Chapter 378: Home sweet home
Lucas’s quarters were unusually pristine at 0600 hours. His military-issued gear was folded with regulation precision, but the single travel bag beside his bed told a different story. Personal items carefully selected for an unknown duration—a photo of his team after their first successful mission, a worn training manual from the academy that he got three years ago, and a small device that looked like a communicator but felt heavier than it should.
He’d packed the night before, each item placed with deliberate care. The process had been methodical, almost meditative, as if organizing his belongings could somehow organize the chaos in his mind. But sleep had been elusive, and now he stood at his window watching the station’s artificial sunrise cycle through its daily routine.
The decision to leave felt both inevitable and impossible. His team needed him, but his family’s summons couldn’t be ignored. The Grey bloodline carried responsibilities that extended far beyond EDF protocols, and Lucas had always known this day would come. He just hadn’t expected it to come so soon.
At 0630, he shouldered his bag and began what he told himself would be his final walk through the station. The corridors were quiet except for the hum of life support systems and the distant sounds of the night shift finishing their duties. He took the long route, passing through sections he rarely visited during normal operations. The observation lounges, the secondary medical bays, the engineering workshops where Kelvin had spent countless hours modifying equipment.
Every corner held memories of the past month. The team briefing room where they’d first met other recruits as strangers. The medical bay where they’d recovered from their first real mission. The common areas where they’d laughed and argued and slowly become something more than just assigned partners.
His footsteps echoed in the empty corridors as he made his way to the training levels. He hadn’t planned to stop, but something drew him toward Training Room 7. The door slid open silently, and Lucas stepped inside to find his team already there.
They were running combination drills, working through the exercises he’d designed the day before. Noah and Sophie moved with fluid synchronization, their abilities complementing each other in ways that spoke of genuine partnership. Diana and Lyra had developed an almost telepathic understanding, timing their actions with precision that made their combined abilities devastating. Kelvin was running diagnostics on his cybernetic arms while calling out tactical observations to the others.
They looked good. Better than good—they looked like the soldiers he’d always known they could become.
A lump formed in Lucas’s throat as he watched them work. Part of him had hoped they would abandon training without him, would need him enough to prove his importance to the team. But seeing them pushing forward, adapting, growing even in his absence, he felt something unexpected. Pride. And beneath that, a hollow ache that he recognized as the first real heartbreak of his life.
"Morning," he called out, his voice echoing in the training room.
The team stopped their exercises immediately, turning to face him with expressions that ranged from carefully neutral to barely concealed hurt. Noah’s face was the most guarded, but Lucas could see the questions burning in his eyes.
"Commander Cassandra has made preparations for my transport," Lucas said, his voice steady despite the emotion threatening to break through. "I’ll be leaving within the hour."