Just a week after the routing of the haima’sa forces at the Drowned Province, things had finally settled down at The Garrison. Rueben and his team had been taken into custody until the RSF could figure out why he had withheld information from them. While Harry handled his interrogation however, Zed was enjoying some well-deserved downtime for her efforts. Lying with her athletic body draped across the massive king-sized bed within her quarters at the Garrison, she was trying to catch up on some much-needed rest and relaxation as she prepared herself mentally for the next thing that popped up. Unfortunately, that ‘next thing’ seemed to come sooner rather than later.

Zed sighed heavily as she rolled over onto her stomach and fumbled for the device that was buried somewhere in her sheets. After a few seconds of unravelling it from the twisted fabrics of her duvet, the woman’s eyebrow tipped upwards at the name displayed on her data comm’s screen, pausing a few seconds as she narrowed her gazed before connecting the call.

“Bayman—” she greeted the caller and then paused “—what does the Lehomik Field Sergeant want with me on my day off?”

A light chuckle was her first reply, as the hulking figure on the other end of the call faded into view.

“That’s Major, Ms. Cross… though I hear congratulations are in order for you as well… Captain.” The man on the other end of the call replied.

Zed just chuckled and nodded slightly.

“Congrats on the promotion, Major.” She affirmed, before getting back to the matter at hand. “Now, how can I help you?”

“No help required Zed, just a bit of professional courtesy really.” Bayman prefaced. “We’ve been picking up some strange readings since your team was spotted approaching the Long Island Gate in the Drowned Province. I’m about to send in a reconnaissance team to check it out.” He explained. “Anything I should be mindful of?”

“So, you noticed us going in, eh?” Zed smirked before addressing his question.

Bayman laughed lightly.

“Of course we did.” He affirmed. “You didn’t really think that the stealth capabilities of a medium assault craft would slip past the scanning array we’ve got set up at the gate, did you?”

Zed just shrugged.

“I suppose not. That said, I wouldn’t expect anything too out of the ordinary, if I were you.” She shrugged. “We neutralised the field leader of the haima’sa forces in order to stop their constant assaults on Merricent.” Her voice trailed off as she recalled the event. “Actually, when we deployed our strike team, the haima’sa seemed to be in the middle of some kind of civil war… and there was a strange black moon hovering over the battlefield.” She shrugged. “But it didn’t affect our operation much, we managed to neutralise the target—so if anything, your boys should have an easier time scouting the area.”

“Wait, go back.” Bayman paused briefly. “You said that you saw some kind of black moon?” He inquired with visible worry.

“Yeah.” Zed affirmed. “Don’t tell me that you managed to pick us up but missed that?” She inquired, but Bayman just nodded.

“This is the first time I’m hearing of it at least.” He stated, his gaze narrowing as he did.

“That’s very odd.” Zed murmured. “I couldn’t quite make it out visually, but the energy signature seemed pretty substantial given its distance.” She replied casually. “Seemed way to dense to be a channeller, so I assumed it was either Lehomik tech or some kind of haima’sa structure.”

The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.

As she spoke however, Zed noticed as Bayman’s gaze drifted away from her face and towards the background of her quarters. The Rogue Captain chuckled lightly as her gaze followed his.

“Babe, I’m on a call… put some pants on.” She yelled to the other occupant of the room while burying the device back in her sheets.

All Bayman would hear on the other end was muffled laughter and yelling before the video reoriented to show Zed’s face in the foreground once more, but this time Bayman would also see Daniel laying on the bed in the background.

“Sorry about that Enrique.” Daniel opened. “Zed didn’t tell me that she was on a call.” He added with rosy cheeks.

Bayman just shook his head and waved off the entire situation.

“About this black moon.” He pressed, watching as Zed’s attention drifted towards Daniel.

“Oh, that thing.” Daniel started, as he tried to guess what it was that they had been talking about so far. “What about it?”

“What was it, Mr. Thorsson?” Bayman inquired.

“I’m not sure… some kind of rogue Oyan phenomenon I’d assume?” He shrugged. “I didn’t have the time to analyse it during the operation, but I submitted the data that I collected to Harry when we got back. He already seemed familiar with whatever it was though, so I’m going to assume it’s whatever he and the Commandant speak about in hushed tones while sneaking around to all of these clandestine meetings.”

Bayman’s eyes widened at the suggestion.

“How substantial did you say this energy signature was?” He now pressed.

“Very.” Daniel replied. “More powerful than any single channeler I have on record—including the Commandant—so perhaps on par with a class two military installation.”

“And what was it doi—” Bayman’s statement was interrupted by an incoming call on his end. “Hold on.” He stated before switching to another call.

As he did, Daniel just glared at Zed, chastising her about taking video calls with an unobstructed view of the rest of her quarters while he was walking around naked. Zed just chuckled at his exasperation before Bayman reconnected to the comm link.

“Zed, Daniel, I’m patching Deacon in.” Bayman announced before another familiar face joined the call.

“Mr. DeSaint.” Zed announced. “It’s a pleasure, as always.”

“Greetings Ms. Cross, Mr. Thorsson.” He nodded.

“Tyler’s saying that they spotted Teros in the Drowned Province while they were running a strike on the haima’sa.” Bayman now stated, seeming to continue a conversation that he had been having with Deacon on the other line.

Daniel’s gaze narrowed.

“Teros…” The word definitely rang a bell, but he couldn’t quite remember where he had heard the name before.

“You mean that thing Harry and I fought off with Roun and his older brother?” Zed proposed, before Daniel confirmed.

“That’s it.” He affirmed. “That’s the name of the report in the system.” He paused. “But that’s impossible… that thing was barely registering in the heroic-tier when it showed up at the Garrison”

“What are we dealing with here Bayman?” Zed chimed in, but Deacon would be the one to speak up.

“The end of the world Ms. Cross.” He replied. “Teros is the adversary of man—and seeks the demise of the entire human race. If he was lauding over the battle at the Drowned Province, you can be guaranteed that it was part of his machinations.”

“Yeah, and it can’t be a coincidence that both Deacon and I are getting simultaneous, anomalous readings at the Long Island and the Stone Henge gates.” Bayman chimed in. “I’m deploying a team of Agents to the gate. I’d suggest you do the same Deacon.”

Deacon just nodded on his end.

“I will personally lead a team of Paladins to the area and neutralize any threats.” He replied. “Whatever Teros is planning, we won’t allow it to materialize.”

“Zed, tell Harry what’s going on; he’ll understand the significance.” Bayman now turned his attention to RSF Captain. “I’ll leave it up to the Rogues to brief the guardians and have them prepare for whatever comes next.”

“What the hell is going on, Bayman?” Zed just looked completely confused at this point, but neither Bayman nor Deacon could spare the time to explain.

All Deacon could do was sigh.

“Harry will explain; I must be off.” He countered. “As much it pains me to say this, you should also contact Tiana” he scoffed at the very statement “the Demai should at least be brought up to speed on what’s happening.”

Before Zed could ask any more question, Deacon disconnected from the call, with Bayman doing the same shortly after. All Zed could do was turn to a half-dressed Daniel with the most puzzled look.

“I guess we should go find Harry.”