The Sign of the Fallen

14

Newton walked in after Schwarz. The bell rang as they found the last two seats in the back of Kortoba's classroom. A tense silence was palpable in the room. Kortoba sat in his chair behind his desk, and Newton noticed he looked bothered. Wilso exuded control as he stood in the front of the room, taking in the scene before him. There were no other leaders in the room, and Newton assumed they had been briefed earlier.

If Wilso was bothered by what he was tasked with, he did not show it. Quietly, he began to speak in a calm, reserved manner. He could've been telling the class what the weather was like rather than informing them how one of their peers had almost died. Perhaps, this is what kept everyone calm after hearing the horrific story.

"As you all know, twelve rotations ago one of our learners, Nia Katharos, was tasked with a training mission. It was supposed to be a simple surveillance assignment with one of our most accomplished agents, Ral-Num. What happened was anything but simple. Now, there are some leaders who wish not to tell you everything that happened, but it is the majority's belief that the information should be shared."

Newton's eyes flicked to Kortoba, who frowned in his chair behind his desk. He wasn't looking at Wilso and instead, he was staring down into his lap. Newton thought the behavior was odd, but he returned his attention to Wilso as he continued to speak.

"In our last contact with Ral-num, she informed us they had determined that there were illegal arms dealing occurring, and they had anonymously tipped off local authorities and provided the photographic evidence for a conviction. However, Ral-num wanted to investigate an underground passage that the two had discovered. This was the last we heard from them until Nia's crash landing. After receiving medical treatment, she is doing fine and expected to make a full recovery."

Newton felt a rush of relief that the strong girl who had left for the mission would return to the strong girl she was.

"She informed us of the rest of the story. They followed the passage into a massive underground cavern where they found what appeared to be an elaborate secret operation. We believe whoever was in charge here was supplying the weapons to the pirates for some unknown greater cause. Nia and Ral-num were ambushed from behind during the investigation. Ral-num was killed in the exchange."

"How many ambushed them?" Julius asked.

For the first time since he'd arrived at the academy, Newton saw Wilso hesitate briefly.

"One," he said.

"One?" Julius asked skeptically. "Defeated one of our best agents?"

"According to Nia, she had abilities beyond anything she'd seen before. She overwhelmed Ral-num and killed her," Wilso continued to speak stoically.

"Ral-num managed to hold off this assassin long enough for Nia to get out of the cave, but not long enough for her to get away. This unknown assassin followed her and used terra abilities to inflict unimaginable pain on our learner while she tried to flee. She managed to shield enough of them to stagger to her aircraft. This unknown assailant was able to inflict much damage on the aircraft before Nia managed to shift to hyper-light speed where her auto pilot carried her back to us. We are very lucky she made it. I am projecting the few pictures Nia managed to take on her wrist-pad."

The first picture showed what must have been the cavern they found. It was a large cave lit up by overhead lights that had clearly been installed some time ago. There were papers covering the few tables that were there, but they were too far away to make out any words or pictures. An assortment of weapons was in various placed around the room. The most prominent feature was the image on the massive projection in the center of the room. It showed an image of the universe. One planet was circled in red.