For the first time in weeks, Atlas Base felt... peaceful.
The transformation was subtle at first. The constant stream of radio traffic inside the operations center had slowed to routine status reports. The drone operators still monitored the western forests twenty-four hours a day, but the frantic urgency that had dominated every shift since the discovery of the Verdant Dominion had faded. The Reaper continued circling high above the endless sea of trees, quietly observing settlements, patrols, and roads, while the Predator rotated back to surveillance of the surrounding trade routes. Intelligence gathering continued, but nobody expected another emergency before sunrise.
Outside, the atmosphere had changed even more dramatically.
