In exactly fifteen minutes, twelve captains were seated in the tactical room, watching Zirkon, their new commander.
Before their arrival, Zirkon had quickly gone through their profiles and other information on the Vulcan legion which had been sent to him by Ysabella.
As expected, the number of warriors who walked the Spirit path among the Vulcan legion was very low and they were not as strong as he would have wanted them to be.
Out of the 10,000 warriors, only nine hundred walked the spirit path and their powers were the basic elements, Earth, Wind and Fire.
He had to make do with them.
The Voronoi rarely awoke in the Spirit path so he couldn't blame them for their genes, could he?
At least it was better than nothing.
Zirkon shelved those thoughts and looked at the seated Captains before him.
Commander Ysabella had sent them an urgent message which hinted at an attack on Rexorians. Naturally, as warriors who thrived in war and bloodshed, their interest in this was piqued.
"Is this all of you?" Zirkon asked, his gaze taking in the twelve battle hardened veterans in front of him.
"Yes commander Zirkon," one replied.
"Very good. You may already have known that I have been appointed as temporal commander over the Vulcan legion but let me re-introduce myself.
I am Zirkon Zalazar, son of Zaluk Zalazar, prince of the Voronoi race.
Due to certain circumstances, I have been appointed to lead this Vulcan legion and my fellow brothers to victory.
This does not mean that Commander Ysabella has been punished nor is she being shamed. She has done excellent work with this legion and for now, with her support, I will be a temporary commander with her as my guide.
Thus, she still retains her position as commander and the only change is that I now hold the same position as hers and I wield the power she wields.
An order from Commander Ysabella is an order from me and an order from me is an order from Commander Ysabella.
I hope with your maximum cooperation, we can bring joy to our race," Zirkon said, taking his sweet time to look at each captain in the eye as he spoke.
His appointment had been impromptu and it was bound to ruffle a few feathers.
Those who had a problem with his appointment would have to swallow their grievances due it being a direct order from the Emperor himself.
Allowing such underlying tension and dissatisfaction to go unchecked would be detrimental to his mission and purposes.
As time went on, there would be many chances to prove himself and solidify his importance but for now, this little speech was more than enough.
The captains only knew that he had been appointed commander but didn't know the full details of everything; that Commander Ysabella was even under him.
With what he had told them just now, they would subconsciously believe that Zirkon and Ysabella were joint commanders of the legion and when one spoke, the other agreed.
It would make it far easier for them to accept his orders as they will believe that Commander Ysabella's stance was the same as his.
Thus, Ysabella was still having power with the only difference being that she shared the power with Zirkon whom she would be supervising.
That was how Zirkon's words seemed and meant to the captains.
They were looking at him with favorable expressions now and most of the underlying tension in the room had dissolved.
Well, he could feel Ysabella's eyes drilling holes in the side of his skull but he ignored her.
Very soon, his power over the legion would be absolute and even she would have to bow her head to his every command.
"Now that we have that behind us, let us get to the matter at hand.
Our main mission from the Emperor is to provoke the humans to jump into war with us in five years.
Our secondary mission is to frustrate our enemies, the Rexorians.
The closest Rexorian planetary stronghold is but a two-day journey away from us at optimal speed.
We have two days to plan and execute a cohesive attack on the Rexorians. What are your suggestions and things to consider for this attack?" Zirkon asked.
"Commander Zirkon, I say we rush them head on and hit them hard! We will pummel them!" Xolreg, a burly captain with fierce war scars said, pounding his fists together.
"Yeah!"
"Yeah!"
The other captains cheered in agreement.
Zirkon felt like face palming himself.
Why were all the leaders of the Vulcan legion warmongers who relied on brawn rather than brains?
It was a wonder how they had lasted this long and achieved so much with that kind of mentality!
Their commander was a childish but vengeful individual, the captains under her were all people who chose to let their fists do the thinking instead of their brains.
Well, every disadvantage had its advantages.
With how these captains and Ysabella were, it would be extremely easy for him to take full control of the legion and do the heavy lifting when it came to brainwork.
The best and fastest way to increase his popularity among such brawny warmongers was to show his strength in battle.
This raid against the Rexorians was going to be what made him gain their respect and cooperation and the plan he came up with today to guarantee victory was going to make them trust him more.
"That's it? No plan?" Zirkon asked.
"C'mon commander, we can take on those two headed bastards easily. I alone can face ten of their finest fighters and come out unscathed!" Xolreg bragged, flexing his biceps.
The other captains let out a loud cheer.
Xolreg grinned widely, taking in all the adulation and glory.
That was until Zirkon snapped his fingers.
*BOOM!
The sound of heavy thunder rumbled in the tactical room!
Xolreg and some of the other captains fell off their chairs and the others cowered, covering their ears in fright.
Ysabella stared at Zirkon with mouth agape in shock.
The lights in the tactic room fluttered erratically and the various holographic screens fizzled out before flickering again.
The lights quickly returned to normal as Zirkon was the only person looking around calmly.
"Let's have some decorum here, shall we?" Zirkon said lightly.
The captains returned to their seats, looking at Zirkon in shock.
They didn't know the new commander was this powerful!
"The last mistake you should ever make is to underestimate your enemies. Don't let too many victories and your personal power get into your head and make you complacent.
Is that clear?" Zirkon leaned forward and said.
"Yes commander," the captains replied.
"I apologize for my actions, commander. Punish me," Xolreg said, bowing his head.
Zirkon turned to look at him.
"Don't worry captain. You will have the chance to display your strength in this raid.
You and your men will be our vanguard during the raid," Zirkon smiled at him.
Xolreg nodded and gave a salute.
"Yes commander. I will not disappoint you!" he declared.
"I will hold you to your word. Now, since none of you were able to come up with a cohesive plan, I will take the liberty of showing you how this raid will be done, with minor or no casualties of course," Zirkon chuckled.
He stood up and went to the holographic screen and pulled out a map of the star sector.
"Listen closely."
"Commander Zirkon, that is one unusual plan! Isn't it too cowardly?" exclaimed one of the captains.
"There is nothing cowardly in war except betrayal," Zirkon replied.
"You have seen the simulation for yourselves. This plan will allow us to break the Rexorian base completely or even capture it with minimal casualties," Zirkon added.
The captains and commander Ysabella nodded subconsciously as they stared at the plan of attack Zirkon had drawn wide eyed.
Zirkon had spoken and explained each step of the plan of attack for a full hour and had ran simulations to show their chances of winning.
This strategy was guaranteed to easily raid the Rexorian base and set them back heavily.
What was required was a perfect execution of the plan.
Zirkon turned to Ysabella. "I trust that you can see to the execution and necessary arrangements, Commander Ysabella?'
Ysabella took a long glance at the drawn out plan, looked Zirkon in the eye and nodded.