Shadow Slave

Master Jet led him to an armored military PTV that stood a few meters away from the crowded platform. It seemed that vehicle access to this part of the station was heavily restricted, but she paid it no attention. Apparently, her rank and status tramped some of the rules.

The PTV itself was very different from the civilian models Sunny was accustomed to, as well as the heavier police cruiser he had ridden on occasion in the past. It was much more robust and angular, weighted down by several layers of composite armor, and entirely grounded. Even if the vehicle possessed limited levitation ability, it was perfectly capable of traversing natural terrain on its own.

As they entered the cabin, towering humanoid loader robots moved in to unload cargo from the train, piloted by servicemen who could be seen in the open cockpits. The crude exoskeleton platforms were devoid of armor and failed to reach the smoothness of motion, scale, and sophistication of their military siblings, but were more than enough to perform various labor-intensive utility tasks.

The PTV roared to life, startling Sunny. It seemed that the distinctions from civilian models were even more pronounced below the surface. The systems propelling the vehicle forward were entirely different, producing much more noise and vibrations, but also raw power. The PTV shot forward, narrowly avoiding several barriers before reaching the primitive cement road that led to the port.

As they came closer and closer to the naval fortress, Sunny was able to study the swarm of activity boiling all around it.

Currently, the port became a staging ground for a much greater force than it was designed to accommodate. Thousands upon thousands of government servants and soldiers were busy with frantic preparations for the approaching deployment.

Numerous recently assembled prefab buildings stood in neat squares, some meant to provide the personnel of the First Evacuation Army with a temporary place to live, some serving as storage depots, production hubs, training facilities, field hospitals, and so on.

A lot of heavy machinery was constantly moving between these squares, either transporting cargo or participation in the disassembly of various structures. Despite the impressive scope of the military camp, its makeshift and transient nature was apparent to the naked eye. The army was already busy deconstructing many of the buildings in order to move their components to the holds of the forty battleships.

Thousands of humans swarmed the camp like ants. Sunny saw a lot of non-combatant servicemen hurrying to accomplish their tasks, as well as plenty of soldiers busy with training exercises and drills. Some of them were Awakened, but most were mundane humans.

of specialist units in view — engineering corps, mechanized infantry that moved around in fearsome exoskeleton armor suits, artillery vehicle operators, and many more that Sunny could not name. He even saw several mobile war platforms that resembled giant cyclops forged of metal, ranging from six to ten meters in height. These humanoid

machines were built and operated by humans, he couldn't shake off the feeling that he was

upcoming operation started to dawn on him. Sure, he had known the approximate numbers for a long time… but knowing and

moments, then asked in

would be several such

as she

for now. Two will sail from the Northern Quadrant, one from both the Eastern and the Western. Each will transport around a hundred thousand soldiers to Antarctica

paused, and

well, we will eventually have at least sixty thousand Awakened and

took a deep

not have seemed like much, but it meant that

Three hundred was more than a half of

Such might.

going

inhabitants more exposed to the vagaries of the Nightmare Spell. The pressure on the existing infrastructure was bound to increase dramatically after

is... all such

camp, Sunny couldn't help but wonder how many of