Staging

(Whoops, accidentally only released half of this chapter. Anyways, join my discord. Find it in my Twitter bio @arn3wman)

-8:57 AM, December 31st, 2055-

-Santon Foundation Compound, Colorado-

I think it was because of my mom. Snow was always the most peaceful thing in this world for me. Filled with air, it traps sound and allows for an unmatched natural silence.

My love of snow is such a core part of my being that all the most significant memories of my mother are from our ski trips. They way the powder sprayed through the air each time I turned was an unforgettable sight.

I sipped the hot tea in my hands. The liquid sent waves of warmth pulsing through my body. A hot drink on a cold day would forever be heavenly.

My eyes then turned to the fire that was quietly burning next to me. The snow, the fire, the hot tea, the wooden chair… My happy place.

I took another sip of my tea and then sighed. I had felt a presence behind me. I knew what it meant. "Is it time already?"

Leighton (Sirius) replied from behind me. "Yes, Master. The defense committee has gathered."

I nodded and stood up. "Alright."

I turned around and walked past my padawan. I then waved my hand the door slid open.

As soon as I opened the soundproof door, my ears were assaulted by raised voices flying back and forth within the conference room. Zoning them out, I silently walked up the table and sipped my tea. Leighton quietly stood behind me.

The people around the table noticed me and quieted down. I smiled. "Let's begin. Tristan (Tyrus), what are we up against?"

Standing around the table was the backbone of ANV's armed forces. We had Tristan Koch (Tyrus, Secretary of Defense), Karl Sigurdsson (Sigurd, Chief Information Officer), Taylor Holdt (Tomas, Alpha 1), Tucker Davidson (Tucker, Bravo 1 and VP of Joint Special Operations Command), Aki Yamatsu (Aki, Charlie 1), and Vanessa Oleander (Violet, Chief Operation Officer).

Tristan picked up a tablet and swiped up. An overhead view of a city appeared on the screen that was embedded in the table. He pointed to the city. "Lessu, Ryloth's capital, is the most heavily fortified city I've ever seen. There is an underground spaceport in addition to the public one surface side and an absurd number of emplacements. They even have ground based orbital defenses. No matter which direction we approach from, this battle is likely to be the costliest that ANV has ever fought."

I stared at the image on the screen for several seconds in silence. No one was speaking. My eyes floated around the image. There was a deactivated energy bridge and a shield covering the city. In addition, there was only one gate…

Then my eyes locked on the canyon below the city. There was a river running through it.

I smiled. "What do they do with their wastewater?"

Vanessa's face twisted. "Ky, no. That's disgusting."

Tucker's expression sunk as he sighed. He knew where I was going with this. "Man, I haven't been in a sewer in over 15 years."

Tristan tapped twice on his tablet and the screen zoomed in on the river. As I expected, there was a sewage pipe slowly dumping wastewater into the river.

I sighed. Despite being right, it wasn't a good feeling. "Send a drone in to find the maintenance hatch. There always is one."

Tristan nodded and pulled his phone out. He tapped away for several seconds before putting it back in his pocket. "We'll get a report, including a seismic scan, within the hour."

I nodded. "Good. How are preparations for the assault?"

Tristan tapped on his tablet a few more times and several progress bars appeared. "Our preparations are 90% complete. If we include briefings and deployment prep, we should be ready to commence our assault this evening at the earliest. However, I won't move our forces until JSOC softens them up."

I nodded and turned to Tucker. "It's just past 9 now. Come up with a mission plan and call a lunch meeting."

Tucker nodded. "Alright. I'll have my admin notify the kitchen staff."

I sipped my tea and took a deep breath. "Anything else?"

Tristan shook his head. "That's all I've got."

I turned to Vanessa. "Anything on operations side?"

She shook her head. "Nothing defense related."

I smiled. "Well, I happen to have a few hours. Let's have a chat." I winked.

She rolled her eyes in response.

Tristan cleared his throat. "Meeting adjourned."

I glanced behind me at Sirius. "I'm gonna grab some coffee with Vanessa. I'll see you at the JSOC briefing."

Sirius sighed. "Master, you don't drink coffee…"

-12:30 PM-

I walked up to the doors of the dining hall. My hair was still wet from my shower. The force knew I needed one after what I had just gotten up to.

Fortunately, I was in a position where I could wear a hoodie, sweatpants, and slides around the office. The office was kind of my home… Of course, my lightsabers were in my pocket.

Suddenly, an unfamiliar feminine voice called out from behind me. "Mr. Zimmerman!"

I furrowed my brow and slowly turned around. There was a woman who was slightly taller than me. She had light brown hair tied into a French braid. She had beautiful blue eyes and smooth white skin. Her curves were also awe inspiring… not that they mattered to me!

I took careful note of the lightsaber hanging from her belt. My eyes narrowed. "Have we met?

She shook her head. "No, sir. We haven't met."

I nodded. "I see. Well, you might as well introduce yourself now."

She nodded. "I am Warrant Officer Alison Schmidt, Jedi Knight."

I raised my brow. "Hmmm. You must be quite talented to be one of the few people that have graduate from padawan status."

Alison shrugged. "I think I just had a good master."

I nodded. "Regardless, it seems like it wasn't just a coincident that I met you here."

She giggled and shook her head. "No, it wasn't. My callsign is Charlie 2."

My eyes widened slightly as I scrutinized her. "You're Aki's number 2?"

She nodded. "Yes, sir. I served in the Marines. Two tours."

I smiled. "Wonderful. Well, it was nice meeting you." I nodded towards the doors. "I've worked up quite the appetite this morning so I'm gonna head inside."

She smiled and nodded. "It was wonderful meeting you as well."

I waved my hand and the doors slid open. I let her enter first.

After a few seconds, a voice came from over my shoulder. "You can say it. She has a nice ass. I won't tell anyone."

I glared at Taylor but quickly noticed the look of admiration on his face. "Are you tryna hit?"

Taylor smirked. "Been done. Our date last week went well."

I sighed. "How the times have changed. For the first time, Jordan is the single one."

Taylor sighed. "Ehhhh, I wouldn't say that. I've heard rumors that he's been getting cozy with Skylar's older son."

My eyes widened in shock. "Matt? Last I heard, Skylar pulled him out of college and he's been working on our engineering division… Oh, I see."