In my defense, I'd never had a reason to buy anything for myself, not when the Nephilim Army supplied everything I needed. I had permanent, personal quarters on the Phoenix and I had an apartment suite on Rallypoint that I could claim whenever I needed it. I was provided meals that could vary as I desired wherever I went and I also had access to a gym and track in addition to the old obstacle courses that I'd long since mastered. Not a lot of reason for purchasing my own stuff, so no reason to worry about having a bank account. An account that was filled with enough Deva Credits at this point, from my salaries as Demigod and Chief Protector, to feed a large family for the rest of their lives and still have a lot left over.

While Carrie left to go buy me new clothes, Sarah and Bunny brought the squad candidates to my office where I was working with Cai to divide the fleet into two without leaving one side under-manned. I was debating the best way to do that when the four of them walked in.

"Rickshaw," Sarah said, "these are the two that we picked out. Meet Micheal Hunt and Benjamin Paulson."

I looked up at the first name in confusion, sure I hadn't heard right and saw the two men that were being presented to me.

"Micheal Hunt?" I asked him. "You're kidding."

"Wish I was sir," he said. "I was about thirteen when everyone else started laughing and then someone had to explain it to me. I hated my dad for picking it."

"My condolences," I said. "Why not change your name?"

"I'm working on it," he said. "The problem is that no matter how much proof I give, there's someone who thinks that I'm playing a prank on them. I've had to restart the process a few times now."

"I can help out with that," I assured him. "What are you hoping to change your name to?"

"Micheal Smith is fine with me," he said. "I just want to stop having people double-take when they hear my name. It's getting pretty old."

"I can imagine," I said. "We'll sit down later, really pick something out for you. What about you Benjamin? Anything I can help you with?"

"No sir, thank you," the other man said.

Micheal was dark-skinned and had his head shaved bald, while Benjamin was lighter-skinned and wore his hair pulled into a short pony-tail. Both men were Paladin rank, approaching Wing and they'd worked with one another before so they knew each other and were familiar enough to not feel like the odd man out in the group. Micheal had trained in using a mace and a shield and would offer a third defensively oriented fighter to the squad. Benjamin used a greataxe and was considered an excellent marksman, allowing us another person that was very practiced with using a mag-rifle for any coming fights. After talking with both men for a few minutes, I greenlighted their inclusion into my personal squad and sent them on their way with Carrie and Bunny for an assignement of quarters on the Phoenix. That finished, I turned back to dividing the fleet.

"We're sure we need at least ten thousand starships with us?" I asked Cai.

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"Any less and you risk not having enough supplies, troops, and resources to take and hold enough planets in each of the galaxies we are planning to take," he said. "With this many, you will be guaranteeing that you have enough personnel to hold and build up on at least twenty planets. This is the number that has been calculated as the tipping point in all galaxies. For safety I would reccommend increasing your number of starships by another five thousand, to allow for any potential unforseen circumstances."

"It just seems like a lot," I said. "Ten, or rather fifteen, thousand starships is more than I took with me to Andromeda. Any more just feels like overkill."

"Andromeda benefitted from having you take command of the overall campaign after Obelisk," Cai pointed out. "Additionally, there were fewer starships available for you to take with you then. Fewer starships was just practical then, just as more starships is practical now. You already have several Galaxy-Jumper class starships waiting to be used. Rather than wait for more Horsemen and risk the lives of more Nephilim; why not use those starships and guarantee the lives of more of your Nephilim by having more medical personnel and supplies?"

"You're making a pretty convincing argument," I allowed. "I guess there's not any real reason to keep arguing this anyway. You're making these estimates based on population numbers, projected conquest speed, and planet numbers. Arguing with you is just going to keep driving me in circles."

"I knew you would see things my way," Cai said with a smug attitude. I was more impressed he managed that with his natural monotone.

"Here, get dressed," Carrie ordered as she entered my office and threw a bag at me. "You're probably going to want to shower too. Get to it."

"We've got some time," I said. "Help me finish marking out the production planets and mining crews,"

"We don't have a lot of time," she argued. "We both need to get ready, and we've got maybe two hours for that. Come on. Hop to it!"

As she said that, she left, likely to get herself ready for this dinner.

"Don't know why she's so worried about this," I muttered to myself as I marked one final note before preparing to leave for my quarters and to take a shower like she'd suggested. "It's just dinner."

"Perhaps Horseman Applewood is anxious to see Horseman Yamato and Prinicipality Eriks," Cai suggested. "She is rather close with Horseman Yamato."

"That's true," I said. "Course I never know with Carrie anyway. She might just be excited about the food."

"Something to consider."

I took another look in the mirror and sighed. Carrie was still dressing me in clothes I would never say I was comfortable in. And I was starting to think that she was doing a good job with it too.

In the time she'd been given to find something for me to wear for this dinner, she'd gotten me a black button down shirt and dark slacks that reminded me of the slacks that went with my dress uniform. These clothes were softer than those. The shirt was something, slick and soft, like silk but manufactured. The slacks reminded me of expensive khakis that people would wear when I was younger, though these were clearly more expensive and they fit me better than anything I'd had then.

"Do you and Touka swap the clothing sizes that we use?" I asked Cai. It was the only other explanation I had, but I was kind of hoping it was the other one.

"Horseman Applewood has your clothing sizes memorized," Cai answered. Okay, there was another explanation. It was a little strange to me, but it was too late to change it now.

"She didn't ask you for them?" I asked, hoping that he had lied to me.

"She did not," he said. "Perhaps Touka is the one that has them memorized and she supplied the appropriate sizes when asked."

"Maybe, maybe not," I said. "I wouldn't hold my breath one way or the other."

"Let's go then," I sighed after taking another look in the mirror. "Carrie said I should pick her up and arrive with her to this, so that's what we're doing, I guess."

"Shall I direct you to her quarters?" Cai asked.

"No, I know the way," I told him as I set off.