“Our new digs, I guess.” Aziz eyed the brand-new building, which was now under the process of being occupied by Stardust and Thunderbolt. This scene wasn’t a stranger to him; something like this had happened almost a year ago, when Thunderbolt was dispatched to the Central Circle to check and clear out Machia, a place that was overflowing with snowpyres.

“I think the Mortal Light Dynasty is addicted to building new barracks,” Marie observed. “Do they do that on a regular basis?”

Vasily rolled his eyes. “Regular doesn’t even begin to cut it. Whoever’s in charge of infrastructure is addicted to building things.”

“Addicted?”

“Yes, you heard me right.” His voice changed into a squeaky one. “There are some issues with the Ark-class Locomotives! We should rebuild them! There are not enough secondary headquarters! We should build more! There are not enough—”

“We get it, we get it.” Aziz shot a glance of pity at the…well, he didn’t know if Vasily was an officer or not. “Does that, by any chance, extend to your current rank?”

“Oh no,” Vasily replied, with a voice so fake that the colonel felt shivers ran down his spine. “Of course not! How could it be? Surely, there isn’t a fool sitting in the State Council who thinks that we need more divisions in the military!”

Out of the corner of his eye, Aziz saw Marie shrug lightly while shaking her head.

“Why did the Pinnacle approve this, then?” Aziz asked.

“It was a rank scheme by his predecessor,” Vasily replied. “Word has it that Pinnacle Kolya’s efforts to abolish it was opposed by the conservatives who feared his power, so…”

“Gah.”

“My thoughts exactly.”

“Let’s put this unhappy matter aside for now,” Vasily said, shaking his head. “I’m going to give you the lowdown on the schedule for the next three weeks now. Remember to let your troops know.”

Aziz really wanted to ask if someone in the North’s military had forgotten to relay orders down to their subordinates, but he gave up on the motion in the end.

At their silence, Vasily cleared his throat. “Equipment collection and stock-taking begins tomorrow morning. We won’t be issuing weapons and the like, but rather, cutting-edge artefacts in the field of communication. The only exception to this rule will be the helmets, which have been customised to accommodate one of our communication artefacts. We’ll hold a demonstration for that tomorrow.”

He took out a piece of paper and passed it over. “These are the specifications of the issued equipment. The rest of the week belongs to you to break in the equipment and to brush some dust off your troops’ skills. The next few weeks will be a combined training, an experiment to see if regiment-level manoeuvres are feasible and to record the minimum air space required.”

“Who has overall command?” Marie asked.

“To be decided in a meeting,” Vasily replied. “We’re favouring you and your vice-commander, however, given your extensive experience in commanding.”

Aziz wanted to curse, but that was nothing compared to the incandescence on Marie’s face.

“Marshal, something wrong?” Vasily asked, clearly concerned.

“No, nothing much,” she replied. “Just…”

“Excited,” Aziz supplied. “This is one of our, uh, largest assignments we’ve ever held to date. It will be challenging, but our Marshal Marie has never backed down from one before.”

He felt Marie twitch, and a moment later, she too had counterattacked. “Colonel Aziz will be delighted too. He’s one that would forgo sleep in order to achieve excellence, and this challenging task will be something that will keep him up for the months to come.”

“I haven’t forgotten the last time you kept everyone back because their movements had a tiny flaw,” Aziz replied smoothly. “We’re not going to get any early nights, I guess.”

“You’re also very hardworking,” Marie said. “No lunch, a quick dinner…anything’s possible.”

Marie and Aziz smiled at each other, but Aziz was cursing even harder in his heart. Of course, knowing the marshal, she too was doing the same, but that didn’t mean his sudden workload was justified.

“Marshal? Colonel?” Vasily asked, his face somewhat pale. “Did something happen? Is the timetable too cramped after all?”

“There are some improvements that could be made,” Marie replied, a light of warning in her eyes. “Mainly towards the activities next week.”

Aziz shivered and played along. “We’ll revise it today, and send you a better one tomorrow or the day after. Don’t worry.”

Vasily opened his mouth, and then shut it a moment later. He had apparently noticed something off, although Aziz was quite sure that his true emotions were solidly hidden behind his granite face.

“Anything else?” Aziz asked, stifling a yawn with his words.

“There is, as a matter of fact.” Vasily took out the artefact he had been fiddling with. “An invitation has been issued to the two of you, to attend a private dinner party jointly hosted by Pinnacle Kolya and Oracle Galina tomorrow.”

“A private dinner party?” Marie asked.

“By the two rulers of the North?” Aziz added.

Aziz and Marie exchanged glances. “Is there any reason?”

“I’m not sure,” Vasily replied. “But anything issued by the Oracle always has a reason.”

Marie looked at the shiny new barracks, and narrowed her eyes slightly. “I don’t think there’ll be an issue if we let the kids play around alone. Very well. Tell us the details of this party.”

“As you wish.” Fiddling with the artefact, Vasily launched into an explanation