Rise of the Omnimage

Sorin looked across the table at Euryale. She had red eyes like that of a raven but with a slit like that of a cat. Her skin was pale and her hair to his surprise was jet black and not the snakes from legend. Her face looks like it was computer generated to be absolutely stunning. Everything about her face and figure was like it came out of a very detailed character creation model. She was objectively beautiful for a person. He took all of this in as he sat and in the brief moment after she asked about the team.

"The team is more offensively oriented. We offer high martial offensive but are still lacking in our aether abilities variety and flexibility. Linx, the fox beast man had the ability to conjure flames and can inject those flames directly into a target destroying them internally. Needs a little setting up and a brief opening. He is fast enough to slip in and out. Cain has the ability to conjure flames as well, but also had the ability to manipulate blood from his race. He can set that blood on fire and send it through an opponent's veins. He needs to draw blood and a lot of it for true value." Sorin began to detail.

"And you?" Euryale asked.

"I have more flexibility in my aether abilities. I can conjure flames, fireblasts, and immobilize targets. I also have one skill that one would describe as a last resort skill. It's powerful but can leave me weakened." Sorin said.

Euryale seemed more intrigued by these skills. "Your fireblast skill, is it the standard fireblast skill where on contact it spreads fire or is it the one that explodes and sets fire?"

"Explodes and sets fire, Lady Aegis." Sorin said. Euryale pulled a pad and a pen out of an inside pocket of her jacket and began writing. She kept writing for about five minutes before she looked up again.

"You said you have a skill that can immobilize?" She asked.

"Yes ma'am. It creates a burning cord or chain, and I can use it almost like a tendril to bind a target dealing damage per second to that target based on resistance."

She nodded and started writing again.

"Describe to me this skill that is a last resort as you put it?"

"It is called thermal ion cannon. It had a longer preparation requirement and a huge aether cost, but the damage is beyond anything I've seen since being in the world. It is a super-heated beam of fire. If I do not have enough aether available in my core it will pull from body." Sorin said.

Euryale looked at him with a contemplative look. "If I try to employ this skill of yours then, is it going to endanger me?" She asked.

"I do not know the Lady's power and do not wish to be seen as disrespectful for boastful. I think it could present a threat to tier 3 and tier 4 especially at close range or a direct hit. It does have a shockwave and blast radius when it hits so it could knock down and hurl objects. To answer your question, If the lady is within tier 3 or 4 it might present a threat if used at closer range."

She nodded again and wrote more.

Sorin needed to establish a professional relationship and begin to earn this woman's confidence. To do this will require a little manipulation in the form of earnestness and charm. He had to take a chance and angering her, but it's a necessary risk to be able to advise her in the final exam.

"Permission to speak Lady Aegis?" Sorin asked.

She stopped and looked up at him with narrowed eyes seemingly perplexed.

"Yes conscript, speak." She snapped.

"Thank you, ma'am. Speaking plainly, your success is in our best interest. I have significant experience in small unit tactics and development. With your guidance, I am confident I can do more to help achieve your goals if allowed to operate more freely than our initial training allows, if you will entertain the idea?"

Euryale's gaze never left Sorin for a moment save for a couple slow blinks. She set down her pen and leaned back.

"Brave. I'll give you that conscript. Continue."

"Yes ma'am. In my world I was a leader of troops with an officer always over me as I worked to achieve their intent. There is much about the Lady that I do not understand and never wish to offend, but if allowed to make decisions and move freely within your intent we could have this team become autonomous and smarter than other teams." Sorin explained.

"In theory that sounds impressive, but what is to keep you from working against me or undermining me in ways to strike back at the organization that has more or less enslaved you?" She asked.

"The Empire has left me a path forward. A cornered animal is significantly more dangerous because it knows it has no way out and will either accept death or fight to the death. If I work hard and complete my service requirement, I will be free and live as I wish. So, it is within my best interest to not work against you and the same is true for the others. With this design, if you should so choose it, it begins to establish a basis for true loyalty and buy in not just with me, but also among the other two who have trained and bled alongside me through my word of mouth."

Euryale's eyebrows went up a bit in surprise. She looked down a bit, crossing her arms in the process.

"This is not how the academy has instructed us, but at the same time some of what you say is in line with some of the greatest commanders in history. You surprise me conscript. How would this dynamic work?"

"You would set your end state and an end date for any and all tasks. You still have all final decision power, and your hand never comes off the helm, but it allows you to focus on other tasks without having to micro-manage your subordinates in the completion of theirs. It becomes a decentralized command structure. Historically in my world, it created some of the most nightmarish situations for the enemy when they think they can target the head and when they try the body grows many more heads and fights harder. One such group gained the nickname of Hellhound because of their mentality." Sorin said.

"Hmm...." Euryale continued looming down in contemplation.

"This also offers a mutually beneficial relationship between the two of us" Sorin said quickly

"Tread careful conscript. You and I have no relationship. To suggest otherwise could get you executed for even saying it and I'd do it myself." She snapped.

Realizing the error of phrase he quickly corrected "I apologize. I do not mean to imply that, but a professional relationship that is mutually beneficial where we interact with a unified objective as commander and subordinate." He explained.

"How is this beneficial to me outside of the clear efficiency?" She asked.

"Experience ma'am. I do not know the level of leadership you possess in comparison to mine and would never assume to risk insulting you or being disrespectful and would prefer avoiding the chance of that misunderstanding altogether as it is not in my best interest. I'm thinking about it like this. If you, having the education that I believe nobility in the Empire receives, you bring significant experience that you can teach us with. In teaching you also grow in your mastery and your subordinates become better through your instruction. If this is your first command, having this structure provides you with a subordinate advisor that you can learn from if you happen to see something I do that you particularly like."

Euryale got to her feet taking her cup and went to the window in the conference room. She was quiet for a while. Sorin remained silent as she contemplated.

"This could work. It's unorthodox according to the academic methods of command but my mother has instructed me to be open minded in leadership. This could be better as you know the team better than I currently. I have conditions if this is the way I move forward with your plan. First, in public you will appear as the other teams are. You will not appear to have this much freedom of action. Secondly, if this doesn't produce the results you say it will, I will have you punished severely."

She came back to the table and sat again.

"I have an idea how this works, but let's see what else you have in that head of yours conscript."

Sorin was dancing inside. He wanted to grin ear to ear, but luckily, he could still maintain his military bearing.