Perspective: Gestalt Iron Gray — Resolute Sergeant
An assembly order jointly issued by the Technical Department and the Command Center, marked with the "Red-Priority" designation, quietly emitted a cold, data-driven glow on the internal terminals of the command center.
The Gestalt Iron Gray Resolute Sergeant's gaze, as precise as the most sophisticated scanner, swept over the three names listed in the order's attachments.
His face remained expressionless, but a fleeting ripple of emotion flickered in his eyes, as still as an abyss.
Ryan Flame. Assault Trooper. He had excellent physical fitness data and a preliminary core compatibility assessment rated "Red-Effect."
However, he was impulsive and reckless, lacking discipline. A typical spearhead that requires forging through blood and fire to take shape.
Sakuraba Nadeshiko: Medic. She has solid theoretical knowledge and a preliminary core compatibility assessment rated as "Emerald Green Effect," but she has virtually no practical combat experience.
Her idealism rooted in the "Ark" outpost feels out of place in this context. Whether it will be an asset or a liability remains to be seen.
These two new recruits each have their strengths and weaknesses, but neither is enough to make this list "special."
Gestalt's fingertips gently glide across the touchpad, finally coming to rest on the third name:
Shen Kai.
He envisions the young man on the training field, always slightly bowing his head and speaking little. Aside from several instances of demonstrating keen perception of energy anomalies and precise anticipation of danger during simulated combat, the rest of his records in the training camp's assessment reports are unremarkable.
However, Gestalt trusted his intuition. Shen Kai possessed an indescribable quality, an "alien" aura that seemed out of place in this world.
His access privileges allowed him to view the semi-encrypted file marked "Class C — Potential Anomaly" regarding Shen Kai, a file that Ryan and Nadeshiko could not see. Among the entries, the name of Expert Li Jian stood out prominently.
Gestalt's thoughts returned to a recent high-level technical symposium that he had been forced to attend within the Dawn Barrier.
At the meeting, Li Jian repeatedly emphasized a proposal to search for and cultivate "special energy-adaptive individuals" to address increasingly severe Deep Realm threats and certain "unstable factors" within the Federation.
Li Jian even obliquely mentioned a theory about a special "host body" capable of "containing" and "converting" alien energy, allegedly related to lost technologies from the Golden Age.
Could Shen Kai be one of the "hosts" that Li Jian and his team have been secretly seeking?
This conjecture caused Gestalt's heart to sink suddenly.
If so, then from the moment of its inception, this so-called "Pioneer" squad had its fate nailed to the Federation's cold experimental plans and power chessboard.
Along with himself as the captain responsible for "guiding" and "observing," they were nothing more than disposable pawns.
This was not an ordinary deep-space intervention unit but rather a meticulously disguised one-way prison leading to an unknown abyss.
Gestalt slowly closed the electronic command.
He stood up and walked toward the broadcast control console in the hall. His cold, heavy military boots clattered rhythmically on the alloy floor; each step felt like a hammer striking his heartstrings.
He pressed the broadcast button and issued the first rallying command to the entire C Zone hall and his three recently placed pieces on the chessboard. Their fates remained uncertain. He spoke in a voice devoid of emotion, hard as rock.
He would personally go meet them and lead them into this prison called "Pioneer."