Part 1 — The Briefing
The academy did not announce it loudly.
It didn't need to.
By the time Gamma Squad entered the deployment hall, every cadet already knew something was different.
Not just another training rotation.
Not another simulation.
This was… something else.
The hall itself reflected that shift.
Instead of the usual transport bays lined with shuttles and loading crews, the center of the chamber was dominated by a circular platform of black alloy and embedded crystalline lines that pulsed faintly beneath the surface.
Teleportation array.
David slowed without meaning to.
The same kind David had seen once before.
The same kind his parents had stepped through.
He slowed slightly as they approached.
Nyra noticed immediately.
"You've seen one before," she said.
David nodded. "Yeah."
June looked between them. "You're both way too calm about the fact we're about to step into a machine that disassembles us."
"It doesn't disassemble you," Mira said.
June raised an eyebrow. "That's not reassuring."
Castiel walked ahead of them, hands in his pockets, eyes scanning the platform.
"It's cleaner than shuttle travel," he said. "No atmospheric drag. No entry turbulence."
June muttered, "Yeah, just instant existence roulette."
Lucian said nothing.
He stood slightly behind them, posture straight, gaze fixed on the array like he was measuring something most people couldn't see.
Commander Vance stood at the front of the platform.
Waiting.
The room settled as the last squads entered.
No wasted movement.
No idle chatter.
Even June quieted.
"That's new," Nyra murmured.
David felt it too.
Not tension.
Expectation.
Vance stepped forward.
"Today's operation is a controlled deployment," she said evenly.
No projection.
No visual aid.
Just her voice.
"You will be transported to Eryndor Vale."
The name carried through the room.
Unfamiliar.
Not part of standard curriculum.
David's attention sharpened.
"Eryndor Vale is classified as a mixed-biome world," Vance continued. "Jungle sectors. Plains. Mineral deserts. Fragmented terrain zones."
June leaned slightly toward Mira. "That sounds like everything at once."
Mira didn't look at him. "It is."
Vance's gaze moved across the squads.
"This is not a conversion operation."
That shifted the room immediately.
"You are not here to reduce planetary resistance."
A pause.
"You are here to observe."
That word carried weight.
Nyra frowned slightly. "Observe what?"
Vance answered without looking at her directly.
"Behavior."
David's eyes narrowed.
"What kind of behavior?" someone from another squad asked.
Vance didn't hesitate.
"Anomalous."
That word landed differently.
Lucian shifted slightly.
Castiel's posture straightened just enough to be noticeable if you were watching him.
David was.
Vance continued.
"Creatures are not following expected evolutionary patterns. Core consumption rates are inconsistent. Territorial behavior has deviated from baseline."
Jun whispered, "So… everything's broken."
"Or changing," Mira said quietly.
Vance turned her wrist.
The platform beneath them lit brighter.
"You will deploy in full squad formation. Maintain communication at all times. Report any deviation immediately."
Her eyes settled, briefly, on Gamma.
"Do not assume standard engagement rules apply."
That was the closest thing to a warning she ever gave.
David felt it settle.
Something about this—
Was wrong.
Part 2 — The Gate
Cadets began stepping onto the platform in organized clusters.
Lines forming naturally.
No one needed to be told where to stand.
The platform wasn't just a platform.
At its center—
A massive circular ring stood upright, twice the height of a man, forged from dark alloy threaded with crystalline lines that pulsed in slow, steady intervals.
It wasn't glowing.
It was… contained.
Within the ring—
Space itself rippled.
Not light.
Not energy.
It looked like water suspended in midair.
Surface tension held in a perfect vertical plane, shifting and folding in on itself with slow, liquid motion.
Gamma moved together.
David took position near the center.
Nyra to his right.
Castiel just ahead.
June behind him, still muttering quietly.
"If I come out missing an arm—"
"You won't," Nyra said.
"You don't know that."
"I do."
June paused. "Okay, now I'm worried."
The air around the ring felt heavier.
Not pressure.
Density.
Like something was being held in place that shouldn't be.
Mira stepped slightly closer, studying the ripple pattern. "Spatial folding stabilized through crystalline anchoring."
June glanced at her. "You say things that sound like they should comfort me."
"They should."
"They don't."
Mira adjusted the strap on her duel short swords. "Your probability of full-body arrival is statistically high."
"That is not comforting language."
Lucian remained silent, but his gaze stayed fixed on the center of the gate.
Not the ring.
The space inside it.
Like he was trying to see through it.
Lucian stepped into place last.
"Focus," he said.
June sighed. "Fine."
The crystalline lines beneath their feet pulsed brighter.
David looked down at them.
Something about the pattern—
Didn't match what he remembered.
Commander Vance stepped forward.
"The gate is calibrated to Eryndor Vale," she said. "Each squad will deploy individually."
That shifted the tension immediately.
No mass transfer.
No shared jump.
Sequential deployment.
More controlled.
Or—
More precise.
Vance turned slightly.
"Alpha Squad."
Seren Nightvale stepped forward without hesitation.
Her squad followed in perfect formation.
No words.
No pause.
They walked directly into the gate.
The surface rippled outward—
Like water disturbed by a passing current—
And then they were gone.
No flash.
No sound.
Just—
Absence.
June blinked. "Okay, I don't like that."
"Focus," Lucian said quietly.
"Delta Squad."
Kael Starwyn's group moved next.
More measured.
More observant.
Kael paused half a step before entering, eyes flicking once across the gate's surface.
Then he stepped through.
Ripple.
Gone.
Squads moved one by one.
Names called.
Formations maintained.
Each time—
The same effect.
No resistance.
No delay.
Just entry.
And disappearance.
David watched every one of them.
The ripple pattern—
It wasn't identical.
Subtle differences.
Timing shifts.
Distortion variations.
Small.
But real.
Nyra stepped slightly closer to him.
"You see it."
Not a question.
David nodded. "Yeah."
"What is it?"
"I don't know yet."
"Sigma Squad."
Elric Ironcrest and his team stepped forward.
One of them hesitated.
Just for a second.
Then followed.
Gone.
The hall grew quieter with each deployment.
Fewer cadets.
More space.
More focus.
"Epsilon Squad."
Gone.
"Titan Squad."
Gone.
"Omega Squad."
Gone.
"Vanguard Squad."
Gone.
And then—
Silence.
Only one group remained.
Gamma.
Vance's gaze settled on them.
"Gamma Squad."
The words carried weight.
David stepped forward.
Castiel moved ahead slightly.
Nyra at his side.
June exhaled once behind them. "Last ones. That's never a good sign."
Mira didn't respond.
Lucian did.
"It means we're observed."
That didn't help.
David's eyes fixed on the gate.
The ripple—
Shifted.
Just slightly.
Not enough for most to notice.
Enough for him.
Inside his mind—
Stillness.
Then—
I am
Alignment is not guaranteed.
David's jaw tightened.
"What does that mean," he muttered under his breath.
Nyra glanced at him. "What?"
"Nothing."
Vance's voice cut cleanly through the moment.
"Proceed."
Castiel stepped first.
Without hesitation.
He walked into the gate.
The surface rippled—
And he vanished.
Nyra followed immediately after.
No pause.
Gone.
Mira next.
Then Lucian.
Then—
June.
He stopped just before entering, looked back once at David.
"If I come out missing something," he said, "I'm blaming you."
David almost smirked. "Noted."
June stepped through.
Gone.
David stood alone.
For half a second.
The gate pulsed.
Subtle.
He stepped forward.
And in the moment, he walked threw it—
It broke.
Part 3 — Misalignment
There was no sensation of movement.
No falling.
No pulling.
Just—
Disruption.
The ripple fractured.
The hum split into something sharp.
David felt it.
Not physically.
Structurally.
Like something that was supposed to connect—
Didn't.
The hum of the array distorted.
A sharp, splitting sound cut through the space.
Everything misaligned at once.
Someone shouted.
"June."
There was a faint voice yelling.
"I can't feel my legs.... No, wait never mind. "
Then—
Silence.
Part 4 — Arrival
David hit the ground hard.
The air knocked out of his lungs.
He pushed himself up slowly.
The smell hit him first.
Not jungle.
Not mineral dust.
Something… dry.
Old.
He rolled onto his side and pushed himself up slowly.
The world came into focus.
And immediately—
He knew.
This wasn't Eryndor Vale.
The sky was wrong.
Darker.
Not night.
Just… muted.
Light filtered through something he couldn't see.
The terrain stretched unevenly in all directions.
Patches of cracked earth.
Clusters of dense, low-growing trees.
In the distance—
Something like crystal formations rising from the ground at unnatural angles.
No sound.
No insects.
No wind.
Nothing.
David stood slowly.
"Nyra?" he called.
No answer.
"Cass?"
Silence.
"June?"
Nothing.
Empty.
David checked his comm.
Static.
He turned in a slow circle.
"Gamma, respond."
A faint crackle—
Then nothing.
No other cadets.
No platform.
No sign of the academy.
His hand tightened slightly inside the gauntlet.
System: Environmental Scan Initiated…
System: Classification… Unknown
System: Signal Interference Detected
A brief pause.
Then—
System: Quest Assigned — Gamma Recovery Protocol
System: Objective — Locate all Gamma Squad members
System: Condition — Return to academy with all members alive
David's eyes narrowed slightly.
"...That's new."
System quests weren't common.
Not like this.
Then—
System: Reward — +1 Level
System: Reward — +1 Attribute Allocation
The text lingered for half a second longer than usual.
Then faded.
David's breathing steadied.
"Okay," he muttered. "That's not good."
He tapped his comm.
Static.
Then—
Nothing.
He tried again.
"Gamma, respond."
A faint crackle.
Then silence.
He lowered his hand slowly.
The quiet pressed in around him.
Not threatening.
Not yet.
Just—
Watching.
David looked out across the broken terrain again.
Then up at the dim sky.
"This isn't Eryndor," he said quietly.
Inside his mind—
The stillness returned.
Then—
I am
You are where you need to be.
David's expression hardened.
"That wasn't the plan."
A pause.
Then—
I am
Plans do not determine direction.
That didn't help.
David scanned the horizon and slowly exhaled.
"Where am I?"
Silence.
Then—
I am
Not where they intended.
That confirmed it.
Not helpful.
But real.
David rolled his shoulders once.
Checked his gauntlets.
Flexed his hands.
Everything still worked.
Good.
He looked out across the strange, broken world one more time.
Then started walking.
Not because he knew where to go.
Because standing still wasn't an option.
Behind him—
Far in the distance—
Something moved.
Slow.
Deliberate.
Watching.
And whatever it was—
It wasn't behaving like anything he had seen before.