2

The ground below us completely crumbled, but it’s a good thing that it didn’t extend. If the path that we took collapsed as well, there’s a possibility that it will reach camp and the people will not be prepared to evacuate. We examined the platform and the lower part of it was still stuck to the ground, so we couldn’t see the whole thing. It’s like there was an underground facility near the cliff.

“What should we do, General?” Marco asked General Alon. We all stood behind her, waiting for her instructions. A cold breeze whipped past us that sounded like choirs, like it was a message from someone above us. Later on, General Alon turned and looked up, like she was waiting for someone to fall out of the sky.

Suddenly, the trees behind us rustled and the birds flew to the sky. General Alon was not alerted, so we remained calm and did no move. Three persons emerged from the forest- one of them was a woman with platinum medium length hair, wearing our uniform with a silver badge on her chest, a cleric. The other one was a man with a blue double-edged sword badge on his chest, an assassin. The last one, the one in the middle, was a woman as well with long hazelnut hair, wearing a scarlet badge with a dagger, a warrior. They were, without doubt, Squad 1-X, Gabriella Alon’s squad.

Before stepping towards us, the three of them halted to a stop and bowed their heads. “General, we have received your message,” the person in the middle, who I guess is Gabriella, said. General Alon chuckled and walked towards them. She gave Gabriella a hug and patted her head.

“No need to be formal with me, my daughter,” General Alon said. Gabriella smiled and hugged her mother back.

General Alon then waved to Snow and Ace, who I now kind of recognized. Snow excitedly waved back while Ace smiled and bowed again. The thing is, they never looked at us at least one time, not even a glance. I looked at Josaiah beside me and he had this annoying expression.

“Don’t, even say a word,” I muttered to him. He shrugged and chuckled.

Gabriella and her squad then walked towards us, hopping down to the platform without hesitation. She’s not even scared that this platform might collapse.

“This is the fifth one to collapse close to the camp. They were all identical,” Gabriella said. She took out a pole from her back and attached it to the platform. The pole extended and scanned the platform, then a wire pierced through the ground beside us.

“Five platforms are now secured,” Ace said.

General Alon nodded. “Good. Make sure to monitor the rest of the island and to look for any suspicious activity. Squad 1-A will be joining you from now on.”

The four of us flinched, hearing the name of our squad. I looked at Gabriella and they were already staring at us. She didn’t look scary or intimidating, but she had this cold stare that looks like she doesn’t want us.

“I’m Red Quinscity, leader of the squad. Pleased to meet you,” I introduced and extended my hand.

She walked towards me, gave me a head-to-toe run down and smiled briefly. “Good to have you. I’m Gabriella Alon, leader of 1-X and major general of the Aleris Imperial Army. These are Snow Esther and Ace Ledger,” she introduced and shook my hand.

Marco let out a whistle.

“These are Marco Kleighs, Josaiah Solace, and Xy Caurus, my team,” I introduced and pointed at my team. Each of them then extended a hand for Gabriella. Snow giggled and Ace shook his head.

Gabriella didn’t even let it bother her and shook their hands. General Alon then jumped to the higher level of the ground and gestured for us to follow her, so we did. We headed inside the forest, leaving the platform.

“So, are you guys going to join us later for our training?” Snow, who slowed her steps and stayed behind to walk with our squad, asked. Gabriella and Ace were beside General Alon who seem to be having a conversation we can’t hear at all.

Xy, who was the most enthusiastic to meet them, stepped forward and pushed Marco behind. “Yeah, of course! We have to keep up with you guys, after all,” he answered. I rolled my eyes with his “keep up with you guys” statement. Our squad isn’t really that overpowered by Gabriella’s squad…right? I mean, there are four of us, that makes us already in the lead.

“Well then, prepare for one hell of a duel,” Snow teased then marched towards Gabriella. Xy stared at her and Josaiah coughed. Marco placed his arms on my shoulder and Josaiah’s, leaning his whole weight on us. I punched his arm and he stumbled.

“What was that for, Capt?” Marco complained, massaging his arm. Marco is really just playful even during battles, he’s usually the reason why we end up blowing our covers and ruining the first part of the plan- to be discreet. That’s why we end up having more collateral damage than expected because of the aggressive attacks we have to make. Since we’re not hidden anymore, might as well just dash in and make ourselves welcome to the enemy.

“They look…clumsy,” I heard Ace say in front. Gabriella laughed and patted his shoulder. I raised my eyebrows. He’s obviously underestimating us just because of how we look like. Okay, to be in detailed, we do not look frail. Our average height is 5 foot 7 and we all workout of course, just the rigorous training every day keeps us fit. I guess we don’t look intimidating at all. Snow may be a little small, but she has this cold aura like a silent killer. Ace carries a fiery aura that he doesn’t seem to lessen, especially his 5 foot 10 ass, making him look like a damn warrior of the night. Gabriella on the other hand, is just pure…energy. She’s like an iron wall that doesn’t seem to falter. Although I guess an addition to my pride is her being smaller than me. All these stories about their squad made me think they were all giants, but she looks like a 5 foot 5 type.

“I reckon Snow already invited you to our training?” Gabriella asked, looking in front. Snow looked back and gave us a thumbs up. Guess she already informed her captain. Ace looked at us from his shoulder, maybe expecting an answer.

“Sure. Just send us the details,” I answered. Ace sighed and placed his hands on his pockets. Huh, disappointed?

“Are we even on your contacts?” Marco asked and Josaiah slapped his head. I laughed. I guess it’s true. Since we don’t even see each other that much, that’s already a given that we don’t have contact with each other. Each squad has their own tent at camp with a 3D computer where they contact other squads. They can also observe what the nano cameras on our uniforms are seeing, somehow like a surveillance camera.

“You already are. The moment we introduced ourselves to each other, your records were being inputted,” Ace said.

“Sweet,” Xy silently remarked.

As we head back to the camp, it was almost sundown and the people were starting to prepare for dinner. It’s been a tradition of us to eat together for dinner. We arrange a long table at the middle of camp then each of the families offer food. They say it’s their way of expressing their gratitude since we offer our lives for them. It’s partially true. Most of the recruits are volunteers from the families to protect them, while the others are driven by strong emotions such as rage, hatred, and revenge. Xy and Josaiah are volunteers, while Marco and I were saved by Captain Hiragi from a fire. The fire was apparently set by Causan Industries to infiltrate headquarters, but Captain Hiragi and his squad made it in time to save us. We were only eight, but we started preparing for survival. We were forced to know how to protect ourselves with weapons created with technology.