I was out fighting with the First Cohort! I spent all that time in my Bootcamp hell practising stuff, drills, fighting, weapons, setting up camp, being part of a unit, learning the chain of command and learning how to fit within my Cohort. I was still a recruit but part of the most prestigious cohort in the Legion. It was amazing. While I was not officially one of them, I could slot right into their structure as a recruit thanks to, I guess, that traitor Bastard Rufus. I still had much to learn because of my shortened and incomplete Bootcamp.

I was a recruit until Xar told me I wasn't. He didn't seem to be in a hurry. The Legion was infinitely flexible yet rigid. Everyone knew their job and the jobs of those above and below. Anyone should be able to do the basics of any function for any job. It was like I knew where I was and needed to be. The certainty of it gave me great comfort, yet I wanted more. The chain of command and the pillars of duty were critical elements of their structure — the roles of your position were well-defined. You did your job and knew how to do everything else if needed. Being part of something felt so good, and I knew I could rely on anyone else to cover my back.

It took close to a week on and off, but we had closed several minor Chaos spawns around the area. The highest was Tier 2. In between these, we travelled in old crappy transports to help set up hamlets, outposts, small settlements, and a few towns. That was a walk in the park compared to what I had done during my Tutorial and Bootcamp. The only downside was that I didn't even get to flex any of my skills to their fullest, but I did get to see the First Cohort in action. One word: Lethal and Efficient. Well, two words. They were also very cool.

We were heading out on a more significant incursion. The energy fluctuation Min Min's Settlement scanners picked up indicated it was pretty big and could not be left too long without consequences. I had first-hand experience with what ignoring a stone could do. It also made me wonder what was out further past where we controlled, patrolled and could scan.

The significant incursion was a mix of Tier 1 – 4 creatures that were appropriately named (minor)Horror Of Deigggh (Chaos, Tier 4).

We had spied on a few lower-level creatures and one boss-like being. It was easy to take them out from stealth, loot them and continue on.

Eventually, we found the Incursion Stone or the area where it would be found. As we had not been spotted while traversing the outback terrain, we set up our Legion Fortification to observe, gain intel, and plan.

Luckily, we saw the incursion stone early and got a decent hunter's blind set up near it to maintain a watch.

I loved using my full Eye of the City Watch and Mystic Eye. Along with my higher perception, it gave me a lot more helpful information. It also has crowdsourced information, so sometimes I get a lot; other times, I might get nothing valuable on rarer creatures.

(Minor)Horror Of Deigggh (Chaos, Tier 4)

Deep in the swamps of Deigggh, the failed Necrolord Hatma-Zu disregarded the Accords of Life that all Necromantic beings swore to abide by. His experimentation with the swamp's higher sentient lifeforms, fusing them with Chaos and Death, failed spectacularly. This resulted in his destruction and the rise of the reign of what came to be known as the Horrors of Deigggh. Beings that utterly destroyed all life in the once peaceful realm of Deigggh. Each Horror is a formidable sentient undead with varied powers, brutal fighting, mystical arts and even shamanistic abilities. They swarm and leave little in their wake, sucking life force and karmic energies from beings and their environment. Known weaknesses include elemental fire, life and earth affinities. Some are known to cause Karmic and Mana diseases and are known to evolve rapidly.

Gaining this knowledge also allowed us to be more effective in avoiding weird things—like Karmic and Mana diseases, whatever they were—since we now knew that we had to face them.

"Don't let them hit you too many times. They stack and can debilitate you quickly."

When I told Xar about those, the First Cohort went from an almost training exercise to a well-planned scorched earth bug hunt. It was going to be an extreme prejudiced kind of mission. It was the first time I had seen these guys go full-out.

The closing of the incursion involved waves of creatures. This would be brutal and efficient instead of how I handled it in the Tutorial. No one was interested in farming such dangerous opponents. The experience and loot so far had been pleasant but a drop in the bucket of what I needed, so I was a little annoyed, but the Legion got looting rights on the expedition, and I was only on support, which was a half-share. The only saving grace was that it allowed me to watch and learn, but it was not what I needed -- to exercise and flex some of my skills.

Now, Xar would give me a chance to go all out.

We were heading towards the northern edges of the enormous property of Min Min, overland and on foot. The energy signatures showed up at the command centre of the settlement. We had been prepping for a day to make sure we could loop around, close some smaller portals and any incursions, and hit the major one before heading back. It was supposed to be a two-day deal: one day out, deal with the threat and return. We had to be back before Thursday because of the party. Xarius had been pushing us so we would not miss that deadline.

Despite the party being thrown in my honour—and I guess Sarah's now that she has returned—and mine to organise, I managed to convince Mike to lend me the services of Danae, the cute Dryad he had hired to be his logistics officer. She was pretty amazing at organising the Gala.

I gave her the idea of what I wanted and got that, plus so many things that I had no idea about. The Cantina was under construction and would be finished late Wednesday today, and then we had the staff to train and do all that. Again Danae and Alaka'i had it all under control. I did feel a bit guilty about leaving everything in other people's hands, but not guilty enough to stop fighting and go and do it. I knew how bad the party would be if it were genuinely left to me to organise. It was not as if I had much experience organising huge BBQs for many exceedingly powerful beings.

I was sure I could throw a BBQ together once I worked out where to get the meat. Crap, I didn't know how many BBQs you would need to feed 300 people.

UNIVERSAL SYSTEM NOTIFICATION:

Rest in Peace: Raxemius Janar.

Long live Empress Raechina Avidan Janar.

SYSTEM: Class Quest Failed:

Visit Me soon (Stage 2).

Due to your failure to complete this quest, the Emperor has fallen to the forces of Chaos.

Penalty:

You lose renown with the Empire.

Your holdings are more likely to be seen as an attractive target by your enemies.

You lose 10% of your Karmic Balance.

Please ensure you maintain good standing and a positive Karmic Balance.

Legendary System Quest Failed: Find the Treasure

Due to your failure to complete this quest, you no longer have a claim on the assets of Raxemius Janar.

Penalty: Loss of Imperial Treasury.

Class quest received: Sworn to the Empress

Difficulty: ???

Time Frame: Urgent

The reward for success: Varies, Titles within the Empire, Renown.

Failure: Loss of renown. Loss of classpath.

Find Empress Raechina Avidan Janar and reconfirm your oath to her.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

(Optional) Convince the Engrams of Rax that you are worthy.

(Optional) Hidden

SYSTEM UPDATE: Please ensure you visit your holdings.

Failure to do so will result in moral penalties and potential political unrest. (1 Year)

The first notification stopped us all.

The quest failures were a kick. I was hoping I could hide them somehow, as I didn't need a permanent reminder of my failures, especially when I felt so powerful. I felt my stomach tighten. I also had no idea about the new quest. I was hoping that Xar might know.

Sprite: After 30 days, you can hide them or move them to a Failed Quests tab in your HUD.

Can you do that for me, please?

Sprite: Done.

We all looked at each other and then went about retreating and setting up legion entrenchments.

Everyone needed work and needed to be kept busy. No one spoke.

Despite being reasonably close to the incursion, we had an open fire that evening. Someone pulled out a camouflage screen to hide us from sight. We sat around it. Xar had splurged and set up some automated defences and active camouflage so we could all take the night off to process the universal notification.

For the Legion, it was complex and personal. Thanks to Sarah, we all knew what had happened—well, mostly. We didn't see why the notification had been delayed so long or what had made it happen now. When reality struck home, it was different. There was a lot of emotion behind each of their responses.

The legionnaires of the First Cohort, Xar, Brick, Seraph, Calliope, Eiolus, Margarita, Prochorus, Bonifatius and Alfredus, sat stunned, then spoke softly in low voices. They had all sworn a binding oath to the Emperor, even though he was missing and presumed dead. I had also sworn one.

For some, the oath was a formality.

For others like Xar, it was his life.

I had that strange oath and didn't know what I felt.

Sprite helped fill me in on some of his interactions with the system.

The Empire System had never given up on Raxemius, accepting his continuing existence and ability to protect the Empire. It relied on him to fulfil his oath and, in the five thousand years since, had never recognised claimants to the title and had never proclaimed his death. This, more than anything, had led to the stagnation of the Empire. Vast portions of personal wealth and power were locked away.

Now that his passing had been formally recognised and his successor has been named, she will have access to all this lost wealth, power, and resources if she steps forward as a legitimate ruler. Entire sections of the Imperial City that were locked pending his authorisation could be unlocked. It was going to be a mess. She should have been in the heart of the Empire, in Maldarous, with the Senate, not stuck in some backwater.

As Xar spoke, I felt dread at the thought.

Shit, it was going to be a mad scramble, and I pity anyone who would get in the way of the newer power-hungry elements of the Senate and the Inner Empire Legion. No love was lost between them, and I was sure some traitors had not been found yet. Anytime wealth and power changed hands, the vultures came out in force.

It was common knowledge that Xar needed to be more politically savvy. He was blunt and practical, yet even he knew there would be Chaos in the short term. His and every Legionnaire's oath instantly transferred to the Empress. Since the First Chohort were out on a campaign, they did not need to re-swear until they returned, and then it was not to her personally, just to their commander. They would get bonuses if they did so within six months. Xar predicted that there would be a general recall, and every active soldier would return to swear to her sooner rather than later.

The issue was that no one knew anything about her. She was such an enigma. The biggest concern was that so little was known about her. Raechina Avidan Janar, even the name, spoke whispers of power. When I heard her name, I could feel the tug of Epic Quest pulling me. None of the legionnaires knew much about her, for records from five thousand years ago were hard to locate, and what little there was had been put behind paid information walls by the Senate.

Bacchus and Prochorus, the best infomancers and data diggers, had set their AIs to find what they could. The common rumours were summed up in two words, Spoiled Brat. Her dark beauty matched her fierce temper—a beautiful princess who had been given everything and anything. Coddled and provided the best education and training, and kept away from the public eye as much as possible. Her father rejected all suitors, regardless of politics or potential power gains. Neither she nor her father had seemed interested in the normal process of marrying her off for political gain.

She was given everything, and nothing was expected of her. Raxemius had not seen the need to groom her for a position held by someone immortal for all intents and purposes. There was no worry that the next leader of the Empire would be an obnoxious teen because Raxemius would live forever.

I was troubled. The quest I had was something that propelled me straight to the spotlight.

I did not want that right now, especially after my run-in with the Senate, Legion, and Karass. The result of my failures for the other quests was significant if I chose not to swear the new oath: the loss of my classpath, which, while I didn't know much about my current class or its lack thereof, I knew was not something I wanted to endure.

My lack of class did provide me with some huge advantages. I had not spent much time getting my head around it while running from one drama to another, yet not having it would be a blow, and I would also have to select another pathway. Too much, too soon.

The biggest worry for Min Min was that, as far as we knew, the Princess was stuck in our small colony startup, so far away from where she should be. We tried our hardest to keep a low profile so Earth's integration was not compromised as a warzone. We knew there would be conflict, but we didn't want to drag the entire Empire into our backyard.

The fact that the Princess was alive and not at the Senate would spell trouble and probably divide loyalties. There were mixed feelings amongst her most loyal supporters here - who had not even met her. Once it was found out where she was, there would be attention we did not want. I would expect that once she found out the situation, she would head to the Imperial City and deal with the Senate as soon as possible, hopefully cleaning house. Xarius was hopeful that she would be a calming influence, but none of us had any real hope for that.

She would need Xar and the First Cohort, which now included me. The fact that Sarah had not waited for us to act also meant that trouble was brewing, and we had run out of time.

That gave me a minimal opportunity, especially with the looming party, to sort my crap out. With a sigh and the never-ending demands on my time, I mentally sorted my priorities. I needed to get an audience with her, convince her that I needed to swear a new oath to her, and optionally try to talk the engrams of the dead Emperor that I was a suitable person—stupid system quests.

There was also the nature of the upcoming party. The wording on the ticket troubled me. How much did Dance know? How much were the Drakes playing with events? I could not even unload my concerns to anyone about it, so I was only guessing and making some wild assumptions, which looked more and more like random guesses. The Princess, now Empress, was expected to attend the party, and Dance knew well before she had even been found. How powerful was he?

I was also concerned that Julie and Mike would be upset that I would have to return to confront the Senate with the Cohort at some stage. There was not much I could do about it, and despite being the owner and, by rights, ruler of the settlement, I had all but surrendered those rights to Julie and Mike. Mike would be pissed at me, but he would forgive me, and Julie, well, as long as she saw a profit, she should be fine, and maybe I'd have to work out another deal with the ring. Another worry, as soon as I thought about it, I felt the fog obscuring details. That was something important.

I needed to keep both of them on my side; if this pissed them off, I needed to try to fix it. Not only were they much better than I would ever be at being in charge of all of this, but I also had no genuine interest in being in charge other than supposedly not being told what to do. Fun fact: that had not worked out for me yet.

Despite the surprising news, the evening became a bit of a celebration for the First Cohort. They were all hoping for an end to the divisions and the friction between the true Legionnaires, as they called those who went into battle and those who stayed safe playing the political games in Maldarous and the Inner Empire. Xar seemed more sceptical, especially with such an unknown and untested Empress.

Despite the looming battle the next day, we passed beer around. We listened to a mix of Earth and Imperial music, which was nice, but not something I was used to. We planned to go hard in the morning, shut the incursion and return as quickly as possible.

A Tier 4 incursion could not be left unattended near the settlement, especially since it spawned Horror Of Deigggh.

Unattended, eventually – maybe years, maybe months – the incursion would upgrade, and that could imperil the entire planet. Xarius was concerned that the incursion was abnormal. Tier 4 incursions should be unique or rare at this integration stage. The energy levels should be insufficient to support them for quite some time. In truth, it was nothing more than I expected. Just the system, Prism, Chaos, or the void adding more shit for Earth to deal with.

The threat to the settlement was enough incentive for me to finish this, regardless of the battle experience and the training with the Legion. I was fond of Min Min and realised that I now considered it home, especially now that Sarah was back, so I did not want to leave a threat close by.

The dream was I could make a home base here, although some properties I purchased in Port Douglas would be nice once I reclaimed them. Regardless of where we were, I looked forward to picking up where we had left with Sarah, and this incursion was standing in the way. As was the Empress. Shit, things needed to be easier. I didn't want some disgusting bugs of Chaos making life difficult.

Early the following day, after a quick cleansing to remove any effects from the night before's beers, we moved to the incursion as swiftly as possible. The terrain was getting more difficult to traverse as we got closer. We formed up as close as possible, intending to be as thorough and safe as possible but getting this done as quickly as possible. We would destroy the stone, mop up the higher-tiered spawns, and possibly send others back to finish the job if we could not complete it quickly.

Usually, when there was little risk, Legion did not use skills. Instead, they used this as a training opportunity to increase weapon skills and work on formation tactics.

Today, we all got to cut loose.

I was off the leash. Finally!