Tia Serrano sipped her cup of coffee while reviewing the most recent pile of status reports. The Kaiser, in all his glory, fed her plenty of ‘nearly’ obsolete data covering everything from military recruitment to war readiness and defense spending. The Voxsturm Primary was the most disorganized ‘organized’ rabble she had ever had the pleasure of dealing with. Its branches were myriad, its leadership poor, and its combat effectiveness was barely worthy of being considered an army. 

Not like her men, not like her bloody winged regiment.

Having to read through days' worth of reports was excruciating. It was enough to make her want to drink again. She loosened the tie around her throat, and unbuttoned her jacket, trying and get more comfortable. A sprinkle of cleavage was suddenly exposed to the cool brisk air, forming goosebumps. Each breath caused them to rise and fall, squeezing against the fabric of her brassiere. 

“The Cubi population continues to rise.” Her adjutant, Captain-Commander Cynfael Melchior, noted from the monthly population census. He was more than willing to help her cover the civilian reports. A small squad of personnel was also nearby, helping to sort through crucial material. Anything not deemed worthy of either of their attention, they handled.

Tia was curious how the population censuses got into his hands, and why he hadn’t reprimanded anyone for having to deal with such tedious data.

Tia shrugged. “Why is that unusual?”

“It’s the orphan population that’s the most noteworthy. It warrants an investigation.” His concern for the denizens of the Daemienne and Vylear districts was noble, but Tia wasn’t sure why it was taking precedent right now.

“Not our responsibility.” Tia turned from one thick bundle of papers to another. The title of the newest stack outlined how weapons stockpiles were rather low, and her regiment wasn’t scheduled to receive the newest generation of equipment for another year. She groaned at that.

Of course the Kaiser’s cronies would get the best stuff before everyone else who actually needed it. At the current state of things, if there was another uprising they might not be able to handle it. God forbid, the Urug district erupts into violence. 

Tia still had nightmares of putting down that mass insurrection twelve years ago. Two hundred men lost their lives before the orcs accepted the cease-fire. Next time, hopefully there wouldn’t be a next time, Tia would let the Kaiser deal with it on his own before offering her assistance. 

She liked the idea of watching him beg on all fours for her valiant forces to do what his ‘Primary’ couldn’t.

“Any news from your spy?” Tia decided it would be best to try to change the subject, before letting her imagination wander. 

Cynfael looked over to her. “Yes, in fact. You know, there’s a girl stalking your boy all over campus.”

Tia remained silent for several seconds, her eyes glued to the pages in hand. “Well, that didn’t take long…” She finally breathed. 

“You knew…” Cynfael eyed her warily. 

“Every time my son sends me a photo from campus, I can spot that rat-tail somewhere in the background. Sometimes it's a tiny pair of horns in the bushes, or an arrow shaped tail wrapped around a streetlamp. One time, I swear I could see the succubus girl hiding in a tree. It’s pathetic.”

“Should you be worried? Should I ask my agent to do something about it?”

“No, not—“ Before she could finish, an alarm chimed on her personal terminal. She looked over and swore. “Shit, another one.”

“Ma’am?” Her adjutant rushed to her side.

“They found another one.” Tia scrolled through the data. “There’s another artifact right outside the wall!”