The walk to the command center was a little awkward; he had no idea how to interact with Garra now. He just continued walking beside her in silence.
Once they arrived, Garra took her position next to the doors as Yuren entered. He briefly hesitated but remembered that androids weren't allowed in command areas.
The men around the table were looking down at the holographic map displayed before them.
"Commander Gotsutoa, you're here." One of the men greeted.
"What's going on?"
"A distress call was received from the 426th Battalion. The last signal we received from them was roughly an hour ago; their position was at the border of the northern peninsula at the coordinates you see here." The man pointed to the map.
"I see." Yuren nodded, "Did they send any transmissions or messages after the distress call?"
"No. They have not responded to our calls since the original transmission. We are currently attempting to re-establish communications with them, but so far no luck."
"What about the Republic's forces? Where are they positioned? Are they nearby?"
"Not even in missile range. They're about a thousand kilometers away." The man informed.
"It's possible they could've sent a small unit in secret." Yuren suggested.
"Very unlikely." Another man chimed in, "the territory between us and them is controlled by the Szenveir Kingdom, an ally of ours. The distress signal was almost Immediately after they reached the border. The Kingdom provided us with a report, showing their defenses there had nearly been wiped out."
"What? How could they have been attacked by the Republic without any warning?" Yuren was shocked.
"The Republic is not capable of this." General Rolf shook his head.
"You're not suggesting a Meteorn is the culprit, are you, sir?" Yuren raised an eyebrow.
"I am suggesting that. And it would also mean that they do not need to create black-out zones." Rolf replied.
"But..."
"Meteorn of Tyrant class or higher capable of this level of destruction. But none of them are currently known to be active, or even in this region. The few Lord class Meteorn that are active are in black-out zones on another continent. Not this one."
"What about the new ones being created?" Yuren questioned.
"The only things that can create Meteorn of those classes is the Calamity class. The Apocalypse class Meteorn is still effectively inactive; It has remained in the exact same place for about 10 years now, not moving a single centimeter from its current coordinates in the desert. It has shown no signs of movement, no attacks, and no resonance fluctuations." Rolf explained.
"What about the Calamity class?" Yuren inquired.
"Deceased. Narrowly defeated by an Exalted 250 years ago. There is no doubt. It is dead. All scans confirm it, and remnants of its body was examined. Nothing can mimic the readings we got." Rolf confirmed.
"Then... If there's no Apocalypse or Calamity class, it has to be a Lord." Yuren stated, "A new one has appeared."
"That's the conclusion we have come to as well. It must have emerged recently. It is extremely problematic if there is a high class Meteorn out there that does not rely on high density resonance fields to power itself." Rolf shook his head.
"If that's the case, what are we going to do? Should we send a battalion to the location of the distress call?"
"No, you are going. To survey the location of the incident." Rolf declared.
"Me, sir?"
"With your high resonance, you should be and to chart and record the energy's patterns in the area. This will either confirm or deny the existence of a new, unrecorded Meteorn lord and if it was recently present in the area. You do not need your battalion for this simple task."
"I... I understand."
"Good. Get prepared. We have prepared an aircraft to take you there as soon as you are ready. Do not dally."
"Understood." Yuren saluted and hurried out of the command center.
"The Vice Minister will not be pleased you're doing this." Rolf turned to the other General in the room.
"The Vice Minister is not here right now. It doesn't matter what her plan was; we have better uses for the 701st's androids. Once its commander is out of the picture, the authorization system will default to the command center." The other man explained.
"We're taking quite a risk by doing this." Rolf stated, "If the Vice Minister finds out we interfered, there will be consequences."
"The grand council is just around the corner, if she has not returned by then, she will lose her seat." The General smiled, "Those androids will belong to the Ministry and the secretive method in which she creates them will be revealed for us to use as we see fit."
"And if the boy returns from the survey alive?" Rolf asked.
"What makes you think he will? He's just a human, even if his resonance is high it just makes him a bigger snack for the Meteorn out there." The other man laughed.
Rolf sighed and turned to the window, gazing outside at the city. "I just hope you're right in these decisions."
****
Yuren found himself sitting in a dropship flying over the northern peninsula. It had been a few hours since the mission briefing, and he had been preparing himself for what he might find at the location of the 426th's last message.
Automated flight vehicles had always made him nervous, but now they felt like death traps.
For whatever reason, they didn't allow him to bring any android or drone; it was just him alone in the aircraft.
It didn't make any sense. Why were they so adamant that he go alone? Supposedly, there were battalions in the area, and they could be sent if something went wrong, but it still didn't sit right with him.
The only thing he could do was wait and try not to panic as the ship flew closer to the site.
Suddenly, the cockpit began to flash red as alarms blared throughout the cabin.
"WARNING: EMERGENCY EVASIVE MANEUVERS INITIATED," A mechanical voice announced.
The ship veered sharply, tossing Yuren against the side of the cabin.
He struggled to regain his balance, grasping onto the chair for support.
"WARNING: DIRECTIONAL ENERGY DETECTED," The mechanical voice repeated.
A flash of light filled the cabin, and a deafening explosion shook the craft.
The sudden pressure of a rapid descent was immediately felt as Yuren slammed his back against the wall.
The alarm was now a loud ringing, the red flashing lights were a blur, and the cabin was rapidly filling with smoke.
Yuren couldn't help but feel an incredible sense of fear as he realized he was likely about to die.
The aircraft crashed into the ground, the impact causing a massive upheaval of dirt that ripped through the surrounding forest.
As the dust and debris cleared, the remains of the aircraft lay smoldering on the forest floor.
Yuren slowly came to his senses, realizing he was somehow still alive. He struggled to move, his body aching from the crash. Realizing the safety systems had pinned him to his chair, he tried to pull himself free, but to no avail.
"Fuck! Why now?!" Yuren cursed.
After a few attempts, he managed to unbuckle the straps and fall to the ground, the smoky cabin beginning to fill his lungs.
He stumbled out of the wreckage and collapsed on the ground, coughing violently.
As he lay there, trying to catch his breath and wondering about the stroke of luck that saved his life, a buzzing sound hummed nearby.
"Wh-what is that?" Yuren coughed, trying to look up.
A small crab-like robot crawled over and began examining him cautiously, its large eye scanning his body.
"What is that?"
The small robot let out a series of clicks and chirps as it scanned his body, then ran away, disappearing into the brush.
"W-wait!" Yuren tried to chase after it, but his body wouldn't cooperate.
He lay on the ground, trying to figure out what to do. His options were limited, and he was unsure of the situation.
Just then, a group of robots emerged from the brush, all resembling various crabs and spiders.
Yuren forced himself up, backing away from the machines.
The robots surrounded him, their eye stalks moving and watching him curiously.
"Wh-what do you want?" Yuren asked nervously.
One of the machines let out a loud series of clicks and whistles, and the others moved closer, surrounding him.
"What is this?!" Yuren exclaimed.
They all scattered and rushed off, disappearing into the forest.
Yuren watched them leave, unsure of what had just happened. He took a deep breath, trying to calm his nerves.
"Why would they just run away?" He wondered aloud.
Were those Meteorn? He looked at the wreckage, trying to get an idea of what could have shot the ship down.
His head still throbbed, and his body ached from the crash, but he needed to figure out a way to get out of there.
He looked up, noticing what seemed to be a radar drone hovering overhead. It was too high up to make out who or what was controlling it, but he could see that it was transmitting a signal.
Seconds later, a red beam shot through the air, striking the drone and incinerating it.
"What the hell was that?" Yuren gasped, looking around frantically.
Whatever shot his aircraft down was nearby and taking out other things up in the sky.
He didn't have much on him aside from a handgun and a few magazines of ammunition, not enough to survive in the wilderness for long.
His first goal was to get to higher ground. He had no idea where the crash was, and if he couldn't identify a landmark, he could end up going in circles.
He began his search, looking for any signs of civilization or a place where he could find shelter.
As he walked, the forest was silent, the only sounds were his footsteps and the occasional rustling of leaves.
"Hello?" He called out, hoping to find someone.
There was no response.
Yuren continued walking, his pace quickening as his anxiety grew.
He soon came across a clearing, a large expanse of land littered with wrecked military vehicles and equipment. Debris from some sort of battle was strewn about the field, and yet not a single body was in sight.
"What the hell is this?" Yuren gasped, looking around.
It looked like the scene of a massacre, but without any signs of the enemy or the fallen soldiers.