These were August's trigem Champions. His greatest warriors.
"What the hell? All readings are normal? I thought you said there was a problem, Fei?" one of the new women said.
She was Vala, a human Champion.
Her body was noticeably thicker than the other women, with thighs capable of crushing a man's skull and plenty of muscle packed in under her uniform.
"Eh? But I…" Jafeila trailed off when she saw August's expression.
The remaining trigem Champion stared at August, her expression darkening.
She glanced up at the central monitor, then looked at the busy analysts nearby. "You think it's a Messenger, don't you?" she said.
August scowled as the room froze. Everybody looked at the Champion who had just spoken, as if in disbelief at the words that had come out of her mouth.
"I am waiting to confirm the scouting report," August said after several moments.
The last trigem Champion was Narime, and she was as wise as she was outspoken.
Seven silver tails hung behind her slim, buxom frame, and her robe was severely cut to accentuate her figure and reveal her luscious thighs.
She pointed a finger at August. "But if it's correct, then there's little else it can be," Narime said.
"Yes," he admitted.
"Wait, how can we get a Messenger when our demonic activity readings are this low?" Vala asked. She scratched her head, making a mess of her dense brown hair.
"Messengers can interfere with our detection magic," Narime explained.
"We've seen it in the past. It's how they conquered Trafaumh practically overnight."
"A Messenger?" an analyst blurted out. The others exchanged terrified looks, although at least one seemed lost.
"Um, what's a Messenger?" the confused analyst asked. He shrunk in on himself when everybody glared at him.
"Don't look at him like that," August admonished his subordinates. "All of you were like him once."
Jafeila nodded. "I remember being like that a little too vividly, back when I first fought a Messenger during the fall of the Anfang Empire.
They're the generals of the demonic armies. The weakest of them are equal to a trigem Champion. The stronger ones have taken out multiple Bastions."
"Multiple weak Bastions," Vala corrected.
"I don't remember any Messenger ever defeating a Bastion with three trigem Champions. And August has countless duogem and monogem Champions. We've got this."
The room calmed down at Vala's projection of confidence, but both Jafeila and Narime remained reserved.
Unlike Vala, who had fought under August all her life, the two of them came from nations that had fallen to Messengers.
They knew the true power of the demonic threat, even if August had eventually been the one to slay those Messengers.
"We can't let our guard down," August said. "Messengers vary in strength too much, and I don't want to lose anyone."
He looked at each of his Champions, and they smiled in return. "If the scouting report confirms my suspicions, we'll ready everything we have."
Another hour passed. Captain Murdas reported in person, carrying handwritten notes from the scouts.
He saluted upon entering and focused on August. Two of the trigems, Vala and Narime, hovered on top of him, while Jafeila lingered behind him.
"Bastion, I have the second report here," Murdas said. "Do you want the summary, or the details?"
"Does it differ at all from the first report?"
"No."
"Then I don't need the report." August sighed. "Send your scouts back out to place the live monitoring crystals. We'll need them in place as soon as possible."
Murdas nodded, a grimace crossing his face. He saluted again. "I'll get everybody to work now."
His footsteps echoed in the room after he left.
Then, silence. August drummed his fingers on the desk. All eyes turned to him. The analysts, Jafeila, Ciana, Narime, and Vala.
"We have to assume this is a Messenger," August said.
"If the portal is showing signs of physical activation, but all the readings are telling us the opposite even after calibration and double-checking, that means somebody is tampering with our readings. In the past, that's always been a Messenger."
He looked at his trigem Champions, who were almost sitting on top of him.
"The three of you know our defensive plans. Vala, you have the outer layer of walls.
Narime, you take the inner wall and provide support fire and command the summons.
Jafeila, the inner fortress is yours, as well as the siege weapons and reserve force. Should Vala need to retreat—"
"I won't, so don't waste your breath reexplaining things," Vala said, rolling her eyes.
She plopped herself into August's lap. Her dark brown hair blocked his vision for a moment as she cuddled against him. "You're always such a worrier. Just let us lovely Champions take care of you."
One of her hands wandered below his chest and down to his crotch. He held back a gasp.
This needed to stop before it went too far, he thought.
"Enough, Vala," Narime said with huff at her rival.
She leaned in and pulled Vala away from August. The brunette collapsed unceremoniously on the floor with a laugh.
Not that Narime let her own opportunity pass. Her lips closed over August's and her tails closed around him like a fluffy prison.
"Although she's not wrong. You should find some time during the battle to prepare for our celebration," Narime breathed out after the kiss.
She winked at August and pressed her breasts up as she pulled away.
"You shouldn't tease him so much," Jafeila whined.
"You don't tease him enough," Vala said. "Anyway, let's get down to brass tacks and sort out our battle plan. Make sure to prep the summons for us, August."
The three of them left the monitoring station. August pulled himself together and sighed.
Vala's last request was important. He needed to summon as many defenders as possible using his binding stones.
Ciana ruffled August's hair while he was distracted, and he glared up at her.
There was an army on his doorstep, and only hours to prepare for its arrival.
Once he won this battle, he could go back to his normal day-to-day life as the ruler of this fortress, with countless dedicated Champions and soldiers.
A life spent fighting off the unending waves of demons.