Timeless Assassin

(Righteous Faction, Zone Twelve Military Base. Two Days Later)

Over the next forty-eight hours, Leo and Veyr operated like spectres in uniform, drifting seamlessly through the heart of enemy command as they immersed themselves in the everyday rhythm of military life, speaking the language, executing the routines, and absorbing information with a quiet intensity that never once betrayed their true allegiance.

Leo stuck close to the officers, attending every field inspection, every patrol audit, and every mid-level strategy meeting that Larry was expected to show up for, using the silence between orders to review files, skim through troop breakdowns, and subtly quiz junior personnel on which sectors they were most afraid of being stationed in.

From idle gossip to technical manuals, every interaction was a breadcrumb, and by the end of the second day, he had already compiled a mental blueprint of the entire base structure, right down to the shift rotations and the frequency of air surveillance cycles.

Meanwhile, Veyr had taken a more fluid route, assuming the laid-back persona of Lieutenant Aaron while slyly inserting himself into off-duty poker nights and smoke breaks where pilots and gunners loosened their tongues.

He cracked jokes, bought cheap cigars, and slowly worked his way into conversations that spilled secrets through laughter, all the while taking mental notes.

Sometimes he deliberately asked dumb questions to confirm smart suspicions, as he pretended to misunderstand something just enough to prompt others to correct him with more detail than they should've shared.

By the end of the second day, they had a working list of nearly everything that mattered.

The warrior composition of this particular base consisted of seventy-six thousand master-level troops, around two thousand Grandmasters, and twenty Transcendent-level warriors.

It was the smallest zonal posting by size, and the other zones had anywhere between 1.5 to 2 times that number of men.

Twenty-two Mana Cannons were stationed along the south and west ridges, each powerful enough to shoot down a Destroyer Class Ship.

Four automatic anti-aircraft turrets guarded the skies alongside two manually operated long-range missile systems.

In addition, there were a total of thirty-two frigate-class ships and one destroyer stationed at the base, patrolling the skies in rotating shifts.

That made up the core defensive structure of the base, and the tower that controlled it all was referred to as the 'Central Command Tower.'

The Central Command Tower stood at the heart of the base, acting as the nerve center responsible for feeding real-time intel to flight pilots regarding enemy movements, and was protected under several layers of miniature anti-bombing enchantments.

Blowing up the Central Command Tower would be critical to rendering both the anti-aircraft missile grid and the fighter jets above largely ineffective, which was something Leo made a specific note of as he began outlining potential strike points.

Finally, and perhaps most importantly, Leo managed to locate one of the planet's many mana shield cores: a massive, tower-like pillar buried beneath the eastern half of the base, tucked behind a reinforced gate labeled (High Voltage Cooling Chamber, Authorized Personnel Only).

It wasn't marked as a mana core on any map, nor was it labeled in any official documentation, but the signs were far too obvious to miss.

Highly skilled technicians visited the structure regularly, always under high-level military supervision, and dozens of hovercrafts carrying specially processed mana stones were delivered inside each month for restocking.

These were the unmistakable hallmarks of a mana shield core, but accessing the interior was anything but simple.

While Leo technically had clearance to accompany an engineer into the facility on certain assigned days, the mission only permitted him to oversee maintenance work on the above-ground circuitry, with the lower floors beneath strictly off-limits.

Only the Major held the authority to descend into the lower chambers, and nobody else on base seemed to know what truly happened below.

However, what surprised Leo even more was that this was not a unique feature of the Zone Twelve military base, as according to the intel he gathered, one such building existed on every zonal military base across the planet.

'Twelve bases… but our reports say there may only be six or seven active cores to cover a planet, which means the remaining five are dummies,' Leo concluded, realizing that the Righteous Faction's defense planners were far from careless.

Although they operated a multi-core system, they understood perfectly how to protect their assets, and Leo could already feel a headache beginning to brew as he tried to imagine how he would possibly find a way to confirm which ones were fakes and which were the real cores.

—-------------

(Officers Quarters. Larry's Room, 10:27 PM)

On this particular night, Leo and Veyr had decided to meet in Leo's apartment to sit and discuss their findings for the day and their plans for tomorrow.

This wasn't unusual for the duo, who were known to share a drink and a cigar often.

"I'm scheduled to submit Aaron's monthly report to the Major tomorrow," Veyr said while unbuttoning the top of his shirt, his tone casual, though Leo could tell he'd been thinking it over for some time. "Figured I'd do more than just nod and hand over papers."

Leo glanced up, curious.

"I'm planning to pitch a cross-zonal drill. Say something about how peace has made the soldiers complacent, how we need simulated warfare to keep their edge sharp."

Leo leaned back in his chair. "You're trying to gauge the Major's stance on a real war."

"Exactly," Veyr nodded. "If he shuts it down, maybe he's passive, stuck in the comfort of peacetime. But if he bites too quickly, or starts talking strategy, then we know he's been anticipating conflict all along."

"And depending on his reaction," Leo said, catching on, "you'll tell me how I should approach him when it's my turn to meet him."

Veyr smirked. "You've got it. Better I test the waters tomorrow, and you walk in with a proper strategy two days later when it's your turn to submit the report."

Leo closed the file in his hand, letting out a soft breath. "Just don't say anything suspicious that would blow your cover, and make sure to treat him with the respect of a superior officer. "

"I know," Veyr said, already lying back, hands behind his head. "Don't worry, cousin. I've been a master of disguise since before you grew your first dagger callus."

Leo didn't laugh, but the corner of his mouth did twitch, as he rolled his eyes and ignored the barb for now.