The Raiders' Main Base was like the guts of the world.
You could not see the sky. When you looked up, all you saw were massive gears locked together, rusty iron bridges, and thick gray fog leaking from giant chimneys, rising for kilometers. This was not a shared military base of the world. This was an interdimensional slaughterhouse.
Captain Eray leaned against the rusted railings of Hangar 4 and looked down.
Below him, on the football-field-sized Gate Platform, there was nonstop activity. Hundreds of slave workers, dressed in dirty rags, moved like ants. They shoveled Ether Coal into the mouth of a giant furnace. Purple veins inside the coal glowed, and when they touched fire, magical energy spread into the air.
Vuuu… Vuuuu…
The massive metal ring, the dimensional gate, began to rotate with a deep groan, powered by steam and magic. Reality tore open at its center. First came a blurred image. Then it became clear.
A desert-like dimension.
Seconds later, a heavy tank rolled out of the gate. Its armor was covered in sand and blood. Its tracks screeched as it moved, powered by half steam, half magic. Behind it walked chained, reptile-like humanoids.
"New Slaves."
Eray took a deep drag from his cigarette and blew the smoke into the chaotic air. He was only eighteen, yet he had been smoking for two years. There was no excitement in his eyes. No disgust either.
Only deep, frozen indifference.
"Here again?"
He slightly turned his head at the familiar female voice behind him. It was Lieutenant Lale, wearing a Raiders uniform. Her red hair was tied in a tight bun, and she was trying to wipe a stain of soot from her face. She was one of the few people Eray had known since the academy. One of the few he could call a "friend."
"I'm watching the view," Eray said flatly."Looks like a good harvest today."
Lale stepped beside him and rested her elbows on the railing.
"I heard that half-human from the Logistics Unit asked you out," she said. "And you rejected her."
Eray shrugged."Half-beasts don't interest me. And it's a waste of time."
Lale chuckled and lightly hit his arm.
"You're rude. The poor girl even tied a ribbon on her tail for you. And stop calling them 'half-beasts.' They're Half-Humans. Don't be racist, Eray. You'll get reported."
Eray did not answer. He didn't care about racism. Lale's political correctness felt almost funny when you looked at the sea of blood around them.
"Captain!"
A messenger rushed toward them, breathing hard, and saluted. His gray uniform showed that he belonged to the lower ranks of the Raiders.
"Captain Eray. Command is waiting for you. General Arso's order. Urgent."
The smile on Lale's face faded.
"General Arso?" she said quietly. "He only deals with… problematic files."
Eray crushed his cigarette under his boot.
"We'll see," he said.
There was no worry on his face. Inside, he thought:Let's see what kind of filth they want me to hide under the rug this time.
_ _ _
The command room was isolated from the noise outside. Iron tables and thick carpets filled the space. Even here, the air smelled of machine oil and cigars.
General Arso sat behind his desk like a mountain. Half of his face was covered with a metal plate.
"Sit, Captain," Arso said without looking up.
Eray sat with perfect military posture. His gaze was steady.
"I'll be brief," the General said, throwing a file onto the desk."Sector 9. A dimension discovered two years ago. Codename: Umbra."
Eray did not open the file. He simply waited.
"We sent two recon teams," the General continued."One was completely wiped out. From the other, we received only one radio message. Full of static. Then silence."
"Threat level?" Eray asked.
"Unknown," the General said, tapping the desk with his metal fingers."But geological scans show extremely pure Ether Crystals in that dimension. If we can colonize it, our world won't have energy problems for fifty years."
Eray's mind moved fast.Two teams gone. No contact. And they still wanted to enter.
"You should send a battalion, General," Eray said."Heavy armor, air support, and at least three mage units. Entering a place that swallowed two teams is suicide."
General Arso laughed. It was dry and metallic.
"A battalion?" he said. "Do you know the cost, Captain? Keeping the gate open that long alone would drain half the treasury. And the risk is too high. What if we lose the army too?"
The General leaned forward and stared at Eray with his intact eye.
"We need intelligence, not war. Someone quiet, fast, and deadly. I reviewed your file. You have shadow manipulation. Rare in humans. A curse… or a gift."
He paused.
"I want you to infiltrate Umbra and find out what we're dealing with. Alone."
Eray's jaw tightened.
They're using me as expendable bait, he thought.If he died, they would lose one captain.If he succeeded, they would get rich.
For a moment, he wanted to climb over the desk and tear that metal face apart.
But he didn't.
His expression did not change. He locked his emotions behind a mask. If he protested using his lineage, he would attract attention. If he refused, there would be a court-martial.
He had no choice.
This mission could be a death sentence.But it was also a ticket out of this rotten base.
"Equipment support?" he asked.
"Standard recon kit," the General replied, leaning back."And your personal weapons. The gate will open for you in three hours. Go and tell us how to take those crystals."
Eray stood up, gave a perfect salute, turned around, and left.
_ _ _
In the corridor, Lale was waiting for him. She could read the answer on his face.
"What happened?" she asked, worried."You look pale."
Eray started walking down the dim hallway. His hand moved to the grip of his pistol.
"Nothing," he said coldly."Just a suicide mission."
"You should have refused!"
Eray stopped and looked at her.
"There's no refusing, Lale. I'm going."
"I need to prepare. Don't wait for me."
He turned and walked toward the armory.