As they stepped to the ground, a loud command of “Atten-hut!” followed closely by “Present Arms!” sounded. Ninety-six Raiders created a corridor for the Queen to walk through, two ranks of twenty-four men lining each side of a red carpet leading to her skimmer, all holding assault weapons in the present-arms position. Mike and Otis followed directly behind the Queen, followed by Val and Reba. Seeton and Chandrajuski, his long neck towering above everyone, came next, then the Protectors spread out to both sides for security. Invisible to all but Waverly and the Protectors, snipers and spotters from Waverly’s forces manned every rooftop and nearby ship.
Ellie stopped after only a few paces and turned to Waverly. “Many of them are wounded, Jim.”
“All of them are wounded, Your Majesty.”
“And I’ve kept them waiting all this time? I’m sorry. If it is not contrary to your custom, I would meet each of them.”
“Thank you, Your Majesty. If you don’t mind, I’ll keep you moving right along. As you said, they’re walking wounded.” She spent the next forty-five minutes inspecting the troops. Waverly kept her moving, but he knew what every soldier had been through, and he recounted brief exploits for her before each one. She graciously offered words of appreciation and laid a hand on each one of them.
She and Mike spent the rest of the day with Waverly and Seeton, intending to tour the battlefields. Their first stop was Seeton’s sector headquarters. Her skimmer stopped a hundred meters in front of the deserted building, and everyone just stared at it while her Protectors deployed from their own skimmers. The grounds surrounding the building had become a wasteland. The left front corner of the building was essentially demolished, but gaping holes and rubble adequately described what was left of the front and sides.
“Six men held this place?” she wondered with a hint of incredulity in her voice.
Seeton corrected her. “It was really five incredible soldiers and one frightened, very green admiral, Your Majesty.”
“It’s what Reba’s Raiders do, Your Majesty,” Waverly added. “Ray’s ships played a big part in it.”
She continued to stare at the building, but her thoughts were elsewhere. Then she just got out of the skimmer, tossed her robe and crown on the seat, and started walking through the blasted grounds toward the building. She knew right where she wanted to go and led everyone up to the second floor, turned right, and went down to the corner. It was completely open to the outside.
She neared the edge of the missing floor and bent down to pick up a piece of paper laying in the rubble.
She looked at it, then handed it to Waverly. “A memento, Jim. You freed a world, and you saved the senior officers in this building in the process.”
“I was one of those saved, Your Majesty,” Seeton said. “Actually, Waverly saved the world, and Trexler won the battle in space. He did it without leaving his bed.”
“So I heard. Reba says it was… difficult for the sailors in the fleet.”
“I’m certain it was, but the outcome was never in doubt. I expect you will be hearing a lot of personal stories during the coming days.”
“Then let’s get started.”
That night she received the Raiders in a formal ceremony in the governor’s mansion. 341 Raiders sat on both sides of a center isle in the cavernous room. Behind them a number of hospital beds held the more seriously wounded that could be moved. When she was announced, everyone who could stand came to attention. Ellie strode the length of the center isle and took her place in the elevated seat at the front of the room. Her Knights followed to stand to her left and right.
She spoke clearly. “Besides myself and my Knights, there are no other Empire officials here in this room. Tonight is just for you Raiders. Tonight I take the opportunity to say ‘thank you.’ I have been told that no other special operations troops on Earth have been tasked to deliver so much so relentlessly. You have not wavered despite serious losses and injuries, and you have not lost a single battle.”
She gave them a view of the big picture and their place within it, letting them know the true threat of Chessori domination. Their battle was not only to save the Empire: they were in every sense of the word fighting to save Earth. There would be no letup for the Raiders, the war was not yet won, but there was no one except the Raiders to carry the ground battle to the Chessori.
“Know this,” she stated clearly. “Colonel Waverly tells me that the families of the fallen are not well taken care of on Earth. That will not be the case with you men. I promise each and every one of you that not only you, but your survivors as well, will be amply rewarded by your service to me. You will not be forgotten.”
Reba walked to the center of the stage. “Colonel Waverly, front and center,” she announced.
He took center stage, and she turned her back on the Raiders to face him. “Admiral Trexler is not available to do the honors, so he asked me to do them in his place,” she announced. “By his order, you, James Waverly, are hereby promoted to Brigadier General.”
She removed the eagles from Waverly’s shoulders and pinned a star in place of each, saying, “The stars came from Admiral Trexler, so they’re navy stars, but he thought you’d find them acceptable.” She stepped back and saluted him. “Congratulations, General.”
Waverly returned the salute. Reba took his arm and turned to face her Raiders.
“Reba’s Raiders,” she began. She looked them over with that radiant smile on her face, her head shaking from side to side. “I’m so proud of you.”
Shouts of “Hoo-Ah!” sounded from around the room.
“I salute you, one and all. You have fought under the banner of my name since your inception, and you have honored me far more than I deserve. It’s time to set the record straight. With your permission, I ask that the record henceforth refer to you as Waverly’s Raiders.”
The Raiders rose, all that could, with loud clapping and more calls of “Hoo-Ah!”
Reba returned to her seat and Ellie stood. “General Waverly, we are not done yet.” She stepped to his side and turned him so that all of his men would see and hear clearly. “I told you earlier that you would kneel before me only once, then never again. The time has come, General”.
Waverly went to one knee. Ellie put her hands on his head, but turned to address the men.
“You are about to participate in a very private ceremony never before witnessed by anyone but the Queen and her Knights. You are here because in many respects the honor I bestow upon General Waverly is an honor bestowed on each of you as well.
“Know this: the Naming of a Knight of the Realm is a call to even greater sacrifice in my name. Know this as welclass="underline" wherever you fight, General Waverly’s commands will carry the same weight as my own. No longer will you be the last to receive medical care. No longer will you be forced to operate without full knowledge. No longer will you be held in anything but the highest esteem.”
She turned back to Waverly, but her voice carried to the whole room. “So that you and your men fully understand what transpires here today, I tell you that within our Empire there are never more than 100 Knights. At present, there are only seven. You will be the eighth. Such is the esteem to which I hold you.
“James Waverly, today and forever more, you will be referred to as a Great One of Empire.
“James Waverly, you have served Earth well. In addition to Earth, you now officially serve the Empire. As much as your men count on you, so too does the Empire. So, too, do I.
“I call you, James Waverly, to a duty that transcends kings and queens and presidents. I call you to serve all. Your peers judge you worthy, and so do I.”
Reba stepped forward with Trexler’s sabre, which had been polished to a high luster. With a brief hiss, she pulled the sword from its sheath and presented it to Ellie.
Ellie turned to her and grasped the hilt of the sword in both hands. She turned it, letting shards of light reflect from its mirror finish as she studied it.