The sun had barely crested the horizon when alarm bells ripped through camp. Sharper than usual. Louder, too. The kind that set recruits scrambling out of bunks with wild eyes and fumbling hands, yanking on boots and strapping on armor that had already become a second skin.
Sirius Blake stretched, hair falling into his eyes, and grinned. Another day of chaos. Another day of fun.
> "Baseline squad survival probability: sixty-seven percent. Adjusted for your recalibrated weapons: seventy-nine percent. Environmental hazards unknown until deployment," ARI reported.
"Not bad," Sirius whispered as he tugged on his vest. "Could be worse."
---
The courtyard seethed with recruits, lined into squads under the instructors' hawk-like gazes. Today was different — no solo drills, no one-on-one sparring.
"Recruits!" Instructor Cole's voice boomed, harsh enough to cut through the rising sun. "Today you face your first squad simulation. Multi-swarm Hivebug engagement. Linked pods. If one of you fails, you all fail. Survive ten minutes. Move!"
The crowd stirred nervously. A squad muttered prayers. Someone retched into the dirt.
Sirius scanned the roster pinned to the briefing board. His eyes caught on two new names.
Mateo "Jinx" Alvarez — wiry, restless, with a grin so cocky it looked painted on.
Kaelen "Stone" Varga — tall, broad, moving with quiet gravity, like he carried a mountain in his chest.
Perfect, Sirius thought. Chaos and calm.
> "Observation: Jinx's behavioral profile indicates high exposure risk. Stone's profile indicates reliable perimeter defense. Optimal coordination probability: sixty-two percent," ARI whispered.
"Sounds like a challenge," Sirius said aloud, smirking.
Jinx, nearby, cocked his head. "What's a challenge?"
"Making sure you don't get yourself eaten," Sirius replied cheerfully.
Jinx laughed. "Try and keep up, Wrench-boy."
Stone grunted, folding his arms. "Formation matters. If he charges off, he'll get us all killed."
"Don't worry," Sirius said, shouldering his rifle. "I'll keep you both alive. One way or another."
---
The pods sealed around them.
The battlefield bloomed. A ruined city under ash-gray skies. Dust hung in the air. The ground trembled with the telltale vibrations of Hivebug tunneling.
Then — eruption. Dozens of Hivebugs clawed from the dirt, mandibles clashing, eyes glowing with projected malice.
The swarm came fast.
Jinx whooped and sprinted forward, twin pistols blazing. Bugs dissolved in bursts of light, but every step he took away from the line left his flank exposed.
"Typical," Sirius muttered. He tapped the stabilizer panel he'd recalibrated last night. His rifle thrummed smooth as silk. Each round intercepted Hivebugs before they could reach Jinx.
> "Neural dexterity enhancement active. Accuracy probability: ninety-four percent."
"Don't flatter me," Sirius whispered back.
Stone advanced slower, deliberate. His heavy carbine laid down disciplined bursts, anchoring the squad. Where Jinx was wildfire, Stone was a fortress wall.
Sirius grinned, shifting between them, a bridge of calm improvisation. "Chaos and calm. Just like a story."
> "Exploiting complementary behaviors increases squad survival probability by eighteen percent," ARI calculated.
---
The swarm grew. Dust thickened. Claws scraped closer.
Sirius darted between cover, tightening ammo feeds, slapping overheated rifles back into line, even kicking a jammed shield generator until it sputtered to life. His hands moved in blurs, ARI's overlays glowing across his vision.
A Hivebug lunged at Jinx from the side. Sirius flipped open a turret panel, redirected the feed, and the bug was incinerated mid-air.
Jinx blinked. "What the—? Thanks, Renegade!"
"Try not to die, chaos-boy!" Sirius shouted back.
Stone growled as he hauled a recruit behind cover. "Stay in formation, Alvarez!"
Jinx fired both pistols over his shoulder. "Relax, Stone-man! I'm fine!"
Sirius smirked. "You two are like an old married couple already."
---
Halfway through, the battlefield shifted. A simulated wall collapsed with a deafening crash. Debris thundered down.
Recruits scattered. Jinx froze, laughter cut short as a slab nearly crushed him. Stone planted his feet, straining to hold up a beam long enough for two recruits to scramble free.
Sirius's eyes weren't on the rubble. He saw something worse: exposed turret conduits sparking dangerously. One overload, and the squad would be cooked.
> "Minor Mission available: reinforce turret conduits during live simulation. Completion time: fifteen minutes. Reward: reflex enhancement plus one percent. Accept?"
"Oh, this is my kind of chaos," Sirius whispered.
> "Warning: completing too many mid-combat repairs risks attracting suspicion. Instructors are monitoring."
"Yeah, yeah. Subtle. I'll keep it subtle."
> "Subtlety is not your strength."
Sirius grinned and dove into the smoke.
He slid across rubble, yanked open panels, rerouted power, and soldered under fire. Sparks lit his face in bursts. Bugs lunged — Stone's carbine dropped them, Jinx's pistols scattered the rest.
Minutes later, the turrets roared back online, shredding the swarm with precise fire.
Jinx's jaw dropped. "How the hell—?"
"Practice," Sirius said, wiping his brow. "And a little help from a friend."
> "Reward applied. Reflex enhancement plus one percent."
---
The final three minutes were hell.
Hivebug queens erupted from underground, towering over the battlefield. Their shrieks rattled every wall, claws carving trenches in the simulated ground.
Recruits broke. Some fired wildly. Some curled into cover.
Stone roared, planting himself between the queens and the line, carbine bucking. Jinx danced around him, reckless but brilliant, drawing fire with impossible angles.
Sirius? He became the spine. He rerouted turret fire toward weak points. He swapped overheated rifles for functional ones. He shouted calm corrections over the chaos.
> "Operational control probability: eighty-seven percent. Tactical leadership inferred," ARI murmured.
Sirius barked a laugh, firing three rounds into a queen's eyes. "You hear that, ARI? I sound like a general."
By the time the timer cut and the battlefield dissolved, the recruits were shaking, panting, some collapsing outright.
Sirius, sweaty but grinning, gave a dramatic bow. "Ladies and gentlemen, your friendly neighborhood field armorer saves the day."
Stone wiped ash from his brow. "You did good, kid."
Jinx clapped him on the back, nearly knocking him over. "You're insane. And awesome. I like it."
Whisper, pale but steady, murmured, "You kept people alive. That matters."
Even Sparks, arms crossed, muttered from the sideline, "Not bad… for a show-off."
> "Social bonding significantly improved. Squad efficiency probability for next drill: seventy-nine percent," ARI noted.
Sirius chuckled. "Told you, ARI. People notice when you're useful."
---
The debrief was shorter than usual. Recruits filed into the maintenance bay, repairing scorched rifles and cracked armor. Sirius stayed longer, tinkering with turret feeds and rifle optics.
Sparks appeared, as she always seemed to, arms crossed, eyebrow raised.
"You again. You turn every drill into a circus," she said.
Sirius grinned. "If by circus you mean saving everyone from bug-chow, then yeah. I'm the ringleader."
She snorted, but a corner of her mouth curved. "Don't blow up anything real."
> "Observation: sarcasm deflected tension. Relationship development: positive trajectory," ARI commented.
"See? Even ARI thinks we're getting along," Sirius said.
Sparks blinked. "What?"
"Nothing." Sirius smirked.
---
Later, back in the bunks, Sirius lay awake, ceiling lights flickering faintly. His muscles ached, soot streaked his arms, but he felt alive.
> "Log today's enhancements," he whispered.
> "Dexterity plus one percent. Reflex plus one percent. Tactical coordination probability plus four percent," ARI replied.
Not bad.
He rolled his head, watching Jinx brag to half-asleep recruits about "the craziest pistol shot ever," Stone quietly polishing his carbine, Sparks glaring at her stubborn rifle, and Shade in the corner, silent, unreadable.
Sirius smiled faintly. Misfits. Chaos. Calm. Sparks. Silence. And him — the tinkerer holding them together with duct tape and luck.
"Hey, squad," Jinx said suddenly, stretching out on his bunk. "We should call ourselves something. You know. A name."
"Ridiculous," Stone muttered.
Whisper tilted her head. "Names have power."
"Fine," Jinx said with a grin. "Then until we think of a real one… we're Renegade's Circus."
Laughter rippled through the bunks. Even Stone cracked the ghost of a smile.
Sirius groaned, covering his face with a pillow. "You're going to make that stick, aren't you?"
Jinx grinned. "Absolutely."
> "Warning: your increasing visibility elevates discovery risk," ARI whispered. "Caution advised."
Sirius's grin widened under the pillow. "Relax, ARI. What's life without a little attention?"
But deep down, he knew: the instructors had seen. The way Cole's gaze lingered too long. The mutter between officers as recruits left the pods.
Attention was coming.
And with it, danger.