The commander of a unit cannot fail, is not allowed to fail and will not fail. There is no discussion to be had about this, there is nothing to say here. The role of a commander is to succeed. Most men are unfit to lead not because they are unable to succeed but because they are unaware of what success matters and what success is superfluous.

The success of keeping morale high, for example, is essentially worthless in the context of a defeat. Yet likewise, the failure to keep morale high can easily turn victory into defeat. Yet there are times when morale has to be thrown to the wind, when rest and downtime can be removed from the soldiers in order to hasten preparations and when we rely upon the crutch that is discipline. Discipline, in itself, is an optional success entirely. A savage horde may be no more effective than a disciplined troop, however success in the field of discipline can be used to supplement deliberate failures as given in the previous example.

This ability to discriminate between essential and optional successes is what truly makes a commander.

– Excerpt from ‘Legionnaire Training’, written by Goddess Kassandora, of War.

Aslana and Labrys both sat in the back of a huge cargo truck as they waited to arrive to Kassandora’s frontline unit. Aslana clicked her tongue as her blue eyes met Labrys’. The Goddess of the Axe smiled smugly and pushed her chest up as she leaned back. Aslana sighed, leaned back and tilted her head to side to gaze at the army in the distance. There was a Torchbearer Tank in the bank, but modified to have the huge lighthouse lamp high in the air. In addition to that, there were a dozen other vehicles that were all modified to carry massive lamps. The darkness was cast away to reveal stone tunnels.

The main army was behind those blinding floodlights, lit up by small orange lamps that managed to make grey stone seem warm and inviting. Aslana had seen these weak lamps before, they were specifically deployed behind Torchbearers and other lamps because they were so weak that they were completely hidden behind the blinding white lights. From behind though, Aslana could see the troops. They reminded less of an army and more of a giant machine or a factory.

Men raced about with sandbags in their arms as concrete trucks worked to pour their mixtures into large, prefabricated molds. Tanks were arranged in diagonal lines, with emplacements for men deployed before them. Military cranes were lifting steel towers upright as engineers worked to quickly assemble everything and anything that a mass of trucks were bringing in. There was even a running railway station here, hastily fashioned into something that resembled an unloading bay. An armoured train was parked on its own section of rail, it was a steel brick that was bristling with cannons and naval guns that towered over the rest of the flat tunnel landscape. Aslana heard Labrys whistle.

“What a force.” Labrys said and Aslana wished the woman would shut up. Why did Kassandora had to request for her? Why couldn’t it have been anyone else?

“Do you not see what they’re doing?” Aslana asked.

“They’re digging in.” Labrys replied, not a hint of worry or thought in her voice. “Wasn’t this unit advancing?” She asked and Aslana supposed that the woman needed to possess at least a token of intelligence.

“It was.” Aslana said. “Do you think they’ve ran into something?”

“Would we be getting called in if they didn’t?” Labrys replied and Aslana took a deep breath. She did not like this whatsoever. The Hold she had been assigned to hadn’t been secured in any way. Aslana had been there to serve as a counterweight to Tartarus’ advance. With her gone… Well, it should keep standing. And if Kassandora called for her, then this was no doubt far more important than her previous mission.

“True.” Aslana said.

“I don’t like it.” Labrys declared and Aslana had to smile. Labrys may have been an annoying and stupid chit of a Divine, but sometimes she could sum something up in such a way that a thousand eloquent words would not be able to convey the feeling.

Aslana had to agree. “Neither do I.” She said and Labrys chuckled to herself.

“What do you think it is?”

“A horde coming?” Aslana asked the answer. Frankly, she did not believe it herself, Kassandora would be able to handle an endless army with just her organisation. It had to be something bigger. Memories of the Great War flashed across Aslana’s mind although with Tartarus, it was always the same. Demons and flames, rage and an endless horde.

“Maybe it is.” Labrys said. “My gut says no.”

“Mmh.” Aslana agreed. And once again, Labrys was correct. Whether it was the mass mobilization or the fact that even civilian diggers and bulldozers were working here, something just set the alarms off in Aslana’s head. The fact that Kassandora had personally requested for not one but two weapon Divines was another. The Land Dreadnought of a train which been parked off to one side was yet another brick in that wall of unsettlement. Any one of those things, and Aslana would take it as normal. But all of them? No. Aslana did not like it whatsoever.

So their transport truck drove into the camp and came to a stop right in the centre. One thing that never changed, not since the times of the Great War, was Kassandora’s basic layout of camps. The only thing adjustment brought about by modern warfare was a widening of the central roads to make way for tanks. Aslana stood up and prepared to get off. She gave Labrys one last look, the Goddess of the Axe lounged about in her shirt and skirt as if this truck was her own luxurious apartment. Something in that easiness just annoyed Aslana, just ticked her off, just made her want to split this annoying little Divine in two.

“You should button up.” Aslana said quietly as she stood up and prepared to jump off the truck.

“Jealous are we?” Labrys cooed, she leaned forwards to bring attention to herself.

“It’s Kassandora.” Aslana replied flatly. She wasn’t here to argue, not today. Everyone could feel the atmosphere. Kassandora requesting for Divine guards was… Well, that sort of thing was rare even in the Great War. And rumour said that Fer and Kassandora had a fight and the Goddess of Beasthood had been sent crying back to one of the holds. Aslana jumped off the back of the truck and the vehicle’s suspension squeaked as the whole thing shook.

A thud a moment later signified Labrys had stepped off too and the truck’s suspension squeaked as it bounced up and down. “There?” Labrys said. “Happy now?” She unpleasantly bounced herself into Aslana.

“Happy.” Aslana confirmed as she set off. Kassandora’s camps were always structured the same way, all Imperial camps were. Tents were arranged in circles around a campfire to force the men to interact. Underground, the fires had been replaced by stoves and the exercise in camaraderie was already being shown off as several teams were sharing cigarettes and rations. Small roads separated each cluster of tents to make platoons, and then brigades. In the centre, the main requisition and supply depot had been fashioned, as always. In the past, this had been filled mainly with dried food in large barrels or just flour for the men to bake their own bread over the flame. Now, it was all canned food and tanks of water. There was a magician’s tent behind it, although that sat empty. That was predictable though, magicians lazed around in the day to day but they were worked to the bone when things were going bad.

And then, in front of the magician’s tent was the commander’s quarter. The Goddess of War stood there, as magnificent as Aslana always remembered her. Long crimson hair, the colour of a noxious fire or of spilled blood, spilled out of peaked cap and down a black coat. Kassandora was looking left to right as men worked around her. She did not look happy, but Aslana could not imagine the Goddess of War happy. She shared a nervous look with Labrys. The two Divines approached Kassandora, the woman turned, her hair whipping around in a storm of red and her eyes locking onto the intruders immediately when they got within ear shot. That ability of Kassandora’s, to always know when someone was looking at her, always unsettled Aslana.

“Aslana, of the Sword, reporting!” Aslana said.

“Labrys, of the Axe, reporting!” Labrys followed up. Thɪs chapter is updated by NoveI~Fire.net

Kassandora took a few moments before she turned around. Those crimson eyes locked on the two Goddesses, they quickly ran up and down the new pair. Aslana was glad she had reminded Labrys to button up. The Goddess of War said nothing, she just dismissed the pair’s salute with her own. “You two did not bring your Godwielders?” Kassandora asked.

Aslana had not even thought about bringing the man who had been assigned to wielding her back in the Sixty-Third Infantry. She felt her cheeks go red at the sheer stupidity. Labrys though was even more stupid, Aslana felt her blood boil and her cheeks burn with the sheer embarrassment of what the Goddess of the Axe just said. “He twisted his arm in the last battle so I left him behind.”

Aslana stood there, feeling her own temperature rise. There were so many retorts to what Labrys just said that it was impossible to pick one. Every Divine had a team of pocket-Clerics assigned to them for healing, was Labrys so stupid she could not use one of them? And it was just an arm twist? Could the man not sleep it off? And why was his arm twisted in the first place? When the Godwielder wielded, it was Divine that was responsible for making sure he knew how to move. What an idiot.

The worst part was that Kassandora looked from Labrys to Aslana and back to Labrys and said nothing. Her cool glare did not wane for even a moment. She gave no reaction whatsoever. “Find Godwielders in my unit then. I don’t know how you worked before but you know Standard GW protocols, yes?”

Labrys looked nervously to Aslana and Anassa cracked a stupid smile. The Goddess of the Sword knew she should. She prided herself on being practical and down-to-earth and knowing all the regulations and… And she had no clue what the Standard Godwielder Protocols were. What sort of Divine bothered with rules? Kassandora didn’t waste the time making them explain. “No engineers, no vehicle operators, no specialists, no officers. Pick out someone non-essential and replaceable. Ask the local commander if you don’t know.”

Aslana and Labrys both saluted before the Goddess of War. Kassandora looked both of them up and down again. Aslana tried to keep a straight and serious face after just being scolded like a damn child. But then Kassandora was right, she should just know the protocols when it came to finding a Godwielder. Labrys, as she always did when nervous, cracked a stupid smile that made it look like she had just thought of some stupid joke. Kassandora took no notice. “If you have any questions, I am expecting them now. You’re not to interrupt me unless it’s urgent or I call you. Any questions?” She raised an eyebrow expectantly.

Labrys, whether out of stupidity or out of nervousness, asked the most idiotic question Aslana had ever heard. “What’s urgent?”

Kassandora did not waste even a moment entertaining the stupidity. “That’s for you to decide.” She answered. “Anything else?”

Aslana made a show of looking past Kassandora at the men who were currently so obviously preparing defensive fortifications and not at all advancing, unlike what the news had been back at the rear. Kassandora’s spearhead was supposed to secure a major junction which would cut off Tartarus’ access to over a dozen holds. “Are we not advancing here?” Aslana asked and then bowed her head. “If I may know of course.”

It was almost odd, with mortals, Aslana would have no trouble whatsoever flaunting her power or making grand demands. Even with most other Divines, Aslana would be happy to treat them as equal. Yet with Arascus and his Daughter-Goddesses? With Kassandora especially? This was the grand commander of the entire Imperial military. Rudeness to Kassandora was something that simply did not happen. Kassandora once again replied immediately. “Reconnaissance units have disappeared and stopped responding. The men who have gone to confirm their deaths have not returned themselves. We’re preparing for a counteroffensive until the situation swings back in our favour. That’s all you need to know.”

That was indeed all they needed to know.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep