“Well… that was easy…”

Matthew lowered his coil rifle, he was wearing his Mk. 22 powered armor, this had proved to be a bit too much preparation, he hadn’t needed to fire a single shot either, it had only been about an hour since the assault of Winmond started, and by now the mop up was well under way, and Matthew were for once not the one that had to put his backbone into it, no that was a job for the new recruits

[Sector 3 A clear]

Matthew showed a grin and did his best middle manger ‘You missed a spot’ impression as he responded over the local net

“That's a negative E1, recheck overhead thermal sensors on surveillance drone 5521 before sweeping due West of your current position”

[Received, executing orders]

Flying over the city were hundreds of surveillance drones that swept for stragglers, along with this around 50 various combat drones walked through the deserted streets broadcasting “This city will be razed to the ground by sunset, hiding with hostile intent will be met with deadly force” in a variety of the local languages

“Do you have to bust the newbie's balls like that, Major?”

Matthew nodded once

“Yep, a little verbal grilling is better than stepping on an IED because you didn’t get grilled over leaving your overwatch drone on only thermal, don't you think, Ripper?”

“Yeah, those really ruin your whole week, don't they… Well then, I am off to the capital, see you in a couple of days Major”

“See you, Ripper, be sure to cry for help if you need it”

Ripper kicked Matthew in the shin, even though it was protected by almost 30 centimeters dense metal alloy, Matthew still felt her frustration pass through the plate as she walked over to the landed Heliea and boarded it, she looked back at Matthew and blew a raspberry before the ramp closed and the Heliea took off

[Heliea-005 departed, notice to all units to observe and respect IFF]

“...Now then, A1, K1, S1 and R2 check in”

[A1 here… Everything is good]

[K1 here, 3 civilians secured and sent towards the Northern gate]

[S1 here, scope have been clear since last check in]

[R2 here, 6 hostile targets sterilized]

Matthew showed a thin smile and continued guiding (grilling) his new recruits

“Everything is in fact not good A1, your vitals are spiking, take your assigned injector at once… R2 please tell the class about your latest major screw up and how you are putting your squad in danger”

A few moments of silence followed before R2 responded in a cold tone

[I am sterilizing too many targets?]

“No, I don’t care that you shoot to maim, I know the line between soldier and sociopath on a roof with a rifle is real thin and often both have similar psych profiles, but I am not judging nor condemning your actions, the intergalactic court for crimes against intelligent life doesn’t have an office in this sector anyway…

Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator.

Finished with his tangent, Matthew paused for a few moments before he finished his long-winded lesson

“That aside, order your resupplies, that 12 kilograms of metal alloy in your hands is just dead weight without ammunition”

[R2 complies]

Matthew watched a logistics drone leave one of the circling two circling Heliea’s and descend towards the city with a package of mags

“Good, open a private channel to S1 Aea”

[Confirmed, connection open]

A moment passed before an emotionless voice echoed out in Matthew’s mind

[Yes? Can I help you with anything, Major Matthew?]

“I am just checking in, you know just the usual… So, are there any problems with your new body?”

[None so far, however…]

As S1 stopped talking and kept silent for a few minutes Matthew spoke

“In the Trerubic Empire philosophy called memory personality personifying, or MPP which states that a personality is made from memory, that is to say that you are your experiences and while I don’t entirely subscribe to that philosophy I do find some sense in it, I’ll get you a physical copy once our deployment is complete”

[Thank you, Major… However I—]

“No buts, you might think I don’t care about you and I didn’t when I shot you in the throat, Saratheen, however you are now under my command, and as such I will make sure you don’t experience the horrors of having your mind reject your new body”

[...How can you say that!?]

Matthew took a breath before he spoke again, he understood her frustration, he had killed her, and now he had enslaved her and the other survivors of the patrol that had set out from Fort Adam so long ago

“Well, I know that my personality is twisted, however you agreed to this, so I will have you undergo therapy even if I have to drag you there kicking and screaming”

[What do you even know about this!? I hate you! I hate how you speak as if you know how it feels to have a body made of unfeeling metal when you walk around with your flesh and blood!]

“Come on now Saratheen, we both know that my body is no less artificial than yours, and despite your constant temper tantrums I will still uphold our agreement”

A few moments of silence followed before Aea’s voice echoed out

[The connection have been terminated]

Matthew let out a sigh, and reminded himself that being a babysitter was part of the job, speaking off he realized that it had already been two weeks since he had returned from Tweni and undertaken the role to remold the 4 surviving knights, Princess Klara, Duke Adam, Rosa Weber and Emilio Glaser, into soldiers… Of course their current preference although it was a little lacking here and there, would not have been possible if they had not gotten a neurological data bridge implant that allowed them to train in virtual space, with their feeling of time distorted they had experienced as about 2 years of boot camp

‘...I didn’t know I missed this’

Matthew thought back to his time as a Penance marine, the new recruits he was assigned usually fell into two categories, those who bent and those that had broken, putting the 5 newest recruits into a scale with those two extremes Saratheen and Duke Adam were definitely the ones furthest towards the ‘broken’ side, with Rosa having adapted a little too well and Emilio being somewhere in the middle

‘...The outlier is the former princess Klara’

Even before Matthew had been parted from his lower half and been Displaced South, Klara had been the odd one out, initially Matthew had stated to Alina in full confidence that she would adapt to the mounting physiological pressure or snap into a hollow shell of her former self, both of which had their advantages at the time, however at this point Matthew had to admit it, she was truly a strange one

‘She neither bent nor broke, in fact she seemed to have not changed at all… Her psyche profile is the same as it was upon imprisonment, most of the knights had various mood swings, highs and lows, though measured with external scanners the readings are still mostly accurate… But not Klara, no swings, never mind any deviations from her original state’

As Matthew pondered this Aea offered its perspective

[My hypophysis would be that K1 underwent a significant physiological change right after capture, but before the baseline reading were taken]

‘Well that makes sense, but I still feel like something isn’t right… Well, let’s put that off for now, prepare for final scans, then herd the evacuated civilians to the predesignated position… We need to get the show rolling before sundown’

[Confirmed, orders relayed to command chain]

It took about half an hour, but by that time the 1800 or so civilians that had been forcefully evicted from their homes had been gathered at an open field about 600 meters away from the walls of Winmond, hundreds of combat androids kept them under constant watch as Matthew addressed them with the city behind him in a thunderous voice

“Citizens of Winmond, rejoice for the mercy The Trerubic Empire has shown you!”

The gathered crowd gradually fell silent as Matthew continued

“Seeing as your emperor, Erik Willmir the 3rd foolishly invaded our lands and pillaged our homes I, Major Matthew Rockwell as the senior commanding officer have every legal right I need to slaughter the entirety of your backwater empire, even if I personally crushed each and every single person here under my boot, I would face no repercussions”

At Matthew’s last words the ominous crackling of the capacitors of hundreds of coil rifles amping up sounded out around the civilians as the combat androids leveled their rifles ready to execute his order, however a few tense moments later the tension disappeared once again as the combat androids lowered their weapons as Matthew spoke again

“However, count yourselves lucky for the Emperor of 4000 worlds, the great Samual Junathan Trerubic have decreed that mercy shall be upon you, so rejoice! Rejoice that we took such great care to not slaughter you all! Rejoice that we took such great care to evacuate you all despite your futile and pity resistance, Sing glory and your gratitude to The Trerubic Empire!”

[Warning to all friendly units in the area, impact alert, 15 seconds]

Matthew closed his right fist and clasped it against the left side of his chest that echoed out with a loud clang of metal, an instance later the humanoid Golem combat androids made the same salute, then Matthew spoke again

“Now, behold the mercy of The Trerubic Empire!”

The next moment 12 ballistic missiles plummeted straight down from the sky behind Matthew impacting the city in a perfectly synchronized strike that instantly engulfed the city in a blinding blanket of explosions