Lost Origins: SS Ranked Awakening

7:00 AM

THIRD MOUNTAIN TOP

The recruits were all gathered and arranged in neat rows like they always were each morning, but this time they weren't gathered because of their morning drill. They were gathered for the scouting exercise instructor Selena had informed them about yesterday.

Making her way their front, she began addressing them.

"You had been previously informed of this scouting exercise which I reminded you of yesterday. The goal is to locate the sensors placed all around the region and check for their functional integrity, you are also required, if you feel skilled enough, to plant a mark on bare animals or beasts you happen to come across."

"You were all given half a day to prepare, you will be moving out in the next five minutes alongside me and one more instructor who will escort you to the boundary of the region."

"You would also be given the standard loadout and communication devices so that you can report back to base if you are stranded encounter anything that is beyond you or your team."

"Remember, although this planet has been conquered by the army, there are still hidden dangers even we soldiers do not want to face. So, don't get cocky and get yourself killed, you'd only be doing us a favour."

She gave them a few drop a few sentences worth of advice, although the last part seemed more like a warning.

The moment she finished her speech, the arrangement collapsed into a single line which moved towards a small stand at the side where each of them were handed the standard loadout which consisted of a B2 plasma gun which looked like a pistol, a level 2 B3 which they strapped to their backs and a tactical knife alongside the communication equipment which turned out to be a small chip that they just had to place into a slot on their watches.

The recruits still had their melee weapons in hand or strapped to their sides as it was only going to be dumb if they chose not to carry it along with them.

After he received the load out, Kieran moved to the edge of the circular clearing and took a seat on the floor watching as the recruits approached each other and started forming groups of fives, while those with fewer numbers formed groups of threes.

They were all sharp enough to understand the instructor had given them by using the word "team", so none of them planned to ignore this hint as they quickly formed teams among each other.

Meanwhile, Kieran just sat silently as he watched all this happen without the intention of joining a team or forming one. He barely knew any of the recruits and never bothered to remember their faces outside specific situations. His anti-social attitude had led him to being in this situation, even Ruby wasn't anywhere close to him and he didn't mind one bit.

Checking his watch for the time, he saw that there were only two minutes left. Just as he was about to close his eyes, he saw a tall figure approach him. Staring at this figure in slight irritation, Kieran didn't bother to move away from his position.

Ignoring the tall man that had just come to his front, he stared at the figure at his side with a questioning gaze, well only she could tell, to the rest, he looked the same, his facial features didn't even change.

"Don't look at me like that, there's no way you're going to pull this off solo, if that's what you have in mind. I was going to look for someone when he approached, saving me the stress"

Ruby said pointing to the number one recruit on the ranking list, Jake Blaze, the man that was pretty much seen as a monster by the recruits, even the nobles couldn't act cocky around him.

Finally taking a direct look at the tall recruit with spiky hair, feeling the wild aura he was radiating engulf him, Kieran felt something deep within him stir, like a bestial instinct.

'He's dangerous!!!'

This was only thing Kieran could think of while being bathed in Jakes aura as every part of his body screamed at him to run away from the eyes of this predator and Kieran finally knew the reason he didn't like Jake.

The recruit was stronger than him, but that wasn't enough to enact such feelings in Kieran, what he disliked wasn't actually Jake, it was the reaction his body got whenever they came across, they immense urge to go into hiding after being sighted by someone superior to him. He had never felt that way before and he totally hated it, he loathed the feeling.

"Kieran?"

Ruby's voice snapped him out of his trance as she stared at him with slightly worried eyes. His face had taken on a colder shade and his eyes had started emitting bloodlust, his whole aura had taken a switch from being calm to being filled with hatred and extreme urge for blood.

Taking in a few deep breaths, he put his thoughts under control, regaining his calm and unmoved aura.

"No need to feel threatened. I come only with good intentions. I failed to show this in our first meeting…."

Jake took that moment to enter the conversation with a voice that didn't quite match his appearance or aura, introducing himself again while calling reference to the first time they had met in the canteen.

"What do you want then?"

He asked, before getting an obvious answer from him.

"A partnership. I believe it is also in your interest."

Jake answered calmly.

"Alright, I-"

TI-RING!

Just then his watch beeped, interrupting him but they already understood what he was going to pass across. The watch was reminding him of the five minutes they had been given which had just elapsed.

Before the instructor made it to their front, Kieran looked around and asked while getting into position alongside the others.

"The three of us?"

"Yes"

Kieran turned his head back after receiving a positive reply, not bothering to drop a comment.

"Alright, time's up. Move to the base of the camp."

She othered them to move to the mountain's foot where he had first entered the camp.

With this order, they all marched down to the base of the camp in an orderly manner, Kieran also picked the heavy backpack which he had filled to the brim with supplies.

Ruby also did the same, while Jake was already carrying a backpack that wasn't as filled as theirs.

At the base of the camp were several jeeps parked, waiting for them to get on board. They all got into each one in groups of ten and with their current population which was sixty-five, they managed to fill seven of the green jeeps.

Not wasting any time, Instructor Selena and the extra instructor who turned out to be instructor Keith, one of the two instructors responsible for their daily drills, stepped into one of the jeeps and took a seat, directing the drivers of all the vehicles to begin moving.

VROOOM!!

Dust and sand were kicked up as the engines of the vehicles went on, raising them a few meters above the ground as they began their journey.

For once, Kieran's cautious attitude had payed off for them as they were the last to board any of the jeeps, which meant they were the only ones along with two other recruits in the jeep.

The silence amongst them was one that none of them bothered to break, as all of them found something to do.

Ruby was cleaning the tactical knife that had been handed to them with a strip of cloth, Jake was sitting peacefully with his eyes closed probably in some kind of meditation, the other two recruits were either tapping or staring at a holographic panel that was invisible to the rest.

Kieran on the other hand, just kept staring, deep in thought, at the rapidly moving ground of sand under them that could be slightly seen through the covers of the back.

It wasn't too long ago that he had almost lost his life in this desert. Back then he was completely clueless as to what was going on and had been dropped randomly without any warning, it was a wonder how he managed to survive.

The ground under them quickly changed from sand to a rocky path and even the light from the sun got blocked out leaving them in complete darkness.

'A tunnel through the mountain?' Kieran thought.

He had studied the map given to them in detail, and it was quite obvious that it was located on the other side of the mountain and not in the vast expanse of sand that faced the camp.

The mountain chain was extremely long and huge so it took about twenty minutes before they made it out of the tunnel which Kieran assumed to be the shortest link in the mountain.

Seeing the green cover of the ground, he was certain that they had entered the other side of the camp, so he sat back, closed his eyes and waited patiently for them to arrive at their destination. He was certain that it was going to take a while, even at their current speed.