//------------------------------// // 24- Fides // Story: Changing Expectations // by KKSlider //------------------------------// Colonel Amphid addressed the Praetorian standing at attention at the entrance to the royal wing. “Colonel Amphid to see High Marshal Prince Phasmatodea.” The Praetorian nodded before entering the wing himself. Amphid bit back a rebuke, remembering that the royal guards never saluted officers outside their own ranks. Amphid did not have to wait long before the door reopened and the Praetorian stepped out. “First room on the right, Colonel Amphid.” The Colonel entered and knocked on said door. “Enter.” Amphid entered the room, and was not impressed. A small space, about the size of his own office if not smaller. In it was a hive-gel desk, what he assumed was a chair behind the desk, and two more in front. There were some papers in a neat stack on the side of the desk, but it was what was in the chair that held all the attention in the room. Prince Phasmatodea, newly appointed High Marshal of the New Swarm. ‘The Prince of the hive has an office that’s the same size and contents of a Colonel. Perhaps I should give His Highness the benefit of the doubt, he was only promoted two weeks ago or so.’ “Colonel Amphid, it is a pleasure to meet you.” “And an honor to meet you, My Prince.” The Prince levitated a paper from the side up to his eyes. “I have a lot to do and not much time, so I’m going to cut to the meat of the matter. The Fourth Legion needs a general.” “General?! My Prince, that is quite the honor!” “Yes it is. You are one of the top candidates for promotion. Now, are you the best candidate?” “I have commanded the Third Hoof for nine years now, My Prince. My command has been without issue and the Third Hoof was the pride of the Swarm!” “Without issue, you say? I have a report right here on my desk that says otherwise. A complaint filed by Colonel Xiphydriidae saying that your ‘radical ideas’ constantly endanger your side’s chances for victory during training exercises.” ‘Why, that stingless wasp!’ “My Prince, Colonel Xiphy says a lot of things, and rarely do they hold thought. His promotion to Colonel only happened because of his predecessor’s untimely death, he ought to be no higher than a sergeant!” “Does his complaint hold merit, Colonel?” “The training we received does go against my actions during the training exercise he calls into question, yes, BUT there is no victory without risk, My Prince. I have seen the exact same scenario in that training exercise before and the side we were playing as would lose again if I followed training. Surely, My Prince understands the need for changing the ancient constraints that bind us?” Prince Phasma gave Amphid a smile. “This report is what led me to consider you for promotion.” “So this was some kind of test?” “Of course. Now, training and orders are two different things…” “Your Highness, I would never disobey an order!” He levitated a piece of paper over in front of me. Amphid craned my neck to look at it. It was a document detailing the structure of Legion IV, The Second Line Legion. “Then sign at the bottom.” “What is your command, My Prince?” Amphid asked while signing. “Your orders are to secure the East Coast. The honor and glory of felling Manehattan and its sister cities falls to you, General Amphid. Three brigades from the Seventh will assist you in cracking any stalwart defenses Equestria might place in front of you. “Now, as General, you hold the same title as nominally myself as general of the Third Legion…” “My Prince, I could never consider you so low as to be my equal! The fact that any can hold the same title as Your Highness is practically an insult!” “... Which is why your only true equal is the general of the Fifth Legion, when that spot is filled. It goes without saying that Queen Chrysalis and I are above your station, but if Commander Scorpion of the First or Intelligencer Ocelli of the Second gives you orders, it would be very wise to listen close, if not obey outright. So long as they do not conflict with orders I give, General.” “I understand, My Prince.” Prince Phasma picked up a small stack of papers from the corner of the desk and placed them in front of Amphid. “These detail the structuring of your legion. I expect you to fill the positions within using your own judgement. If you have need for any supplies, file a request with Chamberlain Eucharis, as he is the Captain of the First Logistics Legion.” “I will do so, My Prince.” “Good. We will talk more later. Congratulations on the promotion, General Amphid.” “Your Highness is most generous, I am honored beyond words.” ‘And that’s the Second Line Legion taken care of. I’ll have to get a better view of his leadership later so I can start setting up the Lodges, I bet he is what I’m looking for.’ When the General left my office, I checked the time. ‘Right on schedule.’ I placed the papers back into the stack, and headed out to the throne room. There, Thorax was waiting for me. Specifically, he was staring at the sapphires on Chrysalis’s throne. “Good afternoon, Prince Phasma.” “Good afternoon, Praetorian Thorax. Walk with me.” As we headed out of the main hive spire and into the adjacent secondary spire, I spoke to Thorax. “My lessons with Queen Chrysalis are nearly complete for I am to spend every hour outside training on founding the Legions. That means you will be sticking with me all day everyday.” “That sounds great, Prince Phasma! We get to hang out every day?” “Not ‘hanging out,’ Thorax, though I wish we were. I’m very busy, and as my personal Praetorian, you are expected to be by my side for most of the day when we leave the hive. But before that, you’ll be running errands for me, helping me set up the legions. “Listen, Thorax, when we’re around Queen Chrysalis, please… keep to yourself. I don’t want you to accidentally give her a reason to set her fangs upon you.” “I’m glad you’re worried for me, Phas– Prince Phasma. I’ll be careful, I promise. Where are we headed now?” “The office of the First Logistics Legion.” “First Logistics Legion? Why do you need a whole legion dedicated to logistics?” “They will be embedded within every other legion, so they are mostly a legion in name only. The reason why they are separate is…” ‘Fuck, how the hell do I tell Thorax this?’ “They're… They need to… Oh fuck it, they’re the ones who will be rounding up the ponies, putting them in pods, and dealing with the prisoners in general. They need to have a certain level of authority around other legionnaires.” Thorax quickly whispered to me, “Phasma, you said-” “I have to prepare for the worst, and I will do this if we don’t have another solution. I mean it. I really hope it doesn’t come to it, but I cannot ignore the possibility. Especially when it's expected of me to plan accordingly.” Thorax huffed and we walked the rest of the way in silence. Collecting what I needed from the Logistics office was a quick affair. Chamberlain Eucharis had worked with me to get everything ready for my two Praetorians, as well my Steward when I chose one. We were picking up the personal armor for Thorax. It was an orange counterpart to Chrysalis’s Praetorians, with no other changes. When Thorax put the armor on, I could see he was uncomfortable. “You look good in it, Thorax.” “That’s because it’s orange, Prince Phasma. It’s no secret that you like orange, considering half of you is that color.” “Everyone looks good in orange,” I grumbled. “I don’t like this, but if you say I have to wear it…” “It’s expected of you.” “Then fine.” “... Do you find it strange that you are the same position as your brother?” Thorax snorted, “Of course. He’s big and tough and wants to protect others. I’m… just a changeling. I want to help others, but protecting? I’m not a fighter.” “You won’t have to be.” As he started walking around the room to get a feel for the helmet and peytral, Thorax asked, “Explain your legions to me. I never received officer or guard training, so I don’t know what they are.” “Sure. The First are the Praetorians, led by Commander Scorpion. Aside from yourself and soon Oestridae, they are loyal to Queen Chrysalis. The Second are the Infiltrators, led by Intelligencer Ocelli. The Third, Fourth, and Fifth are the Line Legions. You can picture them as the main body of the army. “Then comes the Sixth, Seventh, Eighth, Ninth, and Tenth. These are all Specialist Legions, and are comparatively small. They are split up and attached to the three Line legions to fulfill special purposes. “Finally, the Eleventh and Twelfth are Logistics Legions. The Eleventh are garrison and pony-podders, and the Twelfth are focused on medical aid. I’ve got some ideas I want to experiment with, so having a special group dedicated to medical practices means I can easily change how they operate. If we do find an alternative, they will be the ones implementing it. Again, they will be split up amongst the other divisions. “Within each Line Legion are Brigades, about five each. The first are command, the rest are main line infantry. Within each Brigade are battalions, made up of squads and whatnot. The Specialist Legions are Battalions directly.” Thorax stopped walking around, “Oookay, Eleventh and Twelfth are separate divisions for support?.” “I need to be able to give orders to specifically all the changelings involved in the podding process quickly, and that works best if there is already an established hierarchy within those changelings.” "Right. Can you repeat the part about everything? Because I'm still a bit lost." I huffed, "One and Two are important and special. Three, Four, and Five are the main army. Six, Seven, Eight, Nine, and Ten are special. Eleven and Twelve are support.' “Why didn't you just say that?" I groaned as Thorax continued, "… So I got my armor, Phasma, what’s next?” “Why, the most important thing a Prince can do. Paperwork.”