The message that Woodwick wanted to see him in his office didn't come as a surprise. The two men hadn't exchanged any words after they had left Hadrian's office, but Aldrich was well-aware that they needed to discuss what had happened. He was glad that all he had gotten was a warning, but he didn't consider it fair that Woodwick had been put on probation. Somehow, it all felt like one big powerplay. The soldiers would need that information sooner or later, but what seemed to matter most to Hadrian was that Warren hadn't respected the chain of command. The lieutenant could understand that, of course, but it still felt like thing had gotten blown out of proportion. He would just lay low and do as he was told until Hadrian was in a better mood.

Aldrich wanted to knock on the door, but it was already open, so the man peeked inside. The Captain ushered him in and he shook his hand before sitting down in his designated seat. "Yes, Captain", he said in response. Whether Vesper was there or no would surely influence the conversation.

There was no time to waste, really. Warren had always been one to jump right into work and this matter, especially, needed to be seen to as soon as possible. "First, Lieutenant, I would like to thank you for attempting to support my decision to give that information to the soldiers." Given his track record, Warren really had expected Aldrich to flip on him immediately. Throughout the mans career he'd been known as somewhat of a suck-up. He had been willing to play to whatever the highest power was for the sake of an advantage over the next guy. In their last formal meeting, he had noted that the man seemed to be changing in that way. Rather it be his age, or his promotion to lieutenant, he seemed to be thinking more about the work itself and the soldiers than he was himself. That, at least, made him feel better about all of this.

"While I still feel it is necessary for our soldiers to have that information, I agree with the Commander that I should have checked in with him first on such an important issue. By not doing so, I inadvertently put you in a position you should not have been in. You were merely following my orders, and for that I apologize. I'm relieved that you were only given a warning, but even that would not have been so had I spoken with Commander Usher first." These feelings were genuine, and would have been spoken to Aldrich regardless of Vesper's presence. He didn't really care what she thought, or what she might report back to the Commander. He was going to act as he would regardless. "So, as should be obvious, I will be making sure that every piece of information handed down from here on out is done so with the permission of the Commander. I have no intention of making the same mistake twice, of that I can assure you."

He looked toward the papers on his desk, holding one out and slightly away from his face to look over it. "I believe you have already sent a full copy of my personal notes to the Commander as he requested, is that correct? I have a few others that I have to gather to send him, but otherwise the copy I sent you was a much more coherent version than the ones I have here. Before we move on, is there anything further on the topic you'd like to discuss?"

The first thing he noticed when he walked into the office, was that Vesper Delvaux was also present. It didn't really come as a surprise, but he still frowned slightly. Inquisitor general. A waste of a pretty face, if you asked Aldrich. Vesper was breathtaking, but not only because of her appearance. She was scary. You knew that it wasn't a good thing when she was around, and he did wonder how lowly the Captain Commander thought of them to hire Vesper again. She used to be a great soldier, and now she was just a pain in the ass for anyone with a little bit of authority.

But he nodded at her, acknowledging her presence, before moving on. He sat down in the chair and looked at Woodwick. The Captain spend no time on idle chit-chat. He was straight to the point and thanked him for having his back during the conversation with Commander Usher. Although he didn't doubt that it was a sincere statement, it did make cause him to ask himself how the man felt about him. Had he really expected anything different from him? He wouldn't turn on a superior just to save his own ass, especially not if he agreed with what had happened.

Aldrich pushed the thoughts aside and focused on Warren again. "Thank you, Captain Woodwick", he said in response to the apology. He didn't care much for apologies. They were never able to undo something that had happened already, but he could appreciate the sentiment behind them.

"I did, yes. I had an assistent drop off the notes you sent me, so Captain Commander Usher has them now." He pondered the question of wanting to discuss anything for a moment. Vesper's presence definitely made it more difficult to speak freely. "Not really, sir", he then said. "But-" and there was always a but "I do feel like, even though you didn't get the Commander's approval, that it was a good thing to inform the soldiers about the enemy. I'd rather have them know now who they're up against, in contrary to them finding out about it when it's too late." He paused for a moment.

"That being said, I hope the Commander regains his trust in us, and especially you, sir. I heard you're going to Cambria. It will be quite the adjustment to not have you here."

Aldrich's instance that the soldiers needed the information that they were given did make Warren feel better about it. Believing something yourself is great, but no matter how confident you might be in your own decisions, someone else was always going to disagree with them. That person had been Hadrian, and it just so happened that Hadrian, besides the King himself, was Warren's only superior. "Had I decided to go through the Commander first, the information may still have been passed down the soldiers. Perhaps in a different way, or at a different time. We cannot know for sure because I unintentionally made the decision without him."

It was still all a little nonsensical to him. What was the point of having the information in the first place if you did not intend to use it? But it didn't matter. The soldiers had the information now, whether Hadrian liked it or not. "We can only hope now that giving that information to the soldiers has done what it was supposed to do: prepare them."

He didn't want to remain on the topic for too long, and given the woman that had been lingering in his office any cause to think he was trying to rally the Lieutenant toward an idea that had not even been stumbled upon intentionally. Fortunate, then, that Aldrich had brought up the next intended topic of their conversation. "I hope that as well, Lieutenant, and that is the actual reason I've asked you here today. We're going to have a long day."

Warren had never been one to shy away from what was realistic, from facing the facts. On this occasion it was a little more difficult, but he did his best not to let it show. This was his job, to prepare those for what may be to come. "As you've said, I'll be going to Cambria. The situation there is...precarious. Should I fail my assignment, I'll likely be demoted back to Lieutenant, perhaps further down in rank, I cannot be certain. Should the Cambrians make things more difficult, I may also die. Obviously I hope to achieve my goals and return home quickly and easily, but I prefer to prepare for the worst while I hope for the best. In either negative outcome, the most likely scenario is that you will replace me as Captain. So, I would like to spend the majority of the day making sure that you are prepared for my departure and for the possibility of your promotion."

He leaned against his desk somewhat and folded his hands atop the wood. "So, did you have anything scheduled today that you might need to cancel? If so, I can give you a few moments to arrange that before we begin."

The man wondered what Woodwick would say if Vesper wasn't present. Would he still say these things about Hadrian? Of course Aldrich respected his superiors, but he couldn't shake the feeling that Hadrian had been a tad unreasonable. He put on if his best captains on probation.

They didn't stay on the topic very long, and the Lieutenant was absolutely fine with that. Talking about Hadrian with Vesper present was too much if a ticking time bomb. He didn't want to risk saying anything wrong.

The harsh truth of the words didn't startle Aldrich, but it did make him realise even more than he did before how serious everything was. The soldiers weren't just going to Cambria for fun. There was a risk of dying, and now additionally there was the risk of Warren getting demoted. His ambition made his eyes twinkle with excitement when he heard the word promotion, but on the other hand he didn't want another promotion handed to him because of mere circumstances. He had become lieutenant because of the ball, and not necessarily because if his skills and determination.

"My schedule is all clear, Captain. Let's get to work."

Warren's eyes scanned the man in front of him as he delivered the news. If he was particularly bothered, or excited, about what Warren had said, the Captain couldn't tell. Did it really matter, in the long run? Regardless of how they felt about one another, whether they liked or disliked one another, what Warren had said was still the truth. At the very least Aldrich did have some experience in leadership, and that was better than nothing. It was also possible that Raff Terach could be promoted to Captain, but he wasn't quite as experienced as Abbott.

His main concern was that Abbott would abuse his power. If he did so while everyone was gone, and Warren remained Captain when he returned, he could perhaps do something about it. But if he failed and returned to be demoted, then he would have to suffer under the mans boot as well. It was best to teach him what he thought was best now, and hope that there wasn't much resistance. He had agreed with Warren on the matter of the information, so maybe the man really was turning a new leaf.

All the possible scenarios played out in Warren's mind, though their probability was unknown. Warren didn't intend to ruin everything he'd worked for, and he definitely didn't intend to die. But, like he'd said, prepare for the worst...

"Good," he pulled three parchments from the top of a stack he had prepared and slid them across the desk to Aldrich. "Then we'll start with scheduling. When you were a drill instructor, you had to familiarize yourself with their schedules anyway, so you should already have a grasp on when and where the soldiers are going throughout the day. Most aren't done individually, but by platoons. Each platoon is scheduled for specific activities for every day of the week, on rotation. So platoon alpha is split up for patrols on the first day of the week, then drills on second day of the week, then staff duty third day of the week, and so on. We rotate them regularly, so the following week platoon beta would take over on the first day of the week, and alpha would begin their schedules on the second day."

Warren wasn't trying to dumb this down for the Lieutenant. It was simple enough, and he'd be able to pick it up quickly after looking at the seasons schedules and notes, which he had just been handed. But the task being simple didn't make it easy. It was a lot of people to oversee, and sometimes scheduling conflicts could be made. After another few minutes of explanation and Warren reaching across the desk to point out what he was talking about on the notes in front of Aldrich, he slid him another paper.

"These are requests for temporary leave. Soldiers are expected to give us at least a ten days notice or estimated time of departure, and should not be away for more than ten days, ideally. They are usually only granted for emergencies, births, or dire sickness. Any leave taken without request or permission are punished with staff duty, or depending on the occurrence, permanent dismissal. Assuming they return to duty at all."

One more paper was slid over to Aldrich. "And these are requests for retirement or dismissal of ones position. Retirement may be requested when a soldier comes of the fifty-five, or upon receiving an injury which would inhibit them from carrying out their duties to Nevermeran standards. If neither of those standards are met for the request, then it is not retirement, but dismissal. The terms of their dismissal may be subjective, depending upon the most recent enlistment contract they've signed. You will have to pull the individual soldiers records for each case." He let out a sigh, knowing that he had only gone over a tiny fraction of the information and dreaded doing the rest. All of this paperwork was learned over time. Warren had known of his promotion for nearly a whole season before he'd received it, so he'd had time to prepare. Now he had to prepare Abbot with only a couple of weeks to spare.

"I don't expect you learn all of the fine details of every piece of paperwork today, so as long as you're getting a general overview, we can expand on more specific details over the next five to ten days. Does anything so far stand out to you?"

Aldrich reached out to put the parchment in front of him before looking up at the Captain again.

Learning the schedules wouldn't be too hard. He had indeed been familiar with them when he was an active drill instructor, and the rotation of the schedules per platoon made a lot of sense. He nodded along every now and then while Warren explained things to show that he understood what the man was telling him. If anything was unclear, he would interrupt before it was too late. While interrupting could be seen as impolite, in a scenario such as this one it was better to interrupt than to pretend you were understanding everything. As soon as you lost track, all and any additional information would seem overwhelming, and Aldrich wasn't planning on being a burden by having to ask what X and Y meant after Warren was done explaining everything.

Yet he didn't do so right away when he had a question. He would ask it later, for it wasn't a dire question.

The information about the retirement made him want to look at Vesper Delvaux , but he made sure not to. She had left the military, and now she was back. He was more than familiar with the information about dismissals. He had been allowed to dismiss Rhedara. He sometimes wondered if he had ruined her life by doing so, but then he reminded himself that she had been a loose canon.

"I have one question, yes", he said, pointing at the parchment about temporary leave. "Would I have to consult with Commander Usher if someone's temporary leave would be more than ten days?" He assumed there would be occasions on which someone would need more than ten days, although it would be an exemption. Most things wouldn't take more than that. "Other than that, I'm following."

After Abbott's question, Warren nodded and retrieved a blank sheet of parchment from a drawer to his right. Then he took his pen and dipped it in the inkwell, making a note at the top of the paper. "Good question. I'll make a list of all documents that are required or suggested to be sent to the Commander. My policy outside of those that are required is generally that if I have any apprehension or if I am even remotely unsure about the piece of paperwork itself, I send it to the Commander regardless. That said, he's busy, so I try not to add to his workload when I can manage." His own words made the back of his head burn, feeling Vesper's eyes on him as if she might interject with some unnecessary comment about how clearly his own judgement hadn't been quite as successful as he'd hoped. Yet he had been a lieutenant for four years before being promoted to Captain, and had been acting as Captain for a season before officially being promoted. In the entirety of his career, he had made one mistake - a mistake he had no problem acknowledging, and now he'd been saddled with a glorified babysitter.

A waste of time an effort, really. Warren had been the one to snatch Bex by from her escape attempt and hold her still as she was killed by the King's Witches. As if they really needed to intervene at all. He had no desire to be the next Brekker, and yet here he was, being treated as if he might be. Simply for telling the soldiers something they needed to know.

He wrote down the retirement requests first. "All retirement requests are to be sent to Commander Usher, and as you said, any requests for leave that may exceed the maximum allowed must also be sent to him. Generally schedules do not need to be approved except for on special occasion. For example, the survival trips we took last season, because multiple officers had to attend, needed to be approved. Once I leave and you take over, I would begin by erring on the side of caution. It may feel like you're giving the Commander too much to do, but that's better than letting anything slip through the cracks." Then, he added dryly. "Clearly."

With a sigh, he made a couple of more notes on the parchment as he thought of other documents. "As for assessments, I would suggest taking thorough notes on the soldiers you deem exemplary. I'll be taking quite a few with me, and many others will be going to Coheed. We cannot know who will or will not return, so you need to have a good grasp on those who remain."

Tapping his pen against the desk, he rubbed his face over once. "I'll have my assistant aid you for the first couple of weeks. He's very familiar with the paperwork, where it goes and who it goes to, so he can help your assistant learn. Most of what will come across your desk other than what we've spoken of are things similar to this." He slid a few of more sheets over to Abbott. "Armory, weaponry, and supply requests and confirmations. These are generally inventoried on a cycle, at which time we replace anything unfit for use or anything that needs to be restocked. These numbers will generally look about the same every cycle, so if anything stands out you'll notice. Otherwise, you need only sign off on them. Medical supplies and potion supplies are handled by the head of Medics, so you don't have to worry about those."

He took a few more papers from the stack he had gathered as examples, but waited before handing them to Abbott. "Any further questions, or shall we continue?"

He could feel the tension in the air when Woodwick spoke about consulting with the Commander. Again he wished that Vesper would take a long walk of a short pier. But with that leg of hers, that would still take too long.

Clearly.

The Lieutenant forced himself to keep a straight face. That one word said more than a hundred sentences could, and Aldrich caught himself looking at Vesper from the corner of his eye for a second to see what her reaction would be. The man cleared his throat and readjusted himself in the chair, trying to find a more comfortable position.

"Your assistant?" he asked, grinning a bit. He had seen Woodwick's assistant, and had wondered what the hell he was doing with someone as goofy and nerdy as Mister Four-Eyes. "That would be useful", he then added, trying to save himself from straight up insulting Woodwick's assistant.

Aldrich held up a hand. "I'm good. Let's continue."