Evans bowed his head respectfully. "Yes, Commander."
And just as swiftly as he had arrived, he vanished—teleporting to his quarters to begin the monumental task at hand.
Just as Minister Evans vanished in a shimmer of light, Kallus turned toward the Red Empress. Before departing, he handed over control of the ongoing operations and cleanup to her.
"Empress," he said, his voice calm yet heavy with resolve, "I'm going into the Universal Plane. I'll begin construction on the facilities we'll need for the new recruits. Time is not on our side."
And he continued. "While I'm inside, I'm entrusting the coordination of the cleanup and situational management to you."
The Red Empress gave a small nod of acknowledgment and understanding, but as Kallus prepared to leave, she instead of commenting on the operational task, she instead said something that had nothing to do with logistics—yet everything to do with what mattered.
