the resources at a mother superior 's command were formidable : profound loyalty in those who served her , a military arm under a teg-trained bashar ( far away now with a large portion of their troops guarding the school planet , lampadas ) , artisans and technicians , spies and agents throughout the old empire , countless workers who looked to the sisterhood to protect them from honored matres , and all the reverend mothers with other memories reaching into the dawn of life .