"Principality Applewood, I want an explanation for this," I said, trying to keep my voice from showing my exhaustion at what Carrie had done now from peeking through. I don't know if I managed it.
"Commander," she saluted. "I see that you found your uniform I designed for Demigods. Do you like it?"
The uniform she had designed was the only thing that I'd been able to get my hands on this morning and at five in the morning I was too tired to pay attention until I had it on. She had put it together rather well I guess. Starting from the pants, they were black and plain and every inch the dress pants they were meant to be. The shirt was a dark gray color, a charcoal gray if I remembered right from her month of trying to convince me to switch the colors of armor that the Nephilim wore; she claimed this one matched the serious expression I always wore and was perfect for me, but all I knew about gray shirts was that they were a taboo for guys everywhere as soon as you started feeling slightly warm. Thankfully the jacket I wore over it would hide any signs of discomfort better since it matched the black of the pants and had two stripes of gold around each wrist and had a gold star on the top two black buttons and three golden stripes on the epaulets at my shoulders. Pinned to the front right breast of the jacket were my rank badge and the Wardens of Life Medal of Heroic Sacrifice. The overcoat had similar embellishments and trim as the jacket and was clearly meant to be worn only in bad weather, so I hadn't worn that.
I was more impressed that she had managed to have this made so quickly and that she'd somehow convinced the people in charge of cleaning my quarters to empty my closet except for this.
"How long have you had this waiting?" I demanded as I tried not to crush the hat, yes the damned black hat with the Demigod rank insignia on the front of it that brought the whole ensemble together. I hated that hat.
"More importantly, how do you like the uniform for everyone else?" she asked twirling around so I could see all sides of what she was wearing. Where everything I was wearing was dark and had gold trimming or something, she was wearing white with a sky blue shirt and had navy blue trimming.
"How long?" I demanded.
"Ever since I heard some of the other girls complain about only having those god-awful green suits as the only things to wear," she admitted. I remembered that day; she'd come into my office and demanded that something be changed with the uniforms. I'd told her then that the uniforms weren't a priority and that we could worry about them another day.
"You're kidding," I said.
"Nope, now take this stuff and go style your hair some," she said pushing hair product and a comb into my hands. "You'll look better and being able to make a great impression is important."
"Who am I impressing?" I asked. "I've been seen with messy hair and styled hair before, everyone saw them. Why is this important now?"
"Because you're the commander, the Demigod," she said like that explained everything. "You need to be seen with every part of you put in perfect order for this because that will tell everyone else that you're completely serious about all this."
Great. I'd thought that I was teaching her to lead the Nephilim but apparently she was more worried about being a stylist or fashion designer.
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Guess I could play along a little more then.
"So do you just want me to do what I normally do with my hair? Or did you have something different in mind?" I asked trying not to sigh from the answer I knew was going to come.
"Oh here I'll do it. Sit down there so I can reach better," she said snatching the product and comb from my hands. I already wanted to cry so badly; I was leaving my appearance in the hands of a girl that was more worried about impressions than the threat to everything we knew.
"Now when you have everyone preparing to board the transports you should maybe try and say something inspiring to them," she said while putting my hair in order the way she wanted. "Maybe say something about how we'll all be back here soon to kick Scourge ass and train our new recruits. Or something about how we'll be making sure that the Scourge can't hurt our families anymore. Either way, once you do that you should be the first to board your private shuttle and set off for the flagship. What's the flagship's name by the way?"
I let her carry on like that since I'd been able to see it as soon as I walked in. She was worried. Worried about her sister, her friends, everyone and everything she knew. All of it was under threat by the Scourge and I felt responsible for distracting her. I'd made it seem like the uniform was a bigger deal than it really was to get her mind on something else entirely. I just wish I could have stopped thinking about it all myself.
"There all done, Touka can you give the Commander a view of what his hair looks like?" She'd been quicker than I'd thought she would be.
After a moment, there was a hologram of myself in front of us and I could see the entirety of my appearance. At least she was right about the gray shirt matching my face, I could see it now. I was even more grateful that she'd gone for something simple and utilitarian for my new hair style. This wasn't the time to experiment with 90s grunge spikes; the simple back and to the side style fit much better with my uniform.
"Alright, time to get the shuttles in place," I said as I raised the hat and carefully placed it on my head. She didn't like how I sat it and adjusted it until she was satisfied. Patience is a virtue, don't snap at the poor girl worried about her family.
As I watched my Nephilim march onto the landing pad and prepare to board the shuttles, I had to admit that Carrie was right, having actual uniforms did bring it all together in a way that the green suits hadn't. I was never going to tell her that though. I also noticed that they all had different colors to denote rank. Sky blue shirt and navy blue trim for Principalities, light green shirts and emerald green trim for Wings, pale yellow shirts and gold trim for Paladins, and finally, pink shirts and crimson trim for Knights. I was almost afraid to ask what the colors for Horsemen were.
I stood, hands clasped behind my back watching as they all filed in and came to attention. When had they trained for that? After the last Knight had entered, I simply watched them all carefully, evaluating everything about them from their stances to their expressions. Many of them looked nervous or green, like they would be sick; most of them though had determined expressions. I felt they were ready for this.
"You've all heard the destination," I said. "You all know about the Scourge landing a Queen on Earth. I'll say this once. Any Nephilim that kills that Queen will be promoted one rank and, depending on the rank they achieve, will be put in charge of the Nephilim presence on Earth for the foreseeable future. I'll see you all on the starship, the Phoenix. Mount up!"
As I finished speaking I spun about and boarded the shuttle that was set aside for myself and my aides. At the moment that was just Carrie and Angie; if Julio had been here, he would have been with me as well.
While my shuttle rose into the air and began the trip to space and the newly dubbed Phoenix, I watched through the view screens as the Wings directed the Paladins and Knights to board their shuttles and all followed after me. Now I just had to hope that I could keep myself busy for the two weeks that the rush to Earth would take; and hope that we showed up in time to keep everyone alive and any nuclear options from being used.
"Commander James," Angie said drawing my attention to the still human woman that now barely rose to my chest. "Have you looked over the armor designs that Principality Applewood has made yet?"
Oh dammit, this wasn't over?