Moonrise ✔ [Complete]

08 Haunted

After lunch, Maeyune's team and Deiyu - along with Saber Team - were escorted to the Bresnian Celestial Base just beyond the city's wall. They arrived in the late afternoon, their cars distributing them at the colossal fortress.

With its tall, concrete walls wearing crowns of anti-aircraft turrets, its forbidding structure was similar to the base in Ursa. Several small, fenced platforms protruded from various corners of the architecture, operating as watchtowers.

As Maeyune glanced around her at the cement fields of aircraft and military vehicles, she was sure it was twice as large as Ursa's base.

Deiyu took note of her attentive examination. "They also train many non-celestial troops here at this facility," he said. "It has seen a rapid growth in recent years to accommodate for both Bresnian celestials and non-celestial soldiers."

A non-celestial woman, dressed in what Maeyune presumed was a Beran captain's uniform, greeted them at the entrance to one of the base's metal-walled hangars.

There were facility staff and uniformed soldiers engaged in outdoor tasks, but soon after seeing the transport cars, they had set their tools aside and gathered for a closer look.

"Hey, Reo!" they called. Reo waved a hand.

They fell deathly silent when Maeyune and her team walked past. She gave them a once-over as she followed the Beran captain and Deiyu to one of the opened hangars. Clover had been right to speculate when the constant shock would eventually subside.

They entered the hangar and passed a variety of military vehicles, reaching a wide doorway that led directly into the facility. The hallways through which they then paraded opposed the warm sunlight outside. The bright ceiling lights implanted a sense of familiar dreariness as they went deeper. The only buoyancy offered inside the building were the thrilled expressions of soldiers who watched them walk by, daring not to move nearer lest they received reproach.

Eventually, Reo's team went their separate way. Sera gave his arm a playful squeeze before she left. Only Reo remained.

They walked past steel door after steel door, room after room, until they were taken another level down to what the non-celestial captain said was the facility's operations center. There inside the large room abound with electronic displays and illuminated control panels, they encountered a group of soldiers and facility officials. Everyone turned when the captain led the group inside.

All but three men saluted. Maeyune surveyed the three individuals who stood at the center of the room.

One was a tall gentleman with a wiry build and long arms. His pale hair and thick mustache were combed and trimmed, and he wore a clean, crimson red suit.

The young man in the center appeared the complete opposite, much more gangly in a long, white lab coat. He wore round, silver spectacles and had dark hair that had seen its fair share of effort with trimming, but was still a nest on top of his head. He held his hands together as if to keep himself from shaking, his excitement apparent.