Rain crashed endlessly against the towering walls of Novaris Military Command.
Thunder echoed through the neon-covered skyline while military carriers crossed the skies overhead toward distant battlefronts burning beyond the city perimeter. Searchlights swept across dark clouds constantly now. The entire city had entered full wartime lockdown three days earlier after another massive Helios-Vesper conflict erupted across the Northern Frontier.
The war had escalated again.
And this time—
even the Dominion looked desperate.
Inside the Dominion Youth Military Institute, trainees moved through the halls in exhausted silence after another eighteen-hour combat session. Everyone looked tired now. Bruised. Hollow-eyed.
Because training had stopped feeling like preparation months ago.
Now it felt like survival practice before inevitable deployment.
Kaien Veyr walked quietly through the upper corridor overlooking the massive central training grounds while digital notifications flickered endlessly across the walls around him. Emergency deployment orders. Casualty reports. Tactical updates.
Thousands dead overnight.
Again.
He stopped briefly near one of the observation windows afterward while looking out toward the city beyond the Institute walls.
Even Novaris looked different lately.
Military drones filled the skies constantly now. Entire districts had converted into evacuation zones while armored divisions moved endlessly through the streets below preparing for possible direct attacks on the capital sectors.
The Dominion was losing territory.
Slowly.
But consistently.
And everyone inside military command understood the same terrifying truth now.
If the Northern Front collapsed completely—
the war would reach Novaris itself.
Kaien's thoughts were interrupted afterward when his wrist communicator suddenly activated.
AUTHORIZED SUMMONS
COMMAND LEVEL ACCESS
REPORT IMMEDIATELY
His expression shifted slightly.
Command-level summons inside the Institute rarely happened for trainees. Especially not direct summons.
And when they did—
it usually meant something serious.
Kaien immediately turned afterward before heading toward the restricted upper sectors of the Institute.
The command corridors felt quieter than usual.
Heavily armed guards stood near every entrance now while tactical officers moved hurriedly between secured rooms carrying digital battle reports and casualty data. Massive holographic war maps floated throughout the upper command center displaying active combat zones spreading across entire continents.
Kaien eventually stopped outside one reinforced command room before the security doors automatically opened.
Inside, several high-ranking officers stood around a tactical projection table discussing battlefield deployments urgently. Most of them looked exhausted beyond words.
At the center stood Elias Veyr.
Kaien's father no longer wore engineering corps insignias anymore.
Three months earlier, after multiple successful defensive operations around Novaris, Elias had received a sudden battlefield promotion into Dominion Strategic Command. Officially he now served as Deputy Operations Commander for Novaris Defense Coordination.
Unofficially—
he had become one of the people desperately trying to stop the Dominion from collapsing entirely.
Elias looked toward Kaien quietly afterward.
For a moment, the others inside the room fell silent too.
Because even among military command, Kaien's reputation had spread farther than expected recently.
Top-ranked combat trainee.
Highest tactical scores in Institute history.
Field simulation results nearly matching experienced soldiers.
Some officers even started calling him a future battlefield commander already.
Others whispered stranger things.
That he fought too calmly.
Too naturally.
As if battle itself felt familiar to him.
Elias finally spoke afterward.
"Close the door."
Kaien obeyed immediately.
The reinforced doors sealed shut behind him afterward while the holographic displays shifted to classified mode instantly.
That alone told him this wasn't ordinary.
One of the officers standing nearby activated another projection afterward.
Two photographs appeared above the tactical table.
Twin girls.
Probably around Kaien's age.
One had silver-black hair tied loosely behind her shoulders while sharp amber eyes stared coldly toward the camera. The other looked slightly softer, though exhaustion still lingered beneath nearly identical golden eyes.
Kaien stared silently at the images afterward.
And suddenly—
something inside him froze.
Not memory exactly.
Recognition.
A feeling so deep within his soul that it bypassed logic entirely.
His heartbeat slowed slightly.
Those eyes.
Why did they feel so familiar?
The officer beside Elias continued speaking afterward.
"Three days ago, an armored convoy carrying the daughters of Vice Commander Lucien Vale was attacked near the Vesper border sectors."
The holographic map shifted immediately afterward showing destroyed transport routes across the Northern Frontier.
"The convoy was completely wiped out."
Another officer continued grimly.
"Except for the two targets."
The projection zoomed farther into hostile territory afterward.
"They were captured alive."
Kaien quietly looked toward the battlefield map afterward while the strange feeling inside him only grew stronger.
Vice Commander Lucien Vale.
One of the Dominion's most powerful military leaders. Second-in-command beneath Supreme Marshal Orion himself.
And apparently—
these girls were his nieces.
Elias finally stepped forward afterward.
"The Dominion cannot officially send retrieval forces."
Kaien immediately understood why.
Every capable adult combat division had already been deployed toward the Northern Front. The war had stretched military resources dangerously thin.
Which meant this mission couldn't become public.
Because if the Vesper Union realized the Dominion's leadership family had surviving hostages—
they would weaponize that immediately.
Political collapse.
Military destabilization.
Negotiation leverage.
The consequences would be catastrophic.
One officer folded his arms afterward.
"Normally this mission would fall to Special Operations."
Another answered coldly,
"But every Special Operations unit is already deployed."
Silence followed afterward.
Then Elias finally looked directly at Kaien.
"That leaves only one available asset capable of infiltration."
The room grew quiet again afterward.
Kaien understood now.
They chose him.
Not because he was an adult soldier.
Not because he officially belonged to military command.
But because nobody else remained.
And because his combat performance had already surpassed expectations far beyond normal trainees.
Elias activated another projection afterward showing detailed satellite scans of a ruined city sector deep inside contested territory.
"The girls are being held here."
The map zoomed into a partially destroyed industrial district controlled by rogue Vesper forces and Hollow infestations simultaneously.
One of the officers spoke again.
"The area is unstable. Vesper patrols, collapsed infrastructure, Hollow activity."
Another added quietly,
"No extraction team has survived entering that sector in months."
Kaien remained silent afterward while analyzing the tactical map carefully.
The ruined district resembled a graveyard more than a city. Collapsed towers. Destroyed rail systems. Burned military wreckage scattered across endless ruined streets.
A battlefield swallowed by chaos.
And strangely enough—
he felt calm looking at it.
Familiar.
War always felt familiar.
Elias eventually dismissed the other officers afterward until only the two of them remained inside the command room.
Silence settled heavily afterward.
Then finally—
his father spoke quietly.
"You can refuse."
Kaien immediately looked toward him.
Elias sighed softly afterward while removing tactical gloves from one hand.
"This mission isn't official."
That meant something important.
If Kaien died during the operation—
the Dominion would deny involvement entirely.
No recognition.
No rescue.
No backup.
A ghost mission.
The kind military command only assigned when desperation outweighed morality.
Kaien quietly looked back toward the twin girls' photographs afterward.
And once again—
that strange feeling returned.
Recognition.
Almost painful now.
The silver-black-haired girl looked directly toward the camera with cold determination while the other carried a softer expression despite obvious exhaustion.
Kaien didn't know them.
He was certain of that.
And yet—
his soul reacted as though it did.
Fragments flashed faintly inside his mind afterward.
Silver light.
A collapsing void.
A promise.
Then suddenly—
a name almost surfaced from somewhere deep inside him.
Lio—
The thought vanished immediately afterward before he could finish it.
Kaien frowned slightly.
What was that?
Elias noticed the expression immediately.
"Something wrong?"
Kaien slowly shook his head afterward.
"…no."
But the feeling remained.
Strong enough now that ignoring it felt impossible.
Finally, Kaien looked toward his father calmly.
"When do I leave?"
Elias stared at him silently for several moments afterward.
Not as an officer this time.
As a father.
There was exhaustion in his eyes now.
Worry too.
Because despite Kaien's skill—
he was still sixteen years old.
A teenager being sent into one of the deadliest warzones left on the continent alone.
Yet neither of them protested anymore.
This world stopped allowing people to remain children long ago.
Elias eventually answered quietly.
"…tonight."