At midnight, the Warrior truck rolled quietly into Coldre Town. Magnus pulled into the garage of a small community, shut the steel door behind him, and got out. First priority - locate the unit’s garrison.
Coldre wasn’t big. Only two neighborhoods in town. This one had nothing, so Magnus headed to the other. He moved cautiously into the courtyard, back pressed against the guard booth as he scanned the area.
On the left, outside the first building, sat a dozen infantry vehicles, a handful of tanks, and dozens of troop transports.
Looked like the soldiers were resting upstairs. If officers were around, they’d be in the building too, probably at the top or bottom - sowhere with sealed windows.
Magnus checked each floor through his night-vision binoculars. Most windows were boarded up. Only one spot - Unit 1, first floor, far-right window - had a faint light leaking through a crack. Luxurious for a military garrison. Probably an officer’s room.
He darted from cover to cover until he reached the outer edge of the tanks. Ducking low, he crawled beneath a troop transport and quietly snaked his way toward the unit’s entrance, hugging the ground. Voices floated out - faint, but definitely from the lit room.
How to get in? Walking up to the entrance was risky - soone in the vehicles nearby was definitely watching that door.
Gunning down the sentry first? No. Bad idea. He was posing as Cliff’s radio man right now. Seeing a corpse would blow that cover instantly.
The main entrance was out. Magnus glanced upward. Between the first and second floors was a ledge under the rain awning. If he could just jump to that ledge and slip inside through the window above the door, he could drop down to the first floor from there.
Even if soone saw him, they’d probably just assu he ca from the stairs. His clothes matched theirs. Nobody would shoot right away.
Yeah, technically he didn’t have to avoid sentries. But it was all about the details. Couldn’t drive in - the Warrior truck was civilian. All their trucks were military grade. One look, they’d know.
Waltzing in boldly? Sa problem. His unmutated body would raise suspicion. Grabbing so random vehicle from the street wouldn’t help either - none had the tweaks to cover that much ground.
With a quiet breath, Magnus slid out from under the vehicle, crept onto the rooftop of the nearest troop carrier near the ledge, then braced his legs. He launched off hard - body coiling like a spring - soaring straight onto the rain awning in one smooth move.
"Who’s there?"
A voice ca from inside the infantry vehicle. The hatch at the back swung open, and four soldiers jumped down. No gunfire - just cold steel. In a flash, they slashed down three centipedes with their knives, then swept powerful flashlights across the area, scanning the roof, then the undercarriage.
Magnus lay flat on the eaves, still as a stone. He held his breath, drawing only faint sips of air.
"That’s strange..." one of the soldiers muttered.
"Damn it, you get spooked too easily," another snapped with annoyance.
"Cut the crap, get back in the vehicle," the third barked. "Next thing you know, we’ll be sward by mosquitoes."
They climbed back in and shut the hatch.
Only then did Magnus finally exhale. Using the noise as cover, he cracked open the window just above the first floor and slipped inside silently.
He steadied his breathing, activated the tal Crystal Shield, and padded down the stairs. At the door, he knocked hard three tis. "Report!"
Voices inside halted. Then a commanding tone cut through the silence. "Who is it?"
"Vincent Gray, Communications, 5th Division, Northreach Command!" Magnus called out crisply.
Silence again.
anwhile, the sa four soldiers rushed back down from the infantry vehicle, storming into the building.
"Freeze!"
"Don’t move! Hands on your head!"
Heart pounding, Magnus raised his hands as ordered. In a flash, they grabbed his arms and slamd him down. The front door creaked open, and the soldiers dragged him inside like a sack of grain.
Magnus cursed himself. If he’d used the tal Crystal earlier and just knocked on the damned vehicle, they could’ve hauled him in without all this fuss.
What a damn waste of effort.
The room was old-style - three bedrooms, one living room. The living room was spacious, maybe sixty square ters. A wooden table stood center-stage, a map spread across it. Dozens of candles cast a warm glow. Eight officers locked in a eting looked up as he was brought in.
Two soldiers held him. The others frisked him. His pistol and knife were confiscated. He had left the Crystals from the Ice Regint in the vehicle - thank God. He knew better than to bring them in here.
"What did you just say? Say it again." A senior officer - colonel, two bars and four stars - stepped forward.
"Reporting, sir! Vincent Gray, Communications, 5th Division of the Northreach Command, reporting for duty!"
Magnus tried to stand upright. The soldiers behind him shoved harder, but still he went through the formal motions of a soldier. His tal Crystal Armor was silent and undetectable to the touch.
"Communications? Vincent?" Ryan Black, commander of the 3rd Division, repeated the na quietly. Then he waved the soldiers back, signaling to release him.
A staff officer scurried over, stopping in front of Magnus, palms open.
Magnus paused, unease rising fast. Still, he straightened up and barked, "Reporting! Verbal code from the general: YD364437ZDYNC223. Please verify, sir!"
Ryan’s eyes flashed with the briefest of reactions. He slowly stepped back, casting a glance left and right.
Then, in one synchronized move, all twelve people in the room pulled handguns and aid straight at Magnus. Damn it! Magnus’s first thought was that he’d been played - Oliver, that bastard, set him up again!
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