The silence that settled over the field, broken only by the sharp blaring of alarms, pressed in heavily around me. I could not immediately tell what had unsettled them more, the sudden appearance of a stranger in their midst, the three bound Upper Transcendents hovering behind me, or the fact that I stood there unmoved while their defenses activated. It was also possible that my name had already reached this world before I did.
Before I could analyze further, a dome shield rose around me.
It formed instantly from the ground up, a dense grey barrier woven entirely from stabilized deathmist. The moment it sealed above me, the mounted weapons locked their targeting arrays onto its surface instead of directly onto me.
I remained standing where I was, my perception continuing to expand outward beyond the dome's confines. The more I observed, the more serious my expression became.
This was not a hidden forward outpost.
It was not a temporary occupation.
