Chapter 8: Matriarchs

October 18, 2023 4:15 PM

Sanders snapped out of his thoughts as the door to the debriefing room came into view. Both Matriarchs...the heads of the Shield and Sword branch and the defacto leaders of this area were just inside. No one outside Society high command was above them and he was about to be put in front of them both. To say he was nervous was like saying a bull was pushy. The only good thing about this was he had forgotten to be depressed about failing Manchent.

He had only ever seen one of them, Shield Matriarch Cathrine, before now. She had been at his induction into the Rangers, along with a number of other recruits, giving them the usual intro speech. She had been rather imposing then, even not taking into account her skyscraper size, and that had been when she was talking to everyone in the room. Now there was a good chance he was going to be the center of attention. Not to mention Sword Matriarch Angela would be there too. He had never seen her, but had heard enough to know he didn't want to. But he was going as Isabella opened the door into the room.

The debriefing room was a rather bare place having only a few chairs set around a large table. It had no real ornamentation or decorations and looked just as utilitarian as its purpose. On the table, a miniature replica of the table was set in the middle of the larger table with its own miniature chairs. Two of them were at the edge closest to them, obviously meant for himself and Aviel. The back wall was dominated by a large screen that was currently displaying Isabella's report of what had happened. Two people were looking at it from their seats at the far end of the table. The both turned to face them as they entered.

The woman on the right Sanders recognized as Cathrine Williams. She was just as intimidating as he had remembered... Her slightly wrinkled and nearly emotionless face turned to regard them with judging stare. She was wearing near identical combat fatigues to the security officers save with the inclusion of some stripes to show her old rank of Colonel. Her green eyes moved between them as she crossed her arms. Her dark red, shoulder length, hair hung just above her eyes and gave her a slightly darkened stare making her all the more intimidating. Thankfully, her stare was fixed on Isabella for now.

That meant the woman on the left had to be Angela Buckel. Her long green hair hung down covering her right eye and pooling on her shoulders. Her blue left eye was calmly regarding them as if this was nothing but a unofficial get together. Unlike Cathrine, she was dressed in a simple low-cut V neck shirt, which showed off her generous cleavage nicely. They were at least Ds as far as Sanders could tell. Big, but still smaller than Isabell- SHIT WHY AM I THINKING ABOUT THIS NOW?!?! he thought to himself. Angela leaned back in her seat and smiled warmly at them. Unlike Cathrine, she didn't have any signs of wrinkles.

The Captain snapped to attention along with Aviel as they entered. Sanders did as well maybe a second later, getting a stare from Cathrine that made his blood run cold. He couldn't see what Flonne was doing on the Captain's shoulder, but imagined it wasn't right as both Matriarchs seem to look up to where she was.

"Isabella Raim, B-Rank, Ranger branch, Patrol-5, Full-sized member reporting, ma'am!" the Captain said loud enough to nearly cause Sanders to wince.

"Aviel Wolff, D+-Rank, Ranger branch, Patrol-5, Veteran Scout reporting, ma'am!" Aviel said barely a beat behind the Captain. Sanders would almost swear they had practiced that if he knew they didn't. Or at least not when he was around.

"Sanders Cutter, E-Rank, Ranger branch, Patrol-5, Roo- "he stopped as he realized his mistake, "Recruit Scout reporting ma'am!" Cathrine's gaze fell back onto him at his misspoken word and the barest hint of annoyance passed her face. He gulped a bit before Flonne's welcome voice got her attention.

"Uhhh...Flonne, fairy Ranger branch, Pa...ummm," Flonne said with an near void of confidence. Cathrine glared at her and looked about to say something when a chuckle from Angela stopped her.

"Hehe, that's good enough. We don't usually make fairies do these sorts of things, so we can let it slide, right?" Angela said looking at Cathrine. Cathrine sighed and nodded, but didn't look happy with it.

"At ease, take your seats," Cathrine said, her annoyance just barely noticeable in her tone. The Captain sat down in one of the chairs near the miniature version of the table. She lowered her hand onto the table and let him and Aviel off to head for their much smaller seats. He half marched half ran to his seat as Aviel calmly walked to hers. If she was intimidated by the two mansion-sized faces of their bosses watching them, she didn't show it. Sanders really envied Aviel's poker face. He felt like he had his nervousness and intimidation written all over his face.

Once everyone was settled, Angela looked over to Cathrine and motioned for her to go ahead. Cathrine nodded and made some selections on the touch screen of her wrist computer.

"Debriefing of Patrol-5, on mission to rescue Doctor Gregor Manchent to follow. Date: October 25, 2024. Debriefing begins," Cathrine said still looking at her wrist computer. She then made one final selection before turning her stoic gaze back to them.

"Myself and Angela have read your report, Isabella. As I am sure you are aware, the fact it lacks any of the details of the fight on the model train or Doctor Manchent's death is unacceptable. The potential sensitive information Doctor Manchent could have given to the Resistance means we cannot delay in hearing a full report," Cathrine said as she looked between them.

"I know you are tired and don't wish to dwell on Gregor's death, but we really have no choice. This matter is simply too pressing to let linger for even a night," Angela said in calm and understanding voice. She looked between them all before her narrow eyes settled on Sanders.

"Sanders was it?" she asked and he nodded, "Ah, good. Sanders why don't you start. Make sure not to leave out any details, no matter how small or graphic." Sanders swallowed a large lump in his throat as he adjusted his headset to make sure the mic was picking up right. He stood up and took parade rest as both Matriarchs stared at him. He had to swallow another lump as their massive size suddenly became all too evident to him. Shit, they could just blow hard and send him tumbling to his death...

"Y-Yes ma'am," he stammered out, his voice being amplified by the speakers so the three giantesses could hear him. Angela's smile spread at his discomfort, seemingly trying to urge him on. Cathrine was completely stoic as before.

Sanders managed to get through his side of how things went without stammering again. He made sure not to leave out any details and stuck to the facts, for the most part. He did stumble in a few places, getting the exact number of Resistance members wrong or just not remembering somethings completely clearly, but his confusion didn't draw any anger from either Matriarch. Instead they focused on making notes on their wrist computers or just listening to him.

"I tried to disarm the collar, but found it to be a code locked collar. Without the code there was nothing I could do. Guessing wrong would have triggered it so I tried to think of some other way to disarm or remove it. However, I had maybe a second, probably less, before the collar started to activate. Gregor..." he paused as he remembers the Captain's request. If the Matriarchs found out he had lied to them...Then again, the way Gregor had acted and his strange words...

"Gregor looked terrified as he realized there was nothing we could do. I tried to do something, anything, but...the collar went off," he said trying his best to keep his face completely free of all emotion. The two Matriarchs stared at him for a brief second and for an agonizing second he was sure they knew he had lied.

"Thank you, Ranger Cutter," Cathrine said as she began to tap at her computer again. Sanders let out his held breath as he saluted and turned to sit.

"Just a moment, Sanders," Angela said, causing Sanders' heart to stop for a moment.

"You paused near the end as if you were thinking of something. Right as you mentioned Gregor's last moments, in fact. Why?" she asked with the same calm smile on her face. Sanders' mind raced for an answer. Something they would believe, something he was really...of course!

"I...It was just painful having to relive that moment of seeing him...He was right in front of me when the collar went off, Matriarch Angela. I am sorry if it seemed like I was hiding something," he lied and easily managed to summon a pained look. His failure and horror at seeing Gregor die so violently was real enough, making it easy to sound convincing. It wasn't exactly untrue, after all.

Cathrine's stoic face showed the barest hint of a reassuring smile. She turned toward Angela as if to say she was satisfied with the answer. Angela stared at him for a few seconds before nodding in satisfaction.

"I see. Forgive my suspicions, it was just odd that you paused there and nowhere else. But, it is understandable why you did. Seeing such a horrid sight would give any man pause," she said in an apologetic tone. Sanders turned back to his seat and let out his held breath. He sat back down and let his heart-rate go back down to normal.

"Ranger Wolff, give your version of the events," Cathrine said once it looked like Angela was done. Aviel stood up and started telling her version of things without a hint of nervousness. She never stumbled once and seemed to have remembered nearly everything save a few small details here and there. Then she arrived at Gregor's death.

"Gregor was still hiding in the corner when I reentered the train car. Being closer to him, I noticed the collar on him. I pulled him over to Sanders to see if he knew how to disarm it. I thought his time as an SWAT officer and handling shock collars would perhaps have given him some knowledge I did not have. He looked at it and concluded it was a code-locked collar. Before he could do anything further, however, the collar activated and terminated Gregor," she said without the hint of any emotion. If Sanders didn't know better, he'd swear she was telling the complete truth. The two Matriarchs looked to believe it too as both simply nodded and took a few notes on their wrist computers.

"Thank you, Ranger Wolff. Fairy Flonne," Cathrine said as she looked at Flonne, "give your version of the mission."

"Umm...OK...well we started with getting in a car, or is it a jeep? Uhh, A-and then we got out and...uhhh..." Flonne stammered, obviously terrified. Sanders risked a glance back and saw Flonne slowly inching her way behind the Captain's head. She was rubbing her hands together nervously and was stark red from blushing.

Angela and Cathrine looked between themselves sending some kind of silent word with each other. Angela turned back to Flonne and gave her a warm smile.

"Why don't you just tell us what happened with Gregor instead of the whole story?" she suggested. Flonne didn't seem all that comforted by Angela's smile, but nodded anyway.

"OK...I...I heard fighting in the train where they were, but I couldn't see c-cause of the roof. S-So I ripped it off and saw a big mean guy pointing a big weapon at Aviel. I shot him into the air with my magic and snatched him u-" Flonne was just starting to get her confidence when Cathrine interrupted.

"JUST the parts with Gregor, Fairy Flonne," she said her annoyance plastered all over her face. Flonne epped and hid behind the Captain's head, but slowly peeked back out, the Captain's hair hanging off her.

"I..I didn't see much. I was outside when th-they started t-to yell about something. I-I looked in a-and the other m-man was l-looking at Sanders. T-then he p-poped and I l-looked away," she said before hiding again. Sanders blood ran cold as she let slip Gregor had been facing him. He tried to keep the nervousness off his face, but could feel his face twitching toward a look of horror.

"Looking at Sanders? Are you sure he was?" Angela asked as her warm smile faded away to a cold stare.

"I-I...I don't remember..." Flonne said trying to cover up her mistake. The two Matriarchs were not buying it though as they both narrowed their eyes.

"Was he or was he not?" Cathrine said with a harsh edge.

"I...I..."

"Fairy Flonne, you will answer the question right now!"

"I...he was...wasn....I..." Flonne stammered out as tears began to form in her eyes.

"ANSWER THE QUESTION!" Cathrine yelled, causing Sanders to cringe from the sound. Suddenly, the Captain jumped to her feet, causing Flonne to be pushed off her shoulder and hover behind her.

"Leave her alone, Cathrine!" she yelled at Matriarch Cathrine, thankfully not as loud as Cathrine had. Sanders and Aviel couldn't hide their utter shock at the Captain having yelled at the Shield Matriarch. They both stared up at their leader before looking at each other as if to make sure the other had heard the same thing. Sanders turned back toward Cathrine just as the entire table was shook by a massive earthquake.

Cathrine slammed her colossal hands down on the table as she stood up too. The impact nearly sent both Aviel and Sanders falling out of their chairs. Her face was twisted by sheer outrage as she practically screamed back at the Captain.

"HOW DARE YOU!? SIT BACK DOWN NOW, RANGER RAIM, BEFORE I HAVE YOU THROWN INTO THE BRIG FOR INSUBORDINATI-" Cathrine yelled before Sanders stopped comprehending her. Both Sanders and Aviel had clamped their hands over their ears, but it was no use. Cathrine's yell was like a nuclear bomb of sound going off to them. A nuclear bomb that keep going off. Sander's hearing faded away, replaced by ringing, but the pain in his ears didn't stop.

Finally, the pain subsided as a faint trickle of blood began to run down his ears and into his hands. He looked up to see Angela standing next to Cathrine. She was saying something to her and gesturing toward him and Aviel. Cathrine turned toward them and looked at them a moment. Her rage seemed to die down as she got back her stoic passive face. She sat back down as Angela turned to the Captain and said something to her.

Sanders got back to his feet and wiped the bit of blood on his hands onto his armor. Aviel had already gotten to her feet and was looking between the Captain and Cathrine. Sanders looked at the Captain and watched her sigh before taking her seat as well. The ringing in his ears slowly faded as sound returned to him.

"-s keep things civil. If for nothing else than for our smaller members' ears sake. Are you two alright?" Angela asked as she looked at them with a bit of worry.

"Yes, ma'am, we are fine," Aviel answered as Sanders nodded in agreement. Angela smiled at their assurances and took her seat. Sanders and Aviel sat back down as well as the three giantesses seemed to wait for the others to say something.

Finally, Angela cleared her throat, "Well, I believe we were asking Flonne about her version of the story. She had said Gregor was looking at Sanders when he had been killed. However, Isabella did bring up a good point that flustering her is not going to help get a straight answer.

"So," she paused as she looked at Flonne with a warm smile, "Flonne, was Gregor looking at Sanders when he died?"

"No, I...I just got confused," she answered still sounding rather scared. She ducked back behind the Captain and into her hair as Cathrine still glared at her.

"Well then, we will just assume it was her nerves getting the best of her. Is that fine by you Matriarch Cathrine?" Angela asked turning her smile toward her. Cathrine didn't look fine with it at all, but slowly nodded just the same.

"Wonderful. If the four of you would step out, we need to discuss your reports in private for a moment," Angela asked as she motioned for them to go. The Captain placed her hand back down on the table to let Sanders and Aviel climb back on before heading out through the door. It closed behind them a bit faster than normal, leaving them alone in the hallway.

"What the hell was that, Isabella?!" Aviel yelled up at the Captain. The Captain turned her massive eyes down toward Aviel as she continued, "Are you out of your mind yelling at Matriarch Cathrine?! You are lucky she didn't ship you off to some backwater nothing farm outpost!"

The Captain moved her hand so that Flonne came into view on her other shoulder. The fairy was clutching to the Captain's neck crying into it like it was her mother's bosom. Sanders was now keenly aware of why the Captain had yelled at Cathrine, and why she would do it again. Aviel opened her mouth to say something, but reconsidered it as Flonne keep on crying. The Captain sighed as she cast her eyes downward.

"Aviel, a good soldier would have stayed silent. But we are not soldiers, we are protectors, guardians. We are called the Shields for a reason, because we protect those that can't protect themselves. Ultimately, it is not Cathrine nor the Society we serve, but those that need help. Don't ever forget that," the Captain said like a teacher would explain a problem.

Sanders nodded in understanding at the Captain's words, even though they were not directed at him. It was sentiments like that that truly made him proud to serve under the Captain. And why he made sure to always refer to her as the Captain, even if it was not her official rank. Aviel, though, turned away from the Captain and crossed her arms. She shook her head before she huffed to herself.

"Well maybe I don't want to be a protector..." she whispered to herself, too softly for the Captain to hear. Sanders shoulder drooped a bit at hearing that. Aviel had always said she would have preferred to be the in the Swords, but they didn't use normal-sized people so she was stuck in the Shields till she proved herself. With what happened to her parents he supposed he couldn't blame her. She couldn't get the revenge she so badly wanted in the Shields.

They waited in silence for a few more minutes till the door into the debriefing room opened again. The Captain moved back inside and they all took their seats again, just like last time. Cathrine looked to have calmed down and simply stared at them with her impassive face, waiting for Angela. Angela looked up from her wrist computer and smiled at them.

"We have gone over your reports and come to a decision about your actions," she said before nodding to Cathrine.

"We have concluded that you did everything you reasonably could to try and save Doctor Gregor Manchent's life and stop the Resistance from gaining sensitive intelligence. His death was not your fault, but one of faulty intelligence and planning. You had no way of knowing the Resistance had access to such advanced technology and thus no way to prepare for it. Therefore, Ranger Wolff and Cutter are to be commended for going above their assigned roles and stopping the Resistance from escaping. Ranger Cutter, you are hereby promoted to D-Rank," Cathrine said as she looked at Sanders with just the barest hint of a smile. Sanders couldn't stop from looking surprised by the sudden promotion and took a few seconds to respond. Promoted for failing to save someone...

"I-...Thank you, Ma'am." he said as he stood and saluted. He tried to sound happy and enthused, but the promotion felt hollow considering what had happened. Neither Matriarch seemed to notice though as Cathrine continued.

"Ranger Wolff, we discussed promoting you to C-Rank and awakening your dormant shrink-immunity gene," Cathrine said as Aviel suddenly lit up. Her usual mask of emotionlessness fell away as she looked on in anticipation and excitement. Sanders wasn't sure how to feel honestly.

"We agreed that you are still not ready for that step, however. Your performance was admirable, but not good enough to warrant over-ruling Isabella's judgement of you not being ready," Cathrine said. Aviel's face darkened almost immediately and she looked about to slump into her seat. She stopped, though, as she straightened and saluted.

"I understand, Ma'am," Aviel said not letting any of the disappointment Sander was sure she felt get through. Instead, she simply keep her face stone-like and stared straight ahead. Sanders wanted to say something to comfort her, but just couldn't find the words. What did one say to someone who had their hopes raised and dashed like that?

"Ranger Raim, for your earlier outburst, you will be on cleaning duty for the next week and can consider this your warning that future conduct will see you demoted. Is that understood?" Cathrine said as she glared at the Captain. The Captain returned the glare, but nodded just the same. The two of them sat glaring at one another for a few seconds before Angela spoke up.

"I think that concludes this debriefing. As Cathrine said, we are very proud of your accomplishments. While Gregor's death is a tragedy, stopping his knowledge from falling into the Resistance's hands prevented a far greater tragedy. I hope you take some solace in that knowledge, despite his death," Angela said with the same warm smile. Sanders didn't feel much better after her talk. All he felt was the stinging memory of Gregor's death...and his words.

Cathrine nodded her agreement, finally tearing her eyes from the Captain. "Indeed, you all did fine work and should be proud. You are dismissed and can leave for some well-earned R&R."

With that, they all stood, saluted, and then reboarded the Captain's massive hand. Sanders went straight back to one of her waiting fingers and gripped it as Aviel simply sat down in the middle of her palm. She still didn't show any sign of emotion on her face as she just sat there and stared at the Captain's palm. The Captain turned a bit too quickly, causing Sanders to tighten his grip and Aviel to put a hand down to steady herself. Then she was off and heading out of the room.

Sanders waited till they were a few steps out of the room to let go of the Captain's finger. He crawled his way toward Aviel, having some trouble keeping his balance as the hand shook. He got to her and had to take a few minutes to steady himself as he tried to sit next to Aviel. She glanced up at him, her face still a mask of passiveness.

Sanders tried to think of something to say to her, but again drew a blank. Finally, he just put his arm around her and gave her the best smile he could manage.

"Sorry," he said as he tired to comfort her. Aviel snorted at him before shaking her head. She looked away, but didn't try to move away from him. Instead she placed her head on his shoulder and just stared off into the air. Sanders did the same as his thoughts turned back to Gregor. Lindale...what had he been trying to tell them? And what had they just gotten into by not telling it to the Matriarchs.


     Article on Matriarchs

Matriarchs are the leaders of the Society of any given region. A mixture of General and President, Military and Political figures. For those in the Society, they are the highest authority, save for those in high command. Society members are expected to obey their orders without question or hesitation.

Those outside the Society, however, are under no such obligation. While Matriarchs do have some sway with the local government of their area, they cannot override or disregard laws or requests made by the local government unless they directly contradict their orders from high command. However, such issues have rarely happened as most laws that are unpopular with the Matriarchs rarely succeed. Of course, the Matriarchs only rarely involve themselves in political issues unless it directly affects the Society.

All regions have two Matriarchs, one for the Shields and one of the Swords. These two work together and decide how best to continue to use the Society's resources to help the people of the region. While deputes between them are not unheard of, most are simply a matter of small details and worked out. Those that do become serious are dealt with by High Command.

The current Matriarchs of the Atlanta region are Cathrine Williams for the Shields, and Angela Buckel for the Swords. Cathrine has held the position for three years while Angela has held it for only one after the removal of the last Sword Matriarch. Information on the removal of the previous Sword Matriarch is Classified.