"Salute!"
The announcement rang out across the landing zone. Every soldier in the lines snapped to attention and raised their hands in salute.
Ethan and Marcus stepped out of the ship side by side. Their new uniforms were white with thin red trim along the edges. The fabric fit well and looked clean, with the colors marking their new ranks.
Mages hovered in the air above the formation. They held their positions steady and saluted as well, the wind from their spells stirring the grass below.
Ethan walked in front. Marcus followed a step behind. Both men kept their first names. The empire had millions of people named Ethan and Marcus. Changing only the surname was enough to keep them from standing out too much. It was simpler than inventing completely new identities.
Tesserarius Amanda stood at the front of the reception group. She was a woman of average height with short blond hair and a practical uniform. She nodded once as they approached.
"Welcome to you both," she said.
Ethan and Marcus saluted, then shook her hand in turn. Her grip was firm, very firm for her lean build.
"We have been short on people with your skills up here in the hills," Amanda continued. "I hope the weather does not bother you."
She turned and started walking. The two men fell in step behind her. Ethan looked around as they moved.
She was right. The land was all high hills covered in thick green grass. No trees grew anywhere in sight. Fog sat on the upper slopes and made the peaks look soft and distant.
Off to the side, large buildings clung to a steep mountain face. They looked solid and heavy, cut right into the rock.
Marcus studied the structures with clear interest. "Lady Tesserarius," he said.
Amanda glanced back. "Yes?"
"You have probably answered this many times, but how did anyone build a base this high up?"
She smiled a little. "The hill, and those buildings, are actually carved."
"Carved?" Ethan asked.
"Yes. There used to be a large cave system here, more like a crater. A Greater Typhon lived in it once."
Ethan and Marcus looked at each other. Marcus spoke first. "A Typhon? That cannot be right. Those are just old stories. Myths."
Everyone knew the description. A Typhon was supposed to be enormous, with a man’s body, a long snake’s lower half, wings wide enough to cover a city, and living dragon-serpents for hair. The stories said those serpents could swallow whole houses.
Amanda’s smile widened. "Two thousand years ago, people said the same thing about the gods. Now the gods walk among us. So it is not hard to imagine the rest."
Ethan felt a tightness in his throat. Athena’s words from earlier still sat in his mind, she had said great things were planned for him, and he prayed things like Typhon weren’t one of them.
They reached a small hovering craft that looked like an open balcony with low railings. Only five of these craft existed at the base. Amanda stepped on first, and Ethan and Marcus followed.
The craft rose smoothly and moved toward the mountain. The closer they got, the larger the rock face became. The buildings grew with it until the whole complex looked like it had been cut from a single giant block.
And aircraft, so many aircraft. In their previous base they had a maximum of five; here they moved around the mountain like slow bees, carrying people and supplies between levels.
"Sir Ethan," Amanda said over the wind.
"Yes, Tesserarius."
"You can drop the title when it is only us. I was told your strength and your ideas got you promoted early. Is that true?"
Ethan nodded. "It is. I have Ember running through me, I was told, that’s rare as they come, making me a proper mage. And before the discovery, I also trained as a warrior. So you see, I am the best of both worlds, it seems."
"Mage and warrior together. That is rare." She turned to Marcus. "And you, Sir Marcus, they say your IQ is off the charts, and that you are the best sniper the resource headquarters has."
Marcus smiled, reached into his coat, and pulled out a small laser pistol. It was an older model with no fancy sights. "Talk is cheap. Better to show." He raised the weapon.
"Duck," he said.
Bang!
Ethan dropped low at once. Amanda stayed upright for half a second too long, then crouched when she saw the direction of the barrel.
The pistol had fired with a sharp crack. The beam shot across the open air in a straight line.
Far ahead, on a lower slope, a mutant platypus had been moving through the grass. The detectors had not marked it yet, but the laser hit the creature square in the chest.
It staggered, then fell and did not get up. Amanda stared at the body for a long moment. The range had been extreme. The pistol was basic. Marcus had no auto-aim assist. She looked back at him with open surprise.
"Two talents like this," she said, unable to help licking her own lips. "The higher-ups are finally sending us something useful."
Ethan clapped Marcus on the shoulder. "Good shot."
Marcus allowed himself a small grin. "It was better than good."
Ethan punched him lightly in the same shoulder as the craft slowed and locked onto a platform at the base entrance. It rose the last few meters like an elevator and settled inside a wide bay. Doors opened. Ethan and Marcus stepped out and stopped.
"Woooooww," both of them echoed.
From the outside, the base had looked large. From the inside, it looked like a full city.
Corridors and open halls stretched in every direction. Lights ran along the carved stone ceilings. Workers moved carts of supplies. Soldiers walked in groups.
Mages passed overhead on small platforms or under their own power. Ethan counted ten mages during the welcome outside. Inside, he already saw two or three more moving between levels.
"Welcome... to Theros," Amanda said. "The old lair of the Typhon."
She gave them a short tour of the main routes, pointed out the mess hall, the armory, and the communication hub, then left them to settle in.
An aide led Ethan to his assigned quarters and office.
Click!
He opened the door of his new office. It was simple but solid.
A wide desk sat near the center. A long chair waited behind it. One wall opened onto a narrow balcony that looked out over the inner courtyards and lower tunnels of the base.
Ethan walked to the balcony first. He rested his hands on the railing and watched the activity below. People moved with purpose. The scale of the place still felt strange after the smaller outposts he had known.
Beep! Beep!
His wrist transmitter beeped. He had thought it was from them, but it seemed to be a normal mail.
He turned back inside, closed the balcony doors, and sat at the desk. A soft tone sounded from the transmitter on his wrist.
He raised his arm and opened the message. Transfer papers confirmed the arrival of an attack mage under his command, the mage he had chosen.
Marcus would have received the matching notice for the defense mage assigned to him. Ethan read the names once and closed the file with a smile.
Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep.
A second tone followed almost at once. This message carried a higher priority mark, with those extra beeps, which only meant one thing.
Ethan stood, pulled the curtains shut, locked the office door, and switched off the main lights. Only a small desk lamp remained on. Before he could open the new message, his system interface appeared in front of his eyes without being called.
[Mission Prometheus]
[Steal the credits of the empire, and share them with the poor. Simple as that.]
[Would you like to accept the mission?]
[Yes] or [No]
Ethan exhaled slowly. With this, he already knew what the priority message would say. The system rarely appeared without reason.
He opened the voice message on his transmitter. A tired male voice spoke.
"Mission Canadian Hills has been given to you, Ethan. A letter will arrive at your desk soon enough with the details. I hope you are settling well into your new environment. Farewell."
The recording ended. Ethan sat back in the chair. The pieces fit together too cleanly. The letter would order him to take something valuable from the empire’s own stores. Credits, most likely. The system had already named the same goal.
Knock! Knock!
A knock sounded at the door. Two firm taps.
Ethan assumed it was Marcus coming to complain about the same orders. "Come in, you bastard."
The door opened. Amanda stood in the doorway and raised one eyebrow.
"Oh," she said. "I did not know you called your superiors bastards these days."
Ethan stood at once. "Te... Tesserarius. I thought it was Marcus."
She stepped inside and closed the door behind her. "He is still settling into his own office. I came to make sure you both received the transfer confirmations and the priority notice."
"I... received them," Ethan said. He kept his voice even.
"Then let’s get to business, shall we?"