Chapter 91: Perimeter Sweep
The central operations hall of Hope's Refuge smelled faintly of ozone and the metallic tang of charging drones. By 0600 hours, the fluorescent lights flickered off in sequence, leaving only the glow of console panels and the hum of machinery. Cream Puff moved from station to station, checking feeds and scanning telemetry with robotic precision, her holographic fingers gliding over holographic controls.
"Drones online. Comms synced. Stabilizers ready," she said, without looking up from the screens.
Ava walked the perimeter of the team, wristpad in hand, scanning through terrain overlays and recent sensor logs. The mission was still tagged "training," but she didn't need a simulation to sense the subtle instability creeping into the forested zone outside Astra Haven. Terrain anomalies had been appearing randomly, and this area, though mapped weeks ago, had shifted. That meant caution, not panic, but caution nonetheless.
