The medical suite remained under absolute Level One military lockdown, its metallic corridors echoing with a heavy, oppressive quiet.
Outside the examination chamber, heavily armed Imperial soldiers now stood at rigid attention at every major entrance, their high-grade armor gleaming under the harsh fluorescent lights.
Additional automated security drones hovered silently along the upper ceiling track, their glowing red sensors constantly sweeping the surrounding area for potential threats.
Rhaevia noticed all of it the exact second she stepped through the sliding reinforced doors. She stopped in her tracks, her dark eyes narrowing as she surveyed the sudden military presence.
"Why are there armed soldiers following my every step?" she asked, her tone flat and unbothered.
Raevor, walking several steps ahead of her down the wide corridor, did not turn around to meet her gaze.
"Because you are no longer just an ordinary cadet," he replied smoothly. "You are now a Level One strategic military asset."
Rhaevia’s brows immediately furrowed into a sharp, dissatisfied line.
"I didn’t agree to become a military asset," she stated flatly.
Raevor finally halted his long strides and slowly turned back to look at her. His dark eyes were cold, unreadable, and completely devoid of compromise.
"You don’t need to agree," he answered.
His answer was so blunt and uncompromising that Rhaevia’s eyes narrowed into dangerous, icy slits.
"Then you are severely mistaken, Major General," she said, her voice dropping an octave into a low, quiet threat.
Several nearby elite guards immediately lowered their gazes to the polished floor, stiffening in sheer terror as they pretended they hadn’t just heard a cadet openly challenge the youngest Major General in the Empire.
Raevor took a deliberate step toward her, his towering frame casting a long shadow over her slender form.
"You’ve already been targeted by an unknown, high-level military faction on Planet V-17," he stated, his deep voice remaining calm and completely controlled.
"Your mental power has officially reached 3S, your true ability is currently unclassifiable, and multiple external organizations are actively attempting to breach our firewalls to obtain your biometric files."
He paused, searching her impassive face for any sign of yield. "Until we fully understand what your neural pathways are capable of, your security protocols will be increased to maximum clearance."
Rhaevia met his intense gaze without a single trace of fear.
"I can protect myself," she replied smoothly.
"You were kidnapped, artificially suppressed, and abandoned on a Zerg-infested death world," Raevor reminded her coolly.
Rhaevia’s expression hardened into pure, battle-forged steel.
"That happened long before I ever set foot inside the academy grounds," she countered.
"And yet someone still attempted to manipulate your official trial records after you arrived," Raevor noted, his dark eyes locking onto hers.
His words struck far closer to the objective truth than she cared to admit. She knew someone with Level Black authorization was actively trying to erase her existence, but relying on an imperial general was not in her nature.
Raevor stopped directly in front of her, the air between them thick with an invisible, suffocating pressure. "You are no longer an ordinary cadet, Cadet Rythundeir."
Rhaevia looked directly up into his eyes, her posture perfectly erect. "I am still a student at the Imperial Gifted Academy."
"You are a 3S Guide," Raevor stated flatly.
"A student who happens to possess a 3S Guide rank," Rhaevia corrected sharply.
"That academic distinction no longer matters in the eyes of the High Command," Raevor replied.
"It matters to me," she shot back without a fraction of a second of hesitation.
For several seconds, neither of them moved or broke eye contact. The surrounding corridor fell into a dead, suffocating silence as their formidable personalities collided like two heavy, opposing power blades.
Raevor was a 3S Sentinel used to issuing absolute orders and having whole star systems obey them without question. Rhaevia was a veteran commander who had spent an entire previous lifetime leading battlefields where a single second of hesitation meant gruesome death.
Neither of them possessed a single instinct for yielding to another authority.
Raevor’s dark eyes grew visibly colder as he laid out the facts. "From this exact moment forward, you will have armed military escorts, restricted base movement, and continuous 24-hour neural monitoring."
Rhaevia slowly crossed her arms over her chest, offering him an icy, dismissive smirk. "No."
Behind Raevor, one of the junior adjutants nearly choked on his own breath, his eyes bulging in pure horror. Raevor’s strict expression remained perfectly still, though a dangerous glint flashed deep within his dark pupils.
"No?" he repeated quietly.
"I don’t need a babysitter following me everywhere I go," Rhaevia stated flatly.
"This is an imperial military mandate, not a personal request," Raevor informed her, taking a small step closer.
"And I am not accepting it," Rhaevia declared smoothly.
Raevor’s gaze sharpened into pure liquid nitrogen. "You are deliberately challenging a direct order from a Major General."
Rhaevia’s lips curved faintly into a dark, unbothered smile. "I’ve challenged far worse things than military orders, General Veyr."
The surrounding guards and officers became painfully, breathlessly silent, terrified that even breathing too loudly would draw the general’s wrath.
Raevor studied her unyielding posture for several silent moments, evaluating the quiet, absolute confidence radiating from her soul. Then, to everyone’s utter shock, he abruptly turned toward the main corridor exit.
"Fine," he said coldly.
Rhaevia blinked once, her eyebrow raising slightly. That felt far too unexpectedly easy for a stubborn military commander.
Her suspicion was proven correct a second later when Raevor continued speaking over his shoulder. "The advanced phase of the Frontier Survival Test begins in exactly thirty minutes."
Her calm expression changed slightly, her dark eyes tracking his movement.
"You’re sending me back into the field?" she asked.
"Yes," Raevor confirmed without stopping.
"With all this military security tailing me?" she pressed.
"No," Raevor answered flatly.
He turned his head slightly toward her, his sharp profile silhouetted against the bright corridor lights. "You will enter the combat zone entirely alone."
Rhaevia’s eyes narrowed into sharp slits as she absorbed his words.
Raevor stepped back toward her, his deep voice dropping into a quiet, intense tone that vibrated with a dangerous challenge. "You insist you are an independent student first."
"I am," Rhaevia stated firmly.
"You insist you don’t require my protection," Raevor continued, his piercing gaze locking onto hers.
"I don’t," she repeated without an ounce of hesitation.
Raevor’s dark eyes held hers in a silent, heavy promise. "Then step onto the drop floor and prove to me that you don’t need protection."
Without waiting for her reply, he turned toward the nearby command personnel standing by the blast doors.
"Prepare the next high-risk survival trial immediately," he ordered.
Rhaevia watched his tall, dark figure walk toward the command deck.
A faint, sharp smile slowly appeared on her lips, her dark eyes gleaming with an unmistakable, battle-hungry fire. Finally, a real challenge worth doing.
Behind her, the massive, reinforced hydraulic doors of the deployment bay began opening with a deep, echoing groan. Beyond the heavy steel threshold waited a wild, unmapped death world, an entirely new battlefield ready to be conquered.