Chapter 1297: The First to Arrive

CM7-OOS, better known as the Caldris Orbital Outpost Station, was a massive dark-metal structure hanging ominously above Caldris Minor-7. From the outside, its broad circular body was crowded with armored platforms and docking bays, while towering spires extended from its center in both directions.

On days when the outpost wasn’t being used to simulate a recently abandoned station following a hostile takeover, the place would’ve been bustling with personnel overseeing CM7 as a planet, along with the instructors and staff responsible for the closed-door training of various specialized groups.

This particular year, that included the future Vanguards.

An elite Imperial force that produced individuals like Uno, who could then undergo even more rigorous training before eventually being trusted with particularly sensitive positions in the service of the Empire of Solaris.

Considering that sort of history, passing through CM7-OOS had practically become a rite of passage in its own right.

Perhaps that reputation had played a part in choosing it as the starting point for these young cadets’ CREX, with the first pieces of variable information and supplies waiting somewhere inside for whichever battalions managed to reach them first.

And while the cadets might not appreciate the significance just yet, there would probably come a day when being able to say they’d passed through the doors of such a prestigious outpost at their age would almost make up for being thrown into something this grueling so early in their training.

Almost.

As for CM7-OOS itself, temporarily clearing the station for the exercise probably hadn’t seemed like anything particularly remarkable. If anything, it felt like the logical next step for a facility that had already witnessed more than its fair share of inexplicable and highly confidential events over the years.

And yet, from the day it was first established all the way to that fateful day in the current Stellar Engineering Era, there hadn’t been a single recorded instance of the highly respected military outpost being subjected to anything quite this outlandishly undignified!

Because throughout all those years of serving as a silent gathering place for people who would eventually make names for themselves, protect the Empire, or strike fear into criminals and beasts alike, no one had apparently ever walked through its doors and thought it would be a wonderful idea to borrow a little energy from the outpost’s sacred reserves!

Until today.

WEEEEEEE! WEEEEEEE! WEEEEEEEE!

As though suffering from sheer distress and humiliation at the unprecedented violation, CM7-OOS erupted into violent alarms.

Emergency strobes immediately activated, bathing the surrounding corridors in flashing red light as warning signals blared throughout the station.

Meanwhile, standing directly in the middle of all that chaos, one far-too-determined cadet merely glanced up at the emergency lights.

"D-29, the alarms should stop once we’re done siphoning what we need, right?"

Because despite the deafening sirens, flashing red lights, and the apparent outrage of one historically prestigious Imperial facility, Luca Soren Kyros didn’t stop for even a fraction of a second.

Instead, he continued working with complete concentration as he firmly connected the outpost’s primary energy silo...

Straight into Battalion 10’s energy tank!

The little system, which was definitely one of the main reasons for the poor inanimate outpost’s current suffering, chimed enthusiastically.

"Yes, Host! If not, I can simply disable it, or at the very least decrease the volume!"

Reassured by his equally unhinged little system, Luca turned toward the mechanics who’d somehow gotten roped into helping him and offered what he clearly believed was a comforting smile.

"Don’t worry, guys. If nothing else works, we can just disarm the alarms."

"..."

Unsurprisingly, nobody found that particularly comforting.

Because never in their wildest dreams had these innocent cadets imagined waking up in their own beds one morning, only to somehow end up raiding a military facility for its allegedly extra energy some two days later!

Unfortunately for their increasingly fragile understanding of reality, it wasn’t only Luca—who’d already shown them an entirely different world back in the battleship’s workshop—who seemed to operate on a completely different wavelength.

The other members of DG were right there with him.

"About the alarms, I think we should let them run."

"?"

That suspiciously easygoing voice coming through Luca’s terminal belonged to none other than Jackson Taylor.

Jax had been left at the loading bay to oversee the supplies Battalion 10 had earned by arriving first and getting first pick, making sure everything was properly loaded onto their battleship with the available equipment since they couldn’t rely on space buttons or the dungeon inventory.

"Huh? Jax, you want to leave the alarms going?"

This time, it was Theo who asked.

He’d been tasked with overseeing the information transfer, which D-29 had already complained was painfully slow because of the exercise restrictions.

"Yeah," Jax replied casually. "I mean, won’t it be better that way?"

"..."

Several Battalion 10 members listening through the restricted channel wanted to violently screech, How would that possibly be better?!

Their hearts were already hammering against their ribs! Sure, they thought those three were unbelievably nice people, but when it came to any kind of work, they were absolutely unhinged!

They were still recovering from Luca’s modifications, but they couldn’t help listening to what those three had planned next.

And they weren’t alone.

Judging by the proctors’ strained expressions, even they looked like they might need medical assistance after everything Battalion 10 had put them through so far.

Still, all the other B10 cadets remained silent. Mostly because none of them had anything particularly useful to contribute.

"Better... how?" Luca asked innocently.

"Well, if you were just arriving from outside and saw an outpost with all of this going on, how careful would you be about going in?"

"..."

Several brows slowly rose.

"Not that I’d do it," Jax continued, sounding as though he were discussing something painfully obvious, "but wouldn’t most people send probes first? Or at least circle around for a while to figure out if something’s actually wrong?"

"!"

"And how long would that usually take? Worse, how much energy would that consume?"

That...

It really made a lot of sense to one skittish chipmunk who would’ve once been the first to avoid anything that even remotely looked dangerous.

As for how they could use that in this exercise...

They might not be able to fool everyone, but every minute someone else wasted inspecting the place would give them that much more of a head start. And the more energy the other battalions spent scouting, the less they’d have left for the actual mission objective!

Wow!