Chapter 6: Wolves in the Fold.
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0730 Hours – Olympus Mons Combat Arena, Zone Delta
The blood-red sky above the dome shimmered with artificial turbulence. Wind howled across fractured terrain as simulated lava vents belched steam and heat. Zone Delta was designed for pain—a trial by chaos. Shattered magrails cut across the terrain like jagged scars, and underfoot, the tremors came in random pulses.
Welcome to hell, cadet edition.
Kale Drayen adjusted the seal on his helmet and crouched behind a collapsed support beam with his squad.
"Extraction scenario," he said, pulling up the HUD on his slate. "VIP core is located three klicks southeast. Single evac path—narrow ravine, east exit. They'll expect us to use it."
Jin made a face. "We could fight our way through."
"We'd be flanked before we hit midpoint," Kale replied. "Every squad here's hungry. We make noise, we get eaten."
Ox chuckled, massive and unbothered. "Let 'em try."
Kora, always shadow-silent, only nodded.
Danae tilted her head. "So what's the plan?"
Kale's eyes stayed fixed on the data feed. "We move quiet. Underground. There's a collapsed maintenance tunnel near the southern slope. No one's paying attention to it."
"Because it's half-submerged in lava," Jin muttered.
"Only on the left flank," Kale said coolly. "Right side's traversable. Just barely."
No one argued after that.
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Squad C – Lower Delta Sector
"Drayen's already moving," Cadence said from her sniper perch, overlooking the central gorge.
"Of course he is," Rell muttered. "Guy doesn't sleep."
Sif Harden, large and stoic, placed a seismic sensor into the dirt beside her boot.
Cadence turned her scope slightly. "Squad A's on the move too. Dorne's going loud."
Rell smirked. "Overconfident. Typical elite."
Sif didn't speak. Her hands flexed in their gloves. She was waiting for Cadence's cue.
The battlefield was a chessboard.
Only problem? Everyone thought they were playing white.
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Instructor Deck – Mars Naval Academy Control Tower
Commander Lucian Vale stood behind the armored glass with arms folded, watching the digital feed of the scenario unfold. Wind patterns shifted. Lava surged higher in some vents. Each tremor shook the internal structure slightly—just enough to keep the cadets off balance.
"You think any of them understand what this is yet?" Selene Ryker asked beside him.
"They're not just being trained to shoot," Vale murmured. "They're being trained to survive a war where the rules keep changing."
Ryker tapped the glass. "That one. Kale Drayen. He's playing a different game."
Vale smiled faintly. "Good. He'll need to."
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Border War Clip – "Fall of Callisto Forward Base"
> [Visual: Darkened lunar terrain. Base under siege. Troopers in Martian red scrambling across open ground as alien artillery lights up the sky.]
"Multiple contacts! They're adapting—our weapons aren't stopping them!"
"They're not mechanical—organic! Shape-shifters?—"
"We can't trust visuals anymore. They look human—"
[Static. Feed cuts.]
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0837 Hours – Inside the Rift Zone
Kale's team moved through the narrow fracture in the earth's crust, steam rising around them. Lava flows sizzled a few meters away, but Kale kept his path close to the wall, his HUD flickering faint light across blackened rock.
"Drayen," Kora whispered. "Footsteps above."
Jin tapped his ear. "Squad A?"
"No," Kale said. "Wrong formation. It's Squad C."
"Ambush?" Danae asked.
"No. They're scouting the gorge."
"Then let's take them out first," Ox grunted.
Kale shook his head. "Let them engage Dorne. We'll move in while they fight."
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0859 Hours – Simulated VIP Site
The "VIP" wasn't a person, but a steel-gray crate embedded in a downed drop pod—equipped with an encrypted transponder.
Kale wiped condensation from the crate's side. "This is it."
Ox hoisted it onto his back like it weighed nothing.
"Time to leave," Kale said—and then the world above them erupted.
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Upper Ridge – Seconds Earlier
Cassian Dorne smiled through his visor as he dropped the first charge.
Squad A had been waiting above the gorge for minutes now, following Kale's path on intercept.
He gestured. Two cadets flanked. Another moved to overwatch.
"Drayen thinks he's clever," Dorne said. "Let's show him what real tactics look like."
He didn't expect to see Squad C cresting the opposite ridge.
Cadence raised her weapon. "Cassian. Poor form."
Dorne scowled. "You're in my way, Cadence."
"Not anymore."
Gunfire lit the gorge.
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Battle Below – 0905 Hours
Kale didn't wait.
The tremor hit right as he set off his seismic charge—one he'd planted twenty minutes earlier in the side tunnel.
The ledge collapsed.
All three squads were forced into exposed terrain as rock and fire engulfed the high ground.
Kale moved fast, dragging his team through the smoke, into the opposite exit.
Chaos above. Quiet below.
That was his advantage.
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Simulation End – 0937 Hours
Instructors reviewed the aftermath in silence.
"Only one team made it to extraction with the VIP," Ryker said.
"Drayen," Vale confirmed.
"And casualties?"
"No deaths," Ryker replied. "But Squad A took heavy wounds. Dorne's in medical."
Vale tapped the screen. "He's making enemies quickly."
"He's winning," Ryker said. "That tends to happen."
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Cadet Barracks – Later That Night
The barracks smelled like sweat and burn gel.
Kale lay on his cot, listening to the quiet hum of the recycled air system. He could hear Jin snoring faintly, Danae's quiet breathing, and Kora—sitting at the edge of his bed, flipping her knife again.
"You played them," she said, not looking up.
"Used their momentum," Kale replied.
"They'll come for you harder next time."
"Good."
She paused. "You want them to underestimate you?"
"I want them to think I'm predictable."
Kora tossed the knife up and caught it. "You're not."
"No," Kale said softly. "But I will be—until I'm not."
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Instructor Offices – Midnight
Lucian Vale sat at his desk, reviewing cadet performance files.
Selene Ryker leaned against the doorframe. "You ever wonder what a kid like Drayen would've become on Earth?"
Vale didn't look up. "A corpse. Or a warlord. Same as anyone from the Bottom Rings."
Ryker frowned. "You think he's dangerous?"
"I think he's necessary," Vale said. "And I think the galaxy is about to show us why."
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