As Tatehan and Lyra's hurried to the commmader's office, his mind contemplated on why they had been summoned.

For a moment there he panicked slightly.

'But I didn't do anything… or did I?'

He only went out with Lyra to get a phone and nothing else. Well they did eat at a restaurant together but that was it.

Shrugging in his mind, he concluded that whatever the reason they were summoned wasn't related to him and Lyra going out.

——

The commander's office felt different this time.

Not different in the literal sense since it was basically the same place.

What changed was just the mood of the place.

Tatehan noticed it the moment they walked through the door.

The lights were dimmed slightly, and the holographic displays that usually showed tactical maps and status reports were dark, replaced by a single massive screen dominating the far wall.

And the commander was pacing.

She moved back and forth across the room with sharp, agitated steps, her hands clasped behind her back, her jaw tight. She barely glanced at them when they entered, just nodded curtly and gestured for them to close the door.

Tatehan exchanged a look with Lyra.

This wasn't good.

"Commander," Lyra said. "You wanted to see us?"

The commander stopped pacing and turned to face them. Her expression was grim, more than that, it was worried. And Tatehan had never seen her look worried before.

"We have a problem," the commander said without preamble.

She walked over to the large screen and tapped a command into the interface embedded in her desk. The screen flickered to life, displaying a live feed from various points around Waython Hollow.

Tatehan's eyes narrowed as he took in what he was seeing.

Chaos!

The feeds showed streets filled with panicked civilians running and screaming. Security forces and clan soldiers were scrambling to respond, weapons drawn, firing at... something.

Some civilians fought also. Everyone on Mars had abilities and it would be really life saving if they could use it on a moment like this.

The camera angles shifted rapidly, showing glimpses of movement—fast, aggressive and lethal.

Monsters actually. Dozens of them. Maybe more.

They were tearing through the city, attacking anyone in sight. Some were small and quick, darting between buildings and leaping at people with vicious speed. Others were larger, slower, but no less deadly, hulking creatures that smashed through barriers and vehicles like they were made of paper.

The feeds showed blood, bodies and destruction.

Seemed they had killed some humans already.

'Yikes.'

It was crazy how he was seeing death since he came to reside at Waython hollow. It seemed like death was the norms here. From fighters dying when trying to fight the obscuron forces to civilians being wasted on the streets…unexpectedly.

Tatehan was sure the reason for the deaths was that the monsters came unexpectedly.

Tatehan felt his stomach tighten.

"What the hell is this?" he asked quietly.

The commander looked at him and replied:

"The Obscuron," she said, her voice hard. "This is his response."

Tatehan grimaced and didn't even know when they following words came in out from his mouth:

"The fuck do the obscuron have to do with monsters ravaging the city and killing humans."

But when he thought about it, he realized that his statement was…

'Wait'

It was certainly weird that monsters flooded the city and were killing people, when stuffs like this didn't happen so much like before.

In past when monsters entered the city from the wastelands: about two or three, they were usually stopped by members of the red crest clan stationed as security in the city.

And of recent, monsters entering the city had stopped completely. That was until today.

It certainly feels suspicious. This wasn't something that could have just happened randomly.

It was an event that had a master mind behind it.

The commander tapped another command, and the screen split into multiple feeds, each one showing a different part of the city under siege.

"About an hour ago," the commander continued, "these creatures started appearing all over Waython Hollow. There was no warning, no buildup. They just... appeared. In the streets, in the markets, near residential areas. Dozens of them. Maybe hundreds."

Lyra stepped closer to the screen, her eyes scanning the footage.

"Where did they come from?" she asked.

The commander shook her head.

"We don't know for certain," she said. "But my best guess? The wastelands."

She turned to look at Tatehan, her gaze sharp.

"You've lived out there," she said. "You've fought these things before. I need you to tell me if I'm right."

Tatehan's eyes were already locked on the screen, his mind processing what he was seeing.

The commander pulled up a still image, a freeze-frame from one of the feeds, showing a creature in the middle of a leap. It was small, maybe a meter tall, with a hunched, skeletal frame and elongated limbs ending in sharp claws. Its skin was a mottled gray-black, and its eyes glowed with a faint yellow light.

Tatehan furrowed a brow.

He knew that creature.

"Shadow goblin," he muttered.

The commander's eyes sharpened.

"What?"

Tatehan pointed at the screen.

"That's a shadow goblin," he said, his voice more certain now. "They're not actually goblins, they're just called that because of the way they move. They hunt in packs, usually at night. Fast and Vicious. Not particularly strong individually, but in groups..."

He trailed off, his eyes flicking to another feed showing a cluster of the creatures overwhelming a security team.

"In groups, they're deadly," he finished.

The commander nodded grimly and pulled up another image.

This one showed a different creature, larger, about the size of a wolf, with a sleek, aquatic-looking body covered in dark, ridged scales. Its head was dominated by a massive jaw filled with rows of razor-sharp teeth, and its eyes were small, almost vestigial.

Tatehan's expression darkened.

"Iron-jaw scavenger," he said.

He squinted as he stared at the screen more clearly. The creatures had sure changed since when last he saw them.

Or where this another type of the creatures.

Lyra glanced at him.

"You've fought these before?"

Tatehan nodded slowly.

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