The return through H-09 felt different.
Gamma had spent days moving through the sector expecting danger behind every tree, beneath every stretch of thick vegetation, and inside every shadow that moved where it shouldn't.
Now the jungle was changing around them.
Not becoming empty.
Becoming quieter.
David walked at the front of the formation, his eyes moving constantly between the jungle and the navigation display mounted along his wrist.
They had spent the last several hours confirming what they had witnessed at the eastern boundary.
The Varkyss Ravager's call had carried much farther than any of them had expected.
And the beasts had answered.
Everywhere Gamma went, they found evidence of the same thing.
Tracks.
Dozens of them.
Sometimes hundreds.
Blue-tier beasts had abandoned hunting grounds they had occupied only hours earlier.
Green-tier predators had left territories marked by clawed trees and old kills.
Nests had been emptied.
Burrows abandoned.
The trails all moved away from H-09.
But the jungle itself remained alive.
Small animals still moved through the undergrowth.
Winged creatures called from the canopy.
Something resembling a long-legged deer watched Gamma from between two enormous trees before disappearing into the brush.
Insects still filled the humid air with their constant hum.
The native wildlife hadn't followed the Ravager.
Only the beasts had.
Castiel stepped around a massive footprint left in the soft earth.
"Another one."
David looked down.
Several different sets of tracks crossed one another.
All heading toward the sector boundaries.
Nyra stopped beside him.
"That's the fourth trail we've found."
"Fifth," Mira corrected.
Nyra looked at her.
Mira pointed toward another set almost hidden beneath the vegetation.
"Those too."
June leaned on his Kinetic Baton as he looked around.
"So let me make sure I understand this."
Nobody answered.
That had never stopped him before.
"We spend days trying to clear an entire sector."
He pointed toward the tracks.
"Then the giant nightmare cat screams once and does our job for us."
Castiel kept walking.
"We did almost kill it first."
"Almost doesn't count."
David glanced back.
"It does when you're the reason it leaves."
June considered that.
"Fine."
He folded his baton and clipped it back into place.
"I'll accept partial credit."
Mira walked past him.
"You were hanging from one of its tendrils."
June stared after her.
"I was contributing."
"You were screaming."
"Communication."
Mira didn't look back.
"Very loud communication."
Nyra laughed softly.
June looked toward David.
"She's gotten meaner."
David smiled.
"I've noticed."
Mira finally glanced over her shoulder.
"I can still hear you."
June immediately faced forward.
"Never said a word."
Castiel shook his head.
For a few moments, the jungle almost felt normal.
Then David looked east.
Somewhere beyond the trees, beyond the ridge they had left hours earlier, the Varkyss Ravager was moving through A-08.
Wounded.
Bleeding.
But alive.
They had come close.
Closer than David would have thought possible when the System first identified it as Level 41.
But close wasn't enough.
The creature had escaped.
And David didn't like unfinished fights.
Castiel moved beside him.
"D."
David looked at him.
"You're doing it again."
"Doing what?"
"Thinking about going after it."
David looked forward.
"I wasn't."
Castiel waited.
David sighed.
"Fine. Maybe."
"Thought so."
"We had it, Cass."
"I know."
"One more clean hit."
"I know."
David glanced at him.
Castiel's expression had become more serious.
"But we weren't exactly in good shape either."
David couldn't argue with that.
His ribs still hurt every time he took a deep breath.
Castiel had a tear across the shoulder of his uniform and dried blood along one side of his neck.
Nyra's left arm had been wrapped where one of the Ravager's tendrils had caught her.
Lucian was favoring his right side.
June's limp had improved but hadn't disappeared.
Even Mira had several cuts across her uniform.
They had survived.
But the Varkyss Ravager had reminded them exactly what Legendary meant.
David looked east one more time.
"We'll finish it."
Castiel gave him a sideways glance.
"That's what I was afraid you were going to say."
David smiled.
They continued.
By late afternoon, Gamma reached the temporary base they had established in H-09.
The small clearing looked almost exactly as they had left it.
Portable shelters stood beneath the trees.
Equipment crates remained stacked beneath protective covers.
Their communication equipment sat near the center of camp.
And beside it—
The portable long-range antenna and transmitter.
June walked directly past it.
David noticed.
He didn't think anything of it.
Not yet.
"Check the perimeter," David said. "Then we contact Vance."
Gamma separated.
Castiel and Nyra checked the western edge.
Lucian and Mira moved around the eastern side.
June began checking the camp equipment.
David walked toward the communication station.
He stopped.
The last few days suddenly caught up with him.
The Maneater.
The collapse.
June falling with him.
The ancient ruins beneath the planet.
I AM.
Hem'el.
The visions.
The purple mist.
Then climbing back into daylight.
Finding Gamma again.
And immediately afterward—
A Legendary Apex.
David closed his eyes for a moment.
"You look terrible."
He opened them.
June stood nearby.
David looked at him.
"So do you."
June nodded.
"Good. I'd hate to think this was one-sided."
David smiled faintly.
June's expression softened.
For a moment, neither of them spoke.
They didn't need to.
There was something different between them now.
Not something that replaced what David had with Castiel.
Nothing could.
But June knew.
The book.
The System.
I AM.
Everything David had kept buried since his parents disappeared.
June knew it all.
And since leaving the ancient city, he hadn't said a single word about it in front of anyone else.
David appreciated that more than he knew how to say.
June looked toward the communication equipment.
"You want me to get this running?"
"Please."
"Finally."
June rubbed his hands together.
"Something that isn't trying to eat me."
He crouched beside the transmitter.
David started away.
June looked up.
"Don't go far."
David stopped.
"Why?"
"If this thing bites me, I'm retiring."
David laughed.
"Let me know."
June returned to work.
Within several minutes, the rest of Gamma returned.
"Perimeter's clear," Castiel said.
"Same east," Lucian added.
David nodded.
"Good."
June adjusted the transmitter.
Static filled the clearing.
He turned one control.
Then another.
The static sharpened.
June frowned.
"Come on."
Mira crouched beside him.
"Problem?"
"No."
June adjusted another control.
A burst of static answered.
He stared at it.
"Maybe."
Castiel folded his arms.
"Which is it?"
June looked up.
"It means stop talking while I'm working."
Castiel raised an eyebrow.
June turned back to the equipment.
A few seconds later, the static cleared.
A voice broke through.
"...Gamma Squad, respond."
June smiled.
"There she is."
David stepped forward.
"Commander Vance, this is Gamma. Do you read?"
A brief pause.
Then—
"Gamma, I read you. Report."
David looked around at his squad.
Then toward the eastern jungle.
"Sector H-09 is clear."
Silence followed.
Not long.
But enough for David to know Vance hadn't expected that answer.
"Confirm."
David activated the navigation display and pulled up the information they had collected.
"We confirmed multiple beast migrations across the sector. Blue-tier and Green-tier populations are leaving H-09. Native wildlife remains."
"What caused the migration?"
David looked toward Castiel.
Then back at the transmitter.
"We found the creature responsible for the tracks we were following."
Vance's response came immediately.
"Classification?"
"Legendary Apex."
Another pause.
"Status?"
David's jaw tightened.
"Alive."
Nobody in Gamma spoke.
"We engaged it," David continued. "Varkyss Ravager. Level forty-one. We seriously wounded it, but it escaped."
"Direction?"
"East."
David pulled up the sector map.
"It crossed the boundary into A-08."
Vance was quiet again.
David could imagine her standing somewhere at headquarters, studying the same map.
"The migration began immediately after the Apex crossed?"
"Just before," David said. "It reached the boundary and released some kind of call. Every hostile beast in range started moving out of H-09."
"All of them?"
"We spent several hours confirming it. Every beast trail we've found is leaving the sector."
Nyra stepped closer.
"The native animals aren't responding to it. Only the hostile beasts."
Vance acknowledged the information.
"Any sign they're returning?"
"No," David said.
"Then H-09 meets clearance requirements."
June quietly lifted both arms in victory.
Mira pushed one of them back down.
David smiled.
"Understood."
Vance's voice remained serious.
"Good work, Gamma."
The words settled over the group.
After everything that had happened in H-09, hearing them mattered.
June leaned toward Mira.
"Did you hear that?"
"Yes."
"Good work."
"I heard."
"I just wanted to make sure."
Mira looked at him.
"You fell into a hole."
June's smile disappeared.
David covered a laugh.
Then Vance continued.
"But you're not finished."
June slowly closed his eyes.
Castiel noticed.
"Something wrong?"
June whispered:
"I knew happiness was a mistake."
Vance continued through the transmitter.
"The Apex crossing into A-08 creates a new problem."
David's humor disappeared.
"We can track it."
"I expected you to say that."
David glanced toward Castiel.
Castiel gave him a look that said exactly what David thought it did.
Of course you did.
Vance continued.
"Your primary objective is being reassigned."
David straightened.
"Gamma Squad will enter Sector A-08. Locate the Legendary Apex and eliminate it."
David looked east.
Exactly what he wanted.
"Understood."
"There's more."
June stared at the transmitter.
"Of course there is."
Nyra elbowed him lightly.
Vance either didn't hear him or chose to ignore it.
"We have three military outposts operating inside A-08."
David pulled the sector map onto his wrist display.
Three locations appeared.
They were spread across the sector, each positioned along established military routes.
Outpost One.
Outpost Two.
Outpost Three.
"The outposts maintain regular contact with headquarters," Vance continued. "Seventy-two hours ago, those reports stopped."
David frowned.
"All three?"
"Yes."
Lucian stepped closer.
"At the same time?"
"Within the same operational window."
David studied the map.
Three outposts.
All silent.
"Have you sent anyone?"
"Not yet. H-09 and neighboring sectors have required more resources than anticipated. Your movement into A-08 gives us the fastest opportunity to establish contact."
David looked toward the others.
Everyone was listening now.
Even June had stopped joking.
Vance continued.
"Your primary objective remains the Legendary Apex. However, you have a secondary assignment."
David already knew what it was.
"Check the outposts."
"Correct."
The three locations brightened on his map.
"Proceed to Outpost One first. Establish contact with the personnel stationed there and determine why communications have failed."
The second marker flashed.
"Then Outpost Two."
The third.
"Then Outpost Three."
David studied the distances.
The route actually worked in their favor.
All three outposts lay generally along the direction the Varkyss Ravager had traveled.
They could continue tracking it while checking each location.
"What if we find the Apex before reaching the outposts?" David asked.
"Eliminate it if the opportunity presents itself."
David nodded.
"Understood."
"Report after every outpost."
"We will."
Vance paused.
"Gamma."
David waited.
"You've completed H-09. Don't let that make you careless in A-08."
David looked around at his squad.
After the Maneater and the Ravager, nobody standing around him looked careless.
"We won't."
"Good."
The transmission ended.
Static returned.
For several seconds, nobody moved.
Then June leaned backward.
"So."
He looked east.
"A new sector."
Mira stood.
"A wounded Legendary Apex."
Lucian added:
"Three silent military outposts."
Castiel looked toward David.
"Sounds relaxing."
June pointed at him.
"Exactly. Finally, someone understands."
Nyra shook her head.
David studied the map.
A-08.
Their next mission.
Something about the three silent outposts bothered him, but there were dozens of explanations.
Equipment failure.
Storm damage.
Creature attacks.
A damaged relay.
They wouldn't know until they got there.
David closed the map.
"We leave as soon as we're ready."
June stared at him.
"We just got back."
"The Apex is wounded."
"And?"
"The longer we wait, the farther it gets."
June looked toward Castiel.
"Can you talk to him?"
Castiel shook his head.
"I've been trying."
"Traitor."
David started checking his equipment.
"Thirty minutes."
June's mouth dropped open.
"Thirty?"
"Would you prefer twenty?"
"Thirty is generous."
"Thought so."
Gamma prepared.
They replenished water.
Checked weapons.
Repacked medical supplies.
Replaced damaged straps and pieces of equipment.
Nyra rewrapped her arm.
Castiel inspected the edge of his Shadow Blade.
Lucian checked the Bloodcrest Blade while Mira organized their remaining medical packs.
June moved around camp collecting equipment and checking anything electronic.
David reviewed the A-08 map.
The Ravager's last known direction placed it northeast of the sector boundary.
Outpost One lay farther along the same general route.
If they moved quickly, they could accomplish both objectives at once.
Track the Apex.
Reach the outpost.
Find out why it had gone silent.
Simple.
At least on paper.
David closed the display.
"Five minutes."
Groans came from somewhere behind him.
He smiled.
A short time later, Gamma stood at the edge of camp.
David looked over everyone.
Castiel.
Nyra.
Lucian.
Mira.
June.
All six.
That still mattered more than he wanted to admit.
For a moment, his mind returned to the darkness beneath the Maneater.
June falling beside him.
Castiel's voice echoing from somewhere impossibly far above.
D.
David pushed the memory away.
They were here.
Together.
That was enough.
"Ready?"
Nyra nodded.
Lucian adjusted his pack.
Mira gave a short nod.
Castiel rested the Shadow Blade against his shoulder.
June sighed dramatically.
"No."
David looked at him.
June started walking.
"But apparently that doesn't matter."
David smiled.
"Move out."
Gamma left their H-09 base behind.
They moved east.
The jungle swallowed them again.
For the first several miles, they continued seeing signs of the migration.
Beast tracks crossed their route.
Broken vegetation marked where large creatures had moved through.
But as they approached the boundary, those signs began separating.
Some trails turned north.
Others south.
Others continued east.
The Varkyss Ravager's trail remained easy to distinguish.
Nothing else left footprints that large.
Nothing else left that much dark blood behind.
David crouched beside a smear across a broken fern.
"Still bleeding."
Castiel stopped beside him.
"Good."
David stood.
They continued.
By evening, Gamma reached the ridge.
The same ridge where the Ravager had escaped.
David stopped at the top.
A-08 stretched before them.
At first glance, it didn't look dramatically different from H-09.
Dense jungle covered much of the landscape, but the terrain beyond was rougher.
Stone ridges cut through the trees.
Distant hills rose beneath the evening sky.
A river reflected fading sunlight far to the northeast.
And somewhere beyond all of it—
Three military outposts had stopped answering headquarters.
The Varkyss Ravager's tracks descended the ridge.
David looked at Gamma.
"A-08."
June stepped beside him.
"New sector."
Castiel glanced toward him.
"Try not to fall into anything."
June looked offended.
"That happened once."
Mira walked past him.
"Once was enough."
June followed.
David smiled and started down the ridge.
They crossed the boundary.
The sun continued sinking behind them.
For another hour, they followed the Ravager's trail.
Eventually, darkness began settling across the jungle.
David was preparing to call for a stop when Mira suddenly raised her hand.
Gamma froze.
"What?" David whispered.
Mira pointed ahead.
Through the trees, something rose above the canopy.
Tall.
Metallic.
Broken.
David narrowed his eyes.
A tower.
Or what remained of one.
The upper section leaned at an unnatural angle.
Several support structures had collapsed.
No lights blinked along its frame.
No signal beacon flashed against the darkening sky.
June stepped forward.
His expression changed.
"That's a communications tower."
David looked toward the distant structure.
"The one servicing the outposts?"
"Could be."
Castiel studied the damaged silhouette.
"That would explain why nobody's answering."
June didn't respond.
He kept staring at it.
David noticed.
"What?"
June narrowed his eyes.
"Nothing yet."
He started forward.
"But I want a closer look."
David glanced toward the fading light.
Then toward the ruined tower.
"Gamma, stay together."
They moved.
The jungle darkened around them as they approached.
The tower grew larger between the trees.
Its upper section had collapsed against another support.
Metal framework had been twisted apart.
Pieces of equipment lay scattered across the ground.
Whatever had happened here had been violent.
David stopped at the edge of the clearing.
June walked several steps ahead.
"Don't touch anything yet," David said.
June looked back.
"You're talking to the guy who fixes things."
"You're also the guy who fell through the ground."
June pointed at him.
"You were there too."
David smiled.
"Check it."
June turned toward the tower.
He slowly approached the wreckage.
Gamma spread out behind him.
June crouched beside one of the broken relay housings.
His fingers moved across the damaged equipment.
Then stopped.
David saw his expression change.
"What is it?"
June didn't answer.
He leaned closer.
Something small was attached beneath the shattered relay assembly.
Something David couldn't identify.
It wasn't shaped like the surrounding military equipment.
June brushed dirt away from it.
A faint light pulsed across its surface.
Once.
Twice.
June's humor disappeared.
He looked back at David.
"This isn't part of the tower."
David stepped closer.
"What is it?"
June stared at the unfamiliar device.
"I don't know."
The faint light pulsed again.
June's eyes narrowed.
"But it's still running."