Void Outpost. The largest known military base and a collaborative effort between all Euro-African City States.
The base served as the last stop before people truly embarked on their Easter Expeditions.
Here comes the real question. Why even have Eastern Expeditions in the first place?
The answer was simple really, it was for research.
People wanted to understand the unknown the best they can and the Void was one of the biggest mysteries present day civilization faced.
It was a place where the dangers that would only be present at night were ever present and also amplified by a multitude.
It was a place shrouded by evernight and monsters the likes of which people have never seen before.
But the biggest of the everpresent questions had to be the places origin.
Why did it form?
What event could have happened three hundred years ago that could result in such devastation.
These were the biggest questions people hoped to answer through these expeditions.
Still in the hundreds of years since it's appearance barely any progress has been to the point where even the Four Heavenly Kings have given up it's exploration leaving the task to their subordinates in their stead.
So the question of what wiped out the Easter continent of Asia was still in large a mystery, just one of the many that enshrouded this world.
As the armored vehicles drove through the large gate of the outpost Stacy couldn't hide her astonishment at the sight outside.
The large towering building in the middle truly gave off a majestic aura. It felt like some sort of divine machanation.
Due to the corrosive qualities of the Void a special tower was needed to protect this place.
This tower was what was responsible for upkeeping the giant barrier that surrounded the entirety of Void Outpost.
The large group of explorers from Primus all had one destination.
It was the Holy Army's base right here in Void Outpost.
Soon the vehicles arrived one by one stopping before the ordinary looking military base.
As Stacy and her team stepped out to the vehicle they spotted that the other teams were all already on their way to gather up.
As they arrived it became truly apparent just how many people were a part of this expedition.
It looked to be well above a hundred maybe even touching two hundred.
In the middle of all these men and women stood a lone individual, one they all recognized.
Gabriel.
The one responsible for leading the Eastern Expedition and also one of three Holy Knights under direct service of Reinhardt.
The man just stood there with his short golden hair and giant greatsword.
Once seemingly everyone has gathered he started speaking.
"I'm happy that we were able to arrive at Void Outpost without any real issues."
"For today we'll stay at Void Outpost and then begin our real journey tomorrow morning."
"Also for today you all are free to do as you please, enjoy the various facilities across here, eat some good food and just have fun, since from tomorrow onward it will be grueling journey."
He wasn't lying exploration of the Void wasn't something to be taken lightly.
People should expect terrible food, constant fights and barely any rest.
With having said all that needed to be said Gabriel walked through the crowd of people and went inside the giant military base.
Everyone else just stood there unsure of what their next course of action should be.
Was this a test? Should they train?
Or should they simply just accept the offer and explore all that Void Outpost had to offer?
In the end no unified consensus was reached.
Some teams stayed behind while others headed for the depths of this "city".
As for what Stacy's team chose to do... well decisions were devided.
Some wanted to stay behind and train as they felt that as the weakest team their chances of survival would decrease even further if they didn't train.
While the other group reasoned that one day of training wouldn't make any difference, and that being well rested would do more for them in the longrun than training.
So in the end one part of the team stayed behind while the others headed to the "city".
In the end of all the people in the team half decided to go to explore the "city".
This group included Wilma and Tom the teams two mages, Charles the healer and surprisingly Jack the dagger user.
Of course Stacy was also a part of this group.
So this small group of five people went and headed for the outpost's center where reportedly all the commercial buildings were.
The walk there was lengthy and since the five still barely knew each other the walk also felt awkwardly silent.
That was when they arrived to what many would call the central region of Void Outpost, which seemed to be at the bottom of a small hill.
There in the middle stood the giant towering barrier platform and surrounding it were the many stores, cinemas, restaurants and even the hotels this place had to offer.
Indeed despite being mostly a military outpost Void Outpost still had plenty of tourism and even permanent residents.
In that aspect it wasn't much different from any other wasteland towns.
In a sense the town part of Void Outpost was what this central region truly was.
The place where the everyday people living here spent their days, not even batting an eye at the giant abyss right next door.
This was in much contrast to all the soldiers who were roaming around the town as they only viewed Void Outpost as a gateway into said abyss.
"So Captain any plans on where we should go?"
Jack was the first to speak up when faced with this scenery.
"Umm... I don't know anything you all would like to do?"
That was when at the back of the group Wilma sheepishly raised her hand.
"I'd like to eat something. The food we had on the road wasn't... too good."
Hearing this Stacy couldn't help, but agree and it seemed she wasn't alone as the faces of all the other members showed their obvious agreement.
"Then we'll go to a restaurant."
That was when Stacy looked down at the many restaurants below.
'Okay, but which one?'
...
'Truly divine.'
This was what Stacy thought as she was stuffing her mouth in the fancy restaurant.
In the end it seemed their choice of restaurant was correct as all the food they were served was of upmost quality.
And the best part?
It was all free. Their whole spending for this trip was covered by the Holy Army.
Of course there were limits and not every place was allowed, like... gambling houses.
Still their meal was well within what was covered so they had no reason to worry.
"Hum Captain this place is great, truly great."
Jack remarked energetically, his actions not representing his age at all.
"Indeed I feel like I might be able to get through this whole thing now."
Charles remarked aswell, enjoying his meal to his fullest.
While the two mages just stayed quiet and ate their food, though their expressions clearly told just how much the also enjoyed the meal.
Indeed the meal here was great and the price was covered, it was a bit too good.
And while everyone enjoyed their meals the faces of Stacy and some of the other soldiers who came to the same realisation thing showed less than excitement.
'It's a last meal request.'
That's how Stacy felt. The food was amazing, great even, but she knew the Holy Army wouldn't give such generous meals without reason.
It felt similar to the last meal requests deathrow inmates had. A final meal of extravagant proportion before they would go to be executed.
Still these signs only showed slightly on her face, not allowing the others to also be overcome with this wave of negativity.
Of course some may have already knew this too, but simply accepted the fact and went on with their meals.
Afterall it's not like not eating these meals would change anything. Their fate was decided the day they were assigned to come her and they decided not to desert.
In that sense they could now only hope that whatever awaited them tomorrow was not death.
Soon the meals were wrapped up and the group went onto enjoy all the other activities available.
The tennis court, the cinema and even the karaoke with drinking being the only thing the purposefully avoided.
Their group moved around like a group of friends hanging out rather than a military unit.
And by the end of the day they could truly call each other friends or atleast something more than mere acquaintances.
By the time they headed back to base the sun has already long since set.
"Hey Captain, I wanted to say sorry."
Tom said while the whole group was walking.
"As the youngest and lowest ranked of the group I honestly looked down on you on the first day. But now I realise you are as much a victim of circumstance as us. And while I still feel you might be lacking as a leader at the very least as a person you aren't too bad."
Stacy was unsure of how she should reply to such an obtuse apology, but in the end she chose to just accept it.
"Thank you, if we all make it through this thing we should go for a drink later."
Accepting an apology that was all she needed to do and yet she added more to it. And while she may not have realised it in that moment she may have been better off just leaving off that last part.