Hearing the outburst, Nathan let out a sigh. He pushed the door open. As he did, the meeting room came into view. The room contained the normal group of General Duke, Sergeant Leo, Sergeant Faye, Sergeant Shizuka, and Sergeant Dillon, it also contained Hayley, the school's doctor, as well as the homeroom teacher of the missing students, Del Rowan.
While most of them were in their proper seats, he saw Sergeant Faye standing a few feet away from General Duke. General Duke's eyes were wide with fear, him looking as though his life was flashing through his eyes.
In Sergeant Faye's arms, she was holding Sergeant Shizuka. Sergeant Faye had Shizuka restrained, her arms looped under Shizuka's underarms, and her arms hoisted up as if she was gripping a hanging bar. As Sergeant Faye tried to pull Shizuka back to her seat, Shizuka was thrashing in her arms like a rabid animal, desperately trying to claw at Duke.
General Nathan let out a long sigh.
Hearing the sigh, they all turned to him.
"Let's all at least try to act civil." He replied, bringing his palm up to his forehead, and shaking his head back and forth.
A few minutes later, everyone was in their proper seats.
As Head General Paul was currently on Military Base 1, hand-delivering Tsukuru's latest Glathrium deposit, General Nathan was sitting at the head seat.
Nathan sighed, and turned to Sergeant Faye.
"Sergeant Faye, would you please inform the others why we had to call this emergency meeting?" He asked.
Sergeant Faye nodded, and stood up. In her hands, she held a tablet with a digital report on its screen.
"As I am sure you all know by now, three of our first-year students suddenly vanished last night." She replied.
Hearing this, Shizuka's hands tightened.
"Due to this, we have had to…delay the first-year student's Portal Outing." Sergeant Faye's eyes then narrowed. "However, if this was a simple'missing persons' case, then we would not have called you all here today."
Sergeant Faye then pressed a button on the tablet, and a hologram appeared over the table. It was a 3-D, holographic rendering of a barren planet with two moons.
"The three missing students went through a Red Portal." She replied.
Hearing this, the faces of everyone gathered, with the exception of Sergeant Shizuka, Sergeant Dillon, and General Duke, all dropped.
Sergeant Shizuka's fist tightened to the point that blood was drawn.
"Unfortunately, the security cameras were down for 'maintenance' during the time in question, so we do not know the specifics of the event." Sergeant Faye replied.
Hearing this, Nathan snapped his eyes towards Duke, a look of pure irritation on his face.
He knew that Duke was somehow behind this.
Seeing the look, Duke's lip curved up slightly in a smug smirk that said "Prove it".
Nathan's focus was returned to Sergeant Faye, as she continued speaking.
"However, we do know that the students in question were students Quinn Talen, Vorden Blade, and Hikiko Tsukuru."
Sergeant Faye began pressing more buttons on her tablet. Instantly, holographic projections of the three students' files appeared on the hologram.
"While this Quinn Talen seemingly possesses no backing, Vorden Blade and Hikiko Tsukuru are both Originals." She replied, before turning to Shizuka. "And Vorden Blade comes from a powerful family."
Hearing the word "Originals", Duke grit his teeth.
Shizuka grit her teeth, as well, remembering back to her encounter with Vicky Blade.
Sergeant Faye then turned back to the others.
"This mission is to bring at least Vorden Blade and Hikiko Tsukuru back alive if possible." She replied.
At that statement, they all felt the temperature drop.
Sergeant Faye felt Shizuka staring daggers into her back. Unfaltered, she continued.
"At the very least, we can bring back their bodies so their families can say their goodbyes." She replied. "Hopefully, it will calm their anger."
Hearing this, Leo narrowed his eyes.
"What about the other boy?" He asked.
Sergeant Faye sighed.
"He is not a priority." She replied. "Quinn Talen is a weak Level 1, and is an orphan with no family backing. There is no need to worry about him."
Hayley then turned to Sergeant Faye.
"Do you know where the Portal leads to?" She asked.
Shizuka narrowed her eyes at the hologram.
"Pioletic." She replied in a matter of certainty.
The others all turned to her.
"It was one of the very first planets we ever colonized, and, ironically enough, the first one we had to abandon. Unbeknownst to us at the time, the planet possessed a year-long rotation." She replied, glancing up at the group. "Six months in daylight, six months in nighttime. At first, the planet seemed perfect, only filled with weak Beasts."
Shizuka's eyes narrowed.
"However, the trouble started once the sun went down." She replied. "Powerful Beasts came out and attacked the shelter in nonstop hordes after hordes, leaving us with no choice but to abandon it, and then reassign it with the first-ever 'Red Portal' classification."
Nathan sighed.
"That is why you are all here." Nathan replied. "Sergeant Shizuka, Sergeant Faye, Sergeant Leo, Doctor Hayley, and Teacher Del Rowan."
As each of their names were called, they all looked up at General Nathan.
"You five will head out through the Red Portal immediately." He replied. "And don't worry about the Beasts. Our recent reports say that most of the more troublesome Beasts have long-since moved on. All that remains is the Basic-Tier Rattaclaws infesting the ruins of the shelter, as well as a small colony of Intermediate-Tier Palewalkers which have taken up residence in the nearby forest."
Instantly, Del slammed his hand onto the table.
"Why should we have to risk our lives for some students?!" He yelled. "They may have jumped through that portal themselves!"
Shizuka turned towards him.
"One of these 'students' is the only reason you have that." Shizuka replied, pointing down at Beast Dagger held in a sheath on Del's right hip.
General Nathan narrowed his eyes.
"Besides, would you like to be the one to go to the Blade Family, and explain to them why their son had died, and gone missing? How even after we insisted on these watches to keep track of them, we still lost track of them?"
Hearing this, Del gulped.
"This isn't a request." Nathan replied. "It's an order."
***
Back down the hall, Layla was still worrying about Quinn. Now that she knew that he had gone through a Portal, her worries had doubled.
"Don't worry." Erin replied from next to her.
Layla looked over at Erin, who had her arms crossed.
"Hikiko and Vorden are with him." She replied. "They'll protect him." Erin's eyes then narrowed slightly. "Well, that is unless they ended up on a Red Portal Planet."
However, Layla was starting to worry that instead of being used as protection, Tsukuru and Vorden were being used as food sources. Without any food or water, Layla was worried that Quinn might end up sucking them dry.
As the two of them continued walking down the hallway, they noticed that a group of students were gossiping as they walked past. Suddenly, Layla's eyes widened as she heard Vorden's and Tsukuru's names being mentioned.
She whipped her head around.
"What did you say?" She asked. "Would you mind repeating that?"
The girls looked slightly nervous, and exchanged glances.
"We were just talking about the missing students." One of them replied.
She jabbed her thumb at her friend.
"Dumbo here has the 'Super Hearing' Ability, and she overheard a meeting as she was walking past a meeting room." She explained. "Apparently, those two and one other are stuck on a Red Portal Planet."
Hearing this, Layla felt her blood pressure spike.
Erin grit her teeth,
"Damn it." She muttered. "Maybe I shouldn't have jinxed it."
Layla gulped.
Erin stepped forward.
"Do you remember what planet it was?" She asked, putting her arm on Dumbo's shoulder.
"Uh, yeah." Dumbo replied, looking to the side. "They said that the planet's name was 'Pioletic'."
Instantly, Layla took off down the hall.
"I'm sorry, Erin, I've got somewhere to be!" She yelled over her shoulder. "Thanks for the help!"
Erin watched as Layla vanished around a corner.
Layla ran out of the main building, and made a beeline for the student dormitory.
As she entered the door, she pushed a door under the door's handle, barricading it. Luckily, her and Erin's third roommate, a girl named "Cia" wasn't in the room right now. So Layla was free to do what she was about to do without being watched. She bent down, and reached under her bed, pulling out a small, metal box. On the lid, there was a small keypad with a screen attached. Layla inputted a four-digit number, and pressed the "enter" key. The screen turned green, and a "beep" was heard. Instantly, the lid popped open. Inside, there was a strange, black sphere.