First Lieutenant Zyn purposefully walked the corridors of the mobile fortress. He had to go to the Investigation Department, but first, he would determine if his superior officer was in on the farce he had just witnessed.

Captain Abbav had an office in the B-rank area but usually worked closer to his troops. He insisted it was for their safety in case of a Void Breach, and Zyn was inclined to believe the man. No regulations forced him to work only from his office in the B-rank area, and Abbav didn't care about external perceptions of him. For instance, he had to be forced to get promoted by reaching peak rank merit instead of applying for it early like almost everyone else. So, no one would bat an eye if he said he just wanted to stay there because he felt like it.

Not that most of the weak troops knew about the lieutenant's presence so close to them. Few of the D-ranks and none of those below—who even now walked the polished white corridors of their barracks area—knew that one of the nondescript dark wooden doors was their captain's office. The captain only entered or exited it through domain teleportation, an officer's privilege. All the troops knew was that C-ranks constantly visited that place and that an unpierceable darkness prevented any from seeing what lay beyond the door frame.

The corridors were almost entirely empty because every non-conscript was busy. Zyn only saw a few other C-ranks like him. It made the big corridors feel even grander.

Before coming, the lieutenant could've never imagined a place like the enormous mobile fortress. Everything was spacious, even the hallways. Floating D-rank crystal balls floated every dozen yards, illuminating everything; there had to be billions of them in the mobile fortress. The floor, walls, and supporting pillars—which could be seen here and there and were only for decoration—were made of white C- shavinstone. Golden C+ altanium was plentiful in drawn leaves on the walls' footers and headers, and decorating the pillars. The ceilings were made of bronze C valasteel.

A single corridor in that place was more valuable than Zyn's homeworld, and the moment he had first looked at it, he was tempted to stay there forever. Temptation became a reality after he was introduced to the military rules, which were a holiday compared to the tyranny he had grown under. They were also much better than the ridiculous civilian laws.

So, the First Lieutenant didn't take well to people blatantly disrespecting his home's rules. It only got worse when it happened right under his nose in his brigade, the closest thing to a family he had.

Zyn didn't knock to open Captain Abbav's office, as per orders of the very captain, who didn't want his troops to wonder why C-ranks were knocking before entering his room. Going through the dark barrier which prevented eavesdropping was like stepping into another world. The well-lit official architecture gave way to a vast cave chamber shrouded in darkness.

Captain Abbav sat cross-legged on a ten-foot-wide rock in the middle of the big tranquil lake occupying the cave's center. Abbav was a white draggor—also called dragonling or half-dragon by those who wanted a beating—clad in a luminescent dark blue armor that shone with white lights as if blinking stars. Or at least that's what Zyn believed because that's how Abbav had always been clad when outside.

Here, the lieutenant could barely see a silhouette that his mind refused to fully register. Even knowing the captain was there and seeing it, part of his mind insisted that it was just an impression. It didn't help that his Law vision registered nothing, not even a single Law in the man. Zyn would've thought the silhouette an illusion if not for the harsh lesson he learned when he acted on this misconception. Abbav was very physically there.

Memories of a terrifying smiling monster hidden in the dark came unbidden, as they always did when Zyn entered that dwelling. He shut them down, stared firmly at his officer, and waited for permission to speak.

"Yes, First Lieutenant Zyn?" Abbav asked a few instants later.

The captain's voice was deep, silky, and fleeting. If not for military regulations, Zyn was sure he would forget the content of the conversation as soon as he left the room. Whatever Law—or Laws—from the Darkness Abbav had mastered should be as perfect for assassination as Zyn had witnessed it being in large-scale combat.

"I have two issues to report in my brigade, Captain," Zyn said firmly, despite knowing how potentially lethal this encounter could be.

Abbav had never done anything to make Zyn suspect the draggor of foul play, but either Abbav or someone above him had messed with the 77th Cultivator Brigade. Whoever it was, reporting it to the Investigation Department would be suicide. No one was stupid enough to make such a move in blatant disrespect for regulations without figuring out how to get away with it. However, by confronting the potential culprit in private before reporting it, Abbav would allow them to kill him more conveniently. That way, the rest of his people would be safer than if his report stepped on the wrong toes.

Since joining the front lines, Zyn had never heard rumors of such deep corruption. Yet, that didn't necessarily mean it didn't happen. Perhaps, the perpetrators were just good enough at silencing everyone involved. In times like these, when the military was stretched thin, he acted according to the instincts instilled in him on his homeworld, where such petty plays were commonplace. If he was right, he would die for his brigade. If he was wrong, he would just have to brave an awkward conversation with his officer.

"Which issues?" Abbav asked after a few moments.

The captain didn't take a while to respond out of laziness or in some power play. The lieutenant couldn't truly see it, but sometimes he caught a glimpse of movement at the corners of his eyes. Once, after Abbav returned injured, Zyn could swear he had the impression of millions of screens surrounding the cave, showing a multitude of people under the captain's command. Since then, the lieutenant had been sure that the captain was always working or cultivating in his office.

"Captain," Zyn said, "one of my conscripted recruits was a C-rank tale-harvester, but the Recognition Interface displayed his tale-born race instead of his actual one."

Again, it took the captain a few moments to reply. "Yes, I remember it. There's another rookie named Luthdel Elafir in your brigade, a high elf. The A-rank leader of his race asked for the minor favor of keeping him together with a third newcomer, Shen, who is both human and drow. I agreed to it. A few moments later, Tathdel Elafir, a B-rank high elf with a great status in the high elven hierarchy, also asked for the favor to have Afork Staulk, the tale-harvester, placed with Luthdel Elafir, and with a hidden identity. I rejected it, but Tathdel Elafir spoke with Acting Colonel Tazuz, who commanded me to acquiesce. I have no information on their plans or goals. Speaking of which, you did well killing the tale-harvester when it tried to insert itself into Recruit Shen's tale. Does that answer your question?"

Zyn was momentarily stunned by the honesty, concluding he would die today. He wouldn't have been told the truth otherwise. Accepting such favors was very against the rules.

Well, if he was to die, he wanted to at least die knowing everything. "Yes, it answers me, Captain," he replied. "My second issue is that three of the seven newcomers were Guardians. The 77th is a Cultivator Brigade." There were only two Guardians now that the tale-harvester was gone, but still.

The issue was related to the first. However, even if the high elf was to join the human cultivator, they shouldn't be placed in a Cultivator Brigade.

Zyn thought he saw the captain move his head in what could be anything, from anger to surprise to boredom at his words. Abbav took longer to reply this time.

"The 77th became a Mixed Brigade because of Recruit Shen. Someone above Acting Colonel Tazuz marked him to be deployed specifically in the 77th, and he has D-rank Guardian racial subordinates. It conveniently also made it easier to place Recruit Luthdel Elafir beside Recruit Shen."

The lieutenant wasn't satisfied with that answer. "Captain, the regulations direct demand that I be notified in advance of such a change. That didn't happen. Also, Recruit Shen could've been assigned to another brigade."

"Indeed," was all that Abbav replied.

Zyn was getting upset, but he knew better than to show it. He would die here today. How fast that would happen might depend on how much he annoyed his murderer.

Yet, he said, "Captain, I request the 77th to become a Cultivator Brigade again. I'm not prepared to deal with Guardians. I have no experience with that." While Zyn would die, maybe he could revert those changes for his troops. An apology gift of sorts from his murderer.

The officer took almost two minutes to reply this time. "First Lieutenant, I made some very subtle inquiries for you. Acting Colonel Tazuz will not accept this request or another to have you reassigned. You will stay where you are and train your recruits to the best of your ability. Should I record your request anyway?"

Well, Zyn had tried— "Wait." If he was being ordered to train his troops... "I'm not going to get killed?" Then, he added in haste, "Captain?"

"Of course not. Not by me, at least, and I have no reason to believe the acting colonel would do it, either."

"But, Captain, you..." He thought of a nice way to put what he was going to say next, but he didn't find it. "You confessed to having broken at least seventeen regulations, two of which are high offenses."

Those words made the draggor look at Zyn for the first time. Zyn knew it because suddenly, two silver irises appeared in the silhouette, staring straight at his soul. They were small yet seemed to fill the entire cave chamber.

"Of all people, I admit I didn't expect to see you so out of depth, First Lieutenant Zyn," Abbav said without a change of tone. "I didn't watch your entire introduction, but I glimpsed you answering Recruit Shen's questions. You have such a clear grasp of the rules that I believed you... Ah, I see." The eyes faded into the darkness. "You've been living under military rule for so long and resent civilian law so much that you can't see the need to adapt."

Zyn didn't like to frown because an ex had said it made him look stupid. However, he frowned now and thought about his interaction with Recruit Shen. Then, he thought about military regulations and civilian law. He couldn't find the missing link.

"Would you mind explaining it clearly to me, Captain?"

"Why do S-ranks fight?"

The question puzzled Zyn. He didn't know if it was rhetorical, but he tried to answer anyway. "Because of conflict, Captain?"

"Yes, of course. But many other conflicts in the Alliance, some for much greater grievances, were weathered in silence in the past. This is one of the few that ended in bloodshed. So, what drives S-ranks to fight?" This time the question wasn't meant to be answered because Abbav continued. "Have you ever heard of Supremacy?"

"No, Captain."

"Then I shall not be the one to enlighten you. It's one of the secrets told to A-ranks. It can be told to others, but it's unadvised to spread it freely because it can piss the wrong S-rank off, like the little secret about tale-harvesters that Recruit Luthdel Elafir so carelessly revealed to everyone. Suffice it to say, when S-ranks fight—not discuss, but fight—it becomes a matter of Supremacy. One side will emerge victorious. Their very existence can't accept a compromise after their blade is unsheathed. Don't be fooled by the neutral parties' words. There is no sitting and talking this Calamity out."

Zyn suddenly felt very uncomfortable. He could now see where it was going.

Abbav continued, "Since one side will emerge victorious, the military would be stupid not to understand that the winners might be the ones who tried for so long to infiltrate and change the last bastion of the Founders: the military. Therefore, the military looks at the civilian political movements of both parties in the past few tens of thousands of years to comprehend what each side would appreciate that we did. Then, we appease both sides. We accept favors that we believe one party would like to see us accepting, then we confess our mistakes if asked, as the other party would insist. Only the naive would expect the front lines to remain unscathed during a Calamity."

Zyn understood the implied words: if the military was the last bastion of the Founders, it might get attacked by the Founder's enemies. The military was protecting everyone, but the enemies might not care if they thought it would gain them more than they would lose.

He had a tough time swallowing that. "So, we cower like cowards, Captain?"

"Yes, but also, no. If we bow to every party's whims, we'll end up conscripted into their war. Instead, we admit politics for survival to a certain point. We must unite and form a stronger, wider cohesive front, or we'll perish, be it from an attack from the Void or from those we fight for."

The lieutenant wasn't on par with many things beyond the La'sing Chain of Command, so he asked, "How does bowing to the high elves make the military more cohesive?"

"There are very, very few A-ranks not joining the Calamity, First Lieutenant. I don't blame them. I might join myself if I wasn't sure B-ranks would be used as cannon fodder and die useless deaths before gaining anything.

"So, when a A-rank, Samir's Acting General, who is a Titled being, asks for something, we give it to her. She's not part of Li'sang's Chain of Command, but no A-rank is. Our A-rank has joined the war, and no replacement has arrived yet. We need her, an A-rank to fight for the Alliance, even in another Reality Node. We also want her to have the military's back if the Calamity engulfs us. Lastly, we don't want to risk her ire. If she attacked, we would win in the end, but at what cost?

"Therefore, when she asks someone to be appointed somewhere, we give it to her. When her son, who is also her direct aide, asks for something, we give it to him. And when she almost kills that same son for giving such an order, we beg her forgiveness and ask how we should solve the situation in a way that pleases her."

Zyn thought of it for a while. While Abbav's words made sense, the subtext was a bit contradictory. They were only pretending to give in to politics, making a visible effort so that they would have an excuse if the Founders' enemies tried to find fault in them. They were scared but wouldn't truly bow.

Which was why he was confused by the long-winded explanation. That was a very roundabout way of saying they were sailing the wind, albeit diagonally.

Then it dawned on him what Abbav had implied when he said that "no replacement had arrived yet." Yet. Either an A-rank had already been appointed, or they were negotiating it, and one of the costs had been getting Recruit Shen on Zyn's brigade. After all, the order to assign Recruit Shen to the 77th had come from someone above Acting Colonel Tazuz.

"Why the 77th, Captain?"

Abbav took long enough to reply that Zyn thought the draggor would ignore the question. However, he also hadn't dismissed the lieutenant, who could only wait silently. Regulations demanded him to stay put for at least one Standard hour before concluding he had been forgotten by his superior.

Almost half an hour later, the captain replied, "I wasn't told, but my best guess would be that someone likes your personality."

"How so, Captain?"

"The background check on Recruit Shen shows he greatly cares about honor and honesty. The little we saw of him corroborates the evaluation: he cared more about the rules than any peer and refused the tale-harvester's approach because he couldn't trust the latter. And you, First Lieutenant Zyn, are our most honorable C-rank trainer. Our entire direct Chain of Command, from our Captain to you, while not the purest, is in the top three with the best records. Since you'll be working the closest with the Recruit, you're the most important factor for our chain to get selected."

Newbies were hard to handle. They came loaded with preconceptions that would see them killed if it was allowed to bear fruits. A simple example was the female cultivator who had tried to set the pecking order when talking to Recruit Shen.

Zyn didn't think of himself in such high esteem as Captain Abbav had said, but he was efficient in destroying misconceptions at the root. He wouldn't claim that everyone he trained learned better, but they at least got good enough at hiding their mischiefs that he seldom got news of them being executed for treason. A few punishments here and there were unavoidable, of course. No one was perfect.

As for some chains having better records than others, while anyone would be hard-pressed to find true evil or deep corruption in the military, the military killed the Void to survive. Sometimes, a close brush with death was enough to make someone seek greater odds of survival by any means necessary. Minor offenses would always occur, and while following the spirit of the law made it easier to punish such perpetrators, it also required a sapient mind in the military to interpret. For instance, the system could create Bounties for clear offenses like theft or treason, but it hadn't created one for the tale-harvester crime.

Well, if some level of politics was inbound, Zyn would make his own statements. He wasn't for sale. He would also rather die than give in to the change of times.

So, he said, "Captain, I still want you to officially record my request to return to 77th to a Cultivator Brigade."

"As you wish. What do you want me to write in the 'reason for request' field?"

"I have no experience or knowledge about training Guardians," Zyn replied honestly.

"Done. Acting Colonel Tazuz has already replied." He paused, then a terrifying white smile full of sharp teeth appeared in the dark. "He has lifted my ban on training recruits and assigned me as a specialist aide under you—undercover, naturally. I'll answer your questions and offer my expertise." Abbav chuckled. It sounded like rocks scratching each other. "Thank you for this, First Lieutenant. This will be fun."

Zyn's blood left his face. He had served under Abbav when the captain was still a First Lieutenant. Everything had been nice and proper, with nothing to complain about, until the last part, Expedition Training.

Like Zyn, most newcomers would learn to fear Darkness.