Raze glanced around the room. He could see that the students around them were starting to make their way to the central hall.
"Wait, we're first years?" Raze asked.
"Yeah, we are. Didn't you know that? This academy was already built and had students here before we even came here," Felix said.
Raze nodded his head slowly, taking in the information.
"Anyways, let's go," Felix said.
They stepped into the main hallway. There were already students pouring out of rooms, some confused, others whispering nervously, others trying to act like nothing was wrong.
The noise grew louder as everyone funneled toward the central hall.
Beatrix and Liam appeared from a side hall.
Beatrix looked irritated, while Liam looked like he had just woken up from a nap.
"Where were you two?" Beatrix asked.
Raze sheepishly scratched the back of his head. "We were in the VR pod room playing awakening battlegrounds." He said.
Liam spoke up, "Oh that game-" But before he could continue a teacher shouted from further down the hall.
"Central hall! Move quickly! No talking!"
Students stiffened. Beatrix motions them forward. "Let's go."
The four of them walked together, moving down the hall. As they moved through the corridors, Raze noticed a few things he hadn't paid attention to.
There were guards stationed near the elevators that led to the upper floors of the academy. He also saw teachers whispering urgently into earpieces.
There were second-year students looking just as tense as the first-years.
Raze leaned closer to Felix again. "Do you think this is about the portal outing?"
Felix shooked his head. "I doubt it. They wouldn't call all of us to the hall for no reason."
Raze frowned. "Then what?"
Felix didn't answer.
Because when they stepped into the central hall…they saw it. Or rather them.
Four figures stood on the raised platform at the far end of the hall.
Four people Raze had never seen before.
Four people no student had ever even heard of.
The room fell silent.
Those four people were the head or let's say leaders of the academy.
The first leader, an older woman with snow-white hair tied back tightly, posture rigid like a blade stepped forward.
Raze whispered, "Who are they?"
Beatrix whispered back, "I… don't know. Nobody does."
The second leader, a tall man in a dark suit with a metallic collar, glanced over the crowd. His eyes scanned the students as if measuring each of their resolve.
The third was younger, maybe late twenties, with slicked back black hair.
The fourth stood motionless at the end of the line hooded. His face was completely shadowed.
Looking at him, Raze felt something off about him. Something cold and heavy. Like the air bent differently around him.
Felix muttered under his breath, "This just got complicated.
When the first leader spoke, her voice carried across the hall with absolute certainty.
"Students of the Military Academy," she began. "Many of you do not know who we are."
A ripple of confusion spread through the hall, quiet, but unmistakable.
"That has been intentional," she continued. "Until now."
Raze exchanged a quick glance with Felix.
Beatrix and Liam leaned forward slightly.
The woman placed her hands behind her back, shoulders straight.
"We are the Four Leaders of this institution. We oversee every operation, every mission, every protocol that occurs within these walls.
Our identities were restricted because the academy was never meant to face what has arrived today."
Felix whispered, "That… does not sound promising."
Raze felt a knot tighten in his stomach.
The tall man in the dark suit stepped forward next. His metallic collar pulsed faintly with blue light.
"Earlier this morning," he said, his voice deep and measured, "Gilbert Nightwing, the leader of the Military, had received a report by UX Space Corporation. After receiving the report he delivered it to the Global Council."
A holographic display materialized behind the leaders.
Static flickered.
Then an image resolved.
A planet. Hollowed. Fractured.
Its crust collapsing inward like something enormous had crushed it from the inside out.
Gasps spread throughout the hall.
Raze's eyes widened. Even without touching it, he felt the cold dread the image carried.
"This world," the man continued, "was one of humanity's recovered colonies. It fell within hours."
Liam swallowed hard. "…Hours?"
Beatrix whispered, "That's impossible."
The younger third leader stepped forward.
"The cause has been confirmed," he said. "Unknown beings. Entities we have never cataloged. Strong enough to wipe out entire ecosystems within minutes."
The hall went dead silent.
These were kids, after all.
First-years. Second-years. Some barely awakened.
And they had just learned something capable of destroying a planet existed.
Raze's pulse quickened.
Unknown beings…
The fourth leader—the hooded figure who hadn't moved once—finally raised his head.
Though his face remained hidden, his voice echoed with a cold resonance that made the air feel heavier.
"According to UX Space Corporation's latest projections," he said, "these entities are not stationary. They are migrating."
Another image appeared behind them: a map of planetary routes, lines drawing closer and closer toward their star system.
"They will reach our sector in approximately fourteen months."
The hall erupted—not with noise, but with fear.
Raze felt his fingers tremble slightly.
Felix's jaw tightened.
Beatrix's expression turned hard.
Liam looked pale.
Fourteen months.
Fourteen months until these beings arrived.
The white-haired leader stepped forward again.
"From this moment onward," she said, "your training, your exams, your missions—all of it will shift. This is no longer a simple place of learning and preparation."
Her voice sharpened.
"It is the first line of preparation for what comes next."
Raze exhaled slowly, every instinct inside him tightening.
Because deep within his chest…
the system stirred.
As if it were reacting to the words spoken.
As if it already knew this was coming.