Chapter 376: Planet owner...
Noah’s personal phone buzzed at 0800 hours, dragging him from the first decent sleep he’d had in weeks. The message was short and to the point: "Training Room 7. 0900 hours. Come ready to work. - Lucas"
He rolled over to find Sophie already sitting up, reading the same message on her device. Her hair was still messy from sleep, and she had that slightly confused expression she always wore when waking up.
"Training?" she mumbled, rubbing her eyes. "Didn’t the commanders say we had downtime?"
"That’s Lucas for you," Noah said, stretching. "Probably couldn’t sleep thinking about the mission."
Thirty minutes later, they were walking through the station’s corridors, still feeling the effects of last night’s party. The base was quieter than usual—most of the soldiers were taking advantage of their authorized rest period. But Noah wasn’t surprised that Lucas had called them in. Their team leader had always been driven, but the weight of command seemed to be pushing him harder than ever.
They arrived at Training Room 7 to find Diana already there, looking perfectly composed despite having stayed at the party until nearly 0200. Kelvin stumbled in a few minutes later, his cybernetic arms still very much attached as he yawned dramatically.
"Morning, beautiful people," he said, his voice still rough with sleep. "Anyone else feel like they got hit by a transport shuttle?"
"That’s what happens when you drink like a civilian," Diana replied, but there was no real criticism in her voice. If anything, she seemed more relaxed than usual.
Lyra was the last to arrive, her tablet already in hand as she analyzed something on the screen. She looked up when she noticed everyone staring at her.
"What? I was reviewing combat footage from previous training exercises. I think I found some patterns we can exploit."
"Of course you did," Kelvin said with a grin. "Do you ever stop working?"
Before Lyra could respond, Lucas entered the room. He moved with his usual confidence, but Noah could see something different in his posture—a tension that hadn’t been there the night before.