"Wing, I want you to take your Order and advance east," I spoke through the comm line to the Wing on the other end that was currently acting as the vanguard for the northernmost front on our efforts to clear the planet, that we had now named Obelisk, of all Scourge.

"Yes, Demigod," the Wing answered. "Have you gotten word on where the Queen might be yet, sir?"

"Leave me to worry about that," I told him. "You focus on keeping your Order and yourself alive."

"Yes sir, sorry, sir," he said before I cut the line.

"The southern front is in need of reinforcement," Cai pointed out.

"Yeah, I'm thinking of sending the Tadpole's Pool to drop some Screechers behind the lines and forcing some of the Scourge to back off while the Leaping Frog drops shuttles to reinforce the area."

"An idea," Cai said simply.

"No shit," I told my Cyber. "I can't think of anything better to do and it's not like I can use some sort of strategy against the Scourge. It's all a bodies game with them. Who has more numbers and where? Those are the questions that I need to consider. They don't retreat and they don't use terrain to their advantage unless they're ambush types and even then they use it crudely."

"The eastern front also requests more Firecrackers and Noisemakers," he said to change the subject from the old complaint that I'd been voicing for the two months I'd been overseeing the campaign for Obelisk so completely. I'd also been using it for the last twenty years, but who was keeping score?

"Haven't the factories on the Screaming Banshee been able to keep up with our demands?" I asked.

"They are having some issues," Cai answered. "Using them to startle the Spitters is effective, but unfortunately increases our use of them by a factor of five. The factories are consuming more resources than we are able to gather to make them."

"Dammit," I sighed. "Open a line to the Tadpole's Pool."

"It is done," Cai said. Better than those damn tones.

"This is Demigod James," I said knowing that someone would answer soon, probably in a panic from nerves for some reason.

"We hear you sir, how can the Tadpole's Pool assist you?" the expected voice asked politely as if they were a call center or customer service representative.

"I need a series of Screechers dropped at these coordinates to assist the southern front," I said sending those chosen coordinates to them. "Coordinate your drop with the Leaping Frog's drop of shuttles and reinforcements."

"Will do sir," the voice said. "Shall I contact them and relay your orders?"

"No, I'll do that," I told them. "Thanks for the help."

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Cai cut the line and began to open one to the Leaping Frog before I could hear their answer. A tone alerted that the line was open.

"This is Demigod James," I repeated my words to alert them who was on the opposite end of their line.

"Please tell me you have some orders for us," the Paladin on the other side begged. "I'm dying of boredom here."

"I do have orders," I told her. "I can also send you to help out with the fighting planetside if you'd like. I'm sure there would no shortage of volunteers that would love to have a break from the constant fighting they're having to do down here."

"What can we do for you, sir?" another voice asked as I heard a third voice begin to chew out the first voice.

"I want the Leaping Frog and the Tadpole's Pool to coordinate a drop of Screechers and shuttles to reinforce the southern front," I said. "Also in that reinforcement I want building supplies and materials for a FOB to be included. The southern front is starting to approach another thousand mile mark and I need them to have a fallback point."

"We'll do that sir," the second voice promised as the third voice continued in the background. "Good luck down there sir."

"Good luck up there," I told them before cutting the line.

"Now, lets look into the material gathering," I muttered as I left the exact details of what I wanted for the two fronts to their respective people.

"Are you sure about this, Demigod, sir?" the Principality on the other end of the line asked. "I would have thought that you'd want Horseman Applewood to oversee an operation like this."

"Horseman Applewood is preoccupied," I told him. "You're the one in charge of the Screaming Banshee while I'm not onboard, so you're the one that's going to oversee this. Besides, this is just a resource gathering operation. You don't need to worry about having personel to fight Scourge."

"I'm asking because I've never done this without someone else to help me in command of this sort of thing," he said. "I'm worried."

"You were chosen for this because I know that you'll do well in overseeing the resource gathering that you're in charge of," I assured him. "You've led men and women into battle, keeping them on track as they get the raw materials we need is going to be a cake-walk in comparison."

"Thank you for believing in me sir," the Principality said. "I won't let you down sir."

"It's no trouble," I said. I understood the hesitation they had; giving orders that send people to fight with others to look after them and help keep them alive was very different from setting quotas and deadlines while leaving others in charge of who did what and when. "Just make sure that you don't over-stretch yourself for this."

I ended the comm line soon after that and I began to look over the various maps and charts detailing the resources that were being used and the current layout of the lines that we'd been pushing to. Nearly a quarter of the planet had been taken by this point and I was getting tired of not having found the Queen that created and replenished the Horde on it. I was also getting tired of having to spend most of my time in a passive state overlooking the expansion efforts that were slowly turning this and the other bases scattered across the secured area into cities that would house and take care of any colonists that showed up once the Scourge were gone.

"Two months ahead of schedule and we're only a quarter of the way done," I muttered. "Tell me there's a better thing to hear, Cai."

"Wing Applewood is awake and the doctors are confident that she can begin physical therapy in another two weeks," he said.

"Carrie must be over the moon," I said while I plotted the routes I wanted the eastern front to push toward.

"She is," he said. "She asked if you would like to visit her sister now that she is awake."

"Tell her I'll try, but I can't promise anything," I told him. "I'm trying to take care of every issue before they come up or when they become a problem. Tell Sarah I'm glad she's awake for me."

"I shall," he said. "Is there anything that you need immediate help with?"

"I think I'm good for now," I answered. "Maybe set an alarm to get food about eight o'clock."

"Done," he said before falling silent and leaving me to think and look over the maps and the routes I wanted my forces to take in their movements.

I still needed to finalize the names of the researchers that I wanted to look over the obelisk. Dammit.