Chapter 1289: The Catch

Hmm...

Well, maybe they’d only missed the sudden emergence of one particularly unexpected person who went on to found a guild, completely disrupted the power dynamics of the Astra Line Galaxy Filament, sent various factions scrambling to figure out how they were supposed to survive the resulting mess, and somehow left the Empire desperately trying to prepare the apparent source of all those changes to better defend himself against all the trouble inevitably heading his way.

Yep.

That sounded about right.

Then again, anyone hearing such a crazed explanation without being shown solid evidence would probably have trouble believing the specifics.

After all, quite a few of the events involved had been outrageous enough that even the people who’d witnessed them with their own two eyes still occasionally wondered whether they’d hallucinated the whole thing!

Like how, around the same time several teams across the universe were beginning to move according to the new orders they’d received, a bunch of unfortunate people were caught directly in the middle of something else worthy of being filed inside their increasingly overstuffed no shit folders.

Because apparently, there was now a method of literally fishing out one’s teammates.

"Are you seeing what I’m seeing?!"

An instructor from Argentum Military Technical Institute practically shouted the question as he gripped the edge of the console inside the observation room.

Countless holographic screens surrounded them, each displaying different sections of the Training Hall and the thousands of cadets currently scrambling across the grounds.

One particular screen had already attracted far more attention than the others.

"Is that..."

Another academy officer abruptly stood.

"Is he seriously doing that?!"

His eyes practically bulged out of his head because there was no mistaking what they were seeing.

On the screen, several cadets suddenly yelped as their feet left the ground.

"AH!"

"WHAT THE—?!"

One after another, they were lifted straight into the air, dangling helplessly as their legs flailed beneath them.

"?!"

The surrounding cadets stopped dead in their tracks.

For a moment, quite a few seemed to completely forget whatever they’d been rushing to do as they stared up at their floating schoolmates with varying degrees of shock, fear, and undeniable awe.

Then again, what exactly was the appropriate reaction to seeing a friend get yanked through the air by what was unmistakably a spiritual tendril?

"..."

"..."

Confusing?

Well, it would probably be best to turn the clock back about ten minutes, sometime before all that pandemonium started.

See, once the battalion assignments had been announced, the cadets barely had any time to properly talk among themselves.

One would’ve expected them to be given at least a few minutes to regroup, establish some sort of chain of command, divide responsibilities, or maybe even discuss a basic plan of attack when even the smallest group projects were usually afforded that much grace.

Unfortunately, as one blonde would later screech in distress, Vice Principal March was truly acting like he had a fire lit under his ass!

Because almost immediately after the assignments were distributed, the man continued with his scathing attack on everyone’s sensibilities.

"At this moment, all battleships assigned to transport you to your destination have been loaded with identical supplies, equipment, and intelligence."

That sounded awfully reasonable. Maybe even a little too good to be true.

And sure enough, there was a catch.

"One important detail concerns the unique environmental conditions of Caldris Minor-7. Due to a phenomenon known as Liquid Metal Embrittlement, or LME, items that haven’t been treated with a specialized protective solution may corrode or suffer structural damage at an accelerated rate."

"?"

Several freshmen exchanged confused looks.

"While the specifics will be covered in your briefing materials, what you need to understand now is that most, if not all, of your personal belongings probably haven’t undergone the necessary treatment."

Vice Principal March’s expression remained perfectly serious.

"Therefore, in the spirit of this exercise and for the protection of your property, all personal belongings aside from your standard-issue uniform must be surrendered upon boarding your designated aircraft. This includes space buttons, bags, and other similar storage systems."

"?!!"

If many of the cadets had merely been bewildered before that announcement, now they were genuinely concerned.

Thousands of them looked visibly taken aback.

Meanwhile, one particular group abruptly understood why Kyle and Xavier had insisted that they hide anything important beforehand!

So that was it!

Their belongings were going to be temporarily sequestered.

And considering what some members of DG kept inside their space buttons, handing those things over to anyone would’ve been an absolutely terrible idea.

Sure, breaking into their storage devices wouldn’t be easy. Most weren’t exactly the standard models available for public purchase or sale of any sort.

But difficult wasn’t the same thing as impossible.

Especially if someone was determined enough to bring in a whole gaggle of experts just to take a crack at it.

Fortunately, all the truly important things were already safely tucked away.

The majority of the freshmen, however, weren’t nearly as prepared.

In most other places, such a restriction probably wouldn’t have caused much of a problem. Cadets would simply surrender their belongings, complete the exercise, and presumably get everything back afterward. Moreover, with space buttons costing astronomical prices, there normally wouldn’t be that many students who owned one in the first place, so the restriction would’ve simply been there to cover all bases.

The Royal Military Academy, however, had a considerable population of nobles.

Many of them had grown up using space buttons for practically their entire lives!

Asking them to surrender all their storage devices was basically the futuristic equivalent of telling them to leave their homes behind.

And then there were the non-combat divisions.

Several pharmacy students looked particularly horrified.

What exactly were they supposed to do or contribute without their personal ingredients and tools?!

Would they actually have to survive on whatever supplies they were provided?

Or were they being tested on their ability to stay alive in an active zone without the comforts and resources of their research labs?

Sadly, Vice Principal March didn’t appear interested in giving anyone enough time to protest.

"This mission has a hard time limit of approximately two hundred thirty-one hours from this moment, as indicated on your terminals. However, the operation may conclude earlier upon successful completion or decisive loss."

"!"

Several ears immediately perked up.

Especially those belonging to cadets who had suddenly become extremely interested in the words conclude earlier.

If they finished faster, they could go home faster!

No wonder everyone heard the next part so clearly.

"As for how quickly you’re able to accomplish your objectives, that will depend heavily on the intelligence and supplies you obtain from the nearest allied control outpost to Caldris Minor-7."

"?"

Luca’s brows knitted together.

Obtain?

Something about that wording sounded suspicious.

And sure enough...

"Of course, availability will be on a first-come, first-served basis."

"!"

Oh.

That was bad.

Very bad.

"Embarkation procedures, plotting your course, and receiving approval from both an assigned instructor and your vessel’s professional captain will be your first official task."

Vice Principal March extended an arm toward the opposite side of the Training Hall.

"If there are no further questions, fall out."

Clearly, they hadn’t actually been given any time to ask questions, but not even the blonde who currently wanted to question the Vice Principal’s entire existence could manage to protest when the enormous doors behind the man suddenly swept open.

"!"

Beyond them, the battleships that had descended while the school administrator was speaking were now fully settled and waiting.

A single beat passed.

One strangely quiet, incredibly tense beat.

Luca suddenly felt Xavier pull him closer.

The Prince leaned down, speaking directly beside his ear.

"Take care."

Luca looked up.

"And be careful of the dedicated cameras."

Oh.

Right.

They were being monitored, just as D-29 noticed a while back.

Luca nodded quickly, about to return the sentiment when—

THUD!