We go through introductions and get to know a bit more about the situation and what we are working with. To summarize;
Our forces will be seventy two squadrons, split into twelve battalions (each with a major in the lead). Then Stephen and our squadron will basically be taking the lead of the entire thing, which is called a regiment. Stephen sounds very happy at being called Overseer, and I can't fault him, it is a cool rank name.
It is a fairly simple operation, at least in the abstract. Most of the monsters will be cleared from around the rift. But there are three layers of defenses around it that we must get through.
Then after we make it to the rift, we get to go diving into hell itself. Every time we ask Bellaris or any of the others how bad it will be, they only grimace. Which is not a very good sign, considering we are about to be down there.
The rifts are usually arranged with a few chambers and a few smaller bosses equivalent to Queens. Then we come upon the final chamber, where the Matriarch resides. To say it will be a hard fight is an underestimation.
Even presuming all seventy two squadrons make it in, the Matriarch is level 251. Which may not seem significant, after all, we will be fighting level 250 monsters the entire time. But it is.
Between each rank there is a massive gap in power and experience required for some reason. Unfortunately, that means the only way for us to actually increase our ranks is to defeat one of said opponents, as fighting level 250 monsters for years will never tick us over to Rank 2. So, if we aren’t careful, the Matriarch will simply wipe us out without breaking a sweat. It is a good thing I am known for being very careful.
On the plus side, defeating the Matriarch will give us so much experience that even those lagging a bit behind will certainly clear the threshold. So it is really an all or nothing sort of endeavor.
After the meeting, I promptly collapse into my bed for some much needed rest. They have sought to give us a good night’s rest before dropping us into hell. Which is quite kind when you think about it.
I drift off into sleep while thinking of all the fun ways I can tease Violet to bring out that cute blush of hers.
The general military command structure is organized as such. There are also of course, special operations units and other branches (like the Imperial Guard).
Platoon = 30 Normal Soldiers. Led by a Captain.
Squadron = 5 Dragon Guards (less in some cases) or 150 Normal Soldiers. Led by a Commander.
Battalion = 6 Squadrons. Led by a Major. (900 Normal Soldier)
Regiment = 12 Battalions. The largest unit that is typically deployed for one objective. Also there is no unit larger that can consist solely of Dragon Guard. Led by an Overseer. (10.8k)
Wing = 24 Regiments. Led by a Marshall. (~250k Soldiers)
Segment = 12 Wings. Typically deployed on full scale operations for a single planet. Led by a Corporal. (~3m Soldiers)
Corp = 36 Segments. Led by a Lieutenant General. (~120m Soldiers)
Front = 48 Corps. Led by a General. (~5-6b Soldiers)
Section = 8 Fronts. Led by a High General. (~40-50b Soldiers)
Division = 10+ Sections. Each Division is mostly responsible for the security of an entire galaxy. Divisions are the highest order of the military, and each one typically has its own R&D, Navy, Infantry, etc. They are led by a Chief. (400-500b+ Soldiers)
There are currently 10 divisions, and their chiefs form a council with the Empress.
Note: Soldiers in the conventional military are counted as all personnel, not just combat focused ones. They are mostly used to assist Dragon Guard, clear up any rebellions, or to assist in terraforming/colonization/recolonization as additional personnel. Or perhaps conventional warfare, should any non-monster enemies appear.
Dragon Guards are mostly separate from the normal Military. They are instead contracted by the Empire to serve in various operations. Thus they also have their own ranks tied to the System itself. There is little actual organization within the Dragon Guard beyond slight deference to those stronger, and the Director/Subdirector (Lucien and Bellaris). Though many Dragon Guard are either temporarily or permanently contracted to a noble house, either due to debt or as a form of stable employment. Nobles then control their contracts and stuff, and might even sell them off for political reasons.
Next Chapter: Rematch
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