December 6, 623

The Pathfinders and Snow Doves left a cloud of snow a mile high and an army’s worth of confused Scourge as we hightailed it out of the area. With our infiltrators infiltrating, we had no reason to stay out in the boonies. Our next objective, if you could really call it one, was to get back to the Treehouse and figure out our next step.

Thanks to the Snow Doves, we could move just about however we wanted. Their overwhelming aura chased away anything that might’ve picked a fight, and they could handle anything that came at them with ease. With no worries about combat, we actually rushed back to base, forgoing subtlety for speed. I had wanted to take a more subtle trail back to base but Brigadier Nonnen wasn’t having any of that. Everyone was sick of being out in the field, so I had to resort to a faster path that chunked a few days off travel time.

With the completion of this mission, I had no more obligations. No more navigating, no more managing, no more giving orders. It felt nice to relax and turn off my brain for a few days without the constant stress of making sure every bit of the mission went right.

Once we got back within the vicinity of the Treehouse though, I was in for a rude awakening.

I had stuck my head out of a turret, eager to see the reassuring trees of the Treehouse, when we hit a rock while cresting the hill. When my head snapped back down, my eyes were met with not the familiar trunks, but a veritable fortress with two smaller walls wrapping around the original base.

The Treehouse had tripled not just in size, but population too. The outermost wall was still being built as earth warlocks lifted and compacted the ground into what could be considered a mountain, at a rate that made modern machinery seem infantile. That was something I had forgotten about, and suddenly I wondered why Colonel Jasmine ever thought they wouldn’t try to hold their ground and fight.

Well, I could now guess what my life would look like for the foreseeable future. I didn’t know if we would even be allowed to go back to the Stronghold, especially if the Scourge wasn’t sending any monsters there. This was the battlefield now.

I definitely didn’t prefer this though. Granted, I was glad that the Kingdom was growing a pair and fighting, but I could already imagine how much work I was about to get shoved down my throat. I would no longer be operating in a small base where things were nice and orderly.

We were diving head first into a newly minted war machine. The ecosystem of this place had been turned on its head with all the tens of thousands of troops that were flooding into the walls even now. In fact, there were so many people that they had to march a lot of them here, trails of soldiers stomping in the distance.

I liked it better when I was a bit more than just a cog in a machine. Smaller bases did that for me, and I was about to lose my half-decent position.

I sighed as murmurs sprang up inside the Steed, people poking their heads out to take a look at the ongoing construction.

I was mostly quiet as we rolled up to the greatly expanded gate, clicking my Aerial and finding a familiar channel. It was still live.

“Liaison to Handler, come in.”

“... Liaison! It’s good to hear from you.”

“Likewise, Handler.”

I smiled when Jasmine’s voice chimed in.

“We’re approaching the base. Can we still call it the Treehouse?”

“Affirmative, it hasn’t gotten a new designation yet. Probably due for one soon if this keeps going. I must say though, I’m not happy about getting kicked out of my room. There was an influx of intelligence agents and, unfortunately, a Colonel is still only in the middle of the hierarchy.”

“You have my sympathies. How many are slated to reinforce?”

“We’ve received about 28,000 troops. We’re supposed to be expecting double that over the next couple weeks.”

“Fucking hell.”

I whistled. Those were big numbers, and since most of them were likely coming through the Rails over at Stronghold Charlie, I could imagine how hectic it was over there.

I let out a breath.

“We’re rolling in, Handler. Would you mind coming to say hi?”

“I think you should come find me, actually. I’ve got something for you from Polly, courtesy of your recent successes.”

“Is that right? I guess I’ll be there then.”

I smiled, having a feeling what this was.

Jasmine checked in with the Snow Doves after talking with me. Out here, and without Polly to take her place, she was the Handler for both our platoons. We technically formed one small company while we were active together, but that name didn’t get used very often. Along with all the intelligence agents and logistics troops, our company was known as Charlie Company, from Stronghold Charlie, obviously.

Half of our company was still back at the Stronghold, unless they had also made their way over, which was unlikely. Our company was also the only company that manned the Stronghold and us Pathfinders, along with the Snow Doves, were its only combat force. We were responsible for the Stronghold, only occasionally helping out the Treehouse. Now that the Treehouse was getting reinforced though, I wondered if we were here to stay, or if they would let us go back to our home base since we were obviously no longer needed here.

A few hundred sentries, only those I could see, were posted on the progressively higher and thicker walls. A couple eyed us as we rolled in, the rest vigilantly scanning the snowy forest for any sign of Scourge.

We slowed down as we encountered more people, rushing to and fro to get settled in. There were a few dozen buildings being built from the ground up, and quite a few of them seemed to be almost permanent installations.

Finally, we made it to the main base, the original base still surrounded by massive trees.

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I jumped out and stretched, allowing my body to adjust.

“Cooper.”

I got called, turning to find Brigadier Nonnen.

He waved me along, Pollux following behind.

“Let’s go check in.”

“Yes sir.”

I nodded and followed, feeling like I had just risen in the world while walking beside Nonnen. I was being acknowledged, and that didn’t often come from a Brigadier.

The three of us entered headquarters to be met by a beaming Jasmine waiting by the door.

Nonnen returned her smile.

“Jasmine, it’s good to see you without any bags under your eyes.”

“I may have lost my cushy room but they haven’t been giving me that much work. It’s good to see you all in one piece.”

She let out a breath of relief.

“You were dark for well over a week. At some point, one has to worry, especially with the recent recon losses. Let’s move to a room. We’ve got some things to talk about.”

We followed her lead, finding ourselves an empty briefing room. Once the door was closed, she took a seat, waiting while we did the same, silence pervading for a minute or so.

She organized her thoughts.

“Alright, here’s the deal. They aren’t letting us go back.”

“Of course they aren’t.”

Nonnen scoffed.

“They want us here so that we can ‘assist’ their intelligence efforts, given that we, or more specifically, John, have had recent successes sniffing out the Scourge’s positions and movements. That, and there’s been absolutely no movement over at Stronghold Charlie, so they see no reason to let perfectly good soldiers go. However, not all is horrible. Our job descriptions have shifted. Both the Snow Doves and Pathfinders will be supporting forces for the Divisions that are being moved here. There are more than plenty of soldiers to take on the combat roles in our stead.”

“Well, silver lining, I guess…”

I sighed, rubbing my face. I was indeed about to get busy. Thankfully, I wouldn’t be doing too much grunt work, especially if Jasmine was about to do what I thought she was.

She looked at me.

“Congratulations John, us two are now some of the top intelligence agents in the Treehouse, despite a Marshal, General, a Major General, and two Brigadier Generals all showing up. Let’s just say that your name has been passed around since your achievements this time were too big to ignore, even with Polly there to try and take the credit. They’ve obviously responded to your reports with great enthusiasm, so you and I will be essentially teaching the top brass about everything there is to know about this place and the ongoing events. We’ve been officially positioned as their advisors.”

“Is that a good thing?”

“Depends on how you look at it, though for you, it’s nothing but the best opportunity you’ve ever received. Polly is currently on her way to insert herself, but that doesn’t change what’s already happened. You’re about to gain a lot of attention. Do well, and it won’t be long before you’re sitting at the same level I am. To that end, I’ve got something for you.”

Jasmine waved her hand, a bundle of papers appearing. She set it down on the desk in front of me, my eyes scanning the front page.

It was the test to become a Major.

“Once again, congratulations. Your application for the rank of Major has been accepted. Take this test, and I’ll grade it. Once that’s done, you’ll officially be a Major.”

“My, this is so unexpected.”

I smiled and looked at the test. I hadn’t put in an application, which means it was Polly who did it for me. If Jasmine’s words about my reports going around were also true, then I could imagine why it got accepted.

I was still a bit surprised though. I knew I had people watching me and all, but it had been all of six months since I had left basic training. I didn’t think I’d become a Major so soon. Although it was technically at the level of Authority 5, the Intelligence ranks didn’t work like the Infantry ranks did. They scaled with intelligence, not strength. That meant there were far, far fewer intelligence agents at every level, and it tapered off exponentially the higher the rank got. There could be dozens of Brigadiers for every General, thousands of Commanders for every Colonel.

Now I was becoming the advisor to the newly arrived generals. I would be interacting with people who controlled the tens of thousands of soldiers here. Sure, what I could do would be limited, but to interact with them at all was a rare thing few ever even got to brag about.

“Do you have a report ready for me, John?”

“Yes, I do.”

I nodded and snapped out of my thoughts.

“Good. I’ll take it, then you can go take your test.”

“Mm. Right here.”

I pulled out a small stack of papers. Given some days with nothing to do, I obviously had the report drawn up already.

She took them, and then turned to Pollux and Nonnen while I grabbed the test and sat down.

“Thanks. As for you two, get the Snow Doves and Pathfinders situated within Layer Two. That’s the area between the Treehouse and the second wall. There are fresh barracks there. Nobody will care that you’re here for a while, so take the next few days off. It’s certainly nothing you don’t deserve.”

“Many thanks, little lady.”

“Don’t call me little, fatty.”

Jasmine poked back at Nonnen, who let out a deep chortle. Nonnen wasn’t fat, but, like all knights, he ate like a pig.

I quickly started the test as they talked a bit more. I had memorized the books that would get me to at least Lieutenant Colonel, so this was easy. I even cited my answers like last time. I couldn’t possibly get anything wrong.

Summoner smarts were busted.

Still, the test had 220 questions. I found it amazing how they could come up with so many questions, and most of it was bullshit too. I wondered how anyone could ever rise to the rank of General if this shit only got more and more capricious.

Whatever. At least I wouldn’t be hampered. The only challenge that I might ever face would be becoming a general. I didn’t know if that was something I ever wanted to do though, so it wasn’t something I worried about. As far as I knew, I’d have little to no obstacles to my goals beyond personal power.

Pollux and Nonnen left before long. Jasmine stayed behind though, perusing reports nearby and occasionally glancing over at me working on the test.

It took almost two hours, but I finished before the sun set. Once done, Jasmine took the test, looked at the first and last page, then nodded.

“Congratulations. You’ve passed.”

“Have I?”

“Please. I’ve never seen someone actually cite the book in their answers. If you can do that, then you’ve obviously memorized every word of those damned books, you freak.”

“Heh.”

“So stand up and receive your new insignia.”

Jasmine waved, making me stand. I stood ramrod straight, at attention, and allowed her to swap my insignia.

Thankfully I had put on my fatigues. I didn’t know what or who I’d encounter when I arrived on base so I at least put on the shirt underneath my coat, especially since I had a feeling this would be happening.

Like that, I was given the single Arrow insignia of a Major, pinned on the collar opposite to my Master Sergeant insignia.

She patted the Arrow when she was done and straightened my shirt.

“Congratulations, Major Cooper.”

She gave me a salute, which I returned properly.

“Many thanks, Colonel Jasmine.”

“You deserve it. It may have come fast but you’ve definitely earned it. You’re smart, Cooper. Don’t let it get to you, but trust that head of yours. It’s saved the Treehouse already; everyone inside owes their life to you.”

She pat my shoulder as I relaxed. Then, the two of us walked out.

“I’ll go file this report. Go get some rest. Tomorrow, I’ll have you meet your new superiors. Remember to look respectable.”

“Roger.”

We separated after that with a brief goodbye. I sauntered off, now a Major, and not so daunted by the weeks and months ahead of me.