The gates of Outpost Three stood open.
David stopped twenty yards from the entrance, studying the reinforced metal doors that had been forced apart.
The outpost was larger than the previous two, surrounded by a twelve-foot wall of reinforced composite stone and metal. Observation platforms rose above the perimeter at regular intervals, connected by narrow walkways that allowed soldiers to patrol the entire defensive structure.
At least, that was what they had been designed to do.
Now the platforms were empty.
One leaned at an unnatural angle, its supports twisted beneath it. Another had lost part of its protective railing. Dark marks scarred the outer wall, and several sections of the gate's heavy metal surface had been deeply gouged.
The damage was extensive.
Far worse than anything they had encountered at Outpost Two.
David studied the ground.
Hundreds of military boot prints converged on the entrance.
The soldiers from Outpost One had come here.
The soldiers from Outpost Two had come here.
And judging by the number of tracks covering the road, they had not arrived alone.
Castiel moved beside him, Shadow Blade held low.
"D."
David glanced toward him.
"Something's wrong."
David looked back toward the gate.
"I know."
June stood several steps behind them, his Kinetic Baton resting against his shoulder.
"Well, there's a surprise."
Nobody laughed.
June looked toward the damaged wall.
"Okay. That sounded better in my head."
Nyra approached from the left, her Twin Wind Crest Swords already drawn.
"There's no movement along the wall."
Mira studied the observation platforms.
"No guards either."
Lucian looked toward the entrance.
"If everyone from the other outposts came here, there should be a substantial garrison."
David nodded.
That was what bothered him.
Outpost Three should have been the safest military position in this part of A-08.
The reinforced perimeter was stronger.
The compound was larger.
And if the soldiers from the first two outposts had withdrawn here, its defenses should have been reinforced by their combined strength.
Yet the gates stood open.
No soldiers answered their calls.
No one challenged their approach.
David raised one hand.
"Gamma, formation."
The others moved immediately.
Castiel took the right.
Nyra moved left.
Lucian and Mira covered the rear approaches while June remained close enough to David to assist with the communications equipment.
David examined the entrance one final time.
"Nobody separates. We clear the compound together."
Castiel nodded.
"Understood."
David stepped forward.
They entered Outpost Three.
The first thing David noticed was the silence.
Not the absence of jungle sounds.
Those continued beyond the wall.
Insects hummed.
Distant native animals called from the trees.
Wind moved through the vegetation growing along the perimeter.
But inside the compound, there was nothing.
No voices.
No machinery.
No movement.
Only the soft scrape of Gamma's boots against the damaged ground.
David looked around.
Outpost Three had been built around a broad central courtyard, with several reinforced structures arranged along its perimeter. Storage buildings occupied the western side. Barracks and medical facilities stood farther north, while the command building rose near the center.
A wide service road connected the main entrance to the opposite side of the compound.
Everything showed signs of damage.
An overturned military transport blocked part of the courtyard.
Supply containers lay scattered across the road.
One building had lost an entire section of its outer wall.
Another had deep cuts running across its entrance.
But David saw something else.
Barricades.
Not permanent defenses.
Improvised ones.
Storage crates had been stacked across intersections.
Portable barriers had been dragged into position between buildings.
A damaged transport had been deliberately turned sideways to block one of the wider passages.
David slowed.
"Look at that."
Castiel followed his gaze.
"The barricades?"
"Yeah."
Lucian approached.
"They were trying to control movement through the compound."
David studied the arrangement.
The barriers weren't random.
They formed a series of defensive positions stretching from the main gate toward the central courtyard.
Each one faced the entrance.
Nyra looked toward the open gate behind them.
"They were expecting something to come through."
"Or trying to keep something from getting farther inside," Mira said.
June examined a nearby barrier.
Deep marks cut across its reinforced surface.
He ran his fingers near one of them.
"Whatever hit this wasn't gentle."
David moved closer.
The marks were different from those at Outpost Two.
Some were narrow.
Others were broad.
Several appeared to have been made by weapons.
But there was too much damage to determine exactly what had caused each one.
David looked toward the next barricade.
"Keep moving."
Gamma advanced.
The first defensive position had been abandoned.
So had the second.
At the third, David found blood.
A dark stain covered part of the ground near a collapsed barrier.
Several smaller marks extended toward the courtyard.
Nyra stopped beside him.
"That's a lot."
David nodded.
More than they had seen at either of the previous outposts.
Castiel examined the damaged barrier.
"Looks like they fought here."
Lucian looked toward the next position.
"And then fell back."
David studied the arrangement again.
It was beginning to tell a story.
The soldiers had entered Outpost Three.
They had prepared defensive positions.
Something had forced its way through the main entrance.
And the soldiers had fought their way deeper into the compound.
But that explanation left one question unanswered.
Where was everyone?
David looked toward the empty courtyard.
"Let's find the command building."
They continued.
The damage became worse.
A shattered observation platform had collapsed into the road.
Pieces of its railing lay scattered across the ground.
Several deep gouges marked the wall behind it.
Mira stopped near the wreckage.
"David."
He turned.
She pointed beneath the collapsed platform.
Something was partially concealed by broken metal.
An armored hand.
David's expression tightened.
He approached carefully.
A soldier lay beneath the wreckage.
Motionless.
The man's military armor was badly damaged, and part of the collapsed platform had pinned him against the ground.
David crouched.
He didn't need to check for long.
The soldier was dead.
Nyra lowered her swords slightly.
"First one."
David nodded.
After two empty outposts, finding a body changed everything.
He examined the soldier's uniform.
Standard military identification.
Outpost Three.
David looked toward the damaged platform above.
The soldier had likely been stationed there when it collapsed.
Lucian approached.
"Can we identify him?"
David checked the identification plate.
"Corporal Elias Renn."
He recorded the information.
Then carefully returned the plate to its position.
June stood nearby.
His usual humor was gone.
For several seconds, nobody spoke.
David looked at the soldier one final time.
"We'll report him."
Castiel nodded.
Gamma continued.
They found another body near the entrance to the medical building.
Then two more behind a damaged barricade.
All military.
All wearing armor marked with Outpost Three's insignia.
David recorded each identification where possible.
Nyra knelt beside one of the fallen soldiers.
Her expression softened.
"They really did try to hold this place."
David looked toward the courtyard.
"Yeah."
Lucian examined the surrounding damage.
"And they fought hard."
The evidence was everywhere.
Broken weapons.
Shattered barriers.
Blood.
Deep impact marks.
Scorched sections of wall.
But still nothing clearly identified what they had fought.
David didn't like that.
He had seen what beasts could do.
He had seen the damage caused by the Varkyss Ravager.
He had watched the Verdant Maneater tear apart an entire clearing.
This was different.
Not because the destruction was greater.
Because of how it was spread throughout the compound.
There had been fighting in too many places.
Too many separate defensive positions.
Whatever happened here hadn't been one creature crashing through the outpost.
At least, David didn't think so.
He kept that thought to himself.
They reached the medical building.
The entrance had been damaged, but the doors remained partially attached.
David stepped inside.
The smell reached him first.
Blood.
Disinfectant.
Stale air.
The room had been used extensively.
Treatment beds filled the main chamber.
Several were overturned.
Medical supplies covered the floor.
A cabinet had been emptied.
Another had been torn from the wall.
David moved between the beds.
Three soldiers lay motionless near the rear of the room.
One wore medical insignia.
Nyra stopped beside a treatment table.
Her eyes moved over the bloodstained surface.
"They brought the wounded here."
Mira examined the remaining supplies.
"Then they ran out of time."
June stood near the doorway.
He looked toward the fallen medic.
For once, he had nothing to say.
David checked the room carefully.
No survivors.
He recorded the casualties.
Then led Gamma back outside.
The sunlight felt strangely harsh after the darkness of the medical building.
David looked toward the command structure.
"Next."
Castiel moved beside him.
"D."
David glanced over.
"You okay?"
David looked at him for a moment.
"Yeah."
Castiel studied his expression.
David understood the question.
They had seen death before.
On the unknown planet.
During training deployments.
Against creatures that could tear a person apart before anyone had time to react.
But this was different.
These soldiers had been stationed here.
They had been doing their jobs.
And now an entire military outpost stood silent around them.
David looked toward the command building.
"We need to find out what happened."
Castiel nodded.
"Then let's keep moving."
The command building stood near the center of the compound.
Its outer walls were reinforced.
Several windows had been shattered.
The main entrance hung open.
A damaged barricade blocked part of the doorway.
David stepped over it.
Inside, the building was a mess.
Documents covered the floor.
Several terminals had been smashed.
A large tactical display had been knocked sideways.
Blood marked one wall.
Two soldiers lay near the entrance to the operations room.
David checked them.
Both dead.
He recorded their identifications.
Then entered the operations center.
A large map of A-08 covered the main wall.
Three military positions were marked across it.
Outpost One.
Outpost Two.
Outpost Three.
David approached.
The map had been updated by hand.
Several routes were marked between the outposts.
Red lines followed the service roads.
Blue markings identified defensive positions.
Someone had drawn arrows from Outpost One toward Two.
Then from Two toward Three.
David stared.
"Guys."
The others approached.
Lucian studied the map.
"That's our route."
David nodded.
"The soldiers followed it too."
Nyra pointed toward the markings around Outpost Three.
"They reinforced the perimeter."
Several defensive positions had been drawn around the compound.
The main gate.
The western wall.
The northern observation platforms.
Then additional positions inside the courtyard.
Mira looked toward the center.
"They planned to fight here."
David examined the markings.
There were no enemy classifications.
No beast symbols.
No written identification of what had threatened the outposts.
Only defensive positions.
Withdrawal routes.
And one final marking near the eastern gate.
David leaned closer.
A thick red circle surrounded it.
June studied the map.
"What's that?"
David shook his head.
"Not sure."
Castiel looked toward the doorway.
"Only one way to find out."
David agreed.
But before leaving, he checked the command terminals.
Most were damaged.
One still had a faint light glowing along its lower edge.
June noticed immediately.
"Hold on."
He approached the terminal.
David stepped aside.
June crouched and removed a small diagnostic tool.
"Power's still reaching this one."
"Can you access it?" David asked.
"Maybe."
Castiel leaned against the doorway.
"That word again."
June looked over his shoulder.
"You want to do it?"
Castiel smiled.
"Not particularly."
"Then let the professional work."
June connected his tool.
The terminal flickered.
A damaged interface appeared.
Several files were listed.
Most were corrupted.
June tried opening one.
Nothing.
Another.
Error.
He frowned.
"Come on."
David watched the display.
June tried a third file.
A partial maintenance report appeared.
He read it quickly.
"Routine equipment checks."
"Anything useful?"
"Not yet."
June continued searching.
Then stopped.
One entry remained visible near the bottom.
EMERGENCY STATUS — OUTPOST THREE
David leaned closer.
"Open that."
June selected it.
The screen flickered.
A warning appeared.
FILE DAMAGED
PARTIAL RECOVERY AVAILABLE
June adjusted the interface.
"Give me a second."
Several lines appeared.
Most were unreadable.
But a few remained.
PERIMETER BREACH CONFIRMED
MULTIPLE DEFENSIVE POSITIONS LOST
PERSONNEL WITHDRAWING TO INNER COMPOUND
David read the lines.
That matched what they had seen.
June scrolled.
More damaged text appeared.
MEDICAL CAPACITY EXCEEDED
REINFORCEMENTS UNAVAILABLE
COMMUNICATION FAILURE CONTINUES
Then another line.
FINAL WITHDRAWAL ORDER AUTHORIZED
David frowned.
"Withdrawal?"
Castiel looked toward him.
"They left?"
"Some of them."
David looked back at the terminal.
"Keep going."
June tried.
The screen flickered violently.
Another line appeared.
EASTERN ACCESS GATE
Then the display went dark.
June stared.
"No."
He tapped the controls.
Nothing.
He checked the power connection.
Still nothing.
"Come on."
David waited.
June tried again.
The terminal remained dead.
Castiel looked at him.
"Professional?"
June slowly turned.
"Don't."
Castiel raised both hands.
David looked toward the eastern side of the compound.
The final withdrawal order.
Eastern access gate.
That explained the red circle on the map.
Maybe.
"Can you recover anything else?" David asked.
June shook his head.
"Not from this terminal. The storage core is damaged."
"Take it."
June nodded.
He removed the core and placed it inside his equipment pouch.
David looked toward Gamma.
"We follow the withdrawal route."
Nyra adjusted her swords.
"Toward the eastern gate?"
"Yeah."
Lucian studied the map one final time.
"That would explain why the soldiers aren't here."
David looked toward the doorway.
"Some of them."
Nobody argued.
They had already found too many bodies to pretend everyone had escaped.
Gamma left the command building.
The route toward the eastern gate passed through the worst-damaged portion of the outpost.
David immediately noticed the difference.
The barricades here faced multiple directions.
Not just toward the main entrance.
Several had been positioned across narrow passages between buildings.
Others blocked access to the command center.
The fighting had spread throughout the compound.
A transport vehicle lay on its side near a storage structure.
Its reinforced exterior had been torn open.
Another vehicle had crashed into a wall.
David stopped beside it.
Deep marks covered the ground.
Military boot prints.
Hundreds of them.
Some led toward the eastern side.
Others crossed back toward the courtyard.
The entire area had been churned into a maze of overlapping tracks.
Mira crouched.
"Hard to separate them."
David nodded.
"Too much movement."
Lucian looked toward the eastern wall.
"But most of them eventually go that way."
They continued.
More bodies appeared along the route.
Two soldiers near a collapsed barrier.
Another beneath the remains of an observation platform.
Several more scattered around a damaged defensive position.
David recorded what he could.
They didn't have time to examine every wound or reconstruct every individual death.
But the pattern was becoming unmistakable.
Outpost Three had been a battlefield.
A serious one.
The soldiers had fought throughout the compound.
And eventually, someone had ordered a withdrawal toward the eastern gate.
June stopped beside a broken barricade.
He looked down at a damaged military shield lying in the dirt.
The shield had been split nearly in half.
"How many people were stationed here?"
Lucian checked his navigation display.
"Outpost Three was designed for a larger garrison than the others."
"How much larger?"
"Several hundred personnel at full capacity."
June looked around.
"And then One and Two came here."
David nodded.
"Yeah."
June slowly exhaled.
"That's a lot of soldiers."
Nyra looked toward the distant gate.
"Where did they all go?"
David didn't answer.
He was wondering the same thing.
They moved deeper into the eastern section.
The sunlight had begun shifting toward late afternoon.
Long shadows stretched between the damaged buildings.
David noticed something unusual.
The closer they came to the eastern gate, the fewer bodies they found.
There was still damage.
Still blood.
Still evidence of fighting.
But the bodies were concentrated farther back.
Near the barricades.
Near the defensive positions.
Near the buildings where the soldiers had tried to hold the compound.
Ahead, the ground was covered almost entirely in footprints.
David stopped.
Castiel noticed.
"What?"
David looked down.
"Tracks."
Castiel followed his gaze.
"There's been tracks everywhere."
"Not like these."
David crouched.
The impressions overlapped so heavily that individual patterns were difficult to distinguish.
But there were far more of them than he expected.
Military boots.
Different sizes.
Different depths.
Some moved close together.
Others had been pressed deeply into the ground.
David looked toward the eastern gate.
The tracks continued in that direction.
Mira crouched beside him.
"Large group."
David nodded.
"Very large."
Lucian studied the surrounding ground.
"Could be everyone who survived."
Nyra looked toward the gate.
"Then maybe they made it out."
David wanted to believe that.
He stood.
"Let's see."
They continued.
The eastern gate came into view.
It was enormous.
Two reinforced metal doors stood between sections of the twelve-foot perimeter wall.
One had been pushed completely open.
The other hung at an angle, its lower mounting badly damaged.
The ground around the entrance had been torn apart.
Deep grooves scarred the road.
Several sections of the wall bore heavy impact marks.
A final barricade lay scattered near the gate.
David approached carefully.
Gamma spread out behind him.
The closer they came, the clearer the tracks became.
Hundreds.
Possibly more.
They covered the road.
They crossed one another.
They disappeared beneath broken equipment and reappeared farther ahead.
Everywhere David looked, footprints led toward the opening.
June stopped beside him.
"That's a lot of people."
David nodded.
Castiel examined the gate.
"Looks like they broke through."
"Or forced it open during the withdrawal," Lucian said.
Nyra looked toward the jungle beyond.
"Either way, they left."
David stepped through the gate.
The ground outside was soft.
Recent rain had turned much of the service road into mud.
And the tracks—
They were everywhere.
A broad trail stretched away from the outpost, disappearing between the trees.
Not a narrow line.
Not a small patrol.
A massive trail.
Hundreds of overlapping footprints.
David walked several yards farther.
The others followed.
Mira crouched near the edge.
She studied one set of impressions.
Then another.
David noticed her expression.
"What?"
Mira looked up.
"Hard to tell how many."
Lucian approached.
"Can you estimate?"
She shook her head.
"Too much overlap."
David looked down the trail.
The ground had been trampled so heavily that almost no untouched earth remained.
Whatever group had passed through here had been enormous.
June looked back toward Outpost Three.
Then toward the jungle.
"So they retreated again."
Castiel studied the trail.
"Looks that way."
Nyra glanced toward David.
"Maybe they were trying to reach another military position."
David opened the sector map.
He studied the region beyond Outpost Three.
There were no additional outposts marked nearby.
Only jungle.
Rocky terrain.
Several unexplored areas.
He frowned.
"Nothing on the map."
June looked toward the trees.
"Could've been heading for a temporary evacuation point."
"Maybe," David said.
Lucian studied the tracks.
"Or trying to get away from whatever attacked them."
David closed the map.
That explanation seemed just as likely.
The soldiers had withdrawn from Outpost One.
Then Outpost Two.
Then fought throughout Outpost Three.
Finally, the survivors had left through the eastern gate.
It was a logical progression.
But David couldn't shake the feeling that something was missing.
He looked back toward the compound.
Three military outposts.
All silent.
The first abandoned.
The second damaged.
The third devastated.
And now an enormous trail disappearing into the jungle.
David activated his comm.
"June."
June looked toward him.
"Yeah?"
"Get the transmitter."
June nodded.
He removed the portable long-range unit from his pack and began setting it up beside the road.
Castiel watched him.
"Remembered it this time."
June didn't look up.
"I was having a peaceful moment."
"Didn't look peaceful."
"It was until you spoke."
David almost smiled.
June adjusted the antenna.
Static filled the air.
He changed frequencies.
"Headquarters, this is Gamma Squad. Commander Vance, respond."
A pause.
Then—
"Gamma, this is Vance. Report."
David stepped forward.
"Commander, we've reached Outpost Three."
"Status?"
David looked back through the open gate.
"Outpost Three has been attacked."
Silence.
Then Vance spoke.
"Explain."
"Extensive damage throughout the compound. Multiple defensive positions destroyed. Evidence of fighting from the main entrance all the way through the eastern side."
"Personnel?"
David's expression tightened.
"We found casualties."
Vance didn't respond immediately.
"How many?"
"Several confirmed. We're still documenting the scene."
"Survivors?"
"None located inside the compound."
Another pause.
"Any evidence of evacuation?"
David looked toward the enormous trail.
"Yes."
He continued.
"We recovered part of an emergency report from the command building. It confirmed a perimeter breach, multiple defensive positions lost, and a final withdrawal order toward the eastern access gate."
Vance remained silent.
David glanced toward Castiel.
Then continued.
"We followed the damage through the outpost. The eastern gate is open, and there's a massive trail leading into the jungle."
"Define massive."
David looked toward the footprints.
"Hundreds of tracks. Possibly more."
Vance's voice changed.
"Military?"
"Most appear to be."
A long silence followed.
David waited.
"Commander?"
"I'm here."
Something about her voice had changed.
It was quieter.
More controlled.
David didn't like it.
Vance spoke again.
"Do not follow that trail."
David frowned.
"Commander?"
"Remain at Outpost Three."
David looked toward the jungle.
"The survivors could still be out there."
"I understand."
"Then we should—"
"David."
Her voice sharpened.
He stopped.
"Your orders are to secure the outpost and remain there until I arrive."
David stared at the transmitter.
"You're coming here?"
"Yes."
Castiel looked toward him.
Nyra's expression changed.
Lucian slowly straightened.
June stopped adjusting the equipment.
Vance continued.
"Do not pursue the trail. Do not leave the compound. Maintain defensive positions and keep your communications equipment operational."
David looked toward the enormous tracks disappearing into the jungle.
"Understood."
A pause.
Then Vance spoke again.
"Gamma."
"Commander?"
"Have you identified what attacked the outpost?"
David looked back toward the damaged wall.
"No."
"Any unusual equipment? Weapons? Remains?"
David thought about the destroyed tower.
The jammer.
The damaged buildings.
The bodies.
The enormous trail.
"We recovered the jammer components from the communications tower. Other than that, nothing we can identify."
Vance was silent.
Then—
"Keep everything secured."
"Yes, Commander."
"I'll contact you when I'm approaching."
The transmission ended.
Static returned.
For several seconds, nobody spoke.
Then June slowly looked toward David.
"Well."
David turned.
June gestured toward the transmitter.
"That sounded bad."
Castiel folded his arms.
"She didn't sound surprised."
Nyra looked toward the jungle.
"She told us not to follow the trail."
Lucian studied the footprints.
"Which means she thinks something dangerous is out there."
Mira looked toward David.
"More dangerous than the Ravager?"
David didn't answer immediately.
He stared down the enormous trail.
The Legendary Apex was still somewhere in A-08.
They had entered the sector to hunt it.
Instead, they had found three abandoned military outposts, a destroyed communications network, dead soldiers, and evidence of a retreat that had ended somewhere beyond the eastern wall.
David looked toward the compound.
"We follow orders."
Castiel nodded.
"Secure the outpost?"
"Yeah."
David looked at each of them.
"Find a defensible position near the command building. We'll keep watch until Vance arrives."
June folded his baton.
"And then?"
David glanced toward the jungle.
"Then we find out what happened here."
Gamma returned through the eastern gate.
Behind them, the enormous trail stretched into the darkening forest.
Hundreds of footprints.
Perhaps more.
All leading away from Outpost Three.
David looked back once before entering the compound.
The jungle remained still.
No voices called from the trees.
No movement disturbed the distant vegetation.
Whatever had happened here was over.
But the trail remained.
And somewhere beyond it—
The answers were waiting.