The Vanguard Base was alive with activity. The remaining 45 cadets of the Genesis Batch had been selected for a mission that, on paper, seemed like a simple in-and-out operation. Intel gathered by the Military HQ indicated that the Xiyuan Dominion had been experimenting with Stellar Factor technology in secret. The mission was to infiltrate, gather information, and return. It was supposed to be nothing more than a routine reconnaissance mission.

  The cadets who had trained intensely for months, were showing excitement for their first outside mission.

  "Alright, listen up, cadets!" General Damien’s voice echoed through the command room, his eyes piercing the room with an intensity that left no room for doubt. "This mission is crucial. Your survival is paramount, but the information you gather here will shape the future of this conflict. Make no mistake, this isn’t only a simple reconnaissance operation. You are stepping into the unknown, with no complete intel, no backup, nor eyes nor ears from us."

  Nilo Finnegan sat in the back, arms crossed, listening intently as the General outlined the mission's objective. He knew this wasn’t going to be a walk in the park. Their training had been rigorous, but this felt different. There was a coldness in the air, a tension that seemed to settle on everyone’s shoulders.

  "We've sent small infiltration squads before, and none returned," Damien continued, "but you are the best of the best. The Vanguard is ready. The Dominion folks won’t know what hit them."

  Nilo caught the eye of his squad members: Atlas, Rohan, and the others. He could see the same unease reflected in their eyes. They were prepared, but there was an underlying sense of fear—a fear that didn’t belong in soldiers of their caliber.

  "Cadets, you will be assigned to one of three squads. Squad A, Squad B, and Squad C. Each squad will consist of 15 members. You will be inserted at three separate locations, converging on the target area. Do not engage unless necessary. Your objective is to gather intelligence and return. Is that understood?"

  "Yes, sir!" they all responded in unison.

  The briefing ended, and Nilo left the room with his squad members. As they filed out of the command center, the cold air hit them, a sharp reminder of the gravity of their mission. The Xiyuan Dominion was a threat. No one could deny it, but no one truly understood how dangerous the Eastern soldiers were—or what they had done with the S-Factor.

  ---

  The air was thick with a leafy scent as the cadets made their way to the drop zone. The usual sounds of boots on metal floors were replaced by muffled footsteps on the grass. Nilo glanced around at the faces of his fellow cadets, as the youngest of the group he was usually treaten more kindly, yet the others were only 2-3 years older than he is. Everyone was prepared, but the nerves were undeniable. It wasn’t every day you were sent on a mission that had the potential to change the course of history.

  "So, who’s betting we’re just walking into another crazy military experiment?" Byron Morgan, codenamed Atlas, asked, a smirk tugging at the corner of his lips as he nudged Nilo. His tone was casual, but Nilo could see the weariness behind it.

  Rohan, always serious, responded before Nilo could. "We’ll find out soon enough." He sounded like he didn’t care either way. Rohan had always been the quiet one, the type who spoke when it mattered.

  "Yeah, a whole squad of us just to gather intel," Nilo remarked, trying to break the tension with some humor. "It’s like they think we’re playing a game of capture the flag."

  "You don’t think it’s a bit... too easy?" Atlas added, raising an eyebrow. "I mean, we’re the Genesis Batch. They don’t send us to do basic recon."

  "Stay sharp," Nilo warned, narrowing his eyes as he glanced up at the horizon. "This is anything but a basic recon."

  The squad had already been briefed about their insertion points. Their mission was to infiltrate the Eastern Coalition base, gather any intel they could on the Stellar Factor experiments, and retreat without engaging in full combat. Easy on paper, right?

  But the closer they got to the target area, the more Nilo’s instincts started to kick in. Something felt wrong.

  As the squads got into position, their communication was minimal, save for the occasional check-ins and the soft crackle of their radios.

  "Squad A to command. All clear," came the voice of one of the cadets from another squad.

  "Squad B here. Moving in." It was the voice of Arden Vale, always calm and precise, as usual.

  Nilo’s squad—Squad C—moved into position last. As they set foot inside the perimeter, the air seemed to grow heavier. They were under the radar, or so they thought.

  "Don’t forget our objective," Rohan said quietly, as if to remind them. "We gather the intel, and we leave. No heroics."

  Nilo nodded, but he couldn’t shake the feeling that this mission wasn’t going to be as simple as they’d been led to believe.

  ---

  Nilo was the first to spot the anomaly. They had made it past the outer defenses of the base undetected, but as they crept deeper into the facility, they saw something that made his heart sink. A group of uniformed figures— Xiyuan Dominion agents—were gathered, whispering among themselves in the shadows.

  Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

  "Agents," Nilo muttered under his breath, before signaling the rest of the squad.

  "On my mark, we neutralize them," Atlas whispered, his voice steady as ever.

  Nilo wasn’t about to question Atlas’s orders. They had trained for moments like this. The idea was simple: subdue without causing any noise. But the moment they advanced, things went sideways.

  The first agent went down without a sound—his neck snapped in a swift, controlled maneuver by Atlas. But the others were faster than anticipated. They reacted with precision, their combat training on par with the cadets'. A fight broke out almost instantly, the sound of flesh hitting flesh resounded over the hall. After that came gunfire, endless gunfire from so many agents of the Dominion seemingly popping out of nowhere.

  Nilo darted for cover, pulling his team into position, his mind racing as the situation unfolded. His flames flared, forming a thin shield of green fire to protect his team. His flames flickered, crackling, but they weren’t enough to stop the incoming rounds from Dominion agents.

  "Squad B, come in!" one of the cadets from the other squad called over the comms.

  No reply. There was no time to check on the others.

  Nilo glanced over at Atlas, who was already in the thick of it, taking down opponents with ease. But then it happened. One of the agents lunged toward Rohan, sending a knife toward his chest. Rohan managed to block the attack with a burst of energy, but the tension in his movements was visible. His control was wavering. They were fighting back more fiercely than anticipated.

  "Get out of the open!" Nilo shouted. He couldn’t help but feel the sense of growing chaos. This wasn’t supposed to be a combat mission. They weren’t supposed to be fighting here.

  “This is Squad C requesting immediate support, the Dominion bastards are too many for us to handle!” Nilo spoke to the comms.

  “This is Squad A, we are tending to our injured, Choi and the others turned out to be spies from the Dominion, Samantha and Colby is dead, the others are injured. Be careful of the easterners in your squads!”

  Nilo frowned after hearing the message and looked at Rohan who also wore that confused look. They looked around and saw their other squad members visibly rattled by the information through the comms.

  Spies at this timing? No one would believe it to be a coincidence, all of this was pre-meditated Nilo thought.

  Voices came from the comms again, this time it was Arden’s voice.

  “This is Squad B, we caught a spy within our group, we see Squad C’s beacon and chose to hurry over to back them up. Squad A, we placed a marker on the spy so you can come over and guard them. They’re totally immobile don’t worry.”

  “Thank goodness I can take a break, those bullets still sting my arms you know.” Byron whined while ducking behind a pillar beside Nilo and Rohan.

  They realized how grave their situation is, they were no longer human but advanced weaponry is still a threat to them. No matter the mastery they had over their special abilities, the Dominion people were utilizing some sort of alloys embed on the facility to interfere with their S-Factor usage.

  “Rohan, I’ll try to catch some projectiles, focus on absorbing them then return the fire.” Nilo turned to Rohan again.

  “Just like the drills alright,” Rohan putting away the circular barrier around him and transforming it into an oval shield in front of him.

  The moment Nilo stepped out from the pillar bullets rained on him like they cost nothing, but the high velocity bullets seemed to hit dough as they passed the flame wall currently coated with a thin oval shaped energy barrier. The energy carried by the bullets flowing from the barrier towards Rohan’s arms visibly, and within a second, Rohan expelled the energy back making the bullets fly back where they came from.

  “Lifefire what’s your current situation, we met with a group of Dominion agents and is currently engaged in combat here, we’re going to be delayed going to you.” Arden’s voice rang through Nilo’s ears.

  “Make it quick Ghostframe, our casualties are rising.” Nilo turned to look at the other squad members being treated by the Support group. Byron is still like an unstoppable beast diving fearlessly in the middle of the agent’s formations dealing maximum damage.

  All of a sudden they heard the scream.

  At first, Nilo thought it was just a grunt or a shout from one of the agents. But when he turned around, he saw Aria. Her body was convulsing, shaking uncontrollably and there was a corpse of another cadet lying at her feet. The S-Factor was pulsing rapidly around her body, eating away at her from the inside out.

  "Aria!" Nilo called, rushing toward her. But it was too late.

  A burst of energy shot from her, sending cadets flying as she lost all semblance of control. The S-Factor inside her had overwhelmed her body, turning her into a violent, uncontrollable force. Her eyes glowed an unnatural white, and she let out a blood-curdling scream.

  Nilo tried to reach her, to get close enough to help, but the energy surging from her was like a tidal wave. The flames of his own powers were almost nothing compared to the raw destructive force she was unleashing.

  "We have to stop her!" Atlas shouted, though there was a hint of fear in his voice.

  But it was too late. The squad scrambled, trying to contain the chaos, but Aria’s rampage had already begun.

  “We can’t save her Nilo! Help me help the others first!” Rohan yelled at Nilo to snap him back to reality as the suffocating waves of wind coursed from Aria as the center.

  Cracks began to form on the facility’s walls as they seemed to be unable to resist the power coming from that little girl.

  “This is Lifefire from Squad C, disregard everything and get out of here immediately!” Nilo desperately shouted at his communicator.

  Dragging away those who can’t run properly, with Byron slinging multiple cadets under his arms, they swiftly retreated from the area.

  Just as they were about to reach the area they went in from, a massive explosion deafened them from the behind, with the shockwaves from the S-Factor explosion causing some internal injuries to all of them.

  The surviving cadets barely made it out alive. The operation had gone from bad to worse, and now they were left with a devastated landscape behind them. The Eastern spies were dead, many of the cadets had fallen, and the one thing they hadn’t expected—the S-Factor consuming one of their own—had happened. The mission was a failure.

  “What the fuck happened to Aria?” Byron groaned weakly as he was rolling up from the ground, his titan form coming undone as he shielded the other cadets he was carrying using his body from the blast.

  “It was Lin, she injected something to Aria as she was helping us carry the others who were injured. Like an ampoule.” Emre spoke up.

  “So there really were traitors in our batch? What the hell.” Byron seemingly deflated plopped to the ground weakly. Nilo started treating everyone with his green flames as he shook his dizziness away.

  “Do you guys feel that?” Rohan suddenly interjected.

  “Feel what? The sense of defe- what the fuck is that?” Byron stammered after feeling the pulsing waves growing rhythmically.

  They simultaneously turned back to the center of the explosion and was shocked to see Aria still intact and floating in the mid-air. Her eyes fully white and there were snake like patterns on her body due to the flow of S-Factor.

  And then came the worst part. Aria’s body, in its last, destructive act, caused a rift in the very fabric of space itself. A space crack, tearing through reality.