There, I stood in front of the meeting room's door.
"It's time, isn't it?" I checked my watch. The time was 7:00 PM sharp. I scanned my hand and the door slid open. Everyone was inside.
"You're here, Rainer." It was General Michael. He looked at me with an eyebrow raised.
"Right on the dot, sir." I walked in and grabbed a seat around the table. The Tenth, Ninth, Eighth, Seventh, and Sixth leaders were all there as well. We all faced General Michael.
He spoke aloud. "If you all haven't been able to tell by now, I've called all of the Tenfold's lower six leaders to meet in this room here today. You might be wondering why, considering this is the first time I've called upon each of you since the starts of your careers here."
"So it wasn't just me then…" I reassured myself. In the two years I'd been working at A.X.A., I thought I'd been the only one without battlefield experience. Not receiving a call from General Michael meant never getting the opportunity to take lead, and I thought I was the only one. But now it seemed as though everyone here faced the same fate.
"You will all be given an opportunity to lead, soon."
All of our eyes widened. Some of the other leaders even gasped aloud with shock. Me? I sat paralyzed, jittering with excitement from the inside. All that day dreaming was beginning to unravel itself.
"Now, now. Let's not get too excited here. There's a reason I'm doing this. I'm sure you've all noticed that it is only you six infantries that have never had battle experience. The Upper Four—Fourth, Third, Second, and First—have all already had their fair share of battles. And there's a reason for that: they're visibly competent. Through their image and their numbers, they've been able to prove that they're fit to lead A.X.A. into battle whenever they're called upon. You may not all notice it, but this is a problem for you six. Their efficiency as the top four in the Tenfold put your positions at stake. All the overseers, and myself included, believe that there is almost no point to having you six and your infantries when we've been doing well with just the upper four. The other three Overseers believe you six are just a waste of funding."
The room's excitement was immediately put out. As General Michael spit these harsh words on our faces, we quickly realized just how large the gap in experience was between us and the Upper Four.
"But that alone is the opinion of the other three. I have yet to agree with them that you six are a waste of money. That's why I've gathered you all here today."
My heart shot up in beat.
"A battle opportunity has recently presented itself, unexpectedly. This morning, the facility received a package full of posters from the country of Invidan."
"Posters…?"
"Conscription propaganda posters. The country is begging its people to join them in a war against Melysia."
The idea visibly surprised everyone in the room.
"Bold, right?" General Michael scoffed. "They didn't even declare war against us through a formal letter or anything. They simply sent us these posters, which have all the information we need to know on them. Their movement, their numbers, their plan, and the date of the raid. It's all in the propaganda. No proper declaration needed, apparently."
He then pulled out a box and dumped it on the table, pulling out the posters one-by-one. Some were meant to drive motivation into the civilians of Invidan, while others outlined the horror of our country from their biased perspective, mentioning things like 'The Filtering may happen in the rest of the world if we don't stop Melysia first!' And the most absurd one by far: 'We have the technology to inherit Melysia's dyson sphere energy. Now all we need is you.'
General Michael chuckled at a few of them as he showed us. It was clear he wasn't taking the declaration seriously. But in all honesty, who was to blame him? There was a reason Invidan was trying against us: because they feared us. The entire world feared Melysia, so someone had to step up to ease the fear, and it just so happened to be Invidan.
"I'm sure you all get it by now. To us, this is nothing but a mere hindrance. To you six, this should be nothing but a mere hindrance as well. For the first time since the establishment of our military, I won't be calling upon any of the upper four infantries to fight this battle for us. Instead, I am calling upon you six to lead the battleground for this upcoming conflict. Prove to me that you are all worth the funding. Prove to Melysia that you are all worth forming the foundation of the Tenfold. Do you understand?"
"Sir, yes sir!" All six of us stood up from our seats and saluted. My heart was nearly beating out of my chest, purely due to excitement. It was here, the moment I'd been craving for. An opportunity to prove myself. An opportunity to fulfill my purpose.
"According to the posters, Invidan strikes exactly a week from now. They're aiming for the northwest borders, the corner of the country closest to Solitaria and our dyson sphere. They claim they have the technology to subdue our energy, and although I highly doubt it, we won't let them anywhere close to Solitaria. If you six let the Invidan raid go anywhere as far as breaching past our borders, you will all have failed us. Melysia is an unbreakable nation, and that includes our perimeters, so you all better own up to that image. I, and the rest of the Overseers, will not tolerate any less than these expectations. Once again…" Michael glared into each one of our eyes. "Do you all understand!?"
"Sir, yes sir!!!"
"Good. Now go, ready yourselves. You all have a week to brace for impact."
Later that night, I did not return to my office to dream. I went straight to the simulator room to refine my infantry formations.