Ten minutes after the alarm began to ring, all of those in charge of the protection of the village, along with their assistants, were gathered in the office of the Academy Administrator.

Cynthia Reed stood at the head of the assembly dressed in her sleek Order battle attire, her eyes focused on the floor in front of them. Rising up from the center of the room, a live representation of the village and the surrounding area for five kilometers displayed the current state of the defenses and the process to relocate the population to the Academy.

The Commander of the Guard Corps for the village spoke up, pointing to a section of the map that seemed to be the crux for the upcoming assault, “I don’t like it,” the man said, scratching his light beard thoughtfully, “No matter where they attack, our walls are only manned by normal folks. The attacking forces are bound to be made up of more Rogues than not, so it doesn’t make sense that they’re funneling a large part of their forces at the furthest point from the Academy.”

No one spoke for a moment as they continued to study the changing information provided by the map. Another voice spoke up.

“Think about it, Gerard,” a robust woman, wearing the standard uniform of an Academy instructor, said softly while using a hand to rotate the map and zoom in on a specific portion of the map, a section of wall not far from the predicted battlefield, “If they launch a large enough assault on a fixed position of the wall, we’ll have to contribute the appropriate amount of troops in order to prevent them from breaking through. With that many of our men being relocated, our defenses are going to be thin in other areas. It’ll be a much easier job for them to slip in an elite force of Rogues right under our noses.”

Gerard, the Guard Commander, fell into thought as he considered how he’d handle such a predictable strategy. Looking at the distribution of his forces, he could see how a small group of Rogues could easily slip in and cause havoc behind his lines if they needed to focus men on the Eastern Gate. Several simple countermeasures came to mind, but each required the assistance of the Academy staff. Looking towards Cynthia who had turned to talk to an unknown man by her side, Gerard frowned slightly. The most reasonable course wasn’t always the easiest to swallow, especially because relying on the Academy to defend the town would only provide more ammunition for the Capital’s efforts to expand the village and exercise more control over its people.

Beside him, Gerard’s aid nudged him and whispered as low as he could, “Excuse me sir. I know this might sound ignorant, but what exactly are Rogues? Why is this the first time that I‘m hearing this term?”

Gerard smiled faintly at his aid and whispered back, “Rogues are Warriors that never joined the Order. You haven’t heard about them because the Order doesn’t want it known that they don’t have complete control over the proliferation of Warriors.”

If the aid was shocked, he did an excellent job of hiding it, “But sir, how is that possible? I thought Warriors needed the Order to gain Authorities to utilize their potential?”

Shaking his head, Gerard turned back to the rest of the room at the sound of someone clearing their throat, speaking under his breath, “That’s the official story, but tell me, how can the Order have the only way to utilize one’s potential when each person’s potential belongs to them alone?”

“I…think I understand, sir. Thank you.” the aid replied with a nod, stepping back to digest the information he’d just obtained while allowing the Commander to focus on the war meeting.

Cynthia Reed stepped forward, raising a hand to gather the attention back to her, “Isla makes a strong point. However, we still lack a proper understanding of our enemy. Making any assumptions about strategy will be pointless without it. In that regard, allow me to introduce Mac Cameron, a Warrior sent by the Order to escort this years Selection prospects to the Capital. Warrior Cameron was the one to raise the alarm and has already performed reconnaissance on the forces arrayed against us. Warrior Cameron, you have the floor.”

The man introduced as Warrior Cameron nodded to the Administrator as she returned to her position and took a few steps forward so that he could be seen by all. He was of average build, but the savage look in his green eyes made one think of a cornered tiger waiting to strike. With a smile that made him look like a beast having caught sight of their prey, the man nodded to the rest of the room, causing a shiver to go down the spines of some of those that met his gaze.

“I know everyone here has a lot on their plates, so I won’t waste too much of your time. Administrator, if you would.”

With a flick of her fingers, the focus of the map returned to the area where the battle was expected to take place. With another movement of her fingers, a line of troops stretching back into the eastern hills rose from the map, complete with a banner and insignias indicating specific groups of specialists.

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“As you can see, the enemy numbers several hundred, including at least a hundred Rogue Warriors. I’m not familiar with the enemy banner, so I can’t be of any help there. Taking into consideration the terrain and their distance from the village when I finished gathering this information, I believe you can expect them to be in a position to begin their assault within the hour, maybe less.” Warrior Cameron finished his debrief and gave a slight nod, stepping back out of the spotlight.

Deafening silence descended on the room like a noose. Everyone gathered around the map was dumbstruck at the sheer size of the force arrayed against them. Suddenly, as if a dam burst, the room fell into chaos as everyone exploded in outrage and disbelief, unwilling to accept the information they were looking at. Only the Guard Captain and the burly woman named Isla remained detached, eyes fixed on the symbol of the banner displayed above the enemy troops.

“ENOUGH!”

Administrator Reed’s resonating voice broke through the cacophony of conflicting shouts, bringing most of those that had lost their heads back to their senses. Most of them. There were still those that found themselves ruled by their fear, incapable of accepting the vetted information in front of them.

A strong looking man wearing the clothes of a merchant stepped forward to make his voice known, sweat glistening on his face as he spoke, “Administrator Reed, you can’t seriously expect us to acccept this nonsense, can you? How can a force of this size exist without word of it getting out? And then to march on the borders of one of the Four Regions, undetected until now? It’s preposterous!”

The volume of the room rose again temporarily, as several others made their consensus with the merchant’s word known.

Watching the mentality of the room shifting away from reason, Cynthia looked to Gerard, who had remained silent until now. The middle-aged man, wearing the traditional armor of the Guard Corps, made eye contact with her and a look of understanding was traded between them. Quietly, without raising any suspicion thanks to the rising tensions within the room, the Guard Commander took a step back and disappeared behind the crowd. At the same time, Cynthia narrowed her eyes at the sweating merchant and a crackling energy began to accumulate in the space around her.

“Chairman, I don’t expect you to accept anything. Reality doesn’t require any input from you to be true,” she spat disgustedly at the craven leader of the village’s merchants, “This information is accurate. Not only because I have already confirmed it myself, but because my trust in Warrior Cameron’s judgement, like my trust in all Warriors of the Star Order, is absolute.”

Cynthia’s expression became murderous, the oppressive energy around her condensing into bolts that lashed at the ground near the horrified man who stumbled back in panic.

“I, I didn’t…what I mean is, it wasn’t--,” the man blubbered, trying to recover from the egregious lack of reason caused by his fear, but the Administrator cut him off harshly.

“Did you just declare me a liar, Chairman? Are you calling into question the intelligence and capability of the Southern Star Order? Are you trying to cause descent and anarchy during a critical moment of crisis? These are the acts of a traitor, Chairman. Commander Gerard, tell me, how does the Capital normally deal with treasonous bastards?”

Appearing from behind the petrified crowd, the Guard Commander walked forward and steadily pressed his drawn sword to the neck of the Chairman. He spoke in a bored tone, as if cutting the necks of traitors was no more than a chore, “With death, Administrator.”

Sweeping her eyes around the room, Cynthia made a point of making eye contact with each and everyone of the individuals that had voiced their support of the Chairmans previous words, “With death. If you somehow failed to grasp the situation, let me clarify it for you all right now: We are at war.” She allowed that statement to echo across the room before continuing, “We have no time to waste on cowards and idiots. Those that show any further sign of being either will be dealt with brutally and swiftly.” She drove home her words with a flare of energy before letting it fade. She pointed to a few of the Guards stationed around the room, “Take the Chairman down to the cells below the keep and find him accommodations. The Capital will deal with him publicly once we’ve gotten through this battle.”

The pale faced merchant began to panic, his eyes darting around the room for aid from those that had supported him a moment ago. Alas, all that he found were averted eyes and covered faces. He felt his life crumble around him as the totality of what his moment of insanity had cost him flashed before his eyes.

Cynthia spoke much more softly, “Chairman, consider this time as a stay of execution. Use it to reflect on the seriousness of your actions and may you find some amount of peace with the consequences.” Commander Gerard withdrew his sword and allowed his men to take the merchant away under the eyes of everyone gathered. Returning to his original position, Gerard acted like the past few minutes had never happened, his attention once again focused on the map in front of him.

Around him, the others struggled to compose themselves as the realization of how close they came to death replaced their fear with the frigid light of truth. The truth that, although the Academy was a learning institution, the building and the staff all constituted a branch of the Southern Star Order.

Glancing fleetingly towards the woman that was standing confidently at the end of room conversing with those that would lead the defense of the village, several people wiped their brows. These were the people that had needed to be reminded of one other thing, something that they would remember for a long time as it would be forever etched into their minds from this day forward.

That Administrator Cynthia Reed was their legally appointed Judge, Jury, and Executioner.