X - FORCE

General Alfred Leigh Wellfordshire had collapsed. The 73-year-old, despite his excellent health, had finally succumbed to his age. The Old man turned his head to the sound of his door in the Medi Wing opening and smiled at the young woman poking her head through and peeking inside. He laughed. "Olivia Moss. You can just come in." His smile reached all the way to his eyes and the crows' feet he had been aging up with him appeared in the corners. "You called for me, General?" She breezed into the room with his permission and sat in the seat next to his bed. His smile faltered and he sighed before smirking over at her. "At least I could get you to address me correctly. You know you're supposed to stand and salute until I give permission?" "I know, I know, but there isn't anyone else here so it's fine, right?" She grinned at him. He pattered her hand and looked into her eyes. "There's something I need to talk to you about, Olivia." He gave her a stern look. Olivia's smile dropped and she looked at him apprehensively before sighing. "You're not dying, right?" Alfred chuckled before regaining his composer. "Obviously I am. I'm old. But that's not the issue. I am appointing you as the X – Force Manager. The role will become available due to the shifts in administration now that I'll be semi-retired and you are more than suited to the role." Olivia flew out of her chair. "Absolutely not! I'm not a leader Alfred and you know it! Besides, not only do I enjoy my job in the field, but everyone is expecting Thunder Force Manager, Noah Vallor, to take over the role. You and I both know it will cause a stir if I was to take over the role." She huffed, out of breath. "I'm well aware of what everyone else wants to happen, however, there are some things that I believe require a more... delicate, impartial view. Not to mention your unique perspective and experience. As for your own worries, you will remain in the field and do your current job. I believe you can handle both and the criticism as well. You're a tough girl. Also, I'm not asking. I've already made the preparations." Olivia froze for a moment before raising her hand in salute and thanking the director. A knock on the door disrupts any further conversation and Olivia opens the door to reveal the rest of Force Delta. "Commander Ivy-Rose Sutton, reporting Force Delta in attendance, Sir." "At ease, Commander." Alfred waves them in. Ivy-Rose and Second-In-Command, Ryan Butler, eye Olivia as they enter the room. "Permission to speak, General?" "Permission granted, Commander." "With all due respect, sir, I wasn't made aware that Lieutenant Moss would be joining you early. As her Commanding Officer, I'd like to know who issued her command and ask to be informed beforehand next time, as this affects the organisation of my unit." Olivia resisted the urge to roll her eyes at the pettiness. General Alfred narrowed his eyes. "I issued the command. You may be a commanding officer; however, you would do well to remember that there are still positions above yours, that don't have to answer to you." Alfred sighed. "Also, Lieutenant Olivia Moss has extenuating circumstances to be here, which I will reveal to you all as a group when the meeting commences." Ivy-Rose apologised and thanked the General before stepping back, biting her lip. One after the other, two other teams arrived and announced themselves. Thunder Team arrived first, Commander Nathan Lalfon making a glam entrance as he swept into the room. He and his team looked excited. 'Probably because they still think they will be celebrating Noah's promotion tonight.' Olivia grimaced to herself. Go Team was the third to arrive, Commander Inigo Thrain, a large man with Wolf's ears, entered first, apologising that some of his members would be absent due to patrols. The team's intelligence officer, Lenox Patel, moved next to Olivia, flashing her a cheeky smirk. They had been friends since long before joining the Army, however, they didn't spend much time together anymore. The smirk quickly disappeared from his face as he pushed his squared glasses up the bridge of his nose. He always looked so serious, he could stand to smile once or twice. Everyone stood in silence for a moment before arguing could be heard from somewhere in the distance, gradually getting louder. Most of the faces in the room dropped and grimaced before the door was flung open. "Are you seriously going to stand there and tell me I'm wrong?!" "Shut up! Just shut up, old hag!" The commanding officer stood in front of the group, eyes closed, a subtle frown graced his lips. "If you don't both shut up, I'll send you to both to Cadet duty." Silence graced the room once again and the Commander sighed before saluting the General. "B Force Commander, Ainsley Hill, reporting in, Sir." "Commander, must you always come in such a manner." Sighed Alfred, but a small smile flickered on his lips before disappearing. "Sincerest apologies everyone," He bowed slightly. "However, we were in the middle of a discussion when we received the summons." All the Thunder Force and Delta members glared at the Commander and the members of Go Team just sighed. Olivia, impartial to her teammates simply resisted the urge to snort. This behaviour wasn't exactly out of the ordinary for B Force, but they could at least tone it down in front of the General. "It's fine, just get in here." General Alfred waved them in. "Now that you're all here, let's start this meeting. As you are all aware, my health is in decline. I will be semi-retired after today, so I will still be around, just not as prominently as before. I'm sure you all know that this affects all of you as well, as there will be people shifting in all positions. I know that some of you aspire to be promoted and move up the ranks, however, I have chosen to deal with all the shifts and promotions myself. After being the General for many years, I have had time to watch all of you grow and while you may be thinking that as General, I haven't had the time to deal with you all as closely as someone like your recruiting officer or previous manager, I have been receiving both personal and group reports on all of you. While I may not do this for the general corps, you are our specialised teams and I have overseen several decisions so rest assured that I have not taken this decision lightly and have discussed it with several other General Majors. I would like to invite our General Majors to join us for this announcement. The door opened and seven men and women were led into the room. They greeted the General before taking a formal stance along the adjoining wall. "I have listened to what all of you have had to say and read through all the reports you made, and I just want to let you know that your opinion... I didn't really care for it. I got different records sent over from the previous force manager and the cadet training files. I'd be sorry but some reports just didn't make sense to me." He waved a dismissive hand towards the General Majors and their faces twisted into various expressions. Shock, Disbelief and Rage. "General, you can't be serious! The candidates put forward were chosen specifically as they meet the requirements for the job! You can't just-" "I can and I most certainly did. Based on the progress reports and training files I received, I was able to ascertain that there were three eligible candidates and the top two didn't even make it onto your recommendation lists. Some of your reports were just blatantly wrong. Honestly, If I had more time, I'm sure I could replace the lot of you as well." Alfred rolled his eyes. "Firstly, General Major Matilda Green will be promoted to General Commander and be the one I share my responsibilities with." He raised a hand at any incoming objections. "Despite being a General Major for only a short while, she has managed to make detailed and honest reports and her candidate list was the only one to reference all three eligible Lieutenants. That's the kind of judgment we need." "Secondly, the matter of X Force manager. I'm going to call the three I believe to possess the qualities needed in no particular order, then I will announce my decision. Lieutenant Noah Vallor, Lieutenant Lenox Patel, Lieutenant Olivia Moss. Step forward." The three stepped towards the General. Noah smirked as he glanced over at the other two candidates. Lenox may pose some competition, but Olivia was nothing special, she had never even had any mentions. Lenox wore his usual serious expression, but Olivia could see the twinkle in his eye as he glanced at her with a knowing look. He had clearly already figured this out. Olivia was correct in her assumption. Lenox weighed that Noah was the obvious pick for the General Majors as he was on the Forces most prominent team, however, the General had already basically announced he hadn't chosen their pick, and he was smart enough to know that he would have received the job offer, had he been picked, but he hadn't and that only left one person. Nervous little Olivia. The poor girl looked like she wanted to disappear and that told him everything he needed to know. The General spoke again. "Lieutenant Vallor. You indeed show exceptional skills within your team. Organising and scheduling." Noah smirked. "However, based on both your personal progress report and your Cadet Training report, it has become apparent that you are lacking in the necessary social and relation development skills for the position." Noah's smirk was wiped from his face and replaced with shock. "Lieutenant Patel. I have no doubts that you most likely already have an inkling of my decision and that intelligence alone could qualify you for this position. However, I have seen the state of your room and your Cadet Training Report and I'm aware that unless it comes down to the thrill of the mission, you lack the necessary organisational skills for this position." Alfred sent Lenox a knowing look and He shrugged his shoulders. "It's never been my strong suit, Sir." Alfred huffed a small laugh before turning to Olivia. "Lieutenant Moss. While you have every bit of skill and experience in this position, your exceptional organisation, and your ability to analyse the data given, you struggle to take leadership. While I believe based on your progress reports and especially your Cadet training reports that you possess the qualities and traits to be an excellent leader, you lack the drive to do so. I understand that this is because of your own circumstances, however, it is crucial for the position" Olivia bowed her head. "Of the three of you, it's a tough decision, the things I've mentioned are hard to learn, if not impossible, however, the candidate chosen possesses the highest likelihood of success and the capacity for change. I feel it's also important to note that while this position is considered a promotion, the rank will remain the same as they will stay in their current position. This does, however, come with some exceptions. While performing the duties of the manager, you can assume that this person holds the rank of Lieutenant Commander." General Alfred looked over each of the Commanding officers to ensure they understood the implications of this. This person was effectively functioning in two different roles. Switching between leader and follower based on the circumstances. This wasn't an easy thing to pull off. "Congratulations Lieutenant Commander Olivia Moss."