As the sun peaks over the horizon casting a subtle warm glow on the rubble-filled landscape, the convoy rumbles through the gates of the 2.1.9 compound and the evac vehicle drifts to a stop in front of the medical tent. Without delay, Nadia and Cassie help the O2 soldier from the vehicle, carrying him to Dr. Jiji.

“You too,” Cassie says, pinging Dante’s lifeline.

_HP: 73 (-27)

_NOTE: Sustained muscular damage to dominant arm.

_MANA: 0% REMAINING

_DETAILS: 0/80

“Yes, Heir,” Dante calls out, having completely forgotten about his injuries. When that machine punched through his shield he felt a sharp pain in his arm- almost completely immobilizing it.

Dante was almost certain they wouldn't be seeing any combat considering how confident Cassie was about it. Why’d she pick Nadia and I?

“Good job, Recruit,” Commander Preston says before nervously chuckling, “That could've gone much worse,”

“Happy to help, Sir,”

“That shield was quite impressive,” He adds, “A real test of your limits,”

“It almost wasn't enough,” Dante sighs as he recalls the humanoid machine bursting through it.

“Keyword being almost. You’re only fifth tier, son,” Preston laughs, “Getting hit by one of those lasers would've killed you,”

Dante’s stomach drops at the thought that only one of those lasers would've been enough to kill him. He’s still so weak- and the Krixs dealt with the shield like it wasn't anything new. They simply concentrated fire and created a weak point- Should I have used the remaining mana to fix it?

“Dammit,” He mumbles under his breath. They're so much smarter than Dante ever considered.

“That was your first bit of combat, Dante,” The Commander says placing a hand on Dante’s shoulder, “Don’t be too hard on yourself,” He adds before he enters the medical tent, “And don't forget that the mission was a success,”

Dante lurks behind for a moment, nearly kicking himself for not thinking of doing repairs in the moment- but Commander Preston is right. I'm only fifth tier. He sighs as he enters the tent.

“And do you have any idea why they didn't target you in the field?” Cassie asks as Dr. Jiji patches up the O2 soldier's wounds.

“No, Heir,” He says, “But if I had to guess, they didn't want to damage the data,”

“The drive?” She asks, “There’s no way it's the only copy,”

The soldier nods as he squirms in pain and chuckles, “Tech made sure to cut, not copy,”

“So that’s how you all got caught up down there?” The Commander asks with his arms crossed.

“Yes, sir,” He responds, “But I think tech destabilized their system,”

“What do you mean?” Cassie asks.

“I'm not certain, but from what I could tell we found one of the five servers,”

“Seriously?” Preston and Cassie both ask as their eyes widen.

“Yeah. Tech wanted to take it out, and the team agreed,”

“So, the data…”

“I haven't seen it, Sir. But tech said something about key locations,”

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“I’ll have Missy take a look at it,” Preston says before taking the hard drive, “Heal up,” He adds before exiting the tent.

“Yes, Sir,” The soldier says softly.

“Two hours in the chamber,” Dr. Jiji announces as she finishes stitching a wound.

“Ahh,” The soldier sighs, “Is that really necessary, Doc?”

“Two hours,” She says, stepping beside a cylindrical pod before half of it slowly opens.

“Fine,” He sighs before getting inside the pod.

Dante watches curiously as the pod slowly fills with a liquid-like substance before solidifying into a jelly. The soldier looks frozen in place- like he’s in a deep, sleep.

“He’s in stasis,” Dr. Jiji says as she pats the observation bed.

“You two did a good job,” Cassie says to both Nadia and Dante. “I wasn't so sure if you could keep up,”

“Thank you, Heir,” They both say before Nadia asks, “Why did you choose us?”

“An idea popped into mind, and I acted as quick as I could,” She shrugs, “Not much more to it,”

“How did you know it would work?” Dante asks.

“I didn't… Honestly, I was pretty certain at least one of you would die,”

Both Dante's and Nadia’s faces flush as they realize they may have been sacrificial lambs for Cassie’s plan. But, from what Dante can remember, she put a lot of effort into protecting the two of them. Maybe she’s kidding?

“How did this happen,” Dr. Jiji asks as she examines the bruising on Dante’s arm.

“Recoil,” Cassie says.

“Interesting,” Dr. Jiji mumbles before going into her closet of medical stuff.

“Recoil?” Dante asks.

“The energy you cast into that shield didn't properly dissipate. So when it punched through, the excess energy went back to your arm,”

“So, what should I have done?”

“Dropped the shield,” She says, “Don’t let them break your flow of energy,”

Dante had no idea that was a thing- the flow of energy? It makes sense in theory but he can't quite reconcile the process.

“What exactly was that thing?” Nadia asks.

“That was a Krix,” Cassie says, popping a cigarette in her mouth, “One designed to mimic and outperform our physiology,”

“Aren't they all Krixs?” Nadia follows up.

“Not exactly. Those spherical robots are called drones- they come in all shapes and sizes but specialise in recon,” Cassie says as she takes a deep inhale. “That spider-looking one, we call them spiders,”

“What do they do?” Dante asks.

“Tear shit up,” She says, taking another drag, “That one wasn’t very advanced. You see, the Krix have hierarchies too, and each group of robots has a speciality and a rank of intelligence. What we encountered, We’d consider all of those fifth tiers,”

“Those are fifth tiers?” Dante stammers, considering that they share a ranking, there’s no way he could have competed with any of those.

“Yeah, you really want to watch out for those Third tiers,”

“Why?” Nadia asks.

“They seem to have something to prove. Those crafty fuckers will kill a first tier if you fall into a trap,”

“Why weren't there any if the data was so important?” Dante asks.

“You're asking the right questions,” Cassie grins, “There’s a chance it's a trap set up by a third or second-tier Krix,”

“Seriously?” Dante worries at the thought of the Krix letting them go, “How do you know it isn't a first tier?”

“First-tier Krix are as rare as human ones,” Cassie says, “They’re too smart to be found, and only show themselves when they want to,”

“So what will we do if it's a trap?” Nadia asks.

“Ow!” Dante yells in reaction to the needle suddenly up his arm.

“My bad,” Dr. Jiji says.

“If it's a trap then we’ll probably have to relocate- my guess is that it could be a tracker,”

“So… if it's a tracker… Then all of that would have been for nothing?” Nadia stammers.

“No!” Cassie yells in a burst of agitation. “Becoming Zo’an is never ‘for nothing’,”

“We only become Zo’an when we die?” Dante asks.

“Tell me, what does it mean to be Zo’an?”

“To be a legendary soldier beyond the wall,” Nadia says.

“To have one of those cool statues in the Academies yard,” Dante says.

“Exactly,” Cassie says, “Statues are for legends and legends are dead. The Academy may call us all Zo’ans, but the meaning is different beyond the wall. The term was created for when a soldier died a valiant death in battle, but that didn't sit well with the folks at home so, the Academy did what it does best,”

“Do you… Hate the Academy?” Nadia asks.

“Not at all. In fact, I think it’s important. The folks back at home can't handle what happens out here, and they’d lose all hope if they tried. The Academy is exactly what they need- Hope.”