Leadership

written by Thomas Fritzinger

Eron walked along the silent hallways of the keep. Sunlight streamed in from 15 foot tall windows. Most of the team was going about their daily routines, if anything about this base could be considered a routine, which left Eron all to his own devices for the afternoon. Now that the League Wars had ended, he decided the best thing to do would be to spend some quiet time reflecting and unwind a bit.

Movement out a window caught is eye and he stopped at a tall window overlooking the garden maze below.

Cassandra had managed to coax a beautiful maze out of a few seeds in just three weeks. He had no clue how she did it, but it apparently served a purpose. She was down below him now, cutting some flowers off a vine. She had told him a couple of weeks ago that the maze was enchanted and that it would change shape periodically to confuse people inside. Covering an entire acre
on the south side of the keep, the side most likely to get sunlight, he thought it was plenty confusing as it was.

Turning away from the window, he continued down the hallway. As if sensing his presence, Cassandra looked up at the window for just a second and went back to her pruning. Black Lotuses were difficult to grow to begin with, but produced a wide variety of mana when cultivated and only bloomed in the summer solstice. This was a good crop.

Eron continued around the hallway towards the stairs when he heard Wrathius in a room up ahead. Peering in as he passed, he saw him working over some weights with StrongArm, who had stopped by to give him some pointers and to spot him. It appeared he was up to a 2 ton dead press now. It's a good thing the floor was reinforced when they chose to put the weight room upstairs.

Eron smiled and shook his head before moving towards the stairs. The rail on the stairs was one of the most elaborate things in the keep and one in which he took personal pride. He had salvaged the rail and restored it by hand to its original condition. The entire thing was made of a copper relief of knights doing battle with fearsome dragons and topped with a beautiful, 40' long piece of mahogany. The knight, Saint Thomas, slaying the largest dragon was at the top of the stairs and Eron always took a second to admire the craftsmanship before moving on.

At the bottom of the steps, he heard more commotion just outside the front door, but he wasn't in the least concerned with it. Outside the door and about 50' up in the air he saw Caledonia and Zildoran practicing arial combat techniques. Fighting in the air was a lot like fighting underwater and was very complex. The two had learned a lot from their encounter with the beasts in the upper atmosphere and wanted to learn more. He had to admit they had, especially Caledonia, who had picked up flying recently. She wasn't particularly fast at it, but could turn swiftly and was mastering the initial vertigo she experienced very quickly.

Eron walked outside and down towards where the hanger used to be. In the intervening months since the swarm was deflected from Earth, the final hanger bay for the Defender had been completed. Gorthrop Nummond was exceptionally helpful with the installation of the facility. A large dome sat on the ground where the old WWII airplane hanger used to sit. It opened from the center, two giant halves recessing into the ground when the Defender was needed. It sat closed now. Clouds were moving in from the west and rain was likely.

As he travelled through an ancient grove of oaks, his thoughts turned to Vexator. He had been summoned away less than 30 minutes ago to head into town. For the first time in its long history, the town was having a real, live bank robbery. The crook wasn't very bright, but did apparently have the ability to harden his skin as if it was stone and the local constable was at a loss of how to deal with it. The robber had managed to hold two tellers hostage until his demands are met. Vexator was called in to figure out what to do with the mess.

Eron chuckled to himself. That was one poor bank robber when Vexator got there.

The oaks gave way to a field of short carpet grass and a few weeds. He saw Quantum Elemental at the other end.

Right now, he was hovering over the field, feet straight down and hands out to his side. A nimbus of green fire was surrounding his form as if he was in a bubble. Eron knew that it was harmless, and that Quan was just meditating, but he couldn't help but feel a tinge of sadness. Eron missed his old friend, Firebrand, but was thankful that at least some of him survived in Quan. The guilt he felt at his friend's death ate at him still and he had vowed to make it up to Quan someday. Quan was an ever present reminder that Eron had to be vigilant to safeguard his family.

Descending into a tunnel at the other end of the small field and just outside the perimeter of the maze, Eron descended into the underground hanger. There was a quicker way from the keep, but he liked the walk. The hallway was lit with a soft fluorescent light augmented by fiber optic cables that brought in a great deal of sunlight and saved energy. Caledonia insisted on that one.

The hallway ended in a security door. A computer scanned Eron's form and a sultry female voicebox crackled to life. "Welcome Master Eron." The door slid quietly open. Wrathius insisted on that one. Eron had to chuckle at that thought.

The hanger was impressive. The ship was a full three stories underground. The top of the hanger bay was ringed with a criss-crossing, tight grid of laser beams to deter intruders who could manage to get through the main doors. The walls were ringed with computer equipment. No expense was spared in the development of a state of the art repair facility in case the ship was damaged. There were almost enough spare parts to build a second Defender if needed.

He was admiring the new craft when he saw SoulSearcher walk down the gangway and up to one of the banks of computers on the far side of the room. He was making final preparations a planned trip to Nexus in two days. He had forgotten that he was here and didn't want to interfere with him.

Eron walked over to a smooth door in the wall and it silently slid open at his touch. Inside was a cylinder made of glass. He stepped inside and the door shut. A thin ray of light shot out from under the door and the boom tube flashed a brilliant white.

The glass door before him opened up and Eron stepped out into the Knights' moon base. Extensive renovations were underway and the functional habitat was restored to life. Amazingly, the soil was still fertile and was producing a wide array of plants and edible fungus. He stepped up to the windows and looked out. The central spire had been restored to a great degree and a secondary spire was being built to the South about 100 meters away. It would eventually replace the existing tower and be much more durable. Beyond that, where the team first saw a launch pad, a large ship was being constructed.

Robotic workers, along with some of the Sanctum Knights, were building a massive dreadnaught as a result of a vote taken at an Admiral's meeting only three weeks ago. Progress on the construction was astounding and it was almost unbelievable that the ship was taking shape already.

D stepped to the window beside Eron. Captain Atom stepped up to his other side. D spoke first. "It's truly amazing what the Sanctum Knights have accomplished in such a short time."

"Don't forget Wayne Tech capital." Bat MAn stepped from the shadows. Eron had forgotten that he was up here.

Captain Atom pointed out the window, "Isn't that one of yours?"

Looking closely, Eron saw BlackHole in a space suit riveting on the side of the ship. He hadn't been with the team a month and was already making himself useful. Eron could only smile to himself. Turning around to face the other admirals he threw a thumb over his shoulder. "He's mine. BlackHole joined us recently and apparently has a techie bone. Thanks for letting him help out."

Cap looked back out the window. "I think we're going to be alright."

"I think you're right." Eron turned to leave.

He knew that peace wouldn't last forever, yet he was very thankful for the moment. The next challenge would come soon enough. Eron smirked as he stepped back into the Boom Tube. Bring it on.