Sweet Jesus but do I hate the Universal Dominion. I actively enjoy making their lives worse.

…

“I know my reputation precedes me,” Morrigan did her best not to grind out, “but there are limits. Thanks to the previous buffoon that our glorious Supreme Archmage heroically deposed” — a quick nod to Wildfire there; she was also amused that the sentiment was no more than half a lie, for once” — “We’d been using up units on the Wabash campaign faster than the huddles could breed more. It’s going to take at least twenty more years to fix that problem.”

“Surely we can shave that down?” asked Wildfire. “How old do you need to be to soak up a sword blow?”

“The archives say some armies in the ancient past recruited as young as twelve,” shrugged Morrigan. “But they could use guns.” She bit down a grin at the appalled silence from the curse word. “Huddle-brats are also too small to use the equipment we churn out. It’s wasteful to use them up too fast.”