The shrill tone of the deployment alarm echoed through the barracks.
David's eyes opened instantly.
For a moment, he stared at the steel ceiling above his bunk.
Then reality settled in.
Deployment day.
Around him, the room came alive.
Lucian swung himself off the top bunk before the alarm had even finished sounding.
June groaned loudly and buried his face beneath his pillow.
"...Five more minutes."
Castiel reached over from the neighboring bunk and pulled the pillow away.
"You've got three."
June blinked.
"What happened to the other two?"
"They expired."
June sighed dramatically.
"I knew this military thing was a scam."
A quiet laugh escaped Nyra as she tightened the straps on her combat vest.
Mira was already dressed.
She was fastening the last buckle on her forearm guards while checking over her twin blades one final time.
David sat up and grabbed his folded uniform from the end of his bunk.
No one needed to be told what to do.
Months at the Academy had turned routine into instinct.
Within minutes, armor plates clicked into place.
Weapons were secured.
Packs were lifted onto shoulders.
David fastened the locking clasps on his claw gauntlets before looking around the room.
Everyone was ready.
Castiel adjusted the strap across his shoulder.
"Let's go."
David nodded.
The six of them stepped into the hallway.
Dozens of other soldiers were already moving toward the exits.
Boots echoed against the concrete floors in a steady rhythm.
No one ran.
No one shouted.
Every movement was practiced.
Disciplined.
Outside...
Forward Command was already awake.
The first rays of sunlight stretched over the distant mountains, casting long shadows across the sprawling military installation.
Floodlights still illuminated the landing fields while enormous transport aircraft waited in neat rows, their engines humming with restrained power.
Ground crews hurried between them, disconnecting fuel lines and completing final inspections.
Cargo haulers rolled across reinforced roadways carrying survey drones, collapsible communications arrays, shield emitters, replacement equipment, and crates of preserved rations destined for forward operating camps across Kharos Vale.
Mechanics worked atop transport hulls.
Recon drones launched one after another into the brightening sky.
Medical teams loaded emergency stretchers into waiting aircraft.
Engineers secured cargo with practiced efficiency while officers moved through the organized chaos, checking manifests and issuing final instructions.
Above it all, towering defense emplacements slowly rotated across the skyline as long-range sensor arrays continuously swept the surrounding wilderness.
Forward Command wasn't simply a military base.
It was the beating heart of humanity's presence on Kharos Vale.
June looked around, taking in the controlled chaos.
"So..."
Lucian glanced over.
"So?"
June gestured toward the endless rows of transports.
"I've made a decision."
David didn't look away from the path ahead.
"I'm already worried."
"If one of us gets lost out there..."
June pointed at him.
"...you're explaining it to Commander Vance."
David smirked.
"I'll tell her you wandered off again."
"I did not wander off."
Lucian laughed.
"You disappeared for almost an hour."
"I was exploring."
"You were looking for the obstacle course."
"I found it."
Castiel raised an eyebrow.
"After asking three different instructors for directions."
"...I was confirming the route."
Mira walked past him.
"You ended up in the maintenance hangar."
June frowned.
"That wasn't my fault."
"You followed the wrong signs."
"They were very convincing signs."
David finally looked over.
"They said 'Vehicle Maintenance.'"
June shrugged.
"I thought it was a shortcut."
Lucian laughed.
"You somehow got lost on a base with maps every fifty meters."
"I prefer to think I was... geographically adventurous."
Castiel shook his head.
"Commander Vance sent two cadets to find you."
June grinned.
"See?"
"They found me."
David chuckled.
"I'll remember that."
"If you disappear in H-09..."
"...I'm leaving breadcrumbs."
June looked horrified.
"That's how you attract creatures."
The entire squad laughed.
For a little while...
The tension of deployment disappeared.
The landing field stretched farther than David had expected.
Nearly two dozen military transports occupied reinforced pads arranged in long rows across the eastern side of Forward Command.
Some had already lifted off, climbing into the brightening morning sky.
Others were still being loaded.
Ground crews hurried between them, securing cargo containers beneath the aircraft while mechanics performed final inspections.
The steady roar of engines echoed across the entire field.
David glanced toward the large display mounted above the landing zone.
Dozens of squad names scrolled across the screen.
Beside each one...
A deployment sector.
A transport assignment.
A scheduled departure.
Humanity wasn't sending one squad into the wilderness.
It was sending hundreds.
Lucian slowed as they approached their designated pad.
"Looks like we're here."
Painted across the reinforced concrete in bold white lettering were two characters.
Pad 18
Parked at its center sat a dark gray military transport.
Its rear loading ramp rested against the ground while members of the flight crew completed their final checks.
One of the pilots noticed Gamma approaching and stepped down from the cockpit.
He looked over the six cadets before checking the datapad in his hand.
"Gamma Squad?"
David nodded.
"Yes, sir."
The pilot returned the nod.
"Right on time."
He stepped aside and gestured toward the transport.
"Load your gear."
"We're wheels up in ten."
Without hesitation, the squad moved into action.
Lucian and Castiel lifted the heavier supply crates from the cargo hauler waiting beside the transport.
David secured them inside using the restraint brackets lining the cargo bay.
Nyra handed equipment forward while Mira checked each crate against the deployment manifest.
June picked up another equipment case and frowned.
"So..."
"We're the construction crew too?"
Lucian secured another crate inside the transport.
"Forward operating camps don't build themselves."
June sighed.
"This is significantly less exciting than Commander Vance made it sound."
Mira picked up another equipment case.
"You've been complaining for three minutes."
"I've been working for four."
"So you've complained most of the time."
"I'm very efficient."
David shook his head, smiling as he secured the final crate.
"Keep talking."
"I'll make you carry the communications mast."
June immediately grabbed another supply case.
"I suddenly love teamwork."
A deep roar rolled across the landing field.
Another transport lifted from a nearby pad, its engines kicking up clouds of dust as it climbed into the morning sky.
The aircraft banked east before disappearing toward the distant mountains.
Lucian watched it go.
"There goes another one."
David followed it with his eyes for a moment.
One by one...
The transports departed.
Each carrying another squad into another unexplored corner of Kharos Vale.
Today...
Gamma was just one mission among many.
As Gamma secured the last of their equipment inside the transport, another squad approached the neighboring landing pad.
David recognized them immediately.
Titan Squad.
Brant Solaryn led the group with the same calm confidence he'd shown throughout the Academy.
The two squads exchanged nods as they passed.
Brant looked toward Lucian.
"Heard you drew H-09."
Lucian smirked.
"Jealous?"
Brant chuckled.
"Not even a little."
"I've seen the wildlife reports."
June looked between them.
"So that's a no?"
Brant laughed.
"That's a very enthusiastic no."
Lucian shook his head.
"J-06 isn't exactly a vacation either."
"No," Brant admitted.
"But at least my sector isn't famous for Legendary creatures."
Lucian grinned.
"We'll save one for you."
Brant smiled.
"I'll hold you to that."
For a brief moment, neither squad was thinking about deployments or missions.
They were simply classmates.
Soldiers who had trained together for months.
Brant extended his hand.
Lucian took it.
"Watch your squad."
"You too."
The two released their grip.
A sharp whistle echoed across the landing field.
"Titan Squad! Board your transport!"
Brant stepped backward.
"Looks like that's us."
He glanced toward David.
"Good luck out there."
David nodded.
"You too."
Without another word, Titan Squad turned and boarded their transport.
The rear ramp closed.
Moments later, the aircraft lifted from the landing pad, banked east, and disappeared toward Grid J-06.
June watched it go.
"They seem... normal."
Lucian looked at the empty sky.
"They are."
He adjusted the strap on his pack.
"So are we."
"Gamma Squad! Prepare for boarding!"
David looked toward their waiting transport.
"Let's move."
No one hesitated.
One by one, they climbed the rear loading ramp.
The interior was lined with fold-down crash seats and restraint harnesses.
Equipment crates were secured along the center of the cargo bay.
The familiar scent of machine oil and reinforced plating filled the compartment.
David waited until everyone else had boarded before stepping inside himself.
The rear ramp began to rise.
With a heavy metallic thud...
It sealed shut.
A low vibration spread through the deck beneath their boots as the engines came to life.
Outside the small reinforced windows, the landing field slowly drifted past.
The transport lifted from the ground.
Forward Command shrank beneath them.
Runways.
Hangars.
Watchtowers.
Within moments, the sprawling military base became little more than another collection of buildings against the endless forests of Kharos Vale.
David watched silently through the window.
For reasons he couldn't explain...
The sight felt...
Familiar.
Not the base.
Not the transport.
The feeling.
As if...
He had stood here before.
As if he already knew what waited beyond the mountains.
A dull ache settled behind his eyes.
Gone as quickly as it came.
David blinked.
"...You alright?"
Castiel's voice pulled him back.
David looked over.
"Yeah."
"You look like you've seen a ghost."
David glanced back toward the window.
"I just..."
He frowned.
"...Never mind."
"It was nothing."
Castiel studied him for another second before nodding.
"If you say so."
David wasn't sure why...
But as the transport climbed higher into the morning sky...
He couldn't shake the strange feeling that this wasn't the first time he'd made this journey.
Far ahead...
Beyond the clouds...
Waited H-09.