Miranda was busy trying to go over all the many messages she was constantly being sent by World Leaders spread throughout the galaxy, her head starting to hurt from all the damn work she had put upon herself.
These World Leaders were often desperate, wanting answers instantly as they were in the process of trying to find a way to survive this entire conflict. Sadly for them, Miranda was fine with letting them simmer a bit in their own mistakes. The only World Leaders she did respond instantly to were their existing allies and their requests for support. She tried to be so on top of this that she would support them before they even asked.
With a war going on, she naturally also had to stay updated on the many battles currently taking place throughout the galaxy. At least a few hundred planets were involved, the war taking place on so many battlefields at once as the remnants of Ell’Hakan’s loyalists put up a valiant effort to defeat the evil Order of the Malefic Viper.
She had expected most of them to lock down their planets immediately to not allow others entry, but surprisingly, that didn’t turn out to be a major obstacle. The many planets still needed allies to stand a chance, and allowing their teleporters to stay open for others to evacuate or provide reinforcements was simply required.
Then again, perhaps the World Leaders knew that time wasn’t on their side. Even if they locked down their planets, they would only isolate themselves and cut off their Path to keep growing stronger. All the meanwhile, Earth and its allies would keep progressing until one day, they decided to use a teleporter that didn’t require permission to activate.
The teleporters Arnold had initially created were far better now. Even if they didn’t use those, they also had Sandy, who was now capable of traveling the entire galaxy rather effortlessly. Sure, it was slower than the other teleporters, but the cosmic worm was still the best method of space travel available in the galaxy, if not among any C-grades in the entire universe. Miranda could only begin to imagine just how good that worm would be in B-grade.
Either way, no matter the method of transportation, most factions knew it was only a matter of time before they got a visit, making many try to reach out first. Miranda even had reports of a few civil wars breaking out within the same day of Ell’Hakan dying, the people trying to wrest control from the current World Leader in a fight for the survival of the planet. A fight to make the Chosen of the Malefic Viper spare them in what they expected to be an upcoming purge.
That was somewhere they had things wrong, as while a lot of people were certainly going to die, Miranda still saw it as a priority to limit civilian losses as much as possible. She knew what Jake had done to Ell’Hakan’s planet, and truthfully, she didn’t approve. Destroying an entire planet was going too far, even if the citizens there were messed up in the head. Sure, she was aware that Ell’Hakan’s Bloodline was a factor she didn’t fully understand... but still.
Was it the simplest solution to just go scorched earth and kill anyone who opposed the new rule? Sure, but that wasn’t the kind of rule Miranda wanted to create. She wanted people to know scorched earth was an option, sure, but never the first one.
This did complicate matters as the natives of the galaxy were less than inviting to their new overlords, but Miranda believed that with time, it would change. Besides, it wasn’t like the plan was to invade and take over every damn planet themselves, just make sure that the World Leader knew who was really in charge in the galaxy. Did this require instating a few puppet World Leaders here and there? Sure, but Miranda was already working hard on that.As she was considering another message she just got in from an undecisive World Leader who had now finally decided to pick a side, Miranda was informed that a certain hunter was on the way to her office.
For a moment, she considered calling everyone available so they could discuss things with Jake present but decided against it. She wasn’t even sure what Jake wanted, and whatever it was, it should be fine if discussed a bit later. Also... Jake tended to prefer smaller meetings rather than big ones, especially if he still wasn’t back in top form after killing Ell’Hakan.
That turned out not to be an issue as Jake soon appeared before her, his aura stronger than ever and utterly stable, showing he had fully recovered after the fight. Luckily, he had clearly used his stealth to get there, considering he had just suddenly appeared in the middle of her office out of nowhere.
“Hello there,” Jake said with a smile, Miranda slowly raising her gaze to regard him.
“You appear in a better condition than I had expected you to be after your stunt of walking through Haven looking like you had one foot in the grave and the other still on the battlefield,” Miranda commented. Jake instantly looked embarrassed as he scratched the back of his head.
“Yeah... about that...”
“It was brilliant,” Miranda smiled approvingly. “Utterly brilliant. I don’t usually find an opportunity to praise you when it comes to matters like that, but this time, you truly outdid yourself. The recordings of your return have already spread all throughout, even to different planets, and I have to admit... you did make quite the impression.”
Jake looked confused, Miranda only finding amusement from his confusion as she had very quickly realized there was no way Jake had thought his actions through back then at all. Heck, he even looked like he thought he’d fucked up. Not that she blamed him for not thinking things over with the state his body had been in.
“I... you’re welcome, I guess?” Jake said, incredibly unsure. “Could you, eh, explain a bit why what I did was so brilliant? You know, for future reference.”
Miranda couldn’t help but smile as she did just that. She explained how Jake’s appearance had radiated both power and sacrifice, how he showed the entire planet just how far he was willing to go to achieve victory. How he even made quite the dashing figure despite his gruesome apperance, his aura far more intimidating than usual as he walked through the streets a wounded but victorious beast.
He looked like he kind of got it. At least Jake said he did, but Miranda still didn’t feel too sure.
“It isn’t something you can simply replicate. It came from the genuine nature of the action, and if you planned on doing it on purpose, it wouldn’t have the same impact,” Miranda explained. “Just be happy that your actions turned out to be great. In more ways than one.”
Miranda proceeded to move the conversation along as she summoned a star map with all the planets in the galaxy currently embroiled in conflict highlighted. “Do you see all these planets?”
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Jake looked at the map and the planets Miranda further highlighted before he nodded. “Those are the ones with active fighting right now?”
“Exactly. But notice how some of them are former allies who have now been invaded, even if the majority are purely enemy plants on the defensive,” Miranda continued. “Why do you think our opponents would go on the offensive despite how much riskier that is?”
“Because they’re batshit crazy and have been mindfucked by Ell’Hakan for years?” Jake asked.
“Not entirely incorrect, but no,” Miranda said, not able to entirely disagree with that statement. “No, the reason they are on the offensive is because they feel like it’s now or never. They believe they cannot wait, as doing so will give you time to recover.”
“But I’m already recovered,” Jake muttered.
“Something they don’t know and likely don’t expect either. When not even I considered you would have recovered this quickly, how could they? That’s why they’re trying to strike now, as they think it’s their final chance before you can take to the field once more,” Miranda explained.
She proceeded to go over a few of the places their opponents were making a push, but the more she explained, the more Jake frowned before he finally spoke up.
“Why are they even fighting? Do they really think they can win? Because if they did, wouldn’t they try to invade Earth and kill me while I’m still injured?” Jake asked a very good question. One Miranda didn’t have a clear answer to.
“We have no idea what they’re thinking. Maybe they want to force us into a situation where we will negotiate and sign a contract allowing the planets to remain fully autonomous? Perhaps they just want to deal as much damage to us as possible before going down? Or, maybe they’re indeed just batshit crazy and have no thought behind it... truthfully, we have no way of knowing. Not that I believe it matters much,” Miranda answered.
“Because they’re getting crushed,” Jake said as he continued looking at the map.
“Indeed they are. Ell’Hakan and King Iludar, who is now leading the Chosen’s former loyals, had worked hard gathering the elites from all the planets under their influence and uniting them into one force. This left the planets these elites were effectively stolen from far weaker and, quite frankly, utterly chanceless,” Miranda shook her head.
“That does leave the question... where are these elites?” Jake asked.
“It indeed is the big question right now. We know they retreated to one of the larger planets they controlled, but even King Iludar’s planet seems abandoned by the elites. I can’t help but think they’re trying something. Some final hail-mary. That, or they’ll attempt to hide somewhere. There are so many planets, pretty much all of them not fully explored, and it wouldn’t be hard for even a few thousand elites to hide in some cavern underground on some unassuming planet for a few years until the universe opens back up,” Miranda voiced her thoughts.
“And I assume we don’t want that to happen?” Jake asked. “Honestly, I don’t care overly much if they run away or stay and fight. Either way, they’ll be out of the picture.”
“True, but their continued existence does pose a threat to the new rule we are trying to establish. The mere knowledge their former leaders and elites are out there will be a spark of hope that those who oppose us will hang onto. Hope that one day these people will return, leading to our downfall. This hope will give certain people confidence and make it far harder to snuff out those who oppose us too much, and we may even end up with factions of terrorists – or freedom fighters in their eyes – who work on the behest of those who escaped,” Miranda explained, Jake seemingly realizing she had a point about halfway through the explanation as he nodded once she was done.
“You know what, I’m just going to trust your judgment on this one,” Jake shrugged. “Of the two of us, you’re definitely more qualified to decide what our best next move would be.”
That was one of the things Miranda appreciated about Jake. He could at least realize when he wasn’t the most qualified person to take part in or comment on something, and in those instances, he was totally fine with letting someone else take over.
Jake was, for all intents and purposes, her boss. He was the owner and CEO of the company called Earth, and she was simply the chief of operations, managing everything.
However, rather than be like those shitty bosses Miranda still remembered having before the system - the kind who knew fuck-all about how the company actually ran but only had knowledge about a small part of the whole – Jake at least knew he didn’t know much. He was arrogant to a fault, sure, but he didn’t need to constantly prove to others he was the guy in charge. They already knew, and if they didn’t, he would be happy to remind them when necessary.
“In that case, please do me the favor of staying in hiding for just a little longer. I will keep communicating outwardly that you are not to be disturbed during this time, making Iludar assume you’re injured and hopefully bait him out,” Miranda explained. “At the same time, I’ll have William try to track him down. We know they still have spies on Earth, and if things go well, William can use those.”
“I guess I can sit back and chill for a little,” Jake agreed without any contest. “There is one thing, though... we may be going to war with the Holy Church.”
Miranda frowned, confused, as she glanced at the galactic map once more. All the planets ruled by the Holy Church were confined to one sector, and all of them had not made any moves, so why would they be going to war? From her estimates, they were fully on the defensive and not an enemy she saw a need to make. Moreover, she was pretty sure one of the many people waiting to get a meeting with her was a representative from the Church...
Before Miranda could ask why Jake thought this, he explained what had happened during his battle with Ell’Hakan, including the final part where the Augur had taken the Truesoul and retreated to one of the worlds owned by the Holy Church.
After he was done, Miranda was in thought for a moment before she asked:
“Have you discussed this matter with the Malefic Viper?”
It seemed like something he would talk about with his Patron.
“Yeah, I did, and he advised me to just do what I wanted, but-“
“Then we do just that,” Miranda cut him off, seeing no reason to hear more.
“But aren’t you worried that-“
“Jake,” Miranda cut him off again. “I’m not going to try and act as if I know more or is more qualified to judge the situation than a Primordial. If he says something, I don’t have the right or arrogance to disagree or argue against him.”
Quite frankly, she did find it highly questionable that Jake often questioned his own Patron, but she did know he had a strong streak of blasphemy, which seemingly didn’t bother the Malefic One, but again, who was she to dare assume it should bother him?
“I guess,” Jake sighed loudly as he changed the subject. “Any words from the others, by the way?”
Miranda nodded, changing the galaxy map a bit again, having expected the question. “Arnold returned to Earth the moment he could after he handed things to you on Valhal’s planet, and last I checked, he is busy in his workshop and does not want to be disturbed. Speaking of Valhal, Carmen is still there handing stuff related to them and effectively serving as a diplomat between Earth and them.”
“Sylphie is... somewhere. Honestly, I have no idea. Same for Sandy. Vesperia is on one of the planets under the control of the Endless Empire, Caleb and Casper both with their respective factions for now... oh, and the Sword Saint is on the battlefield, effectively serving as the general with boots on the ground of this entire conflict. The rest are either just here on Earth, or I’m unaware of what they’re doing.”
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Jake nodded along as he seemed to consider things for a while. “Alright, I guess I’ll head back to the lodge and act injured then. But keep me posted on how things are going, and let me know if there’s anything I can help with. I also want to address the Holy Church sooner rather than later.”
“That’s understandable,” Miranda said. “I do have someone from the Holy Church who tried to reach out, and based on your story, I wouldn’t be surprised if they want to try and bargain or offer compensation for us – or more specifically, you – to leave them alone. But as I said, I’ll let you handle all that in the fashion you see fit.”
“I will, I will,” Jake sighed as he paused for a bit. “Well, it looks like you got things handled, so I’ll head back before anyone spots me and ruins our little story of me still being a mess. Perhaps having a bit of time for some alchemy is for the best, actually...”
“Oh, how come?” Miranda asked curiously. “Close to a new skill selection or something like that?”
“Nah, not a skill selection... just what I anticipate to be a very interesting encounter.”