The light pulsed again.
Once.
Twice.
Then disappeared.
June remained crouched beside the shattered relay housing, staring at the unfamiliar device attached beneath it.
David moved closer.
"Don't touch it yet."
June glanced over his shoulder.
"I wasn't going to."
Castiel stopped beside David.
"You were absolutely going to."
June looked offended.
"I have restraint."
Mira stepped around a twisted section of the tower.
"No, you don't."
June stared at her.
"You know, I liked you better when you barely talked."
Mira's expression didn't change.
"I didn't."
Nyra covered a smile.
David ignored them and studied the device.
It was small compared to the communications equipment surrounding it, perhaps the size of both his hands placed side by side. A dark casing enclosed most of it, with narrow grooves running across the surface.
Nothing about it matched the military equipment around the tower.
The casing wasn't marked.
No serial number.
No manufacturer.
No military insignia.
Nothing.
Only that faint light.
Pulse.
Darkness.
Pulse.
June leaned closer.
David noticed his hand moving.
"June."
June stopped.
"I know."
"Do you?"
"Probably."
David gave him a look.
June sighed.
"Fine."
He withdrew his hand.
David looked around the clearing.
Night had almost completely settled over A-08.
The damaged tower rose above them like a broken skeleton.
Its upper section had collapsed against several trees, dragging cables and relay equipment down with it. One of the primary support beams had been bent nearly in half.
The jungle had already begun reclaiming the edges of the clearing.
But not the tower itself.
The damage was too recent.
David turned toward the others.
"Perimeter first."
Castiel nodded.
"I'll take north."
"Nyra, go with him."
Nyra drew one of her Wind Crest Swords.
"Got it."
"Lucian, Mira, south side."
Lucian nodded.
David looked toward June.
"You stay here."
June stared at him.
"I feel like that's punishment."
"It is."
"For what?"
"Wanting to touch strange things."
June looked down at the device.
"That's how you learn."
"That's how you lose fingers."
June raised both hands.
"Fine."
David watched the others disappear around the clearing.
Then he turned back toward the wreckage.
"Anything you can tell without touching it?"
June crouched again.
"Maybe."
He removed a small diagnostic scanner from his equipment pouch.
David watched him work.
This was where June changed.
The jokes didn't disappear completely.
They probably never would.
But his movements became more deliberate.
More confident.
He understood machinery.
David had seen that before, but after hearing June talk about growing up on his parents' orbital repair station, it made more sense.
June activated the scanner.
A thin display appeared above it.
He moved the device slowly across the unknown object.
His eyebrows pulled together.
David waited.
June moved the scanner back.
Then forward again.
"That's strange."
"What?"
"I'm getting power."
"We already know it's powered."
"No."
June looked at him.
"I mean I'm getting more power than I should."
David frowned.
June pointed toward the damaged relay housing.
"This entire section is dead. Power lines are severed. Internal storage cells are gone. The tower couldn't power a light right now."
He pointed toward the strange device.
"But that thing is running."
"Internal power source?"
"Has to be."
The scanner chirped.
June looked down.
Then his expression changed again.
"What?"
June didn't answer immediately.
He changed settings.
Ran the scan again.
The display filled with moving lines.
June stared at them.
David knew that look.
June had found something.
"Talk to me."
June slowly stood.
"It's transmitting."
David looked toward the device.
"A signal?"
"Not exactly."
"June."
"I'm trying to figure out how to explain it."
"Try words."
June glanced at him.
"Very funny."
He looked back toward the scanner.
"It's putting out a repeating field."
David frowned.
"Communication?"
"I don't think so."
June walked several steps away.
The reading weakened.
He came back.
It strengthened.
He moved around the relay housing.
Stronger.
Weaker.
Stronger again.
June stopped.
"This isn't sending information anywhere."
"Then what is it doing?"
June looked toward the ruined tower.
"I think it's interfering with everything else."
David's expression hardened.
"Jamming communications?"
"Maybe."
"Maybe?"
June crouched again.
"This isn't like anything I've worked with before."
That caught David's attention.
June had grown up around ships.
Military transports.
Civilian craft.
Trade vessels.
Communication arrays.
Repair equipment.
If he didn't recognize it—
That mattered.
Footsteps approached.
Castiel and Nyra emerged from the northern side of the clearing.
"Nothing," Castiel said. "No movement."
Nyra looked toward the wreckage.
"There are tracks, but they're too damaged to tell much in the dark."
Lucian and Mira returned moments later.
"South is clear," Lucian said.
Mira looked toward June.
"Find something?"
June held up the scanner.
"I think our little friend here is a jammer."
Castiel looked at the device.
"That explains the tower."
June shook his head.
"No."
Everyone looked toward him.
June pointed upward.
"The tower being destroyed explains the tower."
He pointed toward the device.
"This explains something else."
David understood.
"The outposts."
June nodded.
"Maybe."
Nyra moved closer.
"If the communications tower was destroyed, wouldn't that already stop them from contacting headquarters?"
"Depends on their equipment."
June stood.
"Military outposts don't normally rely on one tower for everything. Not if they're operating this far from headquarters."
Lucian looked toward the dark jungle.
"They'd have backups."
"Exactly."
June pointed toward the device again.
"If I'm right, whoever destroyed this tower didn't just want to take out the primary communications network."
He paused.
"They wanted to make sure the backups didn't work either."
Silence settled across the clearing.
David looked at the ruined tower differently.
Before, the explanation had been simple.
Something attacked the tower.
The tower went down.
Three outposts lost contact.
Now—
Someone might have deliberately destroyed the tower and then planted a device to keep anyone in the surrounding area from transmitting.
Castiel stared at the jammer.
"Can you shut it down?"
June smiled faintly.
"That sounded dangerously close to confidence in me."
"Can you?"
June's smile disappeared.
"Probably."
Castiel sighed.
"There's that word again."
June crouched beside the device.
David stepped closer.
"What happens if you're wrong?"
June considered the question.
"It could explode."
Nyra immediately took a step backward.
June looked up.
"I'm kidding."
Nyra stared at him.
"June."
"Mostly."
Everyone moved backward.
June looked around.
"Really?"
David pointed toward the device.
"Do your job."
"From a safe distance?"
"You're the expert."
June muttered something David didn't catch.
Then he reached into his equipment pouch and removed two narrow tools.
He studied the device carefully.
"Whatever this is, somebody didn't want it found."
David looked at the location.
The jammer had been mounted underneath a broken relay housing, concealed behind damaged components.
"You think it was hidden before the tower came down?"
June nodded.
"Looks like it."
"Meaning whoever put it here expected the wreckage to hide it."
"That's my guess."
David looked toward Castiel.
Castiel's expression had hardened.
This wasn't feeling like a creature attack anymore.
David returned his attention to June.
"Can you remove it?"
"I'd rather disable it first."
"Do it."
June inserted one tool beneath the casing.
The device pulsed.
Everyone tensed.
June froze.
Nothing happened.
He looked over his shoulder.
"See?"
Mira folded her arms.
"Keep working."
June sighed.
"Nobody appreciates suspense."
He turned back.
Several minutes passed.
The jungle seemed louder while they waited.
David could hear insects.
Distant animal calls.
Leaves shifting overhead.
But no beasts.
The Ravager's call had emptied this part of A-08 too, or perhaps the creatures were simply staying away from the Legendary Apex's trail.
June removed a narrow section of casing.
He leaned closer.
"Well."
David waited.
June stared inside.
"That's different."
"What?"
June shifted enough for David to see.
Inside were several thin components arranged around a central black core.
The construction was unusually clean.
Compact.
Nothing resembled the communications technology David had seen at the Academy or military installations.
June moved the scanner over it.
The display jumped.
"Yeah."
He looked up.
"It's definitely generating interference."
"How far?"
"No idea."
"Can you stop it?"
June looked offended.
"Of course."
Castiel leaned toward David.
"Notice how 'probably' disappeared?"
June heard him.
"I can turn it off."
"Without exploding?"
June pointed one of his tools toward Castiel.
"Keep talking and we'll find out."
Castiel smiled.
David shook his head.
"June."
"Right."
June returned to work.
He traced one component.
Then another.
Finally, he found a thin connection running from the central core.
He stopped.
"Here."
David watched.
"What?"
"Power regulation."
"You sure?"
June gave him a look.
David raised both hands.
"Just asking."
June repositioned his tool.
"If I break this connection, the core should stop feeding the field."
"Should?"
June looked up.
"You want certainty, find whoever built it."
David glanced around the ruined tower.
"Do it."
June took a breath.
Then cut the connection.
The device went dark.
Nothing exploded.
June waited.
One second.
Two.
Three.
He slowly smiled.
"See?"
A sharp crack came from inside the device.
June jumped backward.
Everyone reached for their weapons.
A small curl of smoke rose from the casing.
June stared.
Castiel looked at him.
"Expert."
June pointed.
"It didn't explode."
Mira tilted her head.
"It's smoking."
"That's different."
David approached carefully.
The faint pulse was gone.
June checked the scanner.
His smile faded into concentration.
He turned slowly.
Then looked toward David.
"It's gone."
"The interference?"
"Yeah."
June checked again.
"Whatever field it was generating just disappeared."
David looked toward the ruined communications tower.
"Can we contact Vance?"
June shook his head.
"Not through this."
He gestured at the wreckage.
"The tower is finished."
Nyra looked toward him.
"What about our comms?"
"Short-range only."
June tapped the unit attached to his uniform.
"These aren't powerful enough to reach headquarters from here."
Lucian looked at the map.
"Outpost One isn't far."
David opened his navigation display.
The first outpost lay northeast.
Several hours if the terrain remained manageable.
The Ravager's trail continued in roughly the same direction.
"Then we keep moving."
June began putting his tools away.
David looked toward the dead jammer.
"Take it."
June stopped.
"The whole thing?"
"Anything useful."
June looked at the smoking device.
"You just told me not to touch it."
"Now I'm telling you to take it."
"Leadership is confusing."
David smiled.
"Get used to it."
June carefully removed the central core and several undamaged components.
He placed them inside an insulated equipment pouch.
Mira watched him.
"Are you sure that's safe?"
June closed the pouch.
"No."
Mira stared at him.
June sighed.
"Yes. Mostly."
"June."
"It's disconnected."
Mira shook her head.
Gamma left the ruined communications tower behind.
Night settled completely over A-08.
They traveled for another hour before David finally called a stop.
Nobody argued.
That told him how tired they were.
They established a small camp beneath a cluster of enormous trees, far enough from the Ravager's trail that David felt comfortable allowing everyone to rest.
No fire.
Too visible.
They ate field rations beneath the dim glow of portable lights.
David sat against a tree and studied the map.
Outpost One.
Outpost Two.
Outpost Three.
Three silent military positions.
A destroyed communications tower.
And now a hidden jammer.
Castiel lowered himself beside him.
"Thinking?"
"Unfortunately."
Castiel looked at the map.
"You think the outposts were attacked."
David didn't answer immediately.
"I think somebody wanted them cut off."
"That's not the same thing."
"No."
David zoomed in on Outpost One.
"But I don't like it."
Castiel leaned back against the tree.
"Neither do I."
Across the camp, June was examining the components he'd removed from the jammer.
Mira sat beside him.
Nyra was rewrapping the cut on her arm.
Lucian checked the perimeter.
David looked toward June.
"Anything?"
June didn't look up.
"Still weird."
"Helpful."
"You're welcome."
David closed the map.
"We'll find out tomorrow."
The night passed quietly.
For once.
No creatures attacked.
No ground collapsed.
No ancient cities appeared beneath them.
June didn't fall into anything.
David considered that progress.
At first light, Gamma moved again.
The Varkyss Ravager's trail remained visible.
Its footprints continued northeast.
But the blood was becoming less frequent.
David crouched beside one of the prints.
The ground was torn where the creature had placed too much weight on its injured side.
Castiel stopped beside him.
"Still hurt."
"Yeah."
"But healing?"
David looked at the diminishing blood trail.
"Probably."
Castiel's expression tightened.
"Then we shouldn't take too long."
David stood.
"We won't."
They continued.
Several hours later, the jungle began thinning.
The first sign of Human presence was a narrow service trail cutting through the vegetation.
Then came a marker post.
Military.
A-08.
OUTPOST 1 — 2.4 KM
June tapped the sign as he passed.
"Civilization."
Nyra looked around at the jungle.
"You're being generous."
"I've lowered my standards."
The service trail widened as they approached the outpost.
David expected to hear something.
Equipment.
Voices.
Movement.
Anything.
He heard nothing.
The trees eventually opened.
A perimeter fence appeared ahead.
Beyond it stood several low military buildings surrounded by reinforced barriers.
A communications mast rose from the center of the compound.
Everything looked intact.
David stopped.
Gamma stopped with him.
No guards stood at the entrance.
No one occupied the observation platforms.
No movement appeared between the buildings.
David activated his comm.
"Outpost One, this is Gamma Squad. Respond."
Static.
He waited.
"Outpost One, Gamma Squad approaching from H-09. Respond."
Nothing.
June looked toward the communications mast.
"That's not good."
David raised one hand.
"Weapons ready."
Gamma armed themselves.
They approached.
The front gate was open.
Not broken.
Open.
David stepped through first.
Castiel followed on his right.
Nyra covered the left.
Lucian, Mira, and June entered behind them.
The outpost looked—
Normal.
That was what bothered David most.
No destroyed buildings.
No bodies.
No blood.
No obvious battle.
A transport vehicle sat near one structure.
Storage crates remained stacked beneath an awning.
A door stood open.
David moved toward it.
"Gamma, stay close."
They entered the first building.
Empty.
Bunks lined both walls.
Some had blankets thrown across them.
Personal items remained on shelves.
A cup sat on a table.
David touched it.
Cold.
They moved deeper.
Empty.
The next building was the same.
Then the next.
No soldiers.
No bodies.
No sign of violence.
June opened a storage room.
"Half the field supplies are gone."
David stepped inside.
Several shelves were empty.
Others remained full.
Lucian looked around.
"They took what they could carry."
Mira opened another locker.
"Medical packs too."
Nyra looked toward David.
"Evacuation?"
"Looks like it."
They searched the command building.
No one.
Maps remained mounted on the walls.
Several terminals were powered down.
One chair had been pushed away from a workstation.
David studied the room.
Nothing suggested panic.
Whatever had happened—
The soldiers had left deliberately.
Castiel looked through the open doorway.
"Question is where they went."
Mira's voice came from outside.
"Found something."
Gamma followed.
Mira stood near the rear of the compound.
Tracks covered the dirt outside the back gate.
Boot prints.
Many of them.
David crouched.
Military boots.
Dozens of people had passed through here.
Lucian studied the direction.
"Northeast."
David opened the map.
Outpost Two lay along that route.
Nyra saw it.
"They went to Two."
"Looks that way," David said.
June glanced toward the communications mast.
"If their main tower went down and the jammer blocked their backup transmissions, they might've decided to consolidate."
Castiel looked back at the empty outpost.
"Makes sense."
David stood.
"We still need to report."
June looked at him.
"With what?"
David pointed toward the communications mast.
"That."
June followed his finger.
His expression brightened.
"Oh."
They crossed the compound.
The long-range antenna at Outpost One appeared intact.
June entered the communications room beneath it.
David followed.
June activated the primary system.
Nothing.
He tried again.
Still nothing.
"What?"
June opened a maintenance panel.
He checked several connections.
Then stopped.
David leaned against the doorway.
"Bad?"
"No."
June looked almost confused.
"It's fine."
"Then why isn't it working?"
June checked another panel.
He stared at it.
Then slowly looked toward David.
"The jammer."
David frowned.
June pointed at the equipment.
"There's nothing wrong with this antenna."
Castiel entered behind them.
"So why didn't they use it?"
"They probably did."
June stood.
"But if that device at the tower was blocking long-range transmissions, it wouldn't have mattered how many times they tried."
David looked around the abandoned communications room.
That explained it.
The tower went down.
Outpost One tried its own long-range equipment.
Nothing got through.
So they evacuated.
June began disconnecting several components.
David watched him.
"What are you doing?"
"Taking the antenna."
Castiel looked toward the roof.
"The entire antenna?"
June stopped.
"No, Cass. I'm putting the whole building in my backpack."
Castiel's eyes narrowed.
June smiled.
"Sorry. Couldn't resist."
David shook his head.
June pointed toward a portable long-range transmitter mounted beneath the main console.
"This. We can use the antenna assembly with the field transmitter."
David stared at him.
"Field transmitter."
"Yeah."
Something tugged at the back of David's mind.
Portable.
Long-range.
Transmitter.
He looked at June.
June kept working.
Then stopped.
Very slowly.
His hands remained motionless.
David saw the exact moment he remembered.
June closed his eyes.
Castiel looked between them.
"What?"
June didn't move.
David already knew.
"June."
"No."
"June."
"I don't want to talk about it."
Nyra appeared in the doorway.
"Talk about what?"
David folded his arms.
"The portable long-range transmitter."
June remained perfectly still.
Lucian stepped closer.
"What about it?"
David waited.
June finally opened his eyes.
"It's possible..."
Mira appeared behind Nyra.
June looked around at all of them.
"...that we already had one."
Silence.
Castiel stared at him.
"Where?"
June pointed vaguely west.
"H-09."
Nobody spoke.
June tried smiling.
"Our base."
More silence.
Nyra blinked.
"You forgot it?"
June immediately raised a finger.
"In my defense—"
Mira turned away.
June looked at her.
"What?"
Her shoulders moved.
June narrowed his eyes.
"Are you laughing?"
Mira covered her mouth.
That answered him.
June stared.
"I nearly died underground."
Mira turned back.
She was definitely smiling now.
"So did David."
"Nobody asked him to remember communications equipment."
David couldn't help it.
He laughed.
June pointed toward him.
"You don't get to laugh. You walked right past it."
David stopped.
That was true.
Castiel looked at David.
"He has you there."
David sighed.
"Fine."
June smiled triumphantly.
"Thank you."
"You're still responsible for it."
The smile vanished.
"Leadership is terrible."
David looked toward the equipment.
"Can you get this one working?"
June nodded.
"Now that the jammer is gone? Yeah."
He worked quickly.
Several minutes later, the transmitter hummed.
Static filled the room.
June adjusted the frequency.
"Come on..."
A burst of static.
Then—
"...identify."
June's head snapped up.
He adjusted the signal.
"Headquarters, this is Gamma Squad. Do you copy?"
Static.
Then a familiar voice.
"Gamma Squad, this is Commander Vance. I read you."
David stepped forward.
"Commander."
"Your signal disappeared after you entered A-08."
"We found out why."
Vance went silent.
David continued.
"The main communications tower servicing this area was destroyed. June found an unidentified device hidden inside the wreckage. It was generating some kind of interference field."
"Interference?"
June leaned toward the transmitter.
"Long-range communications jammer, Commander. I disabled it."
"Origin?"
June looked toward David.
"Unknown."
Vance's response took several seconds.
"Bring whatever you recovered back with you."
"Already packed," June said.
David looked at him.
June shrugged.
Vance continued.
"Status of Outpost One?"
David looked through the open doorway at the abandoned compound.
"Empty."
A pause.
"Explain."
"No bodies. No significant damage. No evidence of a fight. Supplies were removed selectively. Medical packs, field equipment, weapons."
David looked toward the rear gate.
"Large number of military tracks leaving northeast."
"Toward Outpost Two?"
"That's what it looks like."
Vance was quiet.
David could hear faint voices somewhere behind her.
"Any indication when they left?"
"Not yet."
"Personnel count?"
"Unknown, but the tracks suggest most or all of the garrison left together."
Another pause.
Then Vance said:
"Proceed to Outpost Two."
David nodded.
"Understood."
"Gamma."
"Commander?"
"Keep that transmitter with you."
June winced.
David looked directly at him.
Vance continued.
"I want a report as soon as you reach Two."
"You'll get one."
The transmission ended.
June leaned back.
"See?"
David raised an eyebrow.
"What?"
"Everything worked out."
Mira walked past him.
"You forgot the transmitter."
"We found another one."
"You still forgot it."
June watched her leave.
"I preferred the quiet version of you."
Mira's voice came from outside.
"No, you didn't."
June paused.
Then smiled.
"No."
He didn't.
Gamma spent another twenty minutes searching Outpost One.
They found no bodies.
No hidden soldiers.
No evidence that the garrison had been overwhelmed.
Everything continued pointing toward the same conclusion.
They had evacuated.
And they had gone toward Outpost Two.
David stood at the rear gate.
Dozens of boot prints stretched away from the compound.
The Varkyss Ravager's trail had turned farther east earlier that morning, temporarily separating from their route.
David didn't like losing it.
But the blood trail had been easy to follow.
They could pick it up again.
For now, they had another responsibility.
David looked toward Gamma.
"Ready?"
Castiel rested his Shadow Blade against his shoulder.
Nyra adjusted the straps across her pack.
Lucian checked the portable transmitter June had removed from the communications room.
Mira tightened the sheath holding one of her blades.
June secured the salvaged jammer components.
"Ready."
David looked toward the tracks.
"Then we follow them."
Gamma left Outpost One through the rear gate.
The military trail was impossible to miss.
Dozens of soldiers had traveled this way.
Maybe more.
They had left in an organized group.
No scattered tracks.
No signs of panic.
No bodies.
Nothing that suggested they had been pursued.
At least not here.
David followed the trail into the jungle.
For the first mile, nothing changed.
Then Castiel stopped.
"D."
David turned.
Castiel stood beside a tree.
A deep mark cut across its trunk.
David approached.
It wasn't natural.
Something sharp had struck the tree.
Hard.
Nyra touched the damaged bark.
"Weapon?"
"Maybe," David said.
Lucian looked farther ahead.
"There."
Another mark.
Then another.
David's eyes followed the trail.
The soldiers from Outpost One had continued toward Outpost Two.
But somewhere along the way—
Something had happened.
June's humor faded.
"Still think this was an evacuation?"
David stared into the jungle ahead.
"Yes."
He looked down at the tracks.
"But I think they were evacuating from something."
No one joked after that.
They kept moving.
The tracks continued northeast.
Toward Outpost Two.
And as Gamma followed them deeper into A-08, the jungle around them slowly began showing more signs that the soldiers ahead of them had not traveled peacefully.
Broken branches.
Scorched vegetation.
A dark stain across a stone.
Then another.
Blood.
David stopped beside it.
Not beast blood.
Red.
Human.
He looked toward the trail.
Outpost One had been empty.
Its soldiers had left together.
They had gone toward Outpost Two.
And somewhere between the two—
They had started fighting.