A siren woke up Nero long before sunrise, which was not a part of the plan though he was not surprised. As usual, he rushed from his bed towards his locker, with the only difference being that now the others in his bunker responded similarly.
When the siren rang there was no time for showers and they were supposed to report as soon as possible, so Nero was not surprised to see a number of lieutenants waiting for them as they lined up. All their luggage was already packed and loaded, so all that was left for them to do was get in the buses and roll out.
Even so, there was an element of haste in the air, as if even the superiors were in a rush to depart as soon as possible. Considering that the base was filled with the chaos that usually accompanied last minute changes that were made to plans, Nero didn't say anything and only silently observed.
He sat in a bus with his own fire squad, which had been given the designation Azure-1, as well as one other fire squad he did not recognise. Before the others were even ready, their bus departed.
Nervousness and tension filled the air, as all the others tried to gather up their courage. So far all they had done was train, but now finally they were deployed. Even Wendy and the rest were not spared, though Harold looked more excited than anything.
Nero was just trying to take in everything that was happening around him. He counted three buses left before them, and several others were following. Considering the thousands of recruits in the base, there hadn't been enough vehicles.
The direction they were heading in-
Nero's thoughts paused as noticed something on the horizon. The others noticed it as well, getting up to gather on one side of the bus and look out the window.
It was too far to see clearly, but there had definitely been a flash of red in the darkness. Just as everyone began to wonder if they had imagined it, another burst of red light became visible, close to where the first had appeared.
"That's Sage Gale's Crimson fire!" one of the privates exclaimed, though he kept his voice to a whisper. Everyone heard it, though, and recognition flickered in their eyes.
Of course they all recognised the sage's most iconic ability. Every single sage was the target of extreme worship, as they were literally at the forefront of keeping everyone safe. Not just that, every so often, if a cursed event got out of hand or perhaps if they were in the area during an incident, a sage would make a move to resolve the situation.
After so many years, almost all sages had been recorded at least once in action, resulting in their most iconic abilities being easily recognised. In all of Kolar, Donivan Kade was the only sage who had not been recorded making a move, but considering he was a Monarch, everyone just assumed that like his father, he liked to use an undying legion.
After the first two flashes of red, various bright colours filled the distant sky, revealing evidence of an intense clash between sages.
But soon the buses entered the forest, blocking the distant sky, leaving all the recruits, now fresh privates, to fill the silence with their imagination.
"Do you think our base was under threat?" Wendy asked Nero in a whisper. If any of them knew anything it would be him. Everyone had seen the preferential treatment he had been getting lately.
Nero thought for a moment, considering various scenarios, before speaking.
"It's a possibility. That would explain why we were deployed so suddenly, but I think another scenario is more likely. I think our departure was used as a diversion…"
Nero paused as a few more ideas struck him, making him realise just how deep the considerations regarding tonight might actually be.
"No, maybe not just a diversion. I think the reason we've had our deployment date announced for so long is because the army wanted the news to spread. If our enemies learned about it, all their focus would be on attacking us, or somehow disrupting our deployment. We made the perfect distraction so that the army could actually use this opportunity to strike back.
"But at the same time… such an open retaliatory attack might, instead, end up serving as a distraction for us to slip through the night, undetected by enemy forces as they rush to deal with the attack of a sage. The actual considerations might actually go even deeper, but that's as much as I can guess."
So many things were above board and on the table, but who knew how many things might be happening secretly and unknown to everyone?
Some people said that war was like chess, but at the moment, Nero felt like chess could never truly encompass the true complexity of war because this was not an exchange of single moves. In each instance, countless moves were being made, seen and unseen, affecting the tide of each battle.
"Does that mean there's a chance we could be attacked on the way?" Harold asked, though he didn't bother whispering. The man who was shameless enough to ditch the boys for a girl felt no hesitation in letting himself be heard in that tense environment, and breaking that unspoken agreement of keeping things quiet.
Nero ruminated on the question before answering.
"Our deployment date was well known. There's a solid chance that the enemy knows about it, and has plans to disrupt us. With the sage attacking many plans might be disrupted, but if they have agents or assets already deployed, we might still face an attack.
Of course, one more reason why our deployment could have been announced so long ago is to serve as bait, not just for the invasion, but so that the army can draw out all the enemies who have managed to successfully infiltrate Kolar."
Nero did not notice the bus driver briefly looking through his mirror, memorising Nero's face. Everything he had said was mere speculation, but sometimes being able to speculate with such little information was also impressive.
"In short, the answer is yes. There is a possibility we might get attacked on the way."
As if the mood had not been tense already, Nero's words made the situation even worse. Most of them did not even have their weapons. All they could do was sit and wait and hope that nothing happened.
Ultimately, the drive which lasted three hours, was peaceful, much to the relief of everyone. But that relief did not last long, for when they emerged from the forest what lay before their eyes was a sight they had only seen in pictures so far.
A half buried city was revealed, some of it disappearing into the towering mountain that stood directly on its right side, while the rest of it faded into the heavy veil of fog that loomed behind it.
Only a very small portion of the city was out in the open, but even that was a majestic sight. Tens of thousands of soldiers were garrisoned just a couple of kilometres (1.2 miles) away from the city in defensive structures that had clearly only just been built.
A large stone wall with numerous towers and countless floodlights also barred entry to Lumina, though Nero guessed they wouldn't be heading to the ancient metropolis directly.
As predicted, their buses stopped close to the garrison and a number of soldiers surrounded each bus. Nero and the rest got off and lined up, waiting for orders.
"How was this group, Harrison?" one of the soldiers asked, approaching the bus driver.
"No odd behaviours, and none of them reacted any differently when I activated the signal. None of them should be spies, but it would be best to check them all once anyway."
"You're lucky then," said the soldier. "One of the buses from the previous batch had three infiltrators. As soon as they figured out they were caught, they used an explosive card and blew up everyone in the bus, themselves included. Even the bus driver didn't make it."
Nero showed no expression as he overheard the soldiers talking, though the rest of his team was clearly startled by the news. Nero didn't necessarily believe them though.
The soldiers were clearly talking so that all the privates could hear them. They were still being tested and observed. The level of security was both alarming and somewhat relieving. If, after everything, they still expected to encounter some spies then that meant they had likely run into a few already, which is what prompted the caution.
Eventually all the privates were marched into the garrison, where each of them underwent testing before being actually let in. There was nothing abnormal about their group which was fortunate, because shortly after they passed through, Nero sensed heavy aether fluctuation from the gate they had just entered from. Right after them, a spy had been detected.