Chapter 203: Concessions

Celeste fought the urge to chew on her fingernails as she waited for the rest of the Captains to file out of the command room. Instead of spending her night devising battle plans to propose during their morning meeting like she usually did, she had spent all of her afternoon worrying about how she was going to broach the topic of getting raw genesis matter for Harvey.“Celeste? Did you need something?” Brutus asked, still sitting at the head of the long conference table where he was sending instructions to the foundry using a slate of gray crystal.

She hesitated, debating whether it was better to lie to Harvey and blame her inability to get him the genesis matter on Brutus or to actually ask him. Either way, she doubted Harvey was going to get what he wanted. The only difference was whether she got herself in trouble. “Um…”

“Just spit it out. Whatever it is, I have no doubt you’ve earned the right to ask with everything you’ve done the last few weeks.”

Gathering her courage, she met her Commander’s gaze. He looked tired, but she was sure this would wake him up. “I brought Harvey and Tyler to Lily’s yesterday so she could get started on their anointment.”

“Oh? Did something go wrong with the Fulgur Phoenixes? Three should have been more than enough.”

“No. Tyler ended up with a great pattern and plenty of oil to get him a lightning resonant weave. The issue is the materials for Harvey’s oil.”

“Can’t decide what he wants? We really only have resources for the faithful at least tangentially following one of Heaven’s paths. I’m grateful for his help in killing the first lieutenant. I really am. But he still might be better off waiting to anoint himself until we make it back down to the planet.”

Celeste gulped, anxiously tapping on the table in front of her as she prepared to cross the point of no return. “No, he has an idea of what he wants to use. It’s actually perfect for him. I just don’t know if you’d be willing to give it to him.”

“If it’s a creature found in Heaven or Hell, I don’t see why I couldn’t get him enough material for an anointment,” Brutus replied, looking confused as he finally tore his eyes away from the slate he used to command the foundry.

“He wants genesis matter,” Celeste finally said.

The commander’s eyes went hard as he carefully set the slate down on the table in front of him. Placing both palms face down on the wood, he pushed himself up so he could lean towards her. He looked like a cat ready to pounce, and Celeste felt like all the oxygen in the room had rushed out to escape his presence. Brutus wasn’t any stronger than her. In fact, she’d bet everything she had that she could easily take him in a fight. Still, he was her commander. The chain of command had been beaten into her since the day she was born. Her father’s place in Heaven’s army had given her family so much, and he made sure she knew those blessings only came through following the Lord’s will.

Even if she could kill Brutus, something deep within wouldn’t let her fight back if he chose to punish her for revealing the genesis matter to a human. She hoped he wouldn’t take it that far, but he had every right to punish her.

“He… wants it? Or you want to give it to him?”

“His path doesn’t follow one particular resonance,” she hurried to explain. “He incorporates them all into the equipment he forges. Genesis matter would give him the foundation to expand his path as a crafter.”

“Oh sure. A very powerful foundation, I might add. But you still didn’t answer my question. Is he the one asking for it, or are you?”

Instinctively, she moved to put the blame on Harvey. Logically, she knew that wasn’t going to help her, but she felt cornered as she sank deeper into the plush office chair. “His! He’s the one who asked for it. I told him not to, but he’s a good friend, and you said we’d give them what they need to evolve their weave, so I figured I…”

Brutus interrupted her, shouting and throwing his hands up as he started pacing around the table. “What I’m trying to understand is how he even knows it exists! We can’t hide the foundry, but how it works is one of Heaven’s closely guarded secrets. We can’t have the soldiers thinking we’re just another run-of-the-mill faction exploiting the universe! Scrabbling for resources and power! We are the Father’s chosen sons and daughters, carrying his path of redemption and salvation to every planet we can!”

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“How we create our armies doesn’t change that,” she blurted.

“Yes! It does! Converting the faithful to our cause is a lot easier when the man we ask them to follow has power they can’t understand. The ability to conjure his holy creations anywhere in the multiverse is living proof that his power is vast and unending. The fact Hell uses their own mockery of the same thing makes it even more clear that the Father’s path is the true road to power!”

“The tools we use don’t change why we use them! Besides, Harvey isn’t going to tell anyone,” Celeste rebuked.

Brutus let out a tired laugh. “I doubt he hasn’t told his whole neighborhood already. That man’s a loose cannon, and I don’t like what he’s done to you. You used to be better than this, Celeste. A good soldier. Now, you’re…”

That made her blood boil. She was the best soldier. Heaven couldn’t ask for a better one, and she wasn’t going to stand for her valor being called into question. “I’m what? Harvey hasn’t done anything to me other than stand beside me while we fight for Heaven’s future. He’s done more for us than any human I’ve ever met.”

“Gilded,” Brutus corrected. “Not human. Whether he likes it or not, he will never be one of the Faithful. The System has already put him on his own path, and I don’t trust that he’s going to just give in to ours.”

“Then why would he risk everything to try and kill one of Hell’s lieutenants? He and his family were going whether Cash and I came or not, and I believe he would’ve succeeded even without my help!”

Brutus stopped pacing, grabbed one of the chairs, and hurled it across the room. It didn’t come anywhere close to Celeste, but she’d never seen him act like this before. She knew getting Harvey genesis matter was a big ask, but his reaction didn’t make any sense.

“I’m so sick of everyone talking about him and his stupid little suicide mission! It was reckless, it was irresponsible, and worst of all, completely unnecessary! I wouldn’t normally care about a few humans going and getting themselves killed, but then they dragged two of my insubordinate soldiers down with them! I expect better from you, Celeste!”

“Unnecessary?” she replied, stunned by his asinine logic. “First of all, nobody drags me anywhere. I follow orders when they are given, but what I choose to do during my off-time is my decision. Secondly, how can you call assassinating a lieutenant unnecessary when we’d been getting our asses handed to us for weeks?”

“We had everything we needed to kill that lieutenant by Monday morning already! Three phoenixes survived the Saturday attack, giving us the numbers to make a push for the casino!” Brutus screamed.

“That plan’s a bigger gamble than going all-in with a pair of 2s!” Celeste chuckled.

“What?” Brutus asked, confused at the poker reference.

“I watched Harvey play a lot of poker while we were setting up our ambush. My point is, Harvey’s plan worked. He saved us from getting caught between a rock and a hard place, and he deserves to be rewarded for his efforts.”

Brutus picked up the slate and waved it at her. “You see this? You know why I have this?”

She hated being forced to answer the rhetorical question, but acquiesced anyway. “Because you’re the Commander of this integration.”

“Exactly! Everything you’ve accomplished was done with my armies. My soldiers. My weapons. I heard all about your little speech after killing that glutton. I promised you a promotion once we got down to the planet, but you can’t seem to wait! I’m sick of everyone telling me how you saved them! I could’ve done the exact same thing if you’d just waited and done your job like I ordered you to!”

She could practically see the steam bursting from his ears as spit started flying out of his mouth with every word. She’d never seen an angel’s face get so red. Not unless it was covered in blood. Celeste despised that what the man was really concerned about was taking credit for Heaven’s success, but couldn’t say anything without making it worse. Mutiny wasn’t an option in a trial like this, and there was no way to wrench command from the toddler without losing the quest.

“You know what? I’ll give you the genesis matter, but on one condition. You go back to your post and do EXACTLY what I tell you, when I tell you. Cash goes back to being permanently stationed at the hospital, and your little human friends sit their asses back in the classroom until the trial’s done. We’ll consider that their punishment for insubordination.”

“Tyler and Harvey won’t get anything from sitting in school all day. Tyler gave up his Profession, and Harvey’s has nothing to do with anything we can teach him,” Celeste replied.

“I couldn’t care less,” Brutus replied.

Celeste hesitated for a moment before asking, “Where is this coming from? You were happy enough to publicly thank them two days ago. Now you want to punish them?”

“Two days ago I didn’t have every angel in Elysium begging to know more about the humans who saved us from certain death,” Brutus growled. “I’ll have the genesis matter sent to Lily’s along with the Ophanim Steve will need for me to fulfill my promise. The three of them can make short trips to Elysium to finish their anointment, but otherwise the only places I want to see them are at home or at church.”

Celeste had a thousand questions flying around her head, but knew better than to ask any of them. With a polite nod, she dashed out of the room and teleported back to the front lines. Tyler and Harvey would be waking up soon and preparing to head to the front lines, and she’d have to break the news that they weren’t allowed to fight anymore.

she thought.