Tom was in the middle of a post-workout morning shower when his Gauntlet started buzzing. He turned off the water, quickly dried himself off, and then dressed in the Quantum uniform. Almost as soon as he stepped out of the locker room, he saw Rachel quickly moving down the hall, barely stopping to talk to him.

“Did you get the alert?” she asked.

He nodded and walked beside her, matching her speed. “What do you think, Level 1?”

“Has to be. The newbs barely know how to turn on their Gauntlets.”

“Yeah, that’s true,” said Tom. “No way they’d put untrained Knights out in the field. Especially not so soon after…”

Tom’s voice trailed off. He almost said, “after I screwed up,” but stopped short. He was the leader now, he had no business burdening Rachel or anyone else with his own regrets and failures.

They continued down the corridors and were surprised when the three new recruits met them at the next junction. Rachel cocked a brow as she noticed the blinking alerts on each of their gauntlets.

“You got summoned?” she asked.

“Is that what this means?” asked Ethan as he held up his gauntlet. “Summoned for what?”

“Usually it means we’ve got a mission,” said Tom.

“What?” asked Olivia. “But…we just got here. They’re not sending us out already, are they?”

“No, it’s gotta be a mistake,” said Tom. “It’s too soon for you three to go into the field. Maybe they just want you to monitor us so you can see what it’s like.”

Tom and Rachel led the group to the Nexus. When Tom saw Orion was standing in the Nexus with Marcus and Candace, he knew something must be wrong. Orion almost never came to see the Knights off. He was primarily concerned with the Titans. Tom always got the impression that Orion thought of the Knights as expendable.

“What’s going on? Why did the new recruits get an alert?” Tom phrased the question with an intentionally authoritative tone, though to his own ears, it sounded like he was putting on airs.

Judging by the look Marcus gave him, the tone hadn’t gone over well. But he said nothing and focused on the content of the question. Marcus looked down at the tablet he held. “We’re dealing with a Level 2 threat.”

“What’s Level 2 mean? That doesn’t sound too bad,” asked Alexa.

“You’re not exactly wrong, but protocol says a Level 2 threat requires at least three Knights,” said Rachel.

“There are eight levels of threat classification,” said Marcus. “Level 0 is the least dangerous one. Conventional military force is sufficient to handle these threats and Quantum has operatives contracted for those breaches. A Level 1 means at least one, possibly two Omega Knights are needed. Level 2, as stated, necessitates at least three Knights. Level 3 requires all five Knights, Level 4 is for Titan intervention, Level 5 requires Titan fusion—”

“What’s Titan fusion?” asked Alexa.

“We’ll get to that later,” said Marcus. “And then Level 6 is for extreme measures.”

“That’s only seven. You said there were eight levels. What about Level 7 threats?”

“It’s the most serious threat classification we have, but no Level 7 threat has ever been recorded,” said Marcus. “Thankfully.”

“If this is a Level 2, then we don’t need everyone here,” said Tom. “Rachel and I will handle this by ourselves.”

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“Not an option,” said Marcus.

Tom scoffed. “How is it not an option? It’s the only option we’ve got.”

“We’ve spoken with the Tribunal already and they said they want all five of you to go,” said Candace.

“That’s insane!” Rachel gestured to the three recruits. “They’re nowhere close to being ready! They’ve barely had any time to train with the Gauntlets or weapons. This is like putting someone who just learned how to swim into an Olympic competition.”

“Calm down. I know this is a dangerous situation. I know they aren’t ready for it. But—”

“Then you know this is suicide!” Rachel moved closer to Marcus and even though she was a good foot shorter than him, she met his gaze with equal intensity. “We just lost three Knights and now you want to send three more into a meat-grinder?”

“You’re gonna back off right now, Knight,” said Marcus. “I don’t like this any more than you do and I said the exact same thing to the Tribunal, but these are the orders.”

Rachel looked at Tom for support. He felt unnerved about being in this position. Obviously, she was right, but he’d already crossed Marcus once and he wasn’t willing to do it again. Plus, what would it say if the newly appointed leader started flouting orders right before his first mission?

“Orion, there has to be some Titan support ready, right? If it’s a Level 2 and Rachel and I went in with just our Titans—”

“Already thought of that. The Phoenix is still undergoing repairs. Raiju might be battle-ready, but that’s a big might,” said Orion. “We don’t have the Titan support we need just now.”

“How about you ask us what we think?” Ethan interjected. “Seeing as how it’s our lives you’re talking about.”

“He’s right,” said Candace. “Omega Force or no, they still have the right to refuse to join.”

“Fine. If any of you want to back out, then now’s the time,” said Marcus. “Just know that we don’t have any back-benches here. If you choose to sit out the game, you choose to sit out the season.”

“Just be straight—if we say no to this mission, we get kicked out,” said Alexa. “Or am I wrong about that?”

“You’re not wrong,” said Marcus, glancing at her from the corner of his eye.

There was some clear tension between those two and Tom couldn’t help wondering about the story behind it. Something to look into later—if Alexa remained a member.

“So, now’s your chance,” said Marcus. “You’ve heard what we do and now you’re being called up. Question is, do you want to be a part of this or would you rather go back to your old lives? Are you willing to step up and make a difference?”

Tom looked over the three new recruits. He was pretty positive that Ethan would say yes. There seemed to be something driving him, though Tom wasn’t sure what that was. And Alexa appeared to thrive on risk. Even though she’d expressed some trepidation and apparently had a conflict with Marcus, she was more likely to stay than leave.

But Olivia was the real question mark. She admitted that she wasn’t very enthused about fighting in the first place and in the training sessions they’d had so far, she was definitely the most reserved. If any of the three were going to leave, she seemed the likeliest candidate.

“I’m still in,” said Ethan.

Alexa gave a nod as well, but Tom again noticed a glance between her and Marcus. Almost like she was daring him to say something.

“Yeah, I’ll stay. I like what I’ve seen so far, so let’s take it to the next level.”

“That’s two.” Marcus looked at Olivia and the eyes of everyone else followed his lead.

“If this isn’t stopped…the people there will be killed, right?” she asked.

Marcus nodded. “These creatures aren’t typically known for their docility. So stands to reason. And if whatever’s there isn’t stopped now, it’ll spread further.”

“Okay, then I’m in,” said Olivia.

“Good, now we can move forward.” Marcus made a few taps on the tablet and a holographic projection of a globe appeared in the room. He highlighted an area in Brazil on the projection. “We’ve pinpointed the breach to somewhere in the Amazon. The tree coverage is pretty dense, so our satellites haven’t been able to obtain any actual footage of the breachers. But there are multiple life signs. Any one of these doesn’t register energy levels on a scale befitting a Knight response, but together, they definitely rank as a Level 2. You will transport in, locate the threat, and eliminate it.”

The globe vanished and Marcus continued. “Remember, you’ll have no Titan support. Knight Stone is in command and both he and Knight Kim are the senior officers. The rest of you will follow their lead and focus on support and rescue efforts. Is that understood?”

Tom nodded, though his nerves silently echoed their defiance in his head. This wasn’t just about throwing the newbies into the deep end of the pool—it was about him, too. He was facing the first real test of leadership.

“Good, then suit up and get ready for transport,” said Marcus.

Rachel was the first to step forward, activating her gauntlet and the nanites rapidly generated the blue armor of the Raiju Knight. Tom followed next, generating his red Phoenix Knight armor. Ethan and Alexa followed with the Karkinos Knight’s green armor and the purple armor signifying the Wyvern Knight. Olivia was the last, her yellow Unicorn Knight completing the team.

The five young heroes stepped up to the transport platform. The Nexus crackled to life, and in a flash of energy, they vanished from Sanctuary Isle.