The southern section of Saicine had been empty since Felix’s companies cleared it, which was exactly why Hans chose the area.
The northern-ridge survivors were several kilometers away, the harbor and newly deployed structures sat well beyond the immediate area, and Kimmy and Yunera were already heading south toward Grefort.
His convoy stopped at the outer roadblock, where two Guardian APCs covered the wider approach while infantry held the neighboring streets. The rest of the four squads were distributed around the surrounding buildings, leaving a large empty section in the middle.
The squad leader approached.
"Perimeter secure, Commander."
"Anyone entered since Engineering finished?"
"No, Commander."
"Keep everyone outside the inner block."
"Understood."
Hans looked toward the building.
"And if you hear something strange, don’t come running inside."
The squad leader hesitated.
"Unless you call for us?"
"Unless I call for you."
"Understood, Commander."
Hans continued alone. Engineering stripped the reinforced lower level of anything that might become dangerous if the structure started moving, taking out the loose shelving, heavy cabinets and damaged ceiling fixtures.
A bed sat against one wall.
Hans stopped beside it.
He removed his rifle and the rest of his equipment, placing everything far enough away that none of it would become inconvenient later. The bed shifted underneath him when he sat, and Hans remembered what happened last time.
He lay down instead and only brought the waiting interface back into view after settling properly.
------
[ Rank Promotion Available ]
[ Company Leader → Battalion Commander ]
[ Proceed? ]
------
Hans stared at it. Saicine was clear, the fleet was complete, Kimmy and Yunera were already on their way back to Grefort, and his soldiers had the entire surrounding block sealed.
If this still somehow became somebody else’s problem, then Hans had done everything reasonable to prevent it.
He adjusted the pillow beneath his head.
"Alright."
His attention returned to the prompt.
"Let’s proceed."
------
[ Rank Promotion confirmed. ]
[ Battalion Commander advancement initiated. ]
------
"Here we go again."
The room went silent long enough that Hans almost wondered whether all the preparation had been unnecessary.
Warmth spread through his chest.
"Oh, fuck."
He remembered that exact feeling as the heat moved outward through his shoulders, arms and legs before sinking deeper. What started as warmth became pressure inside the muscles themselves, tightening everything at once until the mattress shifted beneath him.
Hans clenched his jaw. This was already worse than last time.
------
[ Commander Advancement in Progress ]
[ Previous Synchronization State: Tier 0 - 80% ]
[ Initiating Tier Transition ]
------
The heat intensified until his fingers curled into the sheets and his breathing shortened. His muscles tightened and released without listening to him anymore, pulling against the bed with every contraction. At least he was lying down this time.
His heartbeat struck hard against his chest once, twice, then a third time hard enough to hurt.
"Could’ve... warned me..."
The ventilation fan outside became painfully obvious. Hans could hear the bearings turning inside it, the slight unevenness in their rotation and the vibration traveling through the duct overhead.
Before he could adjust to the fan, the room itself became clearer. With his eyes shut, he could still place the bed beneath him, the wall beside his shoulder, his rifle several meters away and the doorway leading into the corridor.
"Okay..."
That was new. Or at least considerably stronger than before.
The sensation continued into the rest of the lower floor, where walls, openings, distances and movement settled into his awareness without him having to look for them. Pressure built behind his temples.
"Shit, still not enough?!"
------
[ Somatic Synchronization advancing. ]
[ Cognitive Synchronization advancing. ]
[ Perceptual Synchronization advancing. ]
------
The ventilation fan’s irregular timing registered before he consciously listened for it. Footsteps outside separated into direction, distance and number almost immediately, while the vibration passing through the walls joined dozens of other details without forcing him to choose between them.
Hans tried following everything at once, and pain drove through his temples.
"Fuck!"
He stopped trying and stared back at the ceiling.
"One thing at a time."
Even his own voice sounded too clear. The air suddenly pressed against him, and Hans froze.
The sheets flattened into the mattress as the pressure gathered around the bed. Dust lifted from the floor, hovered for a moment, then dropped again while a loose sheet of paper scraped across the concrete.
"...System?"
The next pulse hit harder. The bed frame groaned as force spread outward from his body. A portable light shifted across the floor and the nearby bottle of water tipped over, followed by a low creak from the concrete wall to his left.
Hans tried keeping himself still, but it did nothing to help him.
------
[ Tier Transition continuing. ]
[ Synchronization instability within accepted parameters. ]
------
"Accepted by who?"
Another pressure wave expanded from the bed. This one reached the walls. Dust shook loose from the ceiling.
...
A few seconds later, the tremor reached the outer perimeter and rattled the windows around the inner block as the squad leader felt the vibration pass through the pavement.
"Commander advancement underway. Inner perimeter, pull back to the outer line."
The squads closest to the building were already withdrawing. Guardian APCs reversed through the adjoining streets while the infantry vacated the nearest positions and widened the cordon around the structure.
"Second Squad clear."
"Third Squad moving west."
"Eastern street clear."
Another tremor passed through the block.
"Maintain the perimeter."
The inner streets were empty by the time the next vibration reached them, while the four squads continued holding every approach from farther out.
...
By then, Hans’s entire body felt heavy, and even shifting his shoulder required more control than it should have, as though every movement carried more force behind it than he intended.
His fingers tightened around the sheet and tore through the fabric.
"...Seriously?"
Hans let go. The strange pressure gathered around him again, but this time he felt something more than the effect it had on the room. It compressed close to his body before spreading outward, and for an instant he could sense the force passing through him as clearly as the movement of his own arm.
------
[ Tier 1 threshold reached. ]
------
The heat concentrated around his chest and spine, and Hans’s back arched against the mattress.
"Agh!"
His vision flashed white. Sight, hearing and every other sensation disappeared together, leaving Hans with no idea whether the blank instant lasted several seconds or several minutes.
The ventilation fan eventually reached him again, followed by the building creaking somewhere nearby and the sound of his own breathing. Hans opened his eyes, and several cracks crossed the ceiling above him.
A notification appeared before he could say anything.
------
[ Tier Transition successful. ]
[ Current Synchronization: Tier 1 - 30% ]
[ Synchronization Axes ]
[ Somatic ]
[ Cognitive ]
[ Perceptual ]
------
He barely finished reading the panel before another line appeared underneath.
------
[ Additional evolutionary expression detected. ]
[ Classification pending Commander review. ]
------
Hans stared at the second notification for a moment. The room was finally still, but he stayed where he was as more panels appeared behind the synchronization notice.
They carried new units, structures and changes to functions he already used. Hans read through the first few headings before the list continued growing.
He closed his eyes.
"Give me five minutes."
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