The air inside the strategy hall of Delta Outpost was heavy with tension. The room was plain, its stone walls bare except for a large, detailed map of the surrounding region stretched across the main table. A faint smell of steel and oil clung to the air—the kind of scent that belonged to places where soldiers were always ready for a fight.
The hall was filled with captains and commanders from different divisions, their armor making soft clinks whenever they shifted in their seats. No one spoke much. All eyes turned toward Mia the moment she stepped forward.
She stood tall, shoulders squared, a stack of neatly arranged reports in her hands. Her face showed calm control, but a closer look at her eyes revealed something heavier—shadows from what she had seen beyond the portal.
