I walked into the clearing where the shuttle waiting to take us back to the Phoenix sat. Moving through the clearing were Nephilim, setting up camp, clearing brush and preparing for what would become our command center on the planet.

"I'm thinking of letting Qin name the planet," I told Carrie as we walked closer to the shuttle, Nephilim saluting us as we passed.

"Because you feel guilty about always leaving him in charge of the Phoenix?" she asked.

"A little," I admitted. "He deserves the opprotunity to fight Scourge himself. Not be a glorified valet that parks my starship."

"Good," Carrie said. "Cause I'm putting my foot down on this one. You're going to stay on the Phoenix until this planet is cleared."

"Why?" I demanded. Carrie never attempted to order me to do something like this without a good reason. And she'd better give me a damn good one now.

"I know that I told you it inspires everyone else to see the Demigod on the front lines," she said, "but that was years ago. Now that the Nephilim Army is so much bigger, I think you need to transition to a less field-heavy position. You've done great to inspire and build up the Nephilim this whole time and in a century we've gone from no Nephilim to more than the pre-Scourge Earth population levels. It's time that you look into taking on an administrative role. I'll hate it because wherever you go, I go, so I'll be riding a desk too, but this is still something that's bigger than just one or two extra bodies in the fight now. This is about having the Demigod who made the Nephilim from nothing leading us into a bigger and bigger and universe. You've done great, since you made Kyouka and Julio Horsemen and gave them their own fleets, but have you even considered any of the candidates they put forth for Horseman?"

"But you're the one who argued so heavily for a new squad memeber," I pointed out. "If you wanted me to step off the battlefield, why did you make such as case for that?"

"Do you know what they call us?" she asked in answer. "What the rank and file call you and I?"

"Demigod James and Horseman Applewood," I went with the most obvious answer.

"They call you Death's Cheat, because you walked away from the Rallypoint disaster and since then you've survived more crippling injuries without flinching," she told me. "They call me Valkyrie. It's getting worse as time goes on. You keep cheating Death from its due and that's making it worse and worse when the younger Knights and Paladins have to interact with you. It's building a legend that paralyzes them when they realize that the great Demigod Rickshaw James, Death's Cheat, is just some guy who isn't even all that special. When you were building up Obelisk, you never interacted with anyone lower than Wing without a good reason. That helped keep the younger Nephilim from having a heart attack when they saw you, they knew you weren't going to talk to them."

"And how is it affecting you?" I asked her quietly as the shuttle doors closed. Sarah and Bunny had chosen to stay behind and help with further cleanup efforts. I was starting to think that was on purpose by Carrie.

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

"Everytime we swoop in and save a squad from being killed by Scourge, I'm the one that stands in front of them," she said. "I'm the one that rallys the squad and keeps them fighting. You're too busy with killing the biggest, meanest Scourge there to notice, but I see it. They look at you like they've seen an angel and they look at me like I just saved them from being turned into kibble. They practically worship us. You as some avenging angel that's watching over them like a saint and me as a guardian angel that's going to always be there."

"I don't like it," she said quietly. "It makes me uneasy when they look at me like I'm somehow better than them when I've just had more time to train and learn to fight."

I sat quietly, thinking as the shuttle lifted off from the planet and made its way to the Phoenix's hangar. I still hadn't spoken as the doors to the shuttle opened and I stood with Carrie to step out onto the Phoenix. Finally, I opened my mouth to speak just before we seperated to remove our armor and shower.

"Did you want a new squad member so that I'd see it up close with Erica?" I asked her quietly. "So that I'd see how much it scared her to see me?"

"Yes," she answered before moving to enter the women's shower room. I stood there, silent and contemplating at what she'd just told me.

I had never meant to make a legend of myself or anyone else. I just wanted to keep everyone I knew and loved safe and give my people the chance to make an unchanging mark on the Universe itself. I guess, now that I think about it, that meant that I wanted to leave legends behind for the rest of the Universe to find. I'd just never considered if that would have my story be one of them.

"Cai, send word to Qin," I said. "I need to speak with him. Now."

"Shall I ask him to come to you?" Cai asked.

"Yes," I said. "This is important."

"Very well, he has been alerted," Cai said as I removed my armor before entering the shower. "Why did you wish to see him?"

"If I've already built up a legend then I'd better go big or go home with it," I told him.

"What do you mean?" he asked.

"You'll figure it out," I told him.

"You wanted to see me sir?" Qin asked as I scrubbed grime and sweat from my hair.

"Yeah," I said. "You're naming this planet. When that's done, suit up. You're going down to oversee the operations that get rid of the Scourge. Once that's done, you're staying to oversee how the planet gets built up. Congratulations. You're a Principaility now."

"What?" Qin asked, disbelief coloring his voice.

"I need a Wing spot cleared out on the Phoenix," I told him. "You've done great overseeing the Phoenix while I've been gone, so now I'm having you take the next step. You're promoted."

"Why do you need a free Wing spot?" he asked. "There's never been a need for having certain amounts of Wings or Prinicipalities."

"I know," I said. "This was less needing a free space cleared and more promoting the most capable person. That's you. That said I am promoting someone to Wing now that you're not going to be able to keep an eye on the Phoenix for me. Happy hunting."

"Thank you sir," he said cautiously before turning and leaving the room.

"Cai send word to Carrie," I told my Cyber. "Sarah's being promoted to Wing. Again."

"Horseman Applewood will be most unhappy about this," Cai pointed out.

"Yeah, but if I'm going to ride a desk again for a few years, then I'm doing it with my squad up here with me," I said as I lathered soap onto my clothe scrub. "Send word to Sarah and Erica. They're both promoted one rank."

"Paladin Swans and Wing Applewood," he said. "I have already informed them both."

"Great," I said. "Now I just need to convince Carrie to help me out with making all this happen faster. We're going to start on clearing the next galaxy on the line as soon as this planet's cleared of Scourge. The Principalities in charge can handle this."