A max-promoted squad from South One returned to the Main Base before sunset. Its final field rotation had ended at the Colony, where one of the newly trained squads was already preparing to take its place.
The northbound recovery convoy carried the veteran formation back through Site Three, together with Anton’s written report and several records collected by the council.
Only the squad leader entered the room Hans used for briefings. The rest remained outside with their equipment while their permanent garrison assignment was prepared.
Hans listened from behind the table, although most of his attention appeared fixed somewhere beyond the room.
A production report remained open beside his vision.
------
[ Force Expansion Completed ]
[ Infantry ]
[ 10 Standard Infantry Squads ]
[ 2 Mechanized APC Squads ]
[ Personnel Added: 144 ]
[ Ground Vehicles ]
[ 12 Guardian APCs ]
[ 8 Vanguard Main Battle Tanks ]
[ 2 HMT-90 Hellhammer Artillery Tanks ]
[ Aircraft ]
[ 1 Falcon Utility Helicopter ]
[ 4 Apache Heavy Attack Helicopters ]
[ 2 Raptor Air Superiority Fighters ]
[ Total System Units Added: 173 ]
[ Current System Units: 1,523 ]
[ Gold: 104,682 ]
------
The last units had finished production earlier that morning. Newly formed squads were already leaving the Barracks in assigned groups, while the War Factory organized the completed armor outside.
Six Falcons, ten Strikers, and eight Raptors now occupied the Airfield roster. Raptors One through Six remained over Ironford. Their current strike route still had more than an hour before its expected completion.
The repeated strikes had increased the killing rate, though the noise had already drawn a few complaints from the nearby Route One survivors.
Hans kept the timer beside the production report while the squad leader continued.
"The northern road remains restricted to military and recovery traffic, Commander. No civilian crossed the checkpoint after South One and South Two entered the Colony."
Hans nodded.
"The council established two registration tables. One accepts missing-person information. The other records property and business claims inside the secured districts."
"Any disturbances?"
"Verbal complaints only. Councilor Ross addressed the crowd. Councilors Turner and Porter organized the records."
That sounded handled already.
Hans shifted part of his attention toward the armored roster.
Forty-seven Guardian APCs were now distributed across the army, although several still had to receive permanent formations.
The additional Vanguards and Hellhammers also required Matilda’s final assignments before the next northern operation.
The squad leader continued through the report.
"South One Actual retained the military restriction. He also doubled the watch around the parked vehicles after Oracle reported unusual impressions from the crowd."
Hans looked away from the roster.
"Oh. What impressions did she receive?"
"Interest in the road, the supplies, the vehicles, and the guards controlling the entrance. Oracle could not isolate the source or determine whether it came from one person."
"Did anyone attempt to enter the staging area?"
"No, Commander."
"Any weapons?"
"None observed."
Hans lowered his hand from the interface.
"Maintain the watch. I doubt these people can wait much longer."
"Yes, Commander."
"Has Kimmy remained concealed?"
"Bastion One entered the western warehouse before its doors opened. Only assigned personnel knew she was inside."
"Let’s keep it that way."
The squad leader waited as Hans considered the rest.
Kimmy had only begun recognizing the unwanted impressions inside the Colony. Ordering her to search through hundreds of minds would turn an uncontrolled ability into an intelligence procedure before she understood how to stop it.
Hans did not want that.
"She is not to pursue the source through the Colony," Hans continued. "If another impression comes to her naturally, record it. Do not make her search for one."
"Understood."
"Anton will keep the road closed. The council can continue collecting requests, but none of those papers authorize movement. Send one newly trained squad to relieve the northern checkpoint with the next convoy."
"Reinforcement, Commander?"
"Relief. I do not need half a platoon standing over civilians because someone thought about stealing."
The squad leader nodded.
Hans returned to Anton’s written report.
On Earth, he had hated managers who stared at another screen, answered with the occasional hum, then repeated the final sentence to prove they had listened. Somewhere during the briefing, he had begun doing almost the same thing.
At least he understood the report.
"The council handles the residents. Anton controls the road. Oracle stays hidden, and nobody acts until there is something identifiable."
"That summarizes the current position, Commander."
"Good. Report to the quartermaster. Your squad’s next assignment should already be waiting."
The soldier saluted before leaving the room.
Hans closed the Colony report and returned to the production list. He had barely reached the newly assigned armored formations when another Army Soldier appeared at the entrance.
"Commander."
"What is it?"
"Agent Schandler and Dr. Shearman are requesting entry."
Hans paused.
"Together?"
"Yes, Commander."
That was unusual enough to close the roster.
"Send them in."
Johannes entered first with a storage drive and several printed pages beneath one arm. Tyrus followed beside him, carrying nothing except the pleased expression he usually wore before saying something inconvenient.
Hans looked between them.
"I expected separate reports. This saves me from jumping between the two."
"You would have received two incomplete ones, Commander," Johannes answered.
Tyrus took the empty chair before Hans invited either of them to sit.
"The corpses finally agreed with Agent Schandler."
Johannes remained standing.
"They did not agree with me. He has been repeating that since we left the Colony."
"And you have failed to disprove it. What do you have to say now?"
Hans gestured toward the other chair.
"Sit down before this becomes the report."
Johannes placed the storage drive on the table and took his seat.
"You have a conclusion?" Hans asked.
"A timeline," Johannes answered. "Marcus recovered three usable audio segments from Cell Eleven’s equipment."
"And I compared that timeline against the six specimen sets," Tyrus added. "A conclusion would require the laboratory you have been promising me."
Hans ignored the complaint.
"What does the first recording contain?"
Johannes pushed the storage drive toward the center of the table.
"It explains why Cell Eleven brought the fragment into their quarters."
Hans closed the remaining interfaces.
"Play it."
Johannes connected the storage drive to the briefing terminal.
The workstation recognized it after several seconds. Marcus had already separated the recoverable recordings from the damaged sectors, leaving three numbered files and a written transcript beside each one.
Johannes opened the first.
Static filled the room.
Several voices passed beneath it, too distorted to understand, followed by the sound of something metallic dragging across the ground. One of the agents coughed before the recording finally cleared.
"Cell Eleven Actual, this is North Service."
"Go ahead."
"The lane took one of the smaller impacts. We found debris inside the crater."
"What kind?"
"Unknown material. Black surface, several fractures. There is light coming through them."
"Fire?"
"Negative. The object itself is glowing."
A second voice entered the channel.
"Do not approach it."
"Too late for that. We already moved the nearby civilians away."
"Did anyone touch it?"
"Negative. One man tried. We stopped him before he reached the crater."
The recording broke beneath another burst of static.
When it returned, the agent near the service lane was breathing more heavily.
"Actual, the object is close to our concealed exit. People are gathering along the eastern side, and we cannot leave it exposed."
"What equipment do you have?"
"Evidence tongs. One chemical container."
"Radiation reading?"
"Unreliable. The scanner has been producing noise since the impact."
"Heat?"
"Warm. Nothing beyond that."
Silence followed.
The agent at the service lane spoke again.
"There is something else."
"State it."
"Pressure behind the eyes. It becomes worse near the crater."
"Everyone reported the same thing after the wave."
"This feels stronger."
Another voice answered from farther away.
"He may be right. I approached within ten meters and heard something."
"What did you hear?"
"I cannot explain it."
The static deepened.
Hans watched the audio line move across the terminal. Tyrus had stopped smiling. He leaned slightly toward the speaker, one hand resting against the table.
Cell Eleven Actual returned to the channel.
"Place it inside the container. No direct contact. Bring it through the concealed exit and store it in the rear section of the quarters."
"Actual?"
"We cannot leave unknown debris where civilians can reach it. Section Control will determine where it goes once communications return."
"Section Control is still offline."
"Then it remains sealed until they answer."
The recording ended with the scrape of metal and several voices speaking beyond the microphone.
Johannes allowed the silence to remain for a moment before closing the file.
"That is the first complete segment."
Hans looked toward the transcript.
"They knew it affected them."
"They suspected it," Johannes replied. "They had no way of separating the fragment’s effect from whatever struck the entire city."
"The wave concealed the local pressure," Tyrus added. "Very convenient for the alien rock."
Johannes glanced at him.
"You sound as though it planned that."
"I did not say it planned anything. I said the circumstances helped it."
Hans returned his attention to the blank audio line.
Cell Eleven had not carried the fragment inside out of curiosity. It had landed beside their concealed exit, while civilians were already approaching the crater. Leaving it there would have exposed more people and revealed part of their position.
They sealed it, kept their distance, and waited for a command structure that remained unavailable from their reach.
Given the same information, Hans might have made a similar decision.
The difference was that the System had contained the first fragment before it could remain beside him for long.
"The evidence case was not designed for this," Hans said.
"Correct," Tyrus answered. "It prevented direct contact and stopped anyone from carrying pieces of it around. That was all."
"It reduced the glow," Johannes said. "The later recordings mention that."
"Reduced what they could see," Tyrus corrected. "Not what reached them. Waves behave differently, you see?"
Johannes looked toward him.
"You have been waiting to say that."
"I have been waiting for you to understand it."
Hans tapped one finger against the table.
"What happened after they brought it inside?"
Johannes opened the printed transcript instead of answering immediately.
"The recording equipment suffered several failures after the impact. Most of the stored audio is either incomplete or corrupted. Marcus recovered the next usable segment from three hours and twelve minutes later."
"That is when their symptoms changed," Tyrus said.
Johannes frowned.
"That is when they began reporting different symptoms. We do not know exactly when anything changed."
"You see why I had to come with him?" Tyrus looked toward Hans. "He refuses to let the evidence become interesting."
"I refuse to let you turn every gap into a conclusion."
"A hypothesis."
"You announce hypotheses like verdicts."
Hans raised his hand before the exchange continued.
"What does the second recording contain?"
Johannes selected the next file.
"One of the agents wanted the case removed from the quarters. Another refused to carry it outside after seeing what had begun happening along the service lane."
Hans glanced toward Tyrus.
"And your specimens?"
"The first changes may have already started by then," Tyrus answered. "I will explain after you hear them."
Johannes rested his finger over the playback control.
Hans nodded.
"Play it."
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