In Commander Voss's Offices
The monitoring room was silent, illuminated only by the faint glow of screens showing different angles of the training floor. Commander Voss sat in his chair, fingers interlaced on the desk, watching the images with a calm that only years of experience could bestow.
His assistant, a younger man in an immaculate uniform, stood to one side, also watching the screens.
"Sir," the assistant said, breaking the silence. "Do you think they've already figured it out?"
Voss didn't respond immediately. His gray eyes remained fixed on the main screen, where the four young people were scattered across the training area, each in their own world.
"With the little information they have," the assistant continued, "and what we've hidden from them..."
"Hahaha."
The laugh was unexpected. It wasn't a common occurrence with Commander Voss. His assistant looked at him with barely disguised surprise.
"Do you really think these kids are that naive?" Voss replied, and there was something in his tone that mixed amusement and pride. "They must have figured it out long ago."
He rose from the chair with a leisurely movement. Walked to the window that occupied an entire wall of the office—reinforced glass showing the exterior landscape of Helion. The three suns were high overhead, bathing the world in their characteristic light.
"But," Voss continued, placing a hand on the glass, "none of them will tell each other."
The assistant frowned.
"Why not, sir? If they've all realized, the logical thing would be to share the information. Unify."
"Because they don't trust each other yet," Voss replied. "They still don't know if they can. They're still evaluating each other, deciding if it's worth opening up to the other."
He paused.
"And so..." his voice grew slower, more deliberate, "when they do decide to trust each other, it won't be because we ordered it. It won't be because a superior told them 'you have to get along.' It will be because they, of their own will, chose to do so."
He turned his head toward his assistant, his gray eyes fixed on the younger man's.
"When that happens," Voss said, "no one will be able to break that trust."
The assistant absorbed the words in silence. Then, slowly, he nodded.
"Understood, sir," he replied. "So what you're saying is they won't trust each other out of obligation, but..."
He lifted his head, understanding dawning on his face.
"Because that's something they'll do on their own," he concluded.
"You hit the nail on the head," Commander Voss replied.
And he looked back out the window, letting silence stretch between them.
The assistant, for his part, glanced back at the screens once more. The four young people were still there, each in their own world, exchanging no words.
But something had changed.
Or maybe it was just his imagination.
---
On the Third Floor
The hour had passed faster than any of them expected.
The four members were now gathered in the same place, near the main entrance of the training area. Kael had collapsed his spear—a mechanism similar to Nayu's staff—and held it in his hand, tapping it rhythmically against his shoulder. Hugo hadn't taken off his gloves since putting them on, and his fingers occasionally moved, testing the material's flexibility. Nayu stood a few steps apart from the group, her staff extended and resting on the ground, both hands on the upper end. Dorian, as always, remained in perfect equilibrium between being present and being apart.
A figure appeared from the corridor connecting to the elevators.
It wasn't the cold-eyed man who had guided them there. It was someone different.
A young girl.
"Good morning," she said, with a warm voice that contrasted strongly with the tense silence they'd been inhabiting.
She stopped before them, her hands clasped behind her back. She wore the standard Council uniform, but there was something in the way she wore it—a small detail here, an adjustment there—that suggested she wasn't a simple recruit.
"My name is Mila," she said, and smiled.
It was a genuine smile. Open. Without pretense.
"And I'll be the one guiding you until we leave the base."
There was a moment of silence.
Kael stopped tapping his shoulder with the spear. Hugo raised an eyebrow. Nayu tilted her head slightly, evaluating. Dorian simply observed.
Unlike the other man—the one with the cold gaze, the one who hadn't introduced himself, the one who had given orders without courtesy—this girl was friendly. She introduced herself. She smiled. She used words like "good morning" and "my name is."
The complete opposite.
She's too friendly, Kael thought.
And beautiful, he added, almost unwillingly.
Hugo thought the same, though his analytical mind quickly added a mental note about how friendliness could also be a tactic, a way to lower defenses.
Nayu, for her part, was already cataloging every detail of Mila: posture, hand position, the angle of her smile, the way her eyes moved when she spoke. Information. Always information.
Dorian simply nodded once.
And Mila, unfazed by the lack of enthusiastic response, turned and began walking.
"Follow me," she said, and this time the word sounded different. It wasn't a cold order. It was an invitation.
The four followed.
---
The journey lasted between ten and fifteen minutes. They crossed hallways, rode escalators, passed through security doors that Mila opened with a gesture of her hand or a word to the system. The group's silence didn't seem to bother her; she kept walking with the same smile, occasionally pointing out some detail of the base, commenting on unimportant things.
"Simulators are this way."
"That door's off-limits, but everyone knows there's an incredible coffee machine behind it."
"Watch the third step on that ramp—the sensor glitches sometimes."
Little things. Nothing important.
But enough that, by the time they finally reached the outskirts of the base, the atmosphere was slightly less tense than when they'd started.
The exterior was imposing.
An esplanade of metal and compacted rock stretched before them, bordered by defensive structures and maintenance hangars. Helion's sky, with its three suns in different positions, painted the horizon in shades of orange and blue.
And there, waiting for them, stood Commander Voss and his assistant.
Voss stood with his hands behind his back, his uniform impeccable, his expression neutral. The assistant, at his side, held a tablet and seemed to be reviewing something.
But that wasn't the only thing waiting.
Behind them, a ship rose from the launch platform.
It was larger than the one that had brought Dorian to the base. Much larger. A troop transport vessel, with capacity for a dozen passengers and enough cargo for extended missions. Its surface was metallic gray, with Council markings on the sides and small points of light indicating active systems.
The four young people stopped before Voss.
Dorian already had the two short swords in place: the left-hand sword on his right hip, the right-hand sword on his left hip. A cross-draw that allowed quick, balanced access. He'd chosen that position without thinking, instinctively.
Hugo had worn his gloves since first seeing them. He hadn't taken them off for a second. His fingers occasionally moved, testing, feeling.
Kael held his spear in his hand, uncollapsed. The dark blade pointed at the sky, and he turned it slightly from time to time, as if he couldn't help testing it further.
Nayu had extended her staff and held it in her right hand, while the other end rested on her shoulder. Relaxed posture. But ready.
Voss observed them for a moment. His gray eyes swept over each one, evaluating the choices, the postures, the expressions.
"So then," he finally said, "we begin with your first test."
The four straightened slightly. Attention. Focus.
"On Veridia," Voss said.
There was an instant of silence.
"On Veridia?" Hugo repeated, and his tone wasn't a question, but confirmation. Wanting to be sure he'd heard correctly.
"That's right," Commander Voss replied.
And then, slowly, understanding began to spread among them.
It wasn't a test on Helion. It wasn't a simulation. It wasn't a controlled exercise in one of the Council's facilities.
It was the actual destination.
The planet they'd been assigned to. The mission they'd been summoned for. The place where they had to work together, survive together, become a team or die trying.
And that... that was a thousand times better than any artificial test.
Kael was the first to speak.
"And the mission?" he asked, his voice more serious than it had been all morning. "What are we supposed to investigate? What report do we need to deliver?"
Voss looked directly at him.
"The mission," he repeated, savoring the words. "The mission is..."
He paused.
An instant. Just an instant.
But it felt like decades.
The four unconsciously held their breath. Hugo's hands closed into fists inside his gloves. Kael stopped moving his spear. Nayu straightened her posture slightly. Dorian simply waited.
Voss smiled.
It wasn't a reassuring smile. It wasn't the smile of a commander encouraging his troops.
It was a smile that had seen many things. That knew many things. That understood that some lessons are only learned in the fire.
"Have fun," he said.
Pause.
"And don't die."